Conwy
Jun. 14th, 2025 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cmcmck posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureA view across Afon Conwy (the River Conwy) with Conwy castle as a bonus.
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In (near) Prague
Jun. 14th, 2025 08:18 amrmc28On an ice hockey camp in Slaný, near Prague. I flew out on Thursday afternoon with two friends from Kodiaks. We arrived at the rink hotel in time to check in, have a little walk down to the nearby supermarket and get food, and settle in for the night. For reasons the three of us were all sharing a dormitory room the first night, and we decided the perfect film to watch over our picnic dinner was Inside Out 2 - also set at a 3-day hockey camp. I hadn't seen it before, though the other two had, and I enjoyed it very much.
Friday morning was pretty relaxed; a fourth Kodiak joined us after leaving home at awful-o-clock in the morning, and we were moved into the nicer ensuite twin rooms in pairs for the rest of the camp. We met in the dressing room at 1pm, were on ice at 2pm and again at 6pm, with a stickhandling session in between. Then dinner at 8 and falling into bed not long after.
It's excellent coaching, I'm being pushed well out of my comfort zone and the balance of drill and rest in each session and between sessions is just right. I hit my "cannot actually skate any more" limit about 3 minutes before the end of the last ice session.
Today will be two ice sessions at either end of the day, with video review (argh), optional swim+spa (yes!), and stickhandling again in between. My muscles this morning are making themselves known but I'm not exhausted. All is good. Time to go get changed.
strawberries
Jun. 13th, 2025 11:06 pmredbirdCattitude came home from the farmers market with two quarts of strawberries, so we sat down to eat strawberries this evening. Adrian washed a plateful of the berries, and we all started eating.
They're very good strawberries, but I realized after eating a few that my lips were starting to itch. They were tasty enough that I had four or five more before saying anything. When I did, Adrian suggested I go wash my face. I rinsed my lips with plenty of cool water, took a benadryl, complained about the situation, and got Adrian to make me herb tea. I hope I haven't developed an allergy to a fruit I like, after eating them without problems for more than fifty years.
ETA, after responding to people's comments:
It may not be just strawberries. Raw kiwi makes my mouth itch, and I think I remember having a problem with the kiwi on a mixed fruit tart. Possibly-underripe figs also made my mouth itch once, but cooked figs (fig Newton cookies) are OK, and a fig that was ripe enough to fall off the tree at my feet was fine. I think I need to do some reading.
A future fossil, and a moment of strange beauty in embotherance.
Jun. 13th, 2025 09:23 pmfull_metal_ox posting in common_natureThis is the very first photo I took in the process of exploring my new surroundings in Florida. I was recovering from a lengthy illness and a lengthy road trip, and coming to terms with a discombobulating succession of life upheavals; accordingly, I began with a local animal in no condition to evade me.
This roughly crow-sized bird (species and cause of death unknown) lay in an oddly heraldic position suggesting a necromancer’s coat of arms, on the disheveled curb strip of a business that was both recovering from Hurricane Ian and changing hands—likewise in a state of transition. The red spot at heart level is a dried wild fruit of some sort.
Taken on 4 June 2023 at 19:48 U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings Time:
( Fined_be_ye_who_move_my_bones. )
Some while later, I suffered a clog of mysterious blue-gray residue in my bathroom sink (don’t worry; it’s long since been dealt with, although not conclusively explained)—and was fascinated by the delicate poinsettia-like radial pattern created when the water finally receded.
Taken on 20 July 2023 at 14:16 U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings Time:
( Mystery_plumbing_sludge. )
And now about the spiders
Jun. 13th, 2025 01:19 pmpilottttt posting in common_natureThis big and scarysmall and not scary at all spider was discovered on our ceiling. It was my macro lens that made it big and scary ;)
it's been a busy day
Jun. 12th, 2025 08:45 pmredbirdI got email from my brother about Mom's estate. He has done the necessary formwork so Vanguard can give us the money from her account there, where we are co-beneficiaries. His share is already in his account existing account. I tried setting an account up online, which apparently failed at the last minute, so I called and got a helpful person to walk me through the process again, step by step. I had gotten far enough earlier to create security questions, including some that I can actually remember my answers to, and haven't used repeatedly elsewhere. Separately, I need to talk to someone at Amalgamated Bank about the account there, a joint account with both our names on it. I hope they'll let me, as co-owner, close the account and transfer the money elsewhere, rather than sending them a copy of the death certificate, getting the account just in my name, and then closing it.
Mark also said he's thinking of going to London next month to sort through Mom's belongings, photos, and paperwork. So he wants to know whether I'm going as well, and if so, what dates worth for me. (Putting this here so I'm less likely to forget to talk to Cattitude and Adrian and then write back to Mark.)
Chicks of the laughing dove
Jun. 12th, 2025 12:36 pmpilottttt posting in common_natureIt was their first day out of the nest, which they spent on a branch just opposite our window.
For more information (in Russian), see here.
Wednesday reading
Jun. 11th, 2025 11:47 pmredbirdLast week:
*Cattitude read Blue Moose, by Daniel Pinkwater, aloud to us, because it's one of his favorites and Adrian had never read it. I've reread the book several times, and was happy to hear it out loud.
*I read Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil, by Oliver Darkshire. Decidedly weird, funny fantasy. A lot of the humor is in the footnotes, which seem to be at least a quarter of the text. Also, the title does in fact describe the book. Isabella lives in a poor, out-of-the-way village, whose wizard keeps the local goblin market in check, until one day he doesn't. The goblins sell one thing, unnaturally tempting and dangerous fruit.
*Did not finish: Girls Against God, by Jenny Hval. I don't remember where I saw this recommended, and just couldn't get into it.
Currently reading:
*Installment Immortality, by Seanan McGuire, the latest book in her InCryptid series. I started it late last night, and only read a few pages before turning the light out.
*Twelve Trees, by Daniel Lewis, nonfiction about trees and climate change. I picked this up at the libraru, as a "book with a green caover" for the summer reading challenge.
he's in the middle of taking off right now
Jun. 11th, 2025 07:25 pmmusesfoolI was in a training this morning when around 10:30 am, my internet went out and didn't come back in 30 seconds the way it usually does. And my cable was out also. But Spectrum said there was no outage in my area, so it was a me problem. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And so I was in the middle of texting with a Spectrum chatbot (or maybe it was a real person?) when the cleaning ladies showed up but the bell wasn't working and then they called me and I didn't respond because I was in the middle of chatting with Spectrum (doing all the things I had already done, i.e., unplugging and re-plugging in the modem and router) with no success, but luckily I realized who was calling so I went and opened the door and they began their work and I went back to chatting with Spectrum.
The CSR/bot told me they would schedule the next open appointment and I was like sure, while thinking, "am I going to have to into the office for my meetings tomorrow? I need to be here when the tech comes but it probably won't be until Friday or Monday?" and then they texted me the appointment and it was for TODAY at NOON so of course I was like, YES, I WILL. TAKE IT. And then he showed up at 11:55 am!!! And told me there was a major outage in my area, so it was unlikely that he could do anything, but I was getting texts saying that the outage should be fixed by 1 pm. No, we mean 1:30 pm. No, we mean 2 pm. (It came back for me around 1 pm.) And finally at 4:05 pm a text saying the outage was over.
Meanwhile, yesterday, we were supposed to be sending materials out for a meeting tomorrow, but I hadn't received them by 5 pm yesterday, and I hadn't received them by 9 am this morning, and while I was in training and then offline, my boss was poking the CFO who was like, "we don't have them, should we cancel?" so my boss was texting me like, "We should cancel!!!" and I was like, that's fine but we can't reschedule for next week since the board members are not available, and then the board meeting is the week after, so we would need to get approval by unanimous written consent. But then the CFO is like, "I'm calling you!" and I'm like, "I have no internet, I can't get into any files, please don't!" But she was already calling, so I spoke with her and she was like, "We got the documents! I'm reviewing them! I will let you know when it's ok to send!" and I was like ok.
A little while after that, my service had returned and I discovered another committee member had sent out an invite to a meeting on Friday with incorrect information while trying to accept the correct invite for Friday's meeting? I don't even know, but it didn't replace the correct invite on anyone's calendars, so I just declined it. Then she emailed saying she was now getting all these RSVPs and I was like, "can you cancel it? It shouldn't affect the correct invitation, which I will then forward to you." So she cancelled it, but it looked to other people like the meeting was cancelled, even though the correct invitation remained on their calendars. So I had to send a teams message internally and an email externally to explain to everyone that the meeting was not cancelled, it was just a technological glitch of some sort. Idek.
I ate breakfast after the cable guy left, so I didn't eat lunch, and at around 3:30 I was like, "the CFO still hasn't given me the go-ahead to send this out - they are going to complain about getting a complicated set of documents less than 24 hours ahead of the meeting!" to my boss and then the email telling me the materials were good to go dropped into my inbox, so I was able to send them out.
Then while I was trying to catch up on email, a nasty looking bee (hornet? wasp?) started hovering around my window, and as you may recall, I had problems with them somehow getting into my apartment last summer, so I immediately slammed down the window and put the AC on, even though it was comfortable enough with the fan with the window open. I appreciate bees, but not in my living room! Especially not ones that look mean.
And then I read that Brian Wilson died. And Sly Stone died earlier this week. And I thought that was sad. #legends only #RIP
*
Post Deadline Pinch Hits: 16, 21, 22, 25, 26, 40, 44, 47, 49
Jun. 11th, 2025 01:03 pmidficmod posting in idproquoNavigation:Collection | Automagic App | idficmod@gmail.com| Mod Contact: idficmod@gmail.com
Pinch hits are assignments in search of a creator! We have 9 pinch hits that are due on June 20th, 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
This is the most recent pinch hit post. All others are now no longer being updated.
Check the rules post for information on work minimums and requirements. Fic must be at least 2000 words. All works must be wholly original and created for this exchange.
In order to pick up a pinch hit either email the modmail or comment on this post (all comments on this post are screened) with:
- The number and or username of the pinch hit you would like to pick up
- Your ao3 username
- An email where we can reach you
If you pick up a pinch hit and are not signed up to the exchange, you can post treat requests here.
( PH 16 - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga), NoPixel (Web Series), 鴨乃橋ロンの禁断推理 | Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri | Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective (Manga), Crossover Fandom ) ( PH 21 - 阴阳师 | Yīn Yáng Shī | The Yin-yang Master (Movies - Guo Jingming), 陰陽師 | Onmyouji (Anime 2023), 밤에 피는 꽃 | Knight Flower (TV) ) ( PH 22 - Vampire: The Masquerade — Parliament of Knives - Jeffrey Dean, Vampire: The Masquerade — Parliament of Knives - Jeffrey Dean, Vampire: The Masquerade — Parliament of Knives - Jeffrey Dean, Vampire: The Masquerade — Parliament of Knives - Jeffrey Dean, Vampire: The Masquerade Port Saga (Podcast), Path of Night (Podcast), Path of Night (Podcast) ) ( PH 25 - Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who: Harvest of Time - Alastair Reynolds, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka, Doctor Who (2005) )Photos: Lake Charleston Butterfly Gardens
Jun. 10th, 2025 01:52 am
tonight i'm gonna cut it out and then restart
Jun. 9th, 2025 07:50 pmmusesfoolIt's been gray and cool since last night, but it hasn't rained yet, so I've been able to keep the windows open. I did have to use the AC a couple times last week, especially to sleep, and I'll put it on again when necessary, but it was nice just using the fan last night.
Anyway, work remains busy, the world is on fire, but the Mets stay winning! Gotta take the little joys while you can...
*
To-read pile, 2025, May
Jun. 9th, 2025 07:31 pmrmc28Books on pre-order:
- Queen Demon (Rising World 2) by Martha Wells (7 Oct 2025)
Books acquired in May:
- and read:
- Copper Script by KJ Charles
- Red Boar's Baby by Lauren Esker
- and unread:
- The Wrath & The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh [3]
- The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan [3]
- Kidnap on the California Comet by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman [3]
- Betrayal (Trinity 1) by Fiona McIntosh [3]
Borrowed books read in May:
- The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell
- One Christmas Wish by Katherine Rundell
- You Have a Match by Emma Lord [2][6]
I continue to not read much (by my standards). I did not manage to read any of the physical books I had out of the library until they needed to be returned, and I've got several half-finished books in progress. (Oh, and in writing this I've realised I already have the Renée Ahdieh book in ebook, and haven't read it there either!)
[1] Pre-order
[2] Audiobook
[3] Physical book
[4] Crowdfunding
[5] Goodbye read
[6] Cambridgeshire Reads/Listens
[7] FaRoFeb / FaRoCation / Bookmas / HRBC
[8] Prime Reading / Kindle Unlimited
Post Deadline Pinch Hits: 9, 13-16, 21, 22, 25, 26, 34, 35, 40, 42, 44, 47-50
Jun. 9th, 2025 01:34 pmidficmod posting in idproquoThis pinch hit post is no longer being updated and is out of date!
( Read more... )Extension Deadline Has Passed! + One Week Delay
Jun. 8th, 2025 10:44 pmidficmod posting in idproquoHello hello!
The extension deadline has passed, and we have many more works in the collection than we did last week! Congrats to everyone who has posted, and we're cheering on our hard working pinch hitters who are still filling requests.
There were some works that required us to reach out to the creator during works checks (If your AO3 starts with A or a, we have reached out to you regarding an issue with your creation) please check your emails!
We have a number of post extension deadline pinch hits. These will likely arrive tomorrow June 9th, in the North American afternoon. To let pinch hitters have enough time to work on these, we will delay work reveals one week, to June 22nd at 10pm EDT, and likewise, creator reveals to June 29th, 10pm EDT.
Let the editing period commence!
Comment Bingo Round 7 Sign-Ups!
Jun. 9th, 2025 09:58 amIf you haven't claimed your Round 6 banner, please go here.
This is the sign-up post to get a bingo card for the seventh round of Comment Bingo. Please leave the username(s) that you will be using to comment and you will be assigned a card. You don't need a Dreamwidth account to participate. If you want more details (including opt out rules), the following links should hopefully clear things up.
There is also a 'question' thread in the comments that you can reply to for any lingering doubts or queries.
It was inspired by the Comment Bingo that
We all know how good comments can make a creator feel, and even a 'this is great' can sometimes brighten their day. Whether you're a newbie or been in fandom for years, don't comment at all, sometimes comment, or comment all the time, this is for you. Maybe it will help you discover stories you wouldn't have otherwise, ones that you loved and forgot about and/or fics you somehow missed. Forgot to leave a comment before? Want a reason to comment again? Now is the time!
Rules | Prompts | List of Comms | Commenting Resources
( sample card )
This round will run until October 31st, 2025.
Promote the round: