3I/ATLAS: A View from Planet Earth
Nov. 22nd, 2025 05:32 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
apod_feed
Now outbound after its perihelion or closest approach to the Sun
apod_feedMarjorie Taylor Greene
Nov. 21st, 2025 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ride_4everEver since Marjorie Taylor Greene "informed" us that California wildfires were being caused by "Jewish Space Lasers" I have been obsessed with making a mockery of her. (Hey, I'm Jewish, and if I had control of some space lasers I would NOT be using them to set California on fire.)
Now I see that she is resigning from Congress after The Orange One called her "wacky"...which is the first time I've ever agreed with something he said.
At this juncture I would like to show what I have created with my Refrigerator Magnet "What Will Marjorie Taylor Green Say Next" Conspiracy Kit.
Bonus Image:
Now I see that she is resigning from Congress after The Orange One called her "wacky"...which is the first time I've ever agreed with something he said.
At this juncture I would like to show what I have created with my Refrigerator Magnet "What Will Marjorie Taylor Green Say Next" Conspiracy Kit.
Bonus Image:
in the middle of our street
Nov. 21st, 2025 11:32 pmthe_siobhanDid not hear from engineer today. Fingers crossed for next week.
Visiting dad got put off until tomorrow so that meant I got to spend some more time sorting out the basement bathroom. I got the caulking done and... boy, I am not good at that. I was thinking if I got the hang of it I would also add some to the kitchen tiles where the contractor missed it but... no. I have gained many new skills during this phase of dealing with the house, but this is definitely not one of them. It looks like I put it on drunk.
Big stack o' paper has been sorted out and divided into things I am keeping for tax purposes, things I am keeping for insurance purposes, things I am keeping for grant purposes, and things I just threw onto the stack because I didn't know what else to do with it. I'll do the actual scanning and uploading on erm, maybe Sunday.
I also spent some time going through my credit card statements last night looking for proof I had paid a couple of bills and in the process I discovered that I have some charges I don't recognize. They're for small amounts which is why I didn't spot them earlier, but there are a bunch of them. Two different small companies in the US and when I looked at their websites they use the exact same templates. Everything is identical except for the text and the photos. I sent one of them a 'hey, who are you' email and got an immediate auto-response saying if I was disputing a charge I should list all my email addresses and my credit card number so they can look it up.
(Also? One of the websites sold makeup. I think the last time I wore makeup was 2010.)
So. That card got cancelled. I put in a fraud claim and hopefully I get the money back.
***
Physio is going really really well. I've stopped using the cane for short walks and so far my foot is holding up great. I cannot tell you how fantastic it is to be able to move normally again, even if just for short distances.
Every time I go to the physiotherapist we go over the exercises I'm doing and she adds a slight modification that makes it slightly more difficult and apparently my body really likes being challenged because it's making a huge difference. And then she spends 20 minutes doing what she calls "deep tissue work" which is code for finding every single sensitive spot in my foot and lower calf and using it as a platform to balance her entire body weight on her elbow.
Fuckit, if it's working, I'll take it.
Visiting dad got put off until tomorrow so that meant I got to spend some more time sorting out the basement bathroom. I got the caulking done and... boy, I am not good at that. I was thinking if I got the hang of it I would also add some to the kitchen tiles where the contractor missed it but... no. I have gained many new skills during this phase of dealing with the house, but this is definitely not one of them. It looks like I put it on drunk.
Big stack o' paper has been sorted out and divided into things I am keeping for tax purposes, things I am keeping for insurance purposes, things I am keeping for grant purposes, and things I just threw onto the stack because I didn't know what else to do with it. I'll do the actual scanning and uploading on erm, maybe Sunday.
I also spent some time going through my credit card statements last night looking for proof I had paid a couple of bills and in the process I discovered that I have some charges I don't recognize. They're for small amounts which is why I didn't spot them earlier, but there are a bunch of them. Two different small companies in the US and when I looked at their websites they use the exact same templates. Everything is identical except for the text and the photos. I sent one of them a 'hey, who are you' email and got an immediate auto-response saying if I was disputing a charge I should list all my email addresses and my credit card number so they can look it up.
(Also? One of the websites sold makeup. I think the last time I wore makeup was 2010.)
So. That card got cancelled. I put in a fraud claim and hopefully I get the money back.
***
Physio is going really really well. I've stopped using the cane for short walks and so far my foot is holding up great. I cannot tell you how fantastic it is to be able to move normally again, even if just for short distances.
Every time I go to the physiotherapist we go over the exercises I'm doing and she adds a slight modification that makes it slightly more difficult and apparently my body really likes being challenged because it's making a huge difference. And then she spends 20 minutes doing what she calls "deep tissue work" which is code for finding every single sensitive spot in my foot and lower calf and using it as a platform to balance her entire body weight on her elbow.
Fuckit, if it's working, I'll take it.
music I have been listening to lately
Nov. 21st, 2025 08:43 pmsnickficI finally wore myself out on Oasis and Lord Huron for a minute or two, so here are some things I've been listening to instead.
In the Earth Again by Chat Pile (noise rock/sludge metal) and Hayden Pedigo (acoustic guitarist). A bluesky friend turned me onto this, which is a really pleasing mix between menacing electric guitar and beautiful, contemplative acoustic, among other sounds. The concentration of each varies a lot depending on the track. I still don't love metal singing, and honestly there's only maybe two tracks here that I would choose to listen to on their on, but the interplay of all the elements never gets boring.
Lux by Rosalia. I don't feel musically educated enough to really appreciate this, lol, but it's gorgeous! I do lose steam towards the end once things get slow, but I really enjoy the first half or maybe 3/4.
"House" and "Chains of Love" by Charli XCX. My most recent obsession. Apparently she's making an entire concept album to accompany the new Wuthering Heights adaptation directed by Emerald Fennell? Okay!! I'm only mad I have to wait until February for the album, because I love these. "House" is pretty far outside my usual listening, and she's barely even on it, but that big moment the tuba comes in and then she follows? Incredible. And "Chains of Love" is more conventional and might not have grabbed me on its own, but paired with "House," idk, it really works for me.
Is this what finally gets me to click with Charli XCX? Signs point to yes.
In the Earth Again by Chat Pile (noise rock/sludge metal) and Hayden Pedigo (acoustic guitarist). A bluesky friend turned me onto this, which is a really pleasing mix between menacing electric guitar and beautiful, contemplative acoustic, among other sounds. The concentration of each varies a lot depending on the track. I still don't love metal singing, and honestly there's only maybe two tracks here that I would choose to listen to on their on, but the interplay of all the elements never gets boring.
Lux by Rosalia. I don't feel musically educated enough to really appreciate this, lol, but it's gorgeous! I do lose steam towards the end once things get slow, but I really enjoy the first half or maybe 3/4.
"House" and "Chains of Love" by Charli XCX. My most recent obsession. Apparently she's making an entire concept album to accompany the new Wuthering Heights adaptation directed by Emerald Fennell? Okay!! I'm only mad I have to wait until February for the album, because I love these. "House" is pretty far outside my usual listening, and she's barely even on it, but that big moment the tuba comes in and then she follows? Incredible. And "Chains of Love" is more conventional and might not have grabbed me on its own, but paired with "House," idk, it really works for me.
Is this what finally gets me to click with Charli XCX? Signs point to yes.
(no subject)
Nov. 21st, 2025 11:23 pmconuly posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
agonyauntDear Annie: I've always had a complicated relationship with my older sister, "Beth." She's the golden child -- successful, pretty, everyone's favorite. I'm more of the quiet one. I've never resented her accomplishments, but I've spent years feeling like I'm living in her shadow.
Recently, something strange happened. I got offered a promotion at work that would put me in a leadership role over a project Beth's company is contracted on. It's a huge opportunity. When I told my parents, they were polite but not enthusiastic. My mom actually said, "Well, let's hope that doesn't make things awkward for Beth."
Beth hasn't said much, just a text that said "Congrats," with a period. Not even an exclamation point.
Part of me wants to let it go and focus on the win. But another part of me feels really, really sad, like I'm still chasing approval I'll never get. I don't want this old family dynamic to steal the joy from something I worked hard for.
How do I celebrate myself without needing my family to do it with me? And is it worth trying to fix something that maybe they don't even think is broken? -- Out of the Shadow
( Read more... )
Recently, something strange happened. I got offered a promotion at work that would put me in a leadership role over a project Beth's company is contracted on. It's a huge opportunity. When I told my parents, they were polite but not enthusiastic. My mom actually said, "Well, let's hope that doesn't make things awkward for Beth."
Beth hasn't said much, just a text that said "Congrats," with a period. Not even an exclamation point.
Part of me wants to let it go and focus on the win. But another part of me feels really, really sad, like I'm still chasing approval I'll never get. I don't want this old family dynamic to steal the joy from something I worked hard for.
How do I celebrate myself without needing my family to do it with me? And is it worth trying to fix something that maybe they don't even think is broken? -- Out of the Shadow
( Read more... )
Die, Die My Darling
Nov. 22nd, 2025 12:59 ampennyarcade_feedThere are a few things I am an absolute sucker for, just suckin' like crazy, and one of them is dice. Or, several of them I guess. It depends on how granular we're being. I thought that I was in remission, but here at PAX I've been thrust into the fire like a hot poker - a hot poker that for some inexplicable reason wants to buy dice.
Friday is thankful it is Friday finally...and the Vertigo is gone!
Nov. 21st, 2025 06:30 pmshadowkatI'm procrastinating dinner, mainly because I don't know what to eat? (I have to throw out the chicken and chicken soup that I made last weekend - and haven't touched, after getting incredibly ill. I didn't get ill because of it? But the idea of reminds me of it - so just no.)
Both Crazy Workplace and Apartment Complex are having holiday parties the second week of December, and since I will be around - I should probably go to them. ( Read more... )
There's a new list of top 100 books - that is kind of interesting? - it's the Australian Radio List or what I want to call the Top 100 Books that have been, will be or are soon to be adapted into movies or television series. I've either read, tried to read, seen or tried to watch over half of them - some I have on my to see/to read list, and actually own. I could literally go down a good portion of that list and give recommendations. I'm tempted.
Decided on the left over baked salmon, celery, carrots and some quinoa.
Then watched Buffy S4 Primeval, after watching Yoko Factor the night before.
Buffy S4 Rewatch - Yoko Factor and Primeval
After watching Yoko Factor again, I get why the fandom split over the character of Spike to the degree it did? I'd forgotten how cool Spike was as an anti-hero character, and how good an antagonist. ( Read more... )
What's interesting about Angel and Buffy's cross-overs to each other's series - is that Buffy only crosses over to Angel in S1. ( Read more... )
At any rate, Yoko Factor reminds me of why I love this series. Snappy banter, which is just a joy to behold (a lot of television writers ironically can't write dialogue - how they become television writers without being able to write good dialogue is beyond me?). Also, Adam is actually palpable in the episode - due to Spike. I was actually rooting for him to get his chip out and disappointed he didn't. Although, they'd have to kill him off. So that wasn't happening.
There's a hilarious scene where Xander gives Spike a gun, and Spike gleefully points it at him - only to get a migraine. ( Read more... )
Primeval - eh, this feels like watching a bad comic book brought to life. I remember liking it better in the early 00s. It doesn't age well, and is kind of on the campy side? Forrest is ...annoyingly misogynistic - so much so, that it doesn't surprise me that Whedon went there again with Warren and Caleb. I prefer the villains who aren't misogynistic. I really did not like the villians in S4 at all. This episode just reminds me of why.
( Read more... )
Note while this is the last arc episode? It's not the last episode of the season. Which is interesting, and different from S1-3, in which it would have been the last episode. Showing that S4 was meant to be a bridge episode between S3 and S5.
Some say this is the best episode of S4, IMBD did, which makes me wonder about some of their reviewers? I mean obviously HUSH is the best episode, with several others coming close. HUSH is among the best of the series. Each season has one or two standout episodes. S4 is hands down - HUSH.
***
Crazy Workplace
Breaking Bad: I swear this place could be a Paddy Chafesky play. It is a Paddy Chafesky play. It might even be better if it was.
Me: Paddy Chafesky wrote Network right?
Breaking Bad: Yup, excellent writer.
ME: Agreed. I read all his plays in high school. (Don't remember them, but I did read them.)
I even put a Paddy Chafesky quote from NETWORK in my high school yearbook. "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not going to take any longer." I kind of regret doing that. But I found it amusing at the time.
***
Now that the Vertigo is blessedly gone, I've a ENT on Monday about it. (Taking the day off.) I'd rather have had the ENT appointment on Tuesday when it was still there, bugging me. On the other hand - I wouldn't have been able to get to the ENT appointment or provided coherent information, so maybe not.
Both Crazy Workplace and Apartment Complex are having holiday parties the second week of December, and since I will be around - I should probably go to them. ( Read more... )
There's a new list of top 100 books - that is kind of interesting? - it's the Australian Radio List or what I want to call the Top 100 Books that have been, will be or are soon to be adapted into movies or television series. I've either read, tried to read, seen or tried to watch over half of them - some I have on my to see/to read list, and actually own. I could literally go down a good portion of that list and give recommendations. I'm tempted.
Decided on the left over baked salmon, celery, carrots and some quinoa.
Then watched Buffy S4 Primeval, after watching Yoko Factor the night before.
Buffy S4 Rewatch - Yoko Factor and Primeval
After watching Yoko Factor again, I get why the fandom split over the character of Spike to the degree it did? I'd forgotten how cool Spike was as an anti-hero character, and how good an antagonist. ( Read more... )
What's interesting about Angel and Buffy's cross-overs to each other's series - is that Buffy only crosses over to Angel in S1. ( Read more... )
At any rate, Yoko Factor reminds me of why I love this series. Snappy banter, which is just a joy to behold (a lot of television writers ironically can't write dialogue - how they become television writers without being able to write good dialogue is beyond me?). Also, Adam is actually palpable in the episode - due to Spike. I was actually rooting for him to get his chip out and disappointed he didn't. Although, they'd have to kill him off. So that wasn't happening.
There's a hilarious scene where Xander gives Spike a gun, and Spike gleefully points it at him - only to get a migraine. ( Read more... )
Primeval - eh, this feels like watching a bad comic book brought to life. I remember liking it better in the early 00s. It doesn't age well, and is kind of on the campy side? Forrest is ...annoyingly misogynistic - so much so, that it doesn't surprise me that Whedon went there again with Warren and Caleb. I prefer the villains who aren't misogynistic. I really did not like the villians in S4 at all. This episode just reminds me of why.
( Read more... )
Note while this is the last arc episode? It's not the last episode of the season. Which is interesting, and different from S1-3, in which it would have been the last episode. Showing that S4 was meant to be a bridge episode between S3 and S5.
Some say this is the best episode of S4, IMBD did, which makes me wonder about some of their reviewers? I mean obviously HUSH is the best episode, with several others coming close. HUSH is among the best of the series. Each season has one or two standout episodes. S4 is hands down - HUSH.
***
Crazy Workplace
Breaking Bad: I swear this place could be a Paddy Chafesky play. It is a Paddy Chafesky play. It might even be better if it was.
Me: Paddy Chafesky wrote Network right?
Breaking Bad: Yup, excellent writer.
ME: Agreed. I read all his plays in high school. (Don't remember them, but I did read them.)
I even put a Paddy Chafesky quote from NETWORK in my high school yearbook. "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm not going to take any longer." I kind of regret doing that. But I found it amusing at the time.
***
Now that the Vertigo is blessedly gone, I've a ENT on Monday about it. (Taking the day off.) I'd rather have had the ENT appointment on Tuesday when it was still there, bugging me. On the other hand - I wouldn't have been able to get to the ENT appointment or provided coherent information, so maybe not.
new glasses
Nov. 21st, 2025 07:21 pmredbirdI picked up my new glasses today, and I like them. I am seeing better than with the old glasses, either because it's a slightly different prescription, because the old pair had gotten scratched, or some combination.
A few hours later, the lenses have gotten smudged, so I am going to clean them after posting this.
I stopped on the way home at New City Microcreamery, which now has a branch in Arlington Center, half a block from the optician's. After tasting a few flavors, I bought a pint of dairy cinnamon ice cream for myself, and a pint of vegan peanut butter foradrian_turtle, at her request.
A few hours later, the lenses have gotten smudged, so I am going to clean them after posting this.
I stopped on the way home at New City Microcreamery, which now has a branch in Arlington Center, half a block from the optician's. After tasting a few flavors, I bought a pint of dairy cinnamon ice cream for myself, and a pint of vegan peanut butter for
adrian_turtle, at her request.[ SECRET POST #6895 ]
Nov. 21st, 2025 07:13 pmcase posting in fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #6895 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #984.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Starter? Set! – DORK TOWER 21.11.25
Nov. 21st, 2025 06:00 amdorktower_feed
This or any DORK TOWER strip is now available as a signed, high-quality print, from just $25! CLICK HERE to find out more!
HEY! Want to help keep DORK TOWER going? Then consider joining the DORK TOWER Patreon and ENLIST IN THE ARMY OF DORKNESS TODAY! (We have COOKIES!) (And SWAG!) (And GRATITUDE!)
Happy Birthday, WordPress
Nov. 21st, 2025 08:25 pmscalziwhatever_feed
WordPress, which is the blog software and hosting service Whatever is on (and has been since October 2008) is celebrating its 20th anniversary today, a fact that I found out thanks to a lovely call-out from them in their own blog post about the day. Speaking as someone whose blog was buckling under traffic and technical issues before it migrated to WordPress, I am both happy it has lasted this long, and also that it is still thriving and continues to be an excellent home for and partner to this site. And from a technical point of view, I’m glad it continues to be a platform for innovation beyond just the “post text on a page” functionality that it provides on a surface level. It takes a fair amount of tech at this point to keep even a relatively simple site like this one up and running every day, and I’m happy WordPress takes care of that, leaving me and Athena to do what we’re actually good at: Writing and community stuff.
So happy birthday, WordPress. Here’s to another 20 years, at least. I’ll be here if you are.
— JS
Hot peppers OMG
Nov. 21st, 2025 03:05 pmmaladaBack when I was still at work someone left a plastic bag of peppers in the give-away table. I was hankering to make some chili and snagged them at the end of the day. They were small orange and red peppers - about a dozen each. Knowing the locals I thought they might be a variety of sweet Italian peppers. I eventually tossed the bag in the freezer to make chili (with lots of beans) another day.
That day was today. Yeah, I was hoping that I'd make a nice spicy batch this time.
I've handled green, red and yellow sweet peppers without issue. I've even cut up Jalapeño peppers without an issue - but I got half way through cutting up these guys and my fingers started burning. OMG. Hand washing did little to stop the burn. I could only stand to wash in cold water. I ended up using only a quarter of the peppers in the chili. I washed my hands again and again, soaked my hands in oat milk (it was cold so it helped) and then applying aloe. It's been about 3 hours since I chopped up the peppers and my finger don't burn but they hurt.
I did an internet search and I think they were Habanero and or cherry peppers. The chili smells scorching. I'm just letting it simmer right now. I think tomorrow I'll go get a few more cans of beans to dilate the chili a bit more.
Learned my lesson - always identify your peppers before cooking. Feel free to laugh at my silly mistake.
I just hope the chili's not too spicy. I like a good chili but not if it burns both ways.
That day was today. Yeah, I was hoping that I'd make a nice spicy batch this time.
I've handled green, red and yellow sweet peppers without issue. I've even cut up Jalapeño peppers without an issue - but I got half way through cutting up these guys and my fingers started burning. OMG. Hand washing did little to stop the burn. I could only stand to wash in cold water. I ended up using only a quarter of the peppers in the chili. I washed my hands again and again, soaked my hands in oat milk (it was cold so it helped) and then applying aloe. It's been about 3 hours since I chopped up the peppers and my finger don't burn but they hurt.
I did an internet search and I think they were Habanero and or cherry peppers. The chili smells scorching. I'm just letting it simmer right now. I think tomorrow I'll go get a few more cans of beans to dilate the chili a bit more.
Learned my lesson - always identify your peppers before cooking. Feel free to laugh at my silly mistake.
I just hope the chili's not too spicy. I like a good chili but not if it burns both ways.
New from Torment Nexus Industries: THE BAD IDEA BEAR!
Nov. 21st, 2025 02:07 pmfull_metal_ox posting in metaquotesdissectionist: Back in MY DAY, we had to read Penthouse Forum letters into a tape recorder and put the resulting tape into a first-gen Teddy Ruxpin. Nowadays kids don’t even have to work to turn their teddy bear into a creep.Context reports FoloToy’s Shock and Surprise! at what happens when you feed a kid’s toy OpenAI.
Microsoft releases the source code for Zork I, II, III
Nov. 21st, 2025 10:47 amthewayneThere are several things interesting about Zork. It was one of the earliest imagination games that didn't have set winning conditions, instead you explored and tried to figure things out. It also was perhaps the first multi-platform games. They developed the Z-Machine, sort of a virtual environment that allowed the game to run on IBM Dos machines, Apple IIs, and others. That was extraordinarily revolutionary for the time!
And now you can download the source code for free. You can also download Z-Machine implementations for free. There's also CRT emulators that you can download if you really want to go 1980s old school!
And if you don't want to bother with all that, you can buy the game at Good Old Games for $6, but it's Windows-only.
One thing that I'm kind of curious about, though: when did Microsoft acquire the rights to Infocom IP? I don't recall that. While this is a cool thing for Microsoft to do, the source code for Zork and pretty much all the other Infocom games has been available for a few years, I downloaded them ages ago.
https://opensource.microsoft.com/blog/2025/11/20/preserving-code-that-shaped-generations-zork-i-ii-and-iii-go-open-source
https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/20/1942250/microsoft-open-sources-classic-text-adventure-zork-trilogy
And now you can download the source code for free. You can also download Z-Machine implementations for free. There's also CRT emulators that you can download if you really want to go 1980s old school!
And if you don't want to bother with all that, you can buy the game at Good Old Games for $6, but it's Windows-only.
One thing that I'm kind of curious about, though: when did Microsoft acquire the rights to Infocom IP? I don't recall that. While this is a cool thing for Microsoft to do, the source code for Zork and pretty much all the other Infocom games has been available for a few years, I downloaded them ages ago.
https://opensource.microsoft.com/blog/2025/11/20/preserving-code-that-shaped-generations-zork-i-ii-and-iii-go-open-source
https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/20/1942250/microsoft-open-sources-classic-text-adventure-zork-trilogy
another Tolkien review, if you want it
Nov. 21st, 2025 09:28 amcalimacJ.R.R. Tolkien,The Bovadium Fragments, edited by Christopher Tolkien (Morrow, 2025)
One more tiny fragment from Tolkien. Nothing to do with Middle-earth, it's a sour joke complaining about Oxford traffic in the format of a mock-medieval scholarly manuscript study. The main text by Tolkien, written about 1960, is maybe six thousand words, not counting some draft material, a fair amount of commentary by the editor - which, interspersed as it is with other layers of JRRT's fictional scholars commenting on the fictional manuscripts, is enough to make the head spin - and a background essay on the traffic problem and relief road proposals of the time, by Richard Ovenden of the Bodleian, that's twice as long as JRRT's text.
If it takes twice as long to explain a joke as it does to make it, it probably wasn't worth the trouble of reading. This book is only worthwhile if you're a Tolkien completist or really interested in the history of Oxford city planning. Weirdly, I am both, but there aren't many of me. A friend to whom Tolkien showed the story told him that readers would be put off by the large amount of Latin (though most of it is translated elsewhere in the text) and probably wouldn't get the point, so he gave up any idea of publishing it. Originally he'd wanted to send it to a literary magazine called Time and Tide, and we're told more than once that Tolkien inquired plaintively of his publisher to find out who the current editor was. He couldn't have found an issue and looked at the masthead?*
To my mind, as intimidating as the Latin is the weight of the highly true-to-life mock-scholarly commentary that Tolkien - a scholar of medieval texts himself - loaded the text down with, a trick he also pulled, though less weightily in relation to the 'manuscript' part, in The Notion Club Papers. The idea is that they're far-future scholars trying to understand these cryptic records of the fall of our civilization. That the scholars are named Sarevelk, Gums, Rotzopny, Dwarf, and Sugob (read them backwards) and that Bovadium is "Oxford" translated into Latin are the most amusing part.
The three fragments themselves tell, in a vaguely formal and distant but not strongly medieval style, of Bovadium being taken over by the rising tide of Motores, to which the people become less masters than servants - I remember reading an SF story also using that conceit - and leading to total gridlock. In one fragment the inhabitants all die of the fumes, and in another a gas tank explodes, leading to a city-wide conflagration. The End, and good riddance.
*Despite the extent of the commentary, this book doesn't explain that Tolkien had published a poem - "Imram," extracted from the also then-unpublished Notion Club Papers - in Time and Tide a few years earlier, but the long-time editor had since died, thus presumably Tolkien not knowing who'd taken over.
One more tiny fragment from Tolkien. Nothing to do with Middle-earth, it's a sour joke complaining about Oxford traffic in the format of a mock-medieval scholarly manuscript study. The main text by Tolkien, written about 1960, is maybe six thousand words, not counting some draft material, a fair amount of commentary by the editor - which, interspersed as it is with other layers of JRRT's fictional scholars commenting on the fictional manuscripts, is enough to make the head spin - and a background essay on the traffic problem and relief road proposals of the time, by Richard Ovenden of the Bodleian, that's twice as long as JRRT's text.
If it takes twice as long to explain a joke as it does to make it, it probably wasn't worth the trouble of reading. This book is only worthwhile if you're a Tolkien completist or really interested in the history of Oxford city planning. Weirdly, I am both, but there aren't many of me. A friend to whom Tolkien showed the story told him that readers would be put off by the large amount of Latin (though most of it is translated elsewhere in the text) and probably wouldn't get the point, so he gave up any idea of publishing it. Originally he'd wanted to send it to a literary magazine called Time and Tide, and we're told more than once that Tolkien inquired plaintively of his publisher to find out who the current editor was. He couldn't have found an issue and looked at the masthead?*
To my mind, as intimidating as the Latin is the weight of the highly true-to-life mock-scholarly commentary that Tolkien - a scholar of medieval texts himself - loaded the text down with, a trick he also pulled, though less weightily in relation to the 'manuscript' part, in The Notion Club Papers. The idea is that they're far-future scholars trying to understand these cryptic records of the fall of our civilization. That the scholars are named Sarevelk, Gums, Rotzopny, Dwarf, and Sugob (read them backwards) and that Bovadium is "Oxford" translated into Latin are the most amusing part.
The three fragments themselves tell, in a vaguely formal and distant but not strongly medieval style, of Bovadium being taken over by the rising tide of Motores, to which the people become less masters than servants - I remember reading an SF story also using that conceit - and leading to total gridlock. In one fragment the inhabitants all die of the fumes, and in another a gas tank explodes, leading to a city-wide conflagration. The End, and good riddance.
*Despite the extent of the commentary, this book doesn't explain that Tolkien had published a poem - "Imram," extracted from the also then-unpublished Notion Club Papers - in Time and Tide a few years earlier, but the long-time editor had since died, thus presumably Tolkien not knowing who'd taken over.
DVD commentary: 'Fragments of Her Mind'
Nov. 21st, 2025 04:35 pmregshoe[DVD commentary meme]
Foredwardianspinsteraunt, a DVD commentary of my Howards End fic 'Fragments of Her Mind'.
( DVD commentary... )
So there you go! I do really like this story; I've enjoyed revisiting it, and I was reading through it thinking, perhaps I should do more Howards End stuff... and now the schedule forrarefemslashexchange has just gone up. How convenient.
For
edwardianspinsteraunt, a DVD commentary of my Howards End fic 'Fragments of Her Mind'.( DVD commentary... )
So there you go! I do really like this story; I've enjoyed revisiting it, and I was reading through it thinking, perhaps I should do more Howards End stuff... and now the schedule for
rarefemslashexchange has just gone up. How convenient.The Spy Who Loved Me
Nov. 21st, 2025 04:25 pmthemis1 posting in girlmeetstroubleHi all!
I'll be starting the next book, Ian Fleming's 'The Spy Who Loved Me' on Tuesday 2nd December. I'll just post chapter one on that day, and two chapters every subsequent Tuesday. It's not a long book and there are 15 chapters so I think that makes sense.
See everybody then!
I'll be starting the next book, Ian Fleming's 'The Spy Who Loved Me' on Tuesday 2nd December. I'll just post chapter one on that day, and two chapters every subsequent Tuesday. It's not a long book and there are 15 chapters so I think that makes sense.
See everybody then!
fanart recs
Nov. 21st, 2025 07:54 amsnickficI have a big of a rec backlog now and am trying to work through it, so: here are a bunch of art recs from last year! (One of these days the little AO3 symbol will return from the war.)
Batman: Rainy Knight by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Reused, Batman, SFW. Incredible black-and-white digital piece. The composition!!
Wednesday Addams: Lazy Wednesday Afternoon byReused, Wednesday/Enid, very cute.
Cult of the Lamb: Two Bishops byfayharley, SFW. Two very cool eldritch monsters on traditional media!!
Dredge: No one has ever asked byaraydre, Collector/Fisherman, SFW. Gorgeous colors and shadows in this.
Dredge: Sunset scene byarmadillomania, gorgeous impressionist scene of the fisherman by the lighthouse.
Stardew Valley: late night conversation by Anonymous, Krobus, SFW. Very cute pixel art of Krobus, some junimoes, and a fish.
Original work: anglerfish bybittercape, NSFW. MERMAID ANGLERFISH. And it's in WATERCOLOR.
Batman: Rainy Knight by
Wednesday Addams: Lazy Wednesday Afternoon by
Cult of the Lamb: Two Bishops by
Dredge: No one has ever asked by
Dredge: Sunset scene by
Stardew Valley: late night conversation by Anonymous, Krobus, SFW. Very cute pixel art of Krobus, some junimoes, and a fish.
Original work: anglerfish by
bittercape, NSFW. MERMAID ANGLERFISH. And it's in WATERCOLOR.