2026/084: Heaven's Graveyard — Grace Curtis
Jun. 15th, 2026 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth2026/084: Heaven's Graveyard — Grace Curtis
"No one can decide if it was a mass hallucination or a -- a mir --" Her lips convulsed. "Some kind of divine event... But I know what this is. It's fuckery." [loc. 3613]
Heaven's Graveyard is a fantasy novel, set in the same world as, though long after the events in, Curtis' earlier Idolfire (which I have not read), and featuring archaeology, sapphic romance, a protagonist who mostly lives in her head, and a murder mystery.
( Read more... )
tenuous
Jun. 15th, 2026 01:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
merriamwebster_feedMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 15, 2026 is:
tenuous • \TEN-yoo-us\ • adjective
Something described as tenuous is flimsy, weak, or uncertain.
// The theater had a tenuous existence for years, but today is on much more solid financial footing.
Examples:
“While more non-screen-based interactive technology could be an antidote to our screen-obsessed society, it’s an extremely tenuous link to more human interaction ...” — Jennifer Pattinson Tuohy, The Verge, 4 May 2026
Did you know?
Lean into the history of tenuous and you’ll find that the word comes to English from the Latin adjective tenuis, meaning “fine-drawn, thin, narrow, or slight,” and is a relative of thin. Like that more familiar word, tenuous has a wide array of meanings: it can describe a literal thinness, as in “a silkworm’s tenuous threads,” or rarity (the opposite of density), as in “a tenuous fluid,” or it can describe things that are figuratively thin or flimsy. If one team in a game has a tenuous lead, either team still has a chance at winning. If there is only a tenuous connection between two events, those events are likely unrelated.
listen to Elim Chan conduct
Jun. 14th, 2026 09:41 pmcalimacIn search of online interviews and other such publicity material about Elim Chan, the San Francisco Symphony's new music director, I found a number of full-length concert videos of her conducting various European orchestras in standard classics of the repertoire. They were all good performances - I listened to the bunch of them with full appreciation - but two struck me as particularly outstanding. They captured the fervor and intensity that these pieces had when new and bold, they were led and played with full commitment to the music, and they had me captivated on the edge of my seat throughout - an experience I find rare enough in concert and even rarer in recordings. But this is the amazing conducting that I heard in person when she led Holst's The Planets in a guest appearance at SFS a few years ago.
One of these particularly outstanding renditions was of Brahms's Fourth Symphony, his last and most experimental essay in the form, and my long-time favorite of his. Compelling and urgent.
The other was the monster itself, Beethoven's Fifth, the work that originally sold me on the heavy classics. If bad performances have led you to find this work dull and routine, just listen to this fiery attack.
The other full-length recordings I listened to of Elim Chan conducting included:
Tchaikovsky's Fifth
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
Shostakovich's Fifth
Shostakovich's Tenth
Beethoven's First
One of these particularly outstanding renditions was of Brahms's Fourth Symphony, his last and most experimental essay in the form, and my long-time favorite of his. Compelling and urgent.
The other was the monster itself, Beethoven's Fifth, the work that originally sold me on the heavy classics. If bad performances have led you to find this work dull and routine, just listen to this fiery attack.
The other full-length recordings I listened to of Elim Chan conducting included:
Tchaikovsky's Fifth
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
Shostakovich's Fifth
Shostakovich's Tenth
Beethoven's First
Chena
Jun. 14th, 2026 07:49 pmranunculusI went to Napa this weekend to judge and had a good time. Chena had a much better time. Donald and I were camping with my friend Christy. Christy has a new puppy, a 4 month old Anatolian Shepherd / Lab / Mastiff named Hope. At my April event she was half Chena's size. Now she is a lanky, awkward ball of white fluff and is only a few pounds lighter than Chena. Hope and Chena had a wonderful time playing together.
This morning Hope started chewing on a tattered remnant of a chew stick. She abandoned it, Chena picked it up. Hope wanted it back. Christy, who was monitoring the situation, got Hope a new chew. Hope took it politely but thought it was much more fun to try to get the old stick back... Chena groweled halfheartedly at her a couple of times and then ignored the puppy who sat down on Chena's butt. A few minutes later this was the view:( Pics )
This morning Hope started chewing on a tattered remnant of a chew stick. She abandoned it, Chena picked it up. Hope wanted it back. Christy, who was monitoring the situation, got Hope a new chew. Hope took it politely but thought it was much more fun to try to get the old stick back... Chena groweled halfheartedly at her a couple of times and then ignored the puppy who sat down on Chena's butt. A few minutes later this was the view:( Pics )
(no subject)
Jun. 14th, 2026 10:01 pmskygiantsI've been meaning to read one of Bora Chung's short story collections, but instead I read her novel Red Sword (translated by Anton Hur) because this is the one that came into my house via my wife's library pulls. I found it striking, unsettling, minimalist and strongly visual in a way that immediately conjured up the sense for me of a particular kind of animated film -- in my mind, it's that kind of unsettling rotoscope animation, mostly black-and-white with flashes of bright signifying color.
The protagonist of Red Sword is a prisoner on a spaceship who has been brought to an alien planet with numerous other prisoners to do battle in a war that she doesn't understand. The planet is strange and white; the aliens are strange and white; big black birds fly overhead, and they're strange too. The prisoners haven't been given guns, but the people holding the prisoners don't seem fully aware that the protagonist's sword is a weapon as well. So: she has her sword. She has a lover, who dies in the first few pages. She has comrades; a pair of lesbians that she knows only as Indigo Skirt and Light Green Skirt, and an older man who seems drawn to her for reasons neither of them quite understand, but as things they don't understand go that one's pretty far down the list and gets further all the time as weirder things continue to occur. And she has memories of her childhood, a home she used to have, and hopes to have again.
The first portion of the book is mostly just a desperate struggle for survival, caught between the incomprehensible aliens on one hand and the equally incomprehensible force of their captors on the other, and then on the third hand the incomprehensible landscape of an incomprehensible planet. Then things get weirder. The book has things to say about constructed identity, the nature of the self, and the nature of big horrible systems; the arbitrary and unilateral nature of oppression under imperialism. The prose is very clear, very sparse, with a kind of deliberate simplicity that lays bare the confusion and horror of the whole situation: if you don't know or don't like what's happening, it's not on account of the way it's been told.
I don't know that I enjoyed the book, per se, but I think it will linger with me. The part that stuck with me most is when ( spoilers here )
The protagonist of Red Sword is a prisoner on a spaceship who has been brought to an alien planet with numerous other prisoners to do battle in a war that she doesn't understand. The planet is strange and white; the aliens are strange and white; big black birds fly overhead, and they're strange too. The prisoners haven't been given guns, but the people holding the prisoners don't seem fully aware that the protagonist's sword is a weapon as well. So: she has her sword. She has a lover, who dies in the first few pages. She has comrades; a pair of lesbians that she knows only as Indigo Skirt and Light Green Skirt, and an older man who seems drawn to her for reasons neither of them quite understand, but as things they don't understand go that one's pretty far down the list and gets further all the time as weirder things continue to occur. And she has memories of her childhood, a home she used to have, and hopes to have again.
The first portion of the book is mostly just a desperate struggle for survival, caught between the incomprehensible aliens on one hand and the equally incomprehensible force of their captors on the other, and then on the third hand the incomprehensible landscape of an incomprehensible planet. Then things get weirder. The book has things to say about constructed identity, the nature of the self, and the nature of big horrible systems; the arbitrary and unilateral nature of oppression under imperialism. The prose is very clear, very sparse, with a kind of deliberate simplicity that lays bare the confusion and horror of the whole situation: if you don't know or don't like what's happening, it's not on account of the way it's been told.
I don't know that I enjoyed the book, per se, but I think it will linger with me. The part that stuck with me most is when ( spoilers here )
three steps forward two steps back
Jun. 14th, 2026 09:31 pmthe_siobhanThe last two weeks in bullet points:
Several more bags of stuff cleared out of the house
Got the basement lights fixed
Sent in a request for some paperwork from the city that will hopefully help resolve outstanding permits numbered 1-4. Paid for said paperwork. Wrong paperwork was received. Have now sent a new request to a different department in the city. Fingers are crossed. Toes are crossed. Eyes are probably crossed too.
Sent photos sent to city's urban forestry department to hopefully resolve outstanding permit number 5.
Put together some boxes of excess kitchenwares for the ex to take to their new place when they move.
Replaced the filter on the air conditioner so I could turn it on when the weather got hot. No "on" was achieved. Spent a couple of hours fiddling with it before I gave up. Left a message for the tech to come check it out.
Went with dad and wife to new condo to take measurements and plan for move. Purged several shelves worth of expired jars. Packed two (2) boxes.
Came home to discover a shelf in my office had torn itself off the wall and dumped it's contents all over the floor. One of my gargoyles didn't make it.
I am having a glass of wine and going to bed. I will clean up the damage tomorrow.
Several more bags of stuff cleared out of the house
Got the basement lights fixed
Sent in a request for some paperwork from the city that will hopefully help resolve outstanding permits numbered 1-4. Paid for said paperwork. Wrong paperwork was received. Have now sent a new request to a different department in the city. Fingers are crossed. Toes are crossed. Eyes are probably crossed too.
Sent photos sent to city's urban forestry department to hopefully resolve outstanding permit number 5.
Put together some boxes of excess kitchenwares for the ex to take to their new place when they move.
Replaced the filter on the air conditioner so I could turn it on when the weather got hot. No "on" was achieved. Spent a couple of hours fiddling with it before I gave up. Left a message for the tech to come check it out.
Went with dad and wife to new condo to take measurements and plan for move. Purged several shelves worth of expired jars. Packed two (2) boxes.
Came home to discover a shelf in my office had torn itself off the wall and dumped it's contents all over the floor. One of my gargoyles didn't make it.
I am having a glass of wine and going to bed. I will clean up the damage tomorrow.
4-1.
Jun. 14th, 2026 08:42 pmhannahI heard the Knicks victory before any announcement. The whole city was screaming. In my case, the screaming was from an apartment across the hall and in the building next door, not the entire city block, but still. Plenty enough to hear. Then I saw the announcements and the victory posts, many of which were about victory celebrations. I had a few minutes of thinking I was tired, then decided: now or never.
Two blocks is enough to muffle a lot of sound, believe me. The screaming around me had died down fast, and two blocks over, the partying was still going. It was nothing compared to some of the more heavily attended areas - in my neighborhood, there were a handful of bars and a lot of people at home watching TV, rather than a lot of people at bars and a handful at home, so there weren't traffic cones being worn as hats or people jumping onto street signs. There were, however, fireworks.
Not huge Fourth of July shows, no. But fireworks just the same. I'd heard someone talking about them and knew I had to see for myself. I wandered into cheering and clapping and clapped along for a while, happy to be part of a crowd where everyone was there for the same reason, thinking if I'd missed fireworks that being there was still good.
I hadn't missed them. I might have if I'd left two minutes earlier, but I was in the right spot in the crowd to be standing next to someone setting them off. They didn't go up that high, and they didn't light up the whole sky, but they were blazing up into the night and leaving trails of sharp smoke, yellow and red and green, beautiful high-speed sounds followed by the little booms.
I've seen pictures of other parties. They looked suitably epic. However, I wouldn't have stood right next to the fireworks at those, so I wouldn't say I missed out on anything.
Two blocks is enough to muffle a lot of sound, believe me. The screaming around me had died down fast, and two blocks over, the partying was still going. It was nothing compared to some of the more heavily attended areas - in my neighborhood, there were a handful of bars and a lot of people at home watching TV, rather than a lot of people at bars and a handful at home, so there weren't traffic cones being worn as hats or people jumping onto street signs. There were, however, fireworks.
Not huge Fourth of July shows, no. But fireworks just the same. I'd heard someone talking about them and knew I had to see for myself. I wandered into cheering and clapping and clapped along for a while, happy to be part of a crowd where everyone was there for the same reason, thinking if I'd missed fireworks that being there was still good.
I hadn't missed them. I might have if I'd left two minutes earlier, but I was in the right spot in the crowd to be standing next to someone setting them off. They didn't go up that high, and they didn't light up the whole sky, but they were blazing up into the night and leaving trails of sharp smoke, yellow and red and green, beautiful high-speed sounds followed by the little booms.
I've seen pictures of other parties. They looked suitably epic. However, I wouldn't have stood right next to the fireworks at those, so I wouldn't say I missed out on anything.
Playing with the xteink 4
Jun. 14th, 2026 08:29 pmsatsumaAfter I bought an xteink 4 a couple weeks ago, a couple people on fedi asked for my thoughts on it, which I've attempted to collate below, now that I've broken it in a little.
For those unfamiliar the xteink 4 is an extremely small (the 4 is a reference to it's 4 inch diagonal screen) minimalist ereader produced by a chinese company which has recently gone semi-viral. The main draws are its adorably small size, minimalist featureset, and the fact that it's not affiliated with any ebook storefront so you retain control over your own files. The main drawbacks also seem to be its annoyingly small size, lack of basic features (eg. a clock or a touchscreen), and lack of affiliation with any major ebook storefront turning DRM-lockin into a major stumbling block when it comes to actually transferring your collection. If you're in the first camp you will, like me, probably enjoy it while those in the second camp will hopefully self sort out.
As mentioned above, I've really been enjoying it so far! It arrived like, literally the day I was packing up to leave for our annual two week vacation in the woods so I mostly just quickly threw whatever I could on it and then accepted that that would be my reading material. The portability made it really nice as a vacation device, since I could just stick it in my pocket and forget about it until I found myself bored somewhere.
While it theoretically can synch books over wifi, for my initial setup I just plugged the micro SD card into my computer which has the upside of a much faster write speed (and not having to figure out how to use a keyboard on a non-touch screen that can only be navigated with four buttons). As far as loading books went, DRM-free epubs I'd purchased where I still had the original file on my computer were extremely straightforward to load—I used Calibre's export feature which automatically creates a file tree (so all books by the same author are in one folder) but I did test and just throwing epubs in there via finder works just as well. A bit more of a challenge to do but still easy enough was books I'd purchased that were in incompatible formats (eg. .mobi). Calibre was able to convert with minimal issues, but obviously you can't just load them directly. These two categories accounted for probably 60% of my ebook collection.
Another other 35% were books where I'd either downloaded the file through iBooks storefront, or lost the original file after loading it into iBooks. However, despite the majority of my ibooks collection being DRM free books that are in .epub format, apple has done some sort of horror to their book files that render them illegible to calibre/the xteink. Many of these were public domain stuff that I can just redownload from project gutenberg or standard ebooks, but there's a few I'd really like to rescue like the murderbot series (which I know is non-DRM). So far the only information about this on the internet seems to be an unmaintained ibooks to calibre plugin on github and one shady website which claims I should just run their bash script so we're leaving this as a task for future me.
Besides the access issues, which were really more on iBooks than the xteink the other big friction point (for me) is that the xteink lacks a backlight. This upside is this does help stretch the very tiny battery further (they claim it will last for 14 days of "regular" usage but I'd run the battery down to 30% by day 7 so either crosspoint-more below-is more energy intensive than the stock OS or I was being an unusually heavy reader?) But it does mean you'll have to keep track of a reading light as well, if you're planning to use it in low light situations. I got the one xteink is selling on their site which works fine, but is a little cooler toned than I'd prefer in the evenings. If you're planning to use your reader with a reading light, I'd strongly recommend picking up a cover for your ereader as well, so you have something to clip your light to besides the screen itself.
One of the main drivers of the xteink's success is that, if you buy it direct from manufacturer, the device is completely unlocked so you can load whatever operating system you want on it. This has proven like catnip for the open source tech nerds who are buying them for all sorts of weird hobby projects like running doom. But if you're just going for no-frills usability, the go-to choice is CrossPoint. It extends the core software in a few key ways (the missing feature from the stock software which pushed me into downloading was that I couldn't figure out chapter navigation. Still not sure if it's literally not an option or just hidden in some obscure place I didn't think to check?).
Crosspoint also offers more customization than the stock OS does on a number of fronts including a greater variety of UI themes & the ability to use fonts loaded to your SD card. The second one is key for cnovel fans—while crosspoint has been working on adding UI translations and general language feature support (RTL language rendering is a recent addition), the xteink 4's flash memory (the stuff actually built into the device for the operating system, as opposed to on the SD card) is just too small to store extensive multi-language font support. So, while they target different character/language coverage sets which might work better or worse for your needs, both the stock OS and Crosspoint leave you with annoying missing character diamonds littered across any sufficiently multi-lingual text.
If you're on the fence because you're new to ereaders, its worth noting that afaik the xteink is the cheapest eink reader on the market—everyone else's "budget friendly" version is over $100 while I got mine direct from manufacturer at 10% off the list price of $69. Hopefully used/refurbished ones will start popping up at even cheaper prices once all the nerds get tired of playing with them.
For those unfamiliar the xteink 4 is an extremely small (the 4 is a reference to it's 4 inch diagonal screen) minimalist ereader produced by a chinese company which has recently gone semi-viral. The main draws are its adorably small size, minimalist featureset, and the fact that it's not affiliated with any ebook storefront so you retain control over your own files. The main drawbacks also seem to be its annoyingly small size, lack of basic features (eg. a clock or a touchscreen), and lack of affiliation with any major ebook storefront turning DRM-lockin into a major stumbling block when it comes to actually transferring your collection. If you're in the first camp you will, like me, probably enjoy it while those in the second camp will hopefully self sort out.
This is probably all the info you actually need to decide if you want one, but some more info on my personal experience under this cut for those curious
As mentioned above, I've really been enjoying it so far! It arrived like, literally the day I was packing up to leave for our annual two week vacation in the woods so I mostly just quickly threw whatever I could on it and then accepted that that would be my reading material. The portability made it really nice as a vacation device, since I could just stick it in my pocket and forget about it until I found myself bored somewhere.
While it theoretically can synch books over wifi, for my initial setup I just plugged the micro SD card into my computer which has the upside of a much faster write speed (and not having to figure out how to use a keyboard on a non-touch screen that can only be navigated with four buttons). As far as loading books went, DRM-free epubs I'd purchased where I still had the original file on my computer were extremely straightforward to load—I used Calibre's export feature which automatically creates a file tree (so all books by the same author are in one folder) but I did test and just throwing epubs in there via finder works just as well. A bit more of a challenge to do but still easy enough was books I'd purchased that were in incompatible formats (eg. .mobi). Calibre was able to convert with minimal issues, but obviously you can't just load them directly. These two categories accounted for probably 60% of my ebook collection.
Another other 35% were books where I'd either downloaded the file through iBooks storefront, or lost the original file after loading it into iBooks. However, despite the majority of my ibooks collection being DRM free books that are in .epub format, apple has done some sort of horror to their book files that render them illegible to calibre/the xteink. Many of these were public domain stuff that I can just redownload from project gutenberg or standard ebooks, but there's a few I'd really like to rescue like the murderbot series (which I know is non-DRM). So far the only information about this on the internet seems to be an unmaintained ibooks to calibre plugin on github and one shady website which claims I should just run their bash script so we're leaving this as a task for future me.
Besides the access issues, which were really more on iBooks than the xteink the other big friction point (for me) is that the xteink lacks a backlight. This upside is this does help stretch the very tiny battery further (they claim it will last for 14 days of "regular" usage but I'd run the battery down to 30% by day 7 so either crosspoint-more below-is more energy intensive than the stock OS or I was being an unusually heavy reader?) But it does mean you'll have to keep track of a reading light as well, if you're planning to use it in low light situations. I got the one xteink is selling on their site which works fine, but is a little cooler toned than I'd prefer in the evenings. If you're planning to use your reader with a reading light, I'd strongly recommend picking up a cover for your ereader as well, so you have something to clip your light to besides the screen itself.
One of the main drivers of the xteink's success is that, if you buy it direct from manufacturer, the device is completely unlocked so you can load whatever operating system you want on it. This has proven like catnip for the open source tech nerds who are buying them for all sorts of weird hobby projects like running doom. But if you're just going for no-frills usability, the go-to choice is CrossPoint. It extends the core software in a few key ways (the missing feature from the stock software which pushed me into downloading was that I couldn't figure out chapter navigation. Still not sure if it's literally not an option or just hidden in some obscure place I didn't think to check?).
Crosspoint also offers more customization than the stock OS does on a number of fronts including a greater variety of UI themes & the ability to use fonts loaded to your SD card. The second one is key for cnovel fans—while crosspoint has been working on adding UI translations and general language feature support (RTL language rendering is a recent addition), the xteink 4's flash memory (the stuff actually built into the device for the operating system, as opposed to on the SD card) is just too small to store extensive multi-language font support. So, while they target different character/language coverage sets which might work better or worse for your needs, both the stock OS and Crosspoint leave you with annoying missing character diamonds littered across any sufficiently multi-lingual text.
If you're on the fence because you're new to ereaders, its worth noting that afaik the xteink is the cheapest eink reader on the market—everyone else's "budget friendly" version is over $100 while I got mine direct from manufacturer at 10% off the list price of $69. Hopefully used/refurbished ones will start popping up at even cheaper prices once all the nerds get tired of playing with them.
weekend sleepiness
Jun. 14th, 2026 05:11 pmjon_chaissonStill feeling sleepy recently. I know part of it is because I slept like crap Thursday into Friday, one of the days when I had to wake up stupid early, so I was running on like four hours rest, caffeine and sugar and not much else. I slept better the next night, but it's also allergy season so was either snoring and was prodded awake by A or I kept waking up every couple of hours to turn over. Someone suggested I get tested on it or wear one of those night breathing things but to be honest that would keep me ALL the way awake instead. I don't like covering my face at night.
I think I'm also a bit exhausted because this past week has been full of spreading myself too thin. I've been thinking lately that perhaps it's partly my own fault this time out, because I'm used to being told 'this needs to be done, so figure it out' even after I've asked for help by my former boss. I can see this sort of sliding in that direction again, but in this particular instance I actually have been told by 2nd level manager to let them know if I can't get something done right away. I also tend to say 'yeah, I can take this on, it's slow' only to think that I still need to do said extra thing even when Unexpected Fires start. [Now, I think there's a bit of a conversation I need to have with them about radio communication, as they do sometimes tend to call me then immediately ask me to do something before I can respond that I might be busy. And I have told them multiple times that if I'm talking to a customer, I'm not going to interrupt them with 'hold on a second' to answer the radio, because that's just rude. Though perhaps responding to said boss with 'hold that thought, I'm helping a customer' works instead.] Either way, these are things I've always had a problem with in the past so it's something I need to work on.
That said, I did have a bit of gas left in the tank to drive down to the garden shop to pick up a few new plants for our community garden plot and get them planted and watered. The rest of the afternoon has pretty much been hanging out here in the office but not doing much else other than laundry. And thankfully I'm doing midshifts the next few days so I can sleep in a bit.
Writing? Am I writing lately? Well, that's another post entirely...
I think I'm also a bit exhausted because this past week has been full of spreading myself too thin. I've been thinking lately that perhaps it's partly my own fault this time out, because I'm used to being told 'this needs to be done, so figure it out' even after I've asked for help by my former boss. I can see this sort of sliding in that direction again, but in this particular instance I actually have been told by 2nd level manager to let them know if I can't get something done right away. I also tend to say 'yeah, I can take this on, it's slow' only to think that I still need to do said extra thing even when Unexpected Fires start. [Now, I think there's a bit of a conversation I need to have with them about radio communication, as they do sometimes tend to call me then immediately ask me to do something before I can respond that I might be busy. And I have told them multiple times that if I'm talking to a customer, I'm not going to interrupt them with 'hold on a second' to answer the radio, because that's just rude. Though perhaps responding to said boss with 'hold that thought, I'm helping a customer' works instead.] Either way, these are things I've always had a problem with in the past so it's something I need to work on.
That said, I did have a bit of gas left in the tank to drive down to the garden shop to pick up a few new plants for our community garden plot and get them planted and watered. The rest of the afternoon has pretty much been hanging out here in the office but not doing much else other than laundry. And thankfully I'm doing midshifts the next few days so I can sleep in a bit.
Writing? Am I writing lately? Well, that's another post entirely...
can the child within my heart rise above?
Jun. 14th, 2026 07:12 pmmusesfoolIt was very exciting to watch the Knicks win the NBA championship last night with another wild 4th quarter comeback! My brother's kids went to one of the watch parties and put me on alert that if they couldn't get home, they were planning to come here to sleep, and I said of course! And then I did not hear from them again, so at 2 am, I went to bed.
I woke up this morning and texted to make sure they got home all right, and when they didn't respond, I checked in with my brother, who told me that the subways had been shut down (I had not read or heard the news), so they ended up going to one of my nephew's friend's apartment to sleep before getting home this morning. But they said they had a good time and it looked like people were mostly being cool while celebrating from what I saw.
The parade is on Thursday! I am no longer one to stand in a crowd for several hours, so I have no intention of going, but I think it's gonna be super cool.
In other news, I was doing one of my every-so-often checks to see if there was a publishing date for Alecto the Ninth yet and I ended up on the Locked Tomb subreddit, which is fine - there is some cool meta there - but I have tried to consciously repress that Muir was in Homestuck fandom, and posts there always remind me, and I do not wish to know anything more about Homestuck than I already do, which is almost nothing. And there is still no release date for AtN. Sigh.
*
I woke up this morning and texted to make sure they got home all right, and when they didn't respond, I checked in with my brother, who told me that the subways had been shut down (I had not read or heard the news), so they ended up going to one of my nephew's friend's apartment to sleep before getting home this morning. But they said they had a good time and it looked like people were mostly being cool while celebrating from what I saw.
The parade is on Thursday! I am no longer one to stand in a crowd for several hours, so I have no intention of going, but I think it's gonna be super cool.
In other news, I was doing one of my every-so-often checks to see if there was a publishing date for Alecto the Ninth yet and I ended up on the Locked Tomb subreddit, which is fine - there is some cool meta there - but I have tried to consciously repress that Muir was in Homestuck fandom, and posts there always remind me, and I do not wish to know anything more about Homestuck than I already do, which is almost nothing. And there is still no release date for AtN. Sigh.
*
yes good event
Jun. 14th, 2026 11:59 pmkaberettThe DRAINAGE (ie Thursday rain that would have rendered the previous site wretched all weekend was mildly inconvenient on Thursday and then became Fine Actually). The friend we brought along had a really good time with sledgehammers. Social overtures. Once we'd made it through Thursday, things ran... smoothly? Gigglefests with multiple groups of people. Yes Good.
第五年第一百五十五天
Jun. 14th, 2026 06:50 pmnnozomi posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
guardian_learning部首
辶 parts 14-15
遇, to encounter; 遍, counter for times; 道, road; 遛, to walk (a dog); 避, to avoid; 邀, to invite
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=162
邑/阝 parts 1-3
那, that; 邦, country; 邪, evil; 邮, post/mail; 邻, neighbor; 郊, suburbs; 郑, family name Zheng; 部, part/section/ministry; 都, all/city
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=163
阜/阝 part 1
队, team; 防, to protect/to prevent; 阳, sun/positive ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=170
语法
4.11 本来 vs 原来, originally
4.12 全 vs 全部, whole
4.13 对于 vs 关于 (about)
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-4-grammar
词汇
此, this; 此次, this time; 此外, besides; 从此, from then on; 因此, therefore
从此，from then on; 从来, always; 从中, from among
粗, coarse/rough/thick; 粗心, careless
村, village; 农村, countryside
存, to exist/to store
错过, to miss; 错误, wrong/mistake
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
玩玩
Two new songs from Jiang Dunhao: 我爱你推广大使, for those who like jazz, and 常常因为夕阳好美而得救, for those who prefer folk-pop ballads.
好热啊，我的天。夏天快起开呀！大家过得怎么样？不要中暑，南半球朋友们不要受凉。
辶 parts 14-15
遇, to encounter; 遍, counter for times; 道, road; 遛, to walk (a dog); 避, to avoid; 邀, to invite
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=162
邑/阝 parts 1-3
那, that; 邦, country; 邪, evil; 邮, post/mail; 邻, neighbor; 郊, suburbs; 郑, family name Zheng; 部, part/section/ministry; 都, all/city
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=163
阜/阝 part 1
队, team; 防, to protect/to prevent; 阳, sun/positive ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=170
语法
4.11 本来 vs 原来, originally
4.12 全 vs 全部, whole
4.13 对于 vs 关于 (about)
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-4-grammar
词汇
此, this; 此次, this time; 此外, besides; 从此, from then on; 因此, therefore
从此，from then on; 从来, always; 从中, from among
粗, coarse/rough/thick; 粗心, careless
村, village; 农村, countryside
存, to exist/to store
错过, to miss; 错误, wrong/mistake
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
玩玩
Two new songs from Jiang Dunhao: 我爱你推广大使, for those who like jazz, and 常常因为夕阳好美而得救, for those who prefer folk-pop ballads.
好热啊，我的天。夏天快起开呀！大家过得怎么样？不要中暑，南半球朋友们不要受凉。
The Incandescent, Taskmaster Oz, book meme
Jun. 14th, 2026 03:18 pmhamsterwomanHugo homework continues. I and my reading buddies are posting about it real time on the sync read post, but also posting here as I finish things I consider stand-alone books (novellas and longer) and complete categories:
11. Emily Tesh, The Incandescent – Hugo homework furnished me with a copy and a deadline, but I’ve been curious to read it for a while, because a number of my flisters had, and I’d even seen some of their Yuletide requests. I was also approaching it with a bit of trepidation, because so far everything I’ve read by Emily Tesh started out being great and then disappointed me in the ending to some degree. I think maybe my expectations are getting calibrated appropriately, because I was less disappointed by this ending than by aspects of Some Desperate Glory, let alone the entire second novella of the Greenhollow duology, but I was also less excited about the beginning. ( More, with spoilers )
I liked the individual components of the book – the magic school from a teacher’s perspective was great! I liked the students, I thought the central character and her arc were interesting even if I didn’t like her much. I do think it’s put together in a very weird way that doesn’t do it any favors as a novel, and Emily Tesh’s inability to write endings that I find satisfying strikes again – so I think I’m left more frustrated than won over by the whole…But I’m glad this book exists, and that I read it, for the teaching-of-magic aspects, and general teaching-as-vocation feels (which were well-timed for the weekend of attending my younger child’s probably-last graduation). I would not be mad if it wins a Hugo.
*
I found a chance to catch up on Taskmaster Australia s5e06. I was actually going to wait until I came back from Europe and binge the rest of the season, but a Reddit post hinted at ep 6 having something extraordinary, so I decided to carve out the time. ( Spoilers! )
*
Meme stolen from a couple of flisters: ( Some questions about books )
11. Emily Tesh, The Incandescent – Hugo homework furnished me with a copy and a deadline, but I’ve been curious to read it for a while, because a number of my flisters had, and I’d even seen some of their Yuletide requests. I was also approaching it with a bit of trepidation, because so far everything I’ve read by Emily Tesh started out being great and then disappointed me in the ending to some degree. I think maybe my expectations are getting calibrated appropriately, because I was less disappointed by this ending than by aspects of Some Desperate Glory, let alone the entire second novella of the Greenhollow duology, but I was also less excited about the beginning. ( More, with spoilers )
I liked the individual components of the book – the magic school from a teacher’s perspective was great! I liked the students, I thought the central character and her arc were interesting even if I didn’t like her much. I do think it’s put together in a very weird way that doesn’t do it any favors as a novel, and Emily Tesh’s inability to write endings that I find satisfying strikes again – so I think I’m left more frustrated than won over by the whole…But I’m glad this book exists, and that I read it, for the teaching-of-magic aspects, and general teaching-as-vocation feels (which were well-timed for the weekend of attending my younger child’s probably-last graduation). I would not be mad if it wins a Hugo.
*
I found a chance to catch up on Taskmaster Australia s5e06. I was actually going to wait until I came back from Europe and binge the rest of the season, but a Reddit post hinted at ep 6 having something extraordinary, so I decided to carve out the time. ( Spoilers! )
*
Meme stolen from a couple of flisters: ( Some questions about books )
Full Circle: BLUE & GOLD, FIRE AND ICE, HUMAN TARGET, GUY GARDNER
Jun. 14th, 2026 04:53 pmtcampbell1000 posting in scans_daily108 of 108. Sorry for tardiness! Most of the following post will cover what the JLI’s most persistent cast members have been up to in the last decade. Warning for a front-and-center suicide attempt and some spoilers, especially for Human Target.
Just as Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire charged in and made established characters like Blue Beetle and Mister Miracle their own, their successors at DC Comics have picked up the JLI’s legacy and made it theirs. No one could duplicate Giffen and DeMatteis, just as no one could duplicate Jack Kirby, because their whole approach was about innovation. You follow them best by not following them exactly, by not “training yourself” too much on their “data.” ( You can’t prompt-engineer a BWA-HA-HA. )
Weekend reading
Jun. 14th, 2026 05:34 pmtroisoiseauxFinished the Damon Runyon collection Guys and Dolls and Other Writings! To be honest, I mostly skimmed through his Early/Other Fiction, which lacked a certain something (like... good writing...), but at least his much better Broadway Stories made up like 70% of the collection, and his 1920s-30s trial reporting— including coverage of Al Capone's 1931 trial for tax evasion and the 1933 Senate investigation of J.P. Morgan Jr., also for tax evasion, presented back-to-back— was also interesting; it, along with some of his Occasional Prose, offered a bit of insight into his Broadway Stories: the "Mindy's restaurant" that often appears in his stories is presumably a nod to the "Lindy's restaurant" mentioned in the context of the 1929 murder of gangster Arnold Rothstein... who, per a short Wikipedia rabbit hole, appears as "the Brain" in several of Runyon's short stories— and has also been pointed to as his inspiration for Nathan Detroit?— and also shows up in The Great Gatsby as Meyer Wolfsheim. The more you know! My one nit to pick with this collection was that it presented the stories without date/context, but it turns out all of this information was included in an "annotations" section at the end, so complaint retracted. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Culinary
Jun. 14th, 2026 07:25 pmoursinLast week's bread held out very well:
There was even enough to include in a frittata, along with red bell pepper and pepperoni, for Friday night supper.
Saturday breakfast rolls: basic buttermilk, with Marriage's Golden Wholegrain Bread Flour
Today's lunch; a stifado-type casserole of diced beef, served with slowcooked Bellaverde broccoli, baked San Marzano tomatoes and sticky rice.