tim | Reading

1. What is your least favorite part of Spring?
Changing time zone

2. What is your most favorite part of Spring?
When it is bright and clear and just a hint of cold and smells green and shiny. (which is more days than stereotypes of British weather would have you believe)

3. What is the latest good book you've read?
I'm reading "that ain't witchcraft" by seanan mcgire, which is naturally very good. I recently enjoyed the Guilty Feminist by Deborah Frances White

4. What are your plans for this weekend?
Wine tasting Sunday, otherwise sleep and catching up on house stuff.

5. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?
As much wood as woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood

(wtf is a woodchuck?)

solarbird

Remember that iNTEL64 nonsense I came up with? The Cartridge Computing System, from an alternate-history where cartridges never stopped being a thing? And of course I built one, partly because I like physical artefacts from alternate universes, but mostly to solve an actual problem.

Anyway, the primary 'cartridge port' has been a separate external unit (because it's really just an eSATA external drive harness), and that meant a separate power switch and separate power cable and separate data cable and all that.

So I decided external cartridge ports were stupid and made an internal unit. Fits in any 5.25" drive bay. It also takes both modern (2.5" SSD) and older, larger cartridges (3.5" hard drives.) Anything SATA, really.

The hardest part was modifying the antique (and weird) Compaq case to look like it had a faceplate made for the iNTEL64 CCS standard. But once I had everything else, I just... had to. ^_^

Current Mood: pleased

solarbird

Mueller's delivered his report to Atty. General Barr. Will we see it? WHO KNOWS?

CAP Action is demanding Mr. Barr make Mueller's full findings public, and requesting people call their senators now and demand full transparency.

Members of the House of Representatives also have to press to make sure Mueller was allowed to finish the probe on his own timeline, and... well. He was pressured on it, by the White House and the GOP, constantly. We need to know how much that affected his investigation.

(Congressional switchboard number: (202) 224-3121 - or you can look up your Senators' individual office numbers.)

Current Mood: busy

redbird

I seem to like, or want, my apartment to be brighter now than before the cataract surgery, which is counter-intuitive. A month ago I had (mild) cataracts in both eyes, and was wearing photo-sensitive glasses that were old enough that they were always very slightly dark. Now, I'm using over-the-counter reading glasses, with clear lenses, and am comfortable with a level of light that seemed like too much pre-surgery.

My guess here would be that, pre-surgery, my pupils were dilating a bit more, to make up for the cataract blocking some of the light. But that's a guess. What I know is that I'm now comfortable with the overhead light on when I'm exercising on the bedroom floor, rather than needing to turn off everything except the lamp on my bedside table.

I'm also adjusting more easily than I'd expected to walking around without glasses, either in the apartment (when not reading) or outdoors at night and on cloudy days.

(I had been wearing glasses essentially all the time--taking them off only to shower and sleep--for many years, so I literally don't remember what it was like to go outside without glasses.)

jenett

Welcome to this week's salon post.

Topic of the week
A friend is taking me out tonight to a nice restaurant as a thank you for cat sitting.

For this week, what's a fun extra-nice outing for you? (Something a little out of your usual routine, for a special occasion.)

What I've been up to
A fun thing I'll talk about when it's public (probably end of April), ritual stuff, prepping for more ritual stuff, and... yeah, that's pretty much my week.

( Reminders and tips for making this post flow better )
( House rules )

corvi

This year, due to polar outflow shenanigans, we got almost a meter of snow! I haven't seen that much snow in decades, it was amazing.

( Photos, lots of. Not much text. )

jesse_the_k

( new pain seeks new management strategies )

nou

I’m pleased to announce that next year’s Croydon Fun Weekend will be... in Leeds! And it’ll be running from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 January. More info here.

(All future Fun Weekends will be in Croydon in odd-numbered years and somewhere else in even-numbered years.)

Poll #21633

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17

View Respondents

View Answers

Hello Kake!
16 (94.1%)

Yay for Leeds!
14 (82.4%)

Yay for Fun Weekends!
12 (70.6%)

Yay for the Leeds Fun Weekend!
12 (70.6%)

fredrikegerman

desireearmfeldt is directing Burning at Theatre@First in Davis Square again this weekend. Performances are tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday at 8PM and a matinee Saturday at 4PM. I'll be going on Friday evening, which is kilt & corset night. Join me!

It's a modern queer retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac. Cy is a Sergeant drummed out of the army under Don't Ask Don't Tell after serving in both the Gulf War and Iraq.

I went on Sunday and the performance was fantastic. Scarcely a dry eye at the end. Fantastic! You should all go.

http://www.theatreatfirst.org/shows/burning/burning.shtml

Crossposts: https://fredrickegerman.livejournal.com/21127.html

redbird

Recently read:

So Far So Good: Final Poems 2014-2018, by Ursula Le Guin. As the subtitle says, this is Le Guin's last book of poetry, finished just before she died; death was definitely on her mind here, especially in the last section. It's good, but either not as good as other poetry that I've read (none of it in the last couple of years), or -- likely -- death just isn't what I want to read about right now.

(The new glasses are drugstore reading glasses, while I wait for my eyes to finish healing post-surgery and can get a new eyeglass prescription. For most purposes, my uncorrected vision is now better than my corrected vision a year ago, but for reading and other close work I need glasses, and will be glad when I can get prescription glasses that correct for the astigmatism.)

hitchhiker

https://www.fastcompany.com/90321378/the-worlds-first-genderless-ai-voice-is-here-listen-now

To develop Q, creators Emil Asmussen and Ryan Sherman from Virtue Nordic sampled several real voices from non-binary people, combined them digitally, and created one master voice that cruises between 145 Hz and 175 Hz, right in a sweet spot between male- and female-normative vocal ranges.

To the developers, it was important that Q wasn’t just designed as non-binary, but actually perceived by users as non-binary, too. So through development, the voice was tested on more than 4,600 people identifying as non-binary from Denmark, the U.K., and Venezuela, who rated the voice on a scale of 1 to 5–1 being “male” and 5 being “female.” They kept tuning the voice with more feedback until it was regularly rated as being gender-neutral.

hitchhiker

https://www.chess.com/news/view/8-year-old-refugee-wins-new-york-state-championship8

Although he is living in a homeless shelter and only learned to play chess a year ago, Tanitoluwa Adewumi, an eight-year-old Nigerian refugee, won the New York State Championship earlier this month.

ivy

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: cheerful

brainwane

Over on my general blog I posted about loving Rosemary Kirstein's Steerswoman series, which I just devoured!!!

sonia

I'm looking at getting my house painted this spring. I've been looking at house colors since I moved in 14 years ago. I took a lot of the stress out of choosing a color by telling myself that it doesn't have to be perfect - I just have to like it better than the current boring beige.

I brought home a handful of paint chips, and sat with them a while. Over time, I settled on a medium blue, "regale blue" (0x7db5d3). (The salesperson pronounced it "regal" blue - I wonder if the 'e' is an accidental addition.) This weekend I picked up a sample quart and painted a swatch.

I looked at the swatch up on the wall and kind of panicked. I still like the color, but I don't think I want my house to be that bright. I went back and chose a much more sedate color, two notches lighter and a little more grey, "vast sky," (0xa9c9d7) and put up another swatch. I think I like it. Way better than beige, anyway.

The trim color is "alabaster" (0xedeae0) which seems really close to white to me, but has some yellow in it.

One of my concerns is a darker color absorbing more heat in the summer, since I don't have air conditioning, so I'm pleased to be going with a lighter color.

( See the swatches and boring beige for yourself )

On the not so great side, I had a headache all day yesterday, probably a consequence of spending time in the paint store and then putting up the swatches. I did wear a mask and gloves while I was painting. Also someone stole the under-seat pouch off my bike on my second trip to the paint store, even though I was there all of 10 minutes, 5 of them standing outside while they mixed up my sample. :-( All good reasons to stick with "vast sky." (I like the name, too.)

If you have any tips on getting a house painted, feel free to share! I'm going to try to coordinate the painting with a trip out of town, but I am still concerned about how I'm going to feel with fresh paint off-gassing from my house.

jesse_the_k

In eight 50-minute episodes, the CONTAINERS podcast producer Alexis Madrigal explores how global transport changed from humans putting individual things in ships and airplanes to putting things into train-car size containers, which are loaded via huge cranes onto huge boats. Containerization is why cheaply-made goods have flooded the world. The series examines how this change, started almost by accident during the Vietnam war, has affected billions of people in small and large ways. The series is sponsored by Flexport, who are in the container business—and it is definitely not a puff piece.

I’m pleased that Madrigal has posted transcripts at medium.com/containers and you can listen from there or from CONTAINERS’ audio on Soundcloud

Containerization is why my supermarket stocks frozen, peeled and boiled Vietnamese soybeans, even though I live in Wisconsin, a soybean producing state. Alexis Madrigal (a writer for The Atlantic) asks what happens to the dock workers and the handful of sailors who move these huge container ships around the globe. He tells how Oakland residents fought back against the concentration of diesel fumes from the new container ports where thousands of trucks idle daily.

Episode 6 begins:

This is a story about heroes in West Oakland like Margaret Gordon. This is a story about people who stood up and said, “No, not on my watch.” This is not a story about the health department. And this is not a story even about the port. This is a story about people coming together to fight for justice. And they won. And they won big. And they won in a way that had influence on what’s happening in ports all over this country. And in fact ports all around the world. I think those are the true heroes, the Margaret Gordons … They drove this change and they deserve the credit.

The series digs in to the origins and beginnings of containerized shipping.

For a beautiful and informative demonstration of containerized shipping 2012, visit ShipMap.org. There’s an autoplay audio overview, and an animated interactive map showing all the container ships on the planet and what they’re carrying.

redbird

tl;dr: all is well

I had the one-week follow-up appointment after the cataract surgery on my second eye today. All is well; there's a bit of swelling, but no more than would be expected. I have the doctor's okay to resume normal activities--exercise other than swimming, leaning forward, carrying more than eight points, sleeping without the eye shield. The doctor sent me home with samples of the two kinds of eye drops I still need, the Durezol that the insurance won't cover, which is what I had called and asked for, and the Ilevro, which is covered but still not cheap.

I have one more follow-up appointment, in mid-April, at which time Dr. Lazzara will prescribe new eyeglasses. In the meantime, I have to make do with the drugstore reading glasses. I told the doctor I was having trouble reading my computer monitor, because it's at an inconvenient distance, and he suggested I try a weaker prescription, maybe +0.75 or +1.0 (I'm using +2.0 for reading on paper or with the kindle). I have now measured the distance from where I normally sit to the monitor, and am going to try drugstore glasses while holding something to read about a foot and a half away.

I am enjoying being able to see, though not read, without glasses; it's weird having to remember to take my glasses off to see properly when not reading. I figure I'm going to want prescription glasses that can deal with the astigmatism; I may buy small ones that I can look over, rather than something complicated in the way of bifocals. That's a decision for next month at the earliest, but thinking about it now seems reasonable.

solarbird

"Widowmaker: It's Hiiiiiiiiiiiii No - Doubletime" (Watch on YouTube)

I heard that doubled High Noon and just prayed they were both nearby...

...and they were. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Current Mood: pleased

solarbird

the original

I saw a guy wearing this licensed He-Man “‘SUP LADIES” tank top at the gym the other day, and laughed, but decided that She-Ra would suit that look much better and knew that I had to make it happen.

She-Ra Says Gay Rights

The art is my redraw of a canon publicity shot, so not really original to me. But this needed to happen. It just did. So I did it. Here're the same pictures, just bigger.

I've put the design up on Teespring and ordered two for myself. I think it qualifies as parody but I'm mostly hoping nobody there notices it until I get my tank tops. :D

Current Mood: excited

sasha_feather

Bound - 1996

I'm not sure why I hadn't seen this film before. It's a lesbian thriller directed by the Wachowskis. The first part is very sexy, to the point where I waited to watch it until my roommate was gone. Gina Gershon plays Corky*, who is working as a plumber and handy-person in an apartment building. Jennifer Tilly plays Violet, the girlfriend of a mobster (Joe Pantoliano). Violet has this old-fashioned movie star quality to her-- that sort of breathy voice, and classic makeup. The first few scenes are like a sort core porno but in a good way; Violet invents reasons to spend time with Corky and they have a lot of chemistry.

Violet sees an opportunity to steal 2 million dollars from the mob, and escape with Corky. They go for it, but complications arise. Most of the film takes place in the one apartment building.

There is an intense and gross torture towards the beginning, and the threat of more torture later. I fast-forwarded through these scenes. Also there's a bit of bi-phobia.

*What do you think "Corky" is short for? Corkward? Corkwainer?

People who don't wish me any specific harm

Friday 5 spring

introducing the new intel 64's latest accessory

time to call

I seem to like it brighter now

Salon post: March 22

Snow photos

Help: Pro Tips for Trochanteric Bursitis

Leeds Fun Weekend 2020

Come see Burning this weekend!

Reading Wednesday has new glasses

towards a genderless voice assistant

8-year-old refugee wins new york state chess championship

[Book Reviews] "But why is there a donkey?"

Steerswoman

House paint

The Wonders and Horrors of Containerized Shipping

another eye exam

i heard the double It's High Noon and just prayed they were both nearby

this absolutely needed to happen

Queer movie notes: Bound

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December 2018

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