(no subject)
Apr. 30th, 2026 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dustbunny105I'm not used to feeling very fatigued when I have strep but I not only slept in today, it felt like it took forever to really get moving. It's faded a bit as the day has gone on, at least, and I'm anticipating a good night of sleep. It just feels unfair to be hit with this now after I've been taking my medicine for a couple of days, lol. Although, come to think of it, I did start to feel tired pretty suddenly towards the end of Tuesday... Didn't really have that problem again until now, though, so my point stands!
Since it feels a little silly to go back to work for just Friday before the weekend, I actually considered whether the fatigue was reason enough to call out again. It's not like my job is physically strenuous, though, and I'd hate to leave my officemate hanging on what's usually our busiest day. I can always leave early if I have to.
Since it feels a little silly to go back to work for just Friday before the weekend, I actually considered whether the fatigue was reason enough to call out again. It's not like my job is physically strenuous, though, and I'd hate to leave my officemate hanging on what's usually our busiest day. I can always leave early if I have to.
Poet's Corner: A Jellyfish by Marianne Moore
Apr. 30th, 2026 05:50 pmstonepicnicking_okapiThank you to all my friends who posted poems during this month. I think we did a good job of celebrating the power of poetry.
A Jelly-Fish by Marianne Moore
Visible, invisible,
A fluctuating charm,
An amber-colored amethyst
Inhabits it; your arm
Approaches, and
It opens and
It closes;
You have meant
To catch it,
And it shrivels;
You abandon
Your intent—
It opens, and it
Closes and you
Reach for it—
The blue
Surrounding it
Grows cloudy, and
It floats away
From you.
A Jelly-Fish by Marianne Moore
Visible, invisible,
A fluctuating charm,
An amber-colored amethyst
Inhabits it; your arm
Approaches, and
It opens and
It closes;
You have meant
To catch it,
And it shrivels;
You abandon
Your intent—
It opens, and it
Closes and you
Reach for it—
The blue
Surrounding it
Grows cloudy, and
It floats away
From you.
(no subject)
Apr. 29th, 2026 08:57 pmdustbunny105Well. It's strep. Bleh. I took off work today and will be taking tomorrow too. After that, I'll no longer be contagious.
Anyhow, it's Wip Wednesday! I didn't get any prompts last week, so I randomly selected an excerpt from my docs:
"You must meet a lot of people out there," she says, leaning forward as if in anticipation.
Sorry to disappoint her, Road Rage gestures with her glass at the café crowd and says, "Not nearly as many as you do in here. The galaxy is a big place and mostly empty-- and when I'm doing my job right, no one knows how to find me in it."
"That must get lonely."
Road Rage halts with her drink at her lips, just for a moment. Then she sips slowly, letting the acidity wash bitterness from her tongue. "It is, I guess," she admits when she lowers the glass. "I never really thought of it that way, though."
But the waitress is looking at her like she's heard that line before and hasn't believed it yet.
Anyhow, it's Wip Wednesday! I didn't get any prompts last week, so I randomly selected an excerpt from my docs:
"You must meet a lot of people out there," she says, leaning forward as if in anticipation.
Sorry to disappoint her, Road Rage gestures with her glass at the café crowd and says, "Not nearly as many as you do in here. The galaxy is a big place and mostly empty-- and when I'm doing my job right, no one knows how to find me in it."
"That must get lonely."
Road Rage halts with her drink at her lips, just for a moment. Then she sips slowly, letting the acidity wash bitterness from her tongue. "It is, I guess," she admits when she lowers the glass. "I never really thought of it that way, though."
But the waitress is looking at her like she's heard that line before and hasn't believed it yet.
Book Bingo: April 2026
Apr. 29th, 2026 03:07 pmstonepicnicking_okapiMaking progress!
G-1: Author's Debut/First Book: A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin. The April![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bookclub_dw book. It is an easy read. A fantasy novel about a poor village girl with a tragic past who travels to a tea-making competition in the princess court to win a remedy for her dying sister. Warning: ends on a cliffhanger.
N-2: Historical (fiction or nonfiction): Keats: a brief life in 9 poems and one epitaph by Lucasta Miller. A nice overview of Keats' life and death and impact. Audiobook.
O-2: eBook/audiobook: The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves. This is the latest Shetland/Jimmy Perez novel and of course Jimmy can't catch a break. His best friend is murdered. But his best friend is kind of a loser and the killer comes out of left field at the end with a motive that isn't hinted at until the last quarter of the book. Do not recommend, my eye-rolling muscles got a good workout, but the narrator is good. Audiobook.
I-3: Crime/Mystery: Tokyo Express by Seicho Mastumoro. A solid Japanese police procedural. Very much about train time tables a la Freeman Wills Croft. Audiobook. I have a soft spot for the narrator.
O-3: Book Older than You are: The Dispossessed [1974] by Ursula K. Le Guin. A science fiction classic about a planet and a moon and a physicist who travels from the latter to the former and back. A philosophical treatise on government or lack of it, human nature, time, and space. To give a quote:
To break a promise is to deny the reality of the past; therefore it is to deny the hope of a real future. If time and reason are functions of each other, if wer are creatures of time, then we had better know it, and try to make the best of it.
G-1: Author's Debut/First Book: A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin. The April
bookclub_dw book. It is an easy read. A fantasy novel about a poor village girl with a tragic past who travels to a tea-making competition in the princess court to win a remedy for her dying sister. Warning: ends on a cliffhanger. N-2: Historical (fiction or nonfiction): Keats: a brief life in 9 poems and one epitaph by Lucasta Miller. A nice overview of Keats' life and death and impact. Audiobook.
O-2: eBook/audiobook: The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves. This is the latest Shetland/Jimmy Perez novel and of course Jimmy can't catch a break. His best friend is murdered. But his best friend is kind of a loser and the killer comes out of left field at the end with a motive that isn't hinted at until the last quarter of the book. Do not recommend, my eye-rolling muscles got a good workout, but the narrator is good. Audiobook.
I-3: Crime/Mystery: Tokyo Express by Seicho Mastumoro. A solid Japanese police procedural. Very much about train time tables a la Freeman Wills Croft. Audiobook. I have a soft spot for the narrator.
O-3: Book Older than You are: The Dispossessed [1974] by Ursula K. Le Guin. A science fiction classic about a planet and a moon and a physicist who travels from the latter to the former and back. A philosophical treatise on government or lack of it, human nature, time, and space. To give a quote:
To break a promise is to deny the reality of the past; therefore it is to deny the hope of a real future. If time and reason are functions of each other, if wer are creatures of time, then we had better know it, and try to make the best of it.
Word: Ansible
Apr. 29th, 2026 02:59 pmstonepicnicking_okapiCopy-and-pasting from my 1word1day Monday post because I finished Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed this week.
ansible [an-suh-buhl]
noun
(in science fiction) a device for instantaneous communication, or other purposes, across cosmic distances
examples
1. I could show them the ansible, but it didn’t make a very convincing Alien Artifact, being so incomprehensible to fit in with hoax as well as with reality. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
2. "What is an anisble, Shevek?"
"An idea." He smiled without much humor. "It will be a device that will permit communication without any time interval between two points in space." The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
origin
Shortening of answerable; coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in her novel Rocannon's World (1966)
1word1day Monday post because I finished Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed this week. ansible [an-suh-buhl]
noun
(in science fiction) a device for instantaneous communication, or other purposes, across cosmic distances
examples
1. I could show them the ansible, but it didn’t make a very convincing Alien Artifact, being so incomprehensible to fit in with hoax as well as with reality. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
2. "What is an anisble, Shevek?"
"An idea." He smiled without much humor. "It will be a device that will permit communication without any time interval between two points in space." The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
origin
Shortening of answerable; coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in her novel Rocannon's World (1966)
Poet's Corner: Who Has Seen the Wind by Christina Rossetti
Apr. 29th, 2026 06:59 amstonepicnicking_okapiWho Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Rossetti
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
(no subject)
Apr. 28th, 2026 08:34 pmdustbunny105I thought my sinuses were acting up because of the weather but now I'm thinking I might be sick ._. Turns out my sister's house is full of similar symptoms. Of course, they also all have allergies and sinus problems too. So Idk.
The thing is, I have no idea what I've done with my insurance card, so that'll be a pain if I have to go in to get checked out. It doesn't feel bad enough to be strep right now and all I see in my throat is drainage but it does feel similar, so I suspect that's what I have if anything. Not fun but at least it's a quick recovery with antibiotics.
The thing is, I have no idea what I've done with my insurance card, so that'll be a pain if I have to go in to get checked out. It doesn't feel bad enough to be strep right now and all I see in my throat is drainage but it does feel similar, so I suspect that's what I have if anything. Not fun but at least it's a quick recovery with antibiotics.
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: C is for Cyanide
Apr. 28th, 2026 05:07 pmstonepicnicking_okapiC is for Cyanide
C is also for card readings. If you are interested in tarot readings (receiving or offering) check out this post https://tarot.dreamwidth.org/16287.html
I got a lovely one fromgoodbyebird.
C is also for card readings. If you are interested in tarot readings (receiving or offering) check out this post https://tarot.dreamwidth.org/16287.html
I got a lovely one from
goodbyebird.Three Classic War Films
Apr. 28th, 2026 11:56 amsmallhobbitOne of the aims of the tour we've been on was to look at the sites of various classic WWII air war films and get a proper perspective on them.
(no subject)
Apr. 27th, 2026 08:56 pmdustbunny105I just really took in the date and I'm gonna finish this monthly having just barely finished two books. It's not even about the number itself, really, it's more that it makes me realize how little I'm enjoying what I picked. I don't wanna be a quitter but I'm wondering if I need to reconsider what I've got on my shelves...
Music Monday: Moanin by Charles Mingus
Apr. 27th, 2026 04:36 pmstonepicnicking_okapiI always look at 'today in jazz history' before I go in to do jazz man and last week it was Mingus' birthday, and jazz man asked Alexa to play this for me and explained to me a lot about what is going on.
(no subject)
Apr. 26th, 2026 08:59 pmdustbunny105Had my nephew today so my sister could get some housework done (the older two went with their dad to work). It really is remarkable how much less rowdy he is when he's the only kid in the equation. Same for all of them, really. It makes sense, I guess, since they're not all bouncing off each other.
Anyhow, I had hoped this lack of rowdiness would translate to me being able to get some stuff done, too, but I all I managed was laundry and dishes. Which, hey, that's not nothing, at least. We went for a walk to the dollar store so I could get some dish soap and to find something for him to eat, since I wasn't sure if he'd be staying for dinner. He did really well despite the distance, actually. I was kinda hoping the exertion would conk him out when we got back but no luck on that front. He was noticeably more sluggish, though. I went ahead and put on a movie for him (Charlotte's Web) and he sat through most of it.
I kept feeling kinda bad because he would ask every so often about my sister. Starting from, like, ten seconds after she left, lol. We saw a car that was similar in size and color to hers on the way to the store and he got so excited thinking that she had come back ;; He asked to call her later and then instead of talking, he just nuzzled the speaker when he heard her voice. She asked him when I relayed this information to her if this was his way of saying he wanted to come home and he nodded, which worked out since it was about that time. I did still end up feeding him, so good thing we got food.
Anyhow, yeah, all in all a pleasant day even if it isn't the one I had hoped to have.
Anyhow, I had hoped this lack of rowdiness would translate to me being able to get some stuff done, too, but I all I managed was laundry and dishes. Which, hey, that's not nothing, at least. We went for a walk to the dollar store so I could get some dish soap and to find something for him to eat, since I wasn't sure if he'd be staying for dinner. He did really well despite the distance, actually. I was kinda hoping the exertion would conk him out when we got back but no luck on that front. He was noticeably more sluggish, though. I went ahead and put on a movie for him (Charlotte's Web) and he sat through most of it.
I kept feeling kinda bad because he would ask every so often about my sister. Starting from, like, ten seconds after she left, lol. We saw a car that was similar in size and color to hers on the way to the store and he got so excited thinking that she had come back ;; He asked to call her later and then instead of talking, he just nuzzled the speaker when he heard her voice. She asked him when I relayed this information to her if this was his way of saying he wanted to come home and he nodded, which worked out since it was about that time. I did still end up feeding him, so good thing we got food.
Anyhow, yeah, all in all a pleasant day even if it isn't the one I had hoped to have.
Poet's Corner: There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale
Apr. 26th, 2026 04:30 pmstonepicnicking_okapiThere Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale
(War Time)
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
(War Time)
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
3Weeks4Dreamwidth: B is for Belladonna
Apr. 26th, 2026 03:25 pmstonepicnicking_okapiA is for Agatha Chrstie.
B is for Belladonna.
Here's a fun anecdote from A is for Arsenic: The poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Markup.
In 1977, a Frenchman added eyedrop solution (atropine, the dominant toxic compound in belladonna) to a bottle of wine and gave it to his uncle intending to kill a friend of his uncle's. The intended victim didn't drink the wine, but the uncle and aunt did, much later. Uncle died, aunt in coma. No foul play suspected until a carpenter and the uncle's son-in-law stop by the house to put uncle's body in the coffin and drank some wine (like you do) and ended up going to hospital.
Here's where it gets eye-rolling...police found a copy of Agatha Christie's Thirteen Problems where Miss Marple solves a case of eyedrop solution as poison...and the relevant sections were underlined.
Hey, kids, make sure you tidy up your research when you're trying to top somebody...hmmm?
B is for Belladonna.
Here's a fun anecdote from A is for Arsenic: The poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Markup.
In 1977, a Frenchman added eyedrop solution (atropine, the dominant toxic compound in belladonna) to a bottle of wine and gave it to his uncle intending to kill a friend of his uncle's. The intended victim didn't drink the wine, but the uncle and aunt did, much later. Uncle died, aunt in coma. No foul play suspected until a carpenter and the uncle's son-in-law stop by the house to put uncle's body in the coffin and drank some wine (like you do) and ended up going to hospital.
Here's where it gets eye-rolling...police found a copy of Agatha Christie's Thirteen Problems where Miss Marple solves a case of eyedrop solution as poison...and the relevant sections were underlined.
Hey, kids, make sure you tidy up your research when you're trying to top somebody...hmmm?
(no subject)
Apr. 25th, 2026 09:00 pmdustbunny105Listen. I don't even have to say it, do I? We all know this was staged? For his frikkin ballroom, no less...
All of Agatha: Book Review: Elephants Can Remember (1972)
Apr. 25th, 2026 07:33 pmstonepicnicking_okapiThis series of entries is commentary on my lifelong quest to read all of Agatha Christie's works in UK publication order. It was begun in January 2021.
So for 3 Weeks for Dreamwidth, my working theme is Arsenic, Belladona, Cyanide, the ABCs of Murder.
Day 1: A is for Agatha, specially my All of Agatha series. Can you believe that after 5+ years, I am finally nearing the end. I have 3 more works to go.
Elephants Can Remember [1972] is not new or particularly interesting. We see themes that have appeared again and again (but she has been doing this now for 50 years and they are tropes because she did them and did them well for many of those fifty years). There is a cold case which has a bearing on a young couple who want to marry. There is Ariadne Oliver as Aggie's stand-in and Poirot. There are really unhealthy views of adoption vs. biological motherhood as well as marriage. There is a repetition of a phrase (in earlier works it was nursery rhymes but now it is the title). The key clue is that a woman had four wigs. It is available in two parts on Youtube narrated by Hugh Fraser. That is the version I listened to and it was okay. I did a collage. For newcomers, this is a scan of a physical collage with paper, washi tape, stickers, etc.
So for 3 Weeks for Dreamwidth, my working theme is Arsenic, Belladona, Cyanide, the ABCs of Murder.
Day 1: A is for Agatha, specially my All of Agatha series. Can you believe that after 5+ years, I am finally nearing the end. I have 3 more works to go.
Elephants Can Remember [1972] is not new or particularly interesting. We see themes that have appeared again and again (but she has been doing this now for 50 years and they are tropes because she did them and did them well for many of those fifty years). There is a cold case which has a bearing on a young couple who want to marry. There is Ariadne Oliver as Aggie's stand-in and Poirot. There are really unhealthy views of adoption vs. biological motherhood as well as marriage. There is a repetition of a phrase (in earlier works it was nursery rhymes but now it is the title). The key clue is that a woman had four wigs. It is available in two parts on Youtube narrated by Hugh Fraser. That is the version I listened to and it was okay. I did a collage. For newcomers, this is a scan of a physical collage with paper, washi tape, stickers, etc.
