meanwhile...
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♥Jan. 26th, 2026 // 05:33 pm♥
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We got a lot of snow in the Boston area, but people seem to be coping fairly well. The building management company have sent people over here to shovel the walks, several times, so I was able to take out the trash and recycling. The forecast for the next several days is for cold, very cold once you count the wind chill. It turns out that I can wear Adrian's old snow pants, which will do a lot to protect my legs from cold and wind. The remaining problem is boots: even with the 3/4 insoles Adrian lent me, they're too loose, including at the front, so I may try putting in a pair of full-length insoles and see if that helps. The other possibility is to go out looking for a pair of snow sneakers, or at least waterproof hiking shoes/boots (though the forecast is for the kind of weather where waiting for two trolleys, and walking from home to trolley to store, is daunting.
I've been looking at Bluesky again, in large part for news and commentary about what ICE is doing in Minnesota and elsewhere. When I've had enough for a while, I click on the "astronomy" feed I subscribed to months ago, so the first things I see are an astronomical pictures.
I did a lot of PT yesterday, and a few exercises today. It feels like I haven't gotten a lot done today, which I think is because I'd been hoping to make some phone calls (not all of them political), and assumed I wouldn't be able to take the trash out today. (The alternative to that walk along the side of the building is a spiral staircase, indoors, but spiral staircases aren't good for me, and this one is tight enough that my joints really don't like it. Cattitude can deal with it when necessary, but he's already going up and down that stair regularly to do the laundry.) |
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Bundle of Holding: Shadowdark Compatible
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♥Jan. 26th, 2026 // 02:30 pm♥
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Third-party tabletop fantasy roleplaying sourcebooks and adventures for The Arcane Library's old-school FRPG, Shadowdark.
Bundle of Holding: Shadowdark Compatible |
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On the current set of politicians leaving the sinking party
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♥Jan. 26th, 2026 // 03:00 pm♥
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In a slightly more sensible world this would be a perfect time for the One Nation/Moderate Conservatives to say "Thank goodness all of the far right monsters have left the party, time to pull the party back towards the center".
But I'm not convinced there are more than a few of them left. |
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2026/014: Lazarus, Home from the War — E H Lupton
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♥Jan. 26th, 2026 // 08:59 am♥
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| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
2026/014: Lazarus, Home from the War — E H Lupton
“I can either be your doctor or your boyfriend,” Eli said. “And if I have to choose, I don’t want to be your doctor.” [p. 165] Lazurus Lenkov first appears in Troth as an angry, unstable war veteran with PTSD, jealous of his older brother Ulysses' relationship with ex-demigod Sam Sterling and plagued by occasional flashes of foresight. Laz, unsurprisingly, is the focus of Lazarus, Home from the War, a novel which not only explores his character in more depth but also gives a different perspective on Ulysses. ( Read more... ) |
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The Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing
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♥Jan. 25th, 2026 // 09:01 am♥
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Fostering a teen is a challenge at the best of times. The end of civilization is not the best of times.
The Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing
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Yaaaaaaawn
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♥Jan. 25th, 2026 // 08:42 am♥
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Woke up at 6:30 and it took me ten minutes to wake up enough to realise it's Sunday and my alarm would not be going off at 7. By which point I was too awake to get back to sleep. |
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♥Jan. 24th, 2026 // 08:40 pm♥
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The world is on fire, but after ICE murdered someone else in Minneapolis this morning, I called both my senators and also Chuck Schumer--I called him a coward and said we needed him to do better, giving my old Manhattan zip code. Apparently enough people made enough calls, and Schumer said an hour ago that Senate Democrats won't provide the votes for a funding bill that includes the Department of Homeland Security.
It seems likely that Alex Pritti's murder mattered to people who were prepared to overlook their murder of Renee Good, because it shows that while ICE is profoundly racist, a white man with a gun permit isn't safe either.
I can't do much for my friends in Minneapolis, but if there's something that would be useful, please ask.
ETA: After posting that, I realized I could afford to donate some money. So, I followed the links on Naomi Kritzer's recent post, donated $50 to Minnesota Rapid Response, and bought a bunch of dental floss to a group that was asking for that. |
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This is interesting
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♥Jan. 24th, 2026 // 12:19 pm♥
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I got an email from Riotminds providing me with a free preview of their upcoming Wicked Dew - Victorian Horror RPG. What caught my eye is that it seems to be entirely online. I've asked if there's a downloadable rulebook I overlooked, but I can see why a company might adopt a purely online approach.
[Update]
There will be a printed book. |
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Hey, it's Friday. How did that happen?
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♥Jan. 23rd, 2026 // 12:33 pm♥
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| [ | Current Music |
| | The Circle Married the Line - Feist | ] |
one day at a time, as usual. But still....
no FCB rehearsal on Monday because the schools were closed for MLK Jr Day. It's possible that the schools would've been closed anyway, although the weather wasn't as bad here as it was on the west side of the state.
Wednesday evening, I ushered a terrific concert at Hill Auditorium. Orquestra Sinfonica Mineria (from Mexico City) did a concert featuring mostly Latin American composers. (They played at Hill a couple of years ago, and they are just so much fun! Very good players, the music is well chosen, and they seem to have fun playing it.) The first half of the concert featured an outstanding trumpet player, who played Haydn's First Trumpet Concerto and a d'Rivera Trumpet Concerto (there were eight different trumpets on stage, and he played all of them at one point or another). The second half was Latin composers, and had two pieces that I've played (Ginastera's Estancia and Marquez' Danzon No 2). I've been humming Danzon ever since
Today, it is cold (-1F before wind chill). It's very pretty outside, all snow-covered and clear, but it's much better enjoyed from inside a warm house. :) Jiji is sulking because it's snow-covered, and is disdaining the warm spot in a sunbeam with a view of the outside, preferring his nest on the bed. Annabelle doesn't mind that it's snow-covered, and is sleeping in a cozy bed in a sunbeam (one of her usual spots). |
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fic: paper lanterns, one after another [Heated Rivalry]
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♥Jan. 22nd, 2026 // 08:16 pm♥
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A very little story, about not very much.
paper lanterns, one after another (4094 words) by raven
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV)
Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov
Characters: Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Yuna Hollander
Additional Tags: Obon, Japanese Culture
It occurs to Ilya that he doesn't belong here. But then, this is a necessary migration. |
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good news: health
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♥Jan. 21st, 2026 // 08:01 pm♥
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There's more evidence that the shingles vaccine reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease: two more natural experiments (in which people were offered the vaccine based on date of birth or where they lived). One of them comparED the older Zostavax vaccine with the newer Shingrix: https://erictopol.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-the-shingles-vaccineagain
As the blogger, Eric Topol says, "If this vaccine was a drug and reduced Alzheimer’s by 20%, it would be considered a major breakthrough for helping to prevent the disease! But as a vaccine, it hasn't reached any sense of being a blockbuster" |
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Bundle of Holding: Dead Air: Seasons
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♥Jan. 21st, 2026 // 03:00 pm♥
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This all-new Dead Air Bundle presents English-language ebooks for Dead Air: Seasons, the post-apocalyptic tabletop roleplaying game from Italian publisher The World Anvil Publishing about a Blighted world forever changed.
Bundle of Holding: Dead Air: Seasons |
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2026/013: Lingo: A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe — Gaston Dorran, translated: Alison Edwards
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♥Jan. 21st, 2026 // 11:44 am♥
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| [ | Current Mood |
| |  curious | ] |
2026/013: Lingo: A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe — Gaston Dorran, translated by Alison Edwards
In autonomous Greenland, Danish initially retained more official functions than in the autonomous Faroe Islands. But that has since changed as well: in 2009, Kalaallisut became the one and only official administrative language. With this move, Greenland achieved a unique position: the only country of the Americas (yes, Greenland is part of the Americas), from Canada all the way down to Chile, where the indigenous language doesn’t play second fiddle to that of its colonial master. [p. 56] Subtitled 'Around Europe in Sixty Languages' in some editions, 'A Language-Spotter’s Guide to Europe' in others, this is an entertaining and readable discussion of linguistic diversity in Europe. ( Read more... ) |
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Mistakes were made
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♥Jan. 20th, 2026 // 09:02 am♥
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One of Canada's great missteps was not mining the border. The other was not building intermediate range nuclear-armed missiles.
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Homeward By Starlight & On Thud and Blunder by Poul Anderson
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♥Jan. 20th, 2026 // 08:39 am♥
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November 25, 2026 would have been Poul Anderson’s 100th birthday. As there is no guarantee any of us will see November 25, 2026, I’ll borrow an idea from Tom Lehrer’s That Was the Year That Was and start writing something appropriately celebratory now.
Homeward By Starlight
Improve your sword and sorcery through inspirational verisimilitude!
On Thud and Blunder by Poul Anderson |
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2026/012: Troth — E H Lupton
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♥Jan. 20th, 2026 // 11:08 am♥
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
2026/012: Troth — E H Lupton“Don’t be so bourgeois, darling. You’re a powerful magician and your lover is a retired god. Of course things are going to be a bit unusual.”
“It’s terrifying.”
“Eh, bien?” Mariah made a dismissive French noise. “It’s love. It’s supposed to be terrifying.” [p. 191] Third in the series, and the last (for now) of the novels that focus on Ulysses and Sam. It begins with the two moving into a new apartment together, and meeting the neighbours (Vikram and Sita) who have a ghost problem -- and, it turns out, a connection to Sam's family. Both Ulysses and Sam are growing up.( Read more... ) |
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Bundle of Holding: Sleepy Hollow
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♥Jan. 19th, 2026 // 02:08 pm♥
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The tabletop fantasy roleplaying game of early 19th-Century folk horror.
Bundle of Holding: Sleepy Hollow |
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2026/011: Old Time Religion — E H Lupton
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♥Jan. 19th, 2026 // 09:01 am♥
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
2026/011: Old Time Religion — E H Lupton...there was something delightful about being able to feel Ulysses’s emotions, even if it was also sort of terrifying. Ulysses had big, messy, complex feelings that reminded Sam of dahlias, so bright and intricate. [p. 153] As soon as I'd finished Dionysus in Wisconsin I went on to this sequel, set a few months later. Ulysses has almost finished his dissertation (which is about Sam and 'the problem of demigods') and winter is over. All seems promising until Livia, Ulysses' ex, turns up with a tale of woe about a murdered husband.( Read more... ) |
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Technically I am not breaking the rule against me sitting in the dark in 161
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♥Jan. 18th, 2026 // 06:37 pm♥
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One potlight is still illumination. |
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Photo cross-post
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♥Jan. 18th, 2026 // 10:24 am♥
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Gorgeous sunset behind Edinburgh Castle and I couldn't decide which of
these photos I took was my favourite.
Original
is here on Pixelfed.scot.
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Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel
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♥Jan. 18th, 2026 // 08:58 am♥
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A deranged President sets his eyes on Canada and Scandinavia, forcing one senator to consider the prospect of contemplating the preliminaries to action.
Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel |
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Recently on the bird feeders
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♥Jan. 18th, 2026 // 10:07 am♥
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One robin
Two blue tits
Two long tailed tits
A couple of anonymous black birds. (Like blackbirds but with pale grey/white beaks. Possibly juveniles. Didn't stay long enough for me to get a good look)
Then it's sparrows all the way down. |
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Today I Learned
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♥Jan. 17th, 2026 // 10:37 am♥
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Orson Scott Card has a substack. |
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Books Received, January 10 to January 16
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♥Jan. 17th, 2026 // 09:17 am♥
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Three works new to me, all from various TTRPG Kickstarters. 2026 feels kind of light on upcoming books.
Books Received, January 10 to January 16
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28 Which of these look interesting?
View AnswersInvincible – Superhero Roleplaying (Alpha) by Adam Bradford & Tomas Härenstam (July 2026)
9 (32.1%) Fabula Ultima Bestiary by Emanuele Galletto (May 2026)
4 (14.3%) Arkand: City of Wave and Flames by Johan Sjöberg (April 2026)
5 (17.9%) Some other option (see comments)
2 (7.1%) Cats!
24 (85.7%) |
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another week goes by
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♥Jan. 16th, 2026 // 04:35 pm♥
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| [ | Current Music |
| | The Bartered Bride: Overture B. Smetana | ] |
A return email from Ingham Elections led me to emailing the SCS clerk. After a couple of days of phone tag, I stopped by their office this morning and chatted with their election coordinator. They just did one of these "non Opt-in" elections last year, so they're much more familiar with how it works than we are. It's not going to be quite as easy as giving them all the information, but it's less complicated than BC feared. They'll provide ballots/mailing envelopes/etc, and we'll issue ballots. They can 'receive' the ballots, but the way the database is set up they cannot 'issue' AV ballots. I think the worst part of it is that we have to hold office hours the weekend before the election, and someone has to be at the office until 8pm on Election Day. BC will attempt to make it more complicated than that, but hopefully DC and I can defuse that a bit.
Rehearsals are less sight-reading and more working on things. Livingston is a bit more ambitious than usual, and it's disconcerting some members. Farmington's repertoire is less ambitious than usual, but that means that we need to be better at wringing the music out of it.
In the "department for minor annoyances", my Costco card is somewhere 'safe'. It's easy enough to get a temporary card, or even a new card if I can't find the current one, but it's annoying. I've checked wallet, purse, trouser, and jacket pockets. Next up is the pile of reusable shopping bags in the car, and then the floor of the car. If I still can't find it, I'll get a new card (and then the current card will show up, because that's how that works). |
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2026/010: Dionysus in Wisconsin — E H Lupton
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♥Jan. 16th, 2026 // 10:58 am♥
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
2026/010: Dionysus in Wisconsin — E H LuptonKitty narrowed her eyes at him. “A bit pompous, aren’t you? To think you can find a solution to a problem that people have been working on for over a millennium?”
“That’s academia, baby.” Ulysses folded his arms across his chest. “Anything else I can help you with?” [p. 205]
Madison, Wisconsin: 1969. Ulysses Lenkov is a 'human lightning rod', a magician who can attract and talk to spirits, but can't decide a subject for his dissertation). Sam Sterling is a mild-mannered archivist who's moved back to Madison to be near his family, who he doesn't especially like. Warned by a fellow-magic user that something big is coming -- something connected with the god Dionysus -- Ulysses seeks out Sam and discovers that his first name happens to be ( ... ) |
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