sage: image of the word "create" in orange on a white background. (create)
Last confirmed: October 14, 2025.

So I don't have to keep rewriting this for every fic exchange. (Note: this will continue to evolve over time.)

On My Loves & DNWs )
sage: close-cropped photo of polar bear holding its right front paw over its face. (facepalm)
books
still reading Babylonia by Constanza Casati...which means I'm actually glued to the news instead of reading fiction. Oops? I mean, I grew up in Houston & I live in a city that's fully two thirds Latino. There's a lot to have concerns about atm.

rl & floods
I was supposed to be traveling for family having surgery this Friday, but Texas is experiencing torrential rains and floods. We had 2 very minor, weak tornadoes in the city in two days, the second one this morning, and people are FREAKING out. Anyway, the surgery has been postponed, so I don't have to figure out how to drive over washed out bridges in middle-of-nowhere, Texas Hill Country. Yay? Yay.

Lestat
Due to scheduling conflicts, I still haven't seen Sunday's ep yet. I have been avoiding Tumblr & am so far unspoiled. :crosses fingers:

yarning
Slept too late for yarn group AGAIN, sooo I didn't go. Again. We'll see how this weekend pans out. Meanwhile, the commissioned cat stitch scarf should have been delivered today; I hope the customer's daughter likes it.

healthcrap
Didn't wake up today until 1:22pm. Got an allergy shot & hit 2 pharmacies yesterday. Fun times...

oppossum
due to the EPIC rains, I haven't actually gone out to check if it's still living in my laundry room. I mean, it's pouring. I'm hoping the possum's gone & the group of black panther stray cats that live in my backyard are hanging out in there instead.

#resist
July 17-19: Teach, Reach, Preach: Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action.

I hope you're all doing beautifully and staying safe! <333
sage: the words "We the People" in purple on a white field with a crowd of protesters in silhouette below. (We The People)
books
America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin. 2025. FINALLY finished, though I skipped the notes bc I was just done with the book. It's a very thorough and sharply critical history of the Americas, and I loved the first half. The second half is mostly a deep dive into intra-hemispheric politics, most of which I've already studied in detail. I do wish it had started BEFORE the Conquest, rather than at it, but the book's 768 pages as it is.

Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan. 2026. Started reading just before the Independence Day weekend and just now finished. A chore to read, tbh, bc there's so much orange menace in it, and I hate him. But it confirms gvt by the inept following a plan framed by the vicious. I have been angry at H&S for sitting on so much of this info for up to 3 years, rather than releasing it to the public. But the timing now is good. It's fresh in voters' minds for the midterms. And we certainly won't have an impeachment before the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd.

iwtv 3.5/tvl 1.5
Holy shit. This show is SO GOOD.

yarning
The cat scarf halves are stitched together & now I only have to weave in five million ends before mailing it out Friday. Didn't make yarn group again bc I slept too late. Stupid sleep disorder.

healthcrap
allergy shot yesterday. I need to remember to make a mammogram appt, though. Also, pain clinic appt. Oops.

wildlife
There's a(n o)possum living in my back porch laundry room. I don't know if it's a nesting female or not. It had diarrhea on top of my washer lid. Which is dried on and vile. (Cleaning it up is my project for maybe tomorrow.) I replaced the burned out light bulb today (and left it on) and left the door open, so maybe it'll vacate the premises on its own. I can call maintenance about relocating it. I just haven't yet. I thought about bombing it with peppermint or something, but peppermint is toxic to cats, and the stray cats use the laundry room for shelter in the winter, so that would suck for them.

#resist
? (I'm still waiting to see an announcement of a new march. Granted, it's hotter than hell, so maybe that's the delay? IDEK.)

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: image of the word "create" in orange on a white background. (create)
books
still reading this enormously long book: America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin. 2025. It's good, but imo it should have been split in half. I'm impatient to skip ahead to Regime Change, which I might just do anyway. Hmm.

iwtv 3.4/the vampire lestat 1.4
SUCH a wild ep! No spoilers, but I loved it. Definitely put me in the mood to watch Velvet Goldmine again.

yarning
The cat breeder who commissioned the catnip-silvervine flag balls gave me a glowing review, yay! I'm currently working on a catstitch scarf in blue, white, and gray (now that the blue yarn FINALLY arrived), and I've chosen colors for the current pregnant Kitten Academy momcat, who is still giantly pregnant. She's a stripey Siamese mix with blue eyes, so she's getting a blue bunny.

healthcrap
My lovely Arab endocrinologist is moving to Canada, lucky guy, and his replacement will be a Russian woman. He totally contradicted my allergy NP & told me that asthma inhalers DO in fact worsen osteoporosis. Fabulous. :((( Speaking of, I got an allergy shot yesterday & I have telehealth with them tomorrow. Dad's skin cancer surgery is in just over 2 weeks, and he wants me there for it, so somehow I'm going to have to get up early again. I'm lucky to be up by 12:30pm these days, though I'm getting between 8 & 11 hrs sleep. Stupid sleep disorder. Grrr.

astrology
Mercury is retrograde. Very curious how the Mars-Uranus conjunction on July 4th will roll out.

#resist
I haven't seen any new protests organized, damn it.

I hope you're all doing well! If you're within, or trapped between the two US heat domes, or in the European one, please stay cool. Put a beach towel on the couch to preserve your upholstery from your sweat, live under a fan & keep putting ice-cold things into your body. And if your an antipodean, I hope you're staying warm and toasty. <333
sage: two polar bears embracing (bear hug original)
books
still reading: America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin. 2025. Fantastic book so far. Next up is Regime Change by Haberman & Swan, though I'm pissed at the NYT for holding all this info for a book rather than releasing it to the public where it could be used to impeach the orange menace. May he live to be convicted of war crimes.

yarning
got the brown and gray bunny in the mail on Monday. Redid all the stars yesterday and am starting getting them stitched onto the flag balls. Have a commission for a cat scarf where the third color of yarn won't arrive til Monday. Haven't gone back to yarn group since that one time, doh.

healthcrap
my sleep cycle is SO BORKED. I'm so frustrated. Gotta get up before noon tomorrow for an endocrinology visit. Labs look pretty good, so it should be quick. He's gonna tell me to exercise more, and I'm going to pretend to say yes. SIGH. (It's too fucking hot.)

music
So, I was watching the Opening of the Obama Center & wriggling around in all the great music, and suddenly, I noticed that I had music playing in my head. There hadn't been music in my head since Prince or Bowie died. It's been a long time. But, thank you Stevie Wonder for giving me back my inner tunes.

media
this past week I watched the old old movie Sneakers, which I last saw in the theater, and what a cast. Also saw The Vampire Lestat/IWTV 3.3, and holy shit. No spoilers, but it is beyond amazing.

astrology
Mercury stations retrograde on June 29 and stations direct on July 23. And on July 4th,
Mars and Uranus are conjunct in 2* of Gemini, a thing that only happens in things like the American Revolution, the US Civil War, WW2, etc. So, uh, I have concerns.

#resist
June 27: All of Us 250, organized by Get Free, a #50501 affiliated project.

I hope you're all doing well, staying cool if it's sweltering out, and staying toasty if it's cold. Take good care of yourselves, y'all. <333
sage: close up of a slice of lemon held up against the sky, dripping (season: summer)
books
How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America by Heather Cox Richardson. 2020, I think. Really good. I hadn't realized the Indian Wars in the West during the Civil War were happening to enforce enslavement of Native Americans, such hypocrisy.

Mother of the World: The Remarkable History of Turkmenistan by Olivier Hein. 2026. ARC. Terribly judgy at times, but I learned a great deal. Now I want a BETTER book about Margiana and Merv.

yarning
I am struggling with the stars on my flag balls. :((( And I need to start the bunny commission.

healthcrap
Went to get an allergy shot today now that I'm finally feeling a little better, and they've expanded their office! Yay! Learned a while back that the vertigo I was having was a direct side effect of the xylitol I've been taking at bedtime for dry mouth. Good to know the vertigo fades in about 2 weeks.

#resist
June 27: No Kings Day: All of Us!

Tomorrow it's supposed to be 99F with a heat index of around 115. Gah. I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: A white man with long blond hair looks hopefully to his left (iwtv: lestat)
I have watched The Vampire Lestat ep 1 & it was SO FREAKING GOOD, omg! I haven't been on Tumblr in the last few weeks, so I have no idea how the fandom responded, but I loved it. Looking forward to the new ep Sunday. (I need to make a new icon.)

books
Dark Olympus #10: Shattered Gods by Katee Robert. 2026. Kind of a disappointing end to the series, tbh.

The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government by Barbara McQuade. 2026. Rather long, but a thorough manifesto of things that need to be fixed.

1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World by Liaquat Ahamed. 2026. Not as accessible as I'd hoped. Also, far more Euro-focused than I'd hoped.

yarning
I have a commission for seven US flag catnip-silvervine balls and I am so blocked. There's no excuse for this, except ADHD and chronic pain. (Drat.) And today I got a commission from my cousin for another bunny. Gotta do the balls first. Sigh.

healthcrap
2 nights in a row now without taking (1mg) melatonin and still sleeping at a semi-reasonable hour. I had slightly more energy today. I'm ready to start feeling better any minute now?

#resist
June 14: Anti-Trump concerts across the country.
June 27: protests

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: the words "We the People" in purple on a white field with a crowd of protesters in silhouette below. (We The People)
books
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann. 2011 edition. I learned so much from this despite having a degree in Latin American studies, largely because the research has evolved a lot in the many years since I graduated.

Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History by Linford D. Fisher. 2026. ESSENTIAL READING! A legit tour de force. A++ (I am pretty well-educated, but I didn't learn ANY of this in high school or university, and that's a literal crying shame.) Please read, US-ians!

currently reading: The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government by Barbara McQuade. 2026.

yarning
Didn't go to yarn group this week. Am still working on the 2 bunnies. Got a commission for seven US flag catnip silvervine balls.

healthcrap
woke with migraine today. Vertigo is back with a vengeance. Left hand still hurts so much. Have used 1mg melatonin for 4 nights now.

#resist
June 14: Rise Up, Sing Out: No Kings 5

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: a library with a spiral staircase (books)
books: Allchin et al, Wells, Weissmann, Vo x 3, El Sayed )

media
so I watched Good Omens 3 via a source that will give no money to that fucking serial rapist Neil Gaiman. And it was okay in places and really weird in others. The ending was sweet? It's just a very bittersweet feeling, though, given all the givens. We should have had another 6 eps, we should have ethical creators. Also, I want vastly more Tennant and Sheen, but this time without a sex offender involved.

Texas Primary Runoff
I was stuck at home all afternoon yesterday waiting for a medication delivery, and THEN it rained torrentially, so I didn't vote in the Dem runoff for AG, Lt Gov, and 4 more downballot races. I didn't have super strong opinions on the candidates, so I'm only somewhat annoyed that I messed up and arranged the delivery for today. I'm looking forward to voting in November, though.

yarning
Yay and Hooray!!! I went to yarn group for the first time since January!! It was SO GOOD to be among real life lovely chatty sweet humans again. It was the first time I've left my house NOT to go to the grocery store or a doctor's appt in over four months, and it was wonderful. Also, while there, I installed a zipper into a bunny in less than half the time it usually takes me. (No idea how!) But I have a commission for 2 bunnies this week, so that's what I'm working on. Also, with The Vampire Lestat/IWTV season 3 coming on June 7, I need to start planning for S3 dolls! Ack! (Assuming my hands cooperate. Hrm.)

healthcrap
I had a realization. For reasons that made sense at the time, I stopped taking L. Rhamnosus GG (20 billion CFU) a couple of months ago and grew progressively more miserably in pain. Last weekend, though, I researched it and learned that it's a powerful anti-inflammatory, in addition to the gut stuff it helps with. So I've started taking it again. Hopefully it won't take long to work. It's also time to take a break from Rhodiola and resume Adderall, so hello insomnia week. Left hand is still somewhat borked, but movement appears to help.

#resist
June 27: No Kings 5, #50501.

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: a library with a spiral staircase (library)
books (Mukherjee, Davis, Mukherjee, Vo, Vo, Vo, Chan, Vo) )

yarning
Got the cat-shaped ornaments in the mail. Still working on the bunny commission. My hands are so out of shape/in arthritic and tendonditic pain. I'm so slow.

healthcrap
3 doc appts in the past week. Psych is moving away, leaving me in limbo til September (I have meds). I'm so tired, still. My folate levels are super high (B12 is normal), so I'm off vitamins and trying to limit my dietary folate in hopes that will make me feel better. But my whole diet was high-folate food. /frustrated. Anyway, I'm supposed to resume allergy shots, which I do not want to do with gas prices this high. Sigh.

#resist
June 27: No Kings 5, or whatever #50501 is calling it this time. I'm so furious at the regime.

I hope you're all doing well! Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend if this applies to you! <333
sage: a closeup profile head shot of Murderbot (murderbot 2)
books (Wells x 11, Condemi & Savatier, Wyman, Mukherjee, Chakraborty) )

healthcrap
Left hand is so borked. Allergies are worse than ever. Still not resting.

yarning
some lovely someone bought out nearly all my remaining cat-shaped ornaments today. And another lovely someone commissioned a purple bunny. I've rested the hand for a month, so maybe I can do this.

#resist
June 27: the next #50501 protest

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: a closeup profile head shot of Murderbot (murderbot 2)
books
The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 3: (I'm interspersing the Jeeves & Wooster novels with the rest of what I'm reading.)
Ring for Jeeves (1953). OMG such idiots. Not even Jeeves can redeem this. (I kind of despise gambling, sorry?)
The Mating Season (1949). Delightful beginning. Tedious middle (Bertie, you ass). Good, if brief ending.
Very Good, Jeeves! (1930). More vintage, not historical, Jeeves and Wooster. This is a collection of short stories, most very charming.

Wyndham & Banerjee #1: A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee. 2016. Really satisfying in terms of setting: the colonial India is vivid and fascinating. The plot is kind of a mess, complete with monologing villain. But I'll read the next one happily.

The Wild Atlantic Murders #1: The Clew Bay Detectives by Pam Lecky. 2026. ARC. gah )

Wyndham & Banerjee #2: A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee. 2017. I love the setting so much! There was a bit more literal running back and forth than was completely necessary here, and the opium subplot is appropriately skeevy, but I loved all the women and really appreciated the ending. Looking forward to the next one.

Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From by Tony Joseph. 2018. Brilliant, if very slightly outdated wrt the prehistoric DNA research.

Wyndham & Banerjee #3: Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee. 2018. So good!! Nearly a perfect novel.

next up: rereading all of Murderbot bc I don't remember where things left off before Rapport.

healthcrap
Wrapped the wrist-thumb joint in kinesio tape, since I can't find where I put the thumb brace. Fibro is flaring & I'm way too sore. Still sleeping 12 hrs a night and not resting. /impatient to feel better.

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: The text no kings with a crossed out crown on a yellow background. (No Kings)
books
The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 2:
Right Ho, Jeeves: skipped bc I just read it in another volume.
Joy in the Morning: 1947. Eh. Not his best work.
Carry On, Jeeves: 1925. MY FAVORITE! SO GOOD!

The Best Kind of American: A True Story of Murder, War, and America's Undoing in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas. 2026. ARC. Read twice so I could write a coherent review. This book is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an extraordinary journey covering the last 50-ish years in the Middle East, from the Carter Administration to the current Trump regime. Structured around the murder of Malcolm Kerr, the president of American University Beirut, by Iranian-controlled assassins, and the story of his family, it explores a wildly complicated conflict centered on Lebanon, but involving Israel, Iran, Syria, France, the US, Germany, and others. Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and various splinter groups are contextualized in their struggle against Israeli and Western powers. Most importantly, Ghattas is unbiased, putting blame where it's due in all corners. Contains multiple murders, kidnappings, hijackings, and episodes of torture -- war on many levels -- but also the search for justice through the courts for the Kerr family. Highly recommended.

The Cloak and Its Wizard by R.Z. Nicolet. 2026. Magical sentient cloak chooses a middle-aged female neurosurgeon as its new wearer. I did not see the superheroes coming and thus did not care...until suddenly I did. The last half of the novel is pretty great, but it takes a bit to get rolling.

Israel: What Went Wrong? by Omer Bartov. 2026. Excellent contextualization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1948 through the cease fire of late last year. Includes the October 7 attacks & Israel's retaliation. Goes into Israel's lack of a constitution and the consequences of that. Discusses the charges of apartheid, brought by South Africa, against Israel in the International Criminal Court. Finally, suggests 4 different plans for peace between Israel and Palestine. My opinion: Israel desperately needs a constitution, and Bibi desperately needs to spend the rest of his life in prison for war crimes. Which aligns me with Israeli leftists. This is a grim book, but it's relatively short. There's a bibliography, but no notes.

currently reading: The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 3: The Mating Season (1949) / Ring for Jeeves (1953) / Very Good, Jeeves! (1930).

healthcrap
left hand + wrist still hurt a great deal, so no yarning. Didn't go to yarn group. Have been sleeping really a lot and not getting up until way too late, despite four alarms. Replaced coffee with tea. Sleep disorders suck.

astrology
full moon in Scorpio this Friday just as the protests are kicking off. Later in the day, Mercury conjoins Chiron in Aries. An apt time for airing grievances. A bit more potential for violence than I'm entirely happy with, but I'm hoping for the best.

#resist
May 1: No Kings 4!

I hope all of you are doing well! <333
sage: close up of a red poppy (season: spring)
The Vampire Lestat new trailer


gnu MinoanMiss/Rubynye
update on Ny's cause of death: she had an asymptomatic covid infection, which caused the heart attacks, which caused the brain edema.
Covid: Speaking Out About Rubynye (1268 words) by werpiper
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Original Work, Public Health - Fandom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Me | Fanwork Creator(s), Rubynye
Additional Tags: COVID-19, Death
Summary:

Dearly loved fandom artist and author Rubynye died of covid, at age fifty.

She was a precious friend to me, and I talked about this at a memorial held for her online six weeks after. These are my notes.

GNU Ny.



books (Cline, Cline, Jackson Bennett, Puhak, Kingfisher, Wodehouse) )

yarning
2 kickbunny orders! one green and one gray. Discovered late Saturday that I didn't have enough light green or enough gray yarn to finish either bunny. I got the green at walmart, but I had to order the gray from Amazon. (Evil empires either way, but cheaper than any other option.) Still putting them together, slower than usual, due to busted thumb.

healthcrap
Tendinosis in my left thumb again, from distal all the way to the wrist. Really super annoying. Almost as annoying as going to the allergist for a shot and being denied one because I'm having to use albuterol with my symbicort at night to stop me from coughing all night. And there was no earlier appt for me to move mine to (a month out), so I guess I'm not getting back to maintenance dose after all. She did prescribe me some nasal antihistamine I forget the name of, and they're delivering it, so I don't have to drive all the way over there again. SIGH.

astrology )

#resist
May 1: No Kings 4: the general strike

I hope all of you are doing well! Happy Earth Day! I hope y'all can enjoy a bit of nature today! <333
sage: two polar bears embracing (bear hug original)
gnu MinoanMiss/Rubynye/Ny
The memorial was so lovely. I cried a lot. I miss her so much.

books
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer. 2006. Imperialism is so gross.

The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles & Their Secret World War by Stephen Kinzer. 2013. These guys were such jackasses. I only knew about their Latin American horrors, not the rest of it.

Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. 1934. My Wodehouse is all over the place and I didn't keep track of what I read when, so I'm rereading. This was cute and fast-paced.

The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 1 by P.G. Wodehouse.
Thank You, Jeeves: Really pissed off at Bertie's repeated "n-word minstrels", and the disaster blackface, augh, though Jeeves at least uses "negro." SIGH. I guess it was 1934, but GAH.
The Code of the Woosters: a bit tedious. Needed more Dahlia. 1937.
The Inimitable Jeeves: Needed more Jeeves and less gambling. 1923.

healthcrap
Had an allergy shot Monday and I need one more to get back on maintenance after falling behind.

taxes
I tried twice today to free-file my taxes, only to get to the end of the long long long process and have then say, no, this isn't free after all. So I paid a semi-random amount and got an extension. I think I got an extension. Did I get an extension? Now I need to double check. Gah.

#resist
May 1: No Kings 4

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: the words "We the People" in purple on a white field with a crowd of protesters in silhouette below. (We The People)
gnu MinoanMiss/RubyNye's Online Memorial
Go here to sign up & get the zoom link to Ny's Memorial for this Sunday, April 12th at 1pm EDT. I'll be there & I hope you will, too.

books
The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East by Andrew Scott Cooper. 2011. Edition with the 2015 preface. Not great, but some interesting details of the Nixon-Ford years.

The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran by Andrew Scott Cooper. 2016. Utterly misleading title. By and large, this is NOT HISTORY. This is a fawning, one-sided biography of the Pahlavi family. I mean, I'm sympathetic to Farah and the kids, but there's no need to write an apologia for the shah's actions. :(((

Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy: Strategic Interests, Power and Influence by Ross Harrison. 2025. I'm just sitting here wondering what it would be like to have a president who's smart enough to read books like this one. It's been a while.

currently reading: Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer. 2006. Imperialism is so gross.

yarning
Made the mushroom. Got the blue bunny put together and both in the mail. Waiting for more sales. Need to resume social media self-plugging. Here's something cute: Kitten Academy kittens doing a Statler & Waldorf on their mother's kickbunny:
Image

healthcrap
Had Botox for migraines Friday. Usual doc wasn't there, and I couldn't recall the alterations we make to the standard protocol, so we'll see how this round works in their absence. Major cold front with torrential rain came in Friday night and knocked me flat for days. Had a much belated allergy shot Monday, which knocked me flat again.

#resist
I am utterly furious at the orange menace, Netanyahu, and their toadies.
May 1: No Kings 4 + general strike.

#astrology
Mars enters Aries on May 10, completing a major traffic jam of planets in Aries, sign of war, which has me exceptionally worried. Praying for peace.

I hope all of y'all are doing well and staying safe and sane and healthy. <333
sage: a white coffee cup full of roasted coffee beans (coffee)
books
+ Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East by Amanda H. Podany. 2022. So very thorough, determined to give women equal focus, and surprisingly granular, given the subject.
+ Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher. 2026. Horror. TW massive body horror, insects.
~ The Silk Road: A New History by Valerie Hansen. 2012. Hard to rate this. Hansen chooses only one of the several overland "silk roads" to research and does some solid scholarship about it. However, she draws general and highly questionable conclusions about ALL of the silk roads from her single study.
+ America and Iran: A History 1720 to the Present by John Ghazvinian. 2020. Outstanding! The best contextualization of the US-Iran relationship I've ever read. I only wish it included an appendix covering the last six years since publication. Highly recommended.

yarning
Got an order for a bunny, a heart, and a mushroom, which I finished today. Also got an order for a different bunny and a different mushroom, which I'll start on tonight. Got the dinosaur for nibling in the mail.
Image

healthcrap
I successfully got my health coverage renewed for a full year, instead of the mere four months it was, initially & inexplicably, set for. Got my second shingles shot Friday. Got meds refilled & resumed the one I had totally run out of, doh. Got hit by ALL the shingles shot side effects, which is like a bad case of the flu (worse than covid). So not fun, but good to have it finished for life. Botox for migraines this coming Friday. Generally feeling somewhat better.

#resist
I hope some (many?) of you were able to march Saturday for No Kings Day 3.
+ April 5: General Strike
+ May 1: General Strike. (https://generalstrikeus.com/)

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: two polar bears embracing (bear hug original)
gnu Ny
[personal profile] minoanmiss/[tumblr.com profile] rubynye's obituary is here.

The GoFundMe for Ny's burial costs is 88% funded at this writing. Please help get it to 100% if you can spare a few $$.

books
- A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell #10). 2026. Dracula. Utterly ridiculous. Also: 2 books about evil gays in a row, WTF!? :(((
~ Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (Vera Wong #1) by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Cute, though the ending is so slapdash.
~ The Crow Moon (Crow Investigations #10) by Sarah Painter. 2026. The end of the series.
+ King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution—A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson. 2025. The US is so very bad at dealing with Iran.
currently reading: Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East by Amanda H. Podany. 2022.

Iran war
I am so very pissed off at: the Trump Administration, the Netanyahu regime, and the Iranian clerical regime. I've read SO MANY books on Iran and its culture, pre-Revolution. This is not how effective regime change works.

yarning
Missed yarn group yet again, though I was dressed and ready to go. Just couldn't get out the door. Made an ADORABLE tarbasaurus for my cousin's son's third bday. Made 3 catnip-silvervine snakes to restock the shop. Sold the brown and tan kickbunny (finally), which I need to arrange pickup for.

healthcrap
The vertigo is much better, which makes me think it was a viral inner ear thing. My sleep is shattered. I've been sleeping til noon, despite turning the light out at ten. Healthcare renewal appt #2 is tomorrow afternoon.

#resist
Mar 28: No Kings Protest #3
Never start a land war in Asia.
RIP Robert Mueller.

I hope you're all doing well! <333
sage: close up of a red poppy (season: spring)
EDITED TO ADD: The GoFundMe to support MinoanMiss/RubyNye's burial/memorial costs is here.

books
A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn. 2020. Kinky London again.
An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6). 2021. Mountaineering.
An Impossible Impostor (Veronica Speedwell #7). 2022. Return of Martin Guerre. Too much romance by far.
A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell #8). 2023. Dinosaur house party. Too much romance, still.
A Grave Robbery (Veronica Speedwell #9). 2024. Evil lesbian Dr Frankenstein. *sigh*
currently reading: A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell #10). 2026. Dracula.

yarning
Sold a snek, a turkey leg, and 2 mushrooms. Got the carrots and kickbunny to KA in the mail (and worked out Click-n-Ship after USPS disabled my old login info). Didn't go to yarn group, even though I was dressed and ready. A strong cold front was on the verge of coming in and I just felt bad. So that's five in a row that I've missed, doh. I did post some pics to the group chat, so they know I'm still involved.

media
The free Importance of Being Earnest is expiring this evening. REALLY fun! <333

healthcrap
I finally called to renew my healthcare coverage, and there are delays on their end, thanks to their new system. Had to reschedule botox for migraines until next month.

#resist
+ Check locally for anti-war protests. I'm finding Reddit and Instagram to be fairly good sources if you check often.
+ March 28: #50501 No Kings Protest #3

astrology
Mercury Retrograde ends on the 20th, the same day as the Equinox (yay SPRING)! OTOH, the last time that all the outer planets were in their current positions, we were in the US Civil War. That doesn't mean we're headed into a new civil war by any means, obvsly, but it's a pretty dreadful interesting time in the skies.

I hope all of you are doing well! <333
sage: painting of the front window of a bookstore (bookstore front)
books (Ghattas, Raybourn) )

yarning
Made and sent 2 catnip-silvervine hearts (to the same customer who has ordered about nine of them now). Missed yarn group due to cold, torrential rain, and DST. Made and sent 2 multicolored kickbunnies. Finished the turquoise kickbunny for kitten academy's current momcat (her kittens are 2 weeks old and adorable!), but haven't gone to the post office yet. Continued Easter carrots after messaging the customer to confirm the number and cost (so stressful!). Now they just need smiles and hanging loops.

healthcrap
I loathe springing forward. Still can't get up at a decent hour. Daytime vertigo is now coming randomly. In the night, it's mostly connected to lying in bed/rolling over/getting up to go to the bathroom. Fun times. I do feel a bit better overall. I got all my healthcare coverage renewal info uploaded and am impatiently awaiting a telephone appt. Tongue still has a hole in it, but it's shallower than it was and is slowly healing...if I can just keep from biting it. Had to start a new tube of benzocaine.

#resist
+ Check locally for anti-war protests. I'm finding Reddit and Instagram to be fairly good sources if you check often. (Last Saturday was a national protest, but I didn't know about it until just a couple of hours beforehand. Doh!)
+ March 28: #50501 No Kings Protest #3

Thanks for the kind comments on recent posts. I've been terrible at replies. I hope you're all doing well! <333

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my read shelf:
sage's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)




Witchgrass


Something
comes into the world unwelcome
calling disorder, disorder—

If you hate me so much
don’t bother to give me
a name: do you need
one more slur
in your language, another
way to blame
one tribe for everything—

as we both know,
if you worship
one god, you only need
One enemy—

I’m not the enemy.
Only a ruse to ignore
what you see happening
right here in this bed,
a little paradigm
of failure. One of your precious flowers
dies here almost every day
and you can’t rest until
you attack the cause, meaning
whatever is left, whatever
happens to be sturdier
than your personal passion—

It was not meant
to last forever in the real world.
But why admit that, when you can go on
doing what you always do,
mourning and laying blame,
always the two together.

I don’t need your praise
to survive. I was here first,
before you were here, before
you ever planted a garden.
And I’ll be here when only the sun and moon
are left, and the sea, and the wide field.

I will constitute the field.


—Louise Glück
from The Wild Iris, 1992








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