dragovianknight

When I'm traveling I bring a travel electric kettle, because I hate when my tea tastes like hotel coffee. I don't bring loose tea and a teaball, or even disposable teabags, because that's too much mess/hassle for a temporary space.

Instead I drink bag tea. Usually Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey, though this time it's Bigelow Constant Comment because I haven't had that in at least a decade.

Today I realised: I drink flavoured tea when I'm traveling because the questionable flavouring masks the sense that the tea itself just isn't that good.

Better than No Tea, though.

>INVENTORY

You are carrying:
No tea

>TAKE TEA

No tea: dropped.

--Adams/Meretzky, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

james_davis_nicoll

In which the weather does not conspire against Ganta and Isaki, although other things do.

Insomniacs After School, volume 9 by Makoto Ojiro

spiralsheep

Aurora Australis readalong 1 / 10, The Ascent of Mount Erebus, post for comment, reaction, discussion, fanworks, links, and whatever obliquely related matters your heart desires. You can join the readalong at any time or skip sections or go back to earlier posts. It's all good. :-)

Text: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis/The_Ascent_of_Mount_Erubus

Readalong intro: https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/662515.html

Reminder for next week: Midwinter Night, a short poem by Ernest Shackleton:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis/Midwinter_Night

The Ascent of Mount Erebus, written by Tannatt William Edgeworth David, who also wrote the later published Narrative of the Magnetic Pole Journey about the same Nimrod Expedition's successful first visit to the magnetic South Pole (which was also the world's longest unsupported sled journey until the mid-1980s).

This is a ripping yarn of exploration and adventure with detailed descriptions of mountain walking through snow and ice, much specialised vocabulary about frozen landscapes and volcanic geology, and outbreaks of self-deprecating humour. Very much in the tradition of travel writing about extreme exploration (later perfected by Shipton and Tilman).

( Info and links )

( Quotes )

Hurrah! Champagne all round! :D

Current Location: Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica

rydra_wong

https://whatthetrans.com/compilation-of-protests-against-the-supreme-court/

ysabetwordsmith

Cute baby goats scamper around.

Current Mood: amused

conuly

Late in May as the light lengthens
toward summer the young goldfinches
flutter down through the day for the first time
to find themselves among fallen petals
cradling their day's colors in the day's shadows
of the garden beside the old house
after a cold spring with no rain
not a sound comes from the empty village
as I stand eating the black cherries
from the loaded branches above me
saying to myself Remember this

*******

Link

conuly

Watch on YouTube

conuly

Clicky!

Also, I meant to say re: the utilities that you are all the best and I absolutely love you :)

(Still need to call National Grid and still don't wanna.)

ysabetwordsmith

The official theme for World Book Day 2025 is:

"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"

This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

torachan

1. I had another work from home day. I'm about halfway caught up with my email and fully caught up with teams. Tomorrow I've got a couple meetings, so I've got to go in to the office, but I might work from home again on Thursday to finally catch up on everything.

2. When Carla was out today she stopped at Uncle Tetsu's, a Japanese cheesecake chain. They have a sakura cheesecake right now and we had some after dinner tonight and it was sooooooo good. I normally prefer New York style cheesecake to the Japanese fluffier style, but this was really good consistency and the sakura flavor was amazing.

3. I finished playing The Plucky Squire. Overall it's a pretty fun game, but it is not just a straight action adventure game. There are a bunch of (frankly not that fun) mini games for the boss fights and stuff where you have to play other styles of games and that is not what I signed up for. Like for one character's boss battles you play a Mike Tyson style boxing game, for another it's a rhythm game, and for the third it's a Puzzle Bobble type. Then there are some stealth sequences where you have to sneak past enemies who can kill you instantly if they sense you, and if they sense you there is no way to run to escape, even if you're close to a place you could get away. You're just instantly dead. And the final battle is a space shooter type. The good thing is that if you die in a boss battle you can sometimes restart partway through, not all the way at the beginning, and the stealth sequences have multiple checkpoints and you'll respawn there rather than back at the beginning. But I would still have preferred not to have that "variety" in my action adventure game. Still is a fun game, though. But if you suck at those types of games it might ruin it for you.

4. I finished editing all my Disney Japan pics, so hopefully I can get the last day's posts written up later this week.

5. Jasper is just so handsome.

ysabetwordsmith

Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?

Current Mood: busy

torachan

When I last left off, we had just checked out the big gift shop at the Fantasy Springs hotel and were exploring the land while waiting for our return time for the Peter Pan ride.

( More DisneySea adventures! )

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went out shopping.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: happy

ysabetwordsmith

Insects are disappearing due to agriculture -- and many other drivers, new research reveals

New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

settiai

I was feeling nostalgic, so I pulled up Road Not Taken and played it for a little while earlier. It took a bit to get back into the swing of things, but I started to remember some of the hidden details and combinations after a while.

It's been ages since the last time I played, and I'd forgotten just how much I love it. It's so helpful if I want to turn off my brain for a little while. I can't believe it's been over a decade since it was first released.

Current Mood: nostalgic

senmut

*\o/*	Word Count	Step Count	Headache?
Daily	254	8,303	no
Monthly	9,554	217,636	5 days

musesfool

Today's poem:

I Have News for You

There are people who do not see a broken playground swing
as a symbol of ruined childhood

and there are people who don't interpret the behavior
of a fly in a motel room as a mocking representation of their thought process.

There are people who don't walk past an empty swimming pool
and think about past pleasures unrecoverable

and then stand there blocking the sidewalk for other pedestrians.
I have read about a town somewhere in California where human beings

do not send their sinuous feeder roots
deep into the potting soil of others' emotional lives

as if they were greedy six-year-olds
sucking the last half-inch of milkshake up through a noisy straw;

and other persons in the Midwest who can kiss without
debating the imperialist baggage of heterosexuality.

Do you see that creamy, lemon-yellow moon?
There are some people, unlike me and you,

who do not yearn after fame or love or quantities of money as
unattainable as that moon;
thus, they do not later
have to waste more time
defaming the object of their former ardor.

Or consequently run and crucify themselves
in some solitary midnight Starbucks Golgotha.

I have news for you—
there are people who get up in the morning and cross a room

and open a window to let the sweet breeze in
and let it touch them all over their faces and bodies.

--Tony Hoagland

*

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Mets vs Phillies on tv

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly sunny and warm with a light breeze, a beautiful spring day. :D

I fed the birds. I've seen several sparrows and house finches, two brown-headed cowbirds, a mourning dove, and two fox squirrels.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/22/25 -- We went out shopping. I picked out roughly 5 flats of plants at DeBuhr's. We found a garden hose, nozzle, and reel plus a gas can at Home Depot. Also at Home Depot I spotted a modular garage storage system that looks very promising. It has mounting rails for shelves and a wide variety of hooks. That ought to combine well with a pegboard.

EDIT 4/22/25 -- I planted a 'Sugar Snack' cherry tomato and a 'Yellow Pear' tomato in the large pots by the septic garden, each with 4 marigolds around it.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day graphic

25 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

40 Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day Throughout Earth Month

Current Mood: busy

rydra_wong

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/04/protests-erupt-across-the-uk-after-supreme-court-ruled-against-trans-rights/

Many many pictures.

Also, more protests yet to come, apparently, with ones scheduled for Oxford and Cambridge.

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dragovianknight

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tea!

Insomniacs After School, volume 9 by Makoto Ojiro

Aurora Australis readalong 1 / 10, The Ascent of Mount Erebus

UK: compilation of upcoming trans rights protests

Bouncing Baby Goats

Black Cherries by W. S. Merwin

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2025 Disneyland Trip #23 (4/5/25) Tokyo DisneySea (Part 2)

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in some solitary midnight Starbucks Golgotha

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If anyone could use a morale boost

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