sunlit_stone | Network

One of these days, I will get around to making myself a bike icon or three. I've only been biking for transportation as an adult for 18 years now!

( recent bike rides: coffee ride, bike party, Kidical Mass, and biking to the library to get a Star Trek-themed library card )

Still, I did take this most recent Sunday off from running because of the higher-than-normal activity, and squeezed a quick jog in this morning before the heatwave really set in. It should not be this close to 90F in the Bay Area in March, but at least I still have otter pops in the freezer. Worth noting: I'm finally at a point in my fitness where I can consistently jog 20 minutes in a row. I'm still slow af, but one of my fitness goals this year is to be able to jog a 5k without a significant walk break. I've done races in the past with run-walk intervals, I just want to broaden my toolset. And the cardio is good for breath control, key to singing, so I'm trying to encourage this virtuous feedback loop :)

Despite the heat, I had already defrosted the corned beef for boiled dinner for St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight, and it's one of

hyounpark's faves from our Boston era, so tradition upheld. I also baked soda bread, or at least a slightly nontrad version that called for yogurt instead of the buttermilk we never have on hand. And of course I modded that; we do raisins or currants in ours, not nuts, and for once, I even had caraway seeds on hand thanks to a recent Buy Nothing spice exchange), and that came out so well we've already finished half the loaf. So I got that all on the stove as early as possible to not overheat the house.

In between all the biking and baking, we managed to sneak in brunch on the patio at Oceanview Diner with CJ and Chung and their kids. I ordered the souffle pancake, knowing it was going to show up as dessert, and it was worth the wait (and the looks on everyone's faces 😁 ). Their souffle pancake is really more of a Dutch baby, which their predecessor called a Dutch bunny when I would order it as a kid decades ago, fluffy and just a bit eggy and perfect.

It's too hot to sleep; I think I'll have another otter pop.

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: i'm shipping off to find my wooden leg

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260317.html

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Pride and Prejudice
Pairings/Characters: Darcy/Elizabeth, Georgiana, Jane/Bingley
Rating: Teen
Length: 75k
Creator Links:

anghraine
Theme: siblings, old fandoms, book fandoms, novel length, AU, family,

Summary: Without Lady Catherine's interference, a family catastrophe throws Darcy and Elizabeth down wildly different paths.

Reccer's Notes: This series is very much Darcy/Elizabeth, but they spend a lot of it going down separate paths. And on those separate paths, their closest relationships are with their siblings--Darcy and Georgiana, Jane and Elizabeth. I love the care that is taken with all of the different relationships in this story.

Fanwork Links: The Rich Are Always Respectable

thistleingrey

Uzma Jalaluddin, Detective Aunty (2025): when the landlord of her daughter's small clothing boutique is murdered, Kausar drops everything to go. Kausar's (white) friend feels sure that Kausar will find out what really happened. But her daughter wants help with housekeeping and child-minding, not an adult peer's support.

I'm only in ch. 3, I don't care currently whether books stick the landing (though I like this one so far), and ch. 2 is great for its tender forthrightness: when a kid (even a thirtysomething adult, like Kausar's daughter) is used to seeing a parent in a certain way, that's how the two are paused, unless the child makes an effort to grow a bit more. It's not something that the parent can shift solo.

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Marvel
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Bucky
Rating: Gen
Length: 4k
Creator Links:

what_alchemy
Theme: siblings, AU, family

Summary: Bucky was the eldest of four.

Reccer's Notes: Bucky has four younger siblings, and in 2015 they are elderly, crotchety, and determined to go see Steve Rogers. Getting there is an ordeal, and what they find there is a surprise. I love the way the characters are so well-drawn and realistic, and I love the humor.

Fanwork Links: Geriatric Road Trip, 2015

Content notes: racist and homophobic language

beatrice_otter posting in

fancake

Fandom: Vorkosigan
Pairings/Characters: Kareen Vorbarra, Alys Vorpatril, Gregor Vorbarra, Ivan Vorpatril
Rating: Gen
Length: 13k
Creator Links:

lannamichaels
Theme: siblings, family, secret identity reveal, female characters, old fandoms, book fandoms, AU, female friendship,

Summary: Kareen protects her children.

Reccer's Notes: This is such a fascinating AU about Kareen, Alys, Gregor, Ivan, and what might have happened.

Fanwork Links: The Emperor's Brother

sineala

I have slightly more brain now and maybe enough energy to post more? Let's find out. I'm sure you've missed me posting about random video games.

Anyway, Slay the Spire 2, the sequel to my most favorite roguelike deckbuilder Slay the Spire came out in Early Access two weeks ago, and is apparently stunningly popular -- it had 500,000 concurrent players its first weekend, beating basically everything else on Steam at the time, which no one was really expecting from, you know, an indie card game.

I haven't played it enough to give a full review, because even in EA there is a lot more content -- there are five characters, two of which are brand new, all of which have new cards, and there are all sorts of new mechanics and events I haven't discovered yet. So far I have now beaten what exists of the game with four of the five characters and I know I haven't seen anywhere near everything yet. I think it's currently balanced harder than the original game, but the subreddit is full of people saying it is way too easy, so I guess we will see what happens when the balance patches start coming out.

But the really cool thing about this game is the multiplayer, which we only found out existed in a trailer that they released, like, two weeks before the actual game. It has co-op with up to four players! I only have one friend who plays this game, as far as I know --

gelishan, who actually introduced me to the original game -- and we played a game of it the other night, and I have to say that co-op is absolutely the most fun way to experience the game. It helps to be on voice chat, so you can coordinate things like 'who are we targeting first" or "if you have anything inflicting Vulnerable, please play that first" or "do you need this Strength Potion" or "do you want me to play Piercing Wail this turn so you don't take 35 damage straight to the face" or whatever, but I guess theoretically you could play it in silence and just deal with the fact that everyone is playing their turns simultaneously.

Anyway, that is clearly the way this game has always been meant to be played and I need to do this again at some point. The co-op multiplayer is absolutely amazing! I don't know that I would recommend the game in its current single-player state to people who haven't played the original, just because it is already a hard game and it helps to have some idea of how three of the five characters play, if you're going to play it by yourself. But if you are playing multiplayer, I think you can just go for it and you and your friends can take turns carrying each other through the game.

So, yeah, that's what I've been up to, as I slowly regain some brain. Slaying the Spire anew!

(Also it's really weird to actually talk to someone you have known on the internet for, like, 25 years, but you've never heard their voice before.)

Current Mood: nerdy

asakiyume

It's been more than a week since I posted! Part of that's just life being busy; part is that

osprey_archer is here!

Today we went to Bright Water Bog, swung on a swing, ate some cranberries, and saw ice forming. It was sunny, but a cold wind was blowing, and a few flurries of snow came down.

(We also went to the Smith College Botanical Gardens, but this is a drive-by post! So there's only the one photo.)

starandrea

Me: Internet, how long do dahlias take to sprout?
Internet: Could be two months, but probably only one. Maybe as little as two weeks if they're the right variety in the right conditions.

It has been ELEVEN DAYS. 7 out of 22 containers have little dahlia sprouts, and by "little" I mean the biggest one has FOUR LEAVES ALREADY. I cleared off a shelf in the utility room and snapped my one spare magnetic grow light to the shelf above, plugged it into a Christmas tree timer* in the hallway, and squeezed in all but 7 pots. (The four that had sprouted by yesterday are still on their succulent shelves, and the three I judge least likely to succeed are sitting on a box near the light for monitoring.)

I did a little garden tidying, but the ground is still too frozen for digging (despite the daffodils coming up everywhere, plus some red sprouts that must be tulips, yay my daffodil protection circle worked) so bad news for the boxes of cannas by the back door: they are headed for the garage tomorrow morning. If I have to cart them back and forth from the garage to the house to keep them from freezing overnight I will, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to insulate them enough that they can weather a few freezing nights on their own.

( plants and puppy )

*All the lights have to be on timers, otherwise it's like Wei Ying's tomatoes in that one where Lan Zhan is a wolf and keeps judgmentally turning his plant lights on and off for him. I have absolutely thought to myself, "oh I turned the lights on late this morning, surely I should leave them on late tonight to make up for it!"

olivermoss

* There is talk of letting 19 years olds from Canadian juniors play in the AHL. They should be allowed to go AHL as soon as they are drafted. Otherwise, franchises have to put baby rookies on NHL ice or not be able to develop them. This isn't the biggest issue in hockey, but how this intra-league weirdness is currently feeds into / causes / etc a lot of problems so I really want to see this changed.

* Also, randomly since I am hockey posting... There are identical mirror twins in the upcoming draft and it's not impossible they wind up on the same team. I think it's Vancouver who has the right combo of picks to get them? Imagine the drama if a team goes for a matched set of very practiced line mates and someone snipes the other brother.

questionable_content_feed

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5788

celli

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

redbird

I am back from Montreal. The trip home had some annoying delays while they found us an airplane, or figured out how to tow the one they had, or something, but was otherwise fine.

Rysmiel gave me a back rub last night that did significant good for the tension in my neck and right shoulder. I currently have an unrelated shoulder pain, from spending too much time poking at my phone while spending several hours at the airport, but if I'm somewhat cautious now that I'm home, that should take care of itself in a day or three.

I am catching up on some of the PT exercises I didn't do while traveling because they require elastics, or the foam roller, or weights, but doing all of them tonight would be imprudent.

princessofgeeks

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

Current Mood: obsessed

kaberett

Allotment salad!
Got Things Into The Ground (as well as out of it); I am as ever running massively behind but the weather was lovely and touching soil remains very good.
It was warm enough to have the back door open for a bit.
I am really, really enjoying the self-indulgent Very Expensive Lebkuchen I got from SousChef in the January sale. They make an excellent supper.
Bloods taken today do include a full blood count; alas no ferritin (that's scheduled for... May? April?) but I do get a sneaky extra update on how my estimated haemoglobin is doing.
libgourou continues to Work. I remain very pleased about this.

silverblade219

My periodic post to say that I still using my Dreamwidth, but still mostly just read/lurk for now. I have been a bit more active on the

cnovels comm recently though.

Also on tumblr and bluesky as silversays

Current Mood: calm

slacktivist_feed

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2026/03/17/harrison-taylor-harding-trump/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=73327

Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft and it's almost like praying ...

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2026/03/17/harrison-taylor-harding-trump/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=73327

mrkinch

I got started at 8:30, while it was still nice and cool, walking just over halfway up Laurel Canyon for the first time in a couple of years. We shall see if I regret it, but I did have a very productive morning. So much birdsong! Heard my first of season Western Flycatcher, a Western Warbling Vireo was singing where they usually do, and there were Orange-crowned, Townsend's, and Wilson's Warblers singing everywhere. I had two Allen's Hummingbirds, one I saw briefly, tiny and orange, and I could hear another's swooping display flight, though I could not find him. ( The list: )

I submit some of my lists to the California Bird Atlas project, especially when I observe breeding behavior. This morning I watched a Chestnut-backed Chickadee pulling fur out of scat. They had quite a beak full when they finally flew off.

foxinthestars

The first time I said this, it was filtered, so I'll say it again: So far I am enjoying being back! It's early days yet, but I feel like DW addresses a real craving I was having.

No profound new material today; I'm tired.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment plus my weekly SCA meeting. It was a project night, a new person came, and we had some really nice conversation as we all introduced ourselves (and prompted each other about all the stuff we did) and tried to give some newcomer info. Unfortunately for our post-meeting restaurant trip, it was one of those nights Panera was out of everything; we all wanted warm soup but like everybody else in the county probably already had wanted warm soup, so I ended up resorting to the French Onion. It didn't taste bad, but not good enough to get again, plus it was a gamble; sometimes too much onion doesn't agree with my tummy, but I got away with it this time.

Then today I did my weekly-or-so Walmart pickup and got lunch from the local Senior Center; they were doing corned beef and trimmings for St. Patrick's day. I totally forgot to wear green, tho.

I've been thinking of doing like a read-along here, going through a light novel series I like bit by bit and posting about it. Honzuki (Ascendance of a Bookworm) is the most likely candidate, but if I wanted space for on-first-reading material I could do Weakest Tamer, or I'm also quite fond of Beware of Chicken (which is Canadian not Japanese but still essentially a webnovel-turned-light-novel).