Happy 4th of July all. Is the USA at war with anyone else yet?
Jul. 4th, 2025 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vik_thor The last 3 years, I have been going out behind our house, to some school property, and watch the Fireworks at the Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Center, which is a little over 1 mile, walking distance from us. Since we are on a 'bluff' of sorts, above the Missouri River (above the flood plain), We can also see the St Charles fireworks display,
I don't know for sure where all the other official ones we can see are, but since most of St. Charles County to our northwest (north of the MO 370) is floodplain between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and the far side of the Mississippi river is Calhoun County, Illinois, between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and I can usually see several waaay out on the horizon...
Not to mention all the illegal personal ones...
(one on the Mall Access road / parking lot and one on the parking lot of the school, just to the west... and I think this year, we had some on MoBottom road by the cell tower...)
22:30 CDT, and all the official ones are done... still hearing tons of fireworks...
And I wonder how many people are going to be injured this year by bleeeping stupid men shooting guns up into the air...
Anyway, I did not go out back this year for the 4th. my knees and hips have been very achey the past few days.
My feet had been a bit swollen, so I made an appt with doctor last TH, and he took me off one of my BP medicines. I had bloodwork done yesterday, (Need to make sure my cardiologist gets access to them.)
Need to double check when my next appt with Cardiologist is...
I have had a few very dizzy / lightheaded episodes... (Current BP 118 / 80)
I don't know for sure where all the other official ones we can see are, but since most of St. Charles County to our northwest (north of the MO 370) is floodplain between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and the far side of the Mississippi river is Calhoun County, Illinois, between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and I can usually see several waaay out on the horizon...
Not to mention all the illegal personal ones...
(one on the Mall Access road / parking lot and one on the parking lot of the school, just to the west... and I think this year, we had some on MoBottom road by the cell tower...)
22:30 CDT, and all the official ones are done... still hearing tons of fireworks...
And I wonder how many people are going to be injured this year by bleeeping stupid men shooting guns up into the air...
Anyway, I did not go out back this year for the 4th. my knees and hips have been very achey the past few days.
My feet had been a bit swollen, so I made an appt with doctor last TH, and he took me off one of my BP medicines. I had bloodwork done yesterday, (Need to make sure my cardiologist gets access to them.)
Need to double check when my next appt with Cardiologist is...
I have had a few very dizzy / lightheaded episodes... (Current BP 118 / 80)
Paradigm Shift
Jul. 2nd, 2025 04:39 pmfilkferengiSometimes the smallest change can alter one's whole perspective, shift one's paradigm, or open up all kinds of options. Here are just three from over the years, all connected with our house.
After about a year of marriage, I got house fever. We were initially hunting for two bathrooms, looked all over various parts of the Atlanta metro area, and came up empty. Then I said, why not look for one bathroom? We soon had an all-brick ranch with 3 [tiny] bedrooms and one bathroom. My dad the contractor was eventually able to turn the water heater room into a small en suite. [note: it was on the south side of town, with lower taxes. Even with his student loans and them not counting my temp income, it was what we could afford.]
I have very routinized food choices. There was one Michaelina's entree I ate several times a week for over two decades [until they quit making it]. Most of that time, I stored them in the freezer door, front to back. After a decade or two, I finally figured out, I could store half again as many in the door, if I stacked them side-to-side, like books on a shelf. [Ironic that it took me so long to figure out, given the hundreds of feet of mostly double-rowed books in the house.]
The main bedroom, kitchen, and living room of our house all came with ceiling fans. The computer room, in the corner that catches full afternoon sun and is thus the warmest room in the house, has no ceiling fan. [My dad said there wasn't enough structure in the ceiling to support one.]
My spouse went to his first SABR [baseball] convention last week - right during the big heat wave. I run hot anyway [like Granny] and spend most of my time reading on the computer. Even with the lovely insulation [airport and bookshelves], not a fun time. I'm short, & the ceiling fans are nearly a foot overhead. Nevertheless, it was warm enough, I lunged, and turned on the living room fan. Leaving it on all the week kept the whole house amazingly cool [nearly 20 degrees cooler than outside].
How did it take me 3+ decades to discover this delightful fact? Normally, I'd feel all kinds of doofy, but am too busy being rather chill about the whole thing.
;)
After about a year of marriage, I got house fever. We were initially hunting for two bathrooms, looked all over various parts of the Atlanta metro area, and came up empty. Then I said, why not look for one bathroom? We soon had an all-brick ranch with 3 [tiny] bedrooms and one bathroom. My dad the contractor was eventually able to turn the water heater room into a small en suite. [note: it was on the south side of town, with lower taxes. Even with his student loans and them not counting my temp income, it was what we could afford.]
I have very routinized food choices. There was one Michaelina's entree I ate several times a week for over two decades [until they quit making it]. Most of that time, I stored them in the freezer door, front to back. After a decade or two, I finally figured out, I could store half again as many in the door, if I stacked them side-to-side, like books on a shelf. [Ironic that it took me so long to figure out, given the hundreds of feet of mostly double-rowed books in the house.]
The main bedroom, kitchen, and living room of our house all came with ceiling fans. The computer room, in the corner that catches full afternoon sun and is thus the warmest room in the house, has no ceiling fan. [My dad said there wasn't enough structure in the ceiling to support one.]
My spouse went to his first SABR [baseball] convention last week - right during the big heat wave. I run hot anyway [like Granny] and spend most of my time reading on the computer. Even with the lovely insulation [airport and bookshelves], not a fun time. I'm short, & the ceiling fans are nearly a foot overhead. Nevertheless, it was warm enough, I lunged, and turned on the living room fan. Leaving it on all the week kept the whole house amazingly cool [nearly 20 degrees cooler than outside].
How did it take me 3+ decades to discover this delightful fact? Normally, I'd feel all kinds of doofy, but am too busy being rather chill about the whole thing.
;)
Work stress and furniture
Jul. 2nd, 2025 07:40 pmljwritesMy current interminable work assignment is draining the soul out of me. Like I need the work and am grateful to have it, but also just ughhh. I'm just barely keeping myself functioning by mainlining the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, plus all kinds of music from my collections that I haven't browsed in a while.
Another way I'm relieving stress is by obsessing about furniture of all things, specifically a new desk that'll replace my current one which has been oversized ever since I changed things around to a split-desk layout for more comfortable seating. Changing the furniture is one of those middle-aged female coping mechanisms I didn't understand when I was younger, along with a taste for trashy drama about getting comeuppance in the face of unjust family situations. I'm turning into my mom in my middle age and I guess that's not a bad thing lol.
Status Report for June, 2025
Jun. 30th, 2025 09:49 pmtuftears( Cut for length, in brief, I paid taxes, fixed a bug in FurryrMUCK, beat Blue Prince, wrote a bunch of words, and continued to run Starforged on Caturdays for friends. )
Coming up next is July, wherein I shall indulge in such exciting pursuits as... cooking myself a bacon cheeseburger with tater tots for July 4th, and ordering a French dinner for my birthday with duck breast on a bed of wild rice, and tiramisu for dessert. Ah, decadence!
(yes, I would go out, but the world is too crazy for me to deal with. Home remains best place!)
Coming up next is July, wherein I shall indulge in such exciting pursuits as... cooking myself a bacon cheeseburger with tater tots for July 4th, and ordering a French dinner for my birthday with duck breast on a bed of wild rice, and tiramisu for dessert. Ah, decadence!
(yes, I would go out, but the world is too crazy for me to deal with. Home remains best place!)
Rebuilding journal search again
Jun. 30th, 2025 03:18 pmalierak posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceWe're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
June Update: Everything continues to happen so much, but there are still sales.
Jun. 30th, 2025 08:48 amsaxbrightwellIt's been one hell of a June, folks. Issues at my work, issues at my partner's work, issues at my kids' school, embarking on an extended orthodontic ordeal for one kid, throwing another kid a birthday party (fun but still draining), accepting that my beloved 16-year-old rescue mutt is now on palliative care, and driving to another province to visit family... that's the first time I've written the whole list out like that. No wonder I'm struggling to break out of a passive loop of playing old games and reading old stories.
So there's been precious little progress on book 5, I'm afraid. But I do have sale links to share!
The volume 1-3 omnibus of Secrets of Sleipnir is on sale in Canada at Kobo until July 2nd!
And I'm taking part in the July Smashwords sale again! Follow the link to find Low Dusk FREE, and all my other single volumes 50% off, for the whole month.
So there's been precious little progress on book 5, I'm afraid. But I do have sale links to share!
The volume 1-3 omnibus of Secrets of Sleipnir is on sale in Canada at Kobo until July 2nd!
And I'm taking part in the July Smashwords sale again! Follow the link to find Low Dusk FREE, and all my other single volumes 50% off, for the whole month.
I don't like feeling...
Jun. 29th, 2025 12:45 pmchicatingangry and cheated, like, always.(THere is plenty of reason, but I did always hope to get more from life, before it was all over.)
LJ Idol Week 2: (Home Game)If it is any Consolation
Jun. 28th, 2025 09:43 pmvik_thorPersonified DEATH.
I like the DC / Vertigo version, the 'goth' girl who greets us when we enter the world (though most of us do not remember that meeting), and once more when you are leaving this life. Some beings meet her a few more times while they are alive. She does not tell anyone what is next, and your last meeting with her is the sound of wings, fluttering. She has stated that she was one of the first entities of The Endless, and she has said she will be around when this universe ends. She will put the chairs up on the tables, turn out the lights, and finally see what is next...
Discworld:
I NEED to read Sir Terry Pratchett's take on Death. He has a few books centered on Death, I think, and appears in others.I KNOW Sir Terry was a great author, I have read several of the Discworld books, but not the Death ones.
I NEED to read Sir Terry Pratchett's take on Death. He has a few books centered on Death, I think, and appears in others.I KNOW Sir Terry was a great author, I have read several of the Discworld books, but not the Death ones.
Incarnations of Immortality, by Piers Anthony
I think it is about time for me to reread of this series.
I think it is about time for me to reread of this series.
Riding a Pale Horse is the first one, about Death (1983)
Bearing an Hourglass is Time
(1984)
With a Tangled Skein is Fate
(1985)
Wielding a Red Sword is War
(1986)
Being a Green Mother: Nature / Gaia (1987)
There is a bit of a ... tone shift, I think is a good way to describe it, with the last 3.
For Love of Evil is Satan.
(1988)
And Eternity: Good / God. (1990)
And Eternity: Good / God. (1990)
And finally:
Under a Velvet Cloak : Nox (2009)
I've read the first 7, several times actually, did not find out about the final one until a few years ago. I have read several reviews on the final one, and they all mention it is an even more of a tone shift. and very sexual themes...
The world he created in Incarnations is interesting, but I don't know if I would want to live in it...
In this world, Death has to visit those people whose soul is so balanced between Good and Evil, that it will not rise to Heaven nor descend into Hell. They cannot actually die until he visits them and removes their soul from their body.
At one point, he refuses to take a soul tha is in balance, and basically goes on strike.
NOBODY can die until he takes that soul and sends it on it's way. (I don't remember details, but I think it ends up being a baby...)
I think Anthony describes someone burnt to a 'crisp' in a plane accident, with a large shard of glass through their lungs, Since they can't die, they are feeling all the agony you would expect.
If it is any consolation, he does eventually restart his job, people die and are finally out of their agaony.
In this world, Death has to visit those people whose soul is so balanced between Good and Evil, that it will not rise to Heaven nor descend into Hell. They cannot actually die until he visits them and removes their soul from their body.
At one point, he refuses to take a soul tha is in balance, and basically goes on strike.
NOBODY can die until he takes that soul and sends it on it's way. (I don't remember details, but I think it ends up being a baby...)
I think Anthony describes someone burnt to a 'crisp' in a plane accident, with a large shard of glass through their lungs, Since they can't die, they are feeling all the agony you would expect.
If it is any consolation, he does eventually restart his job, people die and are finally out of their agaony.
Poking my head back in
Jun. 28th, 2025 10:41 amljwritesHello again, Dreamwidth!
It's been a while. Lately I've been hankering to keep an online journal for everyday, chatty stuff that's less serious than my author website (yes, I have one now!) but also archived in a more orderly and discoverable way than my fediverse social media accounts. This DW account was the obvious choice for it and I've always been meaning to do something with the account again, so might as well run with it! I'm hoping to stick around for longer this time.
So what have I been up to? I've been getting busy with work again after a five-month dry spell since a little coup attempt in Korea you might have heard about. A lot of the long, anxious winter and spring months were spent following the political news and going to protests, doing independent research, working on ttrpg translation, and lots of home cooking because we had more time than money.
The political situation is finally starting to stabilize with the Presidential election, and so is the economic situation. Literally work started rolling in the week of the election early June, so that's been a win on more than one front lol. I'm getting back to normal-year levels of work and income which is a huge relief, though it also means I'm busy and stressed again. I guess life is a choice between problems and this is better than the alternative!
So it's going to be a busy weekend crunching for a work deadline, monsoon season is here and it's raining again, I have a bunch of things going on and more I'd like to get into but I'll get to that post by post. Like I've been mildly obsessed with Kpop Demon Hunters, did some small coding projects, been working on side translation projects, ran some tabletop games at events... keeping busy, I guess, in addition to the default family, work, and home stuff.
And I continue to work on my writing, of course! More about that, too, as things come up.
Cannon Fodder strikes again. 2025 LJ Idol Week 1 vote
Jun. 25th, 2025 11:02 pmvik_thor I do enjoy LJ Idol. I have never viewed myself as being more than a slightly above average writer. Maybe get a A- essay / post on a VERY good day. C- to B is where I would put most of my writing.
But, it is fun, and it is a community. I recognize may of the competitors from previous years.
AND I am wanting to be more creative / expressive. (yes, I know I have said that before...) probably many times...
2025 LJ Idol Week 1 Poll
That is the poll for Week 1.
I got 8 votes, next lowest got ten.
The previous year had more drama associated with it. (See my reply to the 2025 Week 1 Results post, as I like to the July 2024 posts.
But, it is fun, and it is a community. I recognize may of the competitors from previous years.
AND I am wanting to be more creative / expressive. (yes, I know I have said that before...) probably many times...
2025 LJ Idol Week 1 Poll
That is the poll for Week 1.
I got 8 votes, next lowest got ten.
The previous year had more drama associated with it. (See my reply to the 2025 Week 1 Results post, as I like to the July 2024 posts.
NYT Games for 23 June 2025
Jun. 23rd, 2025 11:38 pmvik_thor Wordle was good.
CONNECTIONS, bleagh
CONNECTIONS, bleagh
Puzzle #743
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟦🟨🟦
🟦🟦🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟦🟨
🟦🟨🟦🟨
Skill 65/99
Uniqueness 1 in a Million
I am giving myself 3 points, because I guessed the ACTUAL CATEGORY, I just could not figure out the exact ones they had in the category...
BELL 🔵 bottoms, Similar to FLARE🟨 jeans, I think.
OLD MAN 🔵pants (aka Hi Rise pants) are the style that sit between waist and Diaphragm.. often showing several inches of the wearers socks.
SKINNY 🟨 jeans, ones that are almost skin tight, or ones you wear when you are on the low side of your weight range...
So what are MOM jeans and BOYFRIEND jeans?
(Other categories I thought it might be...)
People...
MOM, BOYFRIEND, OLD MAN, BELL
I have heard of *OLD MAN and the sea*, and a *FAREWELL to arms.*
I am going to have to see what the other 2 Hemingway titles are...
SUN? no idea off hand... BELL, from *Bell, Book and Candle*?
St Louis Pen Show!
Jun. 23rd, 2025 06:18 amvik_thor The Saint Louis Pen Show is this coming weekend.
27-29 June 2025, with Thursday 26 June being dealer day.
I will be volunteering during most of the show. (Need to find out if I can use my 8 hours of Volunteer Time work gives us for it... Or I may just save that for later, and use vacation time for Friday. I have been with CBS Outdoor / OUTFRONT Media long enough (It will be 18 years this year.) I usually struggle to take all my PTO. We can carry 1 week over into the following year, which I have done for the past few years,
I've had fun with stationery type stuff since grade school.
My Dad was with the Illinois State Police. He was in the US Navy during the Vietnam Era, but his ship was in the Mediterranean. When he got out, he joined the state police.
He was first stationed in Vermillion County, Illinois, along the East border of IL. Just east of Champaign County IL.
I do have fond memories of that time in my life. We lived there during most of the early 1970s.
In the summer between 4th and 5th grades, we moved to Union County, Cobden IL to be exact...
How did I get onto family moves from stationery?
oh yeah, when we were in Oakwood, Vermillion County, I remember using some of his extra paperwork.
I remember in Cobden, I would prefer the Green Ink pens. Bic I think.
(forgot to hit entere this morning)
27-29 June 2025, with Thursday 26 June being dealer day.
I will be volunteering during most of the show. (Need to find out if I can use my 8 hours of Volunteer Time work gives us for it... Or I may just save that for later, and use vacation time for Friday. I have been with CBS Outdoor / OUTFRONT Media long enough (It will be 18 years this year.) I usually struggle to take all my PTO. We can carry 1 week over into the following year, which I have done for the past few years,
I've had fun with stationery type stuff since grade school.
My Dad was with the Illinois State Police. He was in the US Navy during the Vietnam Era, but his ship was in the Mediterranean. When he got out, he joined the state police.
He was first stationed in Vermillion County, Illinois, along the East border of IL. Just east of Champaign County IL.
I do have fond memories of that time in my life. We lived there during most of the early 1970s.
In the summer between 4th and 5th grades, we moved to Union County, Cobden IL to be exact...
How did I get onto family moves from stationery?
oh yeah, when we were in Oakwood, Vermillion County, I remember using some of his extra paperwork.
I remember in Cobden, I would prefer the Green Ink pens. Bic I think.
(forgot to hit entere this morning)
Belated Friday Five...
Jun. 22nd, 2025 03:41 pmchicating. If you were a fruit, which would you be and why? When I'm sad about my life, which is often these days, I think I might be the one leftover banana that everyone has and doesn't eat.At my best, maybe a tangerine, because they are balanced between sweet and tart like me. I also eat them all the time.
2. If you wake up and smell smoke, and you have to get everybody (pets included) out of the house safely, but you have time to grab one item, what would you grab? I have an autographed copy of "The Corner" that I used to touch for writer's inspiration until I met David Simon virtually and felt like that might be odd.(I would have hated for a superstition to get back to him, for instance.)
3. If you were stuck on an island, who would be the one person you would want with you and why? I'm disabled...I think I need two. To that end, I nominate my mama andkarlht
4. If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would it be? Hate to play into a cliche, and I wish I could be one of those proud, defiant "wouldn't change a THING!1" crips, but I think I've gotten all I can out of The Wheelchair Experience. Proud tradition or not, sometimes I wanna drop it like a hot rock and have all the cheap sex I should have had in my twenties. But I've always been such a Grindstone Gal, I bet I'd make a million dollars and be like "But this is supposed to be the *fun* version!"
5. If you could spend the day with one famous person, dead or alive, who would you choose?Maybe I'd like to hang out with Matthew Perry and make *him* laugh for once. Maybe I'd invitezmayhem too. We were both fans and she died about the same time...it's a Thing. Like gum, it would be perfection!
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
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2. If you wake up and smell smoke, and you have to get everybody (pets included) out of the house safely, but you have time to grab one item, what would you grab? I have an autographed copy of "The Corner" that I used to touch for writer's inspiration until I met David Simon virtually and felt like that might be odd.(I would have hated for a superstition to get back to him, for instance.)
3. If you were stuck on an island, who would be the one person you would want with you and why? I'm disabled...I think I need two. To that end, I nominate my mama and
karlht4. If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would it be? Hate to play into a cliche, and I wish I could be one of those proud, defiant "wouldn't change a THING!1" crips, but I think I've gotten all I can out of The Wheelchair Experience. Proud tradition or not, sometimes I wanna drop it like a hot rock and have all the cheap sex I should have had in my twenties. But I've always been such a Grindstone Gal, I bet I'd make a million dollars and be like "But this is supposed to be the *fun* version!"
5. If you could spend the day with one famous person, dead or alive, who would you choose?Maybe I'd like to hang out with Matthew Perry and make *him* laugh for once. Maybe I'd invite
zmayhem too. We were both fans and she died about the same time...it's a Thing. Like gum, it would be perfection!Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
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