Interesting Links for 04-01-2026
Jan. 4th, 2026 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrewducker- 1. Who is to blame for the current state of the USA?
- (tags:USA constitution politics )
- 2. Custom biotech is here (grey market advances on GLP, with more following)
- (tags:weight drugs biotech )
- 3. People with ADHD have higher prevalence of severe perimenopausal symptoms. These symptoms present at an earlier age.
- (tags:age menstruation adhd )
1860s North Carolina railroad chicanery
Jan. 4th, 2026 02:43 ambrooksmosesAs a result of a very random bit of internet research rabbit-hole exploration today, I came across a tale of politics-and-railroad chicanery in 1860s North Carolina that is far too good not to share. I present: "The Chatham Railroad", by Robert Wiesner, from the Chatham County Historical Society.
It is hilarious. Darkly hilarious, at times, but hilarious. It's well worth the read.
The short version of the tale is that the Chatham Railroad was chartered several times in the 1850s and early 1860s with the intention of carrying coal from "inexhaustible" coalfields that were much smaller than expected to markets that mostly didn't exist, finally got properly started just in time to be interrupted by the war, changed its plans in violation of the North Carolina state constitution basically as soon as the constitution was written, and was dissolved in 1871, in that decade-plus of time having built 30 miles of track and successfully purchased one locomotive, 27 freight cars, two passenger cars, and two state legislatures.
It is hilarious. Darkly hilarious, at times, but hilarious. It's well worth the read.
The short version of the tale is that the Chatham Railroad was chartered several times in the 1850s and early 1860s with the intention of carrying coal from "inexhaustible" coalfields that were much smaller than expected to markets that mostly didn't exist, finally got properly started just in time to be interrupted by the war, changed its plans in violation of the North Carolina state constitution basically as soon as the constitution was written, and was dissolved in 1871, in that decade-plus of time having built 30 miles of track and successfully purchased one locomotive, 27 freight cars, two passenger cars, and two state legislatures.
Reading: Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
Jan. 4th, 2026 12:33 amchomijiSelena arrives at the tiny train station in the town of Quartz Creek with a backpack, a rolling suitcase, her dog Copper, and a postcard from her aunt, suggesting a visit. When Selena had finally decided she could not deal with her emotionally abusive fiancé any longer, that postcard gave her a destination. But when she reaches the town, after two and a half days of travel, she discovers that Aunt Amelia is dead, and has been for a year.
Selena has hardly any money, and it would be so easy to return to her poisonous partner and let him run her life, but she hesitates. And as she's hesitating, she meets a variety of kind but eccentric townspeople who suggest that there is no reason why she can't simply take over her aunt's house, known as Jackrabbit Hole House. Even in a town where it's far more common for a house to have a name than not, this one is puzzling. Jackrabbits, one of the residents informs her, don't live in holes.
Despite all the minor issues that one might expect in a house that's been all but abandoned in the U.S southwestern desert for a year, Selena finds the place surprisingly comfortable. Her next-door neighbor Grandma Billy keeps her supplied with eggs and other miscellaneous food, and the local church has a potluck supper multiple times a week. She also discovers, when she goes to buy Copper some dog food, that Aunt Amelia left several hundred dollars of credit at the local store, which the store owner insists is Selena's now. With Grandma Billy's help, Selena even starts to recover her aunt's vegetable garden.
Everything is fine until she starts hearing voices. Then there's that creepy statuette in the main room. And one morning, she finds she's not alone in her bed.
( Cut for more, including some spoilers )This is the Southwest of Kingfisher's collection Jackalope Wives and Other Stories, where spirits, gods, and shapeshifters co-exist with vintage pickup tricks and ecotourists. Kingfisher seems at her best in this setting, and Selena's predicament is genuinely frightening at times.
The book is also, however, rather familiar. The outline of the story is very similar to Kingfisher's The Twisted Ones (2019), in which a young woman named Mouse travels with her beloved dog Bongo to inventory her late grandmother's house and finds all manner of creepiness. She deals with these manifestations with the help of eccentric locals. The Twisted Ones is actually a more complicated story, probably because it's a pastiche of a 1904 horror short story called “The White People," by Arthur Machen. Snake-Eater is also shorter: 267 pages to 399 for The Twisted Ones.
To me, Snake-Eater is the more engaging story. In the acknowledgments, Kingfisher reminisces about growing up in the Southwest. I knew she had moved there recently, but I didn't realize that she was a returnee when she did so. That may be why this story feels more full of life than the earlier work.
I think I'll be re-reading this one. I've never bothered with that for The Twisted Ones.
It Was a Year Without a Santa Claus, the Worst We've Ever Had
Jan. 4th, 2026 12:10 amaustin_dern[Stop-motion animated snowman voice] If I live to be a hundred I'll probably never forget that year that --- you won't believe this --- the world almost missed Silver Balls In The City. You don't know the story? Well, let me tell you ...
bunnyhugger's Silver Balls has always been one of the last pinball events of the Michigan calendar and this year planned to be no exception, with the event --- a ``fair strikes'' tournament, where you play until you lose enough times, last one standing the winner --- set for the Tuesday between Christmas and New Year's. Except that earlier this month bunnyhugger discovered that while she had created a Facebook Event for it and been publicizing it in the Lansing and the Michigan Pinball communities, she hadn't registered it with the International Flipper Pinball Association, the sanctioning body for competitive pinball. They require a thirty-day notice before an event takes place, the better to avoid shenanigans where people try to cheat their way in a close pinball standings race by opening something only the conspirators have a hope of playing.
What to do? Run it as an un-sanctioned event, kneecapping participation and --- the true point of it --- charitable donations to the Capital Area Humane Society? Run it thirty days from the date of discovery, which would put it not just into the New Year but past even Twelfth Night, the latest anyone could plausibly care about a Christmas-themed event? Ask the IFPA if they'll allow an exception because there was no attempt made to hide this event from anyone, just an absent-minded oversight?
After encouragement from me, bunnyhugger took the last course, and the IFPA, possibly just relieved any woman is still talking to them, approved the event with a bit of don't-do-it-again scolding. bunnyhugger went on to register every event --- league night, side tournament, women's tournament, and charity tournament --- for 2026, so that's covered. And we could trust that nothing would stop the tournament now.
When I got home from work --- inexplicably we had to come into the office the Tuesday between Christmas and New Year's --- bunnyhugger was distraught. Her plans for upcycling donated trophies had gone wrong, and went wrong very badly, consuming way more time and proving impossible without hardware that she wasn't sure any hardware store near us had. She spent many of the hours of the night in more aggravated improvisations of a workshop, and then --- sleeping so long she lost the time to make the cookies she had promised for the tournament --- running to hardware stores to get things that might help, and might yet help, but would not help this tournament.
She had got the trophies for the final three finishers assembled, but only just, and she was not able to find the laminate sheets and insulated jacket to run the placement finishes through the laminator and was about to give up on them. (Fortunately I knew where these were.) It would take hours for the trophy toppers to really set, and a day or more for them to be really secure. All we could do is trust that people wouldn't touch the Santa figures on top, and hope that they wouldn't fall off in loading them to my car or bringing them into the venue.
However, the important thing, is that Silver Balls '025 did happen.
And before I reveal how it happened, let me share Plopsaland De Panne pictures, like you've been enjoying since before Silver Balls:
A zone of fun in the park, where kids can pedal miniature cars around on a replica city street. If I were a kid this would have been my most favorite attration ever.
Isn't that great? Traffic lanes and curbs and confusing arrays of signs? Just fantastic stuff.
Kid giving some adults a high-five for managing a loop around the city square.
And here we are returned to the front of the park and the playful fountain. Note the shops in the distance have backdrops featuring a fake partly-cloudy sky that's a little weird to see against the actually partly-cloudy sky.
And now ... that tower ride seen earlier, SuperSplash. Wonder what that means!
And here's the station. You see one of the riders is all set to be super splashed.
Trivia: The name of Cambridge's Magdalene College is pronounced ``Maudlin''; the college was named for Saint Mary Magdalene, but founder Lord Thomas Audley insisted on spelling it ``Maudelyn'', rhyming with his own name. Source: Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator, Keith Houston. Re-founded, technically; it was a reestablishment of Buckingham College, which Audley had graduated.
Currently Reading: A Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II, Maury Klein.
The dichotomy of living in a warm time and cold house
Jan. 3rd, 2026 10:51 pmsporky_ratThe house has been either entirely too cold or very pleasant, and no middle ground. There's been a fire all day, and it has helped a lot. One of the big issues we have is concrete floors, and it's slick and keeps the cold really well. Perfect for summer. Awful, terrible, no good, and bad for winter.
But I do have house shoes that supposedly are arriving tomorrow? I'm fine if they show up Monday though. I don't really like how the USPS has to deliver packages on Sundays.
The upcoming months are already filling up. I'm going to be busy so many weekends!
Dept. of Fluffy Bunnies
Jan. 3rd, 2026 09:45 pmkaffy_rIn an Effort to Palate Cleanse After Today ...
... it's the return of the Music Meme ...
... and it's Day 17.
A song about being 17:
Oh, was there ever going to be any other song?
Even though I first heard the song well after I left 17 behind, Janis Ian's song spoke to me in a general sense. I understood it, even though I hadn't suffered what she undoubtedly suffered during her own school days. I'd suffered smaller heartbreaks in high school, for the crime of being weird. Besides, her writing was beautiful. So of course, I loved it. Teenagers have it tough, y'all.
Years later, I learned she was a science fiction fan, and she wrote a song about that, and put it to the music for "At Seventeen." Here it is. (I don't know if it was written for SFWA, or for the Nebula Awards; Geri, if you're out there, can you tell me? It was the title of her rewritten song, "Welcome Home," which she repeats more than once in the lyrics, that hit me harder than "At Seventeen" ever did. That's what I felt when I discovered SFF fandom; I'd found a home.
Even later, I had the chance to listen to her live when she played a gig in Evanston. Afterwards, I spoke briefly to her about how much I loved that, especially the mention of Cordwainer Smith, one of my favorite weirdly beautiful writers. It turns out that she was also a Smith fan. That was as much a gift to me as "Welcome Home" was
If you want to see any of my earlier answers, visit Day 16 The links are at the bottom.
... it's the return of the Music Meme ...
... and it's Day 17.
A song about being 17:
Oh, was there ever going to be any other song?
Even though I first heard the song well after I left 17 behind, Janis Ian's song spoke to me in a general sense. I understood it, even though I hadn't suffered what she undoubtedly suffered during her own school days. I'd suffered smaller heartbreaks in high school, for the crime of being weird. Besides, her writing was beautiful. So of course, I loved it. Teenagers have it tough, y'all.
Years later, I learned she was a science fiction fan, and she wrote a song about that, and put it to the music for "At Seventeen." Here it is. (I don't know if it was written for SFWA, or for the Nebula Awards; Geri, if you're out there, can you tell me? It was the title of her rewritten song, "Welcome Home," which she repeats more than once in the lyrics, that hit me harder than "At Seventeen" ever did. That's what I felt when I discovered SFF fandom; I'd found a home.
Even later, I had the chance to listen to her live when she played a gig in Evanston. Afterwards, I spoke briefly to her about how much I loved that, especially the mention of Cordwainer Smith, one of my favorite weirdly beautiful writers. It turns out that she was also a Smith fan. That was as much a gift to me as "Welcome Home" was
If you want to see any of my earlier answers, visit Day 16 The links are at the bottom.
not yet reading
Jan. 3rd, 2026 06:44 pmthistleingreyA web search, its results no doubt infested with sloppy attempts to gain page views, indicates that if I like reading (some of) Ann Cleeves's novels, I would also like the work of
Louise Penny
Elly Griffiths
Richard Osman
Tana French
Kate Ellis
Val McDermid
Kia Abdullah
I'm happy to wade through a novel or two apiece, but if anyone has thoughts on these, I'm interested! Any writers you'd add?
I've bounced off the first two French titles, some years ago (though I may try her newer setting). McDermid seems more thriller-angled somehow. Isn't Abdullah known for tense courtroom scenes?
Perhaps relevant: I don't love Cleeves's work and have bounced off at least three of her novels, but (this is positive!) her fiction has reliably been just interesting enough, just intricate enough, to feel soothing when I'd like not to be surprised much by a novel. To me, her stories emphasize humans and their places. I prefer the Matthew Venn sequence to Vera Stanhope or Jimmy Perez because Venn makes the investigations almost an ensemble effort---trickier to write, perhaps.
Louise Penny
Elly Griffiths
Richard Osman
Tana French
Kate Ellis
Val McDermid
Kia Abdullah
I'm happy to wade through a novel or two apiece, but if anyone has thoughts on these, I'm interested! Any writers you'd add?
I've bounced off the first two French titles, some years ago (though I may try her newer setting). McDermid seems more thriller-angled somehow. Isn't Abdullah known for tense courtroom scenes?
Perhaps relevant: I don't love Cleeves's work and have bounced off at least three of her novels, but (this is positive!) her fiction has reliably been just interesting enough, just intricate enough, to feel soothing when I'd like not to be surprised much by a novel. To me, her stories emphasize humans and their places. I prefer the Matthew Venn sequence to Vera Stanhope or Jimmy Perez because Venn makes the investigations almost an ensemble effort---trickier to write, perhaps.
conulyI thought I outgrew this behavior a good two decades ago, but I guess illegal wars really get my dander up.
The conversation, such as it was, was long and pointless, but it did have this amusing, paraphrased exchange:
Them: I didn't say that you should say "ones of them", I just said that even though it sounds wrong it's technically grammatical! Go to ChatGPT, it'll tell you the same thing!
Me: No, it won't, here's the screenshot.
Them: Well! That doesn't count because it doesn't cite a rule! I did check before posting that you should go to ChatGPT, you know!
(They spontaneously claimed elsewhere that they understand the idea of descriptivist linguistics, but I think they don't understand how much of language has yet to be described, even in very well-studied languages like English.)
The conversation, such as it was, was long and pointless, but it did have this amusing, paraphrased exchange:
Them: I didn't say that you should say "ones of them", I just said that even though it sounds wrong it's technically grammatical! Go to ChatGPT, it'll tell you the same thing!
Me: No, it won't, here's the screenshot.
Them: Well! That doesn't count because it doesn't cite a rule! I did check before posting that you should go to ChatGPT, you know!
(They spontaneously claimed elsewhere that they understand the idea of descriptivist linguistics, but I think they don't understand how much of language has yet to be described, even in very well-studied languages like English.)
WolfMoon of Celeste
Jan. 3rd, 2026 07:41 pmismoMy plan of bouncing back vigorously from post-holiday fatigue is not going well. My PLAN last night was to sleep well. Apparently that wasn't an option. I woke up in the middle of the night and was awake for an ungodly long time. So the night consisted of two truncated naps. This morning, I was going to shovel the remaining snow off the car and surroundings. Some kind pixie had done the far end of the driveway when I wasn't looking. Then I was going to go to the store, and prepare something for the potluck tomorrow, and clean up Christmas odds and ends, and go to church. Apparently, this again was too much too ask. I had to admit I could not hustle fast enough to do even that much. I remained irritable and lethargic even after medicating myself with a bowl of the leek and potato soup I finally got around to making yesterday. I swear it has curative properties, though not quite curative enough. I had to allow the Sparrowhawk to go to the store on my behalf, and I could not go to church. I took a nap instead.
We managed a small amount of removal of cardboard boxes and such, and in the process I accomplished my greatest feat of the day: I found a precious object that had gone astray at present-giving time. It's a sound card from a Yoto, a screen-free audio device we bought for Aquinas on the advice of his parents. The card is about the size of a playing card, so naturally, I put it somewhere it would be very safe. So safe I couldn't find it again for two weeks!
Slightly rejuvenated by my nap, I cut up and marinated four pounds of pork roast, two gigantic leeks, three onions, and a bunch of carrots. That will be one step forward for tomorrow . . . . It's a full moon tonight, and if anyone has clear skies, I advise going out to take a look. Last night I saw the moon very high in the sky, accompanied by Jupiter, Sirius, and a few more heavenly bodies I couldn't see well enough to name. Moonlight on snow is medicinal, like leek and potato soup.
We managed a small amount of removal of cardboard boxes and such, and in the process I accomplished my greatest feat of the day: I found a precious object that had gone astray at present-giving time. It's a sound card from a Yoto, a screen-free audio device we bought for Aquinas on the advice of his parents. The card is about the size of a playing card, so naturally, I put it somewhere it would be very safe. So safe I couldn't find it again for two weeks!
Slightly rejuvenated by my nap, I cut up and marinated four pounds of pork roast, two gigantic leeks, three onions, and a bunch of carrots. That will be one step forward for tomorrow . . . . It's a full moon tonight, and if anyone has clear skies, I advise going out to take a look. Last night I saw the moon very high in the sky, accompanied by Jupiter, Sirius, and a few more heavenly bodies I couldn't see well enough to name. Moonlight on snow is medicinal, like leek and potato soup.
"Mr. Rowl" so far
Jan. 3rd, 2026 05:27 pmmuccamukkI needed a novel to round out my holiday reading, so I picked up "Mr. Rowl" by D.K. Broster (who wrote part of the Gay Jacobite Extended Universe). I'd read a couple reviews, but they were long enough ago that I remembered the following:
1. There are no gay Jacobites.
2. Because it's set during the Napoleonic War.
3. One of the characters (Raoul des Sablière) is a French officer who is a prisoner of war in England.
4. Everyone is very worried about their honour.
5. Readers of my acquaintance ship the French prisoner with an English dude.
6. The ladies are cool.
So I go into the book and immediately meet Raoul, and start looking for whoever I'm supposed to ship him with.
I meet Sir Francis, who is a handsome English Lord who Does Not Like Raoul. This seems like it's probably who I'm supposed to ship.
Except! Sir Francis is immediately a controlling dick to his fiancée. I have pretty generous shipping goggles, when need by, but I don't think anyone could read Sir Francis as being a controlling dick because he wants to be with Raoul. He's just a dick. He is very worried about his honour, though, so it did seem somewhat likely that he might still be the one.
Which has not slowed fandom down before, to be fair. But isn't usually 100% my thing. So then I was feeling a little sad that I wasn't going to be into the pairing my friends like.
However, as I got farther into the book, and Sir Francis became even more of a dick, was like, "This is going to be one hell of a redemption arc!" But also doubt.jpg. Also, also, wow, it's funny to have mostly aligned ships with someone, then have them be ride or die for something that's rapidly turning into a NOTP for me.
Finally, I broke and looked at AO3, and figured out I'm supposed to ship Raoul with some guy who has not yet showed up, as of 20% of the novel.
Which is a relief. Because I quite like Raoul, even if he has the Broster characteristic of being slightly silly about his honour, and he deserves better than Sir Francis, who is a dick.
1. There are no gay Jacobites.
2. Because it's set during the Napoleonic War.
3. One of the characters (Raoul des Sablière) is a French officer who is a prisoner of war in England.
4. Everyone is very worried about their honour.
5. Readers of my acquaintance ship the French prisoner with an English dude.
6. The ladies are cool.
So I go into the book and immediately meet Raoul, and start looking for whoever I'm supposed to ship him with.
I meet Sir Francis, who is a handsome English Lord who Does Not Like Raoul. This seems like it's probably who I'm supposed to ship.
Except! Sir Francis is immediately a controlling dick to his fiancée. I have pretty generous shipping goggles, when need by, but I don't think anyone could read Sir Francis as being a controlling dick because he wants to be with Raoul. He's just a dick. He is very worried about his honour, though, so it did seem somewhat likely that he might still be the one.
Which has not slowed fandom down before, to be fair. But isn't usually 100% my thing. So then I was feeling a little sad that I wasn't going to be into the pairing my friends like.
However, as I got farther into the book, and Sir Francis became even more of a dick, was like, "This is going to be one hell of a redemption arc!" But also doubt.jpg. Also, also, wow, it's funny to have mostly aligned ships with someone, then have them be ride or die for something that's rapidly turning into a NOTP for me.
Finally, I broke and looked at AO3, and figured out I'm supposed to ship Raoul with some guy who has not yet showed up, as of 20% of the novel.
Which is a relief. Because I quite like Raoul, even if he has the Broster characteristic of being slightly silly about his honour, and he deserves better than Sir Francis, who is a dick.
Annual state of the Brooke!
Jan. 3rd, 2026 03:55 pmyamIt's my annual celebration of Remembering I Have A Blog! It's a far cry from the heady livejournal days where you could be assured of hearing my every passing thought or at least seeing all my blurry photos of flowers, but such are the times.
So, top of the mental list currently is my broken laundry machine. It's like 20 years old so I can't really even fault it, it was cheap to begin with, was in a rental unit with a landlord who didn't give a shit for a lot of that time, and honestly has earned its retirement. But predictable or not I sure don't have any money to replace it, so I'm doing the crowdfunding thing, because I really, really want clean socks and my nigerian prince is not returning my calls.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dear-internet-please-do-my-laundry
In my wildest dreams I can get together enough money for a machine I can use by myself, which was not the case with the current one, but honestly I'll still be overjoyed if I can just get a new version of the Cheapest Thing In The Store, because again, clean socks. And towels. And not having to figure out how to take a full laundry hamper on the bus in a wheelchair to get to a laundromat. The two closest ones have big stairs at the entrance anyway, a hazard of living in New Westminster, which is not flat. But also sitting in a laundromat sounds like migraine hell. ANYWAY ANYWAY I don't know why I'm going on about why I want to be able to do laundry, like, you know why.
======
But that's this weekend, and it's been a year! What's new?
- I moved! Not far, I ended up buying a place about five blocks from my old place. But it has TWO ELEVATORS and they are quite reliable so far. Also it's a single block from the skytrain, which is somehow like an order of magnitude more convenient than being four blocks from the skytrain. It's on a busy street so it's a bit noisier and the police seem to need to sit outside with strobe lights going every single night, but nothing blackout curtains and pretending the cars are the ocean can't deal with. It's smaller - a one-bedroom instead of two. Greg has the bedroom and I'm out in the living room, and the furniture arrangement sort of says "dollar store that won't pass a fire code inspection" but it works. Also hilariously my cousin lives here, and in the last year of living here I've run into him once. I mean I've seen him more than that because of family dinners, but I am amused by how living in the same building has not affected things at all.
- I have my new wheelchair! I kind of forgot that that was just this year, it feels like I've had it forever, and it's so, so good you guys. It eats hills for breakfast, the battery life is great, and it's so much faster. I still use my old chair for trips to Salt Spring to see pals, or rare occasions when a car trip is the only way to get somewhere, and when I do I realize how spoiled I am, because now the old chair feels soooo slow, and when I got it I remember finding the speed overwhelming a bit. Grateful for both of 'em and glad I got the foldy one first, both because I would never have convinced the ministry to pay for the better one without it, and because if this one develops any problems, I have a backup to use. Wheelchair repairs through the ministry notoriously take weeks in BC, so that's some big time peace of mind that I won't be stranded at home if I need to navigate that. It's weird to think that two years ago I _was_ stranded at home, basically all the time, except for a few excursions for medical appointments that would put me in bed in pain for days afterward. Wheelchair life is so, so much better.
- Greg just turned 15! He's 5'11" now and still as sweet and cuddly as he was as a toddler and still demands that I read him a bedtime story every night. (Which is a couple chapters of a grisly urban fantasy series usually. I would pretend that was an artifact of his age, but nah, he got grisly YA murder mysteries from Tamora Pierce when he was much younger, children are just bloodthirsty in general.) He is so thoughtful and conscientious and I'm so proud of the man he's growing up to be.
- My cats are still cats. Sammy is disturbed by the view from our new apartment; he can see birds now and he is NOT OKAY with the existence of birds. I'm not sure how this wasn't an issue at our old place, but now he keeps mewling disconsolately at them and looking at me like "Uh, fix this?" Ladybug is undismayed by anything, as usual, and spends her day getting me, any visitors, and any inanimate objects she can reach to pet her.
- I'm on a super-strict keto diet for my liver condition and annoyingly it's working really, really well. My lab numbers immediately dropped to 75% of their alarming height. I say annoying because now I have to keep doing it. I miss candy! I'm getting not bad at making keto bread in the breadmaker, though, so at least Cheez Whiz and pickle sandwiches are here to console me. Which is the weirdest health food ever, but hey, it works. Super strict = 20g of carbs a day or less, which would not actually be /that/ hard except I spend most of it on my daily 1/3 of a pudding cup to take my meds in. I've tried the no sugar added ones and they are just so much worse at disguising the taste of the bitter meds, so oh well. There is a lot of heavy cream and lunch meat in my life right now. Why eating a ton of fat is making my fatty liver improve I do not know, but I can't pretend to understand even a tenth of what livers get up to, and honestly I think that is true of most hepatologists as well. Livers: they are up to some SHIT.
- Recently enjoyed Wake Up Dead Man, and watching the two previous movies again. Rian Johnson is just so good at capturing up to the minute assholes, and Daniel Craig is SO GOOD as CSI KFC. I saw Sneakers for the first time this year, and immediately watched it again twice, dang, that was not oversold to me. Also I watched Pacific Rim about 25 times. Giant robot comfort food, what can I say.
- Steam tells me I spent most of my game time on Stardew Valley, again. Comfort food, again, ayup. I have, jeez, 8000 hours of playtime now? But the mod community is so active that it's really a new game every time, along with also being the same game every time. It's a pretty great combination. But anyhoo. Also really enjoyed Blue Prince, Balatro, and especially Dave the Diver, which I 100%ed and then immediately 100%ed again, like, back to back, I just loved it so hard. I'll probably 100% it again later this year when the new jungle expansion comes out. I can't remember if this year was when I started them or not, but also really enjoyed all of the Mosaic series by Mark Ffrench. It's a minesweeper-like puzzle at the core, but each section you solve unlocks some interesting little factoid, so it combines the addictiveness of minesweeper with the addictiveness of going down a wikipedia rabbithole. The tone of the games varies a LOT, from pleasantly benign and amusing (Proverbs) to really depressing (Mosaic Retrospective: 2024, which recaps events of the year and yikes what a year) to grisly (the latest, Mosaic of the Strange, which is an X-files homage) to educational (Mosaic of the Pharaohs,) just in the choice of the genre of factoids you get. I replayed Witcher 3, again, several times, but also this year tried out the Witcher 1 and 2, now that they have mac ports. Witcher 1 was a little painful to play, the interface is brutal, but it has the same voice actors and the same writers, so it was still very worthwhile, damn, they are good at this. Witcher 2 was very much like Witcher 3, just with the plot a little more on rails, and I really enjoyed playing it through twice to see both main pathways. I did some play-testing for the upcoming TR-49, which I highly recommend. You're manipulating reality on a fictional enigma-esque device from Bletchley park using leet-speak. So basically like all Inkle games, impossible to describe but very engrossing.
- Okay I'm running out of steam, I'll probably think of six other things to talk about as soon as I hit post and then forget to post them and see you next year? Or next week, maybe I'll pop on to brag about my new laundry set-up, because holy shit, in the time it took me to post this I'm half-way funded. WHAT THE HECK.
Ahem. If anyone needs me I'll be crying into a cheez whiz sandwich because people are very, very kind. <3
So, top of the mental list currently is my broken laundry machine. It's like 20 years old so I can't really even fault it, it was cheap to begin with, was in a rental unit with a landlord who didn't give a shit for a lot of that time, and honestly has earned its retirement. But predictable or not I sure don't have any money to replace it, so I'm doing the crowdfunding thing, because I really, really want clean socks and my nigerian prince is not returning my calls.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dear-internet-please-do-my-laundry
In my wildest dreams I can get together enough money for a machine I can use by myself, which was not the case with the current one, but honestly I'll still be overjoyed if I can just get a new version of the Cheapest Thing In The Store, because again, clean socks. And towels. And not having to figure out how to take a full laundry hamper on the bus in a wheelchair to get to a laundromat. The two closest ones have big stairs at the entrance anyway, a hazard of living in New Westminster, which is not flat. But also sitting in a laundromat sounds like migraine hell. ANYWAY ANYWAY I don't know why I'm going on about why I want to be able to do laundry, like, you know why.
======
But that's this weekend, and it's been a year! What's new?
- I moved! Not far, I ended up buying a place about five blocks from my old place. But it has TWO ELEVATORS and they are quite reliable so far. Also it's a single block from the skytrain, which is somehow like an order of magnitude more convenient than being four blocks from the skytrain. It's on a busy street so it's a bit noisier and the police seem to need to sit outside with strobe lights going every single night, but nothing blackout curtains and pretending the cars are the ocean can't deal with. It's smaller - a one-bedroom instead of two. Greg has the bedroom and I'm out in the living room, and the furniture arrangement sort of says "dollar store that won't pass a fire code inspection" but it works. Also hilariously my cousin lives here, and in the last year of living here I've run into him once. I mean I've seen him more than that because of family dinners, but I am amused by how living in the same building has not affected things at all.
- I have my new wheelchair! I kind of forgot that that was just this year, it feels like I've had it forever, and it's so, so good you guys. It eats hills for breakfast, the battery life is great, and it's so much faster. I still use my old chair for trips to Salt Spring to see pals, or rare occasions when a car trip is the only way to get somewhere, and when I do I realize how spoiled I am, because now the old chair feels soooo slow, and when I got it I remember finding the speed overwhelming a bit. Grateful for both of 'em and glad I got the foldy one first, both because I would never have convinced the ministry to pay for the better one without it, and because if this one develops any problems, I have a backup to use. Wheelchair repairs through the ministry notoriously take weeks in BC, so that's some big time peace of mind that I won't be stranded at home if I need to navigate that. It's weird to think that two years ago I _was_ stranded at home, basically all the time, except for a few excursions for medical appointments that would put me in bed in pain for days afterward. Wheelchair life is so, so much better.
- Greg just turned 15! He's 5'11" now and still as sweet and cuddly as he was as a toddler and still demands that I read him a bedtime story every night. (Which is a couple chapters of a grisly urban fantasy series usually. I would pretend that was an artifact of his age, but nah, he got grisly YA murder mysteries from Tamora Pierce when he was much younger, children are just bloodthirsty in general.) He is so thoughtful and conscientious and I'm so proud of the man he's growing up to be.
- My cats are still cats. Sammy is disturbed by the view from our new apartment; he can see birds now and he is NOT OKAY with the existence of birds. I'm not sure how this wasn't an issue at our old place, but now he keeps mewling disconsolately at them and looking at me like "Uh, fix this?" Ladybug is undismayed by anything, as usual, and spends her day getting me, any visitors, and any inanimate objects she can reach to pet her.
- I'm on a super-strict keto diet for my liver condition and annoyingly it's working really, really well. My lab numbers immediately dropped to 75% of their alarming height. I say annoying because now I have to keep doing it. I miss candy! I'm getting not bad at making keto bread in the breadmaker, though, so at least Cheez Whiz and pickle sandwiches are here to console me. Which is the weirdest health food ever, but hey, it works. Super strict = 20g of carbs a day or less, which would not actually be /that/ hard except I spend most of it on my daily 1/3 of a pudding cup to take my meds in. I've tried the no sugar added ones and they are just so much worse at disguising the taste of the bitter meds, so oh well. There is a lot of heavy cream and lunch meat in my life right now. Why eating a ton of fat is making my fatty liver improve I do not know, but I can't pretend to understand even a tenth of what livers get up to, and honestly I think that is true of most hepatologists as well. Livers: they are up to some SHIT.
- Recently enjoyed Wake Up Dead Man, and watching the two previous movies again. Rian Johnson is just so good at capturing up to the minute assholes, and Daniel Craig is SO GOOD as CSI KFC. I saw Sneakers for the first time this year, and immediately watched it again twice, dang, that was not oversold to me. Also I watched Pacific Rim about 25 times. Giant robot comfort food, what can I say.
- Steam tells me I spent most of my game time on Stardew Valley, again. Comfort food, again, ayup. I have, jeez, 8000 hours of playtime now? But the mod community is so active that it's really a new game every time, along with also being the same game every time. It's a pretty great combination. But anyhoo. Also really enjoyed Blue Prince, Balatro, and especially Dave the Diver, which I 100%ed and then immediately 100%ed again, like, back to back, I just loved it so hard. I'll probably 100% it again later this year when the new jungle expansion comes out. I can't remember if this year was when I started them or not, but also really enjoyed all of the Mosaic series by Mark Ffrench. It's a minesweeper-like puzzle at the core, but each section you solve unlocks some interesting little factoid, so it combines the addictiveness of minesweeper with the addictiveness of going down a wikipedia rabbithole. The tone of the games varies a LOT, from pleasantly benign and amusing (Proverbs) to really depressing (Mosaic Retrospective: 2024, which recaps events of the year and yikes what a year) to grisly (the latest, Mosaic of the Strange, which is an X-files homage) to educational (Mosaic of the Pharaohs,) just in the choice of the genre of factoids you get. I replayed Witcher 3, again, several times, but also this year tried out the Witcher 1 and 2, now that they have mac ports. Witcher 1 was a little painful to play, the interface is brutal, but it has the same voice actors and the same writers, so it was still very worthwhile, damn, they are good at this. Witcher 2 was very much like Witcher 3, just with the plot a little more on rails, and I really enjoyed playing it through twice to see both main pathways. I did some play-testing for the upcoming TR-49, which I highly recommend. You're manipulating reality on a fictional enigma-esque device from Bletchley park using leet-speak. So basically like all Inkle games, impossible to describe but very engrossing.
- Okay I'm running out of steam, I'll probably think of six other things to talk about as soon as I hit post and then forget to post them and see you next year? Or next week, maybe I'll pop on to brag about my new laundry set-up, because holy shit, in the time it took me to post this I'm half-way funded. WHAT THE HECK.
Ahem. If anyone needs me I'll be crying into a cheez whiz sandwich because people are very, very kind. <3
Birds in Hand
Jan. 3rd, 2026 03:25 pmlovelyangel |
After visiting Sequential Noir, I followed up with a scan at Amazon for Birds of Prey books... and discovered an amazing book that was published just a few months ago – Birds of Prey Omnibus Vol. 1 by Gail Simone and Ed Benes. Oooh! A hardcover version of one of my favorite series? Count me in!
I ordered the book last week, and it arrived yesterday. It’s beautiful! The inside pages are brilliant color on glossy pages – much more durable and vibrant than the trade paperbacks I have. The book covers Birds of Prey #56-90, which I do own in trade paperback. But this book is much higher quality. Super happy to have this in my library!
There’s a Gail Simone Birds of Prey Omnibus Vol. 2 coming out in August. This is a no-brainer for me.
Where to Find Queen of Swords Press/Me in 2026
Dec. 31st, 2026 04:40 pmcatherineldfUpdates as we have them!
January:
- Tomes and Treats - The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe, St. Paul, MN. January 18th, 12-5PM. Queen of Swords Press will have a book table.
- #SmallPitch - Online small press pitching event January 19th - 26th. Got a manuscript and a pitch ready to submit? Queen of Swords Press is one of the participating presses.
February:
- "To Market, To Market" - The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis. February 28th, 9AM-12:00. Join Jennie Goloboy (a successful literary agent) and Catherine Lundoff (an award-winning small press publisher) for a workshop on their perspectives on what makes a manuscript marketable.
March:
- MarsCon - March 6-8, Minneapolis, MN. Queen of Swords Press will be there with a book table and Michael Merriam and Catherine will be on programming.
April:
- 13 Gears Steampunk Festival - placeholder
- Minicon - April 2nd - 5th. The Hotel Formerly Known as the Radishtree, Bloomington, MN. Queen of Swords Press has applied for a table.
- Rewind Book Fair - placeholder. St. Paul, MN. April 18-19.
May:
- Rochester Pride - May 16th, 12-5PM. Rochester, MN. Queen of Swords Press will have a booth.
- WisCon - May 21-25th. Online.
- Balticon 60 - May 22-25, Baltimore, MD. Melissa Scott may be there - placeholder
June:
- Pride Month StoryBundle - Kicks off end of May and runs through end of June, placeholder. Lots of books by amazing queer authors and we're raising funds for Rainbow Railroad again!
- 4th Street Fantasy - placeholder
- Twin Cities Pride - June 27th-28th, Minneapolis, MN. Queen of Swords Press will back in the Queer Writes Tent, near Harmon Place this year.
July
- Inbound Brewing Book Fair for Grown Ups - July 11th, 12-7PM, Education Building, MN State Fair Grounds, St. Paul. There is an admission fee with this one, but it comes with a drink ticket. Queen of Swords Press will be there with books. (pending)
August:
September:
- Pagan Pride Fall Festival – September 7th. Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis. Placeholder
- Columbia Heights Pride - September 13th, Columbia Heights, MN. Queen of Swords Press will have a book table. Placeholder
- St. Cloud Pride in the Park - September 19th, 11AM-4PM. Queen of Swords Press will have a book table! Placeholder
October:
- Twin Cities Book Festival - November 7th, 9:30-5PM. Union Depot, St. Paul. Queen of Swords Press will have a table.
- Fables & Flames Romantasy Gala - placeholder
December:
- Nicollet Island Winter Market - placeholder
Bookmarks Housecleaning
Jan. 3rd, 2026 02:43 pmlovelyangelGoogle Chrome is my primary browser – and I certainly have mixed feelings about my dependencies on the Google ecosystem. But I also have mixed feelings about Apple and Amazon, and I have a lot to think about regarding what platforms I use. However, that’s a topic for another time.
For now, all my bookmarks are in Chrome. And while there is a modicum of hierarchy in my bookmarks, a lot of cruft has accumulated over the years. In recent weeks, I’ve occasionally stopped to clean up a folder of bookmarks related to my current task.
Cleaning up a folder is a process of clicking on every link in the folder – and sometimes moving down the folder hierarchy if I have the time and inclination.
Mainly, the first level of cleanup is deleting any bookmark that is a dead URL. That’s easy.
The next test is to see if the site I’ve accessed is active/current. A lot of old Wordpress blogs are still out there but haven’t received any new posts in five or 10 (or 20) years. I then have to make a decision. If I go there intending to see current information, then I’ll probably delete the bookmark.
Sometimes, though, the old content at the site is still worth reading. Depending on the topic/content/nostalgia, I may keep the bookmark for reference. I’m starting to file into separate folders for Active Blogs/Sites and Old Blogs/Sites.
One example of an old blog that I’m keeping the bookmark for is Sequential Noir. Jennifer is a Black Canary / Birds of Prey fan like I am, and she generously has archived her posts for us. I had followed her blog more actively during the Gail Simone / Ed Benes years, and I will always treasure the content. Bookmark – Keeper.
There are a lot of anime blogs I used to follow, and most stopped adding new posts years ago. I’ve ended up deleting all those bookmarks. The situation is similar for some tech sites. The bookmarks cleanup is slow but satisfying. Whenever this all is finished, I still will have way too many bookmarks. But they don’t weigh much and don’t get in my way – so what’s the harm?
Google Chrome does make it pretty easy for me to manage bookmarks. (You can drag and drop in the Bookmarks Manager.) Here’s just a sample of my workarea:
For now, all my bookmarks are in Chrome. And while there is a modicum of hierarchy in my bookmarks, a lot of cruft has accumulated over the years. In recent weeks, I’ve occasionally stopped to clean up a folder of bookmarks related to my current task.
Cleaning up a folder is a process of clicking on every link in the folder – and sometimes moving down the folder hierarchy if I have the time and inclination.
Mainly, the first level of cleanup is deleting any bookmark that is a dead URL. That’s easy.
The next test is to see if the site I’ve accessed is active/current. A lot of old Wordpress blogs are still out there but haven’t received any new posts in five or 10 (or 20) years. I then have to make a decision. If I go there intending to see current information, then I’ll probably delete the bookmark.
Sometimes, though, the old content at the site is still worth reading. Depending on the topic/content/nostalgia, I may keep the bookmark for reference. I’m starting to file into separate folders for Active Blogs/Sites and Old Blogs/Sites.
One example of an old blog that I’m keeping the bookmark for is Sequential Noir. Jennifer is a Black Canary / Birds of Prey fan like I am, and she generously has archived her posts for us. I had followed her blog more actively during the Gail Simone / Ed Benes years, and I will always treasure the content. Bookmark – Keeper.
There are a lot of anime blogs I used to follow, and most stopped adding new posts years ago. I’ve ended up deleting all those bookmarks. The situation is similar for some tech sites. The bookmarks cleanup is slow but satisfying. Whenever this all is finished, I still will have way too many bookmarks. But they don’t weigh much and don’t get in my way – so what’s the harm?
Google Chrome does make it pretty easy for me to manage bookmarks. (You can drag and drop in the Bookmarks Manager.) Here’s just a sample of my workarea:
 |
Tolkien's birthday
Jan. 3rd, 2026 09:15 pmvivdunstanTook part in a Tolkien Society celebration just now of JRR Tolkien's birthday today. Rather nice, with nearly 200 people Zooming in. Very chaotic at the unmuted toast though! I bailed out when it switched after that to chatty break out rooms in Zoom. I was happy to have been there for the reading + toast. Now having a lie down. Meanwhile Martin continues to work on his latest photos.
The Plan for 2026
Jan. 3rd, 2026 01:14 pmlovelyangelI don’t do New Year’s resolutions – but I do a lot of planning. Last year was an ambitious Year of the Home – which had been originally planned for 2020 – until some darn pandemic derailed that plan. I’ve declared 2026 the Year of Tech. I’ve had a long list of tech tasks that have been deferred time and time again. I’ve long been saying that I’ll address those issues once I’m retired. A year and a half later, I’m finally getting started. It’s possible this is a two-year project; I have a lot of tech debt.
Here are the themes from 2024-2026. (Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.)
Here are the themes from 2024-2026. (Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.)
 |