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May. 2nd, 2026 09:41 am
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[personal profile] greenstorm
Yesterday I did my first sustained whip-and-tongue grafting. The rootstocks were pretty small and I only got through maybe 16. I only cut myself a little, shallow cuts that really only prevent me from working on the wheel and not from doing anything else (the clay packs into cuts with the pressure I put on my fingers and tends to infect them).

I don't love the tape I was using, some kind of micropore stuff. I realized only late last night I could use wax resist as, well, wax, so I need to do that this morning. I'm very very very curious to see how well they do. I had some hose issues etc so they got wet after being wrapped.

I still have at least a little of all the scions left, abotu twenty more rootstocks, and lots of wild saskatoons. I'm going to try some chip budding, try adding some bits to my big trees, and adding bits to the saskatoons. But, not today. Today I recover from last night's party across the way, and from the concentration needed for grafting yesterday morning.

I want to say it's easier than I thought, but that depends on whether anything takes. Rootstock and scion the same size would help a lot. Better tape would help a lot. A proper grafting knife, really sharp, did help a lot, and I only started getting cut because I didn't resharpen halfway through.

(no subject)

May. 2nd, 2026 09:31 am
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[personal profile] greenstorm
I'm very grumpy today. The neighbours across the way had a party last night that started with several hours of dirt bikes in the afternoon running in circles and up and down the road, punctuated with occasional screams and crash type sounds. Then loud music, lots of swearing, some fireworks shot into the yard beside mine (which isn't theirs), doing dirt bike jumps in my ditch, parking in the middle of the road and swearing a lot, driving probably well over a hundred up and down the road, more swearing, and then at midnight-thirty turning the music up and angling a dirt bike so the light shone into my bedroom window for an hour and a half (I think they were trying to angle it across the yard to give themselves light to party, but it was an unfortunate angle). Right before the sun went down the dirt bike people went from jumping my ditch to slowly cruising along my fenceline. I am not sure any single one of them knew a word other than "fuck", at the very least it was more common than any other word or punctuation, and one had on a shirt that said "team shit stain" which at the moment I find hard to disagree with.

I was kind of hoping-- there were some kids doing 140 down a side street (km, not miles) when I was first here and they got into an accident and the engine flew out of the car, went through the roof, and got caught in someone's roof rafters in one of the houses next to the road. No one was badly injured somehow, and I'm not sure whose insurance handled the re-roofing, but you sometimes do wish for something like that. I'm not proud of it, and I'm reasonably sure it wouldn't fix anything.

The pigs did not like the loud noise and broke out of the pen -- first time they've done so -- to shelter on the opposite side of the house from the noise. Thea eventually came in and asked me for help. Solly had trouble staying calm on her walk-- to be fair I did too. The white crowned sparrows that had been around my place for the last week all left, though they're starting to come back this morning.

So today I build a new pigpen in the back, run the hose out there, and try to stave off my crash till Monday.

Next week I should definitely deal with the downstairs bedroom and move down there.

Just think, if I had a solarium on the front of my house there'd be one more wall to block sound.

Birdfeeding

May. 2nd, 2026 10:58 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is sunny and chilly.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and a fox squirrel.

EDIT 5/2/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

2026.05.02

May. 2nd, 2026 10:41 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Court temporarily blocks nationwide access to abortion pills prescribed through telehealth
Telehealth has become a key option for people living in states with abortion bans. If upheld, the ruling could upend how abortions are provided in the United States.
Shefali Luthra
https://19thnews.org/2026/05/court-blocks-mifepristone-access-telehealth/

Spirit Airlines ceases operations after escalating financial struggles
Joel Rose, NPR
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/05/02/npr-spirit-airlines-ceases-operations-folds Read more... )
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[personal profile] duckprintspress
Text inside a comics shout bubble and 6 books covers on the background of a rainbow gradient with black motion lines. The text reads: Queer Comics We Love. The books are: The Girl from the Sea by Lee Knox Ostertag; I Think Our Son Is Gay by Okura; The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen; The Witch Boy by Lee Knox Ostertag; Our Sunny Days by Jeong Seokchan; Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner by Sumnagi & Mukbu.

10 books covers on the background of a rainbow gradient with black motion lines. The books are: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang; Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi; Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe; Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries; Lullaby of the Dawn by Ichika Yuno; The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz; The Deep Dark by Lee Knox Ostertag; Wish by CLAMP; Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu; On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden.
10 books covers on the background of a rainbow gradient with black motion lines. The books are: The Crimson Spell by Ayano Yamane; Watson's Sketchbook by Lee Knox Ostertag; Our Dining Table by Mita Ori; Hello Sunshine by Keezy Young; Daybreak by Moosopp; The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith; The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie; Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu; Don't Call Me Daddy by Gorou Kanbe; The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill.

On Free Comic Books Day, the comic industry celebrates and attracts readers by offering (shock!) free comics at local comic book shops. We can’t offer any comics for free, but we CAN offer our favorite graphic novels starring queer characters (explicitly queer or otherwise!). The contributors to the list are: Tryan A Bex, Sebastian Marie, Nina Waters, Cedar, Puck, JD Rivers, Alessa Riel, Linnea Peterson, Mikki Madison, CarCrash, E. C., Rascal Hartley.

Can’t get enough queer graphic novels? There are over 150 titles we’ve recommended now and in the past, and you can find them all on our Goodreads Shelf, our Pagebound.co list, and – for those currently in print – in our Bookshop.org affiliate shop!

Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to chat books, fandom, and more!


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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture.


Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 8: Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is a skillset for peacefully sorting out disagreements between people. Individual aspects include body language, communication skills, cooperative decision-making, coping skills, emotional awareness, mediation, negotiation, and problem-solving. The goal is to find a win-win solution, or if that is not possible, at least something that everyone can live with. Sometimes you may identify a need for additional resources, reorganzing things, or other stuff that could take a while to accomplish. Conflict resolution is effective when it diffuses the tension of the moment and identifies at least one practical step toward reducing or avoiding future conflicts over the same issue. It's okay if that takes multiple rounds to fix fully. All people experience conflicts sometimes, but different cultures handle this in different ways. Dreamwidth has no conflict resolution communities per se, but you might explore [community profile] common_nature, [community profile] goals_on_dw, or [community profile] thankfulthursday for a few of its subskills.


Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Read more... )

Philosophical Questions: Government

May. 2nd, 2026 12:28 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Should governments make laws to protect people from hurting themselves?

Read more... )

A Day Away

May. 1st, 2026 11:32 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
A Day Away Spring/Summer 2026 is now up at the Effingham Magazines page.  :D 3q3q3q!!!  If you live in or plan to visit central Illinois, this is the best guide to events and attractions within daytrip distance of Effingham.

Greek Myth Fest Bingo Card 5-1-26

May. 1st, 2026 10:55 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Here is my card for the Greek Myth Fest Bingo over in [community profile] allbingo. The fest runs from May 1-31.  (See all my 2026 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


GREEK MYTH FEST BINGO CARD

lossjourneydestructionmusicfruit
metamorphosisunderworldquestnaturesilver
recognitioncentaurWILD CARDescapebuilding
rescueherogodsidentitywait
monsterminotaurchosenmagicfamily

Today's Adventures

May. 1st, 2026 10:22 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to the May Day and Full Moon Walk activities at Whiteside Garden.

Read more... )

Friday Five

May. 1st, 2026 12:36 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are [community profile] thefridayfive questions for May 1...

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

May. 1st, 2026 12:33 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've heard a squirrel barking but haven't seen it.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 5/1/26 -- I did a bit of work around patio.

I took some pictures around the yard. Columbine, alliums, poppy, wood hyacinth, and others are blooming.

EDIT 5/1/26 -- I did some brush trimming around the patio.

I've seen a male cardinal and a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

I am done for the night.

EDIT 5/1/26 -- We went to a May Day event, and when we got home, my Cold Stream Farm order had arrived.

2026.05.01

May. 1st, 2026 11:08 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Cinco de Mayo, May Day and a weekend of comedy and art across the Twin Cities
This weekend: Cinco de Mayo on St. Paulโ€™s West Side, May Day at Powderhorn Park, comedy at Sisyphus Brewing and a group art show at Fresh Eye Gallery
by Myah Goff
https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/twin-cities-things-to-do-cinco-de-mayo-may-day-comedy-art/

MN Shortlist May 1-7: Musicals, a secret circus and an exhibition on Native American treaties
Alex V. Cipolle, Jacob Aloi and Emily Bright
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/05/01/mn-shortlist-may-1-7 Read more... )

My April Re

May. 1st, 2026 09:41 am
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[personal profile] duckprintspress
A graphic headered "unforth_duckprintspress's April 2026 Reads," followed by a mosaic of book covers. The books are listed in the accompanying text. Graphic 1 of 3.
Graphic 2 of 3. A mosaic of book covers.
Graphic 3 of 3. A mosaic of book covers.


Relatively light month by my standards, I've been really tired and have ended up playing a frankly embarrassing amount of Brotato instead of reading, a lot of evenings. As usual, my favorites are in bold and queer titles are marked with ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ.

Duck Prints Press Publications:

  • A Glimmer of Hope by Nina Waters (it me) ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Swallow the Stars and Call Me in the Morning by Lyn Weaver ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ

Novels:

  • The Beauty's Blade by Feng Ren Zuo Shu ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ

Manga:

  • Yona of the Dawn vol. 25 - 30 by Mizuho Kusanagi
  • Sakamoto Days vol. 21 by Yuto Suzuki
  • I've Seen it All vol. 1 and 2 by Shouko Takaku ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Dinosaur Sanctuary vol. 7 by Itaru Kinoshita
  • That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime vol. 11 - 13 by Fuse
  • Real-Time Fever by Taberu Kasumi ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation vol. 4 - 9 by Misaki ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆish
  • Dandadan vol. 14 and 15 by Yukinobu Tatsu
  • Gachiakuta vol. 3 and 4 by Kei Urana
  • Yellow omnibus vol. 1 and 2 by Makoto Tateno ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Just Like Mona Lisa vol. 3 and 4 by Ysumuji Yoshimura ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Kaiju No. 8 vol. 15 by Naoya Matsumoto
  • Kisses That Taste Like Lies vol. 1 - 3 by Waka Sagami ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Yuri Espoir vol. 3 by Mai Naoi ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Do You Really Only Want a Meal? vol. 1 and 2 by Yasu Tadano ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ

Graphic Novels:

  • Daybreak vol. 2 by Moosopp ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Dan of Green Gables by Rey Terciero ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Pizza Witch by Steff Purenins and Sarah Graley ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ
  • Lovely Recipe by Myra Rose Nino ๐Ÿณ๏ธ‍๐ŸŒˆ


quotidian stuff

May. 1st, 2026 07:36 am
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[personal profile] hudebnik
Last weekend we were planning to go to a concert in Manhattan on Saturday, and then return to Manhattan on Sunday for an all-day Gamba Society Play-In: [personal profile] shalmestere plays the viola da gamba, while I've acted as "roadie" and taken the "free novice class" at the Play-In about five times, then not played at all between one year's Play-In and the next. But [personal profile] shalmestere Came Down With Something on Friday, so we didn't leave the house over the weekend except to walk dogs, get some gardening supplies, and put things in the garden.

Yesterday afternoon one of the a capella groups at my workplace performed at an "open mic night". The group lost a lot of membership, regular attendance, and momentum with two years of work-from-home and subsequent partial-work-from-home, and has shifted from its pre-Covid practice scheduling a half-hour concert of its own twice a year to preparing only one piece at a time for the monthly open-mic. But I rejoined the group last month, and a couple of other people have joined and attended regularly, so we had seven people for a decent performance of "Build me up Butttercup" (video link to follow).

As I was crossing Ninth Avenue on the way to the open mic night, I tripped over the barrier separating bike lanes from car lanes, and fell forward in the middle of the street. Palms and left knee slightly scraped but not bleeding, glasses scratched, right hip bruised. After getting home, I put an ice-pack on the right hip and took an Ibuprofen. Could have been worse. Hip is still a little sore this morning.

This coming weekend we're scheduled to attend a living history show in Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania, so I spent three evenings this week making meat pasties ("Pyes of Paris") and the Menagier's spinach tarts for the troupe to eat during the day.

Today I'm supposed to put in a day's work, while also helping [personal profile] shalmestere deliver the dogs to the boarding kennel, pack the car, drive 4-1/2 hours to central Pennsylvania, and set up a pavilion, possibly in the rain. I think much of the "day's work" stuff will be this evening in a hotel room. And I'm secondary-on-call, so I need to have my phone and laptop with me, although the odds of being paged are quite slim.
ysabetwordsmith: Text -- three weeks for dreamwidth, in pink (three weeks for dreamwidth)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry.


Sculpture is a tactile art of shaping three-dimensional figures. Popular media include bone, bronze, clay, marble, and polymer clay. Soft sculpture is a fibercraft using materials like wool or cotton. Sculpture may also be mixed media using typical materials or found objects. All known human cultures make art, leading to great variety in sculpture. Here on Dreamwidth, see [community profile] crafty, [community profile] creativity, [community profile] everykindofcraft, [community profile] get_knitted, [community profile] justcreate, or [community profile] nacramamo. There are more Crafts communities too.


Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Read more... )

Bingo

Apr. 30th, 2026 11:13 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
I have made bingo down the G column of my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. I also made 5 extra fills.


G1 (Edge of Enchantment) -- "Edge of Enchantment" (Coracle Shores)
G2 (Black Hero) -- "Any Terms You Offer" (Not Quite Kansas)
G3 (Zinnia) -- "Play Off the Energy of the Crowd" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels)
G4 (Lilac) -- "Beautiful, Tough, Shiny, Resilient" (The Blueshift Troupers)
G5 (Devil's Tongue) -- "So DONE with It All" (standalone)

B1 (Request) -- "Their Hidden Source" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis)
B3 (Escape) -- "Someone Who Was Trying to Be Sober" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis)
B5 (Exception) -- "The Grabber" (Monster House)

I4 (Moonlight Sensation) -- "An Equally Valid Way of Being" (The Moon Door)

N1 (Big Smile) -- "Eat It Happily Because It Is Good" (Polychrome Heroics: Shiv)

New Year's Resolutions Check In

Apr. 30th, 2026 09:52 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
We made it to the end of April! \o/ If you have completed any of your short-term goals or subgoals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We've also gotten through the second month of spring. If you're doing seasonal goals, you may have finished the first of your spring ones and/or be looking ahead to the summer batch.

I'm continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them.


These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 9
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 16
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 23
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31


Read more... )

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