Galumph!

Sep. 2nd, 2025 05:24 pm
azurelunatic: Computer with a wind-up key captioned "Which version of STUPID are you running?" (stupid)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
It turns out that there is a timeout to the "let's test your equipment" for the browser-based telehealth appointments with my therapist. That timeout is 5 minutes. I had to switch to my phone, which is always vexatious for me.

Recently, Belovedest hauled Dad's old machine (dubbed Galumph, after the imaginary draft horse stallion Dad always talked about as his preferred riding beast) out to test it and see if it would run. (The massive monitor that came with it did not run, but I have found a suitably crusty-looking TV and other screen based appliance repair shop to attempt a repair.) Galumph ran. Belovedest looked at the specs. "That's a freaking RACK SERVER masquerading as a desktop!!!" they said, or words to that general effect.

So after we returned from the Michigan trip, I told Belovedest that it was time to take them up on their offer to rebox my poor old suffering machine.

I accidentally gave them the wrong figures for my C: and D: drives, so there was a bit of a flurry at first, but after they switched them, they were able to get to a login screen. I opened my Chrome / User Data / Default / Sessions folder, copied the most recent Tabs_* and Session_* files to a subfolder that I've named "Explicit Distrust" and launched my browser.

All 1,5XX tabs opened.

I've been trying to decrease them a little bit ever since, starting with my Main window, where the tabs tend to proliferate with abandon. (Trying to do this on the old hardware took forever, in addition to me getting distracted by shiny things.)

United Healthcare is at it again

Sep. 2nd, 2025 05:17 pm
azurelunatic: "Where's the goddamn NERF BAT when you *really* need it?" Animated cartoon tech support loses her cool.  (work)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
United Healthcare sent me a letter, dated August 26, to tell me that they were taking away my primary care of record (not actually my real primary care) -- retroactively not covered since May 16. And assigning me to someone whose UHC profile shows that he only takes 0-17 year old patients.

"If you have any questions" I could call in. Where I learned that there were a lot of those letters sent out in error.

I requested that the UHC phone agent quote me with any creative profanity she'd like to attribute to me when conveying my displeasure to her supervisors.

I called the schedulers listed for my "new primary care", who instructed me to call UHC back to say that I wanted to keep my actual primary care doctor (who I've had since my former nurse-practitioner went into Infectious Diseases. And gave me the "MPI" number of my current doctor, and further instructions on how to make this happen. (But it can't continue happening until tomorrow, because both of them close down their phones at 5.)

Kudos to that agent, who was on the phone with me past her scheduled departure time. I thanked her for that.

we watch those images for hours

Sep. 2nd, 2025 04:05 pm
pensnest: small smiling boy in top hat and tails, caption Hi (Cheeky little ringbearer)
[personal profile] pensnest
I've been knitting while watching "Frost", a police procedural from the '90s-00's, and it has been interesting to see how things develop along the way. Improving social attitudes as well as improving visuals! And it has been fun to spot the stars along the way. My favourites have been Joanne Froggett (Downton), Inspector Barnaby from Midsommer Murders (Neil Dudgeon, looking unexpectedly tasty) and Anton Lesser, who about twenty years ago looked a lot younger than I thought he would. From other roles I've seen him in (Endeavour, Andor) I probably thought he was born old.

*

I have a running list of song lyrics to use as headers for my posts (thanks, [personal profile] dine, for the idea) and my eye skipped a bit as I was checking through, to give me
diet coke and a vengeful god

Anyone care to identify the two songs that comprise that line?

seasonsofdrabbles works (2 gen mcu)

Sep. 1st, 2025 10:36 pm
svgurl: (mcu: sam blue)
[personal profile] svgurl
This is what I wrote for [community profile] seasonsofdrabbles. :)

Title: (together) we'll make it through
Fandom: MCU
Pairing/Characters: Steve & Sam
Rating: G
Word Count: 200
Summary: Sam survives the snap and learns to adjust.

Title: girls just wanna have fun
Fandom: MCU
Pairing/Characters: Natasha & Pepper
Rating: G
Word Count: 300
Summary: A long overdue vacation
svgurl: (ted lasso: sam/jamie backs)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] seasonsofdrabbles had creator reveals for their Summer 2025 Round collection and this is what I got. :)

Title: Just in Time
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] Griddlebone
Fandom: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Pairing/Characters: Kimberly/Tommy
Word Count: 100
Summary: Kimberly effects a daring rescue.

Always love them and especially when Kim gets to be the one to save the day!

Title: Take both my hands, spin me around
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] underfallingstars
Fandom: Ted Lasso
Pairing/Characters: Sam/Jamie
Word Count: 300
Summary: The restaurant's closed and everyone has left, but Jamie is still there

This was so cute! Here for the pining and how sweet they are together.

Returned from Mitchagain

Sep. 1st, 2025 01:37 pm
azurelunatic: Vivid pink Alaskan wild rose. (Default)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
I picked a hotel based on price and reviews, and I think I picked poorly. Housekeeping was by request only, but they communicated that exactly bloody nowhere. The staff were universally friendly and courteous, but the lack of communication about that vital issue was overwhelming. I had to request housekeeping on Sunday twice, and the second time the person who arrived with fresh towels and to take away the garbage said something peculiar, about having us on the housekeeping list the next morning. I inquired, and learned that it is a lingering Covid safety policy. I would rather have universal masking as the lingering Covid safety policy.

Spicy mango frozen margaritas are delicious. We went to a local brewery, I think on Friday after the parish hall setup for the party. S & Z went for the frozen margarita "flight" and we passed the little goblets around for tasting. I tried the raspberry daiquiri (non frozen) and found it too sour. But I was able to enjoy the hot rim on the mango margarita, to the extent that I looked up recipes and got a bottle of Tajín after we got home. We played Sushi Go (except for Mums) and Wizard (except for me). There was no duckie in the big fishbowl drink as they were out. Alas. Hot Rim is our new band, and all the titles of the songs are double entendres, each followed by a B-side entitled "... Vociferously!"

Pips' partner H came for Saturday and Sunday, and it was very good to meet them. Belovedest has a sticker on their water bottle reading "I'm the enby sheep", and H is another such enby sheep. And Goth. We took to each other immediately.

The anniversary party was a hit. I even convinced Belovedest to dance with me to "I Will Survive", which I named as "our song" — not incorrect, but it's my song from nerd camp, and I believe their song by way of yeeting the evil ex, rather than our song together.
Cleanup on site was very swift, and we didn't actually have to stack all the chairs. Afterwards at home (the parental home), V and Mums put away leftovers and sorted the salad (cucumber and tomato separate from the lettuce) while the rest of the kid generation gossiped and played games and I carefully pulled the photos off the science fair board and sorted them back into their ziplock bags.

There was Sunday brunch, and I think we may not go there again — both of us and perhaps more of the party had mild food poisoning symptoms that afternoon. It didn't ruin our days fully, but I was glad to have my fully stocked medical kit on hand.

Squaredle is one of the family preoccupations. It's a NYT game that resembles Boggle, except it's a composed game rather than random, and the boards vary in size and shape. (One recent one was a 5x5 doughnut, with the middlemost letter missing.) There were also games of Boggle.

I did have the new folding power chair for the trip, which saved my strength for the important things. The acquisition is its own story, with the Bastard & Our Lady's own lucks. (This is a distinct entity from the folding scooter, which should arrive later this month.)

Crochet updates:
My #10 crochet cotton super Goth beaded choker is finished with the structural crochet work and needs the final outside beading. I'm waiting on more of the beads.
The self-striping granny triangle shawl has the first triangle complete, and I could wear it like that if I wanted to. Now that I know how it's sized, I've started the second triangle of three to make it a trapezoid.
Secret #10 crochet cotton project with a due date: I need to make a crucial measurement, but I found the perfect button in my collection. Awaiting the first chain. And I am pleased beyond measure to have been commissioned it.

Yellface is extremely glad we're home. She lectured us at length about having left, in tones I've never heard from her before. That was the extent of her displeasure, fortunately.

I experimented, and got us a first class upgrade on our way out. There was almost enough foot room for Belovedest, and enough elbow room for me. I even napped some. There was a cheese plate, and I felt secure enough in my prophylactic meds to partake. The only problem was the combination of my swoopy sleeves with armrest cup holders, so my right sleeve became saturated with ginger ale for a while.
Coming back was very crammed, even though we were in the premium seats with some extra foot room.

I'm glad I went.

(no subject)

Sep. 1st, 2025 04:43 pm
cesy: "Cesy" - An old-fashioned quill and ink (Default)
[personal profile] cesy
Happy news of the day: Whoopi Goldberg wants people to watch more women's sports. So if you sign up for a free account on Pluto.TV and search for AWSN (All Women's Sports Network) you can watch a selection of women's sports matches and news and documentaries for free. Huzzah!

Thanks to The Happy Newspaper for the tip.

Crafting Update, August 2025

Sep. 1st, 2025 10:01 am
althea_valara: A picture of a striped crochet project, with the words, "STAND BACK! I have YARN!" (yarn2)
[personal profile] althea_valara
Most of this month was spent NOT crafting. I'm behind on checking in at [community profile] get_knitted because of it - I hope everyone there has been having success with their crafts!

It was an on month for Nerdopolis; we were in the third and final round for the current tournament, and I got inspired by some of the challenges.

The first challenge was the traditional Love What You Do challenge, in which teams pick their own themes. My team is all about gaming, and this month, we chose Mini-games as our theme. I immediately thought of the butterfly hunt in Final Fantasy X and dutifully searched for butterfly-related patterns. I found this butterfly shawl pattern. "It's crocheted - I can finish it in a month!" I said to myself. Reader, I did not finish it. Instead, I knocked out a quick crocheted hat yesterday that has the classic butterfly-made-of-chains on it. Apologies for poor picture.

A crocheted hat featuring a butterfly made of chain stitches.
[Image Description: A pink crocheted hat, featuring a butterfly made of chain stitches on the brim.]

Then there was the Boats challenge. Well, boats are often white in color, so I thought hey, let's make some white snowflakes! I chose this snowflake pattern, and tried it holding thread doubled. Alas, I got bored at the tediousness of it in the final round, and literally dropped it to finish it later... and it ended up under my desk, where it tangled with OTHER projects that have been dropped. BIG SIGH.

Anyway! I did not feel like unearthing it, so I decided to do something else instead. If you stand on the deck of a boat while it's in motion, it gets HECKIN' WINDY and your hair blows all over the place. So I started contemplating a hairband of some kind.

I considered yet another Lacy Crochet Kerchief - this pattern is like potato chips for me, I've made NINE of them. I did dutifully get yarn and started the chain/first row, but changed my mind. I considered a granny head scarf I found and even started that one, but the pattern called for fingering and I had just grabbed the first yarn/hook combo I found (worsted weight and a J hook) and it was coming out ugly. So I went back to the drawing board AGAIN, and finally whipped out this YESTERDAY:

A crocheted headband that features a patch of pumpkins.
[Image Description: A crocheted headband. It is tan in color and features bright orange pumpkins made of cluster stitches. A green vine meanders through the pumpkin patch.]

I left off round 2 and 6 because I didn't have much time. Even so, I barely finished this before the deadline. I'm happy with it, and it looks really cute on me and HEY I LOVE ALL THINGS PUMPKIN so now I have a seasonal headband - or will, once I weave in ends, oops.

For Nerd Cred, I tied to the All Saints' Wake in FFXIV, as there are plenty of pumpkin decorations then.. and also pumpkin cookies, as featured in this clip from one of my Twitch streams:



The Lab's theme this month was Paper Manipulation. I immediately thought PAPER QUILLING! Alas, I couldn't find my quilling pen, and didn't have the proper color paper for what I wanted to make anyway, so I bought more supplies, oops. I did start quilling a bird, but (a) it wasn't coming out too well (b) I ran out of time. So in desperation, I made an origami inflated box. HEY, IT COUNTS!

An inflated paper box, folded in the origami style.
[Image Description: An inflated paper box, folded in the origami style. Made with a piece of paper torn from a spiral notebook.]

I made a ton of these toys when I was a kid. The children's craft book I got it from said you could fill them when water and use them as water bombs, but wouldn't the paper disintegrate? Hmmm. Anyway, I used that "water bomb" idea for my Nerd Cred, and tied to Final Fantasy Tactics as there is a Water Ball throwing weapon in that game.

I did not work on my cardi at all this month, but did spend an hour starting the Sylvan Tee. I'd like to really put some work into that this month, maybe for [community profile] communal_creators? We'll see!

Don't be afraid of the stars

Sep. 1st, 2025 01:56 pm
copracat: alia from Children of Dune, eyes bright blue, strands of hair blowing across her face (alia)
[personal profile] copracat
I'm at the penultimate episode of Coroner's Diary and there are simply too many cinnamon rolls of the kind who die tragically. I am on melodramatic tenterhooks for the second, third and fourth couples. If it all goes too pear-shaped I am watching A Dream Within A Dream again.

In other news my copy of Hetty McKinnon's latest, Linger, has arrived. Coronation cauliflower and chickpeas is calling to me.
queenlua: (Default)
[personal profile] queenlua
I (finally!) got a chance to play John Company (2022 edition) with some friends last week :3

For those not familiar: Cole Wehrle is a very interesting board game designer who I've blathered about before; he tends to make board games with asymmetric gameplay and complex mechanics... but the complexity of the mechanics usually feel less in service to Making Stuff Hard and more in service of Providing A Nuanced And Detailed Experience. (The way Bird Guy described it was, "I feel less like I'm playing a board game and more like I'm engaging with some sort of... interactive art-piece-slash-simulation? in which I'm roleplaying something dictated by my position in the game?" And, yeah. That really is the best description of the Wehrle board game experience. This one included!)

ANYWAY. Jotting down some brief thoughts for posterity and/or anyone else curious about this game:

Read more... )

Self care is a full time job

Aug. 31st, 2025 09:12 pm
kayre: (Default)
[personal profile] kayre
Life is stressful lately. Besides *waves hands* the world, my husband retired two months ago-- which is a good thing, but a big change in our home life. And my daughter has been suffering severe back pain for 3 weeks now.

I'm mostly keeping myself together but I'm startled to realize how much of my life revolves around self care (and I know how lucky I am to be able to do that).

Drawing for relaxation.
Dulcimer.
Podcasts.
Crocheting.
Computer games.
Walking.
Riding my scooter.
Even at work, I'm sometimes choosing music more to soothe myself than to fit worship.

piano update

Aug. 31st, 2025 02:21 pm
queenlua: (steller2)
[personal profile] queenlua
on the one hand: last time i publicposted about piano here i got such fun & lovely comments

on the other hand: surely further navel-gazy blathering on that theme would only be boring though

on the other other hand: but i am writing that kind of thing down anyway, for like, My Own Purposes, so like, idk maybe someone else would be curious to see

on the other other other hand: this is all probably incredibly cringe to watch i'm so mediocre at piano for someone who took lessons for so long sigh

synthesis: okay, this post is public rn, but i reserve the write to access-lock it at any time out of shyness/self-consciousness haha. it will probably not be interesting unless you want to hear What I Learned About Piano Today-type stuff~

Read more... )

anyway yeah. that sure was two thousand words about Picking Piano Back Up As An Adult, please and thank you
althea_valara: A cropped image of Feo Ul, a pixie with fiery orange hair, from the Final Fantasy XIV video game. The words "oh my adorable sapling!" are on the left side of the frame. (sapling)
[personal profile] althea_valara
LOOK AT THIS BANNER, ISN'T IT ADORBS?


Join us at [community profile] smallweb for Small Web September!


[community profile] smallweb is a community for folks building personal, small websites. I'll be taking part in Small Web September to spruce up my Final Fantasy Fan Script Fan Site. The goal is to complete porting over the stuff I've previously posted here, at the very least. If I can, I'd like to get FFXI: Chains of Promathia documented as well. And I really should go back to my FFXIV script, too; it's been over a year since I touched it and I'm still mid-Shadowbringers.




[community profile] communal_creators is a community for creative types, and will be starting its next round in mid September. ANY creativity counts! I am definitely going to double-dip and count working on the website, but I also hope to get some fiber arts done. We'll a supportive and chill community, so come join us if you need some cheering on for your creative projects!

(no subject)

Aug. 30th, 2025 06:25 pm
jadelennox: She-Ra: Bo and Seahawk best friend squad! (she-ra bo)
[personal profile] jadelennox

Thought process: "Why isn't there a biopic about John Brown? His life was weird and full of adventures and it would be a banger. Wait, maybe there is, let me check wikipedia... oh my goodness these are very different movies."

If anyone's seen any of these and they're worth watching (because good), or hatewatching, or avoiding like the plague, then let me know!

  1. Santa Fe Trail (1940), with Raymond Massey as John Brown, also Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ronald Reagan as General Custer. That's certainly some casting?

    Wikipedia says:

    [The film] depicted Brown completely unsympathetically as a villainous madman and Massey plays him with a constant, wild-eyed stare. The film gave the impression that he did not oppose slavery

    and quotes from the film:

    Mammy: "Well, Old John Brown said he's gonna give us freedom, but shuckins, if this here Kansas is 'freedom', then I got no use for it. No, sir." Then, a black man adds, "Me, neither. I just wants to get back home to Texas and sit till Kingdom Come."

    So this certainly sounds like a gem.

  2. The Good Lord Bird (2020 miniseries), starring Ethan Hawke as John Brown and an large cast including Daveed Diggs, Orlando Jones, and...Killer Mike? Sure, why not.

    Did I know about this one? I bet I did—it won a lot of awards—but everyone's brain was oatmeal in 2020 and I am not sure I formed long term memories. Also maybe I heard of it and assumed it was about the Lord God Bird (the ivory billed woodpecker) because who wouldn't assume that?

    Anyway the assessment of this is mostly a lot of awards and a positive rotten tomatoes rating so probably a safer bet watching Daveed Diggs as Frederick Douglass instead of Ronald Reagan as George Custer, yeow.

Ukes and Yodels

Aug. 29th, 2025 10:37 pm
halfshellvenus: (Default)
[personal profile] halfshellvenus
We're on vacation in Hawaii, my last chance for any kind of fun before diving back into the disaster that is work. My team is having to rewrite a significant amount of code, to be finished by October. The odds are not in our favor, but reality is not a consideration. :O

So meanwhile, HalfshellHusband and I are escaping some of the 100+ heat in Sacramento and experiencing nicer weather on the Big Island. Even with the humidity, it's still milder than home. We've spent lots of time reading in relaxing settings, by beautiful pools and a fabulous lagoon. I've been snorkeling several times (better after I traded in the leaky mask), and seen a lot of cool fish. Yesterday, I saw a spiky orange thing that was probably a pencil urchin. That was new! I continue my record of never having knowingly seen an octopus, though. I spent a lot of time looking yesterday during a snorkeling-at-sea adventure, but NADA.

In Idol news, this week was an intersection (writing with a partner), which is always a challenge. Our survival to the next round depends on the combined votes for BOTH our stories, so I appreciate all the help I can get. My story is here, with a link to my partner [personal profile] rayaso's at the top. The link to the poll is here. As always, we could really use more outside readers, so if you're so inclined, please check out the entries on that poll and vote for your favorites!

I can't believe we're past the halfway mark on our vacation already. It always goes by too fast, and I'm not looking forward to what's waiting when we return home. So we'll enjoy it while we can, and will try to have lava cake at least one more time before we leave!


jadelennox: Love and Rockets' Hopey leaving graffiti  (lnr: hopey)
[personal profile] jadelennox

I can't really drink alcohol anymore so there's no point in saving a bottle of something expensive and wonderful for when the day finally comes.

I briefly wondered if I should acquire a vuvuzela so I have it when I need it, but I realized this will be basically a textbook example of a moment for which shofarot are made. I can usually get a good trumpet blast or nine. I'm prepared.

See you all in the streets. Maybe it will happen tomorrow.

more fandom events

Aug. 29th, 2025 10:02 am
svgurl: (smallville: clark happy s1)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] thestoryinside, a challenge where you are assigned a partner that you pick books for off their TBR list based on voted for themes and vice versa, is open for September sign-ups until August 31st.

[tumblr.com profile] whumptember is a month long whump themed daily prompt challenge that takes place in September

[tumblr.com profile] sintember is a daily prompt challenge in September.

[tumblr.com profile] sapphic-september is a multifandom daily prompt challenge in September for femslash ships.

[tumblr.com profile] horrortember is a horror themed daily prompt challenge in September.

[tumblr.com profile] tropetember is a daily prompt multifandom event in September that celebrates tropes

[tumblr.com profile] kisstember is a weekly prompt challenge that will take place in September, with two choices of kissing prompts for each week.

[community profile] macrocest is running Cestember, a month-long multifandom incest event with daily prompts in September

[tumblr.com profile] sweetspicybingo is a kink based bingo challenge. Sign-ups close on September 15th.

[community profile] vampiremedia is a community dedicated to all things vampires in media.

[community profile] fandomgiftbasket, a multifandom gifting fest, is open for sign-ups until September 5th, 11:59PM UTC. The rules/schedule is HERE.

[community profile] 10itemsorless, a fic/art exchange for ships with ten works or less on ao3 (using the otp:true filter), is open for nominations until September 6th, 7PM EDT. More info, including where to nominate, is HERE.

[community profile] ififitsifics, a multifandom exchange for works with a focus on cats of all kinds (housecats and other felines, as well as cat-people and persons transformed into cats), is accepting nominations until September 8th, 11AM UTC.

[personal profile] sunflower_auction, an online fanworks auction, designed to raise money for nonprofit organizations that help the people of Ukraine fight back against Russia's invasion, is open for bidding until September 15th, 11:59PM UTC