Activities
Jun. 26th, 2025 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lexin
aunty_marion an I have been having a holiday of sorts, travelling hither and yon around North Wales to see various sights. Yesterday we went up the Great Orme on a tramway and had hot chocolate and a hot dog at the top. Lovely views.On another day we went to a National Trust property called Plas Newydd in which is probably Rex Whistler’s finest work, a mural of a fantasy city on the dining room wall. It is so intricate that you could look at it for hours and still be finding new bits. It is fantastic, if you ever get a chance, do go and see it.
aha!
Jun. 26th, 2025 01:30 amtwistedchickI have been watching 'Elementary' the past week or so, especially during the heat dome of the last few days, and throughout the first three seasons Holmes' father is mentioned a few times but never shows up.
He finally does show up early in season 4, and from the first moment I saw him I kept thinking, 'where do I know this actor from'? His face, older and lined, was like many other actors, but that voice was singular.
So I looked him up.
He played Denethor in LOTR, the bad father who tried to burn his younger son to death and immolate himself on the fire as well -- the worst of the fathers in LOTR.
Tone down the madness, make him a high-level businessman with a finger in every government, and you have Sherlock's father. Pretty good casting.
He finally does show up early in season 4, and from the first moment I saw him I kept thinking, 'where do I know this actor from'? His face, older and lined, was like many other actors, but that voice was singular.
So I looked him up.
He played Denethor in LOTR, the bad father who tried to burn his younger son to death and immolate himself on the fire as well -- the worst of the fathers in LOTR.
Tone down the madness, make him a high-level businessman with a finger in every government, and you have Sherlock's father. Pretty good casting.
Aurendor D&D: Summary for 6/25 Game
Jun. 26th, 2025 12:16 amsettiai
In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )
And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.
And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.
An update
Jun. 26th, 2025 02:54 pmmificI turned back on the AI functions for my iPad again so as to write a fic with minimal impediments (I have enough inbuilt impediments these days not to want more). So that's autocapitalisation, autocorrect, and predictive text. And JFC, but it's bossy! Constantly changing words from the way I wanted to write them to some AI bullshit of its own. I had to be super-vigilant with the betaing. Have since turned predictive text off again to see if that's better. I hate the AI aspect but it's such a tiresome slog correcting my own (numerous) typos with it all turned off.
Bum music, a bit of YT whimsy. In Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights panel there's a guy, face down, bum up, with sheet music stacked on his ass. So Amelia Hamrick transcribed it, James Spalink arranged it, and played it using period-type instruments. It's actually not bad.
I managed a short fic for into-a-bar. I've been using the challenge to add to my Losers in Pegasus series but was hoist with my own petard this time by being allocated an SGA character I'd killed off in the last fic! Finally figured out a solution (enter the clones!) but was unable to finish the longer fic (that gets Pooch to Atlantis) by the deadline, so that one will come later.
Still mostly doing art, and podficcing. And the podfics mean cover art so that's always fun. I now tend to beta-listen while working on the cover, although that makes it tricky to note down bits that I've flubbed.
My Mexican sunflower still has some flowers, which the bees will be grateful for. Pretty amazing, now we're past the shortest day of winter, but it's slowly winding up its flowering season. 10/10, will see how many years it can manage encores.
I have a few recs, but will do a separate post for those. Summer sounds a bit brutal up north (for many reasons). Hope you're all OK.
Bum music, a bit of YT whimsy. In Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights panel there's a guy, face down, bum up, with sheet music stacked on his ass. So Amelia Hamrick transcribed it, James Spalink arranged it, and played it using period-type instruments. It's actually not bad.
I managed a short fic for into-a-bar. I've been using the challenge to add to my Losers in Pegasus series but was hoist with my own petard this time by being allocated an SGA character I'd killed off in the last fic! Finally figured out a solution (enter the clones!) but was unable to finish the longer fic (that gets Pooch to Atlantis) by the deadline, so that one will come later.
Still mostly doing art, and podficcing. And the podfics mean cover art so that's always fun. I now tend to beta-listen while working on the cover, although that makes it tricky to note down bits that I've flubbed.
My Mexican sunflower still has some flowers, which the bees will be grateful for. Pretty amazing, now we're past the shortest day of winter, but it's slowly winding up its flowering season. 10/10, will see how many years it can manage encores.
I have a few recs, but will do a separate post for those. Summer sounds a bit brutal up north (for many reasons). Hope you're all OK.
On the fannish front...
Jun. 25th, 2025 08:08 pmsettiai
Okay, I just have two more days of work to get through, and then I have an entire week off. Nine whole days. The first five of which will hopefully be spent not leaving the hotel if I can manage it, because I desperately need to recharge. I'm even going to try to wash clothes either tomorrow or Friday so that I won't have to leave my suite unless there's an emergency of some type. A complete removal from all human interaction will do me so much good.
I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.
I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.
My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.
I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.
I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.
My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.
monuments
Jun. 24th, 2025 03:47 pmthe_shoshannaSmall-town Great War memorials are so sad. You have this glorious statue erected To Our Brave Boys, Their Sacrifice Will Endure Forever, and then, added on to the side or back of the plinth, the World War Two memorial is like, "well, fuck."
New Interview
Jun. 24th, 2025 11:46 ammarthawellsGreat interview with Murderbot executive producer Andrew Miano:
https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-murderbot-ep-andrew-miano
First and foremost, my partner Paul Weitz read the book for pleasure, not with any eye towards adaptation, and came in with it and said, "this would make an amazing TV show." We all read it and really sparked to it and thought it was unique and special and funny, which is not something that you always get in a lot of sci-fi. [It is] also very meaningful and emotional. It was the whole package so it was very exciting and we went about it. We met Martha... One of the biggest things to focus on is how do you honor the book? How do you translate that to the screen? It's not easy, but I'm very fortunate to have Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz — two smart, talented partners — creating and running the show with their guidance and Martha's support and involvement to sort of capture and stay true to the books.
https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-murderbot-ep-andrew-miano
First and foremost, my partner Paul Weitz read the book for pleasure, not with any eye towards adaptation, and came in with it and said, "this would make an amazing TV show." We all read it and really sparked to it and thought it was unique and special and funny, which is not something that you always get in a lot of sci-fi. [It is] also very meaningful and emotional. It was the whole package so it was very exciting and we went about it. We met Martha... One of the biggest things to focus on is how do you honor the book? How do you translate that to the screen? It's not easy, but I'm very fortunate to have Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz — two smart, talented partners — creating and running the show with their guidance and Martha's support and involvement to sort of capture and stay true to the books.
FIC: Caring For Your Dragon
Jun. 22nd, 2025 09:07 pmblueraccoonTitle: Caring For Your Dragon
Author: blueraccoon/rebecca
Rating: NC-17
Summary: They went home. Now they have to go back to real life. In which Will and Jean-Rene figure out how this mate thing works.
Notes: I said on AO3 it's been fascinating to watch this story come together because it involves people I've literally written millions of words about, but which have only been read by one person other than me. I found I kept having to pull out things where I'd added unnecessary filler exposition just to drop in details about people because I thought they were cool and wanted people to know the cool details. There were two entire passages that got yanked because they were tours of a house and another building and I was like "becc, come on, nobody wants to read that shit" so now they're in my side bits file and if you want to read those side bits let me know.
There will be more stories. I have the next two mostly written, and then some stuff after that, and things planned for future. It seems to have found a small but existing audience on AO3 so I'm happy about that, at least.
Author: blueraccoon/rebecca
Rating: NC-17
Summary: They went home. Now they have to go back to real life. In which Will and Jean-Rene figure out how this mate thing works.
Notes: I said on AO3 it's been fascinating to watch this story come together because it involves people I've literally written millions of words about, but which have only been read by one person other than me. I found I kept having to pull out things where I'd added unnecessary filler exposition just to drop in details about people because I thought they were cool and wanted people to know the cool details. There were two entire passages that got yanked because they were tours of a house and another building and I was like "becc, come on, nobody wants to read that shit" so now they're in my side bits file and if you want to read those side bits let me know.
There will be more stories. I have the next two mostly written, and then some stuff after that, and things planned for future. It seems to have found a small but existing audience on AO3 so I'm happy about that, at least.
The Seventh of the Recced Book Reviews: The Lost Flock
Jun. 22nd, 2025 10:42 ambethbethbethOn May 8th, I offered to read the first five books people recced - assuming they were available (preferably from the library) - and I'd give a short review [https://bethbethbeth.dreamwidth.org/701769.html].
This is the seventh recced book review.
It's been a long time since posting one of these (I had non-recced books to read!), but I just finished:
The Lost Flock (2023), by Jane Cooper (recced by marinarusalka on dreamwidth)
When this was recced to me, marinarusalka wrote, “I’m curious to see if a non-knitter will find it equally interesting.” Because here’s the thing. I know nothing about raising sheep, I’ve never knitted, I’ve never been to the Orkney Islands, and yet this is why I loved reading The Lost Flock. It’s the same reason I like reading science fiction and fantasy; learning about and getting immersed in a world you know nothing about is great.
So…if you want to know about Boreray sheep (a rare, primitive short-tailed breed) or how felting is done or how to spin without a wheel or about sails for Viking ships, this is your book.
This is the seventh recced book review.
It's been a long time since posting one of these (I had non-recced books to read!), but I just finished:
The Lost Flock (2023), by Jane Cooper (recced by marinarusalka on dreamwidth)
When this was recced to me, marinarusalka wrote, “I’m curious to see if a non-knitter will find it equally interesting.” Because here’s the thing. I know nothing about raising sheep, I’ve never knitted, I’ve never been to the Orkney Islands, and yet this is why I loved reading The Lost Flock. It’s the same reason I like reading science fiction and fantasy; learning about and getting immersed in a world you know nothing about is great.
So…if you want to know about Boreray sheep (a rare, primitive short-tailed breed) or how felting is done or how to spin without a wheel or about sails for Viking ships, this is your book.
apparently it's just like riding a bike!
Jun. 21st, 2025 04:43 pmthe_shoshannaI picked up my bicycle yesterday!
Onringthebells's wise advice, I had them show me how to lube the chain and pump up the tires. (not that I own chain oil or a pump, but in principle I am prepared!) They installed a locking kickstand (fancy!) and threw in a rear-view mirror, which they mounted on the left handlebar and which I didn't think I'd have the spare attention to look into for days, as I concentrated on figuring out how to ride a bike again after fifty years, but I was certainly glad to have it. I wobble-rode around the local parking lot a bit to get the hang of it and then headed home! I felt secure enough to ride it on some of the deserted residential streets, but got off and walked it whenever there was traffic or I just felt insecure. (Every now and then I have to swerve a bit to keep my balance, which is not a thing to do if there are cars around.)
And today I rode and walked it into downtown again, to a community festival going on this weekend that provides a secure bike valet service. And I already feel more secure and stable (which is not to say that I'm not still occasionally wobbling, or jumping off in a hurry, and definitely am still walking it whenever anyone or anything else might be moving anywhere near me) -- and checking the mirror is already almost second nature! I think forty years of driving a car helps with that. I have the theory of how to shift pretty well down, too; this bike has three gears in front and five in back, which feels like massive overkill for my needs, and all the riding I've done so far has been on the level, but I've tried changing gears a few times just to get used to how to do it.
I traded my bike for a claim check and wandered around the community festival; and then I wandered through the big main-street commercial festival that's also going on; and then a friend texted me to find out if I was nearby and I connected with them and we wandered back through the community festival so they could check their bike as well, and then through the weekly farmers&crafters market, and then through the National Indigenous Peoples Day festival -- there was a lot going on in my city today! And then we went back and reclaimed our bikes and said goodbye and I biked-and-walked home, and now I'm exhausted from four hours in the midday sun but I still have a bunch of stuff to do before I leave tomorrow morning for eight days, oof. (Vacation with my in-laws. I do like my in-laws, but still -- oof.)
But it feelsslightly scary and also good to be back on a bike after all this time! And my goodness but that is faster than walking. A very different kind of muscular effort, as well.
On
ringthebells's wise advice, I had them show me how to lube the chain and pump up the tires. (not that I own chain oil or a pump, but in principle I am prepared!) They installed a locking kickstand (fancy!) and threw in a rear-view mirror, which they mounted on the left handlebar and which I didn't think I'd have the spare attention to look into for days, as I concentrated on figuring out how to ride a bike again after fifty years, but I was certainly glad to have it. I wobble-rode around the local parking lot a bit to get the hang of it and then headed home! I felt secure enough to ride it on some of the deserted residential streets, but got off and walked it whenever there was traffic or I just felt insecure. (Every now and then I have to swerve a bit to keep my balance, which is not a thing to do if there are cars around.)And today I rode and walked it into downtown again, to a community festival going on this weekend that provides a secure bike valet service. And I already feel more secure and stable (which is not to say that I'm not still occasionally wobbling, or jumping off in a hurry, and definitely am still walking it whenever anyone or anything else might be moving anywhere near me) -- and checking the mirror is already almost second nature! I think forty years of driving a car helps with that. I have the theory of how to shift pretty well down, too; this bike has three gears in front and five in back, which feels like massive overkill for my needs, and all the riding I've done so far has been on the level, but I've tried changing gears a few times just to get used to how to do it.
I traded my bike for a claim check and wandered around the community festival; and then I wandered through the big main-street commercial festival that's also going on; and then a friend texted me to find out if I was nearby and I connected with them and we wandered back through the community festival so they could check their bike as well, and then through the weekly farmers&crafters market, and then through the National Indigenous Peoples Day festival -- there was a lot going on in my city today! And then we went back and reclaimed our bikes and said goodbye and I biked-and-walked home, and now I'm exhausted from four hours in the midday sun but I still have a bunch of stuff to do before I leave tomorrow morning for eight days, oof. (Vacation with my in-laws. I do like my in-laws, but still -- oof.)
But it feels
