Jim Moriarty (Sherlock) and purple (this is the first time I've attempted selective colouring on icons)

( links )

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert.


Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 2: Architecture

Architecture is the art of designing and building structures, such as houses, offices, churches, or skyscrapers. It goes back only a little less far than humanity does. People have always needed shelters and event spaces, and started making their own rather early on. Here on Dreamwidth, check out farmhouseprints, flaneurs, photographic_i, and urban_photos.




( Read more... )

✓ kingstoken's 2026 Book Bingo: Main Character Over the Age of 30

Spent by Alison Bechdel is a 2025 fictionalized memoir about a cartoonist (coincidentally named Alison Bechdel) who lives on a farm in Vermont with her partner, running a goat sanctuary while trying to write a graphic novel (or maybe it'll be a television show?) about capitalism (or maybe it's about her group of middle-aged queer friends).

The real Alison Bechdel is the creator of the long-running and groundbreaking comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008) and the award-winning graphic novel memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2007), and that knowledge is something I think Spent depends on. It's not just that Sparrow, Stuart, Ginger, and Lois—and a grown-up Jiao Raizel—from Dykes to Watch Out For are fictional!Alison's neighbours in this, or that fictional!Alison is grappling with having an autobiographical success publicly leave her creative control through adaptation. The heart of this work exists in a very specific instant, where a queer leftist artist in middle age and the middle class is sitting at a career crossroads in the global car crash of late-stage capitalism, finding herself in an uncertain position between privileged and marginalized, mainstream and fringe, consumer and creator, progressive and out of touch.

My favourite parts of this book were the subplots with the characters from Dykes to Watch Out For—particularly storylines like Stuart and Sparrow expanding their relationship to a throuple, only for their poly kid to nonetheless jump to the conclusion they're both having affairs—and I found myself wishing I were reading it as a serial strip that could add up to more time with them. But that might be saying something about where and when I'd rather be.

This is a book that got me thinking about a lot of its topics, but more through its general timeliness and the role of Bechdel's work in the culture than through a connection with the characters or something in the writing hitting particularly hard. Still, while even the lighter stories didn't quite land in the right place for me to see myself revisiting them on rainy days, I do want to imagine a better future where I get to go back to this book someday and see it as a snapshot of a weird moment in time where we were all trying to figure some stuff out. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as anyone's first Bechdel, but I'm glad I read it.

( An Excerpt )

In theory, I was planning to start on the structural edits tomorrow; in practice I feel like I'm being clever "cheating" by starting today. No, I have no external deadline. This is just My Brain vs My Brain and winning 😎 (maybe???), lol.

The feeling most at the surface at the moment seems to be a kind of terror, which obviously is not nice to feel but I'm also fascinated by it. Why do I feel like this? This is the first round of editing. I'll have at least the prose edits later to refine stuff, and proofreading, and then whatever changes happen after beta-reader feedback. That means while there's a ton of work immediately ahead, there's also not as much pressure around "MUST GET EVERYTHING RIGHT LAST CHANCE!!!" Yeah there's a lot to do, but I've been working on the Cursed With for nearly 3 years. I know I can put in the work. I'm using a new method of editing based on that workshop, but normally I'm excited to try new things, especially related to something I know I have difficulties with (clearly my way of doing structural editing for the witch wasn't good enough, considering how much structural rework I had to do again after beta-reader feedback). Is this overwhelm? Is this because, while I was proofreading the witch and noticing different ways subplots or other arcs could have been worked, I kept thinking "Well, at least I'll do it better for the Soul Thief!" and now I feel some kind of pressure around it?

I noticed before that when I transition between projects, there's always a few days feeling out of balance, paddling frantically without finding my footing. Sometimes it's because I'm doing something new, like figuring out how to handle beta-reader feedback when there is a ton of it and some of it requires massive rework. But even when I know how to do something, like the proofreading of the witch earlier this month, there's still a similar adaptation period, even knowing what I wanted to do (use text-to-speech) and having previous experience doing it.

It's interesting to reread that post about implementing feedback because I suspect I wrote the post with the same kind of feeling I'm swimming against today. So I must have started writing the post, and then I made a list of what I intended to do. And today I want to break things down like that as well. There's so much to do, and the very first chapter in particular needs a ton of changes.

( The Plan! )

Okay, self. You got this. And look: there's still a bit of "oh-no-this-is-new-i-don't-know-how-to-do-this" dread, but nothing terror-like anymore. There's a plan! You follow the plan. And if it doesn't work, then you learn something from it and make a new plan.

Jokes

* Why did the crab cross the road? It didn’t—it used the sidewalk.
* What’s the difference between the bird flu and the swine flu? One requires tweetment and the other an oinkment.
* What is the most popular fish in the ocean? The starfish.
* What’s the difference between ducks and dine-and-dashers? Ducks take care of their bills.
* I found a lion in my closet the other day! When I asked what it was doing there, it said “Narnia business.”
* What's the difference in an alligator and a crocodile? You’ll see one later and one in a while.
* I went to the aquarium this weekend, but I didn’t stay long. There’s something fishy about that place.

Quotes

1. “My keyboard must be broken, I keep pressing the escape key, but I’m still at work.” – Unknown
2. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell
3. “Friendship is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth.” – Unknown
4. “A good friend will help you move. But a best friend will help you move a dead body.” – Jim Hayes
5. “I don’t know what’s tighter, our jeans or our friendship.” – Unknown
6. “We’ll be friends until we’re old and senile… then, we’ll be new friends.” – Unknown

90 discussion questions

1. What does the sky look like today? How does it make you feel? No sun today. Very overcast and depressing. But I made up for it because it was my granddaughter’s 21st birthday.

What is something that brings you profound joy? How could you get more of that in your life?

My grandchildren. I have them over for dinner every two weeks.


If you could run any business and know it would succeed…what would it be? Some type of restaurant. I love to cook and bake.


What do you need MORE of in your life right now?

Good news. I'm hoping I have some soon.

Crunchy questions

What's a genre of fiction that you didn't think you'd like, but found yourself liking after something changed your mind?  

I read one slash story and had no idea that I would like it.



If you're an avid book reader, what are some things you wish publishers would do (or not do) when marketing a book?

I love books, so I have no wishes to tell them.

Do you like musicals? Operas? Ballets? Do you have any favorites, least favorites, unpopular opinions?

I love opera and ballet. I used to go when younger.

Have you ever known someone who got married after a short time? How did it work out?

My sister married a guy after only dating for two months. They divorced about four years later.

What are some unpopular fandom opinions you hold, or held in past fandoms?

I don't have any unpopular fandom opinions.

April not quite 365 days

20. Did you sleep well last night? Not really, but I plan to catch up tonight.

21.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be? Arizona. And I live here.


22.  If you took part in a quiz, what would be your specialist subject? I don't understand this question.


23.  In 1895, Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand detective writer and producer, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Have you ever read any of her detective novels? If not, who is your favourite detective novelist?
Sherlock Holmes is first. Then I jump to James Patterson’s Alex Cross books. I've never read one I didn't love.


24.  It’s Barbara Streisand’s birthday – are you a fan of her music or movies?

Not so much her music, but I love her movies.

25.  When’s the last time you had to use a plumber?

Last week. I hate calling them. It always costs way too much.

Granddaughters are great.

Jayla almost 18.



Sam is 21 today.

Title: Farewell? on AO3
Artist: mific
Rating: Teen - NSFW (bare breasts)
Fandom: Minoan culture
Characters/Pairings: Minoan woman
Notes: Made in Procreate for #77, the Windows and Openings challenge, and as a memorial and tribute to Ny (minoanmiss).

Today we went to the Douglas-Hart Nature Center for their Earth Day celebration and native plant sale.

( Read more... )

The deadline for assignments has now passed! We've temporarily closed the collection to take stock. We will likely have the post-deadline pinch hits out approximately a day from now. Thanks!

UPDATE: The collection is re-opened for posting and queries have been sent out. If the assignment (not treat) you've written has not been approved, check your email! We've probably reached out to you.

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What would be different if the 9/11 terrorist attack never occurred?


We would have a lot more freedom, privacy, and civil rights. I might still be willing to use airports.

The terrorists may have missed the White House, but they scored a direct hit on the American way of life. It's among the most effective terrorist attacks in recorded history, and it's still working.

The Game Is Rigged And You Don't Have To Stay

Most people don't leave because they think they can't. Not because of money. Not because of the kids. Because nobody ever said out loud that leaving is a rational choice.

If you are unhappy with your life, do something about it. If you only have one or a few issues, then it makes sense to try fixing them first. But if you hate most or all things about your job, where you live, your family, whatever -- then leaving IS a rational choice. See Introduction to Goal-Setting Frameworks for ideas about making logical decisions. As long as you are a legal adult, you have the right to leave situations that don't suit you. It's not selfish to stay alive.

( Read more... )

Having now taken steps to divest myself of some old pajamas, it's feeling a little easier to approach some other clothes I look at often. I haven't done anything yet, but I feel better about the prospect of doing so, which is one of the bigger initial hurdles.

Next up: DVD box sets of TV shows and deciding if I want the object of the box set after ripping the media. It'll be a while before I need to start thinking about digital storage space, but at the moment, I'll be happy to get some floor back. There's no point in buying a 12TB hard drive right now - at least, not yet. By the time I can buy what's on the market, I'll probably be able to spend that much on 16TB with no issue.