Sunday, February 22nd, 2026 02:27 pm
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Sunday, February 22nd, 2026 09:26 am
I finished Otherworldly, and I think by the end I loved it. My review is here.
I checked out Patchwork Dolls by Ysabelle Cheung from Libby and so far, am enjoying it immensely! The first story in the collection is a wonderful exploration of a brain fungus.
I am only on finishing book 7 this year, which means I'm 10% through my reading goal. I may be a little behind, but work has kept me busier in the evenings lately.
Last night we had a line of storms move through around 4 am. I know this because lightning struck somewhere very close around that time and the thunderous boom shook the windows and woke us. The dog then shivered and practically crawled underneath me for the next hour while the heavy rain continued. Thankfully, things calmed down after that, but I did not sleep as well as I would have liked due to the atmospheric rudeness.
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Saturday, February 21st, 2026 06:37 pm
What is my favorite place in the world?
God. Uh. Hmm.
I want to toss some far-flung locales on here, but I haven't been there in over twenty years and God only knows if they're still nice, so. I guess we'll go with the places I have known well and loved.
It's a toss-up between:
The Salt Lake City Public Library, at least as I remember it circa 2010 (which, God, was a long time ago...!) — I went to a bunch of poetry readings etc here and always loved it and felt very in my element whenever I was there, and the rooftop garden is super neat.
Cape Perpetua, because it's fucking beautiful.
Swan Lake, Montana, because I spent just about every childhood here from the time I was 4 to the time I was 14.
Mesa Verde, because it's just fucking cool.
SF MoMA, because I adore it and have a lot of great memories of visiting different exhibits there (for several years in a row I had business stuff that took me to San Francisco at least once if not twice a year, and I always hit up SF MoMA when I went).
Anyway yes, I am Indecisive, you are welcome :D
God. Uh. Hmm.
I want to toss some far-flung locales on here, but I haven't been there in over twenty years and God only knows if they're still nice, so. I guess we'll go with the places I have known well and loved.
It's a toss-up between:
The Salt Lake City Public Library, at least as I remember it circa 2010 (which, God, was a long time ago...!) — I went to a bunch of poetry readings etc here and always loved it and felt very in my element whenever I was there, and the rooftop garden is super neat.
Cape Perpetua, because it's fucking beautiful.
Swan Lake, Montana, because I spent just about every childhood here from the time I was 4 to the time I was 14.
Mesa Verde, because it's just fucking cool.
SF MoMA, because I adore it and have a lot of great memories of visiting different exhibits there (for several years in a row I had business stuff that took me to San Francisco at least once if not twice a year, and I always hit up SF MoMA when I went).
Anyway yes, I am Indecisive, you are welcome :D
Saturday, February 21st, 2026 05:08 pm
From this week's ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thefridayfive:
thefridayfive:
When did you last...
1. Scrounge for change (couch, ashtray, etc.) to make a purchase?
Hmm, good question, and I'm not sure I could give a definitive answer. I often rely on my card to make purchases, and have a little pocket on the back of my phone case where I keep it and my license, so I don't have to carry other things around. So I rarely ever have cash, much less change, unless I'm making a day of things and take my shoulder bag. The shoulder bag is where loose change and gift cards go to die and then wait for their messiah (and I am not a very good one.)
2. Visit a dentist?
I went to the periodontist just last week for a check-up. And I go again for a cleaning in a few weeks. I actually like the dentist/periodontist because you sit back and let someone else take care of you for a bit.
3. Make a needed change to your life?
I broke a pattern on June 6, 2025, just as I did on June 6, 2006, but there's still work to be done there.
4. Decide on a complete menu well in advance of the evening meal?
We meal plan every week on Sunday, then buy our groceries and hopefully (fingers crossed) do not need to leave the house again for food stuffs until the following week.
5. Spend part of the day (other than daily hygiene) totally/mostly naked?
This feels like it should have a spicier answer, but I can't remember doing this for any part of my adult years. I have always been self-conscious and am also cold-natured, so I'm usually clothed in some way.
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Saturday, February 21st, 2026 12:42 pm
I can't go out today. Earlier this morning my bank called me, apparently some asshole tried to buy $200 worth of stuff with MY credit card info at best Buy so I had to tell this lady who works at my bank that I haven't bought anything from those guys in over a year. So I had to get my credit card cancelled and wait a week for a new one to show up in the damn mail. Thank fuck the charge did not go through. I don't have the slightest idea how anybody could even get my credit card info in the first place. AND It's going to be a major hassle trying to get ahold of AT&T and DSL to give them the new credit card info. I remember what a pain it was last time I had to do that when my old credit card expired. Only Netflix was easy.
Friday, February 20th, 2026 10:39 pm
A favorite or hilarious story from the TTRPG table?
Oh, God, there are so many little moments that are burned into my brain, but I think the one I have to talk about is the Desk Goat.
( Beneath the jump. )
I will say that the other "favorite" moments I have are all ones that had pretty serious story consequences, etc, and so aren't particularly funny (or easy to explain). Think along the lines of deciding to redeem villains, challenging certain narrative assumptions about where stuff was going (and forcing me to pivot on a dime, ha), etc.
Technically, the players becoming attached to and deciding to redeem one specific villain is what led to the weird poly romance novel I (mostly) wrote last year, but...yeah.
(I say "mostly" because![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadaras was there the entire time and most of the worldbuilding etc was stuff done in tandem as, wouldn't it be fun if..., so though the prose is like 95% mine, the story is definitely a collaborative effort.)
Oh, God, there are so many little moments that are burned into my brain, but I think the one I have to talk about is the Desk Goat.
( Beneath the jump. )
I will say that the other "favorite" moments I have are all ones that had pretty serious story consequences, etc, and so aren't particularly funny (or easy to explain). Think along the lines of deciding to redeem villains, challenging certain narrative assumptions about where stuff was going (and forcing me to pivot on a dime, ha), etc.
Technically, the players becoming attached to and deciding to redeem one specific villain is what led to the weird poly romance novel I (mostly) wrote last year, but...yeah.
(I say "mostly" because
shadaras was there the entire time and most of the worldbuilding etc was stuff done in tandem as, wouldn't it be fun if..., so though the prose is like 95% mine, the story is definitely a collaborative effort.)
Friday, February 20th, 2026 02:49 pm
I spent yesterday morning trying to get things straightened out with PG&E because the stupid fucking post office lost my electric bill payment which I mailed out over a week ago. I paid it over the phone and I decided I'm just going to keep doing that. (Last time I did this was shortly before I went into the hospital for my leg surgery because I didn't know how long I'd be in there for and I didn't want the bill hanging over my head).
Then I got some groceries because this Mexican restaurant I really liked took camarones diablo off their menu so I decided to look up the recipe to see if I could make it myself and it turns out it's not a complicated recipe at all and I already had shrimps so I just needed tomatoes, onions and a jalapeno to make the sauce. (I use onions a lot in my cooking so I run low on them regularly.)
Then after I dropped off the groceries at home I went to the Chinese restaurant near the Rockridge bart station for lunch and then I went bookstore hopping and picked up this cool book about Oscar Wilde, he's one of my favorite writers and I already have all his books so I might as well get books about him.
I can't believe how cold it was yesterday. I know some people will look up the temperature for that day and say it was nothing but it was COLD by bay area standards. I wore a coat and a heavy sweater under it and I was still cold, I was glad to hang out at Schmidt's pub because they have a fireplace.
Then I got some groceries because this Mexican restaurant I really liked took camarones diablo off their menu so I decided to look up the recipe to see if I could make it myself and it turns out it's not a complicated recipe at all and I already had shrimps so I just needed tomatoes, onions and a jalapeno to make the sauce. (I use onions a lot in my cooking so I run low on them regularly.)
Then after I dropped off the groceries at home I went to the Chinese restaurant near the Rockridge bart station for lunch and then I went bookstore hopping and picked up this cool book about Oscar Wilde, he's one of my favorite writers and I already have all his books so I might as well get books about him.
I can't believe how cold it was yesterday. I know some people will look up the temperature for that day and say it was nothing but it was COLD by bay area standards. I wore a coat and a heavy sweater under it and I was still cold, I was glad to hang out at Schmidt's pub because they have a fireplace.
Thursday, February 19th, 2026 07:09 pm
Tabletop goals for the year?
In no particular order:
1). Finish the Bounty Hunter's Guild and give it a satisfying ending.
2). Run and wrap Goodbye My Darling.
3). Start the long-form Eberron campaign (name TBD).
4). Finish Space Heist and get it on itch.io, even if it's only as a public beta or something, because IT HAS BEEN LONG ENOUGH.
That's nice and concise, I think? :D
Will say that I do have a brief update re: sourdough — I made a successful starter and yesterday, I baked bread with it for the first time. Nothing fancy; I made two regular boules. The prove on it could probably have been a bit better, but dang, y'all, it tasted great. :D I ate sourdough toast this morning and it was everything I wanted. 10/10, would do again. ♥ So that's one thing crossed off my, "I want to try to do this" list, and now that I've done it the straight way, I can start playing with different flours and such (want to incorporate a bit of rye into it, for flavor), start thinking about inclusions, etc. I had this amazing fruit and nut bread at one point that I kinda want to try remaking...was like, walnut with dried cranberries? so, yeah.
We shall see!
In no particular order:
1). Finish the Bounty Hunter's Guild and give it a satisfying ending.
2). Run and wrap Goodbye My Darling.
3). Start the long-form Eberron campaign (name TBD).
4). Finish Space Heist and get it on itch.io, even if it's only as a public beta or something, because IT HAS BEEN LONG ENOUGH.
That's nice and concise, I think? :D
Will say that I do have a brief update re: sourdough — I made a successful starter and yesterday, I baked bread with it for the first time. Nothing fancy; I made two regular boules. The prove on it could probably have been a bit better, but dang, y'all, it tasted great. :D I ate sourdough toast this morning and it was everything I wanted. 10/10, would do again. ♥ So that's one thing crossed off my, "I want to try to do this" list, and now that I've done it the straight way, I can start playing with different flours and such (want to incorporate a bit of rye into it, for flavor), start thinking about inclusions, etc. I had this amazing fruit and nut bread at one point that I kinda want to try remaking...was like, walnut with dried cranberries? so, yeah.
We shall see!
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026 09:38 pm
Fiber arts project I've finished that I'm most proud of?
There's two that I'm really proud of, honestly — the rainbow afghan (pictures of which have been lost to time, alas), which was a queen-sized afghan I made from these blocks. It was, literally, red/orange/yellow/green/blue/indigo/violet flowers, yellow-centered with black edging about them to set it off (instead of white as in that pattern).
My ex pressed on me to give it to his mom, since she was going through a hard time, and so I parted with it and we shipped it to her. I have mixed feelings about that — on the one hand, it was so much work and it was really pretty (I made it all from thrifted yarn; it was jewel-toned and beautiful), but on the other hand, I don't tend to keep stuff I make, so who knows where it would have ended up otherwise? She was grateful to get it, so.
The other one that I'm very proud of is a cross-stitch project I did earlier this summer. It was the first time I'd actually cross-stitched anything in about five years, and I did it without a proper pattern (I did get instructions on how to do the worms and the dragon, but, you know). Pictures of it are up on Mastodon, so here. Perfect? Definitely not, but the person it was made for appreciated it, and I am still proud of it, so. ♥
There's two that I'm really proud of, honestly — the rainbow afghan (pictures of which have been lost to time, alas), which was a queen-sized afghan I made from these blocks. It was, literally, red/orange/yellow/green/blue/indigo/violet flowers, yellow-centered with black edging about them to set it off (instead of white as in that pattern).
My ex pressed on me to give it to his mom, since she was going through a hard time, and so I parted with it and we shipped it to her. I have mixed feelings about that — on the one hand, it was so much work and it was really pretty (I made it all from thrifted yarn; it was jewel-toned and beautiful), but on the other hand, I don't tend to keep stuff I make, so who knows where it would have ended up otherwise? She was grateful to get it, so.
The other one that I'm very proud of is a cross-stitch project I did earlier this summer. It was the first time I'd actually cross-stitched anything in about five years, and I did it without a proper pattern (I did get instructions on how to do the worms and the dragon, but, you know). Pictures of it are up on Mastodon, so here. Perfect? Definitely not, but the person it was made for appreciated it, and I am still proud of it, so. ♥
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026 04:00 pm
Decided to stay home today because yesterday wore me out so damn much. Also too much damn rain.
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026 02:31 pm
I've mentioned HalfshellHusband's book collection before, and how the sheer quantity of books daunts me (in terms of storage or future moving). Well, last week he got to thinking about what might happen if we had to someday move to be closer to the kids, or what I would have to deal with if he passed away. My father, for example, had hundreds of leather-bound classics that my sister is now struggling to find homes for. So, HSH suddenly decided to go through all his books and purge the paperbacks that are easily available on Kindle and any books he honestly will never read again. That means about 50-70 books are on their way to Goodwill or the library!
We had already cleared everything out of the two 6 1/2 foot bookcases we just sold (picked up today), and almost everything we have left fits in the built-in double-bookcase in the sunroom, with a little room left over for our DVDs. That just leaves the CD collection, and he found places for those. This is in addition to the two 6-foot bookcases in the garage that we need to sell. This is a much more manageable number of books! I feel like I can breathe now. Although I bought a replacement bookshelf from Home Depot back in the Fall (with the intent of getting a twin that now seems to be unavailable). I don't think I even need it, and it's never been opened. Wonder if I can return it (months later)?
In TV news, we finished S2 of The Night Manager. What a shocker of an ending! Overall, I was most intrigued by Teddy's character this season, who was cool, volatile, lethal, and vulnerable all at once. Very complex, with a great performance by Diego Calva. It haunts me even now. Not sure when S3 is coming out, but at least it won't be 10 more years...
We are also in the middle of watching Amazon's Heads of State, after resisting for months because it just looked too stupid. It is MUCH better than we expected, when all we really expected was mindless fun. I had thought John Cena was horribly miscast, but he's making it work. Who knew?
We had already cleared everything out of the two 6 1/2 foot bookcases we just sold (picked up today), and almost everything we have left fits in the built-in double-bookcase in the sunroom, with a little room left over for our DVDs. That just leaves the CD collection, and he found places for those. This is in addition to the two 6-foot bookcases in the garage that we need to sell. This is a much more manageable number of books! I feel like I can breathe now. Although I bought a replacement bookshelf from Home Depot back in the Fall (with the intent of getting a twin that now seems to be unavailable). I don't think I even need it, and it's never been opened. Wonder if I can return it (months later)?
In TV news, we finished S2 of The Night Manager. What a shocker of an ending! Overall, I was most intrigued by Teddy's character this season, who was cool, volatile, lethal, and vulnerable all at once. Very complex, with a great performance by Diego Calva. It haunts me even now. Not sure when S3 is coming out, but at least it won't be 10 more years...
We are also in the middle of watching Amazon's Heads of State, after resisting for months because it just looked too stupid. It is MUCH better than we expected, when all we really expected was mindless fun. I had thought John Cena was horribly miscast, but he's making it work. Who knew?
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 06:43 pm
(Day 16 was technically due YESTERDAY and I WILL DO IT, I just have a lot of thoughts on writing!)
1-5 novels/series I've read that I think other people should read so I can talk about them
Ha. Um. Hmmm.
This is always fun because it's like, "what DO I want other people to read, that isn't something they've already read?"
So!
A couple of pitches 'cos, you know, yeah.
1). Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. This is always one of those ones where it's like, "I feel like people were told to read it and bounced hard off the premise", because it came out when "vampires" was still "Anne Rice" and pre-Twilight. Post-Twilight (and I guess to some extent the Sookie Stackhouse books?), we're all kind of burnt out on 'em, and yet.
Sunshine — or Rae, to her friends — is a baker in the coffee house that's owned by her stepdad, Charlie. In a world where vampires, demons, and weres are common, she's about as normal as you can get. High school graduate by the "skin of her teeth", as she puts it, she's not exactly a deep thinker. A huge introvert with a desire for nothing more than to be left alone, the coffee house is her life, and she sees nothing wrong with that.
...until, you know, she's kidnapped by vampires to be used as an object of torment for a different vampire, and has to tap on the heritage granted to her by her extremely powerful sorcerer father to escape.
In other books I feel like this would turn into something where she learns to "embrace her dark self" or whatever, but no — she really does just want to go back to the coffee house and keep on Doing The Thing.
Alas, alack, the world has other opinions — and the vampires who nabbed her are very curious how the hell it is that she managed to escape...and why it is she took their other (vampire) prisoner with her.
2). Mudlark, by Lara Maiklem. Nonfiction. If you have no idea what mudlarking is, you need to read this. If you do know what it is, you should probably already have read it, and if you haven't, well, what are you waiting for?
(I know, I know, that's a hell of a review, and yet. I'm not wrong!)
3). Ombria in Shadow, Patricia McKillip. People who know me are probably going, "??" at the idea that I'm not recommending you read Riddle-Master; that's fine.
Ombria in Shadow opens with a death: the rule of Ombria, Royce Greve, has died, and a woman of unknown relation, Dominia Pearl, is taking over as regent for his heir. As her first act, she tosses Lydea, Royce's mistress, into the streets of Ombria.
This could be the beginning of some kind of weird revenge/redemption arc, but that's not where it goes.
Lydea is capable and clever, sure, and there is someone else who people want to see on the throne of Ombria, but there's multiple things at play, multiple factions at work, and much to consider going on beneath the surface. The politics are fun, the magic is wonderful, and the ending is entirely unexpected. It's lyrical and beautiful and I love it so. Finding a signed copy at a used bookstore was one of the best unexpected gifts I've ever gotten from the universe.
4). Strong Poison, Dorothy Sayers. It's in the public domain now! You really have no excuse not to read it. Er.
Warnings for the usual period-typical stuff to the side (and Sayers is not as bad as most), it's a book about a murder trial — specifically, murder by arsenic — that's laid out rather well and plotted in a way that's quite fun. It's dated as hell, of course, being as it came out in the 1930s, but it's fun, the characters are likable, and the plot itself is quite good.
Also I find that if people read it and like it, I can convince them to read Have His Carcasse and Gaudy Night, which are, I think, two of the best ones. :)
I think that's it, though of course I imagineshadaras will pop up and remind me about all the books I have been like, "?! you haven't read THAT?" at them about, so watch this space? :P
1-5 novels/series I've read that I think other people should read so I can talk about them
Ha. Um. Hmmm.
This is always fun because it's like, "what DO I want other people to read, that isn't something they've already read?"
So!
A couple of pitches 'cos, you know, yeah.
1). Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. This is always one of those ones where it's like, "I feel like people were told to read it and bounced hard off the premise", because it came out when "vampires" was still "Anne Rice" and pre-Twilight. Post-Twilight (and I guess to some extent the Sookie Stackhouse books?), we're all kind of burnt out on 'em, and yet.
Sunshine — or Rae, to her friends — is a baker in the coffee house that's owned by her stepdad, Charlie. In a world where vampires, demons, and weres are common, she's about as normal as you can get. High school graduate by the "skin of her teeth", as she puts it, she's not exactly a deep thinker. A huge introvert with a desire for nothing more than to be left alone, the coffee house is her life, and she sees nothing wrong with that.
...until, you know, she's kidnapped by vampires to be used as an object of torment for a different vampire, and has to tap on the heritage granted to her by her extremely powerful sorcerer father to escape.
In other books I feel like this would turn into something where she learns to "embrace her dark self" or whatever, but no — she really does just want to go back to the coffee house and keep on Doing The Thing.
Alas, alack, the world has other opinions — and the vampires who nabbed her are very curious how the hell it is that she managed to escape...and why it is she took their other (vampire) prisoner with her.
2). Mudlark, by Lara Maiklem. Nonfiction. If you have no idea what mudlarking is, you need to read this. If you do know what it is, you should probably already have read it, and if you haven't, well, what are you waiting for?
(I know, I know, that's a hell of a review, and yet. I'm not wrong!)
3). Ombria in Shadow, Patricia McKillip. People who know me are probably going, "??" at the idea that I'm not recommending you read Riddle-Master; that's fine.
Ombria in Shadow opens with a death: the rule of Ombria, Royce Greve, has died, and a woman of unknown relation, Dominia Pearl, is taking over as regent for his heir. As her first act, she tosses Lydea, Royce's mistress, into the streets of Ombria.
This could be the beginning of some kind of weird revenge/redemption arc, but that's not where it goes.
Lydea is capable and clever, sure, and there is someone else who people want to see on the throne of Ombria, but there's multiple things at play, multiple factions at work, and much to consider going on beneath the surface. The politics are fun, the magic is wonderful, and the ending is entirely unexpected. It's lyrical and beautiful and I love it so. Finding a signed copy at a used bookstore was one of the best unexpected gifts I've ever gotten from the universe.
4). Strong Poison, Dorothy Sayers. It's in the public domain now! You really have no excuse not to read it. Er.
Warnings for the usual period-typical stuff to the side (and Sayers is not as bad as most), it's a book about a murder trial — specifically, murder by arsenic — that's laid out rather well and plotted in a way that's quite fun. It's dated as hell, of course, being as it came out in the 1930s, but it's fun, the characters are likable, and the plot itself is quite good.
Also I find that if people read it and like it, I can convince them to read Have His Carcasse and Gaudy Night, which are, I think, two of the best ones. :)
I think that's it, though of course I imagine
shadaras will pop up and remind me about all the books I have been like, "?! you haven't read THAT?" at them about, so watch this space? :P
Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 04:52 pm
I am so tired. I had to go to the drugstore and physical therapy and the grocery store in the damn rain. Because I was in so much pain I was kind of snappy with this nice girl coming into my apt bldg and now I feel kind of guilty about it. I wish I had a car.
Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 06:21 pm
The Emorian Palace
Entrance to the palace
Do not be offended if you are denied entrance to the Emorian palace. The fact that you have come far enough to be denied that entrance shows that the Emorians' trust in you is high indeed.
The strong manner in which Emor protects its ruler, the Chara, is not evidence that the Chara is weak and frightened. Rather, it is a simple fact that being Chara is the most dangerous job in the Three Lands. Fully four-fifths of the Charas have died before their time, many from assassination. Few Charas live beyond the age of thirty.
(I should explain to any mainlanders who are puzzled at this point that noble peninsulareans have been known to live as long as one hundred years. Even commoner peninsularans often live till they are fifty. If you meet a thirty-year-old, he is not an elder; by peninsularean standards, thirty years old is barely out of one's youth)
Under these circumstances, it is only natural that the Emorians should seek to protect their Chara, giving him the opportunity to live at least long enough to father an heir. By Emorian law, the Chara may not leave his palace, except in wartime. The number of visitors who are allowed past the outer wall of the palace grounds is small. The number of visitors who are allowed past the inner wall of the palace grounds is even smaller. The number of visitors who are allowed inside the palace is very small indeed. And the number of visitors who are allowed inside the East Wing of the palace, where the Chara lives, can be counted without losing your breath.
In practice, this means that the only people who see the Chara are his council, officials from the palace and army, boys who are training to be palace officials, royal messengers, the palace guards, and honored guests, such as ambassadors.
And the servants. Everyone forgets the servants. If you want to see the Chara, I suggest entering into training for high service.
[Translator's note: The perils of living as a Chara can be seen in Empty Dagger Hand.]
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Monday, February 16th, 2026 12:36 pm
Last night a couple of my friends came over and brought me an awesome late birthday present. I now have a giant cardboard stand up Hugh Laurie in my living room, then we went out to this cool art nouveau wine bar in my neighborhood and I bought them a bottle of Rioja that we split.
Sunday, February 15th, 2026 09:25 pm
You know the drill, and you probably even know where you can ask questions if you have 'em :D
Favorite installment of a video game series or a favorite standalone video game?
Ha, I love being asked about favorites, because invariably my mind goes blank and all I can think is, "I have never enjoyed a videogame in my life..."
A handful, both standalone and not, in no particular order:
-The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Cyrodil is beautiful, alchemy is broken and fun, and the mages guild quest and the Dark Brotherhood quests in particular are very fun. Parts of it are extremely silly (the speechcraft minigame comes to mind), but on the whole the game is immersive in a way that I did not find Skyrim to be, and it's just...fun. It's fun to pop it open on a very gloomy day and bop around Cyrodil for a while, picking flowers, following whatever catches my fancy, and just generally dipping in and enjoying myself.
-Stardew Valley. I've achieved Perfection twice; I think that speaks for itself? Ha. I love the game — it has a nice rhythm to it that, once established, makes it very easy to sink into it and enjoy yourself. No matter what you do, it's almost impossible to fuck stuff up to the point where you break the game. (Not completely impossible, but very difficult!) Plus there's just something extremely satisfying about growing giant cauliflower. :D
-Slime Rancher. You ranch slimes and explore. The slimes are cute, the map is pretty, the puzzles are satisfying, and the overarching story (yes, there IS one) is queer-coded and very bittersweet.
-Strange Horticulture. You grow plants! You solve tiny puzzles to figure out what plants will solve different people's problems, and then you give them those plants! You have a cat! It's very fun, and the branching story is satisfying.
-Baldur's Gate III. The companions are good, the storyline is excellent, the mechanics are very fun...yeah. I mean, yeah. It deserves the praise it got, is that enough? :D
-Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. Okay, look, sometimes you just want a hot nonbinary paladin to name you their noble...squire? and send you out on a quest to save the land. Sometimes you want that to come in a setting where you have guns that shoot swords and the goal is simply, Numbers Go Up. Wonderlands does that, and it also manages to be this actually incredible emotional payoff about loss and grief, growing up and moving on.
Other stuff, hmm.
Honorable mention to Portal/Portal 2, perpetual favorites. NetHack also gets a shout-out, I'm awful at it but it is probably the game I've played the most (and I do love it, though I cannot possibly explain why). Gone Home and TACOMA also deserve mentions for being wonderful (though they're very much one-and-done), and, like, y'all, I love The Room I-IV. Fable! Super Mario World (and more importantly, Yoshi's Island, the first games I ever 100%ed, without the benefit of a game guide or the internet). Super Mario 64, which I still remember all the cheats and warp points for! I played and loved the Pokemon games (I've played almost every generation, oddly, despite not thinking of myself as a "Pokemaniac" in any sense of the word :D ), I loved Breath of the Wild, and I enjoyed ACNH.
But I didn't think of them until just now, so. :D
Favorite installment of a video game series or a favorite standalone video game?
Ha, I love being asked about favorites, because invariably my mind goes blank and all I can think is, "I have never enjoyed a videogame in my life..."
A handful, both standalone and not, in no particular order:
-The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Cyrodil is beautiful, alchemy is broken and fun, and the mages guild quest and the Dark Brotherhood quests in particular are very fun. Parts of it are extremely silly (the speechcraft minigame comes to mind), but on the whole the game is immersive in a way that I did not find Skyrim to be, and it's just...fun. It's fun to pop it open on a very gloomy day and bop around Cyrodil for a while, picking flowers, following whatever catches my fancy, and just generally dipping in and enjoying myself.
-Stardew Valley. I've achieved Perfection twice; I think that speaks for itself? Ha. I love the game — it has a nice rhythm to it that, once established, makes it very easy to sink into it and enjoy yourself. No matter what you do, it's almost impossible to fuck stuff up to the point where you break the game. (Not completely impossible, but very difficult!) Plus there's just something extremely satisfying about growing giant cauliflower. :D
-Slime Rancher. You ranch slimes and explore. The slimes are cute, the map is pretty, the puzzles are satisfying, and the overarching story (yes, there IS one) is queer-coded and very bittersweet.
-Strange Horticulture. You grow plants! You solve tiny puzzles to figure out what plants will solve different people's problems, and then you give them those plants! You have a cat! It's very fun, and the branching story is satisfying.
-Baldur's Gate III. The companions are good, the storyline is excellent, the mechanics are very fun...yeah. I mean, yeah. It deserves the praise it got, is that enough? :D
-Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. Okay, look, sometimes you just want a hot nonbinary paladin to name you their noble...squire? and send you out on a quest to save the land. Sometimes you want that to come in a setting where you have guns that shoot swords and the goal is simply, Numbers Go Up. Wonderlands does that, and it also manages to be this actually incredible emotional payoff about loss and grief, growing up and moving on.
Other stuff, hmm.
Honorable mention to Portal/Portal 2, perpetual favorites. NetHack also gets a shout-out, I'm awful at it but it is probably the game I've played the most (and I do love it, though I cannot possibly explain why). Gone Home and TACOMA also deserve mentions for being wonderful (though they're very much one-and-done), and, like, y'all, I love The Room I-IV. Fable! Super Mario World (and more importantly, Yoshi's Island, the first games I ever 100%ed, without the benefit of a game guide or the internet). Super Mario 64, which I still remember all the cheats and warp points for! I played and loved the Pokemon games (I've played almost every generation, oddly, despite not thinking of myself as a "Pokemaniac" in any sense of the word :D ), I loved Breath of the Wild, and I enjoyed ACNH.
But I didn't think of them until just now, so. :D
Sunday, February 15th, 2026 11:00 am
I have to be honest here. The main reason I wanted to go to the deYoung so much yesterday was because I love art and I wanted to cheer myself up for reasons other than hurting my shoulder in that accident. Valentine's day gets on my nerves because I've had no boyfriend for DECADES. I pretend not to let it bother me but it stinks. I want anybody reading this to know I don't hate men. I like men. I have lots of men friends. Also, I'm a feminist but I'm not whatever the female equivalent of an incel is. I do NOT think men owe me sex. NOBODY OWES ANYBODY SEX. That being said, men are not sexually or romantically attracted to me at all. There are two reasons for this and I can't change either one of them:
1. I look really bad. It is not all in my head. People who don't even know me say horrible things to me. If you look at my old passport I have a really sour expression because the photographer said something very insulting to me right before he took the picture. Also, I've seen people who look even worse than I do who are absolutely convinced they're gorgeous and I can tell you right now gaslighting yourself like that doesn't fool anyone but yourself. It just makes you seem like an egotistical idiot.
2. I'm nuts. Not in a dangerous way, I'm just on the stupid fucking autism spectrum, I wouldn't hurt anybody but I can't hold down any sort of a job and men are not attracted to women who are crazier than they are (unless they look like a model or something, and even then they often don't stick around for very long)
1. I look really bad. It is not all in my head. People who don't even know me say horrible things to me. If you look at my old passport I have a really sour expression because the photographer said something very insulting to me right before he took the picture. Also, I've seen people who look even worse than I do who are absolutely convinced they're gorgeous and I can tell you right now gaslighting yourself like that doesn't fool anyone but yourself. It just makes you seem like an egotistical idiot.
2. I'm nuts. Not in a dangerous way, I'm just on the stupid fucking autism spectrum, I wouldn't hurt anybody but I can't hold down any sort of a job and men are not attracted to women who are crazier than they are (unless they look like a model or something, and even then they often don't stick around for very long)
Sunday, February 15th, 2026 09:01 am
It was a pretty stunning day yesterday, and climbed into the lower 60s. We don't do much for Valentine's, but I have been itching to get out of the house and into nature, so we decided to head to Raven Rock. Given the number of people also itching to get out after weeks of bad weather, we took the less popular Campbell Creek Loop and Lanier Falls trails. It was a perfect way to spend a few hours getting out of our heads. The air was clear and cool and fresh, but it wasn't so cold that it hurt. And it wasn't a terribly long hike - only about 5 miles, but it left us tired in a good way.
Half of the loop follows the Creek, so you are surrounded by the light burble of water and rocky outcroppings. Much of the color in the woods right now is provided by moss and the few evergreen hollies and pines. ( +3 )
Of course, we always have to climb down to the bottom of the falls to sit by the water a bit - it's the reward for completing half the loop. There's a short video of the sound of the falls here.
Tags:
Saturday, February 14th, 2026 11:22 pm
(As per usual, if you want to ask, you can do so here!)
Romance! Tell us about your fav romance media (books, movies, TV, etc.)
Ha, I guess it is Valentine's Day? :) (Not that Maximo and I did much except watch The Boy and the Heron and eat pots de creme!)
I'm going to be very casual about this and divide it roughly between books and films.
Books
So — I've read a fuckload of romance novels. Like, more than is probably healthy? Anyway. There's a few book-romances (not necessarily romance books) that will always get a nod from me. In no particular order:
-War for the Oaks, the romance between Eddi and the Phouka. It has, hands-down, one of the best descriptions of romantic love I think I have ever seen in a book — specifically, an exchange where Our Brave Heroine asks the hero how he can be sure he loves her, and he lays out a very specific list of reasons that is just...yeah. That's what I think of when I think about love.
She expected a joke, an impassioned protest, an airy denial. Instead he looked gravely in her face and replied, "I've no surety that it is. I know only the parts of what I feel; I may be misnaming the whole. You dwell in my mind like a household spirit. All that I think is followed with, 'I shall tell that thought to Eddi.' Whatever I see or hear is colored by what I imagine you will say of it. What is amusing is twice so, if you have laughed at it. There is a way you have of turning your head, quickly and with a little tilt, that seems more wonderful to me than the practiced movements of dancers. All this, taken together, I've come to think of as love, but it may not be.
"It is not a comfortable feeling. But I find that, even so, I would wish the same feeling on you. The possibility that I suffer it alone — that frightens me more than all the host of the Unseelie Court."
-The Flatshare, Beth O'Leary. This was one that hit me at the right point in time, I think — I was roughly two years out of the relationship with my ex, finally beginning to acknowledge how fucked the whole thing had been from the beginning, and here was this really lovely novel that was about, well, realizing that you'd been in a horrible abusive relationship but that there was light and hope and laughter on the other side, that you could love someone wholeheartedly again and it would be okay. Plus the initial little setup for it — communicating solely through notes — was really lovely!
-Uprooted, Naomi Novik. The scene with the rose illusion...whew. If you know, you know. Also it's just a great book, hands down, so. Yeah.
Honorable mentions to: Beauty by Robin McKinley (twelve-year-old me was rather obsessed with it), Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip (tho I'm not sure I would term it a "romance", romantic attraction is rather at the center of it, ha), myriad other books that I'm trying to think of and just completely and utterly failing at right now? The problem with reading a lot and reading widely is that I can think of zillions of things and then the instant that I go to write something like this about them, my mind goes utterly and completely blank. Whoops.
Film
Again, in no particular order, and being sort of loose and easy with what we consider "romance", ha, I do not promise that I have good taste:
-"His Girl Friday". Hildy Johnson, intrepid girl reporter! She hides a murderer in a desk! Cary Grant romances her! It's a weird screwball comedy and it's one of my, "I don't feel well and I just want to watch something where everything turns out okay" movies. I watched it when I was recovering from surgery in 2021. V good, highly recommend. ♥
-"Three Thousand Years of Longing". It's Idris Elba as a djinn, with Tilda Swinton as a bookish scholar, with story and direction by George Miller, and if that's not enough for you, well — fine; it's a beautiful, strange fairy tale for adults.
-"Notting Hill". I have...such a soft spot for this movie, ha. Various people over time tried to ruin it for me by pointing out that the relationship at the heart of it would "never work out, long-term"; I know that, but that's not the point. For people who are not familiar: Will Thacker (Hugh Grant, this is literally the only role I like him in!) is the owner of a bookstore in the eponymous Notting Hill. Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) happens to come into his bookstore, sparks fly, it all sort of spirals out from there? The romance itself is fine, very 1990s in a lot of ways — I actually love it specifically for the deep and abiding love that exists between the friends that Will has in the film. The other romances that we see in the movie are very sweet and read as very genuine, and his friends are wonderful and support him when he needs support, and tell him he's been a twat when, well, he's being a twat. :D Who couldn't use a friend like that?
-"Moonstruck". Again, it's one of those movies where I have a huge soft spot for it. Cher stars alongside Nicholas Cage as a widowed woman who is trying to convince her fiance's brother (Cage) to come to their wedding. Of course, it's not that easy — Our Intrepid Heroine knows that her fiance is wrong for her in every conceivable way, but she's afraid of actually falling in love again, because her first husband died very young, in a horrible way. Enter her fiance's brother, who is a weird tortured artist of a baker (of all the things!), with whom she falls horribly, passionately in love with despite it being objectively the worst choice possible.
The thing is, they make it work. It's sort of funny, like — you don't want to root for them (she's blowing up her life!), but sometimes the right choice is the one that looks wrong on paper, and the two leads have great chemistry and really sell the whole idea of "right person, wrong time, fuck it, let's go for it anyway".
Also Olympia Dukakis is in it, and she's absolutely wonderful. Big ups to the granddad, too — he's amazing. :D
-"But I'm A Cheerleader". I cannot believe how many people I have had to introduce this movie to, good lord. Natasha Lyonne plays Megan, a high school senior and captain of the cheer squad who gets sent to a "pray the gay away" camp by her parents, who are convinced (as are her peers) that she is actually a lesbian. This despite her having done everything "right" — like, she's got a hunky boyfriend (quarterback on the football team), she participates in traditionally girly activities, etc, etc.
Enter camp, where at first she's fairly certain she doesn't belong, until a group therapy session goes awry and she realizes that she is, in fact, a gigantic lesbian. Whoops.
It is notable for being one of the first films I saw that had a lesbian couple as the focus where nothing horrible happened and they in fact got their happily-ever-after (implied). (The other was Better Than Chocolate, which I barely remember, so. :) ) Growing up in Utah, well — this movie was revolutionary, and seeing Clea Duvall as Graham was extremely helpful in some aspects. Is it a good movie? No, but I saw it at the right time and I think that while it's imperfect it holds up okay.
I'm sure there's other media, including podcasts, etc, but I genuinely cannot think of anything off the top of my head, whoops. :x Oh, well, maybe someday this post will get a sequel?
Romance! Tell us about your fav romance media (books, movies, TV, etc.)
Ha, I guess it is Valentine's Day? :) (Not that Maximo and I did much except watch The Boy and the Heron and eat pots de creme!)
I'm going to be very casual about this and divide it roughly between books and films.
Books
So — I've read a fuckload of romance novels. Like, more than is probably healthy? Anyway. There's a few book-romances (not necessarily romance books) that will always get a nod from me. In no particular order:
-War for the Oaks, the romance between Eddi and the Phouka. It has, hands-down, one of the best descriptions of romantic love I think I have ever seen in a book — specifically, an exchange where Our Brave Heroine asks the hero how he can be sure he loves her, and he lays out a very specific list of reasons that is just...yeah. That's what I think of when I think about love.
The quote is here.
Reluctantly, she remembered her suspicion, that he was playing at being in love. She didn't believe it anymore, not really. But she heard herself asking the hateful question anyway. "How do you know it's love? Maybe you haven't learned anything after all.She expected a joke, an impassioned protest, an airy denial. Instead he looked gravely in her face and replied, "I've no surety that it is. I know only the parts of what I feel; I may be misnaming the whole. You dwell in my mind like a household spirit. All that I think is followed with, 'I shall tell that thought to Eddi.' Whatever I see or hear is colored by what I imagine you will say of it. What is amusing is twice so, if you have laughed at it. There is a way you have of turning your head, quickly and with a little tilt, that seems more wonderful to me than the practiced movements of dancers. All this, taken together, I've come to think of as love, but it may not be.
"It is not a comfortable feeling. But I find that, even so, I would wish the same feeling on you. The possibility that I suffer it alone — that frightens me more than all the host of the Unseelie Court."
-The Flatshare, Beth O'Leary. This was one that hit me at the right point in time, I think — I was roughly two years out of the relationship with my ex, finally beginning to acknowledge how fucked the whole thing had been from the beginning, and here was this really lovely novel that was about, well, realizing that you'd been in a horrible abusive relationship but that there was light and hope and laughter on the other side, that you could love someone wholeheartedly again and it would be okay. Plus the initial little setup for it — communicating solely through notes — was really lovely!
-Uprooted, Naomi Novik. The scene with the rose illusion...whew. If you know, you know. Also it's just a great book, hands down, so. Yeah.
Honorable mentions to: Beauty by Robin McKinley (twelve-year-old me was rather obsessed with it), Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip (tho I'm not sure I would term it a "romance", romantic attraction is rather at the center of it, ha), myriad other books that I'm trying to think of and just completely and utterly failing at right now? The problem with reading a lot and reading widely is that I can think of zillions of things and then the instant that I go to write something like this about them, my mind goes utterly and completely blank. Whoops.
Film
Again, in no particular order, and being sort of loose and easy with what we consider "romance", ha, I do not promise that I have good taste:
-"His Girl Friday". Hildy Johnson, intrepid girl reporter! She hides a murderer in a desk! Cary Grant romances her! It's a weird screwball comedy and it's one of my, "I don't feel well and I just want to watch something where everything turns out okay" movies. I watched it when I was recovering from surgery in 2021. V good, highly recommend. ♥
-"Three Thousand Years of Longing". It's Idris Elba as a djinn, with Tilda Swinton as a bookish scholar, with story and direction by George Miller, and if that's not enough for you, well — fine; it's a beautiful, strange fairy tale for adults.
-"Notting Hill". I have...such a soft spot for this movie, ha. Various people over time tried to ruin it for me by pointing out that the relationship at the heart of it would "never work out, long-term"; I know that, but that's not the point. For people who are not familiar: Will Thacker (Hugh Grant, this is literally the only role I like him in!) is the owner of a bookstore in the eponymous Notting Hill. Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) happens to come into his bookstore, sparks fly, it all sort of spirals out from there? The romance itself is fine, very 1990s in a lot of ways — I actually love it specifically for the deep and abiding love that exists between the friends that Will has in the film. The other romances that we see in the movie are very sweet and read as very genuine, and his friends are wonderful and support him when he needs support, and tell him he's been a twat when, well, he's being a twat. :D Who couldn't use a friend like that?
-"Moonstruck". Again, it's one of those movies where I have a huge soft spot for it. Cher stars alongside Nicholas Cage as a widowed woman who is trying to convince her fiance's brother (Cage) to come to their wedding. Of course, it's not that easy — Our Intrepid Heroine knows that her fiance is wrong for her in every conceivable way, but she's afraid of actually falling in love again, because her first husband died very young, in a horrible way. Enter her fiance's brother, who is a weird tortured artist of a baker (of all the things!), with whom she falls horribly, passionately in love with despite it being objectively the worst choice possible.
The thing is, they make it work. It's sort of funny, like — you don't want to root for them (she's blowing up her life!), but sometimes the right choice is the one that looks wrong on paper, and the two leads have great chemistry and really sell the whole idea of "right person, wrong time, fuck it, let's go for it anyway".
Also Olympia Dukakis is in it, and she's absolutely wonderful. Big ups to the granddad, too — he's amazing. :D
-"But I'm A Cheerleader". I cannot believe how many people I have had to introduce this movie to, good lord. Natasha Lyonne plays Megan, a high school senior and captain of the cheer squad who gets sent to a "pray the gay away" camp by her parents, who are convinced (as are her peers) that she is actually a lesbian. This despite her having done everything "right" — like, she's got a hunky boyfriend (quarterback on the football team), she participates in traditionally girly activities, etc, etc.
Enter camp, where at first she's fairly certain she doesn't belong, until a group therapy session goes awry and she realizes that she is, in fact, a gigantic lesbian. Whoops.
It is notable for being one of the first films I saw that had a lesbian couple as the focus where nothing horrible happened and they in fact got their happily-ever-after (implied). (The other was Better Than Chocolate, which I barely remember, so. :) ) Growing up in Utah, well — this movie was revolutionary, and seeing Clea Duvall as Graham was extremely helpful in some aspects. Is it a good movie? No, but I saw it at the right time and I think that while it's imperfect it holds up okay.
I'm sure there's other media, including podcasts, etc, but I genuinely cannot think of anything off the top of my head, whoops. :x Oh, well, maybe someday this post will get a sequel?
Saturday, February 14th, 2026 06:34 pm
I fell down and hurt my shoulder this morning but I went to the deYoung anyway, saw some very cool art including some giant oil paintings, Native Amercian art and historical photos of the Bay area. Also got some goodies to eat including an Italian sausage and meatball hero and some muffins and brownies and lollipops.
Public transit still sucks though.
Public transit still sucks though.