Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
damn near had to zip my jacket this morning (it was 14 F) Less said about work the better (still dealing with the issues of that mix up) but the funny thing is we were loaned (from another failing program) the autoclave and incubators. So I went in to see how they were going as my researchers are ramping up. The autoclave isn't put together (and the fuse box is MIA) and NONE of the incubators are done. Me and DM were working on them. It's like incubators by IKEA and it's ALL in German and nothing is complete (I have a German student, I might drag him in there) It's so dumb I'm laughing.
Today was Cheese Cake and Golden Girls at the library. Just bring/eat cheesecake and watch a couple episodes of GG. It was packed. I was someone's hero because I gave her some of my lactose pills (she forgot hers). You'll share them? Yes, of course. It was fun except....for the two tables in the back who just kept talking thru the entire first episode we watched. Like fucking non stop. I really wanted to say hey, STFU. We're here trying to enjoy ourselves but we can't even hear teh show. I hate that women are so well trained to be 'nice' that sometimes making waves is hard. And then they had the audacity to shove in a couple pieces of cheesecake and then left without watching the first 30 minutes all the way thru. Didn't care. Glad they gone.
Came home. Realized OMG the authors zoom is tonight and I'm exhausted. I shook it off. Wrote over 2500 words in 1 1/2 hours. Well yay for me.
No fannish 50. I'm too tired again.
Also dummy went outside this morning. Refused to come back. I'm like of all days to go out and run off rocket. He's back and he's fine.
noun, plural grandfamilies 1. a family in which one or more children live with and are raised by their grandparent or grandparents: Grandfamilies exist because of absent parents, and the circumstances behind that can vary greatly from one case to the next.
Origin: First recorded in 1960–65; grand ( def. ) + family ( def. )
Example Sentences “I hear from the grandfamily caregivers that they don’t want to be a part of ‘the system,’” Keith Lowhorne, vice president of kinship with the Alabama Foster and Adoptive Parents Association, said in the report. From Washington Post
Gentry said she hopes more grandfamily communities like hers pop up around the country so residents can provide support for one another when resources are not readily available. From Seattle Times
More older Americans are finding a haven in the “grandfamily housing” communities sprouting nationwide. From New York Times
There are at least 19 grandfamily housing programs with on-site services across the United States, financed by a mix of public and private funding, according to Generations United, a nonprofit focused on intergenerational collaboration. From New York Times
Projects are underway in Washington, D.C., and Redmond, Ore., and lawmakers in the House reintroduced the Grandfamily Housing Act, which would create a national pilot program to expand grandfamily housing. From New York Times
Storage room was emptied with the help of a friend on the weekend - perfect timing because today was the billing date for the rental. (Everybody should have at least one Ukrainian friend. Every Ukrainian import I've ever met, if you ask them if they have time for a favour, they're immediately, "I can be there in 20 minutes.") This is the last of the big stash to be cleared out and organized. My house is once again full of crap but I've got most of it already sorted into piles to keep, give away, throw away, or incorporate into The Stuff.
Keep: One of the things I inherited from my mother was a tall skinny china cabinet. I cleaned all the dust off and polished the glass and it's now set up on my ground floor - a little dinged up from being dragged around but a touch of paint should fix it right up. She filled it with crystal glasses and clocks shaped like shamrocks. I'll probably fill it with skulls and gargoyles. Maybe dioramas from Hieronymus Bosch. Haven't decided yet.
Give Away: A couple of big bags of sweaters and blankets to go to the drop-in centre, so good timing on that as well. A big bag of shoes that will go to the drop-in next summer because they have no storage space. Neighbours have already called dibs on a few things I posted to the local group. There is also a big box of photos, so I will pull those out for my family to go through as they are conveniently all in my house next weekend.
The Stuff: This is what I call the things where I go, "That is future me's problem" and stick it in a corner. Furniture that will either go into the (some day) finished basement or will be re-homed if it's not needed, boxes of art that's going to get re-hung after I've patched/repainted the damaged walls, boxes of planters and exterior decorations I want to go through for setting up the new deck in the spring, boxes of material and sewing supplies I'm going to dig into mmn, maybe next winter if I'm being completely honest.
The Stuff is... I'm not going to lie, The Stuff takes up a lot of room and my sister likes to pull one thing out of the pile and hold it up and go, "WHAT ARE YOU KEEPING THIS FOR" and she's not wrong entirely, but... also I have been dealing with my own hoarding tendencies for a long time and this I absolutely know, I will throw it away when I am good and fucking ready and not one minute before.
(Also, if somebody stands up and says "EXPLAIN YOURSELF" my immediate instinctual reaction is No, Fuck You. So that doesn't help her get the response she's looking for.)
***
Achievement unlock #2, no hot water this morning. Of course the corridor to get back to the tank was filled with storage room stuff, so I moved that, and then sat on the floor to read the instructions on the sticker that was conveniently located 6 inches from the very bottom of the tank. Last time I had to light a pilot I was much bendier, but also I had to unscrew a side panel and then stick a match into the space under the tank. This just required pressing a bunch of buttons in a very specific order. The technology is much improved, IMHO.
Then I realized I had an appointment in 40 minutes and there was a mad scramble to get out of the house in time and I forgot every single other thing I was going to do today.
(Side Note: And holy crap it was cold outside today! My fingers went numb after about 30 seconds.)
***
I think the cat is losing weight again. I've noticed his appetite has dropped off in the last couple of weeks. I checked the label on his prescription and it expired in December, so I'm hoping that he just needs a fresh batch. He has a date with the vet tomorrow and I'll be picking up a new bottle, but I'm going to bring it up with them.
Other than that, his energy level is fine and he's still playful. And he will still roll me for his treats. So hopefully this is a temporary setback.
***
I don't talk about the news much on here. It's a lot. I've been watching the news and the on-the-ground videos and following my friends and... yeah. I don't talk about it much because I don't have much to say, but I'm still paying attention.
I yell at politicians. My MP can't even be arsed to acknowledge my messages and I'm sure her staff are getting tired of me. I think one day when I have the spoons I'll go to her office, it's not far from here. Then when she calls me a peon and dismisses my opinions, she'll at least have to do it to my face.
(I mostly hate her because she originally got her seat by claiming to be an environmentalist, but she has spent her term defending every decision to to buy a pipeline and subsidize oil sand development. Because her job is more important than her principles.)
***
I've been talking to the gf a lot about retirement. She's pretty much done with her job, and ready to call it a day. Honestly I could say the same. I mean I don't actually mind the job but I think about all the things that I could be doing with my time instead. Taking classes, learning skills, getting involved in community stuff, making things. Working is such a waste of time, never more so than when one can see how much is left.
But first I have to get this house bullshit finished with. Then I can sit down and figure out when I can afford to quit working. Maybe talk to HR, even going part-time for a bit might work out financially.
***
Media stuff:
GF and I finished watching The Morning Show. I love this show so much, mostly because there are SO MANY messy, complicated, multi-layered women. Jennifer Aniston plays a character who is often completely unlikable and yet there are so many times in the story when the viewer is dragged 100% into her corner.
Last week we watched the first two episodes of Pluribus. My take was; I wouldn't want that for myself, but it would make for a much better world to live in for everybody else. I'd probably finally take the opportunity to travel a lot - it's not like any of my family or friends would miss me.
Just started reading This Is How You Lose The Time War. I'm just a couple of chapters in. What a weird and fabulous book.
I've also started reading Wheel Of Time since the series was cancelled. I'm about a quarter of the way through Book 2. Honestly I probably wouldn't have stuck with the series on the strength of Book 1 alone, but already I think I like Book 2 better.
This would get my strung up by the bookcloaks but I can really see why the series changed so much. There is a lot of material in the book that is interesting to read, but it would get in the way of telling the story in a visual format. (And also the series would be 400 seasons long and feature lots of riding through countryside while feeling creepy. So. Yeah.)
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, inspired by a discussion with a_natural_beauty. It also fills the "WILD CARD: Denial" square in my 2-1-25 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred.
I've always felt that it shows the profile of a submissive, kneeling female figure with her arms crossed in front of her (I say this after examining scores of variants of OB forms of 女).
Lately, however, some scholars have interpreted the oracle bone graph in radically different ways, e.g., the figure is a slave with arms bound in front of or behind him.
If that is the case, how do we get to "woman; female", which nǚ 女 (during the last three millennia), both by itself and as the radical (Kangxi no. 38) of hundreds (681) of other graphs having to do with women or feminine affairs / characteristics as it has indubitably signified during the last three millennia?
So I asked Axel Schuessler, the foremost etymologist of Old Sinitic, how he would interpret the oracle bone forms of nǚ 女. He replied:
Chinese writing is sometimes like a Rorschach-test, everyone can see something different in the characters.
Here is my take: the OB graph shows a figure seen from the side. The figure is kneeling. This breast interpretation has never convinced me. What I see is a shoulder with arms, elbows extended to the sides. The top line of this ‘breast’ configuration shows the shoulder (with the stroke starting at top right) with the woman’s right arm curving down around her torso, the bottom line shows the left arm curving around the torso (again: from a side perspective). The arms/hands meet in front of the figure. This is exactly the pose found in theater performances when a woman is facing a person of authority showing respect, kneeling, arms extended with elbows out, hands coming together in front of her. In these gestures the hands wind up on top of each other or curled together like fists, if memory serves. Perhaps one can also find this position in paintings. I don’t see any hint of bound hands or slavery.
The graph for ‘mother’ 母, with the two dots that are really supposed to prove the breast theory. Again, I see this completely differently. Sometimes, a graph is created by using an existing one and then adding a dot or dots, strokes as diacritic for distinction. Sometimes the dot has the purpose of filling an area, like in 日, 月, 本. So 母 has the dots to indicate that 女 ‘woman is not intended, but ‘mother’.
Anyway, this is a good Rorschach test.
—–
PS: à propos graphs being like Rorschach tests: the interpretation says sometimes more about the viewer that the graph itself. This graph meaning ‘woman’ makes people (naturally) look for anatomical markers, i.e. breasts; those living in a modern left ideology look for oppression of women everywhere and promptly find it, hence woman as slave.
I wish I could find paintings or photographs where you see a woman in exactly this kneeling pose with elbow pointed outward, hands joined, that made me immediately think that this is exactly what the OB have captured with a few strokes.
I think this is the sort of painting Axel had in mind:
First of all, relax! I'm far from being picky, and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll love whatever you decide to create for me. These are nothing but guidelines, for you to take to heart or ignore to your heart's content. Also, hey! You're writing me fic or drawing me art! That's automatically a good reason for me to love you, no matter what. So, please, keep that in mind. Trust me, you can pretty much do no wrong. ♥
The conference was interesting, if maybe 1 panel too long (it ended at 4:55 pm, but the last panel was...not great, imo), though the lunch options were, to me, appalling. (Many people ate and enjoyed the sandwiches but there was not one that I would eat. I made do with salad, chips, and cookies.) My boss and I both felt validated by some things being mentioned that we already do and some that we are planning to do (if the new board chair approves), so that part was good too.
It was hard to get up (it was hard to sleep, knowing I had to get up 90 minutes earlier than usual), but I did it. I also saw two fun signs on the way: "Lube Entrance" and "You can ship anything." As devildoll said when I told her, I'll take AO3 tags for $200, Alex. *g*
Now I'm going to try to stay awake for another hour and then go to bed because I am le tired.
Title: In a Grain of Sand Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: PG Length: 392 Content notes: My sweethearts: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov Author notes: The beach trip takes place just before Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Summary: Steve remembers Natasha.
so why. why why why. Do I so often come across fic where the author clearly a) doesn't have any idea how far apart two places are, or how to get from one to the other, and b) never thought to check google maps?
Just read a fic where one character is thinking that "it's only an 8-hour plane ride!"
and. I have driven basically between those two places.
It's a 6-hour drive unless traffic is really bad. if you hit the most congested bits exactly at rush hour, it might take you 8 hours. to drive.
Flying? Well, if you were starting at a small regional airport and needed to make a connection, it might take you four hours.
I actually mind this shit more than the big stuff. The big stuff is hard to research. Google Maps is really really quick and easy.
Researchers report the first documented case of tool use in cattle, based on a Swiss Brown cow named Veronika who doesn’t just grab an object and rub it against herself.
She chooses the “right” part of a tool for the job, changes her technique depending on where she’s scratching, and repeats those choices in a way that looks consistent and intentional.
I can't even think of ten things that I eat regularly??? Never even mind fandom things??? Shit.
Top 10 Reasons to Watch Debris (and Write Me Fic)
I love it, which, really, should be all you need to know because my taste is impeccable.
It's bad scifi, but in the fun kind of way.
There is so much chemistry between Bryan and Finola.
There are so many secrets.
Nothing is explained. Like ever. It is ripe for fic explaining things.
The episodes are so totally out of order. I refuse to believe anything else. You, too, can join me in this conspiracy theory and try to sort out a reasonable order.
I can watch it while I'm high. Most TV shows and movies and youtube and everything, when I'm high, I get intensely aware that everyone is acting. Like it ruins my suspension of disbelief so bad. There are two (2) shows I can rewatch when I'm high without my suspension of disbelief being ruined, and one of them is Debris.
The ending is so open. So so so open. It is primed for another season or like. So much fic speculating where they were going.
Multiverse shenanigans. Just, I can not describe them without major spoilers, but you will know it when you see it and you, too, will be like muchsthescream.jpg.
The story of the penguin and the soldier. It will make you insane. You will listen to it and it will forever change your brain pathways. It will live rent-free in your head for all time.
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