superborb | Network

Currently Reading
Murder in Season
33%. Most recent in the Lady of Letters series. Still enjoying this series, but compared to other recent historical mystery series that I'm also following, this one is very noticeably lacking queer and non-white characters. I also don't love the style of writing (everyone's eyes are always changing color with their emotions and the love interest is a former sailor so the MC is always describing his scent with ocean-y words but he literally has not been out to sea in ages so it makes no sense), but the mysteries are fun.

Riding the Rails
20%.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
37%.

Red Hail
57%.

Architectural Follies in America
73%.

Recently Finished
Murder in Masquerade

Falls to Pieces
Thriller about a woman and her daughter who are on the run from her abusive ex-husband and have been living under new names for the past two years. But then her fiance goes missing, and then her daughter, and she's convinced her ex is behind it. This had some interesting reveals, but mostly it just felt like too many, where each new reveal was like, and now THIS guy can't be trusted and THIS guy is acting shady, etc. It was fine, but I won't be rushing out to read more from this author.

I Hate This Place vol. 1-2
Two volume graphic novel series about a lesbian couple who moves to an isolated farm that one of them has inherited. Farm turns out to be mega haunted and they can never leave the premises again. I liked this quite a lot.

Rock wa Lady no Tashinami Deshite vol. 1
Manga about a girl whose mom remarries into a wealthy family and she's sent to a fancy all-girls school where all the students are super sheltered. In order to become the perfect young lady and make her new family proud, she's determined to leave behind her love of rock instilled in her by her musician father, but then she meets another girl who secretly plays the drums and they decide to form a band. Sounded like a fun plot but the setting was too ridiculous. I don't think I'll be continuing with it.

Bokura no Hentai vol. 1-4
I stumbled across this on an Amazon Japan sale (first volume was free and the rest are all 55 yen each). Reminds me of Hourou Musuko. This focuses on three middle schoolers who meet on a crossdressing forum and then decide to meet up offline. One crossdresses because the boy he likes is only into girls, one because his mom kind of lost it after his sister died and insists that he's his sister so he wears her clothes at home, and one who is trans. (Another character is introduced later who wears a girls' uniform at school just because he prefers it.) I'm really enjoying this one a lot.

smbc_comics_feed

Posted by Zach Weinersmith

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/biology-3

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
The explanation of the Fermi Paradox is no beings who practice internal fertilization are to be invited to the galactic party.

Today's News:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/biology-3

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
冫 part 4
凉, cool; 减, to decrease; 凑, to gather together ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=15

词汇
特色, characteristic (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
我平常说什么来着，别总减肥减肥的, what am I always telling you, don't diet so much
[no 特色]

Me:
今天比昨天凉多了，好舒服。
这个动物的特色是什么？

kaberett

goslings! (Canadian; one still very yellow and fluffy, several more rather larger.)
SNAILS. so many excellent snails. we went out on a couple of stupid little walks and saw MANY snails.
ate the last of my birthday cake, with discounted raspberries courtesy of one of said stupid little walks. <3
the post brought Several more books for me (two pain-related, ...some cookery) and I am very pleased with them. particularly looking forward to warm bread and honey cake, though given that I've still not actually read Salt Fat Acid Heat I don't rate my chances of getting to it any time soon...
current borrowed-on-a-whim-from-the-library book: Adventures in Stationery, James Ward. First chapter was paperclips; current chapter is a whistlestop tour of The History Of The Pen, including a much more loving biography of the BIC Cristal than I am normally exposed to via fountain pen fandom!

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Link

1. Dear Care and Feeding,

I work from home. My kids are 8 and 12. When they were little, we hired a sitter to watch them on the random days off from school, but they don’t really need a sitter now.

For holidays when they are off and I’m working, my husband and I agreed to a set of rules for them: If the kids help with two small chores, read for 30 minutes, and play outside all before noon, then they can have screen time. The kids reluctantly agreed to this policy.

But they still demand my time. They will complete the list above, then ask to FaceTime with a grandparent (a clever loophole). They come into my office whining that they are bored. They are old enough to help themselves to snacks, but if I don’t supervise, they will eat everything before lunch. I make and serve lunch. Even after lunch, they play on their tablets and mindlessly snack. If they ate everything earlier, they come to my office whining for more snacks.

I feel like my husband is taking advantage of my work-from-home job. I feel like my work and time come second to his. I would like to have a full day off the weekend after one of the school holidays. A day when no one asks me for food or entertainment or a ride somewhere. A day when I’m not picking up after everyone. I don’t need a spa day; I need a day to myself. My husband says that’s not fair because his job doesn’t have working from home as an option, and I can’t just “quit parenting for a day.”

—Holidays Are Not Days Off

( Read more... )

**********

2. Dear Care and Feeding,

When should I let my daughter learn lessons on her own? My daughter “Chloe” is 12 years old. She recently went with her two closest friends to the zoo. She really wanted to wear a summer dress and white sandals and tried to leave the house without wearing sunscreen.

I talked to Chloe and made her go wearing sunscreen, and also shoes that would be better for walking on the dirt paths at the zoo (I couldn’t change her mind about the dress, so I picked my battles). But I’m not sure I like doing that.

She’s 12 now, and none of the consequences would have been disastrous. The next time something like this comes up, should I just let her make her mistakes and experience the consequences?

—When to Intervene

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Pay Dirt,

Our next-door neighbors were really welcoming when we first moved into our new home. Within weeks, though, they started complaining that our son was too loud and that he was “bothering” their dogs. He’s 5 years old and rambunctious, and he’s attracted to furry animals, which makes it really hard to keep him away from fun, furry floofs!

We tried talking it out with our neighbors, but they lodged a complaint with our HOA, presented us with a massive bill for repainting their fence after our son drew on it with chalk, and twice called the police because he was “trespassing” on their property (he entered their garden uninvited to play with their dogs).

We’re at our wits end. We are seriously considering selling up and moving, as we can’t reasonably expect a child to forever remain indoors. But it will result in a loss we cannot afford.

Is there any way to fix this situation? We feel like we’re being bullied out of our home, but our neighbors are operating well within the law and their rights.

—Homewrecker

( Read more... )

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: the OPPOSITE of nostalgic

marycatelli posting in

books

Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup

A comic tale of a writer taking off into fantasy romance for a break. And to escape her frustrating job.

Her notion of a heroine hits the actual heroine, who is middle-aged, a widow, and the mother of two children trying desperately to protect them.

( Read more... )

inkcharm posting in

fandom_icons

CANON: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
CHARACTERS: Maelle.
ADDITIONAL INFO: 150 Icons total. 110 Act 1 & 2, 40 Act 3 & Ending with a big spoiler warning.
CREDIT TO:

inkonic

HERE @

inkonic

isis

Paul Krugman talks with Ada Palmer about her new (nonfiction) book Inventing the Renaissance. I came at this from the Krugman side (he's a Nobel-winning economist who used to write for the NYT, and I subscribe to his substack) but I figured some of you would be interested from the Palmer side (I never got into Terra Ignota, though). I found it really interesting! I read the transcript, but there's a link to the video conversation as well.

Speaking of Nobelists, a v. v. srs study found that countries with greater per capita chocolate consumption produce more Nobel laureates - so eating chocolate makes you smarter, right? :-)

watersword

Over the course of about six hours this week, the weather went from "pleasant warm early-summer" to "holy bananas, it is hot and sticky high summer" and I was not emotionally prepared for it. But I am promised thunderstorms today, and I got cucumbers at the farmer's market, and will finish swapping out the cozy linens for the crisp ones, and all of that will help.

conuly

A shocking number of people will blithely tell us all about the book they read, in English, on an English-language subreddit, and never tell us that they didn't read it in English. I can only catch so many of them - if they don't say "English isn't my first language" or make any obvious foreign language errors then I'll never know. (Some of them say "I read this in my own language" and then don't tell us what that language was.)

Most of these people, if prompted, will tell you what language they read it in. Three times now, I've had to ask twice because they refused to answer the question in a useful way, and every time that person has been Greek.

I thought it was a little funny the second time, but three times is the start of a worrying pattern, especially as it's not at all the most popular not-English language posted there. Maybe there's something going badly wrong with their school system?

(And, sidenote, even if you're certain it was translated from English you still ought to tell us the language it was written in. At least in theory this can help us weed out false positives, although I may be expecting too much of fellow commenters to that subreddit.)

***************

( Read more... )

senmut

Marking Dates (531 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eliot Spencer/Alec Hardison/Parker
Characters: Alec Hardison, Eliot Spencer, Parker [Leverage]
Additional Tags: Origami, Fluff
Summary:

Hardison and Eliot mark the date in a way that Parker will enjoy.

Marking Dates

The saying that money can't buy happiness had to have been thought up by a rich person, Hardison decided. He kept folding the non-sequential bills, setting up a menagerie of wild animals. After he had twenty-six of them, he put them in the box, closed it, and left it on his desk, just where the box had been for several days.

Parker had noticed it on the first day it was there, asked about it two days after that, then forgot it existed as it became part of her surroundings. It was the perfect place to hide something in plain sight — though he'd taken the precaution of spritzing it with his aftershave, to hide the money smell.

Parker was funny enough about money that she might have smelled it otherwise.

When Eliot came in that evening, Hardison caught his eyes, looked at the box, got the slow blink of agreement, and that was that.

Two days later, the box was gone, and Parker studied that space, making the cute frowny face she did while cataloguing where everything was supposed to be.

"Where'd the box go?" she asked.

"Have to find it," Eliot answered, before he and Hardison exchanged a grin. Her eyes lit up, so Hardison continued. "Scavenger hunt, in our building, out of the way spots… with things to find on the way to the box."

"What kind of things?" she asked, even as she was getting excited.

"The kind of things you like," Eliot said, and she did a tiny little clap and bounce before vanishing.

"And that, my friend, is how we say 'happy anniversary' to her," Hardison crooned, amused, and going to watch the spy-eyes through the building. Eliot joined him, putting him in a brief headlock playfully.

"Figuring out her love language wasn't so hard," Eliot said, but he was smiling when she found the first animal, right where he'd thought she would, an alligator. "How in the hell did you find an origami A to Z?"

"Man, everything is on the internet now," Hardison told him, still thrilled they'd found a gift that worked.

Parker found the last animal, cunningly folded so it appeared striped, making it a zebra, and the box was just ahead. She opened it, seeing cash — multiple currencies even! — and the note that said 'happy change together day'. Her chin wibbled, for just a moment, before she put all of her finds in the box. She'd had to back track for the otter and the shrew when she realized they were in alphabetical order, but now she had a full menagerie of money.

Her men — both of them were hers and theirs and ours — made fusses on days that weren't Christmas, but not in the way she saw other people do it. That, among many things, kept her falling in love with them every day, knowing neither one would ever push her in a path she couldn't handle.

She'd have to make a run on a store before she went back up to them; junk food for Hardison that had some pretzels in it, and she'd pick up that smelly cheese Eliot had insisted would make great brioche grilled cheese sandwiches.

Current Music: "Virtual Insanity" - Jamiroquai

mrkinch

The weather wasn't any better today than the last two days of fog and wind, but I wore many layers and managed to go anyway. I guess it was worth it? I didn't park until half an hour after sunrise but when it's so heavily overcast it may not matter much. My list is almost entirely residents; I heard or saw only three migrant breeders, Orange-crowned and Wilson's Warblers, and Lazuli Bunting. I found no flycatchers and heard just one woodpecker. It felt like nobody was home.:) ( The list: )

I almost turned back at the corner because of the ticks. I have never seen so many ticks on this trail, still not mowed, and my new bug stuff was useless. But I'd gotten that far and didn't want to go back through tick-filled grass when the rest of the trail was somewhat more open, so I went to the end. There was nothing of special interest out there, but I'm glad I persevered.

marinarusalka

We're back!

Got back yesterday around noon, after a rather brutal return trip that involved a red-eye flight from San Jose to LAX, then a 2-hour shuttle bus ride from LAX to San Diego, then a Lyft home from the shuttle stop.

Costa Rica was amazing. As I said to The Boy at one point, it felt like we've spent two weeks living in a David Attenborough documentary. So green! So full of wildlife! So gorgeous! I'll be sorting through pictures for a while, and The Boy even longer, but here are some birds to start off with.

Keep in mind, these were all taken with my phone, so not nearly a complete list of what we saw, just what I could get a decent photo of.

( birds!birds!birds! )

There were also toucans, and scarlet macaws, and tons more hummingbirds and lots of other stuff that will have to wait until The Boy sorts through his photos. Stay tuned!

Current Mood: tired

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: determined

shipperslist

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badly_knitted posting in

get_knitted

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.

This Week's Question: We all probably have multiple WiPs, but which of yours has been hanging around longest, waiting to be finished?

If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

greghousesgf

I made a mistake the other day, the skeptics in the pub thing isn't today, it's Tuesday. In the meantime the band schedule for the North Beach festival has still not been announced and that's next week.

Current Music: Chambers Brothers

neotoma posting in

fresh_haul

Three quarts of strawberries, 3 pints of sweet cherries, a pint of sugar peas, locally grown brown rice, locally grown polenta, large soft pretzel, gruyere-bacon pastry wheel, lemon tart, fennel plant, dill plant, zinnia, cilantro, basil (all three plants given away by the local Master Gardeners group).

I guess I'm making strawberry jam this weekend.

Profile

superborb

June 2025

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Page Summary

torachan - Weekly Reading
smbc_comics_feed - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Biology
nnozomi in guardian_learning - 第四年第一百四十九天
kaberett - some joys of the day
conuly in agonyaunt - One column, two letters
conuly in agonyaunt - I don't know why this was sent to Pay Dirt, but Pay Dirt gave excellent advice the LW will not heed
minoanmiss - One of the uses of hobbies
marycatelli in books - Just Stab Me Now
inkcharm in fandom_icons - maelle. clair obscur: expedition 33.
isis - interesting links to fascinate people
watersword - (no subject)
conuly - JFC what is it about Greeks?
senmut - PRIDE 4: Hardison/Eliot/Parker
mrkinch - 6/7/2025 Inspiration Trail
marinarusalka - Costa Rica highlights: birds
minoanmiss - Kilmar Abrego Garcia isn't home yet
shipperslist - Ukon Pakka, a Kalevala tarot
badly_knitted in get_knitted - Check-In Post - June 7th 2025
greghousesgf - (no subject)
neotoma in fresh_haul - Farmer's Market -- 7 June 2025 (Pitchfork Day, 20th of Meadows, Year 233)

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Style: Pink After Dark for Boxes and Borders by branchandroot
Resources: Salmon Spawn

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