I'm Folding again

May. 2nd, 2026 05:54 am
malada: Canadian flag text I stand with Canada (Default)
[personal profile] malada
Folding at Home, that is.

I was Folding for awhile because cancer sucks... but I dropped it when I switched from Ubuntu (XFCE) to Mint (Cinnamon).  I wanted to make sure Mint was stable and I was comfortable with it before Folding again. 

I'm tempted to take my spare system in the basement - which I use regularly when doing laundry - and making that a dedicated Folding machine along with my main rig.  With a 1050TI graphics card it's weaker than my main rig with a 1660 Super but hey, the  more Folding the better.  Most of the Folding is done with the GPU so the bigger and better the graphics card is the more proteins get Folded.  

Irregular Webcomic! #3110

May. 2nd, 2026 10:11 am
[syndicated profile] irregular_comic_rss3_feed
Comic #3110

Hey, he's the closest thing to unholy they have. Pope Urban would probably have accused him of voodoo too if he'd known about it.


2026-05-02 Rerun commentary: Huh. I just discovered that in the UK "dinky" means "tiny and cute/attractive", whereas in the USA "dinky" means "tiny and insignificant/undesirable". To my Australian mind, "dinky" just means "tiny", with no judgement as to whether in a positive or negative sense. My wife confirms this, agreeing that it doesn't imply any sort of value judgement. I suppose any interpretation actually fits here, depending on what you think Steve thinks of the microscope.

Hollywood Hookup by Christy Swift

May. 2nd, 2026 07:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Elyse

C+

The Hollywood Hookup

by Christy Swift
February 10, 2026 · Forever
Contemporary Romance

I listened to Hollywood Hookup on a recent plane ride, and while the tone of the narrative wasn’t really for me, I can say that the structure of the book lends itself really well to audio.

Josie Days is a makeup artist on a hit musical sci-fi show starring five hot guys who are sequel fodder. They’re doing a charity celebrity date contest with said five guys and for hand-wavy reasons Josie gets roped in to replace a last minute drop out. She winds up winning a date with Sean O’Sullivan, which she does not want.

Josie used to be a child actor under a different name until her career came to a catastrophic end during an incident that involved puppet immolation. She’s been hiding ever since and dating Sean will put her back in the public eye. Sean really wants to date Josie though because she seems uninterested in him and HOW DARE.

This book didn’t work for me very well because it’s really a mad-cap, wacky sort of comedy. The situations the characters find themselves in are very over the top and sometimes felt like they would have worked better for visual comedy versus something on the page. For example, the heroine shows up to a date with the hero in full space alien FX makeup in order not to be recognized…which might have been funnier if we had seen her unexpectedly appear in costume versus reading about it.

If a reader doesn’t mind zany shenanigans, the book does work really well in audio and it’s closed door, which I know some readers are searching for. There are two narrators for the audio book (male and female), and some sections are transcripts of podcasts and talk shows, so that makes for a lot of varying voice acting opportunities. It’s definitely fun to listen to.

Hollywood Hookup was just okay for me, but I can see it having more mileage with others.

Weekly Challenge

May. 2nd, 2026 08:45 am
goodbyebird: Spider-Man is dancing a meme into existence. (Avengers friendly neighborhood meme)
[personal profile] goodbyebird posting in [community profile] 3weeks4dreamwidth
Weekly Challenge: Do you have a big current interest? Something you've just watched or read you'd like to chatter about? Go to Explore/Site And Journal Search and look to see if others are talking about it. Join in.
(for media this works best with recent stuff, but you can always try your luck!)

How'd that go, any luck?

the pledgetag requests
• weekly challenge 1 . 2friending memeevent iconsjournal memespoint gifting
community love
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Carrie S

Emma Tenayuca was a labor organizer in Texas who is best known for leading a strike of pecan shellers in 1938. Workers called her “La Pasionaria“ which means “Passionflower.” From a young age, she survived violence and imprisonment in her quest to help workers get better working conditions and higher wages.

Tenayuca was born on December 21, 1916, and I know all of you December birthday people will identify with her plight – born too close to Christmas, she never got ‘birthday’ presents. Her family was Mexican American, and had lived in Texas for many generations. She was raised by grandparents who were interested in politics, and was also influenced by the speakers in the San Antonio town square. She was brought up with pride in her family and their roots, and she was encouraged to be educated and politically active by her family.

Black and white photo of Emma Tenayuca as a teenager. She has shoulder length wavy hair and is wearing a white dress with buttons and a V neck
Emma Tenayuca in 1939, photographed for a Personality of the Week article in The San Antonio Light

Tenayuca was arrested for the first time at 16, for protesting alongside striking workers from the Finck Cigar Company. She used her bilingual language skills to help people with their problems and worked with many organizations working towards better pay and better conditions for Mexican-Americans.

One of the most common positions for Mexican-American women in the area was in the pecan industry. Pecan shelling for 6-7 cents a pound was difficult work (the meat of the shell must remain intact) for little pay. Additionally, the process filled the factory rooms with a fine dust that contributed towards tuberculosis.

black and white photo shows Emma in the center of a crowd of men. She is wearing a hat and a coat and is holding a white paper and pen in her hand. It appears she is telling them something as they are all looking to her, and she is the center of their attention and the photograph

In 1938, the factories cut pay to 3 cents a pound and Tenayuca, who was 21 years old at the time, found herself leading a strike of approximately 12,000 workers. The strike faced violent opposition, as detailed in the article “Remembering Emma Tenayuca:”

​​When Pecan production ground to a halt, the owners fought back: Tenayuca and hundreds of strikers were gassed and arrested by San Antonio police. Some were beaten as well. With the NWA rallying community support, the strike turned into a city-wide uprising of the poorest and most oppressed people in San Antonio.

Thirty-seven days after the strike began the pecan producers agreed to arbitration. A few weeks later, the workers had won a wage increase to seven or eight cents per pound.

Tenayuca faced opposition as a woman, as a Mexican-American, as a labor organizer, and as a member of the Communist Party (she left the Party in 1946). From Americans Who Tell the Truth:

In 1939, as Emma was giving a speech, an enraged mob attacked San Antonio’s Municipal Auditorium. Fearing that she would be lynched, Emma was led away through a secret passageway. The mob threw bricks, broke windows, set fires, ripped out auditorium seats, and later that night, together with the Ku Klux Klan, burned the city’s mayor in effigy for having defended Emma’s right to free speech. This event is still on record as San Antonio’s largest riot.

Tenayuca married another labor organizer, but it didn’t last (they divorced in the 1940s). Blacklisted throughout Texas, she left for San Francisco to attend college. She had a son in 1952, and worked as a teacher and returned to San Antonio to teach in the 1960s.

black and white photo of people standing arm in arm, Emma Tenayuca is center wearing a white suit. The two women on either side of her are wearing dresses that render grey in the photo, so Emma stands out. They are all smiling broadly
A 1939 photo with Tenayuca at the center

She never stopped working for women’s rights and worker rights. In 1942 she led a demonstration against the U.S. Border Patrol, which was beating migrants and leaving them to die in the desert. In 1944, she organized another rally which brought more attention to the Border Patrol’s brutal practices.

Emma Tenayuca died at the age of 83 of Alzheimer’s Disease. At her funeral, writer Carmen Tafolla said:

La Pasionaria, we called her, because she was our passion, because she was our heart — defendiendo a los pobres, speaking out at a time when neither Mexicans nor women were expected to speak at all.

Sources:

Zombie Apocalypse Meme

May. 1st, 2026 11:11 pm
spiralicious: Cereal Killer Mask (Default)
[personal profile] spiralicious
Snagged from [personal profile] goodbyebird at [community profile] 3weeks4dreamwidth

Give me a character from one of my fandoms, and I'll tell you how they survived the zombie apocalypse. If, indeed, they did survive.

Grumping about modern (TOS K/S) art

May. 1st, 2026 11:01 pm
anghraine: spock in the s2 episode "a piece of the action" correcting kirk's lies while kirk distracts him with a likely very real headache (kirk and spock [migraine])
[personal profile] anghraine
Something I've noticed for awhile now is, sure, K/S artists (and TOS artists in general) have found TOS Kirk difficult to depict forever and mentioned it forever, but nevertheless, if you look at things like zine art of yore, he's usually very recognizable, while SO much modern Kirk/Spock art has a very obvious Nimoy!Spock whatever the style, and then a Kirk who is solely recognizable via paraphernalia, Spock's own presence, and fanon. I've been trying to figure out what makes the modern art look so wrong compared to older attempts, and I think I... basically tripped over one of the most common reasons.

Short version: it's his cheekbones. TOS Kirk actually has a more fine-boned and pronounced, angled slope of cheekbones that's fuller and higher (particularly in relation to the bottom of his face) than artists typically allow, even if in the show, this is sometimes obscured by the general softness of his face, expressions, and alternate ways of shooting him (he has very mobile features, so he tends to look very different with slight changes in focus/angles/lighting, but of course his features have not actually changed). Artists' lowering/flattening/straightening of where his cheekbones are in his face (vertically and in terms of width/depth), and broadening of the bones themselves, is super common in modern K/S art and it makes the shape of his face and even his head look really off (in particular, both squished and more generic than his real appearance), even if you can't immediately put your finger on what's wrong.

To be clear, there are multiple things that art (fannish and professional) often changes about TOS Kirk's appearance, for what I'm guessing are multiple reasons (though there's one pertinent reason* that I think is a major engine for many of the ways in which Kirk is bafflingly misrepresented). It's not only this. But more recent art particularly tends to alter the line of his cheekbones. His aren't as high or angular as Spock's, nor as prominent as Sulu's, but definitely more so than usually shows up in TOS art. Some lighting/angles/make-up/camera lenses in the show make this super conspicuous and at other times it's harder to see, but when I was searching through my manyyyyy TOS screenshots for an unrelated post, I was really struck by the gap between the ... artistic fanon? and his basic facial structure.

So naturally, I went through my zillions of TOS screenshots for a picspam, so you don't have to just trust my opinion:





Read more... )

Fic Stats Meme

May. 1st, 2026 10:35 pm
spiralicious: Cereal Killer Mask (Default)
[personal profile] spiralicious
Snagged from [personal profile] maevedarcy

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

most hits
Getting Used to it (621 words) by spiralicious
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Okumura Rin/Okumura Yukio
Characters: Okumura Rin, Okumura Yukio
Additional Tags: PWP, Unbeta'd, Tail Play, Twincest, Community: hentai_contest
Summary:

Rin helps Yukio becomes used to his new body.



second most kudos
Oh Yeah We Shoulda Seen it Coming (856 words) by spiralicious
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne
Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne
Additional Tags: Secret Relationship, Sexual Frustration, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Bruce Wayne is Batman, POV Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson is So Done, Parental Dick Grayson, Parental Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Humor, Damian Wayne Might Have a Crush
Summary:

Dick just wants a few minutes alone with Bruce.



third most comments
And She Was Here For Tea (582 words) by spiralicious
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Addams Family - All Media Types, Addams Family (TV 1964)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Wednesday Addams
Characters: Bruce Wayne, Wednesday Addams, Alfred Pennyworth
Additional Tags: Community: allbingo, Winterfest in July 2021, Bruce Wayne is Not Batman, Kid Fic, Fluff, Tea, Crushes, Awkward Crush, First Crush, The Waynes and Addams are Neighbors, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alfred does not approve, But he will get over it, First Kiss, Bruce & Wednesday are the same age, Bruce is still an orphan
Series: Part 1 of Bruce & Wednesday
Summary:

Alfred braced himself. He was a professional after all. It was good that the young master was making friends with children his own age, but the young mistress was so... unsettling.



fourth most bookmarks
It's And She Was Here For Tea again, link above.

fifth most words
Cinderella had a Wrench (7504 words) by spiralicious
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Alphonse Elric/Winry Rockbell
Characters: Edward Elric, Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Pinako Rockbell
Additional Tags: WIP Big Bang 2016, Angst, Mentioned violence, Interrogation, Wedding Planning
Summary:

Ed and Winry's impending wedding had been speculated about for months. All knew it would be the event of the year. No one expected the reason why. Not all weddings end in happily ever after, some tragically just end.



least words
Winter Wonderland (47 words) by spiralicious
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Original Male Character(s)
Additional Tags: Elf On The Shelf, Elf on the Shelf POV, Letter fic, Crack
Series: Part 8 of Dear Chuck the Series
Summary:

Sprinkles the Elf has been given a very special assignment from Chuck himself. He's weirdly proud of the boys today.



This was a very eye opening look at my stats.
[syndicated profile] icanhascheezburger_feed

Posted by Elna McHilderson

My boyfriend is the most cat-tastic cat dad I have ever met! He loves his two baby girls, Bubja and Rudy, more than anything in the entire world and would do anything for them. That being said… He is still just a dude, living with another dude roommate, and let's be honest, the cleanliness of any bachelor pad is negligible. So, his litter box cleaning edict is not as tidy as me, his girlfriend, would like. 

Bubja and Rudy are both skittish little six-year- olds; Bubja is the petite, fluffy one, and Rudy the sleek, large-and-in-charge one. I can't sit down without one of them hopping on my lap, purring for pets. But, as much as I love them, the litter box is something we do not align on…

Ladies, we are women of the 21st century. We are strong, independent, and leaving behind the antiquated mentality that we have to pick up after our men. We are not their mothers, after all. So, I am constantly fighting the urge to clean that dang litter box when I come to visit my man. 

He is trying, though, he really is; he's a good man, Savannah! But I am very clean and thorough, so even when he does keep up with cleaning the litter, it's truly never clean enough for me. 

delphi: An illustrated crow kicks a little ball of snow with a contemplative expression. (Default)
[personal profile] delphi
Title: Here We Are
Fandom: Chance (2015)
Relationships: Amir Abbas/Trevor Bunting
Rating: General
Word Count: ~850
Content Info: n/a
Summary: An early morning during the first Ramadan of Trevor and Amir's marriage.
Notes: Written for the 2026 round of [community profile] bethefirst. This story is also available on AO3.

The short film this fic is based on was made available for free online by its director, and I really recommend it if you're in the mood for a very sweet later in life romance between a socially isolated widower and a refugee fleeing state violence who meet in a London park one day and offer each other a new lease on life.



Here We Are )
sholio: (Spring-flower snow 2)
[personal profile] sholio
First of May, first of May, outdoor fuc--

a path through bare trees entirely buried in snow

Perhaps not.

This is the path off through the woods to one of our favorite walking spots. The driveway is SLIGHTLY less dire; at least you can walk on it.

a stripe of bare ground between two piles of snow

Rumor has it that it might snow this weekend. Apparently it's snowing like blazes in the mountains just south of Anchorage.

This, like all things, will pass, but I'm looking forward to a return to summer.
viridian5: From a 2009 <i>Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion</i> window display at Bergdorf Goodman. (Mannequin)
[personal profile] viridian5
bg_0935 (closer)Realizing I hadn't checked out my Manhattan window display stores since March and that the Met Gala coming in a few days might lead to some interesting displays, I drove into Manhattan around 12:30 am. I would soon be very, very disappointed.

Bloomingdale's windows still had the same California Love sets I saw in March. They changed the outfits, some mannequins, and some props, but they're the same sets. Surely Bergdorf Goodman would do better! Nope. Still has the minimalist waterfall windows I saw in March. Some of the new outfits were fun and weird so I took some photos.

Saks! Almost half their windows were shrouded, and the others were minimalist and in shades of brown. I might've stopped for a closer look if all the places I'd usually park hadn't been full. What I saw driving by hadn't been good enough to wind my car through New York City Midtown-length blocks to find somewhere else to park, so I didn't.

Kleinfeld! Same. Window. Displays. From March.

I really hadn't missed anything by skipping April!

No Met Gala displays. Manhattan stores used to do amazing things related to the Gala. I still, particularly remember the Alexander McQueen series and punk series! The McQueen windows at Bergdorf had Alexander McQueen ensembles that didn't even make it into the Met's exhibition. (I so wish I had a camera at the time that handled this kind of shooting better.) Lately, the stores don't care. (I hear they're having some financial troubles. Join the club. Creativity doesn't require a huge budget.)

When I have to spend a Congestion Pricing toll just to go see the windows, I have even less patience for getting my time and money wasted by lazy bullshit.

+++

While using my phone's Map function to find a less trafficked way home, I heard it say I should turn right onto "Bow-eerie." Siri, you have failed this city.
[syndicated profile] languagelog_feed

Posted by Victor Mair

I asked Diana Shuheng Zhang whether she thought the video was shot at natural speed or was speeded up.  Her reply:

Given the movement of the hand, I think it was filmed at real time.  Actually, the faster the hand moves, the easier it is to write the strokes well, especially the big strokes.

Together it says: guófù mínqiáng, zìqiáng bùxī 国富民强,自强不息 (“Prosperous nation, strong people; unceasing self-improvement”). The biggest character is qiáng 强 "strength", and there are also two small fú 福s ("auspicious") on the left and right. 

Play, art, exercise….

 

Selected readings

[Thanks to Bill Benzon]

settiai: (Critical Role -- settiai)
[personal profile] settiai
I'm still playing catch-up on Critical Role and will be for at least another few weeks, I suspect. At this point, I'm very behind.

As with previous posts about the current campaign of Critical Role, this will be a combination of quotes, random thoughts, and some speculation. And it's obviously full of spoilers (albeit vague ones in places).

Spoilers under the cut. )

3W4DW Day 7 Check-in

May. 1st, 2026 10:40 pm
althea_valara: An icon of the Iron Giant mount from Final Fantasy XI. It's made up of separate cylinders in a humanoid shape. One of my Elvaan alts, Amalberga, is perched on its shoulder. She's wearing the White Mage artifact gear. (FFXI alt 1)
[personal profile] althea_valara

1. one creative thing I did today



I saw a movie!

No, wait, hear me out: you may be thinking that this isn't an action of personal creativity, and you're not wrong, but creativity needs to be nurtured and fed. A lot of the reasons I write fluffy fanfic is that I just don't have the necessary experiences to write anything else. I need more experiences! And that could be through living live myself, or it could mean by consuming media.

It is rare I watch movies these days. I don't particularly like movie theaters, for one, and for two, movies tend to be long enough that my mind wanders. But today's movie was good, and I mostly stay focused the whole time! It was also a more comfy setting for me, being at my local library rather than a theater.

I went on mom's behest, but once she told me what the movie was about I went "OOOH!" because I knew I'd like it. We say Rental Family with Brendan Fraiser, and it takes place in Japan (<3!) which is relevant to my interests. I enjoyed it! Not as much as seeing Barbie or Wicked, both of which we also saw at the library, but it was a good movie and I was glad I went.

2. one thing I'm proud of today



I listened to my body and fed it when it was hungry, and napped when I was tired. Otherwise... well, the day was rather lost with going out to breakfast this morning with mom, then movie, then home, then a late lunch, then FLOP on bed, then dinner, then streaming.

I also did not overly freak when something anxiety-provoking happened. This is good progress!

3. video game progress



The latest FFXIV raid has made me want to replay the Bastok Rank 6-10 missions, so before dinner I logged into my Amalberga, my documentation alt who happens to be from Bastok and has completed up to rank 5. I did read the wiki for the 6-1 mission, and I probably could have done it at her level, but it would have been dicey, as she was only level 82 (cap is 99). So I took her Trusts out to Mount Zaylom to fight crabs and level up. She's now level 85, and I am barred from leveling up again with a genkai (limit breaker) quest. I need to farm 10 Kindred Crest's (easy, I probably have them already!) and 5 merit points. I have no merit points currently, so that will mean more EXPing against crabs.

After dinner, I streamed on Siofra. We're in the midst of the Wings of the Goddess expansion, and just finished the 5th set of the Windurst path questline. There was a battle that gave me some trouble. It's meant to be done with real players, and you can bring a whole 18-person alliance if you wish. I was doing it with Trusts (computer controlled NPCs) and they are pretty dumb, in that they won't attack until I swing my staff at an enemy. I'm a MAGE, folks. I get aggro usually by spellcasting. But nope the Trusts just stand there going "durr..." unless I do a physical attack. It's one of the few things that annoy me about the game.

Anyway. First attempt, I tried picking off the enemies one by one. Not good, the wards were defeated and I lost. Second attempt, I tried doing Diaga to grab all enemies at once, which allows for better fighting by the blasted Trusts, but the wards still fell.

The wards have an HP pool. I am a White Mage. The obvious thing is to cast Cure on them, but that doesn't work--they are immune to Cure spells. However, Dancer's Curing Waltz will heal them! So I changed my subjob from /SCH to /DNC, did a few macro changes, and tried again. This time I won!

Unfortunately, I only had oomph for a 2 hour stream. Because FFXI is unvoiced, I do a LOT of "voice acting" by reading lines. I am not an actor, but I try my best. It's exhausting though, trying to perform. So I opted to quit for the night when [personal profile] jillwise who was watching had to leave.

My FFXI anniversary was on April 25th: I first stepped into Vana'diel on that day in 2009. SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO. Where has the time gone? And how cool that the game is STILL up and running so I can enjoy it. But when I realized just how long it's been, I nearly crumbled into dust.

And now, BEDTIME! (Prompto: "Soft sheets, baby!")

Irises!

May. 1st, 2026 10:52 pm
aurumcalendula: gold, blue, orange, and purple shapes on a black background (Default)
[personal profile] aurumcalendula
The irises in one flower bed have decided to bloom a full month early!

a photo of purple iris flowers

I love the color these ones are (the photo doesn't quite capture how they look - the top petals are an intense almost electric purple in person - similar to HEX #8400E0) and how fragrant they are!

The Good news

May. 1st, 2026 10:16 pm
cornerofmadness: (Default)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness
1. The classes are over (the bad is yet another student told me the organ with baby kittens falling out of it was the brain)

2. My heart is fine.

The bad? This doctor has seen the last of me. He's an ass. Yeah I made another appointment (mostly because I didn't want them calling). It's not for 6 months so I have plenty of time to find another cardiologist. You could see it in his eyes. I wasn't sick enough to be interesting. I'm not really that sick at all.

Me, being an absent minded idiot, even though i finished inputting info into my blood pressure log, I forgot to print it. I DID have it on my flashdrive in my purse. When I offered it his reply was 'I don't need to see it.'

Then why the fuck did you make me DO three blood pressures a day for a fucking month?!?

My echo hadn't changed in 9 years (which I knew) and he was ready to let it go with that but I was NOT (he was running behind because he'd been called into the ER)

Me: so I have mild tricuspid regurgitation
Him: not unusual in women (I know this but I plan to go over my results point by point and fuck him trying to race off)

Me: but also mild diastolic dysfunction. Is that from sleep apnea (I know it is and my psychiatrist was concerned by this)
Him: yes, see someone to get a sleep study (i.e. not me)

Me: what would cause my diasstolic pressure to be so low (it's been 50-65 most of the time. Normal is 80)? this I didn't know but has gone to mayo clinic to look up. Often it's dehydration which makes sense being diabetic.

Him: could be aortic regurgitation but you didn't have that on echo, could be some athersclerosis but I doubt it (could be though I am diabetic) but we can't do anything about that (okay fair)

Me: did you get my month long (I'm still itching my chest wounds) holter monitor?
Him: yes.

Me: And? It didn't tell me because most patients wouldn't understand it, I know but I want to see what it said.

Him: You're tachycardic
Me: no duh, that's why I've had two echos now, and?

Him: and nothing really. No afib (thank god), no real issues, just tachycardia and a few pauses.

Me: Pauses? From sleep apnea (most likely)

HIm: nothing to worry about. You really need to talk to your endocrinologist, a lot of this is metabolic.

Me: will do (and get that sleep apnea)

Eye roll. Yeah this is the last I'll see of him. Life's too short to deal with uninterested docs.

One month of blood pressures and he didn't care. It's Beltane and a full moon. You're lucky I'm not hexing you.


Came home and the cheap Victorian gown from Amazon was here. And it's actually not bad quality. Certainly something I can build on for my Rosie cosplay. Alas it does button down the front. I have boobs and it gaps open. I can pin it shut. Also doesn't button at the neck just under the chin but that's fair. I can not bear things around my neck. I can put a brooch on that part.


Have some fannish 50 friday recs


Watch Your Step! Teen Wolf

Sect Leader Jiang's 31 step program to happiness
陈情令 | The Untamed

Can’t Go Home Again Torchwood

The Last Dance Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Losing John Inspector George Gently

Worn Hazbin Hotel

Team Work Stargate Atlantis

Anniversary Problems Torchwood

Thursday Afternoons with You The Owl House

Incredible Hazbin Hotel

The Long Road Home The Amazing Digital Circus

listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness Helluva Boss

To Ease The Pain Torchwood

Secrets in the Shadows Hazbin Hotel

Held Hazbin Hotel

no one can dream for you 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)

Sleep study, and busy Friday

May. 1st, 2026 10:37 pm
silver_chipmunk: (Default)
[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
So I went to the sleep lab last night, 44 bus to 46 bus, to 271st street and Uber from there. The study went very well, I actually managed to sleep despite all the leads and wires and sensors (including the one up my nose). I read for about an hour, then turned off the light and actually slept. I woke up a few times but nothing unusual.

They woke me up at around 5:30 and took off the stuff, and I dressed and Ubered home. It was not $70, only $40, so that's good. I ate breakfast and fed Oreo his Fancy Feast, the went and showered and shampooed my hair to get the paste that they use for the sensors on your upper head out. Then I went tobed and slept for three hours.

Then I got up and had coffee and dressed, and read the computer til 12:15 when I Ubered to my mammogram. That went fine, I also had a breast sonogram. I'll get the results soon.

Then I went to Duane Reade to finally get my prescriptions, I had to wait cause it was their lunch time.

Then I took the subway to Manhattan to go to the union May Day rally and march. It took me awhile to find where I was supposed to be, and I missed all of the speeches in the center of Washington Square park. I mean, I could hear them but not make out words. But I hung out and talked to a lot of fellow DC 37 people and that was interesting.

But the march took forever to get started. After 5:00. I was expecting to be done by 6:00 and be able to get to my 7:00 meeting only a little late. Nope. The march finally reached Foley Square at 6:30. I left then and made my way to the Bronx, the 5 train to 86th street and the express bus from there. The traffic was also awful, so I didn't make it til just in time for the second meeting. Which was very good.

Afterward I got a ride to the us stop, for a miracle the 50 was there about on time, and I just made a 25 when I got to Queens so I got home quickly.

There was a little technical trouble Teaming the FWiB but not bad. We only talked for a very short time though because I am beat. I fed the pets, had some cheese and crackers myself, and started here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The sleep study went well.

3. Got my mammogram and sonogram.

4. Got my meds.

5. My union.

6. My meetings and the people there.
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[personal profile] rocky41_7 posting in [community profile] fffriday

Yesterday on a lovely walk through then neighborhood I reached the end of The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso. This is fantasy/action novel, set in a world in “prime” reality, beneath which sits ever-descending “echo” layers of reality. The further down you go, the stranger and more dangerous things get. At a New Year’s party, things get unexpectedly tricky when the entire party is pulled down through the echoes.

Our protagonist is Kembral Thorne, a “hound” whose job is to retrieve people, animals, and other things that are pulled or “fall” into the echoes. This party is Kem’s first step back into society after having her first baby two months earlier.

Of course, when things start going wrong, Kem can’t help but get involved. It’s her job.

I’ll say again, I do love queer lit with adults. YA is great and I’m so happy that teens today have access to so much queer lit, but online queer book recs can skew very YA. Here, Kem is very much someone at least in her thirties—she’s got a baby, she’s reached a senior role in her career, and her concerns reflect this position in her life. While she and her quasi-rival Rika have the sort of skittish interactions you might expect from people who are into each other and unwilling to admit they are into each other, they don’t reach the level of comic avoidance or overwrought drama of teens or young adults.

I liked the ebb and flow of Kem and Rika’s relationship. These are two people who already have history and have kind of already had their big, relationship-ending squabble before we even get to this party, which is fun to unravel over the course of the evening. They have some cute moments, some artificially-amplified angst, but are generally enjoyable.

The worldbuilding here is fine. It’s serviceable for what the novel is doing, but we don’t really get a look at much else outside of the party except when Kem ventures out into the echoes, which becomes increasingly less frequent as they descend. There’s some fun stuff, some spooky stuff, some aesthetic stuff.

The book pushes a little hard on maintaining the status quo when the status quo isn’t that great (I think it could have made this more believable with more discussion, but the book is really more about the action than the political debate) and I did think one character’s fate was a cop-out, especially given the former. Violent change to the system is wrong but we’ll all shrug and smile when this criminal we couldn’t nail down conveniently dies without a trial.

On the whole, I enjoyed this one, but it’s nothing earth-shattering. I put the next book on my TBR though because I do want to see what Rika and Kem get up to next.


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