sunday later
Jan. 18th, 2026 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summersgate
The Entity. Partly a blind drawing. As the sun was going down this evening it was lighting up some fluffy clouds. Watercolor first, black marker next (blind) and finished with ball point pen.
(no subject)
Jan. 18th, 2026 01:47 pmlycomingst
Challenge #7
LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.
Nice hair, and still a lot of it. It used to be redder but still glows in the sun.
An everpresent sense of humor. I think most things are funny, even if they are annoying.
I'm not an envious person.
busy Saturday
Jan. 18th, 2026 03:33 pmlow_deltaWe were underway early, yesterday. We loaded the car with artwork and were out by 10 am. We went down to the Ronald McDonald House, to install our latest exhibition of members' work. It took a little longer than usual, but we got it done and went downtown for lunch.
The snow falling was pretty, but the wind was biting cold. We walked over to a gallery where a friend was giving a gallery talk at her opening. Then we drove to a friend's for a party, stopping on the way to pick up our offerings.
Doug and Susan were having a hygge party.
There was a full house, which seems to go against the idea of hygge. I didn't know many people there. Had conversations with a few. It was nice, though not too exciting. Doug had a fire going outside, and kept trying to get people to go out there. Finally, he said he was going out there, and I decided that since we were getting out coats on to leave anyway, we might as well join him for a while. It was not that great. It was cold out, and I pretty much had to stand up against the fire to be warmed (on only one side of me), and the smoke rose straight into my eyes. And of course we were suffused with smoke. That didn't bother me much, but Cindy hated it. But then a few people started sledding down the hill. Cindy joined them for one run. I'm not winter averse, but nothing about that appealed to me.
It ended up being a long day. I was v. tired, yawning all the way home.
The snow falling was pretty, but the wind was biting cold. We walked over to a gallery where a friend was giving a gallery talk at her opening. Then we drove to a friend's for a party, stopping on the way to pick up our offerings.
Doug and Susan were having a hygge party.
Hard to pronounce, hygge ("hooga", H(Y)OO-gə ) is difficult to explain, too. In brief, hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about - or even by yourself - to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures.
Hygge is often about informal time together with family or close friends. Typically, the setting is at home or another quiet location, or perhaps a picnic during the summer months. It usually involves sharing a meal and wine or beer, or hot chocolate and a bowl of candy if children are included. There is no agenda. You celebrate the small joys of life, or maybe discuss deeper topics. It is an opportunity to unwind and take things slow.
There was a full house, which seems to go against the idea of hygge. I didn't know many people there. Had conversations with a few. It was nice, though not too exciting. Doug had a fire going outside, and kept trying to get people to go out there. Finally, he said he was going out there, and I decided that since we were getting out coats on to leave anyway, we might as well join him for a while. It was not that great. It was cold out, and I pretty much had to stand up against the fire to be warmed (on only one side of me), and the smoke rose straight into my eyes. And of course we were suffused with smoke. That didn't bother me much, but Cindy hated it. But then a few people started sledding down the hill. Cindy joined them for one run. I'm not winter averse, but nothing about that appealed to me.
It ended up being a long day. I was v. tired, yawning all the way home.
(no subject)
Jan. 18th, 2026 03:48 pmmajuAfter two or three inches of snow yesterday, we had another two or three this morning. As a result, it's ethereally beautiful outside right now. I'm always disappointed when the snow either starts melting or rain washes it away and the snowy trees turn back into just bare trees again.
Eden was given a small knitting kit for Christmas: wool, needles, and instructions to knit a stuffed tea cup. (It's very cute and I'm tempted to make one for myself.) This morning she asked me to help her get started on it, which meant starting with teaching her the basics of knitting. The instructions included a section for those new to knitting, including how to cast on, but unfortunately they chose to teach the long tail method of casting on which even I have never mastered. There are so many easier methods which work perfectly well; I have no idea why someone would choose the most complicated for a beginner knitter. I cast on some stitches for Eden and then started teaching her how to do the knit stitch. She successfully completed two stitches and then declared she had to go and do something else - and never came back, even though she seemed very pleased with herself for the two stitches she had done.
Eden was given a small knitting kit for Christmas: wool, needles, and instructions to knit a stuffed tea cup. (It's very cute and I'm tempted to make one for myself.) This morning she asked me to help her get started on it, which meant starting with teaching her the basics of knitting. The instructions included a section for those new to knitting, including how to cast on, but unfortunately they chose to teach the long tail method of casting on which even I have never mastered. There are so many easier methods which work perfectly well; I have no idea why someone would choose the most complicated for a beginner knitter. I cast on some stitches for Eden and then started teaching her how to do the knit stitch. She successfully completed two stitches and then declared she had to go and do something else - and never came back, even though she seemed very pleased with herself for the two stitches she had done.
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SEA>SFO
Jan. 18th, 2026 09:03 amsomedayseattleSeattle Seahawks 41 SFO 49ers 6
A good night to be a Seahawks fan. A really, really good night!!
A good night to be a Seahawks fan. A really, really good night!!
Done Since 2026-01-11
Jan. 18th, 2026 05:14 ammdlbearIt didn't feel like a very productive week, but it looks like I actually got a few things done, including data-entry for our (HSX's) bookkeeper to close out VAT for the quarter. So I'm going to cut myself a little slack. Only a little, though, because a lot of stuff still isn't getting done.
On the other hand, I got in five walks, though one was cut short because my knee felt dicey. And the knee braces I ordered thereafter failed to arrive, due to some screw-up at the warehouse -- I got two items all right; an ethernet patch cable and coupler. :P I also fell down the Post Public Domain Day reading rabbit-hole. And I found my glasses! (Under the pile of sweaters and other warm stuff that have accumulated on the arm of the couch nearest my desk.) They'd been missing for almost exactly a month.
As part of the little burst of productivity at the beginning of the week, I upgraded Linux Mint to 22.3 Zena on (Framework 12)Lilac and (main laptop)unSable. Then I noticed that (server)Nova and (spare Thinkpad X230)Panther were still on 21.3 Virginia -- the same as Raven. Which meant in particular that Nova still had Python2.7, so could be used for posting. It required a little fixing, but it now works. So then I upgraded Raven.
I'll upgrade Panther too, but right now it's in the bedroom, and so is Bronx.
I also tracked down Nova's old mirror drive, last updated a year ago just before we left Seattle. That also required some fiddling, but I just got what looks like a clean update to it about an hour ago. Win.
On the gripping hand, I've been feeling distinctly off, in several different ways. I have a cardiology appointment on Tuesday, but whether that will prove enlightening remains to be seen.
Linkies: Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC -- if you're in the US you might want to print off a few whether you're an immigrant or not.
sunday
Jan. 18th, 2026 07:43 amsummersgate
I was sitting at my writing table this morning and saw my necklaces in the mirror there. Those represent me as much as my face does. They never come off. The only exceptions are when I go in for a medical procedure and they say to take off all jewelry. Then I am truly naked. Last weekend I painted my nails while Alison was here. Nail polish is a rarity. I'd do it more often, all the time really because I like the look of it, if it didn't take so long to dry. I hate not being able to DO things while it dries. I usually mess up and get it smudged. I smudged it last weekend too. I like pearl white. So far in life that's the only color I've ever liked for my nails. In this pic there is a little bird visiting the feeder outside. I waited to take the pic till one landed.
Going shopping with Jules this morning - our usual bi-weekly walmart and giant eagle shopping. Onward - I need to fill that feeder in the picture above and feed the chickens before I go.
Snowflake Challenge #9
Jan. 18th, 2026 09:02 amsoricelTalk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)
Often when I'm reading a book or watching a show, I find myself wishing all the *plot* would stop so the characters could just hang out. I like quiet moments and small but significant gestures; I like seeing how characters interact when they're not trying to do Some Big Thing but rather navigating mundane reality together. So I tend to like slice-of-life type stuff, especially post-canon/future fics set after the dust settles and people have to try to adjust to a new normal, or to deal with some emotional stuff that was left unaddressed while they were busy trying to do Some Big Thing. I'm also less interested in seeing people get together or live happily ever after than wrestling with some challenges related to how exactly they want to be parts of each other's lives.
I've also always been really drawn to the theme of mind control. I can trace this interest to a specific moment in my childhood, when I caught a glimpse of some weird live-action Transformers performance at the local mall. One of the human characters--I forget who--had gotten their mind zapped by some villain (if anyone reading this is a Transformers person, maybe you have some idea who I might be talking about), and I found it simultaneously terrifying and captivating. I think I've always been interested in questions about why we think what we think, to what extent our thoughts are our own, and how our conscious and unconscious minds interact with each other.
That said, I don't tend to seek out fics based on tropes or themes; there are plenty of stories that have some of these elements but just didn't do anything for me, as well as fics that I found beautifully written but feature characters and tropes I'm generally disinterested in. I think I tend to be drawn to language first and foremost.
And *that* said, if anyone has any fic recs that sound similar to anything I described above, please feel free to share!
Often when I'm reading a book or watching a show, I find myself wishing all the *plot* would stop so the characters could just hang out. I like quiet moments and small but significant gestures; I like seeing how characters interact when they're not trying to do Some Big Thing but rather navigating mundane reality together. So I tend to like slice-of-life type stuff, especially post-canon/future fics set after the dust settles and people have to try to adjust to a new normal, or to deal with some emotional stuff that was left unaddressed while they were busy trying to do Some Big Thing. I'm also less interested in seeing people get together or live happily ever after than wrestling with some challenges related to how exactly they want to be parts of each other's lives.
I've also always been really drawn to the theme of mind control. I can trace this interest to a specific moment in my childhood, when I caught a glimpse of some weird live-action Transformers performance at the local mall. One of the human characters--I forget who--had gotten their mind zapped by some villain (if anyone reading this is a Transformers person, maybe you have some idea who I might be talking about), and I found it simultaneously terrifying and captivating. I think I've always been interested in questions about why we think what we think, to what extent our thoughts are our own, and how our conscious and unconscious minds interact with each other.
That said, I don't tend to seek out fics based on tropes or themes; there are plenty of stories that have some of these elements but just didn't do anything for me, as well as fics that I found beautifully written but feature characters and tropes I'm generally disinterested in. I think I tend to be drawn to language first and foremost.
And *that* said, if anyone has any fic recs that sound similar to anything I described above, please feel free to share!
Yatta! for 2026 01 16-17
Jan. 17th, 2026 11:01 pmladythmprFriday
Woke way early again after not getting to bed until 2330. Very annoying, and tiring. rested until the puppy got us out of bed, which was earlier than usual
Both kids home sick again today. :S I think we'll be looking at immunology testing, because they have been sick far too often these last 5 months.
Washed and dressed
Fired up ACNH; spent some time playing with some of the new features.
Went for an SDW with GB and the puppy, and a game of fetch after
Got F meds and tea and other stuff
Breakfasted
Listened to a friend defend his dissertation via video; it went very well, and I found out later that his PhD was granted!
Played spades Seas 3s tourney and made it to the finals
Played more ACNH
Played spades Blood tourney
Attended acupuncture, which was good
ACNL
Watched Bridgerton with F
Dinner of leftovers (in my case, pizza)
Went down a rabbit hole of finding videos on sewing machine repair for my vintage Singer Genie, because I think that the feed dogs might be worn out, but maybe, they just need realigning.
Watched a couple of episodes of Starfleet Academy, which feels a lot like a teen show, but it has enough of the adult instructors in there, that I think it will be watchable for us older folk, too.
Sliced the bread and put it into the freezer
Went to bed far too late.
Headache much of the day, probably barometric changes. Hot flashes late in the evening. Again more tired than my usual.
JotD: none
Saturday
Woke up rather early, GB let the dog out, and we snuggled for a bit more
Washed and dressed
ACNH
Breakfasted and internetted
Kids still sick; we left them to sleep
got out kids' meds; noticed that one of F's was missing
GB dropped me off at the Farmers Market, where I shopped and he left to pick up meds
Sliced onions and put them in the slow cooker to start cooking
Watched the S2 finale for Bridgerton with F
Grabbed some leftovers for lunch and watched S1E2 of Korra
Watered the upstairs plants
Attended stitch-in, where I wound 6 large skeins of yarn for washing (and failed to get a photo)
Chopped chard and tossed it into the slow cooker, along with cooked rice and cooked chicken and cheese
"Watched" F playing BG3, and finally finished the darn on a sock
Ate dinner, while watching Charlotte (and more episodes into the evening_)
Played ACNH
Hot flash late in the evening again. :/ and Too Tired!
JotD: A beaded necklace of dark-toned beads with pops of green yellow and red; two large millefore beads and a brass butterfly bead act as center focals.
Woke way early again after not getting to bed until 2330. Very annoying, and tiring. rested until the puppy got us out of bed, which was earlier than usual
Both kids home sick again today. :S I think we'll be looking at immunology testing, because they have been sick far too often these last 5 months.
Washed and dressed
Fired up ACNH; spent some time playing with some of the new features.
Went for an SDW with GB and the puppy, and a game of fetch after
Got F meds and tea and other stuff
Breakfasted
Listened to a friend defend his dissertation via video; it went very well, and I found out later that his PhD was granted!
Played spades Seas 3s tourney and made it to the finals
Played more ACNH
Played spades Blood tourney
Attended acupuncture, which was good
ACNL
Watched Bridgerton with F
Dinner of leftovers (in my case, pizza)
Went down a rabbit hole of finding videos on sewing machine repair for my vintage Singer Genie, because I think that the feed dogs might be worn out, but maybe, they just need realigning.
Watched a couple of episodes of Starfleet Academy, which feels a lot like a teen show, but it has enough of the adult instructors in there, that I think it will be watchable for us older folk, too.
Sliced the bread and put it into the freezer
Went to bed far too late.
Headache much of the day, probably barometric changes. Hot flashes late in the evening. Again more tired than my usual.
JotD: none
Saturday
Woke up rather early, GB let the dog out, and we snuggled for a bit more
Washed and dressed
ACNH
Breakfasted and internetted
Kids still sick; we left them to sleep
got out kids' meds; noticed that one of F's was missing
GB dropped me off at the Farmers Market, where I shopped and he left to pick up meds
Sliced onions and put them in the slow cooker to start cooking
Watched the S2 finale for Bridgerton with F
Grabbed some leftovers for lunch and watched S1E2 of Korra
Watered the upstairs plants
Attended stitch-in, where I wound 6 large skeins of yarn for washing (and failed to get a photo)
Chopped chard and tossed it into the slow cooker, along with cooked rice and cooked chicken and cheese
"Watched" F playing BG3, and finally finished the darn on a sock
Ate dinner, while watching Charlotte (and more episodes into the evening_)
Played ACNH
Hot flash late in the evening again. :/ and Too Tired!
JotD: A beaded necklace of dark-toned beads with pops of green yellow and red; two large millefore beads and a brass butterfly bead act as center focals.
Speaking Cat
Jan. 17th, 2026 08:44 pmdays_unfoldingJust ordered a tool rack, workbench, and shelves for my garage.
I found some dining chairs that I like for $30, but I need to get the car's registration fixed first. I doubt that they would fit in the Kia? Maybe they would.
Bella somehow got mud on her side. I might need to bathe her. I just ordered some dog shampoo.
Woke up a little before 8 AM. Gracie wasn’t bugging me, which is surprising. There’s snow on the ground. The dogs don’t want to come in yet. I told them that was okay. They finally came in. Fed us all.
I told Gracie that I speak fluent Cat, and that swat Oliver gave her was “I’m annoyed,” not “I want to play”. I told her that I was in the process of learning Dog.
Overslept my nap. Got my groceries in.
I’m having an argument with an app that I canceled. I sent them an email a month ago asking them to cancel my account. They charged me again this month. I got them to cancel this time, but I want this last payment back. Sigh.
Had lunch. I’m thinking of taking another short nap (done). Started the evening feeding routine by letting the dogs out.
When I look at Facebook, I despair for humanity, so I should stop looking at Facebook.
Fed us all. I’m going to take a shower in a few minutes and put on clean sweats (done--oiled my body). Then I’ll set the faucets to dripping because it’ll be cold overnight (10F/-12C).
I found some dining chairs that I like for $30, but I need to get the car's registration fixed first. I doubt that they would fit in the Kia? Maybe they would.
Bella somehow got mud on her side. I might need to bathe her. I just ordered some dog shampoo.
Woke up a little before 8 AM. Gracie wasn’t bugging me, which is surprising. There’s snow on the ground. The dogs don’t want to come in yet. I told them that was okay. They finally came in. Fed us all.
I told Gracie that I speak fluent Cat, and that swat Oliver gave her was “I’m annoyed,” not “I want to play”. I told her that I was in the process of learning Dog.
Overslept my nap. Got my groceries in.
I’m having an argument with an app that I canceled. I sent them an email a month ago asking them to cancel my account. They charged me again this month. I got them to cancel this time, but I want this last payment back. Sigh.
Had lunch. I’m thinking of taking another short nap (done). Started the evening feeding routine by letting the dogs out.
When I look at Facebook, I despair for humanity, so I should stop looking at Facebook.
Fed us all. I’m going to take a shower in a few minutes and put on clean sweats (done--oiled my body). Then I’ll set the faucets to dripping because it’ll be cold overnight (10F/-12C).
saturday
Jan. 17th, 2026 07:32 pmsummersgate
From a walk we took down back this afternoon. It was nice that the sun was peeking out today. That's the lake in the far distance. The temps were a little above freezing and it wasn't windy so it didn't feel nasty cold like yesterday.
Here I was standing in the same spot as the former photo but looking in a different direction. Little Red Rainy.
*****
We have been eating so much junk lately (cookies and sweets) that I just got sick of it all and went shopping today for the ingredients for red lentil and spinach soup, which I made for lunch. Served with whole grain seeded toast and a slice of cheddar cheese. It tasted so good! I'm pleased with myself for breaking away from the sweets. Now to stay away. And I got the ingredients for the next meal I want to make after the lentil soup is gone: macaroni tuna salad with chopped carrots, peas and hard boiled eggs.
After lunch I worked for a couple hours on sewing the blanket squares together while watching an enjoyable and little bit silly movie: The Last Word with Shirley MacLaine.
(no subject)
Jan. 18th, 2026 08:37 amacet posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
addmeName: Hi I'm Ace!
Age: 30s
I mostly post about: life, coding, activism, politics, idk things? I'm just getting back into "Real Life" blogging so am setting up a new journal. My pervious one wastheladyunicorn and I think I had another potentially ~immortalaussie before that but those were well over a decade ago.
My hobbies are: reading, writing, fandom, collecting old books, web design and development, collecting and dropping hobbies, candle and jewellery making, gaming, doing to much, volunteering
My fandoms are: My main fandom is BTS at the moment but I dabble in a lot of things. If you're after fandom specific posts that will be over at my other new journalthequirkyfan which I'm also still setting up.
I'm looking to meet people who: Cool and want to be friends
My posting schedule tends to be: Who knows!
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: I strongly believe that Love is Love, Anti Genocide, BLM, Disability Rights, and all of that stuff and I ask that you are too
Before adding me, you should know: At the moment I imagine a lot of my stuff will be public unless its super personal etc. I will use content warnings as appropriate as I will talk about mental health, health problems, disability and weight loss etc
I'm nonbinary/genderqueer possibly ftm idk things and use they/them pronouns. The link above has a lot more info
Age: 30s
I mostly post about: life, coding, activism, politics, idk things? I'm just getting back into "Real Life" blogging so am setting up a new journal. My pervious one was
theladyunicorn and I think I had another potentially ~immortalaussie before that but those were well over a decade ago.My hobbies are: reading, writing, fandom, collecting old books, web design and development, collecting and dropping hobbies, candle and jewellery making, gaming, doing to much, volunteering
My fandoms are: My main fandom is BTS at the moment but I dabble in a lot of things. If you're after fandom specific posts that will be over at my other new journal
thequirkyfan which I'm also still setting up.I'm looking to meet people who: Cool and want to be friends
My posting schedule tends to be: Who knows!
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: I strongly believe that Love is Love, Anti Genocide, BLM, Disability Rights, and all of that stuff and I ask that you are too
Before adding me, you should know: At the moment I imagine a lot of my stuff will be public unless its super personal etc. I will use content warnings as appropriate as I will talk about mental health, health problems, disability and weight loss etc
I'm nonbinary/genderqueer possibly ftm idk things and use they/them pronouns. The link above has a lot more info
Meet me in the lobby of destiny
Jan. 17th, 2026 03:04 pmsomedayseattleFor the first time since September 2023, I peed standing up today. It was successful! Well, let’s say “mostly” successful.