I had fun at WWS (even with my internet being a bit flakey)!
The Vidshow was really fun and I think my vids went over well! There was a nice comment about my song choices (I wish I had a good technique on finding songs - my process tend to involve a lot of staring at my iTunes library and listening to my iPod on shuffle in hopes of finding something that fits, asking people for suggestions, and a bunch of metaphorical flailing around).
Vid Review was neat and I really liked Kandy Fong's panel about early fanvids! It was so cool to see a bunch of older vids and It was especially neat to see one of Judith Chien's early ones!
(As a side note, the mention of Katharine Scarritt made me think of her Susan/Talia vid Ice and made me want to try and track down more info about VCR era f/f vids. From what I've read, apparently the Xena fandom was making them, but most(all?) of the non digital ones have been lost to time and there wasn't a ton of fannish crossover with other live action media fandoms/conventions at the time.)
There was a bunch of panels I didn't make it to that I'm going to check out the recordings/notes of!
BUFFY: I just—(sighs) if you knew what I've done, what I've let myself become. My best friends don't even—You'd laugh, you heard some of the things I've done to them.
HOLDEN:(sits on nearby headstone) Buffy, I'm here to kill you, not to judge you.
Around 3pm I went for a brief walk around the block - which took me to a Bengali/Pakistani Halalia Grocery Store, where I bought Kidney Beans, and chocolate (because I'm ceiliac and couldn't buy anything else, also on a plant-based diet).
Then to Lofty Pigeons Book Store - where I browsed and bought three books. (It has a new writer's group meeting there at 6:30pm on 7/20 which is tempting, but I've not had much luck with amateur writer's groups? College writer's groups - yes, worked well. But you really need a professional teacher/writer moderating them in class format or they kind of fall apart.) ( book store antics )
Books that I acquired?
* VE Schwab's Vicious (which I've been eyeing for a while now. Schwab is odd - the author's name is in huge print, the title of the book in small print, you'd think it would be the opposite?)
* "Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett" - (the author of Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries)
* "Dominion : the Silk and Iron Trilogy - Book One" by Jean Kwok" (it's a pretty book and well, rec'd by Illona Andrews...it's Asian folklore/myth featuring Tiger riders.)
I'm wondering about people on social media platforms like Twitter and Book Instagram? They keep asking things like... ( Read more... ) Where do these people live?
** Today was lovely in comparison to the last five days? It was in the low 80sF, nice breeze, air quality at or around 69/71, no smoke visible in the air, blue sky, some clouds, clear.
Considering yesterday, portions of the city (not my area - I'm in an elevated area with fairly decent and new gutters, and not near rivers, creeks or oceans) got flooded. It rarely gets flooded any longer in my area. But Soho was under water (it kind of deserves it? Should clarify? Soho used to be a cool part of the city, then it got gentrified by real estate developers and turned into franchises, and they didn't clean the gutters and improve the infrastructure around it), Queens was (it is always underwater - it has the worst infrastructure). We had lots of thunderstorms and downpours yesterday - cleared off today. Along with most of the smoke. ***
I did exercises this morning - Tai Chi walking with weights (basically knee lift marching while holding and lifting 8 pound bar bells). Leg lifts with weights (6 pound weights), and yoga moves with knees, arms, and legs.
***
Television
* Lucky has a good cast, only three episodes so far on Apple. Stars Ana Taylor-Joy, Annette Being, Timothy Olphant, and William Fichtner (a favorite character actor as the main villain). ( Read more... )
These things are always convoluted. I'd classify it as violent femme noir.
* Rams - starring Sam Neil and Michael Caton, also Miranda Richardson. ( Read more... )
***
Question a Day Meme - August
17. It’s World Emoji Day! Do you often use them? If you do, what do you use most?
Not really. If I use them - it's usually laughter or a smile. And usually text or FB (which has them readily accessible).
18. Today, World Listening Day was created to draw attention to the way humans need to be listening to the world around us, including environmental awareness, soundscapes and acoustic ecology. What can you hear right now?
The air purifiers, fan, AC, and refrigerator - basically white noise. I barely notice it. There's a soft breeze outside. And in the distance, a jet or airplane. Also my breath. Peaceful sounds. Comforting sounds. I have a peaceful apartment - where for the most part - it's relatively quiet. I can hear birds, crickets and cicadas. This is not easy to find in Brooklyn or New York City, and still be in close walking distance to pharmacy, subway, grocery stores, book stores, library, and parks.
Oh as an aside? People keep saying that audio books count as reading? No. You aren't reading an audio book. You are listening to the book. ( Read more... )
19. 1922 American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller was the first to break the 1-minute barrier for 100m freestyle; swims 58.6s at Alameda, CA. Have you ever seen him acting in the Tarzan films? Do you have a favourite actor who portrayed Tarzan in a film or on TV?
Yes. He was horrible. A great swimmer but a bad actor. This was a trend - they did the same thing with Esther Williams. Neither had any acting talent whatsoever, also I did not find him attractive. (I've seen a lot of old movies on television in my life time - they used to show them a lot in the 20th Century - and honestly, it was all that was on back then.)
Favorite actor as Tarzan? Oh, Alexander Skarsgard. in the Legend of Tarzan - by far the best of the Tarzans. And I've seen all of them.
Alexander Skarsgard is one of those actors that I follow around. I will watch in just about anything.
I just got a fraud notification from my credit card company, so I'm going to have to go through the whole business of replacing my credit card, and updating stored payment information, again.
I just put my other credit card in my wallet. I don't use it much, but right now I'm glad I have a backup.
ETA: I called the credit card company, and the fraudulent charge they caught and asked me about wasn't the first, but at least the fourth. The one they caught was from Walmart, and after the rep listed another Walmart charge, I told him that all charges at Walmart were fraudulent.
The original message said I'd be getting a new card in the mail, and the person on the phone said it would be arriving by UPS in 1-2 business days. I didn't ask him to expedite it, but am glad he's doing so.
📜 ✶ some redrawable moments from season 1 !! wanted to capture one of merthur’s first big encounters as well as experiment with the way i could draw them^^
Джеймс желал выйти из своего заточения так страстно, что согласился пойти за первым, кто влез к нему в башню. Возможно, он даже не пожалеет об этом решении. || AU Рапунцель
The area near Koretia's capital is made up of many pleasant towns. Pleasant, that is, if you make sure you visit them while armed.
If you would like to avoid having to duel Koretian men when you inadvertently cause them offense, your best choice is to visit the Town of Valouse. Alone among all the Koretian towns, Valouse bans duelling and other forms of private vengeance. The town's troubled history makes clear the reason for this ban.
[Translator's note: Last winter, as you may recall, I had to delay publication of Heir because of a concussion. This caused a problem with my release of "Tempestuous Tours," because I was due to release a section at that time about the Town of Valouse, and that section had major spoilers for "Heir." I ended up skipping releasing that section, as well as a couple of side tours, because my head was in no state to figure out what to do. So now I'm backtracking to some tours of southern Koretia and Daxis, before I continue with our tour of Emor.]
Summer meadows at Acton, near the Purbeck coast. A tiny village of old quarry workers cottages, set in a landscape of stone quarries and thin-soiled rectangular fields bounded by dry stone walls. I like setting off from Acton early. Before the inhabitants of the cottages are out and about, the village seems to belong entirely to the sparrows chirping from under the eaves, and to the swallows chattering as they swoop round the chimney pots.
Slept in late after a week of shorting myself of sleep, then took a while to get going. Caught up on chores around the house, then went shopping for a while. Had dinner at Bear & Wren in SLO, which was great: A relaxed vibe and excellent food. We both felt it was a place we'd like to take friends in the future.
Challenge 33: Decorations Deadline extension! Icons are now due Friday, July 24, 2026 at 10pm Pacific {new countdown timer⏰} By request, we can have some more time to enter. Three people have entered icons so far! 😊😎🙂 Entries for the challenge will be accepted until I make the final closing post.
Title: I Walk the Line Fandom: 暗处 | The Unseen Music: I Walk the Line by Halsey Summary: 'you give me cause for love that I can't hide' Notes: Premiered at World Wide Slash 2026! Warnings: flashing lights, strobing lights, violence
Title: 10K Author:enchanted_jae Characters/Pairing: Dee/Ryo Rating: PG Word count: 310 Written for: ♦ Birthday gift for ragnarok_08, who requested Dee/Ryo, surprise party ♦ dove_drabbles Prompt No. 153 - Small steps can still walk miles Warnings: None Summary: Congratulations are in order. Disclaimer: Characters are the property of Sanami Matoh, et al. This drabble/fic was written for fun, not for profit.
I recently read an article in a national geographic this past week about how terrible the dumping and waste of clothes can be in certain parts of the world. I always knew this was an issue - well not ALWAYS always, but probably at least the last 10 or so years I have had some knowledge on it. But reading the article and seeing the numbers really brought it more into light for me. I learned more about the textiles and how long it takes for them to decompose and better yet how much energy is needed to make such textiles. Our world and the people who live in it can be so wasteful... it's heartbreaking on so many ends. They mainly talked about the northern city in Chile, Atacama with it's large stretches' of landfills full of clothes, shoes and accessories. The article goes on to state that between years 2000 and 2014 production of clothing doubled and more than 60% of clothes were being bought than before, only wearing them for half as long as before. Some are lucky to recycle the clothing like turning it into yarn or stuffing for cushions. Some of the clothes gets taken in and cleaned up and resold to places that has a market for that. Those people who spend their lives doing that see joy in these discarded clothes and the thought of them selling them and giving them another chance is bittersweet. But the thought of how much clothing in general gets made and the energy, materials like water and co2 emissions that get used for so many of those clothes to just end up in dumps is terrible. I feel like the word terrible is an understatement.... Polyester for example when in landfills leaches out chemicals into the soil. To make one pair of jeans it takes 2,000 gallons of water... that is the same amount as drinking 8 cups of water a ay for 10 years! Hemp seems to be more earth friendly than the other textiles they mentioned. The countries who are part of the problem seem to turn a blind eye to it or just don't bother to educate themselves maybe. I wanted to write about this since it felt important and something I learned further on that I want to at least do my part not to make this a worse problem. I will keep repairing the clothes I have.
Books! (Cheaper, don't require equipment, and more readily available - also I have more control over the visuals).
2. Indoors or outdoors?
Indoors. It's why I live in a city and not in rural area.
3. Morning person or night owl?
Definitely not a morning person! I used to be a night owl, but work is forcing me to get up early and get to bed early....so...
4. Online messaging or physical letters?
Love online messaging for its immediacy and ability for back and forth in real time. That said? I miss letters.
5. Dragons or unicorns?
Dragons!
****
The rain was an allegedly dirty rain. I wouldn't know? I stayed indoors vegetating in front of the telly and doing random exercises.
Nor did it eliminate as much of the smoke as hoped? It's slightly better than before at 163 as opposed to 186.
The air purifiers, fan and A/C are on, and the windows closed.
I finished Rooster today. I loved the characters. Among the few things I've seen in which I like everybody. It also has some hilarious belly laugh moments. Steve Caroll is adorable in it, and I found it more relatable than expected? It takes place in a small liberal arts college during the fall. A best-selling author is asked to teach a creative writing course, while visiting as a guest lecturer in order to check on his daughter who is undergoing the breakup of her marriage.
Started Ride or Die on Prime. It's about a British assassin (Hannah W from Ted Lasso) and a Minister of Parliament's Wife (Octavia Butler) trying to figure out who targeted them, and what the latter's husband was up to, and who is tracking the former. Kind of odd-couple female buddy comedy? Both are in their 50s. I'm definitely the demographic for this? So enjoying it.
Flirting with and resisting the urge to watch Lee Cronin's The Mummy (I honestly think it would bother me and keep me up at night, so read the plot synopsis instead.) Still intrigued by it. My mind is curious about a child ending up mummified in a sarcophagus and why on Earth the parents would take her back home to wreck havoc and not leave her there to be investigated. [The difficulty with horror movies - is characters have to do insanely stupid things in order for the horror movie to actually work? Cronin's last film was Weapons.] I'm flirting with re-watching Jurassic Park for my Sam Neil fix. He is in other films...but the better ones are hard to get a hold of.
JOYCE: Faith. Why do you think she's like that?
BUFFY/FAITH: You know. She's a nut job. Heh.
JOYCE: I just don't understand what could drive a person to that kind of behavior.
BUFFY/FAITH: Well, how do you know she got drove? I mean, maybe she likes being that way.
JOYCE: I'll never believe that. I think she's horribly unhappy.
Fandom: Katekyou Hitman Reborn Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings Rating: T Tags: Medieval Fantasy AU, Inspired by The Lord of the Rings, Angst, Foreboding, Prophecy, Flower Symbolism, Food: A Sensory Experience Prompt: KHR Winter Remix 2026 Prompt #565: Make us all suffer based on LOTR denethor's infamous tomato scene Summary: Fuuta turns star-filled eyes upon his don and asks, “Do you believe you know better than the stars and Planet above?” Originally Posted: February 15, 2026 | Crossposted: July 18, 2026 Notes: Title is from Edge of Night, which is the song Pippin sings in the scene that inspired this fic. Crossposted to: Ao3 | Neocities
The towering iron in-laid doors close behind Xanxus with a deep, resounding boom that echoes through the silent marble hall. Don Vongola stands at the head of a long dining table, his fingertips pressed white against the wood, and a dark expression on his face. His last order still hanging in the air.
Fuuta’s pen creaks in his hand as black ink runs free across his page. Like a plague, it eats away at the curves and colors of floral prophecy, the Planet’s whispers of change and renewal and good fortune, he so carefully recorded at his don’s behest mere weeks ago. But now… even the golden colors of fortunella fruit sink into shadow.
A servant scuttles up to the table, places a platter of roasted fowl before the don, then ducks away without a sound.
With a sharp wave of his hand, the don’s robes flare back, and he takes his seat. He lifts the jug of wine and pours himself a glass. Glug. Glug. Glug, it goes until it licks the goblet’s brim, a tsunami held back by the grace of the gods above.
And the court around him says nothing. ( Read more... )
Semi-random offer: After reading Jeremy Faust's Inside Medicine newsletter for a couple of years, I signed up as a paid subscriber, which comes with five one-month premium memberships I can give away. It's a mix of health and medical news (on things like new treatments and medical AI) and political news and discussion related to medicine and healthcare. It's a teaser offer, of course, but without the cancel-or-be-charged problem of some free sign-ups.
If you're interested, comment or send me a DM with your email address. I'm screening comments on this entry.
A video recording was recovered during the investigation into the disappearances of Kris Dreemurr and Noelle Holiday. The exact events depicted cannot be properly explained.
Follows the journey of a man who start a small indie game development. Facing numerous challenges, from financial struggles to fierce industry competition, he leverage his creativity and resilience to create groundbreaking games. As his company, PixelPioneers, rises to prominence, he navigate the complexities of success, and innovation in the ever-evolving world of game development.
Warning: There's only like 15 things in here right now.
My fanart of Project Moon characters. Animations & speedpaints linked or as GIFS! - A few things: 1. Each chapter will likely be separated into different characters 2. Short description & thoughts each artwork 3. Main = (500px, ~px) 4. Art is ordered oldest to newest with dates. - I'll be using this to track my own growth. Feel free to make requests! Though, you shouldn't expect much. :,)
Raine received a mission to spy Kent Watsons. Little did she know this was Kent's plan all along.
Prompt from SoloBug1795 : I like the idea of rival spies or maybe contract killers? And the older/more experienced guy kidnaps/tricks the younger woman and takes her to his safe house, ties her up and has his way with her.
Title:second parts. Fandom: The Old Guard (Film). Character/Pairing: Andy/Quynh. Rating/Warnings: T, none. Summary: Femslash February prompt: 126 “I’m a lucky girl. I’ll admit that.” Word count: 100.
read more -
“I’m a lucky girl. I’ll admit that.” Quynh paced across the room. “I could’ve wasted away, but I held on just long enough. Back to the world. To you.”
Andy pressed against her shoulder wound —messy, but non-lethal. “This isn’t happening.”
“If you think I’m a ghost sent to torment you, you’re not far-off,” Quynh spoke quietly, sitting down next to her. Her movements weren’t as graceful as Andy remembered; she saw a new stillness in her. Her chest rose with too many seconds counted between breaths.
Quynh put her hand over Andy’s blood-stained fingers. “Don’t worry. I’m very real.”
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The Athletic:
Jon Passantino / Status:
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
Nick Robins-Early / The Guardian:
