Reading List | Adventures with Kake

I have had my first pelvic physio appointment from the NHS since my traumatic birth in April 2004. It was... a very emotional experience. It was fine, and the physio was kind and respectful, but it was so strange to have this being taken seriously by a medical professional. There's going to be followup. Not just a sheet of exercises.

Afterwards I needed Rob to take the rest of the afternoon off work and we went to the Oxfam music shop and had lunch in Pret and ran some errands in Superdrug and Boots, until I felt kind of normal again, and then we came home and I did some sewing.

I really don't know how to articulate what the experience was like. Banal and life-changing.

ysabetwordsmith

Some seas may soon be trapped in near-permanent heatwaves, scientists warn

Seas recover. That’s the working assumption behind most marine conservation planning – heatwaves arrive, fish flee or die, then the water cools and the count resets.

A new study of 19 enclosed seas found that resets after heatwaves may stop happening. Some are on track to spend more than 330 days a year locked in heatwave conditions. Not a temporary extreme. A new permanent state.

This isn't "maybe," this is "definitely." The world's oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide and heat. Those sinks will eventually fill up. The oceans will become much more acidic, large parts will become anoxic, and most of the water will get hotter and stay that way until the climate shifts again. We know this because it has happened before.

Does "The Great Dying" ring a bell? The oceans then became hot and anoxic, wiping about almost everything in them. And it's happening a lot faster now than then. The current mass extinction looks to be faster than anything except the massive meteor strike of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction. This might be considered a problem.

Current Mood: busy

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Eric: When my family's children were young, they mostly traveled the 200 miles to visit for holidays. Now the children are older, and have jobs, friends et cetera. The parents now seem to expect us to do the traveling. We are in our late 70s, and this is getting harder to do.

The change in beds, food, schedules and houses put a toll on our physical body that takes days to recover. This seems hard for them to understand as they haven’t reached this stage.

We now are faced with missing holidays with them to comply with their demands. I have faced the possibility of loneliness that older people seemingly endure nowadays. Is there an answer to this problem or must I endure pain and trauma to see family in older age?

– Sad, Lonely and In Pain

( Read more... )

kaberett

( Today we were not the first responders to an incident. )

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a grackle, and a gray catbird.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I planted a white dogwood in the forest garden. I put a jug over it and mulched around it.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I covered and mulched around a previously planted persimmon seedling.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I raked the westernmost of the north-south strips through the prairie garden which will get sown with seeds.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I planted a persimmon tree along the north edge of the forest garden, covered and mulched it.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I raked the middle of the north-south strips through the prairie garden which will also get sown with seeds. The easternmost one is meant to be the middle path and kept mowed, although I will also sow that with grass and clover seed rather than wildflowers or native prairie grasses.

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I raked the long east-west strip where the Monarch Butterfly Seed Mix will go. This also contains flowers that bees love, and that strip runs near the bee tree. :D

EDIT 5/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

.

Current Mood: busy

oursin

(Mix and shake that metaphor and pour it over ice and serve it up with a wee paper umbrella!)

Somebody today on Another Site was mourning the Old Days on LJ which made me think of:

All the various Old Days in my life on and offline which were by their nature transient -

- but that transient didn't mean that they didn't have lasting effects/influence.

(I will spare dr rdrz accounts of various short-lived initiatives I encountered among the archives and in the course of Mi Researchez which nonetheless echoed down the years.)

Also that even had things not fallen out the way things did with LJ (hiss, boo, etc) by now it would almost certainly not be the same experience as it was in the 00s - people would have come, people would have gone, our interests and energies would have changed....

So we would probably be nostalgically regetting the glory days before [whenever].

Watch on YouTube

ysabetwordsmith

Contemporary Dual States: Israel, US, Russia, China, Turkey, etc.

As Fraenkel explained it, a lawless dictatorship does not arise simply by snuffing out the ordinary legal system of rules, procedures, and precedents. To the contrary, that system—which he called the “normative state”—remains in place while dictatorial power spreads across society. What happens, Fraenkel explained, is insidious. Rather than completely eliminating the normative state, the Nazi regime slowly created a parallel zone in which “unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees” reigned freely. In this domain, which Fraenkel called the “prerogative state,” ordinary law didn’t apply.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

katiedid717 posting in

agonyaunt

I am a social person. But increasingly, I have little time to socialize. I have two young children and a demanding job. Still, some friends text me frequently, even though I reply concisely and keep refusing their kind invitations. Should I be firmer — maybe start ignoring texts?
BUSY MOM

I once had a boss who, like you, was a busy working mother. She taught me a valuable lesson for managing social interactions on text and email: Do not become hostage to your phone or feel compelled to respond to every message as it arrives. Once or twice a day, spend 15 or 20 minutes responding to all of them — and don’t worry about them again until the next time. It beats telling friends to stop texting.

EDIT: LW provided more info in the comments

I am Busy Mom, LW #4. I just want to clarify something.

In my email to Philip, I used the word "acquaintances," not "friend." The texts I am referring to are from former coworkers, parents of my kids' old friends who now attend different schools, etc. - people I really don't know very well.

I know I should count my blessings, and I do appreciate that people are reaching out, but I truly feel overwhelmed by the number of texts I get from these acquaintances. There are a few former co-workers who text me all the time just to chat and "stay in touch," and I truly do not have as much time for them as they have for me. I'm genuinely wondering if it's better to "ghost" them and stop replying, or to say I don't have the capacity right now.

I'm not sure if other young(ish) parents can relate, but parenting right now feels like a constant barrage of communications - medical appointment reminders, school and after-school emails, parent chat groups, parent-teacher meeting updates, mom WhatsApp groups, neighborhood Signal chats, school log-in systems with updates from teachers, I am completely and utterly overwhelmed with information overload. I get so much textual messaging across so many different platforms, it honestly stresses me out, and I can't keep track of everything.

oursin

Happy birthday,

shehasathree and

themis1!

ysabetwordsmith

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture, Part 8: Conflict Resolution, Part 9: Cooking, Part 10: Coping Skills, Part 11: Gardening, Part 12: Relationship Skills, Part 13: Repairing, Part 14: Survival Skills, Part 15: Archaeology, Part 16: Biology, Part 17: Chemistry.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 18: Linguistics

Linguistics is the science of studying language, with related branches into neuroscience (how the brain processes language), anthropology (language as a medium of culture), literature (storytelling), and so forth. Aspects include famous people, historical linguistics, language acquisition, language revitalization, psycholinguistics, and others. Xenolinguistics is the study of alien and/or invented languages. Here on Dreamwidth, check out

1word1day,

conlang,

first_nations_freaks,

language_learning,

linguaphiles,

science,

scienceworld.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Apologies." Leave prompts, get ficlets!

It’s the usual, 1k words of plot-ish story, per prompt, with the option of adding at least a hundred words to the count for each of the person’s quick signal boost to point new people this way. I’ll keep the prompt call open until Wednesday night because of the chaos around here, which gives people more time to think of something interesting.

The theme is apologies, and while I’ve included a few in stories, I’d love to explore the kinds of apologies that suit each reader, so feel free to be as specific as needful. Some prefer words, some prefer actions, some prefer a quiet, indirect acknowledgement but not an open discussion. Be as specific as one likes for characters, events, and so on, because there are plenty of events in the existing, posted stories which might require either a first apology or a returning one.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went up to Danville to run errands.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

discworldmud_devblog_feed

http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/blog/blog.c?action=filter&blog=recent%20developments&id=1081

I've made a few changes to Assassin contracts.

Taxes taken from completed contracts will now return to the guild coffers as implied, helping keep things ticking over at least a little. Closing a contract through a regional guild that is not your own will, as before, incur an additional fee - this additional fee will _not_ return to the coffers. It pays to keep things local.

Contract and coffer donation achievements have also been adjusted. Progress is now tracked separately across each of the four Assassin guilds rather than pooled together. The overall totals haven't changed, but you'll need to spread your efforts evenly across all regions. All progress should be transferred at the time of posting, but if you notice anything unusual, please contact a liaison.

Realm

http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/blog/blog.c?action=filter&blog=recent%20developments&id=1081

oursin

Having spent a fair amount of time last week finally doing some prep for forthcoming talk on condomz - well, at least pulling together existing visuals from former presentations and digging up a few fresh items to create suitable slides - get message that advance bookings are being very laggardly (apparently a problem with event programme generally?) and they may have to cancel.

SIGH, though I feel this is not lost work and may very well come in useful at some time.

And of course they may not have to cancel, bookings may pick up I suppose.

In rather more cheery news, a little while ago I bopped off an enquiry to The Academic Press with which I published The Co-authored Volume, since I have not heard from them for many a year, and in spite of the fact that lo, 'tis over twenty years now since it burst upon the world, it is still in print. (And still getting cited, yay.)

And I must say their website was a bit of a nightmare to navigate and I ended up sending a plaintive message to a very generic enquiry email as I could not find any other relevant one to apply to.

Behold, I have heard from an Accounts person that they sent a cheque to Former Workplace in 2020 (hah!) which was never cashed, surprise - what between lockdown and the various staff upheavals I was not at all astonished to hear this - but they have now sent me a statement of the royalties accruing (a very modest sum) and asking for my bank details.

Which is better than a bat in the eye with a burnt stick, do admit.

(I am not sure whether the royalties match up to the amounts earned for the same work via the Authors' Licensing and Copyright Society over the same period, but I am not sure that I am massively motivated to check.)

mdehners posting in

gardening

Got almost everything planted today: Eggplant, Oca, Ulluco, Lemon Verbena, Flowering Tobacco, Sweet Annie, Holy Basil, Dahlia and a couple cultivars of Morning Glory. Hopefully, I'll get the rest in this week.
I still have one order that hasn't come in; my replacement Yacon. The wrong plant my last order(from another vendor), the Longevity Spinach is doing well.
The Canterbury Bells are covered with buds and the Autumn Sage is COVERED with blossoms and bees. Enjoying the cool Spring weather, since usually it's about a week or two between Winter and Summer;>!
Cheers,
Pat

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Lenoir City(Nevermore;>!)
Current Music: Andrews Sisters Radio

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture, Part 8: Conflict Resolution, Part 9: Cooking, Part 10: Coping Skills, Part 11: Gardening, Part 12: Relationship Skills, Part 13: Repairing, Part 14: Survival Skills, Part 15: Archaeology, Part 16: Biology.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 17: Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of studying matter, particularly how different substances interact with each other. Its subfields include astrochemistry, biochemistry, environmental chemistry, and geochemistry among others. At home, kitchen chemistry is both amusing and useful. Aspects of chemistry include history, famous people, and famous discoveries. Here on Dreamwidth, check out

common_nature,

environment,

naturaldyes,

science, and

scienceworld.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Economics
Birdfeeding
Artificial Intelligence
Poem: "How Great You Really Are"
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding
Books
Climate Change
Books
Philosophical Questions: World
Poem: "Restoring Them to Their Former Glory"
Buffalo
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 5-8-26: Muse
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Moment of Silence: Ted Turner
Low Tech
Community Thursdays
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding

Poem: "Walnut Park" has 46 comments. Early Humans has 22 comments. Philosophical Questions: Pregnancy has 80 comments. Safety has 83 comments.

Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I am still writing.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth is running April 25-May 15. People aim to make a new post each day, or participate in various activities to celebrate the platform.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Introduction to Becoming an Expert
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Architecture
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Dance
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Music
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Painting
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Poetry
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Sculpture
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Conflict Resolution
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Cooking
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Coping Skills
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Gardening
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Relationship Skills
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Repairing
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Survival Skills
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Anthropology
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Biology

"The Worst Thing in Life" opened and closed within a few days. Quain tries calling his friends to talk about recent accomplishments, but the only person willing to talk with him is someone he hasn't contacted in a couple of years.

"No Faster or Firmer Friendships" has 50 new verses. It belongs to Polychrome Heroics and needs $35 to be complete. Josué reads a funny poem to Maria-Vera.

The weather has been variable here. We got some rain the other day. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a pair of cardinals, a male and a female rose-breasted grosbeak separately, a male Baltimore oriole, a brown thrasher, a blue jay, a gray catbird, and a fox squirrel. Currently blooming: pansies, violas, sweet alyssum, alliums, marigolds, honeysuckle, snapdragons, lantana, million bells, blue lobelia, petunias, portulaca, nemesia, wild chives, wood hyacinths, columbine, peonies, irises, mock orange. Green fruit: mulberries, raspberries.

Current Mood: busy

discworldmud_devblog_feed

http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/blog/blog.c?action=filter&blog=recent%20developments&id=1080

The "describe" command now has a new syntax that allows you to control the order that zone descriptions will appear when someone looks at you. If, for example, you want your eyes description to appear first, then your hair, then your legs, you can use "describe zone order eyes, hair, legs".
In addition, the MUD will try to be a bit smarter about how many spaces it inserts between zone descriptions, so things should look a bit better.

http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/blog/blog.c?action=filter&blog=recent%20developments&id=1080

kaberett

Reading. I am so close to being Fully Up To Date with She's A Beast!!! I have just hit Feb 2026!!! Maybe my brain will let me read literally anything else???

... having said which, I totally managed to take a break from SAB to inhale Platform Decay (Martha Wells), the new Murderbot. Very little of it has stuck with me and also it was a very pleasant way to switch off brain for a few hours.

And I got close enough to the autoreturn on the library loan of another memoir about embodiment -- Run Toward The Danger, Sarah Polley -- that I am actually trying to blitz through it; so far it is not doing a great deal for me but all this really means is that I am not the target audience for everyone!

Watching. In celebration of David Attenborough's 100^th birthday, we have now watched The Year Earth Changed. I had an lot of feelings.

Playing. ... yeah so I completed The Game About Shelving Books, in that I now have all of the Steam achievements including the speedrun achievement (I never normally get speedrun achievements; I never normally even bother trying to get them), and am now Taking Breaks from other things by loading the game back up and wandering around reorganising subject shelving bays according to what makes me happiest (by and large: pick one of "colour" and "thematic grouping"; I am not here for trying to work out how to impose Dewey). At this point, though, that is feeling like a small soothing achievable task that can be A Smol Treet, rather than having the driving urgency of hyperfocus, so that's an extremely welcome development.

Eating. Strawberriessssssss. So many strawberries. I Am Luxuriating. Also: British asparagus! Fancy goats' cheese! The supermarket, having Taken Away the raspberry and passionfruit cheesecake Apparently Forever, has reintroduced it as a seasonal food!

Exploring. We went for one of our normal walks! Adam spotted a deer! We pursuit predated it for a little off amongst trees we had not previously poked around in, and discovered a series of neat rectangular brick walls, all of uniform roofless height, now full of mature trees that had clearly been there for Some Time! We have no idea, OpenStreetMap has nothing to say on the topic, and there is something that has merrily dug setts or dens into and around the foundations...

Making & mending. Bike... works again? Bike works again. Still need to unfuck the rear brake some more but maybe I will manage to take it to see the nice bike shop halfway down the hill tomorrow morning on my way Elsewhere.

Growing. Potted up the lemongrass! Have not potted up the aubergine. Ancho flowering merrily. Maybe I will make it to the plot this week and get some of the things I'm intending to put in the ground into the ground?

Observing. A deer! (Probably muntjac.) The bat! Several excellent front gardens!

Kake's Reading List

Pelvic physiotherapy

Climate Change

(no subject)

... terrible hobbies

Birdfeeding

But the neiges d'antan melt and stir dull roots with spring rain

Politics

Social Q's: One Day, It May Be a Yes

(no subject)

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Linguistics

Magpie Monday

Today's Adventures

Death And Taxes

Well, minuses and pluses I suppose

Getting There....

Birdfeeding

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Chemistry

Monday Update 5-11-26

My Eyes Are Up Here

vital functions

Links

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December 2012

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