Holloway
May. 15th, 2025 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puddleshark
A day spent exploring West Dorset holloways, and remote paths across the hills, some of which weren't where they were meant to be. Got very lost and tired and hot. Will post more photos another day.
puddlesharkA day spent exploring West Dorset holloways, and remote paths across the hills, some of which weren't where they were meant to be. Got very lost and tired and hot. Will post more photos another day.
By 4rtemis in "Permanently Embarrassed Pseudo-Landlords" on Ask MeFi
May. 14th, 2025 09:04 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
mefi_feedThe support group is paying a competent property manager to take care of the day-to-day logistics for you. It's a better experience for both you and your tenants. Source: am also an overseas landlord.
[Podfic of] The Pirate and the Lioness
May. 15th, 2025 02:32 pmgoblin_emperor_ao3_feedLength: 3 minutes, 2 seconds
Summary:
Shaleän Sevraseched finds her soulmate right where she really ought to have expected to.
Podfic of The Pirate and the Lioness by imaginary_golux.
Words: 42, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Series: Part 36 of vending machine of podfic snacks [under 5 min pods, 2025 edition], Part 36 of Soulmate AUs
- Fandoms: The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison
- Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
- Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
- Categories: F/F
- Characters: Shaleän Sevraseched, Shaleän Sevraseched's Wife
- Relationships: Shaleän Sevraseched/Shaleän Sevraseched's Wife
- Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, Pirates, Slaves, Rescue, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: Download
Wednesday Reading on Thursday
May. 15th, 2025 01:47 pmoracneI returned to the AU soulmark series An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite for the second and third installments, which I enjoyed as much as the first.
That Looks on Tempests explores what might have happened if Colonel Fitzwilliam had survived Waterloo. A Dalliance with the Duke tries a different path, in which widowed Lizzy takes up with the Duke of Wellington instead of her cousin-by-marriage Darcy; this one gets a bit spicy!
For those who are not fanfiction readers, a "soulmark" story generally posits that people are born with, or attain at adolescence, a mark somewhere on their body, usually a name or a line of dialogue, that indicates one's soulmate/true love/most significant person. The best of these stories, I feel, interrogate the concept and its societal and personal implications, which the author does in this series.
That Looks on Tempests explores what might have happened if Colonel Fitzwilliam had survived Waterloo. A Dalliance with the Duke tries a different path, in which widowed Lizzy takes up with the Duke of Wellington instead of her cousin-by-marriage Darcy; this one gets a bit spicy!
For those who are not fanfiction readers, a "soulmark" story generally posits that people are born with, or attain at adolescence, a mark somewhere on their body, usually a name or a line of dialogue, that indicates one's soulmate/true love/most significant person. The best of these stories, I feel, interrogate the concept and its societal and personal implications, which the author does in this series.
::clambers out of Internetless Hole briefly::
May. 15th, 2025 06:27 pmraisedbymooglesy'all. the SHIT we have gone through. because our Internet company promised a service they couldn't actually provide.
...but yeah, we're all moved in to our new flat!!!! and somehow, despite the odds, I have actually written a little this month. here you go:
Prime Time, chapter 16, first of all.
second, a few 3sfs:
Transformers as humans medieval setting AU, Hot Rod & OC - vicious fight over a book in the library
FFVII, some kind of AU, Sephiroth & OC - more of a social moth than a social butterfly
Tears of the Kingdom, Impa, Purah, Paya - impossible science
My Internet access will be occasional for the rest of the month, unfortunately :/
...but yeah, we're all moved in to our new flat!!!! and somehow, despite the odds, I have actually written a little this month. here you go:
Prime Time, chapter 16, first of all.
second, a few 3sfs:
Transformers as humans medieval setting AU, Hot Rod & OC - vicious fight over a book in the library
FFVII, some kind of AU, Sephiroth & OC - more of a social moth than a social butterfly
Tears of the Kingdom, Impa, Purah, Paya - impossible science
My Internet access will be occasional for the rest of the month, unfortunately :/
An at-home cervical cancer screening device was OK‘d by the FDA
May. 15th, 2025 05:00 pmsciencenews_feedThe Teal Wand, an at-home HPV testing device that could replace a Pap smear, could broaden access to cervical cancer screening.
Married by When
May. 15th, 2025 05:01 pmflowing_data_rss_feed
There is no exact time when everyone gets married. You have your own timeline. I have mine. However, we can see when it tends to happen by the percentage of people who married at least once, given their age.
Superman (2025). Teaser & Official Trailer.
May. 15th, 2025 06:31 pminkcharm posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandom_icons
Points Challenge Wrap-Up
May. 15th, 2025 11:18 amyourlibrarian posting in 3weeks4dreamwidth
Thanks to all the donors and giftees for stepping forward to take part in the Points Gifts challenge.
In the end we had 12 donors and 19 giftees. Donors have been notified about making their point gifts directly to assigned giftees. If you offered to donate and have not received a direct message from me, please let me know.
Giftees should be seeing messages from Dreamwidth when the gifts go through. If you have not received anything by May 31, please let me know as something may have gone awry.
Once all gifts have been sent we will have added $384.50 to Dreamwidth's intake this year \o/
Batman #487
May. 15th, 2025 05:20 pmiamrman posting in scans_dailyWriter: Doug Moench
Pencils and inks: Jim Aparo
Prelude to Knightfall.
A mobster puts a hit out on Jim Gordon.
( Read more... )
A City on Mars, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
May. 15th, 2025 09:20 amrunpunkrunA City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith:
The answer is no, by the way. And you can tell that really bums out the Weinersmiths, both of them huge space nerds. They take a serious look at what it would take to establish a permanent settlement in orbit, on the Moon, or on Mars, taking into account human biology and psychology, our current technology, and, crucially, space law.
SPAAAAACE LAWWWW. That was probably my favorite part because it was a totally new field for me and is something we could, and should, adapt to address modern concerns. The Weinersmiths examine international laws and extrapolate how they might set precedence for creating new laws to govern the use and development of space resources, and how they might facilitate—or prevent—settlements or nation building in space. Weirdly, despite their unrelentingly skeptical view of the possibility of settling space, and their opening argument that people are going to people no matter where they are, the Weinersmiths blithely just assume that employers are going to ship their new employees out to space for free, never once raising the threat of indentured servitude, which seems much more likely to me. Instead they treat prospective space colonies as analogous to company towns....except for how you can't leave and someone has to pay for your air. Seems like an area ripe for exploitation. Which they do cover with regards to housing and food and the ability to unionize, but not, you know, human trafficking.
The playful tone and dry humor make this book go down easy, but due to the nature of their argument it has a defensive tone—especially the extensive introduction where they're just like "first of all, no, and for the following reasons"—and I found it a bit draining as it is, in effect, a serious answer to a question no serious person is asking. Of course we can't colonize space right now. We probably won't be able to do it twenty or thirty years from now, which is when Elon Musk predicts a city on Mars with a population of "~1 million." See what I mean about serious people?
I read this not to be convinced of anything, but to gather some science facts to go with my science fiction, and I have done so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go read a book with spaceships. Pew pew.
Contains: More Elon Musk than you want; animal experimentation in the name of science; discussions of space cannibalism; ableism and eugenics.
Also: Zach's illustrations are cute and informative in an XKCD sort of way, but not at their best in ebook form, and also speaking of ebooks, the many, many footnotes (end notes, technically) are in a smaller font than the rest of the book which is ridiculous and unnecessary and not something you can fix without also making the body text enormous. What the hell, Cora Wigen. Though Wigen, who adapted this for ebook, did surround the footnote asterisks with square brackets, making them larger targets and improving the chance you'll actually reach the footnote and not just turn the page or bring up a menu or highlight the text. It should be industry standard, but so far the only other place I've seen it is in the Emily Wilde series.
The answer is no, by the way. And you can tell that really bums out the Weinersmiths, both of them huge space nerds. They take a serious look at what it would take to establish a permanent settlement in orbit, on the Moon, or on Mars, taking into account human biology and psychology, our current technology, and, crucially, space law.
SPAAAAACE LAWWWW. That was probably my favorite part because it was a totally new field for me and is something we could, and should, adapt to address modern concerns. The Weinersmiths examine international laws and extrapolate how they might set precedence for creating new laws to govern the use and development of space resources, and how they might facilitate—or prevent—settlements or nation building in space. Weirdly, despite their unrelentingly skeptical view of the possibility of settling space, and their opening argument that people are going to people no matter where they are, the Weinersmiths blithely just assume that employers are going to ship their new employees out to space for free, never once raising the threat of indentured servitude, which seems much more likely to me. Instead they treat prospective space colonies as analogous to company towns....except for how you can't leave and someone has to pay for your air. Seems like an area ripe for exploitation. Which they do cover with regards to housing and food and the ability to unionize, but not, you know, human trafficking.
The playful tone and dry humor make this book go down easy, but due to the nature of their argument it has a defensive tone—especially the extensive introduction where they're just like "first of all, no, and for the following reasons"—and I found it a bit draining as it is, in effect, a serious answer to a question no serious person is asking. Of course we can't colonize space right now. We probably won't be able to do it twenty or thirty years from now, which is when Elon Musk predicts a city on Mars with a population of "~1 million." See what I mean about serious people?
I read this not to be convinced of anything, but to gather some science facts to go with my science fiction, and I have done so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go read a book with spaceships. Pew pew.
Contains: More Elon Musk than you want; animal experimentation in the name of science; discussions of space cannibalism; ableism and eugenics.
Also: Zach's illustrations are cute and informative in an XKCD sort of way, but not at their best in ebook form, and also speaking of ebooks, the many, many footnotes (end notes, technically) are in a smaller font than the rest of the book which is ridiculous and unnecessary and not something you can fix without also making the body text enormous. What the hell, Cora Wigen. Though Wigen, who adapted this for ebook, did surround the footnote asterisks with square brackets, making them larger targets and improving the chance you'll actually reach the footnote and not just turn the page or bring up a menu or highlight the text. It should be industry standard, but so far the only other place I've seen it is in the Emily Wilde series.
Seafloor amber may hold hints of a tsunami 115 million years ago
May. 15th, 2025 03:00 pmsciencenews_feedOddly shaped deposits of tree resin point to massive waves that struck northern Japan roughly 115 million years ago and swept a forest into the sea.
What gene makes orange cats orange? Scientists figured it out
May. 15th, 2025 03:00 pmsciencenews_feedResearchers found the gene and genetic variation behind orange fur in most domestic cats, solving a decades-long mystery.
✚ Step Chart, Enhanced
May. 15th, 2025 03:08 pmflowing_data_rss_feed
Welcome to the Process, the newsletter on designing useful charts that work and read better than defaults. This week we look at the step chart and how to highlight specific patterns in the steps.
Become a member for access to this — plus tutorials, courses, and guides.
He's terribly poor stuff, but honestly -
May. 15th, 2025 03:42 pmoursinWhy, why O why, would anybody choose a 'sperm donor' (and it looks as though he made his donations very up close and personal, we are not talking test-tubes?) whose pitch was - on Facebook! - 'recipients did not have to “have a weirdo in a lab coat look at your hoohaw”. (The service was also free.)
Do we think that anyone asked for a recent STI check? The whole thing sounds ick to the max.
No, instead you got involved with this deeply odd and controlling bloke who claims he fathered more than 180 children and far from just vanishing over the horizon, in several instances has tried to gain custody of the resulting children.
In the US, where he was offering sperm donor services until 2017, there is a warrant for his arrest over unpaid child maintenance amounting to thousands of dollars.
I was going to comment, so, not one of these billionaires who is trying to breed his own master-race out of his own loins, but then I seem to recollect that there has been a certain amount of outing them for not paying up as they had said they would.
I suppose at least this guy has been seriously spreading it about ('dozens of children across South America, Australia and the UK' and presumably USA), unlike the Dutch guy most of whose 100s of offspring are in the Netherlands.
The fairy tales
May. 15th, 2025 05:01 pmscripsiI loved fairy tales as a small child, and I continued to read and love them long after my friend outgrew them. My parents had a book on Vietnamese tales, and one with Swedish ones, and later I found Andrew Lang’s Fairy books with tales collected all over the world. I was fascinated that tales like the Cinderella story had many different versions. In the Swedish one, for example, Cinderella went to three balls, dressed first in silver, then gold, then in a bejewelled gown, and though she dropped the shoes, it wasn’t made of glass. She also only had one stepsister, and the story didn’t end with the wedding. No, the stepsister pushed Cinderella into the sea, where she was going to be forced to marry a sea monster, while the stepsister made herself look like Cinderella. Luckily the prince noticed, and managed to save his bride, though not before she was turned into a serpent that he had to dip into three baths, winter, milk and water, to save.
When I was around 10, my mother took a university course on children’s books, and read Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, which I picked up and which had a profound impact on my ability to comprehend and analyze my reading. I’se been a long time since I read it, so I’m quoting Wikipedia on it.
Bettelheim analyzed fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology in “The Uses of Enchantment” (1976). He discussed the emotional and symbolic importance of fairy tales for children, including traditional tales once considered too dark, such as those collected and published by the Brothers Grimm. Bettelheim suggested that traditional fairy tales, with the darkness of abandonment, death, witches, and injuries, allowed children to grapple with their fears in remote, symbolic terms. If they could read and interpret these fairy tales in their own way, he believed, they would get a greater sense of meaning and purpose.
I’ve also realized I missed a book in my list on books which impacted me, namely One Thousand and One Nights. My father’s parents has a lovely edition in a set of 6 books, which I used to read every time I visited. I was very happy when they gifted the set to me when I turned 16. It’s a 1920s edition with gorgeous illustration by Gudmund Hentze. Also abridged- too racy sequences are edited out, though the book helpful points out that even if the edited text is “very amusing,it doesn’t conform to our time’s view on morality”. It’s also not all of the stories, though I’m unsure how many there should be.
( Read more... )
When I was around 10, my mother took a university course on children’s books, and read Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, which I picked up and which had a profound impact on my ability to comprehend and analyze my reading. I’se been a long time since I read it, so I’m quoting Wikipedia on it.
Bettelheim analyzed fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology in “The Uses of Enchantment” (1976). He discussed the emotional and symbolic importance of fairy tales for children, including traditional tales once considered too dark, such as those collected and published by the Brothers Grimm. Bettelheim suggested that traditional fairy tales, with the darkness of abandonment, death, witches, and injuries, allowed children to grapple with their fears in remote, symbolic terms. If they could read and interpret these fairy tales in their own way, he believed, they would get a greater sense of meaning and purpose.
I’ve also realized I missed a book in my list on books which impacted me, namely One Thousand and One Nights. My father’s parents has a lovely edition in a set of 6 books, which I used to read every time I visited. I was very happy when they gifted the set to me when I turned 16. It’s a 1920s edition with gorgeous illustration by Gudmund Hentze. Also abridged- too racy sequences are edited out, though the book helpful points out that even if the edited text is “very amusing,it doesn’t conform to our time’s view on morality”. It’s also not all of the stories, though I’m unsure how many there should be.
( Read more... )
salamander
May. 15th, 2025 07:43 amprettygoodwordsalamander (SAL-uh-man-der, sal-uh-MAN-der) - n., any lizard-shaped amphibian of the order Caudata, having a soft, moist, scaleless skin, found chiefly in northern temperate regions; a legendary lizard-like creature that is resistant to and lives in fire; in Paracelsian occult philosophy, the elemental being of fire; an object, such as a poker, used in fire or capable of withstanding heat; any of various portable stoves, burners, or heaters, esp. ones that heat from above; a mass of unfused material, such as metallic iron or partially reduced ore, in the hearth of a blast furnace.
Unlike gnome, where the folkloric process took Paracelsus's elemental and ran with it, here he took an existing folkloric being and identified it with an elemental. The oldest traces of the legendary being are discussions (multiple) by Aristotle, but they are widespread, including mentions in the Talmud. Given this pedigree, it shouldn't be surprising that the ultimate origin of the name is Ancient Greek, in the form salamándra, origin uncertain, though Persian samandar is one possibility, though etymologists debate whether instead the Persian name came from the Ancient Greek.
We've run out of elements, but not yet of words that Paracelsus coined -- we've got one more tomorrow plus a bonus word coined for him.
---L.
Unlike gnome, where the folkloric process took Paracelsus's elemental and ran with it, here he took an existing folkloric being and identified it with an elemental. The oldest traces of the legendary being are discussions (multiple) by Aristotle, but they are widespread, including mentions in the Talmud. Given this pedigree, it shouldn't be surprising that the ultimate origin of the name is Ancient Greek, in the form salamándra, origin uncertain, though Persian samandar is one possibility, though etymologists debate whether instead the Persian name came from the Ancient Greek.
We've run out of elements, but not yet of words that Paracelsus coined -- we've got one more tomorrow plus a bonus word coined for him.
---L.