saturday

Apr. 11th, 2026 04:28 pm
summersgate: (Default)
[personal profile] summersgate
DSC_0908.jpg
Bright Spots. Today's is on the right. First I covered it with clear medium and let that dry, then I used alcohol ink pens. Final coat was wet black acrylic paint. I found I had to scratch away fast before it dried or it wouldn't come off. I worked from the bottom up and by the time I got to the top it was dry and the black paint wouldn't come off properly.

I've been playing around with my new phone, trying to get it to have the appearance and apps I like.  It's the same model as my old phone, just a year newer. Most of my things seemed to just travel over to the new phone while I was at the cricket store and that was great. But then of course there were things I had to fix. There was a banner of ads and "news" across my lock screen - horrible. My lock screen is Rainy and I want to see Rainy not that. But it wasn't fixable in what I thought was the usual place on the phone. Finally I looked it up on the internet this morning and was able to get rid of it. What a relief. It's funny how much something like that bugged me. My phone (my little personal box of entertainment) was not perfectly tailored for me and I couldn't rest till it was.

Books read in 2026

Apr. 11th, 2026 04:57 pm
rolanni: (Reading is sexy)
[personal profile] rolanni

16  *Crystal Dragon (Liaden Universe® #10), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
15  *Crystal Soldier (Liaden Universe® #9), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
14  Seeking Persephone (Lancaster Family #1), Sarah M. Eden (e)
13   Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (e) book club
12  *Balance of Trade (Liaden Universe® #8), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
11  *Scout's Progress (Liaden Universe® #6), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
10  *Local Custom, (Liaden Universe® #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
9   *I Dare (Liaden Universe® #7), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
8   Cuckoo's Egg, C J Cherryh, (audio first time)
7   *Plan B, (Liaden Universe® #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
6   Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Crusie (audio first time)
5   *Carpe Diem (Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4   *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve    Miller
3   *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve                 Miller
2   A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace             Burrowes (e)
1   Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)

________
*I'm doing a straight-through series read in publication order

**I screwed up and moved right on to I Dare from Plan B, therefore deviating from publication order.  I will now amend myself and go back to pick up Local Custom.


nails sparkly, ready for journey

Apr. 11th, 2026 10:49 pm
marina: (Default)
[personal profile] marina
Things in no particular order

things )

*

Things are still hard, and they suck, but it's warmer and there are no missiles flying at my house and I'm cautiously optimistic about coming back to work tomorrow and well. I hope your days are good, friends.
tinny: Close-up of Wu Lei with long Dongji hair, his head propped up on his hand, looking so soft (wulei_so soft)
[personal profile] tinny
My Wu Lei pictures collection has grown to over 1300 pictures now, and I still haven't finished The Long Ballad (which would be the next picspam), here's another one to tide us over: here are the pics in which he looks young (not too young *cough*) and sporty.

Other Wu Lei picspams so far: The Elf Look, Nothing But You, Amidst a Snowstorm of Love

All 35 pics separately downloadable in full size from this gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/867RWFN

or in one zip file here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ubmgz8dxvisgugp/wulei_picspam_sporty.zip

Enjoy!


Playing tennis with Roger Federer

34 more )


A selection of 12 icons I've made from these (and related) sporty pics:

9 more )

Dear Fandom5k Creator

Apr. 11th, 2026 09:49 pm
trobadora: (Sherlock/Moriarty - in the darkness)
[personal profile] trobadora
Dear [community profile] fandom5k writer,

thank you so much for writing a story for me! I've requested and received all of these fandoms before - some for many, many years, and often with the same prompts, because when I really enjoy something, I immediately want fifty more takes on the same thing. *g* So if that's what we matched on, don't worry about repeating things! I'll be absolutely thrilled about anything you can create about the relationships I requested.

Everything important is in the requests themselves, but if you'd like even more info, general likes etc., here you go.

My AO3 account is [archiveofourown.org profile] Trobadora, and it's set to welcome treats.

General Preferences

Likes & Dislikes/DNWs )

Fandoms and relationships

In somewhat alphabetical order - note that some sections are expanded compared to the sign-up form:

Jump directly to:Grimm: Nick/Renard/Juliette )

镇魂 | Guardian (TV): Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Ya Qing/Zhu Hong, Shen Wei & Ya Qing )

Grimm/Guardian crossovers: Nick Burkhardt & Sean Renard & Shen Wei & Zhao Yunlan, Sean Renard & Shen Wei & Zhao Yunlan, Juliette Silverton & Shen Wei & Zhao Yunlan, Juliette Silverton & Shen Wei, Sean Renard & Shen Wei, Sean Renard & Ya Qing, Sean Renard/Ya Qing )

Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling: Kashtiliash & Raupasha )

Sherlock (BBC): Jim Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes )

山河令 | Word of Honor: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu )

Well, I got some nice shoes?

Apr. 11th, 2026 03:18 pm
missdiane: (Default)
[personal profile] missdiane
We headed into Brooklyn close to noon on Thursday (Lyft to train station, NJ Transit to NY Penn Station, subway to Brooklyn then walking several blocks to the hotel). We tried to stop for lunch at a chain called Sweetgreen but the pin on their map is in the completely wrong location so we crossed the street and tried to get something at the revamped fancy train hall but the food court had no place for us to sit so we gave up and ended up chilling for a few moments at a Zaro's bakery in old Penn Station before hopping the subway to Brooklyn. I had a small but tasty tuna salad sandwich (noting the food for future reference).

When we got to the hotel, since we were dragging suitcases and hadn't done the ol' city crawl in a long time, we were pretty tired and so we got into each of our rooms and crashed for a while. We tried to get adjoining rooms but that didn't happen. We were at least on the same floor and I did have a walk-in shower in my room. A few hours later we decided to walk several blocks to a modern Mexican restaurant that sounded good. The food was super tasty - I ordered a horchata, a lobster taco that's served cold and is a little spicy with some fresh onion and a bowl of pozole which I've always wanted to try that soup. Emily also ordered some fresh pico and chips to share.

I finished my fancy taco (it wasn't any bigger than any regular taco) but had just a few chips and pico and barely made a dent in the pozole and didn't finish my drink. I chalked it up to the Mounjaro finally making me full quickly. I was bummed that I had to waste the rest of the soup since it wouldn't have traveled well but at least we know that this place, while a little expensive, gives filling servings. It wasn't just the size of the meal...I screwed up, I screwed up BIG. While I do need to contact my doctor to graduate to the next dose up, it's still effective enough at slowing digestion and I had been avoiding things like broccoli, brussels sprouts and...ONION...since starting the drug. The tuna salad had raw onion, the taco had raw onion, the pico had raw onion. Oh hell.

And naturally the Tums I meant to bring didn't make it into my toiletry bag or my purse. I had to spend $4 for two Tums at the front desk and it still barely made a dent into the stomach woes. I didn't sleep much or well that night. The next morning I thought that it was down to a dull roar and had a little of the free breakfast (oatmeal with fixings since they had an awesome oatmeal bar and a side of a little scrambled egg for the protein), but through the day, I just kept getting waves of feeling hellish. We went into the city since I wanted to go to a shoe place I saw online to try on some flats. I liked the fit of them - they even have quarter sizes which I didn't know was even a thing! After doing a little more wandering in Manhattan, we were both tired and took the subway and the several block tromp back to the hotel in early afternoon. Since neither one of us were up for doing a sit down meal that night, we had stopped at a bougie grocery in Brooklyn on the walk back to get some things to eat at the hotel before the concert.

I had to spend another $4 for some more Tums since I was still in a good amount of gastro distress. I managed to keep things down, barely and laid down for a few hours to get things under control. I did eat the very simple sandwich I got at the grocery before we went for our several block walk to the concert venue.

It was a good enough concert, well kind of, but we ended up leaving early because we couldn't take how ungodly LOUD it was. Like rattling your seat loud even when he was doing what were ballads. Emily was getting a headache and that thumping didn't help my stomach any so we were only there and hour and a half.

I stopped at a Walgreens outside of the Barclays center and got extra Tums and water. It helped. Unfortunately someone was having a party at 1am in the breakfast area that Emily's room overhangs so she had to call the front desk to complain about the noise. We were both sore as hell the next morning so instead of dragging ourselves the several blocks, I called for a Lyft to take us to the subway. Thankfully we didn't have the energy to do more exploring in Manhattan since during the time we were hanging out in Penn Station for an hour waiting for the next NJ Transit train, some guy with a machete went on a rampage at Grand Central. Yikes.

It wasn't a terrible time but hopefully the next trip we go on has less misadventures. Hey, I did get over 12K steps in on Friday alone.

Amsterdam 2026

NSFW Apr. 11th, 2026 06:08 pm
bookscorpion: This is Chelifer cancroides, a book scorpion. Not a real scorpion, but an arachnid called a pseudoscorpion for obvious reasons. (Default)
[personal profile] bookscorpion
( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )
umadoshi: (kittens - Jinksy - soft)
[personal profile] umadoshi
Seasonal crunch is over! Feels like freedom, if you ignore the part where I still have, y'know, a job + freelance stuff. Increased freedom. We'll go with that.

My day off yesterday entailed such thrilling things as sleeping in and then taking ages to get up because Jinksy came to snuggle*; finishing my breakfast and tea by around noon; getting some banking done; washing my hair; vacuuming the two main levels of the house; spending several full hours being a cat-lap for Sinha; and starting in on a new novel for the first time since March Break or so.

*When I texted [personal profile] scruloose to say good morning, they said, "When my first alarm went, it was competing with Jinksy over on your other side rumble-purring so hard I swear the mattress was reverberating with it."

Reading: A couple more chapters of Braiding Sweetgrass, and I've finished Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks, which has a fair number of recipes but is, as the title indicates, more of a family history than a cookbook.

And last night I didn't want to spend much mental energy on choosing what fiction to read, so I decided to just go with Tough Guy, the third Game Changers novel. I imagine in the not-too-distant future I'll pick up the ebook "box set" of books 4-6 just to have them on hand.

Watching: We're caught up on The Pitt and have seen five episodes of One Piece season 2, and I imagine we'll finish the latter before backtracking for the last couple-few episodes of Frieren. (I've also made note of this elsewhere, but to reinforce it in my brain: after The Pitt finishes, I need to remember to cancel our Crave subscription again.)

Eating: After the crunch ended on Thursday, [personal profile] scruloose and I ordered from a new (?) Korean BBQ place (bb.q Chicken) that a stranger in the local Bluesky feed had mentioned was good. We tried the bone-in Classic Fried Chicken (very minimal spicing, but very solid) and the boneless Golden Fried Chicken, the description of which didn't indicate any particular spiciness, but it turned out to be right on the edge of my comfort level...but also a really delicious seasoning to go with the heat, so I'm counting that as a definite win. The place offers a whole array of flavor options, so I imagine we'll be trying it again.

Weathering/Growing: Yesterday was sunny and relatively warm, and now we're back to a slightly-chilly rainy/damp stretch, but a few days in the forecast will theoretically get back up into the double digits.

At my instigation, we're going to take another stab at Doing Garden Stuff this year. VERY preliminary notes )
sholio: (B5-station)
[personal profile] sholio
The other prompt fill I wrote today ended up being full-story-length (~1100 wds) for Babylon 5, posted on AO3 as Exercises in Linguistics.

The prompt was: G'Kar and Londo (slash or gen, up to you!) and Language. Set in early season 5, probably between about 5x02 & 5x06.

Exercises in Linguistics )

Saturday

Apr. 11th, 2026 09:16 am
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
Yesterday I was not at all hungry. I ate fewer calories than most days by quite a bit. Today the scale says I gained a pound. You know how when you are on a strict diet and you go off of it for a few days and suffer no consequences? I think this is the opposite. I have had a long think about whether, if my current trajectory - same or gain - continues, whether or not I'd keep taking the drug. 1. It's not going to continue. I will lose. and 2. I think I'd leave it up to my doctor to decide. So, I'm not going to worry about it.

The baseball game last night was fraught with all kinds o' shit. First of all we are playing the Astros - the cheating Astros - who, this season are the LOSING Astros. Of course the Mariners are also losing but that, we can live with. We are enjoying the heck out of the Astros' slide down. Their pitcher last night walked in a run in the first inning and did not make it to the 2nd. We won but only because the Astros are so bad.

BUT the really good news is that the only broadcaster I like - Dave Valle - does not do a lot of games but did last night's and it was so good. Plus, because they generally use the same color guy for the series and we are playing the Astros for 4 games, we have him for the next 3! He makes the bozo regular guy better, too. So very nice.

Google, can we just agree that any email I get written in Hindi is FUCKING SPAM?????

Volleyball this morning was exceptionally excellent. It was just a very fun game for everyone there. Massive laughs and some good play, too.

One of the players is 96 year old retired OB/GYN doctor, Tina. In the locker room after, she told me she had gotten one of my rabbits (Martha's distribution). And she loved it so much. She gave it to a dear friend who loved it even more. But, now she didn't have one. Any chance she could get another?

I decided last night that the chickens were no longer doing it for me and I wanted to go back to mini monsters. But, now, I will need to stop and do a bunny. I'm sure glad I took pictures because I can barely remember how I made them!

Time for elbow coffee.


20260410_201401-COLLAGE
nanila: me (Default)
[personal profile] nanila
After breakfast, we got on the bus to the museum at San Sabba, the rice factory that served as a concentration camp in WWII. As expected, it was quite harrowing, especially walking into the middle square where the Nazis had torched the crematorium before fleeing. The hole where the chimney had been ripped out has a small plaque and flower vase in front of it. I am not at all superstitious. However, the feeling you get walking in from the entrance is one of tremendously bad juju. The dank cells with the wooden doors and too-small bunks may be the only physical remains of the instruments of torment, but the walls are permeated with it. We did not take any photos. We read through all the exhibition materials in the museum. Keiki insisted we leave a donation to ensure all is preserved so no one forgets.

Our bus ride back to town was quiet, and at the end of the journey we walked to a gelateria. Everyone practiced ordering in Italian. We must have done reasonably well as the server smiled at us a great deal and our single scoop cones wobbled under the weight of gelato piled in.

Much of the rest of the day was spent walking, punctuated by stops for refreshments and a bit of shopping. We visited the Cattedrale di San Giusto Martire (photos in a separate post), and we watched the sunset from the harbour’s edge.

20260409_150038

Random garden with large wisteria vines in full flower.

20260409_150328

The drive leading up to the castle.

20260409_150514

WWI monument.

20260409_183432

Aperol, crisps and beer. Very acceptable.

20260409_193900

Triestian sunset.

Blueberry Strawberry Salsa

Apr. 11th, 2026 08:08 am
nverland: (Cooking)
[personal profile] nverland posting in [community profile] recipecommunity
image host

Blueberry Strawberry Salsa
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Servings:12

Ingredients

1 pint fresh blueberries about 2 cups
2 large jalapeno seeds removed, halved, or roughly chopped
½ small red onion roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice about 1 small lime's worth
3 cups diced strawberries about 1½ pounds, washed and hulled
½ cup chopped cilantro
⅛ – ¼ teaspoon kosher salt adjust to taste
⅛ – ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper adjust to taste

Instructions

Combine the blueberries, jalapeno, onion, and lime juice in a food processor. Process for a minute or two until pureed.
Pour the blueberry puree into a bowl and add the strawberries and cilantro. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes
This salsa is best served immediately after it is made. If you need to prepare it in advance, the blueberry puree can be stored for a day or two in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Combine the puree with the rest of the ingredients just before serving.
firecat: red panda, winking (Default)
[personal profile] firecat
This is an ~30-minute episode of a Vox podcast called “Today Explained.” There is a transcript.

”How fan fiction went mainstream: The community that underpins Heated Rivalry, explained” by Danielle Hewitt and Noel King

It’s a pretty good intro to fanfic and how it’s become something publishers and creators of TV/movies pay attention to. They interview Francesca Kappa, a co-founder of the Organization for Transformative Works, which created AO3.

Things I learned and some bits I liked:
  • AO3 was created in part to prevent commodification of fanfiction and the social connections it facilitates.
  • “one of the projects that I worked on in the early days of the OTW organization for transformative works was that we were being contacted by women in their 70s and 80s who were like having to move in with their kids or going into nursing homes and they had like 3,000 fan fiction zines.”
  • It was claimed that AO3 is “much bigger than Wikipedia.” I’m not sure what metrics they’re using to come up with that.
  • [AO3 is] “structurally unenshittifiable” because “we don’t have customers and we’re not a business.”
  • (Discussing copyright) “it would have been terrible if Shakespeare had to, like, negotiate with Netflix for the right to Hamlet and then didn't get it. Like, that's the world we live in, right? We're like, Netflix owns Hamlet, it has a five-year option, Shakespeare really has a great idea for it, but like, no, I'm really sorry because JJ. Abrams is going to do Hamlet.”
    (I need to know which circle of Hell shows JJ Abrams’s Hamlet on repeat, because I really want to avoid it.)

Speak Up Saturday

Apr. 11th, 2026 03:34 pm
feurioo: (Default)
[personal profile] feurioo posting in [community profile] tv_talk
Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

Chemy Card Spring Silly!!

NSFW Apr. 11th, 2026 01:30 pm
precuretokumod: (Default)
[personal profile] precuretokumod posting in [community profile] fandomcalendar
( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Just One Thing (11 April 2026)

Apr. 11th, 2026 02:02 pm
nanila: me (Default)
[personal profile] nanila posting in [community profile] awesomeers
It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

Whatcha Reading? April 2026, Part One

Apr. 11th, 2026 07:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Cozy seat in beautiful backyard flower gardenHey there! It’s April! Here’s what we’re reading right now:

Carrie: I’m reading Call Me Traitor by Everina Maxwell ( A | BN | K | AB ) – it is SO GOOD.

Lara: I’m reading Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan. ( A | BN | K | AB ) There is a teeny tiny niche of ‘Fae’ books that I enjoy and I think this book might fall into that niche! So far the writing is just excellent. There’ll be a full review around publication date.

Elyse: I’m reading Thistlemarch too!

Amanda: I’m between books right now. My latest game board prompt is to read a fantasy or sci-fi romance, so I’m exploring my options and having some trouble nailing things down. I’ve started and stopped a couple things so far.

The Lady and the Orc
A | BN
I’m sticking with The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn. Was certainly not aware there’s a breeding kink thing going on, but alas.

It gives me Radiance by Grace Draven vibes but darker. There isn’t a mutual attraction at first and there are lots of cultural miscommunications. The conflict is very circular though and I have a feeling it’s going to be a book that could have been shorter.

Sarah: “I’m sticking with the Orc” makes me think of the old bumperstickers for Piggly Wiggly that read I’m Stickin’ with the Pig. Also hi from the non sequitur department.

I’m reading The Last Lady B ( A | BN | K | AB ) and I am honestly not sure what to make of it.

Susan: I’m reading the first volume of The Fiancée Chosen By The Ring, ( A | BN | K | AB ) where the inciting incident is the love interest telling his sister he was going to yeet a ring into the crowd and marry the lady it ended up with. He then nails the protagonist right between the eyes with it.

Beguiling the Beauty
A | BN | K | AB
Lara: I want to add that for the long weekend we just had, I undertook an excellent reading project: I read the Fitzhugh Trilogy by Sherry Thomas in one go. No blurbs, no pauses. It read like a family saga with all three stories intertwined and I had an absolutely marvellous time! Highly recommend!

Claudia: It’s so good…

Shana: I’m reading Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )

Sarah: I love that series, so, so much. The audiobooks are narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and they are exquisite.

Whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!

Less than a day to sign up!

Apr. 10th, 2026 11:03 pm
longficmod: Photo of a woman tying a running shoe (Default)
[personal profile] longficmod posting in [community profile] fandom5k
We have a little under 23 hours to go for signups! Here's a countdown.

As a reminder, your signup requests must include at least 3 different unique fandom tags, and your offers must include at least 4 different unique fandom tags. You can repeat fandoms if you want to select different tag combinations in multiple signups slots, but you do still need to make that uniqueness minimum. I've reached out to a couple of people as a heads-up and will check again after signups close.

To help matching go smoothly, you might want to check the requests and see if your offers can match to at least one recipient.

Finally, I've approved all submitted tags to this point except for Twilight Series - All Media Types, as mentioned last post. Nominator, please specify whether you want the books or the movies. We do have some book relationships already in the tagset.

If you're still thinking of nominations, make sure you submit them right away! I'll be checking in occasionally until signups close, but I may not get to them in time for you to add to your signup.

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lunasariel

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