shadowkat: (Wonder Woman)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Now that we've all done the MCU, let's do the DCEU, or DC comics films and television shows (live action only, the list is long enough as it is). DC has been at it longer - so, they more films, and they are versatile - they have non-superhero adaptations in there. Neil Gaiman's and Alan Moore's comics were DC.

DC for the folks who don't know is behind the Arrowverse, Superman, Batman, and sigh The Watchmen, and Sandman.

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

insanely long DCU or DC comics movie list )
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
A couple of things that have zip to do with the meme.

Spoke with Mother. Apparently her church is requiring her to do a virtual background check to see if she complies - in order for her to sing in her church's choir. And she can't get it to say she complies.
our conversation regarding this insanity... )

Oh, and I saw Fantastic Four : First Steps - which was excellent. It was everything I wanted in a superhero Fantastic Four film and then some. I've been lucky - I've only been to the movies twice in the last three years, and both films I loved to pieces (the other one was Oppenheimer).

***

Below is an insanely long MCU (Marvel Cinema Universe) franchise list - television and films, meme. Similar to the Star Wars and Star Trek memes, but longer. I thought about making it even longer by adding all the films that were adapted from Marvel Comics by other studios, such as Across the Spiderverse, and well all the X-men films, but chose not to, because the list is long enough on its own. There are lot of Superhero films and television shows out there. If they stopped making them tomorrow? We would not be deprived. (Not to worry - they won't.)

I take no credit for this monstrosity, I snagged it from colls, thank you colls for doing it.

insanely long MCU superhero film list )
ruuger: My hand with the nails painted red and black resting on the keyboard of my laptop (Default)
[personal profile] ruuger
Hello, hello, hello. Long time no see. I have been lurking on DW, reading your posts in silence like a creep and maybe sometimes commenting, but I haven't gotten round to posting in ages.

I should probably do a RL update (spoiler for those who don't follow me on Instagram: rerember how a few years ago I mentioned that one of my bucket ist items was getting into a gallery show? Well, I've had art in three group exhibitions in the last year and two more plus a small solo exhinition scheduled for next year), but I'l just start off easy with a meme ganked from [personal profile] muccamukk:

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).
(I'm skipping the watched more than once thing because I literally can't remember)

long-ass list of MCU movies and shows plus some musings )

Now, the reason why I'm even thinking about MCU again is because I actaully finished watching a thing when I went to see The Fantastic Four. The only reason I did so was because a) I really like Pedro Pascal and he hasn't let me down in anything yet, and b) I was promised it would be 100% stand-alone.

Non-spoilery review: It was 100% stand-alone (except for a brief mid-credit scene), and I can wholeheartedly recommend it even to people like me who have completely lost interest in the wider MCU, and have no interest in going back to it. And Pascal was very good in it, as was the whole cast. I really liked all four members of the team, and they felt like a real family (the humour was also more like the kind of stupid injokes that a family would have than Whedon-like quipping that a lot of other MCU movies have).

The plot was very predictable, but it was still very entertaining. In a weird way it reminded me a lot of early 00's superhero movies like the first two X-Men and Raimi's Spidermen. There was just something very charming and nostalgic about how simple it's story was. Also, visually the movie was very unique - not just the retro-futurism, but also the kaiju-imagery they used for Galactus.

On a more spoilery note, spoilery spoilers )

But in short, I really enjoyed watching Fantastic Four (even if it was a bit too heterosexual in general for my taste), and would watch a sequel if they ever make one, but as much as I liked the characters, I doubt their presence will be enough for me to want to watch The Avengers next summer.
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
List Memeage, only culture junkies need apply.

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

Star Wars Franchise

RELEASE ORDER
all the star wars series and films released to date that you've seen. )

I've actually seen more of the MCU stuff than the Star Wars stuff. Although I have admittedly watched more of the Star Wars than Star Trek - at least I think I have? Let's see?

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

Star Trek

RELEASE ORDER
all the Star Trek Series and films seen to date )

Hmm, I was wrong, I've seen more Trek than Star Wars. [Morale? Never assume without checking first.] There's only a handful that I've not seen. Who knew? Apparently I'm more of a Trekkie than a Star Wars fan. Granted Trek had more content availability when I was growing up - Star Wars didn't take off again until the 21st century.

And that's a lot of Trek. I think that out does the Star Wars franchise ten to one.

Side note? The forgettable film, Star Trek Nemesis? The villain was written with James Marsters in mind - based on his performance as Spike. But Marsters is a die hard Trekkie, and blew the audition. He froze when he met James Patrick Stewart, had similar problem when he met Nimoy. So, Tom Hardy got the role and his career took off instead.

And I've seen more of the DCU and MCU franchise than of those two. Let's face it I'm a sci-fi/fantasy fan, with a weakness for superhero films. I tend to hide this side of myself from most of the folks that I know - current cubicle mate wouldn't understand. I miss my previous cubicle mate who loved superhero films and science fiction.
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
I was going to post a quote of the day, but I can't remember it? So probably not that important.

After a bit of a lull, here is the return of the Good News Report, which is mainly about the environment, and not for once, about a hundred different litigation disputes. (In case you didn't already know that that US is a highly litigious country, with an insanely complicated court system - 2025 has managed to educate you on that point with interest, and in less than six months. 2025 is providing litigation attorneys with a lot of work.)

Anyhow, this post is mostly about environmental good news, although I'm certain there will be court cases resolved and otherwise in the middle of it, because that's how we roll.

Disclaimer: As always, good news much like humor and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. So mileage may vary on this?

1. The United Nations reported a global shift toward renewable energy, passing a “positive tipping point” where solar and wind power will become even cheaper and more widespread.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels-6aca4846e594ea8405f91edda39a03ad?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

2. Todd Koehnke and Tim Macklin, cofounders of the Collective Oyster Recycling and Restoration, have set out to restore the health of Connecticut’s overfished oyster beds by collecting shells from about 50 seafood restaurants in the state and dropping them back where they came from.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/used-oyster-shells-connecticut-long-island-sound/?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

3.Conservationists and AI are successfully teaming up to help save the California red-legged frog.

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/19/g-s1-78230/ai-california-frog-science-conservation-threatened-species?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

4. Despite the national extension shutting down, Illinois is keeping its dedicated 988 lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth.

https://khqa.com/news/local/illinois-to-keep-988-suicide-crisis-lifeline-for-lgbtqia-youth-after-national-extension-hangs-up-federal-funding-cuts-trump-administration-governor-jb-pritzker-idhs-secretary-dulce-m-quintero-mental-health-behavioral-services-counseling-support-teens?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

5. There are now about 11,400 high-speed, public charging stations in the US, and hundreds more are being added every few months. Driven by the private sector, the rapid expansion has continued despite the Trump administration’s freezing of construction subsidies.

https://archive.is/

6.President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state in pursuit of what he called the historical French commitment “to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”

https://archive.ph/CcnmN

7.Enbridge announced it will invest $900 million on a 600 megawatt solar power project in Texas.

https://archive.ph/Z9ARd#selection-1309.20-1319.206

8.In general, donations to NPR and PBS stations have surged since Trump’s cuts were signed into law.

https://archive.ph/vc5ex

9.Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels signed a declaration of principles to end decades of fighting, commit to a comprehensive peace agreement, and commit to “building trust” through various measures.

https://apnews.com/article/congo-m23-rebels-peace-qatar-rwanda-f80166117d557991896ef89d4cd3a324?user_id=66c4cab45d78644b3acfbcde&sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

10.Tree planting in England is now at its highest recorded rate in over 20 years

https://forestrycommission.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/27/a-year-of-growth-tree-planting-rates-hit-their-highest-level-in-over-20-years/?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

the rest of the 30 items of note )

(no subject)

Aug. 8th, 2025 08:16 pm
angrboda: My cat Luna. She's white and grey (Luna)
[personal profile] angrboda
Luna's appetite has been a bit poor lately. It got real bad the last few days and getting her to eat was a bit of a struggle, offering her food again and again after several little breaks. (For practical reasons who are stripy and voracious, we can't allow Luna to just have food available always for grazing) It has been to the point where I have started to prepare myself that we might be approaching the end. She is 14 after all. Not very old, but definitely not young either and with vulnerable kidneys.

Today she delivered an enormous hairball.

No wonder she had trouble eating with that inside her. I wouldn't say her appetite was fully returned this evening, but she did eat half again as much as she did this morning.

She's due a vet visit soon for kidney and oral status, so we'll bring it up then. I should like her to reach at least 16, but am still prepared this may not be possible.

Still, she ate a LOT this evening. More, actually, than her usual portion. I think she's allowed to feel a bit stuffed now.

\o/
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Sleepy. I didn't sleep well last night. Woke up in the middle of the night, and my body would not let me get back to sleep. Finally did, and had an odd dream about being unable to give new people I met my contact information. As if something was preventing me from putting it down accurately. I kept putting down the wrong thing. Also, I couldn't seem to get to my flight on time. Very odd dream. As a result of the sleep deprivation - I decided to only take a short walk today at lunchtime, well that and the fact that the pants I was wearing kept sliding down my hips as I walked, because I'd put a wallet and a phone in the front pockets. So I had to keep pulling them up. (Highly annoying.)

And spent most of the morning, taking a cybersecurity course that made me paranoid about everything I've ever posted on DW and social media in my lifetime. (We're required to take web based training modules for work every year, they are the same ones. Actually this one may have been updated. But the others are the same. )

***

Anyhow, here's a bit more of the August Question a Day Memage.

4. The artist Laura Knight was born on this day in 1877. She was an artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving, and drypoint. Can you draw? Do you doodle?

Yes. I've been able to draw and paint since I was a small child. And took watercolor as a teenager. And have had art classes intermittently from the age of 5 until roughly my mid-thirties. I have worked in watercolors, etchings, engraving, and acrylic, not so much oil. And I don't think I've done drypoint.

I've posted some of them here from time to time. I can draw from memory, from life, and from photos.

Some people can sing, some can play instruments, I can draw and paint. - that came naturally to me. So does taking pictures. I'm visual. I can usually reproduce what I've seen, or a representation of it, through my own lens. My difficulty is knowing when to stop adding stuff to it. My mother used to yank my drawings and paintings away from me as a child before I ruined them.

5. How often do you check what paid subscriptions you’ve signed up for (e.g. an App on your phone, a TV channel, a subscription to a magazine, a membership to an organisation).

Not as often as I should? But I do keep track. If I'm not using, then I cancel. Just cancelled Paramount Plus and New York Magazine, next up may be three others.

6. Would you rather go on a city break, a seaside holiday or have a staycation?

I live and work in the city, and can go to the seaside if I want to. So probably a staycation and just do both?

7. This week in Bristol in the UK is the National Balloon Fiesta, a time to celebrate hot air balloons which draws thousands of visitors each year. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon (or would you like to?).

No. And...ambivalent? I'm not really a fan of heights? I could probably handle it, but I wouldn't go out of my way or anything.

***

So, I've been slowly rewatching the Buffy series, I forgot more about it than I realized. I honestly thought it was memorized, but apparently I managed to delete some of that over the years. Go figure.

I had forgotten why I didn't like Season 3 of Buffy as much as most fans of the series seem to? People rank that season high, and seem to love it.
But I never quite did and I forgot why, well until now.

It's the Faith Arc. It doesn't work for me. I was watching Dopplegangland last night, which much like Amends, is a stand out episode. The dialogue snaps, crackles and pops. It feels a bit like watching a movie. The color palette is precise, the costumes perfect for the characters, and every lead character is utilized in some way. Also the characters emotional arcs are all furthered.

But, it is also an episode in which the writer, in this case Whedon, is working over time to fill in some serious plot holes.Read more... )

Anyhow, it's late and bed calls.

So I may or may not continue rambling about this at a later point.

Timey-Wimey

Aug. 7th, 2025 04:29 pm
eldritchhobbit: (Default)
[personal profile] eldritchhobbit

Timey-Wimey


On my latest "Looking Back on Genre History" segment on the StarShipSofa podcast (Episode 762), I talk about Doctor Who, history, time travel, and the new Who novel Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box by Kalynn Bayron.





angrboda: Viking style dragon head finial against a blue sky (Default)
[personal profile] angrboda
Took our bicycles to a nearby monastery ruin today. It was about 21 kilometers each way, so almost the same length as when I cycle to work. Wanted to show Husband how I could just sail up the hills on my e-bike and didn't quite manage to sail. There were two places where the hill was definitely steeper than the big one I usually sail up on the way to work. Never used the third gear on this bicycle before. Guys, I had to work! Coming down again was wild. Bicycle computer tells me I set a new top speed of 55.8 km/h, and that was still while holding the brakes a bit.

The monastery was founded in 1172 and was disbanded shortly after the reformation, but the monks were allowed to stay until 1560. After that the king took possession of it, used it for going hunting in the area for a year or two and eventually had it torn down to use the building materials elsewhere. These outlines of the buildings are all that's left now.

There was also a little garden where the medicinal plants the monks would have used were growing, many of them very poisonous. Some of those were 'relic plants', meaning they were plants that were directly descended from the plants the monks put there. Not sure how they would have been able to tell. I imagine something along the lines of 'no way that would have grown there otherwise'.

We saw so many different butterflies and bees and an ENORMOUS fly that was so large we honestly thought it was a bee. Never seen that before.

Now inspiration has struck and there may well be some digging in my future. I would like to make a new bed in the garden and fill it up with native plants for pollinators. We let the lawn go wild on purpose a few years ago and these days Husband just keeps some paths mown and then strim the lot once a year. So we have no issue with finding the room. It's just a question of picking a spot and start digging it up. I discovered a place where I've bought plants before does a whole finished bed package where you get a pre-set mixture of plants for 5 or 10 square meters and a suggestion plan for how to plant them to ensure you don't accidentally wind up putting all the low growing ones in teh middle surrounded by tall ones. Because, let's be honest, that's what would happen to me otherwise. And it's not even all that expensive compared with picking out the plants yourself. Of course it's sold out at the moment, but surely it will come back.
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Work is aggravating me. I'd regale you with all the reasons why, but then I'd have to kill you - and we can't have that, can we?

I can tell you that I've found someone who might help me get my picture taken in Manhattan as opposed to going all the way to Hollis, Queens (which is about an hour and a half away from my work site, a pain in the neck to get to (I have to take three trains, and one of them runs on intermittent schedules - which means, if I don't plot it right - I could be standing around for thirty minutes at Jamaica), and an hour and a half away from my home.) Actually it may be closer to the work site - so about just an hour depending on time waiting for trains. Plus a gadzillion stairs. Welcome to NYC folks - the stair-master capital of the universe.

I did the switch from the R to the F at 4th/9th Streets again - and dang, that's a lot of steps. I counted. It's about four flights to the ground level, and then four more to the top. So eight flights. Steep. I was spent.
This is after going down ten flights, then another flight to get to the R.
The R is deep underground, doesn't have an elevator, and has one escalator at Whitehall going up. The one at 4th/9th doesn't have any escalators or elevators. No wonder the MTA is getting sued by the ADA advocacy groups.

****

Things I want to talk to you about, that I read...or noticed, and I've been pondering.

1. Whatever You Do, Don't Do the Silent Treatment

excerpt )

I was pondering if I do that with Wales? Not really. I'm not sure if you can state deleting text messages and not answering them is the silent treatment? So much as protecting one's continued mental health? I answer the phone when she calls me. I've had it done to me - my brother likes to inflict it when he gets angry. And BYT was notorious for doing it. I don't like it - to be honest, mainly because I want things resolved and out in the open.

Also, there are situations in which it is called for? Such as social media.
IDK. What do you think?

2. Buddhism: If you have issues with someone correcting you, then you have an ego problem.

Except everyone hates being criticized? Right?

I wanted to respond to the Buddhism post on FB as follows: You are incredibly judgemental for a Buddhist. [I refrained.]

3. Comfort animals. Is it fair to use an animal to give oneself comfort? And have them for the sole purpose of comfort? Carrying the animal into stressful situations, such as plane rides, cars, trains, doctor's appointments, trips - just to soothe anxieties? Is this fair to the animal who is soaking in the human's anxieties and may be stressed or scared itself?
Read more... )

This that and the other thing...

Aug. 4th, 2025 08:06 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Was feeling a bit off, so I took three COVID tests - all negative, so it's not COVID. And I'll go to work tomorrow. I think it's a combination of sleep deprivation, sensitivity to wildfire smoke (frigging Canadian wildfires), massive swings in blood sugar, and boredom at work.

I did get 8,900 steps in. Read more... )

Finished watching another episode of Andor S2 Ep. 8 - which was quite good and a rather satisfying ending to the whole Cassian/Syril arc, also Deidre/Syril and Cassian arc. Cassian clearly has no idea who Syril is, while Syril was obsessed with killing Cassian.

Read more... )

It was a good episode, if a brutal one. The second season is slow to start but picks up its pace towards the second half. It takes a while to build everything, also there's two storylines that kind of bog things down - Mon Motha, and whatever Forest Whittacker's character is doing.

Still doing Buffy S3 rewatch, and well, the writers don't appear to know what to do with either Xander or Cordelia at this point. Read more... )

The Faith centric episodes that immediately follow are somewhat better, but the B villains drag the first of the two down a tad. Read more... )

Other take-aways?

I can see why Faith ditched the Scooby Gang for the Mayor, except for one small problem? Faith is anti-authority to the max - so it would have made more sense for her to leave town? I mean I get why she ditched Buffy and company, I would have too, if I were Faith. But I don't understand why she hooked up with the Mayor?
critical explanation follows )

Oh another takeaway - I can now tell that Gellar did not do her own stunts at all. Read more... )

It's still enjoyable, but not quite as enjoyable as it was twenty years ago.

Here's a picture from today's walk at lunch time. And I think I have a biting fly or bug in her, it just bit my foot, and it stung. Doesn't itch, just has a slight burn to it. No, no bite. Maybe just a nerve tingle? Ugga Bugga, I don't understand my body at all sometimes.

trepkos: (Default)
[personal profile] trepkos
... about my complaint to the BBC about the descriptions of a forest in India as "infested" with wild animals:

Finally, today, Colin Tregear of the Executive Complaints Unit, (the third person to address my complaint) threw me a crumb:

"I understand your strength of feeling and I accept “infested” may not have been the most appropriate word to use in this context."

There was other boring stuff about how no one would have been confused by it blah blah blah but I count this as a minor victory.

The constant drip-feeding of anti-wildlife sentiments into our eyes and ears is something that must be resisted!

Lazy Ass Sunday Blues

Aug. 3rd, 2025 12:57 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Well Walking is considered an exercise, can't imagine why it wouldn't be? (Physical therapists prefer it - running causes lots of injuries. I should know, I used to run.)

And I've been doing "Japanese Walking" my entire life. Three minutes fast-paced, then slower walking, then increasing intensity, then a slow down.

I slow down to take pictures, then speed up. I walk everywhere. My preferred mod of transportation is my feet on the ground.

Also finally started on the watercolor of a woman I saw on the train, that was plaguing me. It's turning out better than expected. Now lets hope I don't destroy it - which I often do - by not adding to much to it.

***

Television Shows

1. Paradise - I don't know about this one. The mystery is okay. The science fiction trope - annoys me. I don't like the trope. I'm not a fan of spoiler for the reveal in the first episode )

Also, there's something about the lead actor, that always has grated on my nerves? A kind of smug self-righteousness or superiority? It comes across in every role he plays? I do however like Julianne Nicholson and Cassidy Freeman, so I may stick with it, not certain?

2. Andor S2 - Episode 7 was good. I kind of split it in half though. I do like the sense that each episode is its own separate movie?
It's getting better as it goes. And I've fallen for Cassian.


3. And So it Goes - Billy Joel documentary on HBO Max - is about five hours long, and I'm three quarters of the way through. It encompasses Billy Joel's life from a child to roughly 76 years of age now, where he is now. Joel as previously stated is an American Pop Singer, Song-Writer and Composer who rose to fame in the later half of the 20th Century. He was/is classically trained, and his musical underpinnings are classical - not blues or rhythm or blues like most rock and roll music. His musical structure tended to be closer to the 1950s and early 60s rock and the songs of Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Frankie Valley, the Sherrels. Which you either appreciate and like or you don't. Many rock critics have a fondness for the Blues, and don't like anything that veers away from it. The other problem was well - a prejudice against Long Island. There's a kind of Manhattan/NY snobbery about those who live out on Long Island or Jersey (it's silly of course, but people are well silly.)

The documentary much like the Beatles docs - focuses on the music, and the personal hand in hand. It's well edited, and well put together. But it does...how to put this exactly? Goes a bit overboard in promoting the product of Billy Joel, and how great Billy Joel is. And it's a difficulty I have with musician documentaries. At times they feel a bit like fan service? I find them slightly more interesting when they back down from the fan service and let the person and their life stand for who and what they are. Instead of asking - why do we like him, what appeals to us, and trying to answer that? Just let those questions and answers go unsaid? It's not a critical documentary at all - however, there are critical things under the surface? Joel married much younger and very beautiful women, post-Elizabeth Webber. The latest 33 years younger. Those were the women he has had children with. He also is a heavy drinker, and at least two of his marriages broke up because of heavy drinking, partying and not being around. And he was never satisfied - always hunting for something else, out there.

I think it goes back to my painting - adding too much on top, which causes problems. Sometimes stepping back and letting it stand is best.

I don't need to hear that music saved his life, or he doesn't know what else he could have done, or you do what you love...just let the music stand with the story, and let it just be that.

At any rate, others loved it, I have mixed feelings about it? But I've always had mixed feelings about Billy Joel and his music. And I can see why people don't like him.

***

Today's and yesterday's questions:

2. Do you like milkshakes? What’s your favourite flavour?

Yes. At the moment? Coffee. When I was a teen - Strawberry - I loved McDonalds'Strawberry milkshakes - I can't drink them now of course. But when I was in Junior High aka Middle School - I'd get one on my walk home from school at McDonald's which I passed in the mini-shopping center one block down from the school. (The Middle School is long gone - it's now an independent retirement center, and so too, is the McDonald's. I haven't seen them - was told this by a friend of my brother's - I've not been back to that area of the world in more than 20 years.)

3. Have you ever played hopscotch?

Yes, as a child, and as an adult.

It's a popular pavement or sidewalk game.

***

Here have a flower:


Wrong Guesses

Aug. 2nd, 2025 08:49 pm
yourlibrarian: Chrisjen is burdened (Expanse-Chrisjen Burden -swannee)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) Just a quick follow-up note to the [community profile] sunshine_revival's Challenge 6 which asked about gaming. One thing I started doing earlier this year was crosswords. I'm rather surprised I never did them as a kid given how much I read and how verbal I was, plus I liked puzzles. I guess no one ever introduced them to me, though I suppose puzzles for kids was a less discoverable publication.

And trying them now I can see that even stuff labeled as "for the whole family" would have been too hard. One definitely needs to learn the conventions and accept that some clues are not only unguessable but the creators sure take a lot of license with words used. Read more... )

2) Have started posting photos of our stay in Agate Beach at [community profile] common_nature

3) Back in December I began having arm pain centered around each elbow which would radiate down to the right hand sometimes. I brought it up at my annual checkup in April, at which time I had already been doing PT exercises for it for months, wearing braces on both hands to sleep, to exercise and to type at the computer, and yet it wasn't any better. Read more... )

Poll #33458 Kudos Footer-533
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Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

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shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Well, the mammogram wasn't painful at all, uncomfortable yes - I had to contort my body, also a lot faster than the last one. (I can't decide if opting not to do the enhanced digital imaging helped in that regard or not? Or maybe it was the technician? I liked this technician better than the one I had for the last three times I did it.) It took maybe fifteen minutes. While the last one took a thirty minutes.

Afterwards I tried to go to Duman but alas it wasn't open yet. (I also couldn't remember where it was. I knew it was on Court, but thought it was closer to the grocery store - in reality it was five blocks north of the Union Grocery Store. I did not go to that grocery store, instead I walked a good ten blocks to the Health Food Store across from Carroll Park, and bought a bunch of gluten free items that I've not found elsewhere - Read more... )

It's a good thing I didn't try to meet Wales for brunch - since I got out of there by 9:25, and was done with my errands by 10:30, and home by 11.

I decided, after a quick snack, to take a walk, sat for a bit in a garden:
garden )

And then went to Hamilton's for lunch. Since it was a lovely day, in the upper-70s, with a nice breeze, I chose to sit outside under the blue domed canopy on the side street, listening to an audiobook via my ipods (which I'd gotten dirt cheap for $24 on Amazon some time ago). food good, service was lacking )



After that, I walked off the meal by wandering towards Greenwood Cemetery - I wanted a small water bottle but the eateries only served teas and coffee.
I did however find Uncle Frankie's Pizza, which serves gluten free crust. It's brick over pizza with gluten free crust - and you can get it to go. Definitely going back there. I may drag Wales there at some point.

I almost wished I'd gone there today, but I wanted a burger, fries, and an iced tea, and to sit outside in the shade, listening to an audio book, while I watched people.

Uncle Frankie's as you can see below (well not everyone, but those who can) doesn't quite provide that - all they provide is an uncomfortable picnic table.



Then off I went to GreenWood Cemetery - but didn't take that long a walk, because I ended up getting a blister on my right ankle, from wearing sneakers with no socks. I'd done it before. Hadn't gotten any blisters. Even wore them to work and back, no blisters. I have no idea why I got blisters on that foot today. It hurt for a bit, then didn't. So I managed to make it home. Then it hurt again. I have a band-aid on it now and am nursing it.
Greenwood Cemetery )

Did however manage to take some photos of flowers on the way to the cemetery, which I'll leave you with while I continue to nurse my blister.
All in all, I clocked over 12,000 steps today and approximately 5.5 miles. Read more... )

LJ Idol - Prompt 5 Write Off

Aug. 2nd, 2025 09:16 am
garnigal: (Default)
[personal profile] garnigal

I have a project. To be honest, I have many projects, but this one seems special. Overwhelming, but special.


In 1942, my great-grandmother received a letter. By 1946, she’d received many letters from that correspondent, as had her daughters, my aunts Edith and Lillian.


The correspondent was my grandfather, Herbert Martin Garniss, and covered his years serving with the Royal Canadian Engineers in the European theatre.


Aunt Edith kept many documents related to her family. She never married and had time, space, and inclination to collect and store documents as each of her parents and siblings passed away. She instilled a love of history in me by sharing tidbits of family history, telling me about real people doing real things.


Aunt Edith was the last of her generation to die. With no children, clearing out her home fell to the nieces and nephews, and those nieces and nephews were only too pleased to pass along all the family history papers and the stacks of family photos to me.


It’s overwhelming to go through a century of accumulated history. History that sits within the great moments of the 20th century, but also is mostly disconnected from those moments, dealing as it does with the personal. I found my great-uncle’s train engineer tests and certifications - connected with a time in Canadian history when the train was the primary mode of travelling significant distance. I found my aunt’s grade school essays - written in an era of one-room schoolhouses. I found the original deed to the farm my family still owns - from a time when Britain encouraged settlement and colonization of a pre-Confederation Canada.


And I found a box of my grandfather’s letters. 6 years of letters, in a strong and confident hand that had been lost to palsy by the time I was born. Letters with a cheeky sense of humour that never disappeared until he died when I was 18. Letters providing advice to his siblings and mother from an ocean away and letters describing the war from the bottom up, from a man who volunteered “because it seemed like the right thing to do”, according to his military intake papers. But in reading his letters, he volunteers so his brothers wouldn’t. He volunteered to make sure his sister, the nurse, stayed home. He volunteered to make sure there was a steady stream of cash at home, and he volunteered because it was the right thing to do.


And thus my project - transcribe the letters into a document and have them bound into a book for my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and anyone else who is interested. At that point, I’ll donate the letters themselves to the Huron County museum, where my grandfather lived for his entire life, excluding a brief sojourn in Europe, or the national military archives.


It’s a challenging project, deciphering fading letters that are over 80 years old. It’s an interesting project, reading my grandfather’s instructions to his brother Ed on how to talk to the draft so he could stay home and farm their Uncle Will’s property. It’s an insightful project, seeing how distance meant sharing gossip simply took more time. But I do believe it is a valuable project, not just for my family, but for everyone who is living in these uncertain times.


And so, one day, there will be a book that begins:


Dear Mother -


Well, we have had a real wet day here all day, so had not a great deal to do. We were supposed to go on a route march this morning, but just went to the gym instead. Got the old kinks taken out. This afternoon I pressed my coat and tunic, and layed around. About 4 o’clock the sarg came for help to set up chairs for church but when we got there it was already done.


(no subject)

Aug. 1st, 2025 08:51 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat


The flowers are outside of a building about a block down from my own, which I passed on my way home from the grocery store today.

On the way to the grocery store - it was spitting or drizzling in snippets, so I had an umbrella. And along the way, ran into a young man eating chips. He was roughly half my height and probably twenties. Attractive for the most part. Thin. Athletic. I was bigger than he was - but I'm bigger than a lot of folks, and have gotten used to it?

Read more... )

Tomorrow - cancer screening - breasts, and maybe a stop by the linen store on the way home. Wanted to maybe do brunch with Wales, but Wales wants to sleep in and it didn't pan out and I got annoyed.

People have been annoying me lately for some reason or other. I keep wanting to smack them upside the head, which I can't do of course. Also they don't really deserve it. People sometimes are just annoying. I can be annoying. I honestly think it's just the nature of the beast or humanity. We can be an annoying species. How the Earth tolerates us, I don't know.

OR.. I think it's just a combination of not getting enough solid sleep, blood sugar issues, menopause, weather, and ordinary frustrations. Let's face it - life is difficult for everybody.

Book bingo updates.

Aug. 1st, 2025 10:47 pm
tellshannon815: (george)
[personal profile] tellshannon815


Book in a series: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62226126-the-last-devil-to-die
Multiple POVs: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136276174-the-search-party
Female author: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210795013-here-one-moment
Friendship: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196764063-the-day-after-the-party
Name in the title: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197627190-the-reappearance-of-rachel-price
YA: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174163045-the-dare
Biography/memoir: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211163702-kingmaker
Scifi/fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36630924-here-and-now-and-then
Book from TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28016509-the-girl-before
With a woman protagonist: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200638897-the-fortune-teller
Ebook/audiobook: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204587595-her-majesty-s-royal-coven
Set somewhere you've been: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13614116-natural-causes
From the library: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/179312410-has-anyone-seen-charlotte-salter
Free space: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60092195-the-shadow-cabinet
Thriller/suspense: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213900857-the-footage
Over 300 pages: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73062.Scarlett
Crime/mystery: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217002158-with-a-vengeance

Substitution list:
*Author you've never read before - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64417442-the-final-party
*Book older then you are
*Fairy Tale or Fairy Tale Retelling
*Graphic novel or Comic - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213477761-fate
*Pet or Animal Companion
*A main character over the age of 30
*Under 100 Pages - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63945326-the-gift
*Romance Plot or Sub-plot - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203416581-a-novel-love-story
*Translated https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61448964-g-kungen
*Humour
*Non- fiction
*With a Blue Cover - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62792245-five-bad-deeds
*Horror or Paranormal
*Colour in the Title
*Seasonal Read - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208447806-the-summer-dare
*Book made into a film or tv series - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36306720-the-perfect-couple
*Historical (fiction or non-fiction) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27153431-katherine-of-aragon-the-true-queen
*Number in title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61653791-four-found-dead
*Female author - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35528896-the-treatment
*Three word title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37819454-three-days-missing
*Craft, Hobby or Cookbook
*Written by an author from your state or country
*Animal on the cover
*Disability or Mental health
*Read a book from the year you were born
*Mythology
*Title begins with first letter of your name - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40770941-her-pretty-face
*Dystopian - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214471703-sunrise-on-the-reaping
*Book mentioned in another book
*Diverse reads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56425440-last-night-at-the-telegraph-club
*One word title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218455872-sleep
*Award Winning/Bestseller
*Disabled Author
*Non-western Setting - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63247547-last-resort
*Set in your state/country
*Title is at Least Five Words Long - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203019749-things-don-t-break-on-their-own
*indigenous author
*Has illustrations (but not a comic or graphic novel) - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62715477-fire-and-blood
*Set at a school/university (my old one, in fact)- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219491276-when-we-were-killers
*No sex/romance
*Re-read

My Goodreads is here, feel free to follow: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/46625765?ref=nav_profile_l

(no subject)

Aug. 1st, 2025 06:29 pm
angrboda: Viking style dragon head finial against a blue sky (Default)
[personal profile] angrboda
We are finally on summer holiday! \o/

For years I have marked this with the words, "Dobby is free!"

This year, I just sent to Husband "DIF" with no context and he knew what it meant.

I'm currently having a great big gin and tonic and I've written on the menu today "non-optional ice cream" because you've got to celebrate. I've also written pink wine on the shopping list for tomorrow, because rose is my favourite type of wine and also the most summer-y wine I can think of.

I have also issued a challenge. It's mostly a challenge for me, but Husband can participate if he wants. He didn't sound against the idea.

The challenge is to take at least four pictures every day while we're away (one of the three weeks). It can be a picture of anything at all as long as it's mindfully chosen, so a random oh-I-can't-be-bothered-now trash selfie doesn't count. I will probably expand the challenge for myself for the other days as well, but keep it at just at least one. It's the time we're away that really counts.

I should probably try to come up with some sort of catchy name for it, but I'm blanking on that at the moment.
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