twoeleven | Network

Links go to my book blog, Curious, Healing.

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Somebody I used to Know by Wendy Mitchell
If the Buddha Married by Charlotte Kasl
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed
Weaving Hope by Celia Lake
Alexandra's Riddle by Elisa Keyston
The Book of Love by Kelly Link
Surviving Domestic Violence by Elaine Weiss
Seaward by Susan Cooper
Very Far Away From Anywhere Else by Ursula K. Le Guin
Kitchens of Hope by Linda S. Svitak and Christin Jaye Eaton with Lee Svitak Dean
What It Takes to Heal by Prentis Hemphill
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong

Currently reading "Hospicing Modernity" by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira Andreotti, which is a down-to-earth, practical manual on how to expand past the limitations that modernity puts on our thoughts, imagination, and experiences. The author talks directly about how difficult it is to address people's frozen assumptions without triggering defensiveness, while encouraging the reader to open up, side-step defensiveness, and explore wider possibilities.

I just got past the introductory exercises, which feel similar to the trauma-healing work I've been doing all this time. I always feel like I'm behind, trying to catch up to people who had more ordinary and loving childhoods but maybe those aren't so ordinary, and maybe all that work leaves me in a more flexible place.

Highly recommended! You can read a couple of sample chapters at decolonialfutures.net/hospicingmodernity

ysabetwordsmith

Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?

Current Mood: busy

shadowkat

Aggravating day. A day I'd describe as a lot of little aggravating drips, culminating in leaving my headphones on my desk at work (I realized it when they weren't with me on the train and it was alas too late to go back and retrieve them - if it had been my cell phone, yes - I'd have had no choice but to do so, but I don't really need the head phones at home - I only use them at work and on the commute. Unfortunately they need to be charged, which means I won't be able to use them immediately on Monday.) I also can't find my air buds. But I could find the plug-in earphones. So not all is lost, I suppose?

Less said about the rest of the day, the better. It was just a series of minor aggravations. We shall speak of it no more.

**

I already whined about the day to my poor mother, who decided to distract me by regaling me with news about my niece's trip to Montauk to see her grandfather...who apparently lives in a chicken coop on his ex-partner's property. The ex-partner (a novelist, writer, and former lecturer/teacher) lives with their adopted 31 year old daughter in the house.

( Read more... )

***

I think the reason I enjoy Buffy S6 so much - is I find it relatable? It is about an unemployed/depressed young woman jumping from one bad job to another, juggling bills, a sister, social life or lack thereof, and a boyfriend who lives in crypt and cheats at kitten poker. It's hyper-realism in a supernatural setting. The villains are nerdy guys from high school, who bullied girls. (Any woman who has ever entered a comic book store, a fan convention, attempted to play D&D during the 1980s or been in a co-ed fandom online - can relate.)
( Read more... )

thewayne

Steve Jackson Games is relaunching Toon, the game where you get to play an animated character of your design from Saturday morning cartoons. Recreate a facsimile (or mockery) of your favorite cartoon character, all for $20 for the PDF! If you want a softcover of the rules, you can get that for $35 ($45 with shipping to the USA), which will also get you the PDF. In this game you can't get killed, you just fall down and will be back in the next scene.

Every character has a Schtick, a form of superpower, much like Popeye's spinach gives him temporary super-strength. Your toon has characteristics of Smarts, Brawn, Chutzpah, and Zip, you also have to decide Species, though you don't have to be organic or Earth-based. You wanna be a Martian? Go for it! You wanna be a toaster, or cloud, or imaginary friend? Why not! In this game, the game master is called the Animator, for obvious reasons.

The Backerkit project is open for another 16 days, and is already massively overfunded. They are projecting fulfillment by the end of next year. Presumably that's a massive overprojection and it will be filled well before then.

A family game of silliness suitable for ages six and up! And not for gamers who take things crazily serious. ;-) If someone is incapable of sticking their tongue thoroughly in their cheek, they really ought to witness a game before diving in, and there's really not much preventing them from jumping in in the middle of a session.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/steve-jackson-games/toon-the-cartoon-roleplaying-game

ysabetwordsmith

An American artist is making fully functional plate mail for mice.

Current Mood: amused

calimac

1. Here's an evaluation of all of Rob Reiner's movies, in which, if you follow along, you'll see that the authors consider his eight best movies to be eight of his first nine movies. (The clunker is, of course, North, and if it and The American President had been flipped chronologically, the best eight would have been the first eight.) So what happened? The authors think that the instincts that led Reiner right in his early days went wrong in his later ones.

I've seen six of the eight best (somehow I've missed The Sure Thing and I wouldn't see Misery on a bet) and enjoyed all six*; the only one of his later movies I've seen is LBJ, which was not bad but was carried mostly by Woody Harrelson's performance in the title role. The thing is that I never found Reiner a particularly good director in the technical sense - the climbing of the Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride was embarrassingly clumsy - but in his good movies he was great in other ways: his versatility in genre (the guy who made Spinal Tap made A Few Good Men? Amazing), brilliant casting all around (that's what really knocked my socks off about Princess Bride in particular), and his ability to let the script and the acting shine through.

*Though I enjoyed When Harry Met Sally, I bristled at Harry's contention that all men are like him. If there's one thing I've learned from life, it's that people are different. Reiner and Nora Ephron may have based Harry on himself, but I am not like that and neither are most of the men I know.

2. Saw an article somewhere in which Sam Altman was quoted as saying that you can't raise a child without the help of A.I. Here's not the original article but a more critical commentary. Apparently the A.I.'s job is to reassure you that you're not screwing up. Dr. Spock said pretty much the same thing; why don't you just read him? Because you can be sure that, though he might be wrong, he's not just making crap up, which A.I. is prone to doing. When ChatGPT first showed up, I experimented by asking it some tough musical questions I knew the answers to, and it only seriously messed up some but rarely got everything totally right.

Once I learned what it does, I would never ask A.I. for advice on anything real. In practice, I use it only to remind me when I need a word I know but which has slipped my mind, which happens depressingly often these days, maybe once a month. The last one was "foyer." At least then I know the answer is right when I see it.

I certainly wouldn't ask it to draft any writings for me. I wonder if I would ask it to do so if I still had to write anything that I struggled with the wording of. But the writing I had most trouble with was job application letters, and that requires personalized stuff the A.I. wouldn't know. So probably not.

3. But one technical advance I am very happy with is the U.S. Post Office's "Daily Digest" which sends you an e-mail early each morning showing the envelopes you're expected to receive that day. (Mailers, magazines, and packages are excluded, though it does tell you how many packages to expect.) So if a bill doesn't come, that's because your delivery person is running behind, and if it doesn't come the next day, that's when you call the biller and ask them to send another copy.

ysabetwordsmith

Scientists stunned by a massive hydrothermal field off Greece

Scientists have uncovered an extensive underwater vent system near Milos, Greece, hidden along active fault lines beneath the seafloor. These geological fractures act as pathways for hot, gas-rich fluids to escape, forming clusters of vents with striking visual diversity. The discovery surprised researchers, who observed boiling fluids and vibrant microbial mats during deep-sea dives. Milos now stands out as one of the Mediterranean’s most important sites for studying Earth’s dynamic interior.

This is fascinating, but it is not surprising. Most seams leak. If you want to find vent systems, identify underwater faultlines and check them for leaks.

Current Mood: busy

conuly

I believe the theme of this book is "the road to hell" with a side order of "best laid plans". ( To be fair... )

***************************

( Read more... )

osprey_archer

I’m doing the Reading Meme one day early this week, as tomorrow is the last day of the year and therefore the day for the Year In Review.

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

I am freeeeeeeee of my vow to read Christmas books for Advent, and therefore… accidentally read one more book with Christmas in… Marilyn Kluger’s Country Kitchens Remembered: A Memoir with Favorite Family Recipes, about the farm kitchens she remembers from her childhood during the Depression, not only her own family’s but her grandparents on both sides. Like any good farm kitchen memoir, the book documents the different foods of each season, which means of course a Christmas chapter, but also chapters about the new peas of spring, the corn on the cob fresh cut from the stalk literally minutes before lunch, the frost-nipped persimmons brought in during the Thanksgiving grouse hunt… Good eating and good reading.

But then! Then I truly broke free with Ngaio Marsh’s Spinsters in Jeopardy! Set in summer in the south of France, Inspector Alleyn and his lady wife Troy co-star in a mystery featuring a drug racket run by an erotic murder cult. You know I love a cult! Also featuring their six-year-old son Ricky, a surprisingly well-observed child. A shocking number of writers of adult fiction couldn’t write a convincing kid to save their life.

And I also slipped in my December Unread Bookshelf book by the skin of my teeth: E. Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the Carpet. I got this soon after I read Five Children and It, then it languished for so many years that I forgot why I was putting it off, but as I read it I remembered: I find these children so stressful! They are forever doing things like “setting off firecrackers inside the house,” which is how they set fire to the old nursery carpet which results in the bringing in of the magic carpet.

What I’m Reading Now

I’ve started Rumer Godden’s Thus Far and Now Farther, which so far is what I expected Elizabeth and her German Garden to be: a charming memoir about a woman in an isolated location with her children, her governess, and her vast army of underpriced labor making a charming garden.

What I Plan to Read Next

No plans! Only vibes! Okay, actually I do have plans, but I am contemplating if I ought to jettison them in favor of vibes. Maybe 2026 should be the Year of Vibe Reading? I have been trying to come up with a good New Year's Resolution...

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cool. It spit snow a bit yesterday but didn't amount to anything.

I fed the birds. There was a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches perched in the forest garden waiting to be fed. :D

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 12/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 12/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

rachelmanija

I read these offline and have not commented on most of them yet on AO3, but I wanted to rec them before reveals because they're great.

Don't need to know canon

"17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future" - Jon Bois. I only know this canon from Yuletide stories, and all I really know is that in the very far future, it's a post-scarcity world where everyone is immortal. It reliably produces lovely stories that feel kind of like the more personal/emotional xckd comics. Here is another one.

What Rock Collecting Will Look Like in the Future. Funny, bittersweet, cool worldbuilding; I was surprised and delighted to learn that fordite is real!

James Hoffman's Coffee Videos (Web Series)/Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft/"A Study in Emerald." All you need to know is that a coffee guy reviews coffee online, and this is him reviewing eldritch coffee.

I'm ranking 5 coffees from beyond this world (literally). "I feel a bit as if the coffee tasted me and not the other way around." Hilarious, dead-on coffee notes, dead-on Lovecraft; makes me want to try some of the coffees despite the risk of growing gills or being possessed by Elder Gods.

Tower Wizard - Hourly updates on the life of a wizard who lives in a tower, like "The little cat plays with a leaf. The wizard carefully checks that it's not a dangerous reagent, then returns it to the little cat." His best friend is an ex-paladin, and they eat a lot of interesting food. That's it, that's all you need to know.

Ruins and Roads. A charming original fantasy story, magical and cozy and bittersweet.

True Detective - season one. All you need to know to read this story is that Rust and Marty used to be cops, and they were both seriously injured when they reunited to investigate a weird case that might or might not have supernatural elements.

burned in kind. An outstanding post-series casefic and get-together with a flawless Rust voice, A+ hurt-comfort, and a creepy maybe-supernatural maybe-not case. If you know the series, this is 100% not to be missed; if you don't, you might still really like it as a standalone spooky mystery with excellent characterization.

World War Z - Max Brooks. You just need to know that there are zombies.

little stone. Zombies in 9th century Latvia! An atmospheric story about grief and loss in a time far from us; the protagonist's emotions are raw and vivid. Note: child death.

Need to know canon

House of Hollow - Krystal Sutherland

You Live in a Hollow House. Creepy, unsettling horror with an excellent use of color and image embeds.

Meeting Halfway. Creepy, unsettling horror with a touch of sweetness.

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills "The Last Command" square in my 1-1-24 card for the Public Domain Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred. This is the third poem in the series Crystal Wood; it follows "Trees of Glass" and "Ghost Forests."

Warning: This poem is dark science fiction along the lines of ecological horror.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

sistawendy

Ten years ago today my divorce was final. Naturally, I texted Ex:

SistaWendy: Happy tenth divorce-a-versary?
Ex: Back at you.
SW: ♥

If you find that can't have a good marriage with someone, a civilized divorce is the next best thing. Go us.

I might celebrate alone with pho, Chinese, or Korean; I need to hit the supermarket down the hill.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Location: the living room of the Devil Girl House
Current Music: Aphex Twin, "Polynomial-C"

thistleingrey

1. In fairness to Professor Mallory, The Origins of the Irish (2013) seems well written, well researched, and well considered. I'm at 19% in epub (notes and other back matter begin at 76%), and though I don't love his handling of Niall as a hypothetical line in the sand for when people in Ireland are "Irish," he carries it through sensibly. Perhaps the IE/PIE project (2025) was merely the wrong shape and scope at the time he tackled it. He was emeritus already by 2013, and Irish has the cadences of prose built up partly from lecture material. If we may turn an archaeologist's lens briefly upon the archaeologist, simple logistics suggest that he wouldn't have had the same chances to workshop the IE/PIE material in updated form before writing up.

That said, I've zero plans to try reading In Search of the Irish Dreamtime (2016), the monograph published between them, which Mallory intended as part two to Irish. One reasonable-sounding book is plenty as rehabilitation.

2. Because the Taproot Video collective will sunset as of 31 Mar 2026, I've acquired a copy of Annie MacHale's Three-Color Pickup For Inkle Weavers (selfpub, 2021). I understand just enough to follow along, though not to implement. MacHale's explanations are straightforward, and she includes clear illustrations of the effects she describes, with examples of variations.

(Taproot's website doesn't admit to its imminent shutdown, which seems irresponsible. They've sent an email to their past customers.)

larryhammer

So Eaglet gave me a book, Dad Jokes by A. Grambs,* and I am annoyed. Not at the giving — it’s a perfect gift. Eaglet knows me well.

I am annoyed at the book itself.

People, this is not a good joke book. Weak wheezers, forced puns, tenuous connections, so many barely worthy of Uncle Benjamin from The Blue Castle. All too many pages evoke not even a single groan, only ugh — or in Eaglet’s idiom, a flat bruh. In fact, to compare we pulled out Eaglet’s own book, Laugh Out Loud Jokes for Kids by Rob Elliott, and opening either at random, the kids’ entries are better in every way.

I feel cheated, and disrespected as a dad. 1/5 do not recommend. (Not 0 only because there are a couple pages with something groan-worthy.)

* Copyright is by Alison Grambs.

---L.

Subject quote from In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel.

prettygoodword

whipcord (HWIP-kawrd, WIP-kawrd) - n., a thin tough cord made of braided or twisted hemp or catgut, sometimes used for the lashes of whips; a cotton or worsted fabric with a distinct diagonal rib.

The very end of a whip being the part that cracks by breaking the sound barrier during a sudden reversal of direction, and so needs to be strongest -- in many whips, the lash is designed to be replaceable when it wears out, as it will long before the rest of the whip. I'm unclear how the fabric (which is woven with a steep-angled twill with even thicker ridges than gabardine) came to be called that, possibly for either its durability or a resemblance to a whipcord's ridges.

---L.

annofowlshire

"[Surrealism is] the belief that nothing is ordinary; that everything in life is extraordinary. And being old is no more, no less, extraordinary than being young." - Leonora Carrington (Surreal Spaces)

Current Mood: thoughtful

ysabetwordsmith

I have made bingo for Amnesty this month. Counting each 5 fills as a bingo, I have made two. \o/

5-1-25 B3 "In a Splash of Color"
11-1-25 B3 "The Sand of Celebration"
8-1-25 B2 "Until the Rain Comes"
5-1-25 O5 "A Palette of Appetizers"
11-1-25 O5 "User Interfaces"

2-1-25 B5 "Protect the Inner Core"
5-1-25 B5 "The Marvels of Brush and Ink"
11-1-25 I2 "The Car That Didn't Like Bullies"
11-1-25 B2 "Learning New Skills"
11-1-25 O4 "The Unicorn Door"

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "Accident" square in my 6-1-22 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred. This is the second poem in the series Crystal Wood; it follows "Trees of Glass."

Warning: This poem is dark science fiction along the lines of ecological horror.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "short forms." I'll be soliciting poetic forms of 60 lines or less, so basically below my epic range rather than only the short-short length of 10 lines or less. Free verse below the length limit is also fine. Here are 15 short forms with descriptions. Among my favorite short forms not listed there: hexaduad, indriso, sestina, villanelle. This list of 168 forms is alphabetical. Poets Garrett has my favorite list of forms, including a list of repeating-interlocking forms. Their main page has links to poetic forms of 3-10 lines. Plus a few of my own: A darrow poem is a short, haiku-like musing by dark elves. A khazal is a Whispering Sands desert poem in couplets. A moose track is a repeating-interlocking form. A tweet wire is a tiny 10-line poem designed for Twitter. Some short forms, like haiku and tanka, work well as verses in a longer poem. I have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco so most forms should be in there. You can also prompt with a link to any exotic form you find; I collect these things.

In addition to forms, I also need topical prompts. One-word or short-phrase framing will assist in keeping them small enough to fit within the theme. Here is a huge list of common themes. This page of idioms has alphabetical and topical listings. I love writing poems about an individual word; see The Phrontistery (WARNING! Black hole caliber time sink ahead!) for glossaries. Have an orientation that is not well represented in literature? Ask for a sexual, romantic, or other orientation! If it's not on any of my lists, just include a description or link to one. I also list gender identities and my characters with disabilities. Want to help me play with my bookshelf? :D I have The Conflict Thesaurus, The Conflict Thesaurus Volume 2, The Occupation Thesaurus, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, The Urban Setting Thesaurus, The Rural Setting Thesaurus, The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus, and The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus. Simply click "Read Sample" and view the table of contents for a list of cool ideas. You can prompt a sestina with six end words; I usually pick 5 short flexible words and one long exotic word, but I'll work with whatever I get. Favorite characters, threads, series, settings, etc. are also fair game but this is NOT the time for long plotty prompts. Consider combining a name or title with a short form, theme, or idiom. If you like to prompt with photos, this is a great opportunity for that. Just type in a topic (see above for possibilities) and click the Image link in your favorite search engine.

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

Arts and Crafts America is ideal for picture prompts, or just name a craft.

Clay of Life suits words from Yiddish, Ladino, or Hebrew.

Fiorenza the Wisewoman suits Italian forms, most of which are short; also Italian words or phrases.

Hart's Farm suits Old Norse poetry or words.

Kung Fu Robots goes with Chinese forms.

Lacquerware suits Japanese forms.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

Current Mood: busy

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twoeleven

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Page generated Dec. 31st, 2025 06:54 am

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Network

What I've been reading this year

Good News

December 30, 2025...

Toon: the tabletop RPG is being relaunched for a 2nd edition on Backerkit!

Crafts

year's last miscellanea

Nature

Finished Bee Speaker

Wednesday Reading Meme on Tuesday

Birdfeeding

Yuletide Recs, Part II

Poem: "The Last Command"

tenth divorce-a-versary

current slow reading

“love, i don’t like to see so much pain / so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away”

whipcord

Nothing is ordinary

Bingo

Poem: "Ghost Forests"

Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, January 6, 2026

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