Thursday Recs
Dec. 4th, 2025 11:49 pmDo you have a rec for this week? Just reply to this post with something queer or queer-adjacent (such as, soap made by a queer person that isn't necessarily queer themed) that you'd, well, recommend. Self-recs are welcome, as are recs for fandom-related content!
Or have you tried something that's been recced here? Do you have your own report to share about it? I'd love to hear about it!
Photos: House Yard
Dec. 4th, 2025 11:42 pm( Walk with me ... )
Photos: House Yard
Dec. 4th, 2025 11:39 pm( Walk with me ... )
inoculate
Dec. 5th, 2025 12:00 amMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 5, 2025 is:
inoculate \ih-NAHK-yuh-layt\ verb
To inoculate a person or animal is to introduce immunologically active material (such as an antibody or antigen) into them especially in order to treat or prevent a disease. Inoculate can also mean "to introduce (something, such as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth," and in figurative use, it can mean "to protect as if by inoculation" or "to introduce something into the mind of."
// In 1796, the English physician Edward Jenner discovered that inoculating people with cowpox could provide immunity against smallpox.
// The cheese is inoculated with a starter culture to promote fermentation.
Examples:
"Truffle farmers ... inoculate oak or hazelnut seedlings with truffle spores, plant the seedlings and wait patiently often a decade or more for the underground relationship to mature. The eventual harvest is a reward for years of cooperation between tree and fungus." — David Shubin, The Weekly Calistogan (Calistoga, California), 30 Oct. 2025
Did you know?
If you think you see a connection between inoculate and ocular ("of or relating to the eye"), you have a good eye—both words look back to oculus, the Latin word for "eye." But what does the eye have to do with inoculation? Our answer lies in the original use of inoculate in Middle English: "to insert a bud into a plant for propagation." The Latin oculus was sometimes applied to things that were seen to resemble eyes, and one such thing was the bud of a plant. Inoculate was later applied to other forms of engrafting or implanting, including the introduction of vaccines as a preventative against disease.
Scrambled eggs and ham in an enamel pan
Dec. 4th, 2025 09:08 pmMy father had a small enamel pan, cream colored on the inside and orange on the outside, like this one. I don't know where it came from. We didn't have any other pans like it, and it was definitely his, unlike the rest of the pots and pans that just belonged to all of us. It was brought out of the cabinet for scrambled eggs, which in our Germanic household we had for supper, not breakfast.
One of the first things I remember being able to cook on my own was scrambled eggs and ham in that enamel pan. First swirl around a generous pat of butter until it's bubbling hot. Add the chopped ham and stir it as it browns. Then break the eggs directly into the pan and keep stirring. (Don't pre-mix the eggs, and definitely don't add any milk.) When the eggs are softly cooked through, dish up with toast.
(no subject)
Dec. 4th, 2025 08:38 pmLast time I asked for recs, years ago, someone recommended Tiffany Aching, which the nieces were too young for at the time, but now may be the time (if I haven't passed it already). I just started Wee Free Men and am enjoying it a lot so far, and that may be part of the present. (I guess Tiffany is 9? so maybe technically too young for Senior!niece? But the book does read to me as more of a high-school reading level than a 9-year-old reading level.)
Other things: D's sister and brother-in-law are extremely devout and conservatively evangelical Christians and don't read fantasy at all (though they have come to accept their kid reading it). I don't think I could give her anything at this time that, say, has explicit sex scenes, or a gay or trans main character, and I'd also be a bit wary of too much violence/horror-themes. So, for example, Some Desperate Glory, which I already gave to D's nephews, is out.
Extra points for subtext of "here's how you grow up" and "here's how you deal with a flawed parent." (My sense -- which could of course be mistaken -- is that D's sister is an incredible parent that anyone would be lucky to have, and brother-in-law is less so. I do not think that there's anything particularly bad going on (I'm sure I have at least my share of flaws as a parent too), just that I remember at that age books being a helpful way to work through figuring out independence and becoming a different person than my parents.)
The December Comfort Watches 2025, Day 4: Defending Your Life
Dec. 5th, 2025 02:21 am

There are many ways to die in this world, roughly as many ways as there are to live, but there is one thing I know for sure: I do not wish to die the way Daniel Miller (Albert Brooks) dies in Defending Your Life. One, he dies on his birthday, which, while it makes for a tidy headstone, is a terrible way to spend the one day of the year that is all about you. Two, he’s just bought a car, and he’s not going to get to enjoy it. Three, he dies listening to Barbra Streisand, and, no disrespect to Ms. Streisand, but there’s nothing in her oeuvre that I wish to slip the surly bonds of Earth to. The last song Daniel hears is “Something’s Coming”; the title, at least, turns out to be prophetic.
And then Daniel is dead, and where he goes is neither heaven nor hell, and not even purgatory or limbo. He has arrived in Judgment City, which looks rather a bit like Orange County, and which processes all the dead of the Western United States. Judgment City has some nice perks, like the fact that humans who arrive there can eat all the food they want and never gain weight, and also it’s the best food they’ve ever had. But there are drawbacks, too, like the fact that everyone has to wear bulky white caftans, and also that one has to make a good argument for how they’ve lived their life on Earth. If it goes well, they move on. If it goes poorly, they go back to Earth. If it goes really poorly, the universe throws them out.
You’re on trial for your life, in other words, and because this way station is both bureaucratic and strangely Calvinistic, there are subtle hints about how your trial is going to go before you even step into the courtroom. To begin, how is your hotel? If you’re at the afterlife equivalent of the Four Seasons, you’re probably fine. If you’re at something like a bog-standard Marriott, it could go either way. If you’re at the equivalent of a Motel 6, get ready to go back. Likewise, the number of days of your life that the trial will examine is a good hint how things will go; the fewer the better.
Daniel, who is a sharp study, immediately wants to know where he falls on the “go on or go back” spectrum, which amuses Bob Diamond (Rip Torn), his appointed counselor. Mind you, everything about the humans coming through Judgment City amuses the staff there; they are ascended beings who use forty to fifty percent of their brains, unlike the humans, who use five percent at most. The staff of Judgment City look at humans like humans look at clever pets or precocious toddlers. They want good things for them! But they’re not going to socialize after hours or anything.
What Daniel mostly gets from all of this is that some people are shoo-ins to move on, and some people are, to put it nicely, going to have to work for it, and Daniel is in the latter category. Daniel was not a bad person on Earth; he was nice enough and well-liked by co-workers, even if he didn’t have a lot of what you would actually call friends. But in Judgment City, there’s the belief that when you use as little of your brain as humans do, you are ruled by your fears, and Daniel… well. He’s very human.
There’s more going on in this movie, including a budding romance between Daniel and Julia, a woman who may be too good for him, the first clue of that being that she is played by Meryl Streep. But what makes Defending Your Life work for me is both the teleology and the philosophy of Judgment City, as laid out by Brooks, who in addition to starring in the film, also wrote and directed it. Brooks has posited possibly the most practical afterlife ever, a fact that I think is easy to overlook as the story chugs along.
I don’t personally believe in an afterlife, but if I were going to believe in one, this is very close to the one I would believe in — not a place of perfect peace or eternal damnation, but basically a performance review to see how you did in the place that best suited your personal development. If you go on, great — the next place has a new set of problems and challenges for you to experience, solve and learn from. If you need more time back on Earth, that’s fine too — like the California Bar, not everyone passes the first time, and there’s no shame (at least at first) going back and trying again until you get it right. Is there a God? Who knows? Judgment City is not here to answer that. What it’s here to answer is: Are you ready for what comes next?
Well, that’s nothing new, I hear you say, that’s just Buddhism with extra steps. And, well, maybe it is, and if it is, then it makes sense that fear would be the thing that reattaches you to Earth, the thing you have to eventually let go of in order to move on. We are at this moment living in an era where large numbers of people are motivated by their fears, and others derive their power by making people afraid of other people, including their neighbors. I think if the afterlife is anything like it’s depicted here, there are going to be a fair number of people who currently live well who, in the afterlife, are going to be surprised to be staying at a seedy roadside motel, looking at a month’s worth of days of their life. At least the snacks will be great.
Brooks may or may not just be giving the eternal wheel of suffering a new spin, but whatever he’s doing, he’s being smart and funny about it. Brooks’ Daniel is a slightly depressed everyman who is more clever than he is good, someone who is willing to settle even when, in his heart, it’s not what he wants. It gives Daniel a sort of melancholy that’s both approachable (you can see why his co-workers like him) and also a lot to deal with (which is why he doesn’t have a lot of friends).
He’s relatable, and I think a lot of us can see at least a little of ourselves in him. As director, writer and star, Brooks only rarely goes for the laugh-out-loud moment in this film. But over and over again, there are rueful chuckles. You’ll laugh with this film, and you might wince in self-recognition as well. Ultimately, Daniel will have to work for his happy ending, and it’s never obvious whether or not he will get it. And that, too, is like life.
Defending Your Life makes me laugh, but it’s also made me think about my own choices and my own fears in this life. I can say that there have been a few times where I thought about this film when I was on the verge of having to make choices about where my own life was heading. There is a scene in the film where Daniel is up for a job, and he wants a specific salary. He has his (then) wife pretend to be the job interviewer, and they spar over the salary he will accept. Then he goes to meet the actual guy, and takes the first number thrown out at him, even though it’s far below what he actually wanted. We see his face when he realizes what he’s done. He let his fear get in the way of what he wanted, and he knows it.
I thought about that scene a few years later, when I was working as a film critic at the Fresno Bee newspaper. At one point, I was up for a film critic job at the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, and it came down to me and one other writer. I had informed the Bee that I was up for the job, and they were waiting to find out whether I would take the job or not. If it was offered to me, it would come with a largeish bump in pay, which was something I kind of needed; the Bee was a lovely place to work, but they didn’t pay me a lot and weren’t inclined to give me more.
Spoiler: I did not get the job. When I didn’t, I could have just gone back to work like nothing ever happened, without the raise I wanted and needed. Or, I could raise on a busted flush — after all, the Bee didn’t know (yet) that I didn’t get the job. I went into my Managing Editor’s office to tell him what happened with the St. Paul offer, and the first thing I said to him as I came through the door was “give me a twenty-five percent raise and a weekly column, and I’ll stay.” If he said no, I was screwed, because I had implied I had gotten the other job. But I chose to stuff that fear down, and ask for what I needed and wanted.
Second spoiler: He said yes to my proposal and told me he was glad I was going to stay. I thanked him, went to the men’s room in the hall, slipped into one of the toilet stalls, sat down and had a nice five-minute nervous breakdown before going back to my desk and back to work. I had faced my fear, and I had got what I wanted. And it’s made a difference in how I’ve lived my life since then.
I owe Daniel, and Albert Brooks, and Defending Your Life for that. We’ll see what sort of hotel upgrade that gets me in the afterlife. I’d still rather not be listening to Streisand when I go, however.
— JS
Book Review: The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp
Dec. 4th, 2025 06:28 pmAuthor: Leonie Swann (trans: Amy Bojang)
Genre: Fiction, mystery, murder mystery, crime thriller
Book # (checks notes) 13! From the "Women in Translation" rec list has been The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann, translated from German by Amy Bojang. This book concerns a house full of elderly retirees who end up investigating a series of murders in their sleepy English town.
This book was truly a delight from start to finish. I loved Swann's quirky senior cast; they were both entertaining and raised valid and very human questions about what aging with dignity means. It did a fabulous job scratching my itch for an exciting novel with no twenty-somethings to be seen. Now Agnes, the protagonist, and her friends are quite old, which impacts their lives in significant ways. However, I felt Swann did a good job of showing the limitations of an aging body--unless she's really in a hurry, Agnes will usually opt to take the stair lift down from the second floor, for instance--without sacrificing the depth and complexity of her characters, or relegating such things merely to the youth of their pasts.
The premise of this book caught my attention immediately, but after a lifetime of books with riveting premises that dismally fail to deliver, I was still wary. I'm happy to report that The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp fully delivers on its promise! Swann makes ample and engaging use of her premise.
The story itself is not especially surprising; if you're looking for a real brain-bender of a mystery or a book of shocking plot twists, this is not it. But I enjoyed it, and I thought Swann walked an enjoyable line between laying down enough clues that I could see the writing on the wall at some point, without giving the game away too quickly. There are no last-minute ass-pulls of heretofore unmentioned characters suddenly confessing to the crime here! The main red herring that gets tossed in the reader is likely to see for what it is very quickly, but for plot-relevant reasons I won't mention here, it's very believable that Agnes does not see that.
Agnes herself was a wonderful protagonist; I really enjoyed getting to go along on this adventure with her. She had a hard enough time wrangling her household of easily-distracted seniors even before the murders started! But the whole cast was endearing, if also all obnoxious in their own way after decades of settling on their own way of getting through life.
Bojang does a flawless job with the translation; she really captures various English voices both in the dialogue and in Agnes' narration. The writing flows naturally without ever coming off stilted or awkward.
I really had fun with this one, and I'm delighted to here there's apparently a sequel--Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime--which I will definitely be checking out.
Recent Reading: The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp
Dec. 4th, 2025 06:27 pmThis book was truly a delight from start to finish. I loved Swann's quirky senior cast; they were both entertaining and raised valid and very human questions about what aging with dignity means. It did a fabulous job scratching my itch for an exciting novel with no twenty-somethings to be seen. Now Agnes, the protagonist, and her friends are quite old, which impacts their lives in significant ways. However, I felt Swann did a good job of showing the limitations of an aging body--unless she's really in a hurry, Agnes will usually opt to take the stair lift down from the second floor, for instance--without sacrificing the depth and complexity of her characters, or relegating such things merely to the youth of their pasts.
The premise of this book caught my attention immediately, but after a lifetime of books with riveting premises that dismally fail to deliver, I was still wary. I'm happy to report that The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp fully delivers on its promise! Swann makes ample and engaging use of her premise.
The story itself is not especially surprising; if you're looking for a real brain-bender of a mystery or a book of shocking plot twists, this is not it. But I enjoyed it, and I thought Swann walked an enjoyable line between laying down enough clues that I could see the writing on the wall at some point, without giving the game away too quickly. There are no last-minute ass-pulls of heretofore unmentioned characters suddenly confessing to the crime here! The main red herring that gets tossed in the reader is likely to see for what it is very quickly, but for plot-relevant reasons I won't mention here, it's very believable that Agnes does not see that.
Agnes herself was a wonderful protagonist; I really enjoyed getting to go along on this adventure with her. She had a hard enough time wrangling her household of easily-distracted seniors even before the murders started! But the whole cast was endearing, if also all obnoxious in their own way after decades of settling on their own way of getting through life.
Bojang does a flawless job with the translation; she really captures various English voices both in the dialogue and in Agnes' narration. The writing flows naturally without ever coming off stilted or awkward.
I really had fun with this one, and I'm delighted to here there's apparently a sequel--Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime--which I will definitely be checking out.
Dumuzi's Dream
Dec. 4th, 2025 06:13 pmTrinity College Dublin reports World’s first film in ancient Sumerian released by Trinity filmmakers.
§rf§
Choices were made
Dec. 4th, 2025 08:13 pmFor no good reason (yes I'm procrastinating on something), trying to decide tonight which is the most WTF of the music videos I have had to watch and rewatch and rewatch this year. Is it the WTFFFFF of the "clink clink" visual in Yum Yum? Or is it Shwekey deciding to stop the song right in its tracks to do a commercial for Baron Herzog? They are both so WTF.
-YUM YUM | Rabbi Greenspan | Featuring Afiko.Man & Mendy Worch | TYH Music
-SHWEKEY - Baruch Hashem It’s Shabbos
If you don't understand Yum Yum, don't worry, neither do I.
Daily Check-In
Dec. 4th, 2025 08:02 pmHow are you doing?
I am OK
10 (66.7%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now
5 (33.3%)
I could use some help
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single
7 (46.7%)
One other person
6 (40.0%)
More than one other person
2 (13.3%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Day 1780: "A bloated, useless entity."
Dec. 4th, 2025 03:41 pm
Today in one sentence: The Supreme Court allowed Texas to use its new congressional map for the 2026 elections, blocking a lower court ruling that found the plan was likely a racial gerrymander; federal agents arrested the man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC offices the night before Jan. 6 Capitol attack; the Government Accountability Office opened an investigation into Bill Pulte after Senate Democrats accused the Federal Housing Finance Agency director of abusing his position to target Trump’s perceived political enemies with criminal referrals; the Trump administration renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace to the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace”; 98% of more than 2,100 Foreign Service employees reported lower morale this year; 46% of Americans say the cost of living in the U.S. is worst than than they can ever remember; and U.S. economic confidence fell to negative 30 in November – its lowest level since July 2024.
1/ The Supreme Court allowed Texas to use its new congressional map for the 2026 elections, blocking a lower court ruling that found the plan was likely a racial gerrymander. The order granted an emergency request from Gov. Greg Abbott after a three-judge panel said Republican lawmakers, acting at Trump’s urging, diluted the voting power of Black and Latino residents. The justices said Texas was likely to win on appeal and paused the injunction while they review the case. The map was designed to add up to five Republican House seats. (NBC News / Associated Press / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Politico)
2/ Federal agents arrested the man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC offices the night before Jan. 6 Capitol attack. An FBI affidavit said investigators tied Brian Cole Jr. to the devices through purchase records, cellphone data and a license plate reader, though officials didn’t explain why earlier reviews of the same evidence failed to identify him. (Associated Press / NBC News / New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)
3/ The Government Accountability Office opened an investigation into Bill Pulte after Senate Democrats accused the Federal Housing Finance Agency director of abusing his position to target Trump’s perceived political enemies with criminal referrals. The probe will examine whether Pulte and FHFA staff misused federal authority and resources in sending mortgage fraud referrals on New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to the Justice Department. A federal judge has already dismissed charges tied to Pulte’s referral of James. (Reuters / NBC News / Axios / CNBC)
4/ The Trump administration renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace to the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace,” bolting his name onto its Washington headquarters. The State Department said the rebranding honors “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history” and will stand as a reminder of “what strong leadership can accomplish for global stability.” The White House, meanwhile, called the Institute of Peace a once “bloated, useless entity,” but the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace “is both beautifully and aptly named after a President who ended eight wars in less than a year.” The move follows Trump’s February order to shut down the congressionally created institute and a March takeover by the Department of Government Efficiency, which removed the leadership and fire most staff. (NPR / CNN / Axios / New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post / NBC News)
5/ 98% of more than 2,100 Foreign Service employees reported lower morale this year. The American Foreign Service Association said workplace changes since January have made it harder to advance U.S. diplomatic priorities and warned that thousands of departures and ongoing reductions in force have left the State Department struggling to sustain core functions. (New York Times / Axios / Federal News Network)
poll/ 46% of Americans say the cost of living in the U.S. is worst than than they can ever remember. 46% also say this is now Trump’s economy and he’s responsible for the high costs. (Politico)
poll/ U.S. economic confidence fell to negative 30 in November – its lowest level since July 2024. 21% of Americans described current economic conditions as good in November, while 40% described conditions as poor. 27% said the economy is getting better, while 68% said the economy is getting worse. (Gallup)
⏭️ Notably Next: The 2026 midterms are in 334 days.
- Today last year: Day 1415: "They’re coming after you."
- Two years ago today: Day 1049: "One impossible choice after another."
- Five years ago today: Day 1415: "Grim."
- Six years ago today: Day 1049: "Are you ready?"
- Seven years ago today: Day 684: Loose ends.
- Eight years ago today: Day 319: Tatters.
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Activism
Dec. 4th, 2025 05:49 pmIreland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have all said they won't be taking part in next year's contest.
You can play along at home by skipping Eurovision 2026 to purchase songs from countries who have taken a stand against genocide -- or buy Palestinian music.
Snowy Sights
Dec. 4th, 2025 05:36 pm
A big flock (larger than we captured here given their frequent movement) of common starlings were circling about this week. It seemed like we might be a food stop on their way to someplace else.
( Read more... )