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I love both these guys.
My personal conspiracy theory
22 March 2020 02:44 pmI've figured it out. The coronavirus is a hoax by manufacturers of stationery and greeting cards. They figured if we were all stuck at home, we'd start writing to each other again in lieu of hugs. I mean, April is National Letter-Writing Month, so doesn't it just seem so glaringly obvious when you think about it???
Srsly, though. I hope y'all are well and as un-worried about friends/family/loved ones as possible right not. For those of you with children, I offer Homeschooling While Working From Home During a Global Pandemic Bingo. For PBS fans among you: Journal Entries From Our Self-Quarantine to Be Read By Meryl Streep and Paul Giamatti In a Ken Burns Documentary to Be Produced At a Later Date.
Me, since I'm HOME A LOT THESE DAYS (argh), one of the things I'm doing is weeding my bookshelves. I've got the following to give away so far. Let me know if you want one, or two, or any, and I'll happily ship it to you at no cost. I promise I haven't coughed on any of them.
Fiction:
Crazy Rich Asians (Kwan)
The Memory Police (Ogawa)
Another Way to Fall (Evenson and Tremblay)
The Raven Boys (Stiefvater - somehow I ended up with an extra copy of the first book in the series, no idea how!)
This Census-Taker (mieville)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Reid)
Non-fiction:
Blood & Faith (Berry)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Idle)
Also, just for the record: Supervising 4 full-time staff, 2 part-time students, and three interns remotely is HARD.
Srsly, though. I hope y'all are well and as un-worried about friends/family/loved ones as possible right not. For those of you with children, I offer Homeschooling While Working From Home During a Global Pandemic Bingo. For PBS fans among you: Journal Entries From Our Self-Quarantine to Be Read By Meryl Streep and Paul Giamatti In a Ken Burns Documentary to Be Produced At a Later Date.
Me, since I'm HOME A LOT THESE DAYS (argh), one of the things I'm doing is weeding my bookshelves. I've got the following to give away so far. Let me know if you want one, or two, or any, and I'll happily ship it to you at no cost. I promise I haven't coughed on any of them.
Fiction:
The Memory Police (Ogawa)
Another Way to Fall (Evenson and Tremblay)
The Raven Boys (Stiefvater - somehow I ended up with an extra copy of the first book in the series, no idea how!)
This Census-Taker (mieville)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Reid)
Non-fiction:
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Idle)
Also, just for the record: Supervising 4 full-time staff, 2 part-time students, and three interns remotely is HARD.
Buttbart.com - A spoofy version of Breitbart, featuring Domald Tromp, the star of a series of books by mysterious author Chuck Tingle (other Tingle titles include Space Raptor Butt Invasion and My Ass Is Haunted By The Gay Unicorn Colonel). I wish the site had more content, but just the article titles alone are a hoot.
How Would Dracula Deal With Isis? - I think the title says it all, here.
Evolutionary biology meets Adam and Eve in the archives - Artist Jenifer Wightman has designed and hand-printed a leaf to match the Gutenberg Bible, correcting some of its misinformation ;) I love the idea, her approach to it, and the way so many archives are open to her proposal.
Two articles (here) and (here) in which a YouTube engineer explains how YouTube's goal of maximizing engagement unintentionally promotes videos that discredit the media and favor conspiracy theories, divisive content, and general nuttiness.
Once you've read those you'll be depressed and discouraged, so here's a very funny one to end with:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Deficiency, in which The Medical Journal of Australia explains The Hobbit in terms of Vitamin D deficiencies XD Hugely funny, especially for the completely poker-faced approach it takes.
So there you go: the fruits of falling down teh interwebz rabbit hole today.
Oh, and it's still snowing here. ::curses quietly but viciously::
How Would Dracula Deal With Isis? - I think the title says it all, here.
Evolutionary biology meets Adam and Eve in the archives - Artist Jenifer Wightman has designed and hand-printed a leaf to match the Gutenberg Bible, correcting some of its misinformation ;) I love the idea, her approach to it, and the way so many archives are open to her proposal.
Two articles (here) and (here) in which a YouTube engineer explains how YouTube's goal of maximizing engagement unintentionally promotes videos that discredit the media and favor conspiracy theories, divisive content, and general nuttiness.
Once you've read those you'll be depressed and discouraged, so here's a very funny one to end with:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Deficiency, in which The Medical Journal of Australia explains The Hobbit in terms of Vitamin D deficiencies XD Hugely funny, especially for the completely poker-faced approach it takes.
So there you go: the fruits of falling down teh interwebz rabbit hole today.
Oh, and it's still snowing here. ::curses quietly but viciously::
Because think of the conversations in the bar!
The little icons that go with each warning are HILARIOUS. I think my favorite is "excessive use of passive voice" XD
Cookie carnage
28 December 2015 09:57 amWe had some friends over yesterday with their kids for wine and chili (the grownups) and cookie decorating (the kids). One of the Parental Units got into the action and created this lol:
Cutest. Thing. EVER.
15 December 2014 09:57 pmI am dying of adorable overload:
(click through for story)
(click through for story)
Things I learned today
12 December 2014 10:54 pmA tachyonic antitelephone is a thing.
Reading fanfic can teach you valuable life skills.
Rush Limbaugh really is a complete and utter ass. (OK, that one I pretty much suspected already.)
Zombie migration patterns can be mathematically predicted.
I have to make this. SOON.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nursedarry sent me the coolest wine EVER. reH tlhIngan wo' taHjaj!!
(click to embiggen)
Also, there are still some free books left!
Reading fanfic can teach you valuable life skills.
Rush Limbaugh really is a complete and utter ass. (OK, that one I pretty much suspected already.)
Zombie migration patterns can be mathematically predicted.
I have to make this. SOON.
nursedarry sent me the coolest wine EVER. reH tlhIngan wo' taHjaj!!(click to embiggen)
Also, there are still some free books left!
Two days remaining to leave prompts for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mini_fest!!
Five days remaining to sign up forsshg_giftfest, still spots left for both writers and crafters!!
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, you know you want to :)
In other interesting news, it turns out that anemones sting you via tiny little hypodermic needles at the ends of their tentacles, if you don't know what to call your academic event there is a flowchart to help you, there is such a thing as color photos from World War I (using potato starch, who knew??), and despite what the ads may tell you, you cannot get an airline flight for 50p:
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mini_fest!! Five days remaining to sign up for
sshg_giftfest, still spots left for both writers and crafters!!Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, you know you want to :)
In other interesting news, it turns out that anemones sting you via tiny little hypodermic needles at the ends of their tentacles, if you don't know what to call your academic event there is a flowchart to help you, there is such a thing as color photos from World War I (using potato starch, who knew??), and despite what the ads may tell you, you cannot get an airline flight for 50p:
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Prompting is open at mini_fest! Signups are still open at sshg_giftfest!! hp_goldenage is going to have an anonymous promptfest this fall!!!
So much fun, so little time...
Borrowed fromtoblass and savine_snape:
After all the recent terrible tragedies that have and are happening it's time for some positivity and kindness to happen.
So, I'm going to grab the pay-it-forward idea and put a little twist on it. The first twelve people to comment will get a surprise from me at some random point during the next twelve months.
All I ask is that in your comment, you share something with me about yourself that I may not know otherwise. This might be a good opportunity for me to get to know my friends better as well.
Ooh, I can't wait to see what I learn ::rubs hands in anticipation::
mini_fest! Signups are still open at sshg_giftfest!! hp_goldenage is going to have an anonymous promptfest this fall!!! So much fun, so little time...
Borrowed from
toblass and savine_snape:After all the recent terrible tragedies that have and are happening it's time for some positivity and kindness to happen.
So, I'm going to grab the pay-it-forward idea and put a little twist on it. The first twelve people to comment will get a surprise from me at some random point during the next twelve months.
All I ask is that in your comment, you share something with me about yourself that I may not know otherwise. This might be a good opportunity for me to get to know my friends better as well.
Ooh, I can't wait to see what I learn ::rubs hands in anticipation::
I wish I'd heard about this a week ago, because this makes me a week late getting started, but I want to participate in Mary Robinette Kowal's A Month of Letters. I love what she says about it: "When I write back, I find that I slow down and write differently than I do with an email. Email is all about the now. Letters are different, because whatever I write needs to be something that will be relevant a week later to the person to whom I am writing..."To do this properly, I need 20-22 people to send things to, so if you want something -- a letter, a card, a postcard, a small marsupial with a stamp on its back, whatever -- please leave a comment and PM me with your address. I'd love to actually make my target of something every day in February. I have offline friends and family who can fill in the gaps, but I don't know if I can get to 22 without you, so help me out!
In other news, Marvel Comics has launched a site to send superhero geeks into a frenzy: a humungous comic books image archive spanning 75 years. And it comes with an API so clever codey type people can do neat things with it!
Ka-Pow! Marvel Opens Massive Comic Book Images Archive And API To Fans, Developers
The API -- which will include comic book artwork, character histories, creator insights, and expanded stories -- will grant members access to an expansive database of Marvel's library of 75 years of comics, including over 30,000 comics, 7,000 series, and 5,000 creators. This move gives developers the tools to create their own Marvel-based apps and digital offerings...
And for the francophiles in the audience, we have "Farting Angels and Ass-Slapping Aristocrats: A Web Archive Reveals the Weird Side of the French Revolution":
Shackles broke, kings fell, and heads rolled. The French Revolution was one of the most dramatic social explosions in history, and its aftershocks still ripple through Western culture 200 years later. And now, thanks to the French Revolution Digital Archive, any Francophiles with an Internet connection has access to over 14,000 newly released images from the bloodbath. Quel bonheur!
This one appears to be saying that teeter-totters are miraculous, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting...
Also OMG DID YOU SEE BIG BANG THEORY TONIGHT?? (Warning: Spoilers if you click through) First time ever a tv show has actually made me gasp :)
"A judge has ruled that the vast majority of Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes stories are now in the public domain in the US, which means (among other things) that you can make money off your Johnlock fic without Conan Doyle’s heirs swooping down on you with blazing swords, ready to exact financial vengeance. It’s go time..."
Read the rest here. So all of you go start selling your Sherlock fic :D
(I don't have any Sherlock icons so you get Giles. Librarian, detective, same thing, right?)
Read the rest here. So all of you go start selling your Sherlock fic :D
(I don't have any Sherlock icons so you get Giles. Librarian, detective, same thing, right?)
Well, this is fun
29 September 2013 01:04 pmI Am A: Neutral Good Human Wizard (6th Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-10
Dexterity-12
Constitution-13
Intelligence-15
Wisdom-11
Charisma-11
Alignment: Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race: Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Class: Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?
Ability Scores:
Strength-10
Dexterity-12
Constitution-13
Intelligence-15
Wisdom-11
Charisma-11
Alignment: Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race: Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Class: Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?
Where is my Mr Darcy?
21 March 2013 10:56 pmHe is here, the subject of a VERY funny web cartoon.
I happen to think that I am in fact witty enough to attract a Mr Darcy, as demonstrated by the fact that Mr Psmith is MUCH more Darcy than Wickham, with not a trace of Collins.
But it is a sad fact that, in the wild, the Wickham/Darcy ratio is about 1000:1 while the Collins/Darcy ratio clocks in at about a bazillion to one, thus proving that hound dogs and pompous idiots are hugely more common than sexy snarky-witted rich guys.
Which in turn proves...hmm, I forget where I was going with this. Ah, yes: "Thus proving that I need another glass of wine." Yes, I'm pretty sure that was it.
BTW, has anyone else notice that "win" and "wine" are only separated by a single letter? Coincidence?? I THINK NOT.
I happen to think that I am in fact witty enough to attract a Mr Darcy, as demonstrated by the fact that Mr Psmith is MUCH more Darcy than Wickham, with not a trace of Collins.
But it is a sad fact that, in the wild, the Wickham/Darcy ratio is about 1000:1 while the Collins/Darcy ratio clocks in at about a bazillion to one, thus proving that hound dogs and pompous idiots are hugely more common than sexy snarky-witted rich guys.
Which in turn proves...hmm, I forget where I was going with this. Ah, yes: "Thus proving that I need another glass of wine." Yes, I'm pretty sure that was it.
BTW, has anyone else notice that "win" and "wine" are only separated by a single letter? Coincidence?? I THINK NOT.
Still waiting...
14 March 2013 09:11 pm...to hear from Clarion, so meanwhile I distract myself with voting for the best sci-fi tv ever and videos like "Harry Potter in 99 (Musical) Seconds":
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All kinds of fun things that fall under the general rubric of "nerdy" today :)
1) Soon-to-be world's first African-American female chess master is only seventeen. You rock, Rochelle Ballantyne! Here's hoping that budget cuts don't kill your chess program.
2) I'm a big WWII buff, particularly the code-making and code-breaking, so this is pretty damn cool: A Bletchingley man renovating his chimney finds the tiny bones of a pigeon, with a little capsule strapped to its leg. Turns out it was a WWII carrier pigeon, with a coded message for...whom??
3) All five Star Trek captains on stage together. Best quotes came from Sir Patrick: "On Star Trek we are wearing costume, and just like Elizabethan costume, no pockets. Sometimes actors would stand awkwardly because they didn’t know what to do with their hands, but if you’ve spent half your career acting in tights..." and "All those years sitting on thrones of England were nothing but preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair." Yessssss...
4) How many of you remember Omni magazine? I had a subscription starting when I was about 12 and I loved every issue -- big and glossy, with its strange and gorgeous cover art. It gave me a passion for science fiction and sci-fi art which has never left me, with authors like George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison and William Gibson; artists like H.R. Giger and Rallé. Well, guess what? The entire run of Omni is now available online for free! ::does happy dance::
5) This last one is for the truly nerdy among you: Watch nine big-name sci-fi authors -- including one woman! -- rediscover their inner high-school geek as they play an old-style game of Dungeons and Dragons. Not only did they voyage to The Keep on the Borderlands (D&D Module #2), they recorded it, edited it, added some clever Terry Gilliam-style opening animations, and put it online for your edification and jollification :)
1) Soon-to-be world's first African-American female chess master is only seventeen. You rock, Rochelle Ballantyne! Here's hoping that budget cuts don't kill your chess program.
2) I'm a big WWII buff, particularly the code-making and code-breaking, so this is pretty damn cool: A Bletchingley man renovating his chimney finds the tiny bones of a pigeon, with a little capsule strapped to its leg. Turns out it was a WWII carrier pigeon, with a coded message for...whom??
3) All five Star Trek captains on stage together. Best quotes came from Sir Patrick: "On Star Trek we are wearing costume, and just like Elizabethan costume, no pockets. Sometimes actors would stand awkwardly because they didn’t know what to do with their hands, but if you’ve spent half your career acting in tights..." and "All those years sitting on thrones of England were nothing but preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair." Yessssss...
4) How many of you remember Omni magazine? I had a subscription starting when I was about 12 and I loved every issue -- big and glossy, with its strange and gorgeous cover art. It gave me a passion for science fiction and sci-fi art which has never left me, with authors like George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison and William Gibson; artists like H.R. Giger and Rallé. Well, guess what? The entire run of Omni is now available online for free! ::does happy dance::
5) This last one is for the truly nerdy among you: Watch nine big-name sci-fi authors -- including one woman! -- rediscover their inner high-school geek as they play an old-style game of Dungeons and Dragons. Not only did they voyage to The Keep on the Borderlands (D&D Module #2), they recorded it, edited it, added some clever Terry Gilliam-style opening animations, and put it online for your edification and jollification :)
I give you Thor, delivering bad news. Heeeeeee...
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Wow, how much fun is this?? http://www.dolldivine.com/deluxe-pin-up-maker.php
Thank you,droxy (I think -- although if I waste another hour playing with it the word "thank" may mutate into something else LOL!)
Now if I could just find where to buy all the pieces:
Thank you,
droxy (I think -- although if I waste another hour playing with it the word "thank" may mutate into something else LOL!)Now if I could just find where to buy all the pieces:
A random list of stuff that made me go "Oooooh..." today:
The US highway system as a subway map
Goldilocks Reviews the Sunshine Mary Jane Pump on Zappos
The program for the Pop Culture Association conference in Boston, with four panels on Buffy, eight on fairy tales, fourteen on fan culture (including "Girls, Geeks and Politics: Gender, Race and Identity in Fandom"), eighteen on horror, twenty-five on women, and an amazing TWENTY-NINE on sci-fi and fantasy!!
Where I want to stay when I become obscenely rich
J K Rowling's book for grownups has a publisher; title and publication date TBA
Hamlet's cat's soliloquy and Grendel's Dog: Brave Beocat, brood-kit of Ecgthmeow / Hearth-pet of Hrothgar in whose high halls / He mauled without mercy many fat mice...
A recipe for tequila hot chocolate - mmmmmmm....
The Daylight Atheist blog: smart, thought-provoking, honest
And my girl scout cookie order arrived, hurrah!!! They will go well with the tequila hot chocolate. Nom nom nom nom nom...
The US highway system as a subway map
Goldilocks Reviews the Sunshine Mary Jane Pump on Zappos
The program for the Pop Culture Association conference in Boston, with four panels on Buffy, eight on fairy tales, fourteen on fan culture (including "Girls, Geeks and Politics: Gender, Race and Identity in Fandom"), eighteen on horror, twenty-five on women, and an amazing TWENTY-NINE on sci-fi and fantasy!!
Where I want to stay when I become obscenely rich
J K Rowling's book for grownups has a publisher; title and publication date TBA
Hamlet's cat's soliloquy and Grendel's Dog: Brave Beocat, brood-kit of Ecgthmeow / Hearth-pet of Hrothgar in whose high halls / He mauled without mercy many fat mice...
A recipe for tequila hot chocolate - mmmmmmm....
The Daylight Atheist blog: smart, thought-provoking, honest
And my girl scout cookie order arrived, hurrah!!! They will go well with the tequila hot chocolate. Nom nom nom nom nom...
