Poem: "The Result of Your Own Bad Behavior"
6 June 2025 20:57![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. It also fills the "activism" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Monster House.
( Read more... )
janetmiles. It also fills the "activism" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Monster House.( Read more... )
Poem: "When Warmth and Gentleness Are Needed"
6 June 2025 20:48ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. It also fills the "community" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Clay of Life.
( Read more... )
janetmiles. It also fills the "community" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Clay of Life.( Read more... )
Poem: "Emodox"
6 June 2025 20:22ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by the "unlabeled" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. It has been sponsored by janetmiles. This poem belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.
( Read more... )
janetmiles. This poem belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.( Read more... )
Halifax Mayor Fillmore hates bike infrastructure
6 June 2025 17:18solarbirdHEY! Any Nova Soctia bike or bike-supportive people – particularly in or near Halifax – here? Time to show up!
“Mayor Fillmore has called for a halt to all new cycling infrastructure, using “rationale” very similar to what Premier Doug Ford has used in Ontario to attack Toronto. There will be a vote on Tuesday.”
Deets saying what to do are on Mastodon. You don’t need an account to read it. Let him know what you think.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
(no subject)
7 June 2025 09:48circii posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
addmeName:circii or bunnii
Age: 30s
Country: Australia
I mostly post about: My journal is very new, i think I decided to make it because I was feeling a bit low and just wanted to write about my feelings and interests and hopefully find like-minded people. I'm also trying to make my web experience a more pleasant one, so I like looking at journals and personal websites. Indie web, small web, that kind of thing I yearn for so I might share things I find! But so far, I like to yap about my daily life and my practice in fighting games. I just started a fight log so I can hopefully more clearly see my progress! I will probably generally just talk about other things like anime, video games and maybe I'll post art or photos taken on my digicam. Also I'm queer and figuring things out still lmao
My hobbies are: Currently I'm focused in on fighting games (granblue rising, but I'm also a street fighter and guilty gear enjoyer), working on my art, vtubing, crochet and the smallest smattering of baby guitar when I can find time after all that. Other interests that can come back into my rotation is language study (Japanese and Spanish), miniature painting, nail art, weightlifting, snorkeling (I dream of scuba/free diving tho!)
My fandoms are:I'm not deep in any fandom at the moment but I enjoy content from sailor moon, granblue, guilty gear, general DnD stuff, hololive, vshojo and arcane. I'm also a huge Lady Gaga fan. And a lover of My Chemical Romance.
I'm looking to meet people who: I think are cool! I enjoy reading other people's day-to-day life and their passions, might get me excited about something new , too! If we hype over similar things that's a tasty cherry on top ;9
My posting schedule tends to be: aiming for at least a few times a week.
When I add people, my dealbreakers are: if you don't support LGBTQ+, if you excuse any wars, if you support generative AI, you know if you lean in those kinds of directions - please don't talk to me.
Before adding me, you should know: I'm sorry if my post was too long! And I might be using this as a form of therapy (cuz therapy is expensive) so if I do post something that's a bit heavier, I'll learn how to put it behind a cut and maybe make it friends only. But I think I'll try and keep cheery here! I'm still learning how to use this site
Birdfeeding
6 June 2025 15:31ysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy, warm, and damp. It drizzled a little last night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/6/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 6/6/25 -- It rained off and on today.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/6/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 6/6/25 -- It rained off and on today.
Let me just go outside and-
5 June 2025 21:34dorchadasCanadian wildfires once again:
If you can't read Japanese, that's 154 on the AQI scale, which is moderate pollution (中程度の汚染), which is not good. I haven't been outside since Wednesday and don't plan to go out unless I have, though Laila is getting pretty annoyed about not being able to go outside.
It's supposed to last for the next couple days. Hopefully that's all--two years ago we lost most of the summer to Canadian wildfires. Hopefully our neighbors to the north can get the fires contained soon and not too much damage is done.
If you can't read Japanese, that's 154 on the AQI scale, which is moderate pollution (中程度の汚染), which is not good. I haven't been outside since Wednesday and don't plan to go out unless I have, though Laila is getting pretty annoyed about not being able to go outside.
It's supposed to last for the next couple days. Hopefully that's all--two years ago we lost most of the summer to Canadian wildfires. Hopefully our neighbors to the north can get the fires contained soon and not too much damage is done.
Welcome To The Neighborhood, AeCha Cafe!
6 June 2025 19:03![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
scalziwhatever_feedA couple days ago, my cousin sent me a Facebook post from AeCha Cafe that said they were having their soft opening. A new bubble tea shop was opening in Tipp City and this was the first I was hearing of it?! Though I wasn’t able to go to their actual soft opening on Tuesday, I did make it out there yesterday with my cousin and her three kids.
AeCha Cafe is smackdab in the middle of Tipp City’s historic downtown, and has the prettiest blue tile storefront:
We walked in and took a look at the menu. They offer milk tea, fruit tea, some coffee options, lemonade, matcha, all that good stuff:
I had never heard of Cha Dum Yend before, so I asked about it and was told that it’s like Thai Tea without the milk. My cousin doesn’t drink milk so she actually ended up getting that, and I got an iced strawberry matcha. I know, I know, I should’ve gotten bubble tea since I was at a bubble tea place, but a strawberry matcha just sounded so nice and refreshing in the moment! I promise I’ll try the bubble tea next time.
Initially, I thought that the space was pretty small, but it turned out there was a whole other section of the shop with a decent amount of seating, and it even had this comfy looking couch section:
I noticed a couple of wall decorations that were perfect backgrounds for aesthetic photos, like this neon-sign and wall sticker set up:
After careful consideration of where to take my drink photo, I chose the latter:
I’m glad that this cute little shop moved in, and am excited to visit here more this summer with my cousin and her kids. It’s a great location and I’m looking forward to seeing more from them once they’re all settled in and in the groove of things.
If you’re in the area, be sure to check them out and support them in this first week of being open! Their hours are Tuesday-Friday from 8am-8pm and 10am-8pm on Saturday and Sunday.
What’s your favorite milk tea flavor? Do you like popping pearls or tapioca pearls? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
-AMS
Brief Updates, 6/6/25
6 June 2025 17:05scalziwhatever_feed
A few things that are up with me recently that I have not yet otherwise posted elsewhere:
1. When the Moon Hits Your Eye is one of Amazon’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2025 (So Far), and it’s nice to know that the book has made its mark at this point in the year. And while I recognize that the “so far” lists are just a way for Amazon and other places to double-dip on the marketing around “best of” lists, in point of fact lots of good stuff released early in a calendar year escapes the notice of end-of-the-year lists (there’s a reason Oscar contenders come out in December), so I can’t help but appreciate the effort. Other authors on the list include Stephen Graham Jones, Nnedi Okorafor and V.E. Schwab, so it’s worth checking out if you have not done so already.
2. I won an award! In Italy! The Italian translation of Starter Villain took the Premio Italia (not to be confused with the F1 series race of the same name) in the category of “International Novel,” with other finalist authors in the category being Charlie Stross, Iain M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds and Mike Resnick. That’s a nice peer group. The full list of winners and finalists is here. Thank you, Italian science fiction fans!
3. Longtime visitors to Whatever know that in the last couple of years I’ve been posting cover versions of songs here. I’ve collected up ten of them into a YouTube playlist called “Cover Story,” and that playlist includes cleaned up and remastered versions of three of the songs previously posted here: “Love My Way,” by the Psychedelic Furs, “That Ain’t Bad” by Ratcat, and “She Goes On,” by Crowded House. The cleaning up is mostly fixing vocals (removing intakes of breath, moving the vocals up in the mix) and changing up instrumentation in a couple of places. Don’t worry, I’m not giving up my day job to embark on a life of cover artistry, but you know what? These don’t entirely suck. I especially think “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Under the Milky Way” are pretty darn decent. And it’s fun for me, which is really the point. Enjoy.
Aaaaaand that’s it for now – I’m busy at Phoenix Fan Fusion the entire weekend long, so if you’re going to be there, come say hello. Otherwise, have a fabulous weekend.
— JS
Made in Korea by Jeremy Holt (2022)
6 June 2025 12:47pauraqueNext up for Pride Month media, I read Made in Korea, a graphic novel about an android called Jesse who is purchased by a childless couple to be their daughter. Both the author Jeremy Holt and the illustrator George Schall are nonbinary (they/them).
I had mixed feelings about this one. On the positive side, I really liked how the themes of identity and coming to know oneself were explored. Jesse's story is at least partly a metaphor for transnational adoption (Holt is an adoptee) and also resonates with more general feelings about not being the child your parents expected and needing to grow out of their narrative about you. Gender identity is directly addressed, which I love to see in an android story! It bugs me when androids uncritically accept a binary gender role based on the anatomy they're built with, even when the story digs into their personhood and free will in other ways. This book does not assume that an android built to look anatomically female is a girl, nor does it assume that if androids existed they would all be built with binary anatomy!
The major aspect that did not work for me was the plot element of ( a school shooting. (cut for content) )
So there was a lot that I liked, but also a pretty big section of the narrative that seemed totally out of place and mishandled. I don't regret reading the book and I think some aspects will stick with me in a good way, I just wish it had kept the focus on its strengths.
I had mixed feelings about this one. On the positive side, I really liked how the themes of identity and coming to know oneself were explored. Jesse's story is at least partly a metaphor for transnational adoption (Holt is an adoptee) and also resonates with more general feelings about not being the child your parents expected and needing to grow out of their narrative about you. Gender identity is directly addressed, which I love to see in an android story! It bugs me when androids uncritically accept a binary gender role based on the anatomy they're built with, even when the story digs into their personhood and free will in other ways. This book does not assume that an android built to look anatomically female is a girl, nor does it assume that if androids existed they would all be built with binary anatomy!
The major aspect that did not work for me was the plot element of ( a school shooting. (cut for content) )
So there was a lot that I liked, but also a pretty big section of the narrative that seemed totally out of place and mishandled. I don't regret reading the book and I think some aspects will stick with me in a good way, I just wish it had kept the focus on its strengths.
The Big Idea: Vanessa Ricci-Thode
6 June 2025 14:48scalziwhatever_feed
What goes better together than dragons, revolution, and being queer? Not much, and author Vanessa Ricci-Thode is here to show that with her newest novel, The Dragon Next Door. Dive in to her Big Idea to see how queer wizards can be both powerful and fierce and wholesome and cozy.
VANESSA RICCI-THODE:
How did I get from action movie Hobbes & Shaw to a sapphic romantasy? It’s not as big a stretch as you might think (and don’t tell me you watched that without wondering what if they just kissed already!) Like most of my ideas, big or otherwise, it always starts with asking What If?
“What if there weren’t so many fucking dudes in this?” is something I find myself asking all the time. Because look, I like action movies both mindless and thoughtful. But dudes aren’t the only ones who know how to throw a punch and blow shit up. And while yes we do very occasionally get Evelyn Salt and Captain Marvel and Furiosa and Wonder Woman, why not a whole lot more?
But I don’t make movies, I make books. So here we are. I’ve always liked the grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, odd couple type of tropes going back to the original Odd Couple, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. I watched Hobbes & Shaw and really got noodling on doing something similar, but asking myself “What if this was queerified and genderbent?” I grew up rarely seeing myself in anything, so you can bet your ass I’m putting myself in everything (and everyone else who never got to see themselves in things).
Another What-If central to the story: What if they kissed? But make it ace. I rarely see any of the intersections of my identity in popular media, and I decided to make this an asexual romance at a time when that was something I was discovering about myself. As important as it is for me to see myself in things, I want others to have that as well. Both MC’s are women of colour and I very much am not, so there was a lot of research going into authentic portrayal and staying in my lane. I went through every free resource plus some paid workshops provided by Writing the Other, and then I hired a sensitivity reader.
My initial musings envisioned writing a book that was some kind of fantasy buddy-cop plot with more action and less pining than the end result. I also wrote this toward the end of TFG’s first term and really had revolution and overthrowing dictators on my mind. This book’s research started with The Anti-Fascist Handbook and the history of revolutions, but once I decided it needed a baby dragon (because of course it did), things went in an entirely different direction. For starters, my characters having to care for a dangerous but sort of helpless fire-breathing puppy took things in a much more nurturing direction.
And then I realized they weren’t just going to sit around and let the dictator take over—they’d march out and meet the threat head on. Not the revolution I was looking for, but definitely still cathartic. And, well, as a Canadian living under the threat of annexation, this book really hits differently now than when I wrote it. During outlining and then drafting, the book morphed into something more anti-colonial, stopping the takeover from happening in the first place (I was revising during the Biden years and possibly too optimistic).
Writing this book certainly offered a lot of challenges, not only in basically throwing out half my research and having to re-outline the entire second half while I was still drafting. This book had a monster of an outline, almost 20,000 words long! But I had three POV characters with arcs to track, trying to match emotional and plot beats for all three. This is the most upfront work I’ve done on a novel and probably the most intentional I’ve been about what I wrote.
And now we’ve (unfortunately) come full circle politically, and I massaged a few things in the final editing pass to reflect that, but the core themes have always been about community and bravery and a lot of mutual pining. In queerifying some of these action and fantasy tropes, the focus on community became central, with characters who are (usually) gentle with each other despite being at odds.
While the book has some applicable messages about unity, courage and the power of spite, it’s still a cute, cozy-adjacent adventure with a pair of odd couple wizards mothering a delightful baby dragon.
The Dragon Next Door: Amazon (US)|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Google Play (US)|iBookstore|Indigo|itch.io|Kobo|Powell’s|Universal Link
Author Socials: Website|Bluesky|Instagram|Goodreads
Read an excerpt.
Dept. of Brief
6 June 2025 09:27kaffy_rProof of Life
It's been a minute, so I decided to touch down for at least half of another minute.
In brief: before I even got past the third Dr. Who, and despite doing my damnedest to avoid any spoilers, I read the wrong headline *shakes fist at The Guardian*, so I'm avoiding actually watching the remaining episodes until I can bear to watch them. That's not logical in the least, but there you go.
Acting on advice fromlilacsigil , I adjusted my AO3 Stray Kids fanfic's fandom tag, taking it out of SKZ fandom and tagging it as part of music video fandom. I also cut my note so that it didn't sound so awfully condescending. That made me feel better. It also gave me the chance to do a bit of editing, and that was even better. I'm not sure I'll post it here. I have to see if my conflicting impulses eventually pan out that way.
We have one of our old bachelor friends coming over this afternoon; he wants help navigating his computer, which Bob will handle. He also wants help understanding his smartphone, and that's going to be my responsibility. This gentleman has previously had a flip phone, or some kind of dumb mobile; he really doesn't like mobiles, but I think he finally admitted that they're necessary in modern life, and so he got the smartphone, and now he needs help navigating it. We'll see if I can help him out.
I think that's all, but I hope to post again later today.
It's been a minute, so I decided to touch down for at least half of another minute.
In brief: before I even got past the third Dr. Who, and despite doing my damnedest to avoid any spoilers, I read the wrong headline *shakes fist at The Guardian*, so I'm avoiding actually watching the remaining episodes until I can bear to watch them. That's not logical in the least, but there you go.
Acting on advice from
lilacsigil , I adjusted my AO3 Stray Kids fanfic's fandom tag, taking it out of SKZ fandom and tagging it as part of music video fandom. I also cut my note so that it didn't sound so awfully condescending. That made me feel better. It also gave me the chance to do a bit of editing, and that was even better. I'm not sure I'll post it here. I have to see if my conflicting impulses eventually pan out that way.We have one of our old bachelor friends coming over this afternoon; he wants help navigating his computer, which Bob will handle. He also wants help understanding his smartphone, and that's going to be my responsibility. This gentleman has previously had a flip phone, or some kind of dumb mobile; he really doesn't like mobiles, but I think he finally admitted that they're necessary in modern life, and so he got the smartphone, and now he needs help navigating it. We'll see if I can help him out.
I think that's all, but I hope to post again later today.
Links about plants, AI use, and reviews
6 June 2025 09:58mount_oreganoBotany may be entering a golden age as improved scientific tools allow for new insights and new uses for plants. Here’s some recent news.
‘Sheep eating’ tropical plant flowers in Hampshire after 10 years | BBC
“Its actual name is ‘sheep catcher,’” she explained. “It would typically entangle wildlife around it and then hold on to it and unfortunately if they perish it would then give nutrients to the plant.”
Plants can hear tiny wing flaps of pollinators | Popular Science
“Plant-pollinator coevolution has been studied primarily by assessing the production and perception of visual and olfactory cues, even though there is growing evidence that both insects and plants can sense and produce, or transmit, vibroacoustic signals,” said Francesca Barbero, a professor of zoology at the University of Turin in Italy.
Volcanoes Send Secret Signals Through Trees And NASA Satellites Can See Them | SciTechDaily
As magma moves upward through the Earth’s crust, it releases gases like carbon dioxide. Trees absorb this carbon dioxide, and in response, their leaves often grow more vibrant and healthy-looking. Using powerful tools like NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite, along with airborne instruments flown as part of the Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO), scientists are now able to detect these subtle signs from above.
The Rabbit Hole of Research EP 35: Weird Plants | podcast
Dive into the wild world of weird plants! In this episode, the crew explores plant biology, carnivorous plants, zombie survival gardens, and Molly’s journey from forest explorer to plant store owner. Our goal is to have fun learning science through the lens of science fiction, fantasy, and pop-culture … and you’ll learn a few facts you can use to impress your friends at a party or use as a conversation starter to go down your own rabbit holes.
Next big thing in sustainable building: Iron-fortified wood | Anthropocene
The construction industry faces pressure to be more sustainable. And the demand for greener buildings has led to a fresh look at wood construction. Wood is one of the oldest building materials used by mankind, but it does not have the strength needed to be used the load-bearing material in structures larger than houses and cabins.
Subjective mapping of indoor plants based on leaf shape measurements to select suitable plants for indoor landscapes | ScienceDirect
A subjective plant map of 40 indoor plants based on plant impressions was prepared. The physical shapes of leaves were measured that could represent a subjective map. Both experts and people reported relaxation and liveliness on seeing plants. Plants with small leaves induced a sense of relaxation. Leaf shape classification may assist in selecting plants for indoor landscapes.
Mathematicians solve centuries-old mystery of how ‘broken’ tulips get their stripes | The Global Plant Council
Often referred to as “broken tulips,” the striped variations of the popular flower were coveted in the 17th century for their beautiful markings. It’s been known since 1928 that the pattern is caused by a viral infection known as the tulip breaking virus, but exactly how the signature stripes are formed remained an unsolved mystery until now.
Artificial intelligence
I’m a member of the American Translators Association. The translation field is coping with neural machine translation (such as Google Translate) and AI translation:
ATA Statement on Artificial Intelligence | ATAnet
The latest wave of artificial intelligence (AI), powered by large language models (LLM), is reshaping numerous professions, including the translation and interpreting industry. However, a growing reliance on AI highlights—not diminishes—the necessity of expert human linguists who possess the specialized skills to address translation and interpreting challenges that arise in this new context.… One of the greatest dangers of AI-generated translations and interpretations is that they may appear accurate to the general observer, making errors harder to detect for those without linguistic expertise.
A philosophic look at AI in writing:
Listening for the Human Voice: Reflections on AI, Authenticity, and Education | Queer Translation Collective
On one hand, AI tools promise efficiency, personalization, and access. On the other, they provoke a deep discomfort. If students can simulate fluency and polish with a few prompts, what becomes of the messy, vulnerable, and transformative act of writing? What becomes of the human voice?
The view from the trenches:
Teachers Are Not OK | 404 Media
They describe trying to grade “hybrid essays half written by students and half written by robots,” trying to teach Spanish to kids who don’t know the meaning of the words they’re trying to teach them in English, and students who use AI in the middle of conversation. They describe spending hours grading papers that took their students seconds to generate: “I've been thinking more and more about how much time I am almost certainly spending grading and writing feedback for papers that were not even written by the student,” one teacher told me. “That sure feels like bullshit.”
Reviews of my novels
Stack Overflow: Alien Intelligence | GeekDad
It’ll be hard to talk about the whole Semiosis trilogy without some spoilers for the first two books, though I think I can communicate at least some of it in broad enough strokes. The overarching theme is sentience, and each book has its own tagline: “Sentience takes many forms.” “Sentience craves sovereignty.” “Sentience will prevail.”
Tom (Germany)’s review of Usurpation | Goodreads
Then I realized – or believe to have realized – that, while this book plays in an even more distant future than its precursors, its content, how it feels to me, is even closer to what is happening currently on planet Earth, and suddenly all disappointment disappeared, first to be replaced by some horror, as the book progressed, and then … by hope.
universe
6 June 2025 07:46prettygoodworduniverse (YOO-nuh-vurs) - n., all of spacetime and all it contains; a hypothetical spacetime-and-contents that supposed to exist simultaneously with but different from this universe; whole world in the sense of perspective or social setting, a sphere of interest, activity, or understanding.
And other extended meanings, including a set of stories/films/etc. that share a continuity. Dates to a little before 1400 (insert Chaucer citation), Middle English form identical to Modern English, from either Old French univers or Italian universo, from Latin ūniversum, all things/as a whole/the universe, noun use of the neuter of ūniversus, all together/whole, literally "turned into one," from uni-, combining form of unus, one + versus turned (perfect passive participle of vertō, to turn). Other words with uni- include uniform ("having one form/shape") and unibrow ("having one [eye]brow").
And that wraps up a week of all prefixes -- er, 'all' prefixes.
---L.
And other extended meanings, including a set of stories/films/etc. that share a continuity. Dates to a little before 1400 (insert Chaucer citation), Middle English form identical to Modern English, from either Old French univers or Italian universo, from Latin ūniversum, all things/as a whole/the universe, noun use of the neuter of ūniversus, all together/whole, literally "turned into one," from uni-, combining form of unus, one + versus turned (perfect passive participle of vertō, to turn). Other words with uni- include uniform ("having one form/shape") and unibrow ("having one [eye]brow").
And that wraps up a week of all prefixes -- er, 'all' prefixes.
---L.