ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Thanks to a donation from [personal profile] fuzzyred, you can now read the rest of "An Inkling of Things to Come."  Shiv and his classmates finish up their first session of worldbuilding.  
sami: (Default)
[personal profile] sami
On this day last year I was waiting for my father to die. He had been sedated and was to stay that way.

After I said my final goodbyes to him, my then-ten-month-old son saw me crying. He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment, and then took his finger out of his mouth and stuck it in mine.

His most comforting finger, you understand. His favourite sucking finger. For a pre-verbal infant it felt like such a gesture of love and compassion.

There is a thing that our extended family seem to love doing: giving gifts for the child that he's not old enough for.

This last Christmas (he was then 21 months old, which the astute and mathematically gifted reader will be able to parse as "not yet two") we got multiple gifts for him that are for age 3+.

"Here, have something that you either need to store for over a year or be incredibly hyper-attentive as you supervise, because look, it contains serious choking hazards."

What's even more annoying is that we do a secret Santa thing for the adults in which people give lists of what they want, and I got things that were vaguely adjacent to what I'd asked for but not actually anything in the extremely broad categories I'd listed.

Smol Son's language use is coming along by leaps and bounds. He's suddenly so articulate, forming complex sentences, using adjectives, doing hilarious work with "maybe" and "a little bit". He's also learned that "what do you say" when he demands something means "rephrase that and include the word please".

We've tentatively made progress - or at least acquired new data - on his tummy issues, which is promising.

In language terms he does still a little bit struggle with the thing that's really difficult to explain: pronouns. Explaining I/me/you to a toddler is seriously challenging.

He is obsessed with cricket. He has a little cricket bat and he loves it. He loves pretending to be a cricket bowler. (He also said an English Test bowler was "pretending to be a cricket bowler", which was harsh but arguably fair.)

He has sadly not done something I was finding delightful for a few days: he'd shout: "DOO DOO DOO DE DOO DOO DEEEEE. THAT'S A SONG."

He likes reciting his books as they're read to him.

Follow Friday 2-6-26: London

Feb. 6th, 2026 12:30 am
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today's theme is London.

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Economics

Feb. 5th, 2026 08:44 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The Impact Fee Illusion

Why “growth paying for growth” often leaves cities weaker, not stronger.

The public discussion usually starts something like this: a new development brings new residents, more traffic, and greater demand for public services. Roads, schools, pipes, and parks don’t build themselves. Someone has to pay for them. Asking growth to pay for growth sounds fair. It sounds prudent. And yet, many cities that rely heavily on impact fees still find themselves financially fragile. They struggle to maintain infrastructure, stretch operations thin, and quietly drift toward insolvency.


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the silliness of plot bunnies

Feb. 5th, 2026 07:33 pm
marycatelli: (Default)
[personal profile] marycatelli
There was this story, I had outlined it, and started it, and lost interest. . . .

Out of the blue, it hopped up again and suggested I could work on it and fit it in a collection that is, at the moment, still up in the air.

How silly those plot bunnies get

Food

Feb. 5th, 2026 06:20 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This simple diet shift cut 330 calories a day without smaller meals

People who switch to a fully unprocessed diet don’t just eat differently—they eat smarter. Research from the University of Bristol shows that when people avoid ultra-processed foods, they naturally pile their plates with fruits and vegetables, eating over 50% more food by weight while still consuming hundreds fewer calories each day. This happens because whole foods trigger a kind of built-in “nutritional intelligence,” nudging people toward nutrient-rich, lower-calorie options.

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Bones rules

Feb. 5th, 2026 06:48 pm
marycatelli: (Golden Hair)
[personal profile] marycatelli
Bones rules; or, Skeleton of English grammar by John B. Tabb

Turn-of-the-last-century grammar lessons. Basic, sound grammar, with some additional interest in his choices of sentences to analyze. Many from poems, and with some interesting placing of the parts of a sentence.

He does note that any word can be used as a verb, even then.

Birdfeeding

Feb. 5th, 2026 06:14 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large flock of sparrows, one female and three male cardinals, and a starling.  A small flock of other birds high in the trees may have been more starlings or perhaps mourning doves.

I put out water for the birds. 

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

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

I am done for the night.

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Federal Ranger Cracka Buckshore's efforts to keep irate parents from lynching handsome Fodo Bathin are complicated when Cracka, Fodo, and everyone else on the planet are kidnapped and taken to an artificial universe.

Golden Sunlands by Christopher Rowley

Community Thursdays

Feb. 5th, 2026 12:24 am
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...

* Posted "What Are Couple Goals And How Do We Achieve Them?" in [community profile] goals_on_dw.

* Posted "Sighting a Siberian Superstar: Local birder secures rare red-flanked bluetail for life list" in [community profile] birdfeeding.

* Commented in [community profile] awesomeers.

Wildlife

Feb. 4th, 2026 10:02 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
What is the American red wolf?

The American red wolf is the world’s most endangered. This species is found only in the United States, and fewer than 20 remain in the wild. It is one of the most endangered mammals on Earth.

Now, an unprecedented partnership between universities, government agencies, and biotechnology companies is using the latest genetic tools to save this iconic predator from extinction. The effort represents a new model for how technology may reshape wildlife conservation in the decades ahead.

Birdfeeding

Feb. 4th, 2026 09:58 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large flock of sparrows, several cardinals, and a starling.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/426 -- I did a bit of work around the patio. 

EDIT 2/426 -- I did more work around the patio. 

I am done for the night.

Cuddle Party

Feb. 4th, 2026 09:52 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.

We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!


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Wednesday Reading Meme

Feb. 4th, 2026 02:30 pm
sineala: Detail of Harry Wilson Watrous, "Just a Couple of Girls" (Reading)
[personal profile] sineala
What I Just Finished Reading

Nothing. I have had a migraine every day.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

Avengers #35, Nova Centurion #4, Ultimate Endgame #2, Ultimate Wolverine #14 )

What I'm Reading Next

I mean, it'd be nice to get to read something. I do get to switch migraine medication. Maybe I will get my brain back. How is it that I am reading comics, you ask? Well, if you click on my reviews, I'm finding them very confusing. I'm also not reading as many as I would like to.
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


This all-new Human Gorilla Heists Bundle presents .PDF ebooks from Human Gorilla Creations that help you create tabletop fantasy roleplaying adventures of thieves and thievery.

Bundle of Holding: Human Gorilla Heists
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Aisha's unique senses could help the empire escape the ecological crisis the empire has inadvertently engineered. Too bad dynastic security requires her death.

The Girl from the West (Kokun, volume 1) by Nahoko Uehashi (Translated by Cathy Hirano)
[personal profile] fardell24
The Enigma left the facility the way she had come in. “SpiderGirl is sure to be far away by now,” she said to herself. ‘But I’m not far from the Giant Strawberry.’ She headed in that direction.


Tania saw that Dafoanairi was still there after the service had ended. “You must have a reason to stay,” she said.

“I did want to talk with you about what’s happening in town further.”

“Here? In the park?”

“I was thinking of the Historia,” Dafoanairi said.

“Up on the roof again?”

Dafoanairi nodded.

“Sure.”


The Enigma looked at the town through a telescope on the top of the Giant Strawberry. The town looked peaceful, but she knew that belied the reality. ‘It’s not like Osborn has another glider that can be seen,’ she thought after fifteen minutes. She then glanced at the Historia and saw two figures on the top. “Can’t make them out, as the Moon isn’t full,” she murmured. ‘I know it isn’t SpiderGirl, but it could be Dafoanairi. I’ll go and tell her about what happened.’

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