Daily Happiness
Jun. 4th, 2025 09:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torachan1. We finished another puzzle today. This one was a lot of fun!
2. I got the shipping notification from Best Buy on my Switch 2! It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, which I was not expecting at all because when I did the preorder they weren't guaranteeing launch day delivery. I never did get an email from Nintendo about preordering directly from them, so we're planning to check out Target tomorrow and see if they have any for sale in store, so we can each have one.
3. We had a nice morning at Disneyland. It was a little muggy but the temps were fairly low and it was nice and overcast. Started to get busy as we were leaving, but it wasn't very crowded at all earlier, which was nice.
4. Uploading the picture of the lego shelf yesterday made me realize I still haven't posted pics of the inside of the garage since it's been completed. It's still got a ways to go decorating-wise. We've got art we want to put on the walls, and more stuff to display, and it could use a few more pieces of furniture, but it has enough that it feels pretty lived-in now. I use it every day for the exercise machine and working on puzzles, and Carla goes out daily to read and listen to music (and also work on puzzles).
( Read more... )
5. The other day I looked in the cat tree and saw Chloe was lying on her back in one of the cubbies like a silly girl.
2. I got the shipping notification from Best Buy on my Switch 2! It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, which I was not expecting at all because when I did the preorder they weren't guaranteeing launch day delivery. I never did get an email from Nintendo about preordering directly from them, so we're planning to check out Target tomorrow and see if they have any for sale in store, so we can each have one.
3. We had a nice morning at Disneyland. It was a little muggy but the temps were fairly low and it was nice and overcast. Started to get busy as we were leaving, but it wasn't very crowded at all earlier, which was nice.
4. Uploading the picture of the lego shelf yesterday made me realize I still haven't posted pics of the inside of the garage since it's been completed. It's still got a ways to go decorating-wise. We've got art we want to put on the walls, and more stuff to display, and it could use a few more pieces of furniture, but it has enough that it feels pretty lived-in now. I use it every day for the exercise machine and working on puzzles, and Carla goes out daily to read and listen to music (and also work on puzzles).
( Read more... )
5. The other day I looked in the cat tree and saw Chloe was lying on her back in one of the cubbies like a silly girl.
(no subject)
Jun. 4th, 2025 08:47 pmskygiantsOver Memorial Day weekend genarti and I were on a mini-vacation at her family's cabin in the Finger Lakes, which features a fantastic bookshelf of yellowing midcentury mysteries stocked by genarti's grandmother. Often when I'm there I just avail myself of the existing material, but this time -- in increasing awareness of the way our own books are threatening to spill over our shelves again -- I seized this as an opportunity to check my bookshelves for the books that looked most like they belonged in a cabin in the Finger Lakes to read while I was there and then leave among their brethren.
As a result, I have now finally read the second-to-last of the stock of Weird Joan Aikens thatcoffeeandink gave me many years ago now, and boy was it extremely weird!
My favorite Aiken books are often the ones where I straight up can't tell if she's attempting to sincerely Write in the Genre or if she is writing full deadpan parody. I think The Embroidered Sunset is at least half parody, in a deadpan and melancholy way. I actually have a hypothesis that someone asked Joan Aiken to write a Gothic, meaning the sort of romantic suspense girl-flees-from-house form of the genre popular in the 1970s, and she was like "great! I love the Gothic tradition! I will give you a plucky 1970s career girl and a mystery and a complex family history and several big creepy houses! would you also like a haunted seaside landscape, the creeping inevitability of loss and death, some barely-dodged incest and a tragic ending?" and Gollancz, weary of Joan Aiken and her antics, was just like "sure, Joan. Fine. Do whatever."
Our heroine, Lucy, is a talented, sensible, cross and rather ugly girl with notably weird front teeth, is frequently jokingly referred to as Lucy Snowe by one of her love interests; the big creepy old age home in which much of the novel takes place is called Wildfell Hall; at one point Lucy knocks on the front door of Old Colonel Linton and he's like 'oh my god! you look just like my great-grandmother Cathy Linton, nee Earnshaw! it's the notably weird front teeth!" Joan Will Have Her Little Jokes.
The plot? The plot. Lucy, an orphan being raised in New England by her evil uncle and his hapless wife and mean daughter, wants to go study music in England with the brilliant-but-tragically-dying refugee pianist Max Benovek. Her uncle pays her fare across the Atlantic, on the condition that she go and investigate a great-aunt who has been pulling a pension out of the family coffers for many years; the great-aunt was Living Long Term with Another Old Lady (the L word is not said but it is really felt) and one of them has now died, but no one is really clear which.
The evil uncle suspects that the surviving old lady may not be the great-aunt and may instead be Doing Fraud, so Lucy's main task is to locate the old lady and determine whether or not she is in fact her great-aunt. Additionally, the great aunt was a brilliant folk artist unrecognized in her own time and so the evil uncle has assigned Lucy a side quest of finding as many of her paintings as possible and bringing them back to be sold for many dollars.
However, before setting out on any of these quests, Lucy stops in on the dying refugee pianist to see if he will agree to teach her. They have an immediate meeting of the minds and souls! Not only does Max agree to take her on as His Last Pupil, he also immediately furnishes her with cash and a car, because her plan of hitchhiking down to Aunt Fennel's part of the UK could endanger her beautiful pianist's hands!! Now Lucy has a brilliant future ahead of her with someone who really cares about her, but also a ticking clock: she has to sort out this whole great-aunt business before Max progresses from 'tragically dying' to 'tragically dead.'
The rest of the book follows several threads:
- Lucy bopping around the World's Most Depressing Seaside Towns, which, it is ominously and repeatedly hinted, could flood catastraphically at any moment, grimly attempting to convince a series of incredibly weird and variably depressed locals to give her any information or paintings, which they are deeply disinclined to do
- Max, in his sickroom, reading Lucy's letters and going 'gosh I hope I get to teach that girl ... it would be my last and most important life's work .... BEFORE I DIE'
- Sinister Goings On At The Old Age Home! Escaped Convicts!! Secret Identities!!! What Could This All Have To Do With Lucy's Evil Uncle? Who Could Say! Is Their Doctor Faking Being Turkish? Who Could Say!! Why Does That One Old Woman Keep Holding Up An Electric Mixer And Remarking How Easy It Would Be To Murder Someone With It? Who Could Say That Either!!!
- an elderly woman who may or may not be Aunt Fennel, in terrible fear of Something, stacked into dingy and constrained settings packed with other old and fading strangers, trying not to think too hard about her dead partner and their beloved cat and the life that she used to have in her own home where she was happy and loved .... all of these sections genuinely gave me big emotions :(((
Eventually all these plotlines converge with increasingly chaotic drama! Lucy and the old lady meet and have a really interesting, affectionate but complicated relationship colored by deep loneliness and suspicion on both sides; again, I really genuinely cared about this! Lucy, who sometimes exhibits random psychic tendencies, visits the lesbian cottage and finds it is so powerfully and miserably haunted by the happiness that it once held and doesn't anymore that she nearly passes out about it! Then whole thing culminates in ( huge spoilers )
Anyway. A wild time. Some parts I liked very much! I hit the end and shrieked and then forced Beth to read it immediately because I needed to scream about it, and now it lives among its other yellowing paperback friends on the Midcentury Mysteries shelf for some other unsuspecting person to find and scream about.
NB: in addition to everything else a cat dies in this book .... Joan Aiken hates this cat in particular and I do not know why. She likes all the other cats! But for some reason she really wants us to understand that this cat has bad vibes and we should not be sad when it gets got. But me, I was sad.
genarti and I were on a mini-vacation at her family's cabin in the Finger Lakes, which features a fantastic bookshelf of yellowing midcentury mysteries stocked by genarti's grandmother. Often when I'm there I just avail myself of the existing material, but this time -- in increasing awareness of the way our own books are threatening to spill over our shelves again -- I seized this as an opportunity to check my bookshelves for the books that looked most like they belonged in a cabin in the Finger Lakes to read while I was there and then leave among their brethren. As a result, I have now finally read the second-to-last of the stock of Weird Joan Aikens that
coffeeandink gave me many years ago now, and boy was it extremely weird!My favorite Aiken books are often the ones where I straight up can't tell if she's attempting to sincerely Write in the Genre or if she is writing full deadpan parody. I think The Embroidered Sunset is at least half parody, in a deadpan and melancholy way. I actually have a hypothesis that someone asked Joan Aiken to write a Gothic, meaning the sort of romantic suspense girl-flees-from-house form of the genre popular in the 1970s, and she was like "great! I love the Gothic tradition! I will give you a plucky 1970s career girl and a mystery and a complex family history and several big creepy houses! would you also like a haunted seaside landscape, the creeping inevitability of loss and death, some barely-dodged incest and a tragic ending?" and Gollancz, weary of Joan Aiken and her antics, was just like "sure, Joan. Fine. Do whatever."
Our heroine, Lucy, is a talented, sensible, cross and rather ugly girl with notably weird front teeth, is frequently jokingly referred to as Lucy Snowe by one of her love interests; the big creepy old age home in which much of the novel takes place is called Wildfell Hall; at one point Lucy knocks on the front door of Old Colonel Linton and he's like 'oh my god! you look just like my great-grandmother Cathy Linton, nee Earnshaw! it's the notably weird front teeth!" Joan Will Have Her Little Jokes.
The plot? The plot. Lucy, an orphan being raised in New England by her evil uncle and his hapless wife and mean daughter, wants to go study music in England with the brilliant-but-tragically-dying refugee pianist Max Benovek. Her uncle pays her fare across the Atlantic, on the condition that she go and investigate a great-aunt who has been pulling a pension out of the family coffers for many years; the great-aunt was Living Long Term with Another Old Lady (the L word is not said but it is really felt) and one of them has now died, but no one is really clear which.
The evil uncle suspects that the surviving old lady may not be the great-aunt and may instead be Doing Fraud, so Lucy's main task is to locate the old lady and determine whether or not she is in fact her great-aunt. Additionally, the great aunt was a brilliant folk artist unrecognized in her own time and so the evil uncle has assigned Lucy a side quest of finding as many of her paintings as possible and bringing them back to be sold for many dollars.
However, before setting out on any of these quests, Lucy stops in on the dying refugee pianist to see if he will agree to teach her. They have an immediate meeting of the minds and souls! Not only does Max agree to take her on as His Last Pupil, he also immediately furnishes her with cash and a car, because her plan of hitchhiking down to Aunt Fennel's part of the UK could endanger her beautiful pianist's hands!! Now Lucy has a brilliant future ahead of her with someone who really cares about her, but also a ticking clock: she has to sort out this whole great-aunt business before Max progresses from 'tragically dying' to 'tragically dead.'
The rest of the book follows several threads:
- Lucy bopping around the World's Most Depressing Seaside Towns, which, it is ominously and repeatedly hinted, could flood catastraphically at any moment, grimly attempting to convince a series of incredibly weird and variably depressed locals to give her any information or paintings, which they are deeply disinclined to do
- Max, in his sickroom, reading Lucy's letters and going 'gosh I hope I get to teach that girl ... it would be my last and most important life's work .... BEFORE I DIE'
- Sinister Goings On At The Old Age Home! Escaped Convicts!! Secret Identities!!! What Could This All Have To Do With Lucy's Evil Uncle? Who Could Say! Is Their Doctor Faking Being Turkish? Who Could Say!! Why Does That One Old Woman Keep Holding Up An Electric Mixer And Remarking How Easy It Would Be To Murder Someone With It? Who Could Say That Either!!!
- an elderly woman who may or may not be Aunt Fennel, in terrible fear of Something, stacked into dingy and constrained settings packed with other old and fading strangers, trying not to think too hard about her dead partner and their beloved cat and the life that she used to have in her own home where she was happy and loved .... all of these sections genuinely gave me big emotions :(((
Eventually all these plotlines converge with increasingly chaotic drama! Lucy and the old lady meet and have a really interesting, affectionate but complicated relationship colored by deep loneliness and suspicion on both sides; again, I really genuinely cared about this! Lucy, who sometimes exhibits random psychic tendencies, visits the lesbian cottage and finds it is so powerfully and miserably haunted by the happiness that it once held and doesn't anymore that she nearly passes out about it! Then whole thing culminates in ( huge spoilers )
Anyway. A wild time. Some parts I liked very much! I hit the end and shrieked and then forced Beth to read it immediately because I needed to scream about it, and now it lives among its other yellowing paperback friends on the Midcentury Mysteries shelf for some other unsuspecting person to find and scream about.
NB: in addition to everything else a cat dies in this book .... Joan Aiken hates this cat in particular and I do not know why. She likes all the other cats! But for some reason she really wants us to understand that this cat has bad vibes and we should not be sad when it gets got. But me, I was sad.
Me-and-media update
Jun. 5th, 2025 09:43 amchina_shopPrevious poll review
In the Detectives poll, the most popular options were softboiled (38.2%), ingredient in alcoholic beverages (32.4%) and hardboiled (26.5%). Over easy, poached, and deviled tied for last place with 14.7%.
In ticky-boxes, dinosaur feathers came second to hugs, 55.9% to 76.5%, yay science! Thank you for your votes.
Reading
The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown -- Revisiting my childhood. I enjoyed this so much. It's episodic, good-natured, and now I want to re-read all the sequels.
Just Kiss Her by Clare Lydon, narrated by Katy Sobey -- This was very silly. It's an f/f romance about a lesbian who fake-dates her closeted-to-his-family gay bff at his cousin's destination wedding and finds herself falling for his mother. Which I would have been here for, but a) the only obstacles were the obvious situational ones, b) neither lead seemed to have a character arc, and c) their connection was 30% feeling comfortable with each other and 70% finding each other sexy, in a telling-not-showing way. (I prefer the proportions reversed, along with some shared interests and values, thanks.) DNF.
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers, narrated by Robert Bathurst -- So much fun! I find the dispassionate descriptions of court appearances and the reading out of letters both drag a little (the letters are always very convenient), but not enough to undermine the general charm of it all. Peter's “justice first” attitude to his brother’s arrest (not a spoiler) was great, and I'm well on my way to shipping him with Parker and/or Bunter. (Will check AO3 when I have more time.) (I know, I know, Harriet, but I haven’t got to her yet. ) I preferred the previous audiobook narrator, Frederick Davidson, but you can't have everything.
Guardian by priest -- The readalong continues, yay! I’m enjoying the mix of ensemble humor, very intense/weird romance, and Miyazaki-esque imagery. It’s pretty easy to lose track of events, but the readalong helps enormously with that.
Still slowly making my way through the 520 Day Guardian Exchange collection. Really need to sit down and write some comments!
Kdramas
Nothing! I hardly recognise myself. (ETA: Okay, now I’ve watched half an episode of Our Unwritten Seoul. Not enough to get a real sense of it yet.)
Other TV
Murderbot -- continues to be a) enjoyable, and b) very different from my experience of the book (and that's okay).
Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life -- a bit less structured than his previous stand-up specials, but still enjoyable.
Doctor Who -- I'm just shaking my head at RTD and whoever gave him this ridiculous budget where he could throw whatever random elements he thought of into the mix. (We still have the final episode to go.)
Turning Point: The Vietnam War -- Turning Point: The Cold War was so good that we thought we’d try this one, too. Fact-filled and meaty.
Department Q -- new Edinburgh-based cold-case unit is staffed by asshole detective with PTSD. Really good so far (two episodes in), even if the asshole detective is... really leaning into the “asshole” bit.
The Expanse -- finished season 4; started season 5. AMOSSSS!!! NAOMI!!! BOBBY!!!! I am earwormed by the opening credits music.
El Eternauta -- we’ve only seen ten or twenty minutes of this eerie Argentinian series, but it looks really good and is on our to-watch list.
Fringe -- my sister and I are still making our way through season 1.
Spy (2015) -- the Melissa McCarthy movie. I loved this when it came out and saw it multiple times at the theatre. So when Netflix said it was being removed in a few days, I thought I should take the opportunity to revisit it. I got halfway through. This is partly attributable to my poor attention span, and partly argh Jason Statham, go away! (I know it’s a deliberate plot/humour choice, but argh.)
Guardian/Fandom
*bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce*
Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, and bits of Brandon Sanderson’s writing lectures. (I’ve listened to the latter very haphazardly, and I have no idea which ones I meant to review again.)
Writing/making things
Writing continues apace. I don’t generally keep track of word counts, but I wrote 4,343 words in one day recently, which is astonishing for me. What is even happening? Currently on the hunt for a title, and whittling away at a WIP.
Random aside: partly because of the state of my arms, I reasonably often don’t hit the keys hard enough. One of my common typos is “hae” instead of “have”, which always makes me feel I’m writing in Scots.
Life/health/mental state things
I find it so hard to put anything here these days... which is probably telling. ( Let's try. )
Food
The dish I’ve been referring to as “the vegan thing” (Youtube link) isn’t even vegetarian when I make it, because there’s bonito extract in my miso paste. Oops. It’s still delicious, though. Somehow, the combination of fresh ginger, fresh tomatoes, random vege, miso paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds makes a really delicious gravy.
Good things
Anticipating getting shelves in my cupboard and imposing some order on (*gestures*) all this. Also, anticipating my windows not leaking. Guardian fandom, especially on Dreamwidth. Zhao Yunlaaaaaan. Writing. Books and Kdramas and so much TV. Cooking. Friends, online and off. Wonderful insightful beta. The boy and the cat and the house and the city. The view from my living-room window. Clean sheets. Baby!red panda blep face (Insta link).
In the Detectives poll, the most popular options were softboiled (38.2%), ingredient in alcoholic beverages (32.4%) and hardboiled (26.5%). Over easy, poached, and deviled tied for last place with 14.7%.
In ticky-boxes, dinosaur feathers came second to hugs, 55.9% to 76.5%, yay science! Thank you for your votes.
Reading
The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown -- Revisiting my childhood. I enjoyed this so much. It's episodic, good-natured, and now I want to re-read all the sequels.
Just Kiss Her by Clare Lydon, narrated by Katy Sobey -- This was very silly. It's an f/f romance about a lesbian who fake-dates her closeted-to-his-family gay bff at his cousin's destination wedding and finds herself falling for his mother. Which I would have been here for, but a) the only obstacles were the obvious situational ones, b) neither lead seemed to have a character arc, and c) their connection was 30% feeling comfortable with each other and 70% finding each other sexy, in a telling-not-showing way. (I prefer the proportions reversed, along with some shared interests and values, thanks.) DNF.
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers, narrated by Robert Bathurst -- So much fun! I find the dispassionate descriptions of court appearances and the reading out of letters both drag a little (the letters are always very convenient), but not enough to undermine the general charm of it all. Peter's “justice first” attitude to his brother’s arrest (not a spoiler) was great, and I'm well on my way to shipping him with Parker and/or Bunter. (Will check AO3 when I have more time.) (I know, I know, Harriet, but I haven’t got to her yet. ) I preferred the previous audiobook narrator, Frederick Davidson, but you can't have everything.
Guardian by priest -- The readalong continues, yay! I’m enjoying the mix of ensemble humor, very intense/weird romance, and Miyazaki-esque imagery. It’s pretty easy to lose track of events, but the readalong helps enormously with that.
Still slowly making my way through the 520 Day Guardian Exchange collection. Really need to sit down and write some comments!
Kdramas
Nothing! I hardly recognise myself. (ETA: Okay, now I’ve watched half an episode of Our Unwritten Seoul. Not enough to get a real sense of it yet.)
Other TV
Murderbot -- continues to be a) enjoyable, and b) very different from my experience of the book (and that's okay).
Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life -- a bit less structured than his previous stand-up specials, but still enjoyable.
Doctor Who -- I'm just shaking my head at RTD and whoever gave him this ridiculous budget where he could throw whatever random elements he thought of into the mix. (We still have the final episode to go.)
Turning Point: The Vietnam War -- Turning Point: The Cold War was so good that we thought we’d try this one, too. Fact-filled and meaty.
Department Q -- new Edinburgh-based cold-case unit is staffed by asshole detective with PTSD. Really good so far (two episodes in), even if the asshole detective is... really leaning into the “asshole” bit.
The Expanse -- finished season 4; started season 5. AMOSSSS!!! NAOMI!!! BOBBY!!!! I am earwormed by the opening credits music.
El Eternauta -- we’ve only seen ten or twenty minutes of this eerie Argentinian series, but it looks really good and is on our to-watch list.
Fringe -- my sister and I are still making our way through season 1.
Spy (2015) -- the Melissa McCarthy movie. I loved this when it came out and saw it multiple times at the theatre. So when Netflix said it was being removed in a few days, I thought I should take the opportunity to revisit it. I got halfway through. This is partly attributable to my poor attention span, and partly argh Jason Statham, go away! (I know it’s a deliberate plot/humour choice, but argh.)
Guardian/Fandom
*bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce*
Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, and bits of Brandon Sanderson’s writing lectures. (I’ve listened to the latter very haphazardly, and I have no idea which ones I meant to review again.)
Writing/making things
Writing continues apace. I don’t generally keep track of word counts, but I wrote 4,343 words in one day recently, which is astonishing for me. What is even happening? Currently on the hunt for a title, and whittling away at a WIP.
Random aside: partly because of the state of my arms, I reasonably often don’t hit the keys hard enough. One of my common typos is “hae” instead of “have”, which always makes me feel I’m writing in Scots.
Life/health/mental state things
I find it so hard to put anything here these days... which is probably telling. ( Let's try. )
Food
The dish I’ve been referring to as “the vegan thing” (Youtube link) isn’t even vegetarian when I make it, because there’s bonito extract in my miso paste. Oops. It’s still delicious, though. Somehow, the combination of fresh ginger, fresh tomatoes, random vege, miso paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds makes a really delicious gravy.
Good things
Anticipating getting shelves in my cupboard and imposing some order on (*gestures*) all this. Also, anticipating my windows not leaking. Guardian fandom, especially on Dreamwidth. Zhao Yunlaaaaaan. Writing. Books and Kdramas and so much TV. Cooking. Friends, online and off. Wonderful insightful beta. The boy and the cat and the house and the city. The view from my living-room window. Clean sheets. Baby!red panda blep face (Insta link).
Poll #33200 hair, there and everywhair
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34
How do you dry your hair?
View Answers
air dry
26 (76.5%)
towel dry roughly
15 (44.1%)
towel dry carefully / squeezingly
10 (29.4%)
hair dryer or other device
9 (26.5%)
other
0 (0.0%)
not applicable
0 (0.0%)
add styling stuff
3 (8.8%)
add conditioning stuff
5 (14.7%)
add anti-frizz stuff
1 (2.9%)
other
0 (0.0%)
ticky-box of other people are, generally speaking, quite mysterious
14 (41.2%)
ticky-box full of poll votes
12 (35.3%)
tickybox full of a yawning cat broadcasting calm and satisfaction into the world
23 (67.6%)
ticky-box full of the tickly froth edge of a wave on pale sparkly sand, at dawn
18 (52.9%)
ticky-box of rationing your exclamation marks
10 (29.4%)
ticky-box full of hugs
24 (70.6%)
[ SECRET POST #6725 ]
Jun. 4th, 2025 05:21 pmcase posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #6725 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 14 secrets from Secret Submission Post #961..
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Because I am waiting for inspiration to strike
Jun. 4th, 2025 02:27 pmtelophaseI am mulling ideas for a client's cover in my backbrain and poking at my elevator pitch generator, which I updated with some more elements last night.
Okaaaay...:
An uncanny, rollicking novelette, this eldritch horror post-apocalyptic fable is what you'd get if you mashed up The Vampire Diaries with Schindler's List.
This timely media tie-in, a transcendant contemporary fantasy narrative, is the result of mashing up Conan and Mutiny on the Bounty.
This rambunctious trilogy, a rollicking romantasy narrative, is the result of mashing up Murderbot and Titanic.
Recommended for fans of big swords and true love.
Reminiscent of James Patterson and Lord Dunsany, this debut biopunk book is a fast-moving novel.
If Evan Winters mixed Slaughterhouse-Five with a touch of Casablanca, the result would be this numinous tour-de-force.
Fans of Rebecca and Fury Road will resonate with this suspense story that seriously examines loss.
If Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Man in the High Castle, this striking saga is what you'd get.
What would happen if Nicholas Sparks wrote The Expanse?
I would read these:
Full of delicious food, love transcending all, and bears.
Takes readers into a haunting and haunted world of mutants and Faustian bargains.
An extraordinary Murderbot meets Fallout and tackles issues of determinism in this darkly comic novel.
A breathtaking, contemporary novelette, this folktale is what you'd get if Umberto Eco wrote The Planet of the Apes.
I would read the ebook sample of these:
The Maltese Falcon meets Ninefox Gambit in this wonderful neo-classic book. Recommended for readers who want medieval settings and circuses.
A surprising, endearing series, this cozy mystery series successfully mixes YA fantasy and legal thriller with layered characters.
A transcendant paranormal romance, this Stabby Award-winning trilogy is like Friday the 13th, but with extra bears.
Okaaaay...:
An uncanny, rollicking novelette, this eldritch horror post-apocalyptic fable is what you'd get if you mashed up The Vampire Diaries with Schindler's List.
This timely media tie-in, a transcendant contemporary fantasy narrative, is the result of mashing up Conan and Mutiny on the Bounty.
This rambunctious trilogy, a rollicking romantasy narrative, is the result of mashing up Murderbot and Titanic.
Recommended for fans of big swords and true love.
Reminiscent of James Patterson and Lord Dunsany, this debut biopunk book is a fast-moving novel.
If Evan Winters mixed Slaughterhouse-Five with a touch of Casablanca, the result would be this numinous tour-de-force.
Fans of Rebecca and Fury Road will resonate with this suspense story that seriously examines loss.
If Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Man in the High Castle, this striking saga is what you'd get.
What would happen if Nicholas Sparks wrote The Expanse?
I would read these:
Full of delicious food, love transcending all, and bears.
Takes readers into a haunting and haunted world of mutants and Faustian bargains.
An extraordinary Murderbot meets Fallout and tackles issues of determinism in this darkly comic novel.
A breathtaking, contemporary novelette, this folktale is what you'd get if Umberto Eco wrote The Planet of the Apes.
I would read the ebook sample of these:
The Maltese Falcon meets Ninefox Gambit in this wonderful neo-classic book. Recommended for readers who want medieval settings and circuses.
A surprising, endearing series, this cozy mystery series successfully mixes YA fantasy and legal thriller with layered characters.
A transcendant paranormal romance, this Stabby Award-winning trilogy is like Friday the 13th, but with extra bears.
Excalibur #47
Jun. 4th, 2025 06:06 pmiamrman posting in scans_dailyWords and pencils: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer
Just what Excalibur needs, another alien hanging around the place.
( Read more... )
The Demon #5
Jun. 4th, 2025 02:30 pmiamrman posting in scans_dailyWriter: Jack Kirby
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Mike Royer
Etrigan and Merlin, held captive by Ugly Meg.
( Read more... )
Blue Beetle #8
Jun. 4th, 2025 12:33 pmiamrman posting in scans_daily
Writer: Len Wein
Pencils: Paris Cullins
Inks: Dell Barras
A reformed criminal tries to make an honest living, but life keeps beating him down.
( Read more... )
Black Panther #3
Jun. 4th, 2025 10:31 amiamrman posting in scans_dailyWords and pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Mike Royer
T'Challa and his pals travel to King Solomon ‘s tomb in search of the second brass frog.
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All-New Venom #6-7
Jun. 4th, 2025 01:41 amlaughing_tree posting in scans_daily
People come up with these little fanfictions about what's going on behind the scenes and it's like, no, you're always way off. You're always way off. There's stuff I can't talk about, but there will come a point where I will be able to tell you exactly what editorial thinks of Paul, and you'll see it with your own eyes. -- Al Ewing
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Jun. 3rd, 2025 09:03 pmtorachan1. The bathroom faucet was dripping for a couple days and could not get it to stop, but it miraculously stopped dripping yesterday. Not sure why, but I'm glad.
2. I have been meaning to upload a picture for a while, but I have pretty much completed my flowers & nature lego shelf in the garage. There are still more nature sets, so I will probably remove some things and put out others eventually, but for now this is all of our nature-related stuff. I really like how this looks together.
3. I was not expecting rain today but it rained a bit! Not a ton, but it did get things damp. No rain tomorrow, though, which is good because we're going to Disneyland.
4. I decided to take tomorrow off. No reason. My usual Wednesday meeting was cancelled and we'd been planning on going to Disneyland tomorrow as Carla's last visit before she'll be out of town for a week and a half visiting her family, so I just decided what the hell, why not just take the day off.
5. Molly's getting that sun!
2. I have been meaning to upload a picture for a while, but I have pretty much completed my flowers & nature lego shelf in the garage. There are still more nature sets, so I will probably remove some things and put out others eventually, but for now this is all of our nature-related stuff. I really like how this looks together.
3. I was not expecting rain today but it rained a bit! Not a ton, but it did get things damp. No rain tomorrow, though, which is good because we're going to Disneyland.
4. I decided to take tomorrow off. No reason. My usual Wednesday meeting was cancelled and we'd been planning on going to Disneyland tomorrow as Carla's last visit before she'll be out of town for a week and a half visiting her family, so I just decided what the hell, why not just take the day off.
5. Molly's getting that sun!
Miscellany (Narnia, Torchwood)
Jun. 3rd, 2025 07:48 pmlyssie- I'm on a Narnia kick again, just as a warning. Part of that is telling everyone to go watch this vid, because it's amazing, and I've watched it like 8 times in the last two days: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41655432
- I've been re-watching the Walden films, and the commentary and BTS stuff, and really enjoying them. I disagree with various choices, but I do at least love the final product for the first two films. The third one is... ok. But really pales to the other two (unfortunately, but I don't know how they could rescue it).
- I listened to some of the Torchwood: Soho box sets, they are the gayest fucking thing ever, and the snark is perfect. A quick grouping of quotes (the best was Norton whining about wanting to kill more Nazis, I love this man, ok)
"No woman has ever had an idea that a man hasn't improved by repeating it louder." - Norton Folgate (being sarcastic, though somewhat honest given history)
"I saved her life, and she didn't give me a biscuit." - Lizbeth Hayhoe
"Alien invasions don't normally stop at the county border." - Andy Davidson
"You're a rebel."
"Oh my god, please tell my mum, she'll be well pleased." - Gideon & Andy
- Seriously, TW: Soho is so gay (Gideon is Norton's boyfriend/ex/boyfriend, Lizbeth corrupts Wrens [and is sad she's no longer with the war office to do so], Andy is Gideon's sugar daddy...); and so OTT, and the characters are complete assholes (except Andy, who is always having a very Trying Day). I cannot imagine them managing to get this as a tv series without toning people down, but I'd love them to make a go at it.
- I tried listening to the Last Centurion stuff they did for Rory, and unfortunately, it's not as gay as TW, and Arthur Darville sounds too American. I have most of the Amy & Rory era as sound files, and I used to listen to them constantly, so that tiny variation, which is probably sound quality or something put me off.
- Now if only BF would do another Torchwood One box set. I miss Yvonne. :/
- I've been re-watching the Walden films, and the commentary and BTS stuff, and really enjoying them. I disagree with various choices, but I do at least love the final product for the first two films. The third one is... ok. But really pales to the other two (unfortunately, but I don't know how they could rescue it).
- I listened to some of the Torchwood: Soho box sets, they are the gayest fucking thing ever, and the snark is perfect. A quick grouping of quotes (the best was Norton whining about wanting to kill more Nazis, I love this man, ok)
"No woman has ever had an idea that a man hasn't improved by repeating it louder." - Norton Folgate (being sarcastic, though somewhat honest given history)
"I saved her life, and she didn't give me a biscuit." - Lizbeth Hayhoe
"Alien invasions don't normally stop at the county border." - Andy Davidson
"You're a rebel."
"Oh my god, please tell my mum, she'll be well pleased." - Gideon & Andy
- Seriously, TW: Soho is so gay (Gideon is Norton's boyfriend/ex/boyfriend, Lizbeth corrupts Wrens [and is sad she's no longer with the war office to do so], Andy is Gideon's sugar daddy...); and so OTT, and the characters are complete assholes (except Andy, who is always having a very Trying Day). I cannot imagine them managing to get this as a tv series without toning people down, but I'd love them to make a go at it.
- I tried listening to the Last Centurion stuff they did for Rory, and unfortunately, it's not as gay as TW, and Arthur Darville sounds too American. I have most of the Amy & Rory era as sound files, and I used to listen to them constantly, so that tiny variation, which is probably sound quality or something put me off.
- Now if only BF would do another Torchwood One box set. I miss Yvonne. :/
