(no subject)

Mar. 4th, 2026 08:38 pm
lycomingst: (Default)
[personal profile] lycomingst
Recently the toilet has been running and leaking. I have dealt with this before in another house. You need to replace the chain and flapper. Of course, the system was attached differently from the one I'd done before. Instead of just hooking on to another part, this was slipped over an end piece and you had to lift it over. I learned that on Youtube.I didn't have the hand strength to do that so I had to get out TOOLS. A box cutter, pliers, etc and so on. Finally got the old piece off and went to the store to get a new one.

I chose one, I do want to mention that I have to get on my knees to turn the water on and off, just to mention it. So it's installed and the noisy toilet is silent. I still have to shorten the chain to make it perfect, it's sort of jerryrigged now, and that will be fixed in the near future.

Reading Wednesday

Mar. 4th, 2026 11:02 pm
troisoiseaux: (reading 5)
[personal profile] troisoiseaux
Read Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which I was not expecting to start with the fall of Troy?? (Only briefly mentioned as a sort of city, state, country, continent, Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy approach to setting the scene of Arthur's Britain, but I did find myself momentarily baffled about whether I'd opened the correct e-book.) Interesting to finally read the poem after having seen/read various retellings/adaptations of it— for one thing, it turns out the answer to why would Gawain jump straight to "chop this guy's head off" when presented with the challenge of "whatever blow you deal now, I'll return in one year's time"? is because the challenge was, in fact, set up that way. (Of course, even with the Green Knight kneeling and helpfully baring his neck and making unsubtle comments like I'll tell you where to find me in a year's time afterwards... if I can! If not, you're off the hook!, he could have not done that, but I guess it's a load-bearing detail of Arthuriana that absolutely no one can see a trap when they're about to walk into one or else no one would have weird adventures.) For another: ohhhhh, okay, the OT3 reading is not a stretch of the imagination at all. It also spent more time describing food, clothing, armor, horses' gear, castle architecture, and other luxuries than I would have expected - on the other hand, it also spent quite a lot of time on how to disembowel a deer?? - and each stanza ended with an ABABA rhyme scheme, although I guess in this case, we are not meant to pronounce Gawain as Gar-win
'What is here, all is your own, to have in your rule          
and sway.'
'Gramercy!' quoth Gawain,    
'May Christ you this repay!'     
As men that to meet were fain     
they both embraced that day.

Later, it also rhymes Gawain with retain, so I guess the pronunciation is supposed to be "Ga-wayne," which is frankly how I always assumed it was pronounced, until The Green Knight (2021)...?

In War and Peace, Dolokhov (of the "just fought a duel over sleeping with Pierre's wife" incident) has fallen in love with - and proposed to - Sonya, the poor Rostov cousin/ward who is in love with Nikolai but (spoiler!) he ends up jilting her for Princess Mary, and Sonya ends up never marrying and moves in with them to care for their children. ANYWAY. We are not there yet; Dolokhov has proposed to Sonya, Sonya refused out of love for Nikolai, and Dolokhov proceeded to take his revenge by needling Nikolai into gambling himself into financial ruin, because Nikolai has the backbone of a chocolate eclair as well as one (1) singular brain cell just bouncing around thinking about how much he loves Emperor Alexander.

Daily Happiness

Mar. 4th, 2026 07:55 pm
torachan: my glitch character (glitch)
[personal profile] torachan
1. Did another store visit today. I hadn't been to this store for quite some time (I think not since the summer) so it was nice to have an opportunity to check it out again, and just in general to get out of the office and do something different. Tomorrow I plan to do a store visit, too, but just the store down the street from me, so at least there won't be a long drive involved.

2. Carla made miso marinated salmon for dinner tonight, which we haven't had in ages. I forgot how good it is!

3. Carla got some Brooks shoes a few months ago and has really been enjoying them and then it turns out that they occasionally release Disney collabs, and their most recent ones include Rapunzel themed ones. Rapunzel is one of her favorite Disney characters and pink and purple are some of her favorite colors. Plus they actually have them in larger sizes, which is so rare for cute shoes like these. They were released to buy in person at the runDisney event in Disney World this past weekend and just finally showed up on the website today and she was able to order some. And in this instance having larger feet actually worked in her favor, since a lot of the smaller sizes were sold out already.

4. The other day after I got the new shelf set up in the garage, Carla put a couple Star Wars legos on it, and then decided she wanted it to be a Star Wars themed shelf (I was already thinking we should organize some of the lego displays since right now they're just sort of wherever we had space at the time they were built, rather than displayed thematically, so that works out perfectly). It's still in progress, but I think it looks pretty nice. (And I really do love that shelf.)



5. Tuxie's been enjoying the long grass we have after all the rain last month.

Miami Vice on Tubi!

Mar. 4th, 2026 09:57 pm
mxcatmoon: Miami Vice 04 by me (MV 04)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
It's Christmas, folks!

Miami Vice is now streaming on Tubi -- on demand. It's been on Pluto all the while, but only live with the daily marathon, here you can pick and choose which episodes to watch and when.

So, if you've ever thought about checking it out and watching some episodes, now is your chance. Run, because from past experience, these things don't last long. I expect some people's suspicions are right though, and they are doing this because of the reboot movie coming out next year. It'll backfire on them, of course, because once you see the OG, you're not likely to go for a pale imitation. 😉

Watch Miami Vice Streaming Online | Tubi Free TV

Tubi is the best! First Donald Strachey, then Broadchurch, and now MV. I have the whole series on DVD myself, but I'm still thrilled that it's readily available for others to watch.

Recs beneath the cut )
[syndicated profile] newpajiba_feed

Posted by Lainey Bobainey

Seen here looking like a dime store Grant Morrison next to some sort of skeleton man, Billy Corgan is reportedly pushing a theory that the CIA colluded with MTV to kill rock music in the '90s. What music did they...

Read more...

[syndicated profile] neatorama_feed

Posted by Miss Cellania

How does a mere notepad inflict damage in a duel armed only with a pencil? By drawing on your opponent. The first with a full mustache and beard is the loser. Then one duelist figures out how to make himself more intimidating, a decision that may have won the competition but that he regrets the next day.

You might recall the Bent Objects series of whimsical sculptures made by Terry Border. They were everyday objects made into sentient beings doing everyday stuff to make you smile. It's been ten years since we posted them, and most of those links are no longer available. Now Border is back, experimenting with a new medium- video! Yes, he's done some digital videos over the years, yet this is his first old-fashioned stop-motion version of his signature objects, this time two notepads dueling it out with pencils. He thought it would be too tedious, and now he says it turned out to be a pleasant experience.  -Thanks, Terry!

[syndicated profile] neatorama_feed

Posted by Miss Cellania

During the rise of the Nazi regime, radio was used as a propaganda tool to indoctrinate the German people and convince them of the inevitability of the Third Reich. The British were above such tactics, at least on the surface, as the BBC continued to broadcast strict truth during World War II. But they also had a secret program, a string of radio stations in the Political Warfare Executive (PWE), based out of the rural village of Milton Bryan. This program hired talented musicians, writers, and actors who were German refugees and not trusted for other British positions in the war effort. 

These propaganda stations broadcast big band music in German, often with rewritten lyrics designed to make soldiers homesick. The news they read was a combination of confusing war plans and rumors, laced with enough true gossip to convinced listeners they were broadcasting from Germany. Agnes Bernauer, a young aspiring actress and singer who was a half-Jewish refugee from Germany, became Vicky with Three Kisses, seducing German soldiers with her voice by singing and telling soothing tales of British propaganda. Read how all that worked out pretty well at Smithsonian. 

Purimgifts reveal

Mar. 4th, 2026 09:34 pm
kass: Veronica and Wallace stare at a screen (veronica and wallace)
[personal profile] kass
I wrote a trio of Stardew ficlets for PeacePangolin for [community profile] purimgifts. (And the images I shared along with them are simple re-colorings of in-game images; I am chagrined now to see the kinds of beautiful things people created, and I will need to level up before next year!) Anyway: here's what I wrote.

1. Sam (373 words) by Kass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Characters: Sam (Stardew Valley)
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1
Summary:

He can’t remember a time before he knew Sebastian.



2. Sebastian (443 words) by Kass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Characters: Sebastian
Additional Tags: Purimgifts day 2
Summary:

Nevermind I’m going to delete all of this and start over.



3. Abigail (401 words) by Kass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Characters: Abigail (Stardew Valley)
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Picking Up Their Feet
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1422
[Sunday, May 16, 2020, 7 pm]


:: Morning brings an unexpected conversation about the future. Part of the Edison’s Mirror (Teague Family) story arc. ::


Back to Dinner and Discussion
To the Edison's Mirror Landing Page
On to




Rory finished brushing through Mac’s hair as Aidan returned to the living room, wiping his hands on a scrap of rag. She smiled at the four-year-old, tugging at one of the three twists that the little girl had insisted upon, despite having European hair. “Go tell Aidan what you did this morning,” the teen ordered, smiling. “I bet he’ll be impressed.”

Mac needed no more encouragement. She bounded off, shouting, “Aidan! I brushded my teeth just right! Rory said so!”
Read more... )
[syndicated profile] languagelog_feed

Posted by Victor Mair

One does not usually associate horses with premodern Africa, yet we have words for "horse" in many African languages:

Ancient Egyptian (Gardiner): () ssmt, ỉbr ‘horse’.  VHM:  Wikipedia has E6 U+13007 (ssmt, jbr
 
28 Feb. 2026, from Raoul Zamponi, zamponi_raoul@libero.it:
 
There is also a widespread root mur (< mre?) meaning 'horse' also in Africa:
 
Gule (isolate) musal, Bertha (isolate) mùrθá. Gaahmg (Jebel) mɔ̄sɔ̀r, Berti (Saharan) burto, Bagirmi (Central Sudanic) mōrʧē ‘bay horse’, Kenga (Central Sudanic) mɔ̄rcɔ̄ ‘brown and lightly spotted horse’, Fer and Kara (Central Sudanic) mótà, Yulu (Central Sudanic) mɔ́tɛ̀, Kresh m(ɔ́)rɔ́tɔ́ (Kresh-Aja), Dongo (Kresh-Aja) merèti, Dar Fur Daju and Njalgulgule (Dajuic) murtane, Baygo (Dajuic) murtanej, Dar Sila Daju (Dajuic) murta, Logorik and Shatt (Dajuic) moxta, Fur (Furan) murta, Ama (Nyimang) mɔ̀rd̪ù, Dinik (Nyimang) mɔ́rt̪à, Temein (Temeinic) mántà, Tese (Temeinic) móʈò, Ebang (Heibanian) miɽt̪a, Koalib (Heibanian) mòrtːà, Moro (Heibanian) èmə̀rt̪á, Otoro (Heibanian) mərtaŋ, Shwai and Tira (Heibanion) mərt̪a, Katla (Katla-Tima) murteka, Tima (Katla-Tima) kɘ-mə̀rt̪áːʔ, Kadugli and Kanga (Kadu) mʊ̀t̪ːʊ́, Krongo (Kadu) mot̪o, Tagoi (Rashadian) màrdà, Tegali (Rashadian) marta, Nobiin and Old Nubian (Nubian) murti.
 
These forms ultimately derive from Proto-Nubian *murti ‘horse’, consisting of a root *mur and the singulative suffix *-ti. The root *mur, in turn, is probably a loan from Meroitic mre-ke.
 
From Zamponi, R. in press. Gule. London and New York: Routledge.

When I saw this long list of words for horse in African languages, particularly these words, I was dumbfounded.  So I asked Don Ringe what he made of it.

He replied:

Outside my area of expertise.  But since horses are not native to Africa, it would be no surprise if a word for 'horse' were widely borrowed from language to language, which is what the pattern of attestation suggests (multiple languages belonging to multiple families). 

That is what I was hoping he'd say.

Beverley Davis*:

Since the horse was introduced to Africa, it only makes sense it would use the language of the ones to introduced it. It's like the Berber word for horse is related to the Persian word for horse aspa. I cannot find the Berber word on line.

*author of "Timeline of the Development of the Horse", Sino-Platonic Papers", 177 (August, 2007), 1-186, viewed by millions of readers

Selected readings

[h.t. Carl Masthay]

Frostbite of Bluster

Mar. 4th, 2026 07:41 pm
[personal profile] ismo
The Sparrowhawk has a clever app that let him know that, as of yesterday, we had been together for 20,000 days! We would have liked to spend the day celebrating, but this was not entirely possible. I had to get up earlier than usual for my yearly dermatology appointment, which for some reason is usually scheduled before 9 am. Last year, they biopsied a spot. It turned out to be nothing. This year, they biopsied another spot. It's not really my idea of fun before breakfast, but on the bright side, they gave me a cute little kit with tweezers and scissors to remove the single stitch they put in the incision. It's like getting a goodie bag from your doctor. While he was checking out my spots, we had a conversation in which he confirmed that the Big Boy chain in southeastern Michigan was run by the Mafia. He grew up in Detroit, so he knew even more about it than I did.

After I got home, the Sparrowhawk went to his PT appointment. I sent off a brief text to Madame's crew to say I would be visiting today, and to ask if her hearing aid was working again. One of her friends said that yes, the hearing aid was fine now. But Mademoiselle responded with a long text explaining that she had intended to call everyone, but had covid again, so she was giving us the news via text. In consultation with Madame's doctors, they had decided to move toward palliative care, and the hospice team was coming today around noon to evaluate Madame's needs. To respect Madame's privacy, I won't get into the details, but she does have some ongoing conditions for which both diagnosis and treatment involve some risk and discomfort. I had been wondering how long they could continue with the process. I guess they've finally come to the point where the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. I was surprised and saddened, but I'm sure her family is doing the best they can for her. This cast a bit of a pall over a day on which I'd already been punctured. When the Sparrowhawk came home, we celebrated our 20,000th with takeout steak and eggs from the Grand Coney diner.

Today I went to see Madame a little earlier than usual, as I told Mademoiselle I would. I took her some coffee and cake, which she was happy to have. I planned to leave at 12 when the hospice team arrived. I wanted to stay until they came, because I thought it might ease the transition to other visitors. but 12 o'clock came and went. The staff brought Madame's lunch to her room, and we were in the midst of getting her set up at the table when her older daughter arrived. She's the one I had not met, who lived in Florida until recently. I think Madame had forgotten exactly who she was. She said, "Oh, now I'm going to have to start all over again with names and things." I introduced myself to her daughter and then bowed out. I haven't heard yet how the meeting with hospice went. I suppose I will eventually, if it is thought that I have a need to know.
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[personal profile] yourlibrarian posting in [community profile] marchmetamatterschallenge
March Meta Matters Challenge banner by thenewbuzzwuzz


Hello everyone! It's check-in time to see how we're all getting along with our meta importing.

Comment below with any of the following:

1) Anything unexpected you've discovered as you got started?

2) If you have a lot to archive/copy over, have you figured out how you'll organize it?

Remember, this account accepts anonymous comments, so if you don't have a Dreamwidth account we still want to hear from you and have you take part.

Less Nothing Right Now

Mar. 4th, 2026 06:31 pm
lb_lee: A skeleton wearing a crown of blooming roses (the bony lady)
[personal profile] lb_lee
Rogan: A friend of mine is dead but I’m not ready to talk about that yet, so instead I’m distracting myself with Adam Becker’s More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity.

I’m failing and I miss my dead friend. )

I love the World Baseball Classic

Mar. 4th, 2026 11:27 pm
[personal profile] cosmolinguist

I listened to the Twins game against Puerto Rico this evening, which was happening while I was making dinner and at the gym.

I figured my Twinkies would get hammered; PR has lots of good players. But two of the best, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, couldn't make the team for insurance reasons. Made me laugh that the lead-off hitter is another Minnesota Twin, Willi Castro. (Apparently he's not as good any more but I still have such a soft spot for him! There were other former Twins on this team too, Eddie Rosario is another that got mentioned fondly by the Twins radio guys, Kris and Dan.

The Twins actually won! 6-3. Good start by Zebby (phew), good game by Alan Roden (who I keep forgetting about; one of the many players they got in the fire sale last trade-deadline).

NPR is coming through for me lately.

Mar. 4th, 2026 06:11 pm
rebeccmeister: (Default)
[personal profile] rebeccmeister
I don't really listen to public radio anymore, but am encountering good articles via social media elsewhere. Here's an article that's an introduction to Iranian art:

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/03/nx-s1-5734031/iran-books-movies-music

It reminded me of seeing the film Dance of Dust as part of the Seattle International Film Festival in high school (late '90's). I still wish I could get ahold of a copy of it to watch it again. It was just filmed so beautifully and was so very different from other films I've seen.

(no subject)

Mar. 4th, 2026 05:50 pm
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)
[personal profile] twistedchick
This has been a less easy day.

It's the 35th anniversary of my mom's death.

It still hurts, all of it.

At least, I'm not reliving the whole thing, just dealing with emotional splashback this year.

She died in hospital, during an ice storm, and I was not informed of it until after I'd come up there, so I traveled expecting to see her when she'd passed before I'd gotten the phone call.

And that ties into even nastier family crap that I'm not even going to mention except to say it happened and was absolutely shitty.

So I am sticking to the more cheerful reruns of shows to watch, plus Colbert, and the sillier novels. They don't dig me out, but they keep me from going deeper into the Marianas Trench.

[migraine] a belated realisation

Mar. 4th, 2026 10:41 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

This evening I am having A Headache. It's an annoying headache; it's definitely a distracting headache; but it's "just" A Headache. No other symptoms that I'm noticing.

... except that it's Exactly The Right Time For A Migraine, and yesterday I had a bunch of migraine prodrome symptoms. (Being Too Warm. Wanting to close my eyes a lot. Nausea. Overwhelming despair.)

I find myself Wondering whether my regular menstrual migraines actually started on 1st January 2021, or if that's just the point at which symptoms tipped over into very obviously photosensitive migraine. At that point I was on continuous acute pain relief, and it is slowly dawning on me that An Annoying Headache with no other symptoms distinguishable from background noise (anxiety, depression, thesis-related stress, ...) is the kind of thing I'd have just merrily ignored, and for that matter that I'd still be ignoring if I weren't now Keeping A Headache Diary...

duskpeterson: The lowercased letters D and P, joined together (Default)
[personal profile] duskpeterson

The protocol for entering the palace changes from time to time, so I can only offer a general outline. If your business is with the court or council, you should present yourself and your credentials to the guards at the southern gate of the outer wall of the palace. It is best to arrange beforehand for your visit. If this not possible, or if you cannot provide an exact time for your arrival, expect to wait as your credentials are sent into the palace to be checked.

Normally, you will be provided with an escort into the palace. If you arrive at a time before the palace begins its day, you will be expected to make your own way to the eastern gate of the inner wall. There your credentials will be inspected again, along with any document that the palace has sent out, permitting your entrance. You will then be allowed to enter the inner wall and make your approach to the palace itself.

The palace being located atop a high hill, you will find yourself faced with the steepest and longest set of stairs in the world. Pace yourself. You may wish to bring refreshments to partake of at the halfway mark.

At the top of the stairs, once you have recovered your breath, you should show your credentials and palace document to the guards at the gate, holding them up for inspection. The guards may not appear to look at you or even notice you. Do not be deceived. Those are real spears they are holding across the doorway.

If the guards grant you entrance, they will lift the spears. If they do not, you must retreat to the palace's inner wall and determine there what the problem is.

Assuming you manage to pass all these barriers, you will find yourself in the entryway to the palace. You will be guided at this point through the remaining stages of reception, which vary according to your rank and status. At some point, however, you will be let loose from Emor's protocol and permitted to take your own path. Let us start with a general introduction to the Chara's palace.


[Translator's note: This breathtakingly long procedure can be cut short if you possess the right credentials, as can be seen in Breached Boundaries.]

It's Been a Weird Day

Mar. 4th, 2026 01:58 pm
yourlibrarian: Christopher Pike in command yellow (TREK-PikeYellowShirt-sexycazzy)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) [community profile] marchmetamatterschallenge has begun! I'm particularly excited this year since I will finally come current with my meta archiving. I'm already finished with 2024 and should finish 2025 by tomorrow. One thing I hope is to do more writing this year.

2) The February CheckIn at [community profile] everykindofcraft has gotten a lot of responses. It's interesting to hear all the different ways that people have learned these skills.

3) In less good news, a bunch of RSS feeds seem to have stopped working. The AO3 vids feed hasn't updated in weeks (so unlikely to be AO3's recent issues), and 4 feeds from Tumblr have stopped as well, though it seems only 2 have been updating lately. It's definitely not the feed service, because at least 3 other feeds I have set up have updated within the last few days. I'm wondering if Tumblr is somehow blocking RSS feeds now?

I also feel like there are people's posts that I have missed though I am less sure about that.

3) I was waiting for a cashier and there were 3 women and 2 small girls ahead of me. The two little girls were racing around everywhere, grabbing things and then having them put back by the women. It was all taking some time, and the squealing was getting on my nerves. But then one grabbed an Easter Bunny and told her mom she wanted it.

The mom asked the cashier if it was solid or hollow, and was told it was hollow (which seemed most likely to me given its size and price!) The little girl then asked what "hollow" was, and her mom struggled to explain it, finally saying "It has a hole inside it." The little girl then said "I'll put it back and get another." We all burst out laughing as her mom then tried to explain that the bunny wasn't defective, it was just the way it was made.

4) So it looks like Paramount will fold HBO into its service. I expect that will put paid to its bundling with Disney services, though it does make it more likely we'll keep Paramount+ around post-The Late Show cancellation. At this point the U.S. looks like it's going to have 3 major streamers, a number of secondary streamers (in which I include Peacock) and a vast number of tiny streamers.

5) Never posted here that I finished the latest season of Strange New Worlds. Thought it somewhat better than earlier seasons, despite the way it started, though I find it a bit jarring to see TOS episodes essentially revised for use here. The finale seemed a cross between Rey at the end of the Skywalker saga and ST:TOS's Lazarus episode. Read more... )

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