excellent subject line
Apr. 29th, 2026 01:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starandreaThe day really got away from me there. Like, I walked past the dahlias tonight and thought, I'd better see if they need water, and when I looked down I noticed the nasturtiums I thought hadn't sprouted yet were growing through the holes in the top of their container. (Also the dahlias needed water.)
If we're lucky we'll get to try again tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a picture of my dog.
If we're lucky we'll get to try again tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a picture of my dog.
starandrea![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
polyamships is hosting a discussion, rec, and comment event for 3weeks4dreamwidth, with a post every other day (masterlist) and the ongoing promise to include "all your polyamorous shipping content."The Day Two prompt asks, How did you discover poly ships? What makes you write/read/draw them?
And I thought, it was Power Rangers in Space, right? I started writing Zhane with Andros and Ashley because I wanted to write Zhane and Andros together, and I also wanted to continue an established series (another million-worder) where Andros and Ashley were together. That seems straightforward enough.
( it was not quite that straightforward )
"oh that was one year for the record
I know I never will forget her and how it was between us
in the great love of 1998"
--South65
starandreaI asked if there was anything I should post about during 3weeks4dreamwidth, and china_shop kindly replied, "I would love to hear about your very first steps to learning Chinese."
🔖 Some background~
( why I started learning Chinese, and where I am with it seven years later )
🔖 My first steps in learning Chinese~
( specifically and generally, and what I would tell myself if I were starting now )
🔖 In conclusion, some early study notes~
( so many old resources, some more current and/or helpful than others )
3weeks4dreamwidth, and china_shop kindly replied, "I would love to hear about your very first steps to learning Chinese."🔖 Some background~
( why I started learning Chinese, and where I am with it seven years later )
🔖 My first steps in learning Chinese~
( specifically and generally, and what I would tell myself if I were starting now )
🔖 In conclusion, some early study notes~
( so many old resources, some more current and/or helpful than others )
3weeks4dreamwidth, a ficlet a day, "temperature"
Apr. 27th, 2026 12:27 amstarandrea♥ a ficlet a day, 2026 prompts by lilly_c for 3weeks4dreamwidth~
♥ A story about fox!xian and dragon!ji at the Cloud Recesses guest lectures, where they both get pulled under the cold springs for no reason, and time has passed on the other side, also for no reason.
♥ ( story )
🦊
lilly_c for 3weeks4dreamwidth~♥ A story about fox!xian and dragon!ji at the Cloud Recesses guest lectures, where they both get pulled under the cold springs for no reason, and time has passed on the other side, also for no reason.
♥ ( story )
🦊
| temperature | breakdown | magic | gone | darkness | improvise | investigate |
| late | echo | seed | analyse | weakness | tied together | charm |
| fragile | backwards | smirk | substance | desolate | alien | finish |
"you don't give up so easily, that's how I know you won't surrender me" (dar williams)
Apr. 26th, 2026 05:54 pmstarandreaIt's been a little dry here, to the point where I've been wondering: will I have to start watering the gardens in April?? But today I noticed the daffodils are shriveling as soon as they try to open and the poor Icelandic poppy is fading again, plus I'd been meaning to put more water on the transplanted blueberries, so hose time has arrived.
I got the front and back hoses hooked up, and I brought out the hose butler for the fence gardens. Then since I was there anyway I watered some of the shade garden, and I've left the long hose out there because I spotted my neighbor pulling out pachysandra. I asked if he was going to throw it away, and when he said yes I asked if I could have it. So now I have a cart full of pachysandra and a new plan for the evening.
What I do not have is groceries, but that's really not as important as plants, so.
I got a couple more mesh protectors set up for my winter sown seedlings, just to keep the squirrels out when I take the tops off to give them fresh air and extra sunshine. I watered the greenhouse houseplants and didn't entirely forget that I have a couple of coreopsis still in the canna greenhouse (in the sense that I walked past it, thought "oh right," and kept going).
Now I'm pondering an Untamed series about the cave under the cold springs (still a little puzzled about the geology of that area) based onlilly_c's ficlet a day prompts for 3weeks4dreamwidth. That would be fun, although though I have no idea what would happen in it. But the cave is both pretty and magical, and that goes a long way.
Daphne says I'll be taking her out first. Then probably the pachysandra. Then... not groceries, I'm guessing. So writing, clearly.
I got the front and back hoses hooked up, and I brought out the hose butler for the fence gardens. Then since I was there anyway I watered some of the shade garden, and I've left the long hose out there because I spotted my neighbor pulling out pachysandra. I asked if he was going to throw it away, and when he said yes I asked if I could have it. So now I have a cart full of pachysandra and a new plan for the evening.
What I do not have is groceries, but that's really not as important as plants, so.
I got a couple more mesh protectors set up for my winter sown seedlings, just to keep the squirrels out when I take the tops off to give them fresh air and extra sunshine. I watered the greenhouse houseplants and didn't entirely forget that I have a couple of coreopsis still in the canna greenhouse (in the sense that I walked past it, thought "oh right," and kept going).
Now I'm pondering an Untamed series about the cave under the cold springs (still a little puzzled about the geology of that area) based on
lilly_c's ficlet a day prompts for 3weeks4dreamwidth. That would be fun, although though I have no idea what would happen in it. But the cave is both pretty and magical, and that goes a long way.Daphne says I'll be taking her out first. Then probably the pachysandra. Then... not groceries, I'm guessing. So writing, clearly.
"watching you go is like spying on hope, ever onward with more to burn" (dar williams)
Apr. 25th, 2026 02:34 pmstarandreaYay it's 3weeks4dreamwidth! What should I post about? I have no idea! (If there's something you want me to post about, let me know and I'll do it.) Right now I'm eating microwave pasta and mushrooms with chopsticks, so that's pretty exciting.
I did accomplish a variety of small tasks this morning: relocating my Reunion Dinner legos to Flower Fruit Mountain (that set makes so much more sense now that I've read something about Sun Wukong and his monkeys), super gluing the pin in my favorite moldavite pendant so I can wear it again (I'm sure I did this when I first got it, but that must have been at least 10 years ago now), and moving the compost I was storing beside the porch to behind the garage (thanks for that idea Marci; it was a hassle but it looks so much neater).
I left my hardiest houseplants outside in the greenhouse last night, and all of them appear to have survived. The weather app says it got down to 29F; our greenhouse temperature sensor says 35F. And I put some new faux flower/vines on the moongate yesterday, so the whole patio looks cheerier.
All blueberry plants are still alive as far as I can tell. The cosmos have sprouted but the nasturtiums have not. I have finished my lunch, and Daphne is asleep after a long and windy walk in the park, so I guess it's time to hang up the laundry.
Happy birthday, Dreamwidth!
3weeks4dreamwidth! What should I post about? I have no idea! (If there's something you want me to post about, let me know and I'll do it.) Right now I'm eating microwave pasta and mushrooms with chopsticks, so that's pretty exciting.I did accomplish a variety of small tasks this morning: relocating my Reunion Dinner legos to Flower Fruit Mountain (that set makes so much more sense now that I've read something about Sun Wukong and his monkeys), super gluing the pin in my favorite moldavite pendant so I can wear it again (I'm sure I did this when I first got it, but that must have been at least 10 years ago now), and moving the compost I was storing beside the porch to behind the garage (thanks for that idea Marci; it was a hassle but it looks so much neater).
I left my hardiest houseplants outside in the greenhouse last night, and all of them appear to have survived. The weather app says it got down to 29F; our greenhouse temperature sensor says 35F. And I put some new faux flower/vines on the moongate yesterday, so the whole patio looks cheerier.
All blueberry plants are still alive as far as I can tell. The cosmos have sprouted but the nasturtiums have not. I have finished my lunch, and Daphne is asleep after a long and windy walk in the park, so I guess it's time to hang up the laundry.
Happy birthday, Dreamwidth!
Media Roundup: Mostly Superheroes
Apr. 25th, 2026 10:36 amforestofgloryA few days ago I did something in the middle of the night that agitated my foot and its been more painful ever since. I've been spending even more time sitting and reading as result. At least the cats are happy. Anyways have some thoughts on my recent reading:
The Prettiest Star written by Jadzia Axelrod, art by Jess Taylor—I picked this up because it's about an alien princess who is disguised as a human teen boy. I was hoping it would hit some crossdressing girl media troupes. However the disguise stuff was pretty much just a straightforward metaphor for trans-ness. It was a cute story but it wasn't the thing that I hoped it would be. I did appreciate that the town it took place in was called Ozma Gap though
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girlvol 8-12 by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Derek Charm et al— These are still very fun! I love Doreen and Nancy’s friendship a lot.
I appreciate that this references the myth of Redemptive violence and all but I don't really think it's making a coherent moral point or like succeeding in refuting the myth here. (I’m not sure that you can do that and be a superhero story – its a genre that’s built on punching people being cool)
Mostly my read through of Squirrel Girl has been technically a re-read though it was all long enough ago that I didn’t remember much, but these last couple of volumes I hadn’t gotten to. It’s nice to have finished it all now.
The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel by Ryan North and Derek Charm—One of the things I checked out when I was wondering what Ryan North was up to recently. John Constantine is a bitter British magician who shows up in fics occasionally to help with inadvisable magic, but I don't really know much about him. This is a graphic novel about him as a kid. I can’t really speak to how this related to his other comic appearances but it's very cute and fun as its own thing.
Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer/Fugitive by Greg Rucka et al —The next big bat family crossover after No Man’s Land. Bruce Wayne is accused of murder, which of course creates a lot of problems. I really liked some parts of this (people teaming up to solve a mystery!) and really didn’t like other bits (The prison sequences made me want to yell at someone about prisoners deserving human rights, and what even was going on with Azrael?)
The Prettiest Star written by Jadzia Axelrod, art by Jess Taylor—I picked this up because it's about an alien princess who is disguised as a human teen boy. I was hoping it would hit some crossdressing girl media troupes. However the disguise stuff was pretty much just a straightforward metaphor for trans-ness. It was a cute story but it wasn't the thing that I hoped it would be. I did appreciate that the town it took place in was called Ozma Gap though
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girlvol 8-12 by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Derek Charm et al— These are still very fun! I love Doreen and Nancy’s friendship a lot.
I appreciate that this references the myth of Redemptive violence and all but I don't really think it's making a coherent moral point or like succeeding in refuting the myth here. (I’m not sure that you can do that and be a superhero story – its a genre that’s built on punching people being cool)
Mostly my read through of Squirrel Girl has been technically a re-read though it was all long enough ago that I didn’t remember much, but these last couple of volumes I hadn’t gotten to. It’s nice to have finished it all now.
The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel by Ryan North and Derek Charm—One of the things I checked out when I was wondering what Ryan North was up to recently. John Constantine is a bitter British magician who shows up in fics occasionally to help with inadvisable magic, but I don't really know much about him. This is a graphic novel about him as a kid. I can’t really speak to how this related to his other comic appearances but it's very cute and fun as its own thing.
Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer/Fugitive by Greg Rucka et al —The next big bat family crossover after No Man’s Land. Bruce Wayne is accused of murder, which of course creates a lot of problems. I really liked some parts of this (people teaming up to solve a mystery!) and really didn’t like other bits (The prison sequences made me want to yell at someone about prisoners deserving human rights, and what even was going on with Azrael?)
Search maintenance
Apr. 22nd, 2026 09:19 am![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
mark posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceHappy Wednesday!
I'm taking search offline sometime today to upgrade the server to a new instance type. It should be down for a day or so -- sorry for the inconvenience. If you're curious, the existing search machine is over 10 years old and was starting to accumulate a decade of cruft...!
Also, apparently these older machines cost more than twice what the newer ones cost, on top of being slower. Trying to save a bit of maintenance and cost, and hopefully a Wednesday is okay!
Edited: The other cool thing is that this also means that the search index will be effectively realtime afterwards... no more waiting a few minutes for the indexer to catch new content.
relatable explanations
Apr. 20th, 2026 09:12 pmstarandreaAstronomy Picture of the Day (![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
apod_feed) is delightful for many reasons, one being their lovely astronomy pictures and another being their brief explanations of those pictures.
The explanations include a bunch of links for people who want to learn more, and often a random funny link to make people like me click all of them in order to find it. (A little practice can make you very good at guessing which one is the funny link.)
For example, yesterday's picture was Eye on the Milky Way by Miguel Claro. The explanation acknowledged the "unusual vertical horizon," and unusual vertical was a clickable link. I clicked it and laughed out loud.
Another great one from last year was Little Red Dots in the Early Universe, which concluded: "...searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever previous LRDs might have become today." The phrase searches are underway linked to a paper in The Astrophysical Journal, but the phrase become today was the one I was looking for.
apod_feed) is delightful for many reasons, one being their lovely astronomy pictures and another being their brief explanations of those pictures. The explanations include a bunch of links for people who want to learn more, and often a random funny link to make people like me click all of them in order to find it. (A little practice can make you very good at guessing which one is the funny link.)
For example, yesterday's picture was Eye on the Milky Way by Miguel Claro. The explanation acknowledged the "unusual vertical horizon," and unusual vertical was a clickable link. I clicked it and laughed out loud.
Another great one from last year was Little Red Dots in the Early Universe, which concluded: "...searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever previous LRDs might have become today." The phrase searches are underway linked to a paper in The Astrophysical Journal, but the phrase become today was the one I was looking for.
