rydra_wong: Lee Miller photo showing two women wearing metal fire masks in England during WWII. (Default)
[personal profile] rydra_wong
https://www.transsolidarityalliance.com/mass-lobby-2026

As explained at: https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/lobbying-parliament/

A mass lobby is when a large number of people contact their MPs and members of the Lords in advance and arrange to meet with them at Parliament all on the same day.

Trans+ Solidarity Alliance are one of the groups who've been absolutely kicking ass in the last year.

They also now have a crowdfunder if anyone wants to donate:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/donation-form/fund-the-work-of-the-trans-solidarity-alliance

Philosophical Questions: Honor

May. 23rd, 2026 12:05 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.

What does honor mean to you? How important is it to you? Does your culture value honor? What exemplifies honor in your culture?


"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.... The friction tends to arise when the two are not the same....There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards. That's soul destroying. The other way around is merely very, very irritating."
-- Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign

"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And
outlive the bastards."
Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign

Al-anon and not much more

May. 22nd, 2026 11:12 pm
silver_chipmunk: (Default)
[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
I got up at 10:00 this morning, had breakfast and coffee, and really did very little all day.

I eventually took a shower and dressed, but nothing but play solitaire and putter on the computer tl I left for my Al-anon meeting.

The bus trip into the Bronx was OK except the first 25 drove past the stop without stopping and I had to wait for the next one. But I got to the Bronx pretty quickly.

I had pizza for dinner first as usual and then went to my meeting. It was very good.

Then M drove me to the bus stop and the 50 bus actually came on time!

Got to Linden and 31st, and the 61 came before the 25 so I took that. No problem this time (if you recall the last time I took the 61 he skipped two stops and I had to Uber home.)

Got home and teamed the FWiB. All well. We talked not quite an hour.

Then I texted [personal profile] mashfanficchick to call me, and ze did, now I'm waiting for zer to call me back to make plans for tomorrow, which is zer birthday.

That's about all.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. My meetings and the people there.

3. The buses worked out OK today.

4. [personal profile] mashfanficchick made it home to NYC safely.

5. Pizza.

6. Iris are blooming now.

Gardening

May. 22nd, 2026 10:16 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
'Roly-poly' Bugs Are Great Garden Composters

A detritivorous diet increases the speed of decomposition in dead plants, animals or poop, increasing the bioavailability of nutrients in the soil. This gives plants a higher chance of survival by providing better quality soil. It's not just what roly-poly bugs add to the soil, but what they take out too.

Turns out these guys love heavy metals. After studying the composition of their insides, scientists found that roly-poly bugs ingest a lot of heavy metal contamination from our soil. That's why they can live and thrive in areas contaminated with toxins like lead, cadmium and arsenic. Once they've ingested these toxins, they become crystallized within their guts, meaning a construction site contaminated with heavy metals could effectively be cleaned by a bunch of hungry roly-poly bugs.



Here at Fieldhaven, we have lots of pillbugs. I saw some crawling around the new picnic table garden the other day, attracted by the soil in the pots. Aside from performing useful tasks themselves, they also tend to carry other soil organisms along with them, which boosts the bioactivity and health of the soil.  You can attract them by putting a handful of damp, dead leaves under a weight such as a brick or a pot.

Science

May. 22nd, 2026 10:15 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Einstein’s “wormhole” may actually reveal a hidden mirror of time

What if wormholes were never cosmic tunnels at all? New research suggests Einstein and Rosen’s famous “bridge” may actually reveal something even stranger: time itself could flow in two directions at once. Instead of connecting distant places in space, these bridges may connect mirror versions of time deep inside quantum physics, potentially solving the long-standing black hole information paradox and hinting that our universe existed before the Big Bang.
snickfic: (Oasis walkon)
[personal profile] snickfic
+ Liam and Noel have been going to football matches together, along with various combinations of Liam's kids Gene and Lennon and Noel's kids Anais, Sonny, and Donovan. Liam and Noel's first time hanging out in public since like 2008?? Some great photos and short clips, but this one from last weekend has got to be the best. The full belly laugh, head thrown back! Noel trying ever more insistently to get his attention again because he wasn't finished yet!!

Bonus: Anais thinks her uncle is funny. ;__;

+ Speaking of the kids, here's how the comeback is going from their perspective:
cut for image )

+ The reunion tour documentary has an official release date! And it's going to have JOINT INTERVIEWS, YOU GUYS. Liam and Noel in the same room, answering questions. Can you even fucking imagine. They haven't done one of those since 2005. Noel is going to laugh at all Liam's jokes and Liam is going to be SO SMUG about it. I'm going to see this IN A THEATER and I am going to dieeeeee.

+ Of course twitter asked Liam about this, and his response was:
People asking me what the documentary's like it's a ROMANTIC COMEDY with a bit of ROCK N ROLL

He later said that the romance would be between "us and the fans," but we know the truth. :')

+ And finally, have this old clip I found of Liam at a gig singing I waited for a thousand years for you to come / and take me from behind.
genarti: Two cats sitting under a propped-up umbrella on a fence or porch in the rain. ([misc] shelter from the storm)
[personal profile] genarti
The Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network does a lot of vitally important work supporting immigrants in and around and from Massachusetts, including paying bond (the immigration detention equivalent of bail) to get people released from ICE detention. So much so, in fact, that after paying out over $1.5 million in 2026 alone (!!), they're scraping the bottom of the barrel for their bond fund. They urgently need more money to keep up this work. This is an all-volunteer organization -- I volunteer with them, and can vouch that aside from a tiny bit of overhead, every penny goes to helping immigrants.

I know times are tight and there are a million worthy causes around right now, but if you happen to have some spare funds you'd like to toss at a good cause, this is a really good one and a really good time to donate. Every little bit helps.

(And if you're not in a position to donate, no shame and no judgment.)

Wildlife

May. 22nd, 2026 08:35 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
How Your Backyard Birds Realize You Are Trying To Help Them

This documentary explores the cutting-edge science behind the "Benefactor Shift." We examine peer-reviewed studies from the University of Vienna, Cambridge University, Oxford, and published research in Animal Behaviour, Science, and Ecology Letters to decode how wild birds read human intentions, test our cooperativeness, and use us as literal shields against the natural world.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Winter 2025-2026. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers J-Z.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

Read more... )

Another evening ripping DVDs.

May. 22nd, 2026 08:54 pm
hannah: (Martini - fooish_icons)
[personal profile] hannah
My irregular hobby of checking for apartment clear-out sales netted me a lot of spices today, some of which I'll make use of and some of which I'll have to figure out how to dispose of - I've got a pepper grinder, I don't need pre-ground black pepper taking up any shelf space. I also don't think I need to hang onto any béchamel sauce packets, either. I can make good use of tomato paste and arborio rice and reasonable use of canned corn and spice-infused honey, but béchamel sauce packets are beyond me.

Also some hot chocolate packets, which I'm definitely saving for later. Much later. After the next equinox later.

Heading out to grab everything also included a pit stop at the library, and it's a wonderful feeling to take over a dozen items out at a time. A very budget-friendly, accessible way to feel incredibly wealthy.

solo travel?

May. 22nd, 2026 07:59 pm
lauradi7dw: two bare feet in water (frog pond feet)
[personal profile] lauradi7dw
In October 2024, after a half marathon in Acadia NP, I said I might give up race tourism
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/887301.html
In the meantime, I have in fact only run races I can get to by walking or taking the T. But I have signed up for a 5K race in August that involves running (or more likely slip-sliding) on the bottom of the sea, during the famous tide-out time in the Bay of Fundy. I don't like long drives, but it does seem that the most efficient way to get to Five Islands would be to drive. I would stop halfway (in Bangor or thereabouts?). So that's more than two days already, to get there and to run (and rest, and shower). The question is whether to just add a couple of days seeing bits of Nova Scotia (I never have) and return or do a much more elaborate trip to Gros Morne and L'anse aux meadows in Newfoundland, both world heritage sites. Long trip (woman traveling alone with a lot of caffeine). It is more than double the distance, so I would have plane rides within Canada instead of many days of driving and my slow pace. I need to make up my mind soon, because to some extent the limiting factor is being able to rent a car at the Deer Lake airport for the 6 hour drive to L'anse aux meadows. There aren't very many, so the web informs me.

This presupposes being able to travel at all in August. At a minimum, will gas be rationed by then? If we invade Cuba this weekend or do something else to hasten the end of the world*, frivolous travel might not be a thing.
*Some international expert on the radio opined that it would be China finally trying to take Taiwan by force that will spark WWIII, but it's so hard to know.

(no subject)

May. 22nd, 2026 05:12 pm
skygiants: Sheska from Fullmetal Alchemist with her head on a pile of books (ded from book)
[personal profile] skygiants
So the Boston Immigrant Justice Accompaniment Network, where I volunteer, is scraping the bottom of their bond fund. If you have a few pennies to toss, now would be a really exceptional time.

(I personally have been scratching my head trying to figure out what kind of best talent show this town has ever seen might be helpful to the overall cause, so I guess if there's anything you've ever wanted to see me do or post about particularly that might work as a fundraising incentive, let me know???)

Fuel joy

May. 22nd, 2026 09:49 pm
[personal profile] cosmolinguist

The only thing I am going to say about the draft EHRC guidance that has been laid before Parliament today is what I got in the email from Not A Phase this evening.

FUEL JOY. FUND RESISTANCE.

A final draft of the EHRC’s Code of Practice has been laid before Parliament by the Women & Equalities Minister. While the update is undeniably regressive for the UK’s trans+ community, please keep in mind:

* The Code is important, but it does not change the law.

* There is no criminal law prohibiting trans+ people from gendered spaces such as bathrooms.

* There are no laws allowing harassment in bathrooms.

* Gender reassignment is still considered to be a protected characteristic, meaning trans+ people are legally protected from harm in all settings.

* Venues are not obligated to become gender police, nor are they legally required to have gendered spaces (such as gendered bathrooms). Going fully gender neutral is an option.

Then a link to their full statement, and to donate, and I know a good marketing campaign when I see it but it really is true that these donations fund joy. What I call transgym here all the time is in fact a Not A Phase program, so from this I get all the mental and physical benefits of exercise, community, confidence to work out safely on my own without hurting myself or perishing from social anxiety, and a better relationship to my body. It's no exaggeration to say it's one of the few things that's made the biggest positive difference to my life in the last few years.

a day on Sark

May. 22nd, 2026 08:11 pm
the_shoshanna: cartoon girls giggling together (giggle together)
[personal profile] the_shoshanna
I am skipping over yesterday and will hope to describe it later; today I am blogging about today, in an effort to not fall too far behind.

We left pretty early this morning, since we had to be at the ferry dock 45 minutes early, and after an incident yesterday (a minor car accident -- the first we've seen, which is frankly a little surprising) delayed our bus, we wanted to leave plenty of time in case of similar difficulties. We still miiiight have had time to grab some breakfast, but no way was I eating anything other than an antinausea med before getting on a ferry again, and Geoff decided he'd rather wait and get something in Sark.

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and gently breezy and even a little too hot. The ferry over to Sark was much smaller than the one from Jersey to here, and we had seats outside on the upper deck with great views, and the sea was calm; I doubt I even needed the pill but I'm not sorry I took it just in case. We saw many jagged rocks gouging up from the water, some of them extra jagged because of all the cormorants on them; and the island of Herm as we passed it (year-round population: about 60; tourists per year: about 100,000); and also the island of Brecqhou, right next to Sark, which is privately owned by the surviving billionaire Barclay brother. The glimpse I got of their castle-mansion looked exactly like you'd expect a supervillain's billionaire's castle-mansion on a private island to look like.

Our plan was basically to walk around the island, and also have a meal or two. The first walk was just up the loooong steeeeeep hill from the ferry dock to the center of the village (and the Visitor Information Centre). We'd more or less assumed we'd ride one of the wagons pulled by tractors (which are the only motor vehicles allowed on the island) that are made available, and that haul overnight visitors' luggage up for delivery to their hotels, but the crowd preceding us off the boat had filled them by the time we walked from the disembarkation point to their parking and loading area, and we didn't want to wait for them to deliver the first load of tourists and come back for more. Also none of the info we'd seen had told us there was a charge for the ride, but then we saw a fee list posted. So we said screw it, it won't be the hardest walk we've done this week, and headed for the footpath up the hill along with a number of other intrepid walkers.

That may have been the nicest walk we did all day, sadly. It was lovely, wooded and shady, steep at times but never grueling, with no particular views to admire but just a green and pleasant passage, very quiet unless a tractor-bus was chugging past us on the road that was paralleling us off to the side, behind a line of trees.

We got to the top, walked through shops and restaurants to the Visitors' Centre and confirmed that they had no maps better than the freebie the ferry company had given us when we checked in, and went to a pub for some food. Well, they weren't going to start serving food until noon, and it was 11:45, so we killed time in an excellent exhibit on life under the Occupation in the hall next door. It included a whole history of the war as Sark experienced it, including awful details about the level of hunger. (Sibyl Hathaway, the Dame of Sark, the feudal lord who ran the island from 1927 when her father died and she inherited the title until she died in 1974, went from what the narration happily described as "a healthy weight of 10 stone" to 7 stone by the end of the war: 140 pounds to 98. The feudal system of government wasn't changed until 2008, and whoever wrote the story of the Occupation clearly adored Dame Hathaway.) There were also stories of a group of local divers and others who worked for the Germans under the threat of danger to their families and communities but who slowed and sabotaged the work as much as they dared; and accounts from someone who was evacuated as a child just before the Germans arrived and from someone who stayed; and many more stories, including the code words that Dame Hathaway and her husband used in letters, to pass on news of the war, after he was deported to a German prison camp.

Anyway, once the pub was open for food, we got some excellent coffee, and Geoff got a quite tasty plate of duck tagliatelle. I, still on my quest to eat my own weight in seafood, got a crab sandwich that the menu board said was made with local foraged seaweed -- how could I turn it down? I'd had a crab sandwich at a beachside kiosk yesterday, which was...acceptable: it was on supermarket sandwich bread, thickly buttered, and wasn't all that good, really. This one was better, on a crusty roll that was still buttered but at least only lightly, and the chopped seaweed that was mixed into it didn't add a noticeable flavor but maybe it was a bit more...umami? The crab itself did taste better than yesterday's sandwich. But on the whole I think I'll give up on crab sandwiches. Geoff's pasta was better.

After lunch, we set out to walk to Little Sark, a chunk of land that hangs like a teardrop of the south end of Sark proper, connected by a high and narrow land bridge called La Coupée. Until 1902, when the first safety railing was installed, Little Sark children on their way to school would crawl across it on their hands and knees to avoid being blown off. Now it has sturdy railings on both sides, and also a smooth and somewhat leveled walkway, paved down each side but left as dirt in the middle so that horses could get a better footing, that was constructed by German prisoners of war in 1945-46. It was a very dramatic crossing; I hope Geoff's pictures came out!

But the walk to La Coupée wasn't anything special, and on the other side the dry dirt roadway was wide and unshaded and between banks so there were almost no views. We had been hoping to get to a Neolithic dolmen at the far end of Little Sark, but we didn't really have time before we had to report to the return ferry, and the walking wasn't pleasant, so we gave up and turned around. Wandered back through town, got Geoff an ice cream, and took the nice footpath down the hill again. Since we had some time, we went from the ferry harbor through a short tunnel bored right through the rock to the boating harbor next to it, which is one of the smallest working harbors in the world. It's almost entirely enclosed by a breakwater, making it also a nice place to swim; several people were in the water, and so was a very happy dog. Then we went back and stood on the ferry dock waiting for the ferry. I'm pretty sure I saw a jellyfish in the water; it was a foot or so below the surface, which was several yards below me, and it wasn't very big, so it's hard to be sure; but it was definitely moving differently from the water around it, and it definitely seemed to be blooming and contracting, blooming and contracting, as a jellyfish would. So I'm going to say I saw a jellyfish! That was exciting; I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild before, unless you count the Portuguese man o' war that stung me when I was a child.

I took another pill before the return ferry ride, and although I hadn't felt that the first one affected me at all, I definitely got hit by "may cause drowsiness" on the way home! I actually fell asleep sitting up (we had great seats on the outside upper deck again) and dreamed of figuring out buses for tomorrow's excursions. Neither Geoff nor I felt we wanted (or could manage) dinner after that big lunch, but I did want a little something, so we stopped at the M&S food hall again on the way to the bus home: I got a couple of tea cakes with dried fruit, and he got a bottle of beer 😀 (Alcohol is contraindicated with the meds, but that didn't stop me having a couple of swallows!) Consumed them back at the hotel after bath and showers, and have been blogging every since.


Tomorrow, the plan is to visit the main local farmers market -- I love farmers markets! -- and pass by a 4000-year-old goddess statue, and then in the afternoon tour a local cidery, which means many samples of cider, plus biscuits, cheeses, and the cidery's own apple chutney. Might be another day without dinner!

Paging Mel Brooks

May. 22nd, 2026 02:55 pm
petra: Luke Skywalker and Miss Piggy, who is dressed as Princess Leia (Luke Skywalker & Miss Piggy - Aw)
[personal profile] petra
I really need there to be a Baby Yoda in Spaceballs II: The Search For More Money.

Extra bonus points if he's called Go-Gurt.

I have no plans to watch the Grogu movie. But I want a Go-Gurt shirt.

WisCon weekend ahoy!

May. 22nd, 2026 01:25 pm
chanter1944: Miraculous Ladybug's Duusu, flying, on a blue background with white sparkles (ML - Duusu says WHEEEEE!)
[personal profile] chanter1944
The closer I get, the more I'm looking forward to this, fully online though it is. That aspect does take some of the shine off the con weekend - there's a limit to what can be managed as far as dealers' room, art room, etc go when you're working out of zoom rooms, Discord channels and the dreaded google whatevers - but still.

I'm three quarters of an hour, give or take, from my first panelist slot of the con and... asking myself the eternal question: Is that a worn spot in the fabric, or is that schmutz on my shirt? :P

Wheeeee!

Birdfeeding

May. 22nd, 2026 01:23 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I filled in the two big pots. I added 4 assorted coleus and 1 dusty miller to the grape pot. I didn't have time to pick up a white trailing filler like sweet alyssum this time, but the pot still looks pretty good and will look better once the small coleus grow out some. I added 2 blue lobelias and 1 dusty miller to the blue pot.

This would've been a lot easier if I could've bought everything for those pots at the same time, but it was a case of one place having nice accents but no fillers vs. other places having affordable fillers but not nice accents. *sigh* The lack of widely available fillers is a serious pain in the ass. I use those to unify the diverse plantings: dusty miller, white or colored alyssum, white or blue lobelia.

So I've got 6 dusty millers and 6 blue lobelias to mix and match with other things or find somewhere else to put. I've got 4 coleus left, which will make one or two pots depending on size. Progress! Finishing those two big pots was my top priority for today. \o/

Also I'm really loving the fan flower I tried new this year. It looks like half a flower with petals on only one side, and makes a great component in a mixed pot. It came in multiple colors; I got a white one. It's in a pot with a new spreading yellow thing that's also new, and a yellow-and-white nemesia. Nemesia is beautiful and comes in many colors, but it's a bit delicate and has died on me in the past. The ones I got this year are thriving though. These are all things I bought in individual pots. If I could get them in 4-packs, I could do more with them, but the higher price of individual pots limits what I can do.

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

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I potted up the remaining coleus in two medium pots, each with 2 coleus and 1 dusty miller. Those look pretty good.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I planted 2 blue lobelias and 1 white impatien in the rain garden. I potted up the rest of the impatiens in two pots with a dusty miller each.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I filled a trough by the new picnic table with most of the remaining flowers: 8 vinca in the middle (various shades of pink and white), plus each end has 1 dusty miller between 2 blue lobelias. The color combination is a bit odd, but hopefully it will attract more pollinators.

Something has been eating the leaves off some of my marigolds. I have no idea what. Most insects avoid it because of the smell and taste.

Also earlier in spring, I built a large tomato cage from sticks. The tomato and peas in that one are dramatically bigger than the others. I may make more of those, although it does get in the way a lot more than the short metal cages.

It's spitting rain, but not enough to make me come in early.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

It's drizzling more steadily now.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 5/22/26 -- I planted the last 3 red-and-yellow marigolds in the barrel garden.

I sowed zinnia seeds in the tulip bed, north notch of the prairie garden, and middle north-south strip. I sowed blanketflower seeds along the middle strip.

The rain seems to have let up.

I am done for the night.
petra: A man in a fedora with text: Between the dames and the horses, sometimes I don't even know why I put my hat on. (Cabin Pressure - Dames and horses)
[personal profile] petra
Here on Tumblr. Truly a tour de force. Only a few pages long, alas. Someone needs get this person a gig doing this for money so I can buy their work immediately.
petra: A cartoon penguin standing in dandelions thinking, "Dandelion break." (Bloom County - Dandelion Break)
[personal profile] petra
Stephen Colbert made an OnlyFans joke less than two minutes into his final monologue.

[personal profile] hannah and I want him to go through with it and strip while giving monologues.

You know, like the incredibly famous stripper with the unfortunate name.

Elaine Stritch telling stories about Ethel Merman, then singing "Zip," which is a song about interviewing the stripper with the racist slur for a name.

It'd be like that.

I deeply do not want to face the next exactly this long -- just over 973 days as of right now -- without the leavening of Colbert. This is gonna suck.

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