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Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!

Happy Kalends of Octobris! Are you ready for the October Horse?

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Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, October 7

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Witches and Wizards." I'll be soliciting ideas for witches, wizards, other magic users, mentors, elders, teachers, students, adventurers, explorers, damsels/gentlemen in distress, historians, partners, leaders, dark lords, the Chosen One(s), superheroes, supervillains, teammates, fantasy species, ethicists, activists, queerfolk, other unusual fantasy folk, studying magic, doing magic, enchanting artifacts, breaking curses, breaking rules, exploring new territory, meeting new species, upsetting predictions, twisting tropes, flipping stereotypes, expecting the unexpected, researching, revising theories, parenting, teaching, adventuring, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, experiments changing paradigms, adapting, improvising, troubleshooting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, going off the rails, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, other fantastic activities, witch's huts, wizard's towers, magical schools, castles, ruins, stone circles, dungeons, dragon lairs, Underhill, the forest primeval, underwater, underground, liminal zones, kitchens, campfires, libraries, laboratories, apothecary shops, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, farmer's markets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other phantasmagoric settings, unusual magical systems, pointy hats, robes, wands or staves, cauldrons, herbs, crystals, potions, magical artifacts, quests, time periods other than medieval, governments other than monarchy, dragons, unicorns, enchantments, reversals, contradictions, conundrums, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, inventions that change everything, time travel, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, polarity, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is about live happy lesbians in a quirky fantasy world.

Clay of Life is Jewish fantasy about a blacksmith and a golem.

A Conflagration of Dragons has unforseen disasters and cultural upheavals.

Gloryroad Crossing is the weird village where adventurers go to restock.

Kande's Quest is sword & soul with caucasian-inspired demons.

Monster House is suburban fantasy with a diverse household, where the line between truth and fantasy isn't always clear.

Not Quite Kansas has a helpful demon.

The Ocracies features all the political systems other than monarchy.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks.

Path of the Paladins is low fantasy about paladins trying to restore a world gone to ruins.

P.I.E. is urban fantasy about paranormal investigations.

Polychrome Heroics has primarily superpowers, but magic is described as "sorcery" there. Antimatter & Stalwart Stan are a cross-cape couple, and Antimatter essentially does science-based magic. Aubrey the Alabaster is another sorcerer. Eric the Elven King has interdimensional refugees.

Practical Magics is low fantasy with a prosaic focus.

Quixotic Ideas is contemporary fantasy where magic integrates with modern life in positive ways.

The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent King Arthur.

Yellow Unicorns is a quirky fantasy setting where the only yellow things people can see are the unicorns.

Or you can ask for something new.

Boost the signal to reveal a verse in any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

Current Mood: accomplished

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Bingo

I have made bingo down the O column of my 9-1-25 card for the Piracy Fest Bingo.

O1 (leak) "Mightier Than" (Princess: The Hopeful)
O2 (lookout) "Simple and to the Point" (An Army of One)
O3 (affiliate) "Bring Unique Qualities" (Daughters of the Apocalypse)
O4 (request) "The Only Thing That You Absolutely Have to Know" (Polychrome Heroics)
O5 (patch) "A Reader, an Interpreter, and a Creator) (Polychrome Heroics: Rutledge)

B4 (parrot) "For Those Who Work at It" (Polychrome Heroics: Dr. Infanta)

Current Mood: accomplished

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food,
recipe

Recipe: "Pigeon Peas Stew"

We made this tonight. It's quite tasty. :D We have plenty of pigeon peas left, so I can try other recipes too.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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Affordable Housing

Long commutes and small homes are wrecking sleep

Your commute and home size could be quietly stealing your sleep.

Tokyo residents face a trade-off between home size and commute time when it comes to sleep health. A new study shows longer commutes increase both insomnia and daytime sleepiness, while smaller housing also raises insomnia risk. Even with average-sized homes, commuting more than 52 minutes pushed people into the insomnia range. Researchers say smarter housing planning could improve both sleep and quality of life.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: anxious

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(Un)Employment (part 1 of 1, complete)

(Un)Employment
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1947
[Wednesday, May 6, 2020, early morning]

:: Aidan leaves for his first full day at work, only to have an unexpected meeting with his new boss. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::

Back to Shopping and Sharing
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to

Aidan shook his head at the pre-dawn light brightening the kitchen. He finished dishing out the porridge and put a small handful of thawed blueberries onto both bowls. “You two eat, and maybe draw up a list of chores that are expected now? I don’t know how to do most of the tasks that you take for granted, and we’ll need to go over them together, one by one, until I know them all.”

He glanced at the window again. “It feels like I’ve wasted half the morning waiting for everyone else to get up,” he explained, shaking his head as Vic held up a third empty bowl. “No, thank you. I ate while I was pottering around the bedroom, since you were both asleep in here.”

Vic put away the extra dishes. “What did you find?”
( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and sweltering. It's 85°F here. The migration is heavily impacted -- we drove past the lake yesterday and there was no sign of waterbirds, whereas normally this time of year there would ducks, pelicans, etc. in fairly large flocks.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 9/30/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the telephone pole garden, savanna seedlings, patio plants, new picnic table, and old picnic table.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

(no subject)

Photo of the grand dragon conclave shows a lot of top NCOs sitting next to the shoulder stars. I didn't realize they were roping the CSMs in as well as the officers. You really could decapitate the military that way . . .

Tuesday goose/duck report

Mixed flock of maybe four dozen out at the cemetery this morning. Guess they found out that segregation is now illegal. Only the geese seemed to be grazing out among the graves, while both geese and ducks were hanging out around the pond.

One roadkill porcupine on the other side of the road at about mile five on my route, smear of green guck across the asphalt at about mile nine. The latter was probably porcupine stomach contents left when the corpse went elsewhere. Both locations are known porcupine death zones.

Asters blooming in profusion along with the other usuals. Most of the red maples have dropped their leaves in the bog while the upland trees have barely started to turn. Touch of yellow on some of the tamaracks.

Got out on the bike when the temperature reached 60 F, up to the country club and over to the road through the bog and home. Not a lot of wind, comfortable biking weather. Did not die.

15.33 miles, 1:28:43

Current Mood: angry

Speaking of Biology

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Current Mood: happy

Scrumping! and Two Others on Biology

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The social contract

The Emperor is required to provide enough bread and circuses to keep the masses from open rebellion. It's right there in the rules.

Abomination of desolation

Air temperature 50 F, wind near calm, sunny if the sun ever bothers to rise. A few gulls patrol the far side of the park, but whatever draws them seems to be on the wane. Plan to snatch a bike ride from the jaws of advancing winter once the world warms up a bit. Any one of those may be the last of the year . . .

Current Mood: excited

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Today's Adventures

Today we went to Grissom Family Orchard.

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Current Mood: anxious

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#13 Shopping and Sharing (part 1 of 1, complete)

Shopping and Sharing
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1858
[Tuesday, May 5, 2020, early afternoon]

:: During Ed and Aidan’s trip to the food bank, they have an interesting encounter. (Plot crept into this, all of which is a spoiler spree.) Part of the Edison’s Mirror series. This story was written for the September 2025 Feathering the Nest prompt call, from a suggestion made by

readera, with my thanks.

:: Pay Special Attention: some innuendo, that Aidan destroys without seeming to notice anything. ::

Back to Meeting an Ally, part 4
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to (Un)Employment

The drive to the food “bank” had been bewildering and enlightening in equal measure, though not always answering the questions that it created. Aidan smiled immediately when Ed chose to interact with anyone or anything, and when the boy insisted on a large bag of potatoes, the older man would have ruffled the boy’s curls, if he had any.

“What do you want to make?” Aidan asked as he fitted the clear bag into the wheeled pushcart that Shandiin had guided them to as soon as they had been enrolled.

“Lots of things. But…” Ed blinked away the wetness clinging to his eyelashes. I miss boxty.”

“What is that?” Aidan asked. He picked over the yellow onions individually, putting them into a paper sack which might hold two pounds if he was careful with the fragile container.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: exhausted

Three Kindnesses

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evening writing

(evening writing)

Back from vacation which was lovely if exceedingly laid back. I forgot my antidepressants, which i suspect are more of an ADHD med for me, and simply underscored my plan to try not to plan to do much. Friday had some bright weather, but then it was grey. The grey made for nice beach walking.

Carrie was ... OK with the beach. She was initially terrified by the very high tide line with the dried seaweed. I carried her across the first time, she did some remarkable leaps, and eventually she could cautiously make her way across. She eventually discovered delight in rolling in the drier sand, and did enjoy walking along the wet sand. By our last morning she was just beginning to get water curious but still didn't want the waves to lap around her feet.

I butterflied and broiled a half pound each of white (aka green tail) and brown shrimp -- it was delightful to see how differently they tasted from our grocery store shrimp, and tell apart the two. Christine said the white tasted more like langostino than shrimp. I thought sweeter.

The next day i broiled sheepshead (probably aka convict fish), sea trout, and red drum. The red drum filet was pretty big. I tried all three at the same time. I enjoyed them, but really couldn't distinguish them that much. The sheepshead was most tender.

I have read lots, a couple collections of short stories from Amazon Originals, two Mary Russell novels i hadn't read before, then broke down and joined Kindle unlimited to reread almost all the Murderbot stories and an Anne Leckie novel, Translation State.

I've gone through feeling the feels off and on; the novel reading since getting home feels like a return to avoidance. Although, admittedly, not having my antidepressant/motivation med in my system was probably a little odd.

Christine was mostly good about the trip, although the drive involved stretches of highway that wasn't limited access but instead was at much reduced speed through little eastern North Carolina towns or dotted with evangelical signs. She dreaded the return drive back through.

Somehow, i edit and see the shape of the land, the trees, the rivers, the quirky signs of humans. And while things could be better, instead of critique my mind goes more to trying to interpret things like what are the things that look like foundations in the edges of the fields at 35°52'46.2"N 76°33'15.3"W . A check of the county GIS shows the owner of the structures and some of the water bodies is JCT, LLC, 100 LAKE DR, Clinton, NC, which is different than the owner of the fields. That appears to be a hog farm, which has at least a few environmental enforcement actions against them -- hog farm waste ponds in eastern NC being the source of some nasty environmental horrors after heavy rains (hurricanes). Let's see ... Somerset Farm ... permit "Swine State COC" AWS940001 ... DEQ map of feeding permits... found the farm, history of permits and site inspections. Hmm, looks like they weren't going to upgrade as needed circa 2023 so shut down.

Well, that was yet another distraction.

Gotta get ready for vacation to end.

(no subject)

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

Current Mood: busy

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Food

Junk food can scramble memory in just 4 days

Scientists discovered that high-fat junk food disrupts memory circuits in the brain almost immediately. Within just four days, neurons in the hippocampus became overactive, impairing memory. Restoring glucose calmed the neurons, showing that interventions like fasting or dietary shifts can restore brain health. This could help prevent obesity-related dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Of more immediate application: if you need to study for anything, don't eat junk food while doing so. Eat brain food.

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny and sweltering. In late September. Fuck climate change. >_<

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/29/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and some savanna seedlings.

I saw a huge corn devil in the field across from us that was harvested recently. This wasn't the usual 10-15 foot tall kind. This was a wide, strong spiral of air that threw corn leaves hundreds of feet into the sky. Impressive.

EDIT 9/29/25 -- I watered the irises, old picnic table, and new picnic table.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.