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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-14 08:06 pm

Anticipated

Busy tomorrow
Either both kids go to school
Or spouse screaming pain.
-K Royka, 10/14/2025
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-13 04:43 pm

Cynical

History is whitewashed
It's more than shades of gray
But people who ate mummies
Couldn't bear to think that way
History was vibrant
But marble's more refined
According to those rich thieves who
Can't keep an open mind.
Not one soul is perfect
But if you look ahead
Just become more famous --
You'll be saintly when you're dead.
-K Royka, 10/13/2025
jesse_the_k: kitty pawing the surface of vinyl record (scratch this!)
Jesse the K ([personal profile] jesse_the_k) wrote2025-10-12 05:01 pm

music: Windborne Sing "The Grey Funnel Line"

[personal profile] sonia introduced me to Windborne, the acapella group from Massachusetts. Their version of "The Grey Funnel line" makes my head go sproing in a pleasant fashion.

uncaptioned video within )

I’ve loved this 20th century ballad since I first encountered it on Silly Sisters in 1976. I recently learned that Cyril Tawney wrote the song as he was leaving the UK’s Royal Navy, called "Gray Funnel Line" by those who toiled there. Full lyrics at that link.

redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-10-12 03:19 pm
Entry tags:

keeping up with the paperwork

I got a paper letter from the Registry of Motor Vehicles yesterday, telling me it was time to renew my state ID card, and a billing email from Panix this morning.

I took care of both of those online. Both were straightforward, although the state required me to check more boxes--which makes sense, because Panix doesn't care where I live, am registered to vote, or also have email with other providers. Interestingly, the RMV noted that I'm already registered as an organ donor--but that, unlike voter registration, doesn't depend on them having my current address.
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Sonia Connolly ([personal profile] sonia) wrote2025-10-12 07:58 am
Entry tags:

Link: Guyana, Venezuela and why we should be worried

Y'all may remember [personal profile] siderea's prescient, detailed, actionable coverage of the Covid pandemic as it developed. Check out her pestilence tag for historical and recent posts.

Given her track record, I am paying very close attention to [personal profile] siderea's new post The Essequibo (Buddy-ta-na-na, We Are Somebody, Oh): Pt 1 about how Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, is trying to start World War Three.

Ohhhhh, this is why the US military is sinking Venezuelan "drug boats."

No preparation advice (yet). I suppose preparing for war looks a lot like preparing for a pandemic. Stock up on essentials, and build community connections.
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Sonia Connolly ([personal profile] sonia) wrote2025-10-12 07:37 am
Entry tags:

Link: How to weigh an octopus

How to weigh an octopus in only 8 wriggly steps (brief video) by Aquarium of the Pacific, via [personal profile] andrewducker, with entertaining narration/subtitles.
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-12 02:56 am

Difference

May each step
You take
Into this world
Carry the weight
Of your ability.
May you see clearly
That each task
You take
Is one of portent
And significance,
Shaping the world around you.
When you feel
That your steps
And your world
Are small,
And the expectations
Hunching
You
Over
With
Guilt
Are great
...
Does the pebble
In the pond
See
What happens to the still surface?
Hold to your heart.
Let the mighty
Write their histories of names.
We craft a different legacy.
-K Royka, 10/12/2025
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-11 08:23 pm

Summons

I call on strength
That I may ever carry through
I call on patience
That I may bear these burdens too
I call on hope
That I may still reach for tomorrow
And on love
That I hold on through fear and sorrow
-K Royka, 10/11/2025
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-10 08:05 pm

Dragging

Every hour moves past
Morning slides into evening
Now my eyes can close.
-K Royka, 10/10/2025
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-10-10 09:21 pm
Entry tags:

leek and squash risotto (non-dairy)

[personal profile] adrian_turtle made a leek and squash risotto for supper, and it was very good. It contains short-grain rice, broth, leeks, butternut squash, arugula, and I think garlic powder. It was topped with candied pecans, some pieces of squash, and leek-flavored oil. Most of the squash was cooked with the rice, to dissolve and make the risotto rich and creamy. The combination of ingredients gave the dish plenty of umami; I didn't miss the cheese that's typically added to risotto.

Jotting this down now before I forget, I may get Adrian to provide more details or a recipe link later.
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-09 08:30 pm

Lump

What is this lump on my bed?
Is it the dog?
Or a blanket instead?
Maybe a child has snuck in for the night?
No? Quick, I'll climb in, then,
And turn out the light!
-K Royka, 10/9/2025
solarbird: (korra-on-the-air)
solarbird ([personal profile] solarbird) wrote2025-10-09 09:01 am

post your reality, part two

I’ve been calling for people to post pictures, video, whatever, of their towns when Herr Fuckface describes them as war zones, as hellholes, as whatever he pukes up this time. Particularly Chicago, and now, extra particularly Portland. But any blue city or state he lies about.

Post the truth.

On Wednesday night, Jimmy Kimmel requested people do that too, using the hashtag #ShowMeYourHellhole. They’ll look for and highlight some of those videos and contact you if they want to use it, so only use it on video you specifically want seen by as many people as possible.

Post your reality; use the hashtag to help other people see it, if you’re okay with the one in a million shot that they ask you to let them use it on Kimmel.

In reality, of course, they’ll mostly be checking YouTube and maybe other corporate social media, not cooperative spaces like the Federation. But he’s famous enough that if he calls for a hashtag, a lot of people will use it, and in this case, that’s no bad thing.

So – Portland. Chicago. Los Angeles. Memphis. DC. You in particular, but not just you…

…mods are asleep. Post your reality.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-08 08:33 pm

Sleepovers

No, my dear, you may not rest
In Mom and Daddy's bed.
No, sweet child, nor on the floor,
You may not rest your head.
Go to your room and to your bed
And sleep in warmth alone
For this bed gets too tiny
When fitting all in one.
-K Royka, 10/8/2025
solarbird: (korra-on-the-air)
solarbird ([personal profile] solarbird) wrote2025-10-08 09:04 am

I do think there was a point to Bondi’s performance

Pamela Bondi went before Senate Oversight on Tuesday determined not to testify to Democrats, and to help Republicans deflect and defend the Trump regime’s fascism. That’s obvious; it happens fairly regularly.

But usually, people doing this routine at least pretend to answer the questions. They don’t provide answers, no, of course not. But they pretend and follow forms.

Bondi wasn’t even pretending. Her responses were unrelated, spurious – and as Senator Schiff put it, “pre-canned” – attacks on and insults of Democratic questioners, over and over again. We couldn’t be entirely sure of it at the moment, but Reuters managed to photograph her notes during her “testimony”, and now we absolutely know for sure they were prewritten.

Later, she started launching these prewritten lie clusters during questions, while Democratic senators were speaking. Here’s an example of her interrupting Senator Schiff over and over again with literal unrelated whatabouts and insults.

Eventually, I guess she ran out of pre-installed lie clusters, because she ran out during a response to a question from Senator Whitehouse and froze up. She literally couldn’t seem to talk.

It’s quite the clip. Watch her, she just shuts down. Here’s the moment she realised she didn’t have anything left so couldn’t come up with another lie cluster attack and just sits there, stalled out:

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) posting "has anybody ever been more obviously full of shit than Pam Bondi is at the end of this 20 second clip?" over a video of Pamela Bondi not saying anything with "An error occurred" superimposed over the image below her face.

(I swear to you – I swear to you – I did not add that caption over the video. It was a player issue. But I couldn’t not keep it, now could I?)

But I do think there was a point here, and it wasn’t just not answering questions while giving Republican Senators time to lie and deflect on behalf of the regime. That’s all too normal.

No, I think the intent was to show their utter contempt for the legislature. I think this a stupid version of Caligula’s expression of contempt for the Senate, when he said he was going to appoint his favourite horse as a member.

(He didn’t actually do it, legend aside. The record is reasonably clear on that. He just mocked them with the idea.)

At least Caligula’s version was funny. This, by contrast, is just sad. But sad or not, I do think there was a point, and that point was to display contempt for representative government and to metaphorically blow a horse’s fart in the faces of elected representatives.

And I think that’s something people should understand.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-07 08:20 pm

Texts

Told my boss I won't be there
Except I sent it to thin air
Though I think the number's right,
The text just vanished from plain sight.
-K Royka, 10/7/2025
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Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-10-07 05:51 pm
Entry tags:

blood draw etc.

I woke up at about 7:30 a.m., had a cup of black tea, showered, and went to my doctor’s office for a fasting blood, which I wanted to do before I see her in a couple of weeks. There was a little bit of annoying delay: Mt Auburn Hospital is being moved to a different MyChart system, and some balls are being dropped. Specifically, the order for my lab work wasn’t on the new system, so they had to copy it from the old system, which is in read-only mode for a few weeks, after which it won’t be available even to medical staff. Carmen said her office is going to be sending an email to all patients, advising us to follow up on existing referrals and orders for lab work before the end of the month. I hope that doesn’t miss too many people, but I made a point of telling Adrian about it.

Once they had my test tube of blood, I stopped at a couple of stores on the same block as my doctor’s office, to buy (frozen) ground lamb and some more cannabis edibles. Then I treated myself to an apple, grape, and brie crepe for breakfast, which I ate at an outdoor table. After eating the crepe, I went to CVS and got a flu vaccine, then took the subway home. I am feeling very accomplished, and a bit tired.

The flu and covid tests I mentioned in my previous post arrived yesterday.
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-06 07:41 pm

Rest

Lots of liquid
Lots of rest
Sleep again 'cause
Sleep is best.
-K Royka, 10/6/2025
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-05 08:10 pm

Vaccines

Aching shoulder
Throbbing head
Fever sends me
Back to bed
Thoughts are blurry
But next time
Flu and shingles
Not so fine.
-K Royka, 10/5/2025
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Syzygis ([personal profile] syzygis) wrote2025-10-04 08:20 pm

Growing Pains

An entire roasted chicken
Was supposed to make a stew
But we needed some leftovers
If that's what we planned to do.
A loaf of bread for sandwiches
Was gone inside a day
And half the seaweed packs
Disappeared in the same way.
He'll eat the ramen dry
And down berries by the pint
If there's food you thought he wouldn't eat
I'm telling you he might!
-K Royka, 10/4/2025
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Sonia Connolly ([personal profile] sonia) wrote2025-10-04 07:30 pm
Entry tags:

Links: Moon facts and other useful things

Common Moon Mistakes by MinutePhysics. I knew about the full moon rising opposite the sun, and the crescent moon rising near the sun, but there was a lot here i didn't know presented clearly with quick line drawings. 5 minute video, very worth it!

Jump the Paywalls and Help Others Over the Top by Alan Levine. I keep forgetting to try this, so let me know if it works!
right in your browser, where the address reads https://www.wired.com/2004/03/honey-i-shrunk-the-url/ stick right in front of it archive.ph/ making the full link http://archive.ph/https://www.wired.com/2004/03/honey-i-shrunk-the-url/


symbol.wtf. A page of useful Unicode symbols like superscript TM, paragraph, accented letters, musical symbols, etc. Labeled with names so you can search. It doesn't have the accented consonants I need for Balkan languages, but on a Mac I can just hold down the letter to get a list of accented versions to choose from.