pilottttt | ✦ Друзья друзей

Thanks to the Canadian wildfires, our sunset light is Pompeiian red, by which I mean mostly the cinnabar and heat-treated smolder of the pigment, but also the implication of volcano.

Because my day was scrambled by a canceled appointment, after I had made a lot of phone calls

spatch took me for soft-serve ice cream in the late afternoon, and once home I walked out to photograph some poppies I had seen from the car.

( Did you love mimesis? )

I can't help feeling that last night's primary dream emerged from a fender-bender in the art-horror 1970's because once the photographer who had done his aggressive and insistently off-base best to involve me in a blackmail scandal had killed himself, all of a sudden the hotel where I had been attending a convention with my husbands had a supernatural problem. Waking in the twenty-first century, I appreciate it could be solved eventually with post-mortem mediation rather than exorcistic violence, but it feels like yet another subgenre intruding that the psychopomp for the job was a WWI German POW.

Музыка: Frog Eyes, "A Library Used to Be (Black Hole and Its Concentrated Edges)"

flemmings

Possibly the air quality, possibly the heat, possibly the mug, possibly vaccine fallout still after nine days, but I felt lousy most of today. Physio helped a bit, as did eating lightly, but will be happy when that cold front comes through tonight. Did get two heavy bags of garden waste out for tomorrow and must get the green bin stuff too, but I hold off on that because it's nicely frozen in the freezer and will melt outside in the warmth.

Nice thing today was passing Loblaws café area on way home and seeing, through the window, a guy reading an honest-to-god paperback book which was an honest-to-god Penguin Classic edition of Plato. Couldn't make out the title but I think it was the Meno and the Protagoras.

Finished The Path of Thorns, The Lord of Castle Black, and various Murderbot. Am on The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, Sethra Lavode, and desultorily Shadows of Athens. Will probably buy Fugitive Telemetry because Murderbot suits my mood just now.

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/04/attending-night-school-at-joui-wine/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55923

Last night, my most favoritest wine bar in all of Dayton was hosting a new type of event they’re trying out. I decided very last minute to go and check it out, so I snagged myself a ticket just a few hours before the event. It’s called “Night School,” and is basically a much more casual and fun version of an educational lecture, and you get to drink during it!

If you didn’t catch my post back in January where I talked about the cocktail class I attended at Joui Wine, Joui is a super cute, lovely wine bar right in the heart of downtown Dayton. It has plenty of open space, beautiful colors and art, a stunning bar, and of course, incredible service, drinks, and food that are amazing every time. It’s truly a delight to visit.

My mother and I attended their burlesque brunch event this past Sunday (which was so awesome), and I thought, there’s no way I could go to two Joui events in one week. And then I thought, well why the heck not? And I’m so glad I did!

This Night School event was the first of its kind, and they already have more lined up for future dates. Each Night School is about a different topic, with a different expert brought in to talk about their field of expertise. This one in particular was titled, “When Marijuana Wasn’t Cannabis: A Botanical and Legal History,” and the expert on the scene was Dr. Sarah Brady Siff.

Upon arriving, I was greeted and checked in, and handed a drink voucher. I had no idea when I bought the ticket for twenty dollars that it came with a drink included, so I was stoked about that. It was basically a free drink in my mind because I thought I was just paying twenty dollars for the talk itself, so it was like a sick bonus to be handed the drink ticket.

Joui put together a special line up of drinks you could redeem with your ticket:

The Joui Wine menu of drinks that can be redeemed with the drink ticket, and the little drink ticket alongside it. The menu is a small piece of white paper, and the drinks available to choose from are

While I was super curious about the Cannabis Spritz and thought it was cool they’d include that given the topic of the evening, I just opted for the Prosecco. It was a lovely Prosecco, very crisp and bubbly.

Joui had moved their stylish furniture around and set up an area for the speaker with a microphone and all that jazz, and then set up a few rows of black folding chairs for the audience, but you could also sit at the bar or in the back at the high-top tables. At each table next to the chairs was a printed out packet and pencils. The packet was basically like a bunch of PowerPoint slides and you could follow along with the speaker as she went over everything.

Y’all, I learned so much about cannabis. Not just about the plant itself (which we learned plenty about the actual plant, too), but also about its history, both in terms of its legality/criminality over the years, and how the press and government talked about it. Check out these headlines included in the packet:

An image of a bunch of old timey newspaper headlines. They all talk about how bad and dangerous marijuana is, from saying it causes hallucinations to violent crimes, and a few of them are blaming Mexicans for the

Dr. Siff also talked a ton about how indigenous cultures viewed marijuana, how colonizers and the US government tried to eradicate the plant, how white people demonize minorities by associating marijuana with minority groups like Mexicans; it was all super interesting and also upsetting. But that’s like, all of history.

At the beginning of the lecture we were told we could get up and get a drink at the bar or use the restroom at any time, don’t be shy. Well, people were definitely shy and I of course ended up being the first person to get up and get a refill on my beverage. But at least I inspired a few other people to get up, as well, though. What can I say, I’m a trendsetter.

For my second beverage, I got a cocktail instead of wine. There was a ton of great ones to choose from:

The Joui Wine cocktail menu. Six

Specifically I got the Low Rise Jeggings, with vodka. The owner said she was out of lavender syrup, so she used blueberry syrup to make it and it turned out amazing:

A short, textured glass filled with dark pink liquid and ice. The garnishes include blueberries, a lemon wheel, and a sage leaf.

Isn’t it so pretty! It was fruity and refreshing without being overly sweet, the perfect summertime drink to sip on throughout the rest of the lecture.

At the end of the lecture, there were five glass jars on each table that each had a colored scrap of paper inside. We were given a worksheet with the colors listed on it, and we were supposed to smell the jars and write down if a color was cannabis or not.

There was cannabis, hops, peppermint, ginger, and a very smelly variety of geranium. I had written down that the hops were cannabis, as well, which like I should’ve known it was hops and not cannabis because I worked at a cidery for crying out loud! I know what hops smell like (obviously I don’t)! Anyways that was a fun little interactive activity.

After the lecture, Dr. Siff took questions and hung around for a little bit after to talk with people. I spoke with her and she ended up giving me several extra printed out pages of information for me to read and look at, which was really cool. She was super friendly and did an awesome job explaining everything in a really interesting and engaging way. I feel like I learned so much, honestly.

The event as a whole was great, especially considering it was only twenty bucks. I definitely want to go to their future ones that are in August in September. The August one is over DEI and why it matters so much, and the other is over quantum physics. As you can see, there’s already a huge variety happening in terms of topics which is great.

I implore you to check out Joui Wine even if it isn’t for one of these cool events, and follow them on Instagram if you’re in the Dayton area.

Is this a topic you would’ve been interested in? Would you have tried the Cannabis Spritz or is it not for you? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/04/attending-night-school-at-joui-wine/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55923

jazzy_dave

Mike Watkinson "Crazy Diamond : Syd Barrett & The Dawn of Pink Floyd" (Omnibus Press)

This biography is short, easy to read, and fascinating. It dispels some of the more harmful myths about Syd, and unfortunately confirms some of the worse aspects of his character. It's a humbling read for those who idolize Syd, and a sad reminder of just how damaging drugs can be to an already troubled personality.

I'll always wondeedr what Syd could have achieved had he not been destroyed as he was, but shall take some solace in the fact that at least for even a little while he was happy in his solitude.

jazzy_dave

Rory Stewart "Politics On The Edge" (Vintage)

Anyone who has ever met me, knows that I am about as far from being a Conservative as it is possible to be: that's one thing that I seem to have in common with Rory Stewart.

I started this book quite liking Mr Stewart; by the time that I was thirty pages in, I wanted to say some exceedingly rude things to him then, by the time I got to the last page, I felt sorry for him.

The reason for my initial ire was the immense air of righteous deservedness about his ascension to Parliament and his expectation to enter the cabinet: didn't these people know who his people were? It eventually dawned upon me that the Houses of Parliament are filled with two types of people. There are the sons (and it is still mainly males in the top echelons) of Colonels or the Duke of... who expect the old boys (see previous parentheses) network to lead to instant installation at the top of government, and the ordinary Joe (and now Jane) Bloggs who are overawed by the stench of privilege: how does one react when the peg for your coat has a hanger for a sword next to it? (Remember, the vast majority of the House is not nearly as old as it pretends.)

Stewart, by his own admission, enters into politics with no knowledge of the game, just a feeling that he ought to give something back and he, of course, knows what the proles need! Stewart illuminates a stage filled with like minded players. He confirms the belief that most politicians have an incredibly light grasp of any concept of truth - always tell people what they want to hear and then, do what you want.

By the end of the book, I realised that Stewart was one of the good guys (for a Tory!); he can't help his education any more than anyone else, and I think that he really wanted to make things better. The second thing that I realised was that the arrival of Boris Johnson, a poor man's Donald Trump, was inevitable in a system that encourages bravado and testosterone filled antics. I am more certain than ever, that we need a new political system, one in which Jeremy Corbyn is in.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3098/

Ultimately, history would imperfectly record the story of the Foal of Troy.

https://xkcd.com/3098/

blogcutter

Yes, this is a story about an actual watch. And yes, I know that nowadays it's only old fogeys like me who actually wear a wristwatch (as opposed to pulling out their smartphone) to make sure they're on time for stuff.

Anyway, this relates to the watch I received as a long-service award for 30 years in the federal public service. That was around the time my position was eliminated and they gave me some busy-work for a couple more years until I retired for good.

It's a Birks watch that runs on a battery. Back in 2007, I would go into a Birks store whenever the battery went dead, and the Birks Folks would give me the royal treatment. They'd offer me some bottled water and invite me to browse all the merchandise I probably wouldn't have been able to afford until I got my 40- or 50-years-of-service award, then spirit my watch down to their workshop to change the battery, reset the time and date and buff it up so it looked all shiny and new, emerging 5 or 10 minutes later to return my watch. No charge.

Around 10 years ago, that ended. There was still no charge to change the battery but instead of changing it on the spot, they had to send the watch to some central location (possibly in Montreal?) and contact me a few weeks later when it was ready for pickup.

Determined to continue taking advantage of this perpetual battery deal, I went with the flow. However, this demanded that I get myself a back-up watch to wear during those weeks that my Birks Watch was incommunicado. But wouldn't it be awful if Backup Watch was dependent on a battery too, and Birks Watch Battery and Backup Watch Battery failed at the same time?

Undaunted, I went to The Bay (maybe you've heard of them?) and bought myself a solar- and light-powered watch that needed no battery and no winding. At that time, they actually had on-site jewellers at The Bay who ensured the watch was working properly and removed several links in the bracelet for me, as I have a rather small wrist.

So when Birks Watch's battery failed recently, I put on Backup Watch. That was fine at first, except that the little pin attaching the watch-face to the bracelet fell out and got lost. Luckily I noticed when this happened, so I still had the watch. I put it into my pocket temporarily - which is not ideal for a watch that's powered by light - but fortunately it's still getting adequately fed and is keeping good time for me.

As another little wrinkle, I dug out a really old wind-up watch from a drawer. It still runs, but it doesn't keep good time - it runs unacceptably slow.

Anyway, today I took Birks Watch to Birks in the Rideau Centre. The salesperson politely informed me that their policies had recently changed again, and there was now a $25 charge to replace the battery. I was annoyed but knew it was not her fault. And to be fair, that now-dead battery had lasted well over two years, so if they were going to replace it with one as good as its predecessor, that didn't seem like such a bad deal.

Next step: Ms. Saleswoman asked me to produce a receipt or proof of purchase to show I had in fact bought the watch from them. I told her I had never even had one, as it was gifted to me as a long-service award. Though honestly, I'm pretty sure the watch has Birks written right on the watch face, so that should have been at least a good clue.

That was OK, she said, but did I know roughly the age and value of the watch? Well, I knew the age fairly accurately. I had no idea how much the Government of Canada had paid for it, but I seemed to recall that the last time I needed the battery changed, they had assigned it a value of $200.

So we filled out the requisite form together, I signed on the dotted screen with my fingernail, and she said she was e-mailing me a copy. Could I just check now that it was in my e-mail, in case there were technical problems?

Well, no. I do have a cell phone of sorts, but I don't do e-mail on it. She wrote her name down on a little card and told me to phone her if I didn't receive a copy, so that she could then re-send it. I didn't have to pay the $25 up front.

I got home, and fortunately the e-mail message and copy of the form were there.

What a rigamarole! I still haven't decided what I'll do next time the battery dies.

Настроение: grumpy
Местонахождение: home

loganberrybunny

Public

Cattle from Silverwoods Way, Kidderminster, 4th June 2025

124/365: Cattle below Silverwoods Way, Kidderminster
Click for a larger, sharper image
I've finally been starting to catch up with Doctor Who. For ages I'd only seen the first two episodes of the current series, of which I had mixed feelings about "The Robot Revolution" but really liked "Lux". I also really liked "The Well", which was full-on scary in a way Who doesn't often nail these days. Probably the best episode since "73 Yards" last year. I also watched "Lucky Day", which was so nearly another great. The twist was superbly executed -- I did not see that coming -- but although I heavily sympathised with the Doctor's monologue to Conrad it seemed to have the common-these-days RTD fault of being far too unsubtle.

Today's 365 photo is from Kidderminster. Yes, oh ye of little faith, I did indeed take this picture in Kidderminster! To be precise, I was looking down from Silverwoods Way in the south of the town. These cattle are not part of a normal beef or dairy herd; instead they are kept by the local authorities to make sure that the important wildlife habitat doesn't simply end up as endless scrub. They all seem to be lazing about a bit here, which is something I rather envied them for as I passed by! You can't go right down there yourself -- that rough path is used to take feed to them -- but it makes a change to see this in a very built-up area.

Настроение: mellow

booksbardsandbaselines posting in

addme

Name: Danielle

Age: 30s

I mostly post about: life, books I'm reading (or re-reading!), music I'm loving, tennis matches I'm yelling at the TV about, and all the soft little joys in between.

My hobbies are: reading, writing, journalling, cooking, gardening, watching tennis, listening to music, doing crosswords, talking about Greek myths, collecting daffodils (not literally, just in spirit), and wandering around museums and libraries like a nerd in her natural habitat.

My fandoms are: Percy Jackson, Greek mythology in general, Taylor Swift, various tennis players (Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Jasmine Paolini, Qinwen Zheng).

I'm looking to meet people who: are curious, kind, thoughtful, and enjoy rambling about things they love. Fellow readers, writers, myth geeks, ADHD brains, and warm-hearted nerds especially welcome!

My posting schedule tends to be: softly chaotic, but aiming for 3–4 posts a week—somewhere between “routine” and “inspired flurry.”

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: bigotry of any kind, cruelty, or just generally being mean-spirited. I like my internet spaces kind and cozy.

Before adding me, you should know: I'm a chatterbox when I'm excited, and I’ll probably mention Greek gods, tennis scores, and obscure historical tidbits in the same breath. I write with a lot of heart, and I love connecting with thoughtful people. 💛

cosmolinguist

I didn't think I was going to get to see Sinners before it left theaters, but D has found like one showing an evening this week so he and I went today! Sadly V wasn't feeling up to coming along, but otherwise it was great.

I enjoyed the hell out of the movie, if not as much as I would have at like 16 when I was obsessed with that music.

All the performances were so good, and I loved the soundtrack and it was just a joy to watch.

I told V that if they were up to it I'd happily go see it again with them tomorrow. I so badly want to Check on some things. (Also I saw it with no audio description so I'm certain I missed a ton of what's actually on the screen.)

twistedchick

ICE pretending to be utility workers giving 'free estimates'. BEWARE!

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy, mild, and wet.

I fed the birds. I didn't get through the whole morning routine before it started to rain. We need the rain, but the timing was annoying.

EDIT 6/4/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

There were mosquito larvae in the red birdbath, so I dumped it and refilled it. I'll need to add a piece of mosquito dunk later.

EDIT 6/4/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a mourning dove.

EDIT 6/4/25 -- I went back out for a walk. We've gotten a significant amount of rain. :D

I saw an indigo bunting.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Настроение: busy

brithistorian

My Google Alert on K-pop today included an article from The Korea Herald entitled "G-Dragon, Le Sserafim, Babymonster push on with overseas concerts amid COVID-19 surge in Asia". Since American news sources have gone radio silent on COVID, I ended up reading this article for infectious disease news rather than musical news. Here's the relevant part:

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday, countries including China, Thailand and Singapore have recently reported a notable increase in COVID-19 cases. While the situation in Korea remains relatively stable, the agency warned that a summer resurgence is possible due to international travel and regional outbreaks.

The NB.1.8.1 variant — now dominant in the affected countries — is known for its strong transmissibility and immune-evasive properties, although its severity and fatality rate remain relatively low. The KDCA is advising high-risk travelers to these countries to get vaccinated before departure.

redbird

Two minor amusing things from a trip downtown this morning:

I saw (and rode) one of the googly-eyed trolleys for the first time.

And on the way back, an ad in a subway car for some AI thing. The headline is something like "offload the busy work." The steps given below that are "AI drafts brief" and "brief accepted." Almost anything would have been a better example, after repeated news stories about lawyers getting in trouble for submitting impressively flawed AI-drafted legal briefs.

The trip was to try on sandals at the Clark's store. There was one that was slightly two big, so I have ordered a pair in my usual style, to be delivered to the store, so I can try them on there and return them if they don't fit.

I stopped to grab some lunch at the Quincy Market food court, and then wrenched my knee while sitting down on some stairs in order to eat it. The trip home was not fun, but I came home, sat down for a couple of minutes, then got out last fall's cane and went into the kitchen to make tea.

Настроение: sore

pauraque

This is the fifth and final part of my book club notes on The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories. [Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.]

"The Woman Carrying a Corpse" by Chi Hui (2019), tr. Judith Huang

( Why doesn't she put it down? )

"The Mountain and the Secret of Their Names" by Wang Nuonuo (2019), tr. Rebecca F. Kuang

( Wreckage from satellite launches threatens a rural village. )

"Net Novels and the 'She Era': How Internet Novels Opened the Door for Female Readers and Writers in China" by Xueting Christine Ni (2022) [essay]

( What it says on the tin. )

"Writing and Translation: A Hundred Technical Tricks" by Rebecca F. Kuang (2022) [essay]

( Kuang discusses translation. )

the end

I was pretty impressed by this collection. The stories spanned a lot of different themes and styles, and while not everything was to my taste, the quality of writing was high and it's hard to think of any entries that didn't at least offer something interesting to think about. There was agreement among the group that it's a good starting point for Chinese SF/F but of course it can only be a small slice of a huge and diverse field. I'd be interested to explore further.

I may need to sit out the next book for scheduling reasons. But even if so, I will return!

asakiyume

We have some sunny days, and I finished the job I was working on, so I drew a song sparrow. The song sparrow is found throughout most of North America, "continuous from the Aleutians to the eastern United States," says Cornell Ornithology. They're small everywhere bird with a lovely song. Both their song and their plumage varies across the continent.

Scientific name "Melospiza melodia." You can hear samples of their songs here. (The ones around here sound most like the fourth recording down.)

Музыка: Cheikh Ibra Fam: Diom Gnakou Fi (feat. Mo' Kalamity)

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/04/the-big-idea-kalla-harris/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55917

Sometimes, great ideas can stem from just a single word. Author Kalla Harris talks about her single-word-inspiration in the Big Idea for her debut YA novel, The Ground That Devours Us. Follow along as she takes you through the many changes this story underwent; you’ll be dying to read it.

KALLA HARRIS:

The Big Idea for my young adult debut, The Ground That Devours Us, came from another Big Idea. Yep, you read that correctly—two ideas were meshed together to create this diabolically plotted dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic Charlotte, NC.

My writing group, lovingly called HQ, can take some of the credit. In 2020, we started a creative writing prompt challenge for the month of October, and each day we’d write a short story based on a specific word. The word in question? Blood. I didn’t think much about the story when I sat down to write it, only that I was going to type out a few quick paragraphs and be done with it. Except when I started, the words began to flow. Suddenly, a scene unfurled in my mind: a sarcastic teenage girl fighting a zombie prince to the death. Spoiler: there was a lot of blood. As the words appeared on the page, so did the setting. A dying world full of slayers and zombies with supernatural abilities. What started as a short story turned into a full-fledged chapter, which quickly devolved into late-night outlining sessions in my pajamas.

Over a few months, that single chapter became an entire novel. My main character, Ruby, was a hardened zombie hunter who needed enough kills under her belt to gain access to a human compound on the other side of the decimated city she lived in. There, she and her twin sister would finally be safe from the flesh-eating creatures that go bump in the night, including that (unfortunately cute) zombie prince from the writing prompt.

After revising, I entered The Ground That Devours Us into a writing program called Pitch Wars. I didn’t get in, but two of the incredibly talented mentors I’d applied to offered to work with me on the side, although they did warn me that their feedback would suggest significant changes.

Oh boy, they weren’t kidding. I ripped the story to shreds. Cut characters, subplots, and entire settings. Amid the chaos, the idea of switching out zombies for a new paranormal creature was tossed around, and that’s when it hit me: vampires. I wanted to create a unique take on the ever-familiar “bloodsuckers” pop culture knows and loves, giving them abilities that matched the apocalyptic setting, such as earth-walking, and trading out their fangs for infection-spreading, sharp fingernails.

As the ideas churned, my new Big Idea formed: What if Ruby was a vampire hunter who lived in the human compound? What if said human compound may not be the saving grace she thinks it is? What if the zombie prince from the writing prompt was now a ruthless vampire named X who turns Ruby’s twin sister? What happens when Ruby has to team up with X to keep her sister “alive” long enough to find a cure for vampirism?

These questions quickly turned into realities on the page. They became huge plot points and fundamentally changed how Ruby interacted with her world and the characters that live in it, including her sister and X. This Big Idea ultimately landed me with my editor (and literary agent!) and placed me on the path to traditional publishing. Regardless of which Big Idea you look at, though, if you plan on picking up The Ground That Devours Us, expect lots of blood.

The Ground That Devours Us: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop

Author socials: Website|Instagram

Read an excerpt.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/04/the-big-idea-kalla-harris/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55917

prettygoodword

pandemic (pan-DEM-ik) - adj., (of a disease) epidemic over a large area, prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the world; (in general) widespread, general. n., a disease prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the world.

This prefix, pan-, is from Ancient Greek, where it was also a prefix meaning all/every -- the stem here is also from Ancient Greek, dêmos, the common people/the population, and put together pándēmos meant "of or belonging to all the people." Its application to diseases in English dates to the 1650s (the noun use is from the 1830s). Closely related is epidemic, meaning prevalent throughout a community, so more localized than a pandemic, and endemic, meaning constantly present at a baseline level, so occurring at lower levels than a epidemic/pandemic. Other words with pan- include pandemonium ("all the demons") and panacea ("all-healing").

---L.