walkingshadow | Reading

My first curséd sweater was ( Read more... ) Later, purple yarn I bought for myself became the second curséd sweater ( Read more... ) The third curséd sweater is the third of the triplet sweaters we promised to make last summer, originally saying we would try to finish them all by last winter, lol. The other two are done.

1. Wax started this traditional Aran cabled sweater last fall and knitted about 30% of it, but she had modified the pattern to make it smaller, and then decided it was too small (because all the cables contracted it so much).

2. I unraveled it and started over, following the pattern exactly (after Wax had to redo the first few rounds of ribbing for me, because the first time I knitted a couple of inches before realizing I had gotten the stitches twisted and was knitting a Möbius strip). I hated the design. Way too many different cable crosses slowed it down a ton.

3. Then I realized, after working for weeks, and especially right after like ten hours of knitting in two days, that I was using the yarn too fast and we didn't have enough left to finish. This shouldn't be possible, because we ordered the yarn using this pattern as a guide. But it was! And because it was over six months ago, we almost certainly could not get more yarn in the same dye lot.

4. Started over again with a new, much simpler cable pattern, and again got the stitches twisted. It's not like I wasn't checking! Both times I was worried about it and checked twice, then incorrectly concluded they were not twisted¹! At least this time I realized that I was knitting a Möbius strip after only about a centimeter.

Footnote
1. this part is just adhd, not the curse

mific posting in

fancake

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Hayden Pike, Wyatt Hayes
Rating: Explicit
Length: 7060
Content Notes: Underage, as both Shane and Ilya are seventeen.
Creator Links: toomuchplor on AO3
Themes: Journey and travel, Forced proximity, First time, AU: Fork in the road

Summary: Regina to Edmonton was nine hours by bus if the weather was decent; it took a bit longer if — for example — your bus lost power on Highway 11 just past Dundurn, Saskatchewan.

Team buses, night drives, and one way things might have started differently.

Reccer's Notes:
This is a lovely story about Shane and Ilya as teens, just after the first World Juniors Cup, being forced into proximity on a long nighttime bus ride. The inevitable happens, and it kick-starts their relationship and their friendship at a much earlier stage, allowing them to rewrite the MLH's narrative. Told from Shane's pov, with wonderful characterisation and details.

Fanwork Links: Torture Me (With All I’ve Wanted)
Podfic read by mific

falkner posting in

smallbatchicons

china_shop

Another one gleaned from

maevedarcy. I did this a few days ago and then felt weird about posting it because of the number of non-answers. But hey.

My concerts!!!
My first concert was: Billy Joel at Athletic Park. I was sixteen, and the bass was so loud I could feel it thumping in my ribcage.
My first music festival was: n/a
My last concert was: probably Sophie and The Realistic Expectations, more than ten years ago. I don't go out much.
My next concert will be: n/a
The artist/band I've seen the most times is: Sophie and The Realistic Expectations, I'm guessing. (My ex (even then, my ex) was in the band and the covers were great, so I went to quite a few of their gigs.)
A concert I wish I could have gone to: n/a. I did enjoy being across the city from an Ed Sheeran concert, on a warm still night, and being able to make out through the open window what song he was playing.
A concert that meant a lot to me: Ani DiFranco at the James Cabaret in Wellington, 2000. It was my second time seeing her, and I was so blown away that afterwards I couldn't speak for about an hour.
A concert that healed me somehow: n/a
If I could re-live only one concert I'd choose: Ani DiFranco at the Powerhouse in Auckland, late 1990s. Partly because afterwards we swam at Red Beach, and there was phosphorescent algae in the sea. A magical night. (Runner up: Melissa Etheridge at Queen's Wharf in the late 1990s; I think I'd appreciate her more now.)
A concert that I'm glad has been preserved by the internet: n/a
An artist I would have loved to see in concert: no strong opinions on this. I avoid crowds, and though experiencing a performance live can be a thrill, I glom onto songs more than artists.
An artist whose concerts I just don't miss: n/a

torachan

1. We got our new bikes! I was able to come home earlyish so we went down to the bike shop in the evening and picked them up. Carla drove hers back in the car and I rode mine home. Unfortunately there are several hills on the way home and I didn't want to stand around at the bike shop to read the manual and find out how to use the motor function so I just used it as a regular bike. I was able to do the two smaller hills (though it wiped me out!) but had to walk my bike up the big one.

I still haven't sold Carla's old bike (though I did have someone message me on craigslist yesterday and they seem like a real person/not a scammer so hopefully they'll follow through), so I wasn't sure how I was going to fit the new bikes + her old bike in the shed, but I was able to rearrange some stuff in the other shed, the one that has my mom and step-sister's stuff, just enough to squeeze the old bike in there, so even if this person doesn't follow through I can still take my time trying to sell it and not worry about it taking up space.

2. While we were down there, we went to the same pizza place across the street and they had a few new flavors so I got the brussel sprouts and bacon one and it was so good!

3. Molly ready to help put together some legos.

torachan

Recently Finished
Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge
I wanted to like this book because it's an important issue that I am interested in, but my god was it boring. It's also over fifteen years old at this point, so for others interested in the topic there's probably something else more up to date and hopefully more engaging.

The Devil's Den
Second in the Nicole Rayburn series of historical mysteries. I like a lot about these books, but they're also much more on the romance side than I really prefer. I will probably continue with the series, though, because they're available for free with my audible subscription.

Limelight
First in a new to me historical murder mystery series. I liked this and will be continuing the series. Seems like there's a lot of them.

Death Claims
Second in the Dave Brandstetter murder mystery series. These are enjoyable and a quick read, which is always appreciated lol.

Leo Rising
Graphic novel about an influencer who's built her whole online personality around being a lesbian, but starts questioning her gender. I liked the story, but wow, the MC was obnoxious.

the_shoshanna

More about yesterday, and also about today

I (we) didn't blow off dinner last night, in the end; we went back to that Spanish-Asian fusion place and I had scallops and also some of Geoff's duck gyoza and crispy beef tataki roll, which latter was so good (and food had woken me up enough) that we split a second one. Also a pint of Liberation ale, and I also had some of his dessert. We do like sharing food. (Though I eat several things he doesn't care for, and there's almost nothing he eats that I won't, so I generally get the better of the deal! He did taste a bit of a scallop since he'd never had one before, though he usually detests shellfish, and while he didn't detest it he didn't much like it, either. So they were mine all mine.)

We were eating outside -- well, the restaurant had basically enclosed their entire dining patio in transparent plastic sheeting for warmth and against the possible rain, so it wasn't really "outside" any more, but it was certainly better ventilated than inside, and the only people eating out there were a couple who finished and left soon after we arrived, and a woman who sat down a few tables away and had a couple glasses of wine which going through her various bags. The restaurant had draped cushy blankets over the backs of most of the outside seating, for the use of customers who might be chilly, and also had a couple of outdoor heaters going: very civilized! Plus the seating on the side the woman was on was more like couches and coffee tables than chairs and dining tables; it was clearly meant for socializing more than meals. Anyway, by the time we were finishing dinner and she was finishing her second big glass of wine, our eyes met and we started chatting. She was from Ireland but had lived on Jersey for like forty years; she basically told us her whole life story, but I've forgotten almost all of it (look, I was really tired) except for her saying to me, "I lost my virginity here, darling." Oooookay, enough wine for you, maybe? She was yet another person who, on hearing that we're going to Guernsey for ten days, boggled at the idea. She said that Jersey is, like, ten years behind the UK, and Guernsey is fifteen years behind Jersey, but she didn't specify what scale she was measuring on, and I didn't want to ask... Look, Guernsey has decent bus service and wifi in our hotel, it's modern enough for us. (Also, during dinner I did a bit of phone research and turned up this page https://www.visitguernsey.com/articles/2023/local-beverages-tours-and-tastings-in-guernsey/ which looks like it can keep us entertained for a while 😀)

Then we came home and I slept really well, although I had climate-catastrophe dreams. Kind of like living in a disaster movie.

Today we did our last serious hike on Jersey, from Rozel at pretty much the northeast corner to Mount Orguiel castle and the town of Gorey below it, about halfway down the east coast. It took us maybe three hours? More of the same, basically: footpaths through woodland and small roads through residential areas and great views across the rocky and/or sandy tidal flats across the ocean to France on the horizon; one road was scarcely a car-width wide but was officially two-way and had a couple of tiny pullouts marked "passing place", but if you encountered an oncoming car anywhere else, one of you would be backing up a looooong way! I'm also interested by how it's completely unremarkable to park facing oncoming traffic (on what we in the US and Canada would call the wrong side of the road), and the way that parked cars can legally just take up the traffic lane, so that the two-way road functionally narrows to one lane and cars have to take turns going through. I think a lot of Jersey traffic patterns are only workable because there isn't much traffic in the first place.

We walked past the same enormous breakwater we had gone to with

trepkos, but we didn't go out on it this time. The wind and water were much calmer than they'd been on our previous visit, and Geoff got an ice cream and we sat and watched the bay for a bit. Further down the coast we enjoyed a rocky promontory called Jeffrey's Leap (or Geoffrey's; different authorities give different spellings) where a malefactor named Jeffrey or Geoffrey or Geffray or Geffroy was supposedly condemned to death and thrown off the rocks; the story is that he landed in the water, survived, boasted that he could do it again, jumped, hit the rocks that time, and died. Geoff took a picture of the site marker but did not replicate his namesake's foolhardiness.

And that only gets me halfway through today, but it's six-thirty and we have to go to dinner because we have to get up at crack of dawn tomorrow for the ferry. So I will continue this later...

china_shop

Pandemic life
Some reckless indoor eating with my parents (when the more outdoorish area was unexpectedly booked for an event), and Andrew is working on site for the first time in six years. What could go wrong? *knocks on wood*

Previous poll review
In the Sailing the seas poll, 67.6% of respondents said they prefer ship fic to untangle a thicket of character issues before smooshing, and 67.6% also said, "and/or during". In ticky-boxes, bumble bees with trombones came third, baking came second, and hugs came first. Thank you for your votes! ♥

Reading
I've just finished the latest Murderbot. It was enjoyable enough. (Except for the first four novellas, which I loved unreservedly, I tend to click with them more on the re-read when I have a better idea what the action scenes and security logistics are in aid of.)

Andrew and I started Cetaganda by Bujold over the dishes last night.

A little bit of fanfic, which convinced me I should be reading more in ebook (audio leads to multitasking). Maybe it's time to pick up the next Peter Wimsey.

Kdramas/Cdramas
I'm losing steam on The Red Sleeve. I feel like I still don't have a clear idea of the plot, and all the backstabbing politics makes me want to back away. I think these palace intrigue only works for me when the main characters have solid friendships to rely on (ie, undyingly loyal guards, etc). Otherwise it's like living on quicksand.

Absolute Value of Romance -- disaster probably averted! I am still loving this enormously, and I still believe my preferred outcome is possible.

The Spirealm (Cdrama) -- a few episodes in, neither of the main characters has really grabbed me, and there's a lot of horror plot, which isn't what I watch Asian dramas for. Idk.

Love Scout -- resumed with Pru last night, yayay! This romance drama shines. It's serious and playful, dorky and grown-up. The two leads make an amazing team and really seem to respect and like each other, and the chemistry is so good.

Other TV
We finished Deadloch season 2, which was confusing but really fun. Hopefully there'll be more! Still going on People of Earth.

Raced through The Lincoln Lawyer season 4, which was great. I enjoyed it a lot more than the previous season, I don't know why. Everyone seemed on top form, and it was really nice having Maggie (Neve Campbell) take on a bigger role.

Finished Rooster last night. That was a fun show. I went back and forth on whether it was coming from a liberal-self-parody or conservatives-poking-fun-at-liberals stance. But it mostly worked regardless. Steve Carrell is very watchable.

My sister came over for Fringe on Wednesday, but I'd misplaced the DVD, so we watched the first two episodes of White Collar instead (the pilot is such good TV!!), along with our usual Bluey. With White Collar, I kept going, "I used that clip in a vid, oh, and that one was in a different vid," which made it hard to sink into the story. A good illustration of how I can "wear out" canon. /o\

Andrew and I watched The Odd Couple on DVD -- a great character piece, very stage play, lots of fun.

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, Cross Party Lines, Dreaming Against the Machine (with Adam Becker), some Letters from an American.

Online life
The 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange is in the run-up to reveals, so lots of modding. I'm loving

3weeks4dreamwidth this year (does it have to end?), and I have a couple of memes to catch up on.

Writing/making things
My 520 Day gift is polished and done (though today I thought of one line I might need to tweak). Next up, I'm planning to return to my Yuletide fic and actually finish it this time, but I'll wait till the intense modding period has passed. In the meantime, what are the chances of banging out a flashfic for

fan_flashworks? I'd say about 50-50.

Life/health/mental state things
[Frothing at the mouth about NZ politics redacted.] I went to the School Strike 4 Climate protest today. I didn't know anyone else there, so I asked a couple of friendly older-looking people if I could walk with them, and we chatted as we went and did our best to avoid being blasted by the megaphones.

This sign reminded me of

mific and

princessofgeeks, so I had to take a photo:

"Heated Rivalry NOT Heated Planet" protest sign.

ION, my shoulder/neck area is still pretty sore. Why are bodies?

House
The work in the kitchen is finished! Which means I should reconstruct everything -- put all the knickknacks back and so on. Yeah... (I really need to organise all my various recycling things. Atm, I get a drift of clean deconstructed tetrapacks in one corner, and soft plastic recycling spilling over in another.)

Language Learning
Today is day 18 of Chinese on Duolingo and Hello Chinese. I got a free week of premium on Duolingo, so I've been focusing on that and just revising the free stuff on Hello Chinese (numbers 1 to 10, and the 10 most common words/characters), but I'm thinking of getting some paid time on Hello Chinese after that. I should figure out how to type characters on my desktop. And I keep meaning to make some character charts to hang on the bathroom wall for toothbrush-time study.

I just added 中文 to my computer so now I can type!

这是我的猫。我的猫不说中文。我的猫喜欢我。我也喜欢我的猫。你喜欢猫吗？Look, I just made 五 sentences! ;-)

Good things
Protests and community. Introverted friends and TV dates. Biking and biking weather. New Zealand butter. Weekends. Kdramas. Fandom. 520 Day. Zhao Yunlaaaaan. Andrew and Halle. Steamed BBQ pork buns.

Poll #34593 Circus

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 37

View Respondents

Your ideal circus job

View Answers

acrobat
4 (10.8%)

knife-thrower
8 (21.6%)

lion tamer
6 (16.2%)

trapeze artist
2 (5.4%)

ringmaster
5 (13.5%)

clown
2 (5.4%)

other
9 (24.3%)

ticky-box full of minotaurs and string
12 (32.4%)

ticky-box full of eight hours' sleep, applied intravenously
28 (75.7%)

ticky-box full of eight-legged horses
8 (21.6%)

ticky-box full of artistic tigers reciting poetry
19 (51.4%)

ticky-box full of hugs
29 (78.4%)

torachan

1. The bike shop had told us last week that they received the bikes and needed a couple days to put them together but then would let us know when they were ready. I still hadn't heard anything from them but didn't want to be pushy, so I just let it go, but then yesterday I finally emailed and asked about the status and they said they had called us already. :p Well, I double checked my phone and definitely no record of them calling so I imagine they called a wrong number, but oh well. I didn't have time to go pick them up today but maybe tomorrow or for sure on Saturday. I'm excited!

2. Tuxie's head wound seems to have healed up quite well. You can still see how he's missing fur on the right side of his head, but hopefully that will grow back eventually.

torachan

This is apparently only the second time I've seen Mika in concert. I could have sworn I'd seen him one more time sometime in the intervening years but nope; the only time I've seen him before was on his very first tour, almost twenty years ago.

Funnily enough, his first album was most represented in last night's setlist, despite him having a new album out earlier this year (though the new album did have the second highest number of songs in the set). That was a bit disappointing because my top favorite songs are all in the middle there and he did not do any of them, but I still enjoyed myself!

I really love the Orpheum as a venue. It's a beautiful old building, and also very conveniently located downtown so I can take the train rather than having to pay $20+ for parking (and on the way there, the train takes about as long as it would take to drive anyway, due to traffic). It's also in an area with a ton of restaurants around, so it's easy to grab dinner wherever and not be limited to just whatever the venue itself is serving.

I couldn't find any info online about whether there was an opening act or not, so I got there early enough that if he did come on at eight when the show was set to start, I wouldn't miss anything, but as it happens, he did not come on at eight, but there really wasn't an opening act either. There was a DJ who just played some random music, which didn't really feel all that different to the music they play before and in between acts, and wasn't engaging to watch or anything.

Mika came on around 8:45 and the show was nearly two hours long, but still managed to not play any of my top faves lol. Not a bad set list, though, and he is a fun performer. I had a great seat, too. Balcony, but while it's high up, it's not actually that far back from the stage, and there wasn't anyone in front of my blocking my view. (And I was off to the side a bit, but still pretty well centered.)

( A few photos )

( Set list )

I really would have loved it if he'd done Dr John, One Foot Boy, Tah Dah, Stardust, Talk About You, or All She Wants.

siria

The spring here has been the most miserable, wet, dreary one I can remember experiencing in a while—which is saying something coming from someone from Ireland. God, I just looked out the window and it's raining again. I needed gloves while cycling home today, and it's the middle of May.

I had the lovely/aging experience of hearing from a student whom I taught in my first few years here, who is going to defend his own doctorate in history next month and will be starting a tenure-track job (something now as rare as hen's teeth) next academic year. I'm delighted for him, because he's super smart and had a very rough start in life, but oof, I feel old! Time passes.

I'm still digesting the news that PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is now PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome). ( Cut for discussion of my own experiences )

I watched the "third season" of Good Omens via means that gave no revenue to That Individual. ( General spoilers behind the cut )

linky posting in

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twistedchick

I went to look at my Circle here -- haven't done it in a very long time -- and found X's in places where check marks were. Does X mean a ban or block? Or something else?

the_shoshanna

Took a sleep aid last night, slept pretty well but not long enough. Today we went to the zoo, saw gorillas and capybaras and poison frogs and ducks and cranes and skinks and many other things, but sadly did not see giant otters or tamarins or a few other things that were apparently hanging out in inaccessible parts of their enclosures. Then we came home and I have been struggling mightily to stay awake because if I nap I'll probably just screw my sleep schedule even worse (and we have to be fully packed and out the door at 6:45 am the day after tomorrow to catch a ferry to Guernsey). We may just blow off dinner. I may fall asleep while typing this.

lilly_the_kid posting in

vidding

Fandom: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Music: I got a Name by Jim Croce
Characters/Pairing: Thunderbolt/Lightfoot
Summary: If you're going my way, I'll go with you.
Warnings: injury, sadness

here on AO3

abyss_valkyrie posting in

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abyss_valkyrie posting in

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torachan

1. I had a work from home day today, which was nice, and we walked over to Prime Pizza for lunch, which we haven't done in a couple months.

2. I went to see Mika in concert tonight. It was at the Orpheum, which is a venue I love both because it's a nice venue in general and because it's easily accessible by train, so I didn't have to spend $20+ on parking.

3. There's a Jollibee near the venue so I got dinner there. I haven't had Jollibee in ages as there's not one really convenient to us. I am kicking myself for getting the ube pie rather than the peach mango pie, though, because after I bit into it I remembered I'd had it before and not been impressed. It's not terrible or anything, but the peach mango pie is so good and I could have been having that instead.

4. Gemma has been coming to me for pets/tummy rubs almost every day lately. She still acts like I'm going to steal her soul, but she's willing to brave it for the tummy rubs, which can only be properly administered while she writhes about on my bedroom rug. No other place in the house is acceptable!

sage

( books (Wells x 11, Condemi & Savatier, Wyman, Mukherjee, Chakraborty) )

healthcrap
Left hand is so borked. Allergies are worse than ever. Still not resting.

yarning
some lovely someone bought out nearly all my remaining cat-shaped ornaments today. And another lovely someone commissioned a purple bunny. I've rested the hand for a month, so maybe I can do this.

#resist
June 27: the next #50501 protest

I hope you're all doing well! <333

lumiosecity posting in

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October 2021

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the company i keep

Reading

A new curséd sweater appears

Heated Rivalry: Torture Me (With All I’ve Wanted) by toomuchplor

Ensemble Stars, Mikejima Madara

Concert meme

Daily Happiness

Weekly Reading

Last full day on Jersey (until we leave)!

Me-and-media update

Daily Happiness

Mika @ The Orpheum Theatre 5/13/26

2622 / Miscellany

Kamen Rider Girls Remix: Rinne, Nayuta, Akiko

(no subject)

I am so so so sleepy

New Vid: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot "I got a Name"

Morgana-BBC Merlin

Daphne Bridgerton-Bridgerton S1

Daily Happiness

What I'm Doing Wednesday

Legend of Zelda: Link

October 2021

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