access_fandom | Member Posts

I have owned my dishwasher for 2 years now. I like to run it every few days in the evening, but sometimes I want to retreat upstairs before 9pm when the electricity gets cheaper, and I don't always remember to go back down and start it.

A couple of days ago it finally occurred to me to look for a delayed start function, and there it was, a button clearly labeled Delay that delays the start for an hour every time it's pushed. Now I know!

The two levels are awkwardly laid out and after two years I am still trying to figure out how to load my dishes and containers in it efficiently. On the positive side, it is really quiet and I can't hear it running from upstairs at all.

sonia

via

muccamukk. This made me go "Oooh!" and repost it immediately.

"Beatitudes for a Queerer Church" by Jay Hulme

Blessed are the outcasts;
the ostracized, the outsiders.

Blessed are the scared;
the scarred, the silent.

Blessed are the broken;
for they are not broken.

Blessed are the hated;
for they are not worthy of hate.

Blessed are those who try;
those who transform, who transition.

Blessed are the closeted;
God sees you shine anyway.

Blessed are the queers;
who love creation enough to live the truth of it,
despite a world that tells them they cannot.

And blessed are those
who believe themselves unworthy of blessing;
what inconceivable wonders you hold.

galeogirl

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Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Closing Time - Leonard Cohen

soc_puppet

Contrary to my expectations, I managed to (effectively*) finish my yarn bowl on Wednesday after all!

Two un-fired clay works; on the left is an upside-down yarn bowl, on the right is a fish balanced on its lips.

(Click for a larger version of the photo.)

Here's the yarn bowl and also the fish, in their no-longer-current glory; they're in the "greenware" state in this photo, which means they haven't been fired even once yet. I'm pretty sure they're undergoing their first, or "bisque", firing this weekend, and that I'm going to get to do some glazing on Monday, but I'd need to check the schedule to be sure 😂

In any case, I'm pretty pleased with them so far! I'm looking forward to the fun things I'll get to do with them in the glazing stage 😁

I have been informed that the placement of the crochet hook holes and yarn catching wave on the bowl make it look "distressed", and that "it looks like it was dropped and having a crisis about it." I'm sure it'll appreciate all my hard work in the end, though 😜

* I did end up having to stop by very briefly on Thursday afternoon to touch up the base, but that's nowhere near as much work as I was expecting.

Current Mood: creative

soc_puppet

The entirety of "Bill Nye the Science Guy" is available for streaming and download on the Internet Archive.

Current Mood: Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!

davidgillon

TLDR: hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, with known immune system crossovers, turns out to have weird immune system proteins on top of all the other weirdness.

Interesting new hEDS paper I saw mentioned on FB today,

"Proteomic analysis revealed 35 differentially expressed proteins in hEDS, with 43% involved in the complement cascade and 80% linked to immune, coagulation, or inflammatory pathways. ... Cytokine profiling revealed alterations in nodal immune cell mediators in hEDS patients, supporting a model of dysregulated inflammatory response. Our findings indicate a systemic immune dysregulation, particularly involving the complement system and profibrotic cytokines, as a common feature in hEDS pathophysiology."

https://academic.oup.com/immunohorizons/article/9/10/vlaf044/8256436

The EDS Society write-up says there's another paper in the works from another team with similar results from a larger sample, and that includes people with HSD diagnoses, not just hEDS (unsurprisingly, I'm convinced the hEDS/HSD divide is bad science).

https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/exciting-new-research-sheds-light-on-heds-biology/

Current Mood: Bendy

linky

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Current Mood: tired

carenejeans

Quote of the Day:

"We just sit down at the table with a bottle of wine and plot out sections together. Then we each go off and write our own sections. Then we meet, read them back and forth, and when we have something we're satisfied with, we plot out the next section. It's fun."

— Bill Pronzini, on collaborating with Marcia Muller, from "Partners in Crime," an interview with both of them in The Sonoma Independent (1996)

Today's Writing:

No word count as such, since I was turning bullet points into a shitty first draft. ;-)

Tally

( Days 1-18 )

Day 19:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

luzula,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora,

yasaman,

ysilme

Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!

sonia

I got this great set of questions from

rosefox in preparation for discussing updating my website.

Mostly I want to look at the site you already have and learn what you're unhappy with and what you'd like it to do. My main questions are:

- Who's the target audience? How will they find and access the site? What do you want their first impression to be? What's your goal for how they spend their time there?
- Do you want to keep the logo you have now? Are there any specific colors or existing images you want to use for brand consistency?
- Do you want to port over the existing content? Will you be creating additional content from scratch? (I assume you'll want to write any text yourself, and my role is solely design.)
- Do you need to do e-commerce through the site, or is it mostly a pointer to another site where the books can be purchased? Are there any existing systems that the new site needs to work well with?
- Do you want any kind of frequently updated or interactive elements, like blog posts or quizzes, or only static pages?
- What's your plan for getting the link in front of people: social media, advertising, search rankings, handing out business cards?

My answers: (I know more than I realized!)
( cut for length )

runpunkrun

ALSO, long time no see, but I've been quiet because I've been WRITING. Stay tuned for Kirk & Spock bonding in their shared bathroom.

runpunkrun

Set in a place that is probably not Earth, or Earth at a very different time, where kaiju rise up out of the ocean during the wet season and head for land. In the Empire, the Engineers maintain the sea walls that keep the leviathans out; the Legion fight them back; the Apothetikals develop organic means to alter the plants and animals—and people—that make it possible to survive in this hostile land, and the Iudex investigate the crimes. The wet season's coming and Dinios Kol, Imperial engraver and (apprentice) assistant investigator, has been sent to the scene of a ghastly murder to engrave it in his memory and report back to his master, the reclusive and eccentric (and possibly autistic) Anagosa Dolabra.

This is a plot-driven mystery, more focused on the details of the investigation than the development of the characters, and for me that made it feel a little empty. The ad copy wants you to believe Din and Ana have a Watson and Holmes thing going on, but that is barely the case. The characters are mostly a means to an end, a collection of characteristics rather than actual people, and this includes our first person narrator, Din. He's a nervous little (queer) guy, basically, only tall, did he mention he's tall?? He's tall, gang. And dyslexic. I liked him well enough, but I never felt like I really knew what he was about.

The book has a fantasy science-fiction vibe, and a bunch of new guys, like whenever RJB needed to explain a crime he just invented a new type of guy. It was starting to feel a little silly. Like, "Oh, didn't you know about this type of guy? It's the only way this mystery makes sense!" I don't think the mystery is the kind that can be solved just by paying attention, rather it's the kind with an extensive drawing room scene near the end that explains it all.

And I guess I've been reading exactly the right amount of Adrian Tchaikovsky because I kept wondering what was up with the leviathans, like what's their deal? Has anybody bothered to ask why they want to come on land? Maybe it's part of their life cycle, maybe there's something there they need—but this is not that book. It's a fantasy murder mystery set in the middle of a seasonal kaiju attack that must be stopped, and that's fine, it's just one more way the story lacked depth. But the mystery and the world building were enough to keep me engaged, and I'm curious to see what happens next so I've already checked the sequel out from the library.

Contains: body horror; a lot of blood; fear of contagion; sword violence.

kickair8p

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Current Mood: touched

komadori

1. Do you believe you can have more than one soulmate in life?

Yes, I do. I also believe that soulmates are made by growing together rather than found at random, but of course some people are more suitable for each other than others. Still, there is no singular perfect person out there or a missing half. I do find Aristophane's concept of soulmates to be interesting, though.!

2. Are you with that soulmate now?

Sadly, no. I'm still looking.

3. If not, how long did your relationship with your soulmate last?

This is assuming that I have met them yet, which I definitely have not.

4. Do you still think about your soulmate, if you are not together?

I think about who they could be even though we haven't met.

5. If you're not together, do you think your soulmate still thinks about you?

Again, I have not met this person or persons, but I like to imagine that there is someone out there who is looking for someone like me.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: Caviar Dreams - Kristin Chenoweth

simonejester

September 19, 2025, the day that... I actually got a lot done!

Things that made me happy today

A great roasted turkey and provolone sub at the Walmart Subway, and having the willpower to get chores done at home!

Daily Smiley: ＼(^o^)／

Quotes of the Day

"There are only two places in the world: over here and over there."
--George Carlin

Dreams

None that I know of.

Things I Bought

I finally went to Walmart, so let's see what I remember: body spray, Walmart brand "It's a 10" (first time I'd seen it, usually $23 in name brand was $10 so worth a try!), eggs, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, bathroom cleaner with bleach, Seagram's Escapes, store brand Q-Tips...I think that's it. Nope, two more things, milk and fruit punch. And brunch at Subway.

Accomplishments

More scanning--finished the full binders, and now I'm doing an an old work notebook.

Also, cleaned the bathtub and toilet. I sprayed the bleach cleaner along the edge of the bathtub and it smelled really strong so I'll clean the floor tomorrow.

Food

Brunch: Subway sub (turkey and provolone, mayo, oregano, toasted), 2 chocolate chip cookies, half-Pepsi/half-Pepsi Zero

Snack: Trader Joe's chai drink.

Dinner: Rice mixed into scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar.

Evening: European cookies from Costco and some Seagram's Escapes.

Today I wore:

Gray T-shirt, straight-leg yoga pants. (Most of my wardrobe is pretty boring--I buy clothes that are lightweight, comfortable, and work-appropriate.)

Movies/TV Shows/Books/Podcasts

Podcasts: Knowledge Fight, and the Dan Friesen interview on James Dobson's Bastard Kids. No book reading today, but I'll probably read some of my daydream fic in bed before going to sleep.

Friends

The Walmart employee who told the self-checkout that I was indeed over 21 (I'm in my early 40s) was pretty nice.

Music I Loved Today

"You Make Loving Fun" by Fleetwood Mac. It was on the radio while I was out and now it's a pleasant earworm.

What I Learned Today

To think more about the order in which I do things.

===

Idea from here.

===

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Florida
Current Music: youtube

carenejeans

Quote of the Day:

"One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones."

— Stephen King

Quoted in The Truth About Writing (2018)

Today's Writing:

About 370 words, mostly random free-writing.

Tally

( Days 1-17 )

Day 18:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

luzula,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora,

yasaman

Day 19:

china_shop,

yasaman

Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!

kaberett

... and doesn't quite make it.

On page 187 (of 218), we finally get this paragraph:

At this point we need to return to a crucial caveat. In most cases of persistent pain, whatever caused the initial injury has healed. Pain is now the primary disease. But there are a number of cases where there is continual damage that triggers nociceptive fibres; chronic inflammatory diseases are good examples. It is also important to point out that not every case of back pain is our brain's overreaction. A small -- but important -- minority of cases are caused by serious conditions -- cancer, some infections, spinal fractures and the nerve-compressing cauda equina syndrome -- but these can usually be ruled out by doctors, who will be on the lookout for 'red flag' symptoms. However, in the majority of cases of persistent pain (and over 90% of cases of back pain), there is no longer any identifiable tissue damage; our brain has become hypersensitive.

In a book that otherwise dedicates a lot of time to talking about gender and racial inequalities in healthcare access, including a solid half-paragraph on how common and how painful endometriosis (a chronic inflammatory condition!) is, the bit where "well this only applies to most people..." gets breezed past is certainly causing me more feelings. And yet it's still the closest anything I've read so far actually gets to engaging with the fact that the rest of us exist, so... no get-out-of-writing-essays-free card for me here, alas.

(The Painful Truth, Monty Lyman, mostly pretty good and definitely got me to think constructively about a few things -- like the merits of classical vs contemporary Pilates for my specific usecase via discussion of knitting -- and introduced me to some more, like open-label placebos and "safe threats" and the impact of paracetamol on empathy. It's incomplete, but not disrecommended.)

brithistorian

I was reading the current issue of American Historical Review this morning and in the reviews, I came across a very clever book title. In a play on the phrase "locus of power," Samuel Dolbee named a book Locusts of Power: Borders, Empire, and Environment in the Modern Middle East.

the_shoshanna

We booked the aisle and window seats and even though they announced it was a full flight, no one has shown up for the middle! We would have offered them the window so that Geoff could have the aisle, but now we have the whooooooole row, and I'm pretty sure they've now secured the cabin doors! WIN.

brithistorian

This popped up on my playlist today while I was doing some yardwork and I loved it. When I came in, I watched the video, and I loved it more: They were apparently copying Weeekly's aesthetic, which I fine with me: I can always use more of Weeekly's aesthetic, especially now that Weeekly has disbanded. Enjoy!

Watch on YouTube

simonejester

September 18, 2025, the day that... getting up at 8:00 am was still sleeping in.

Things that made me happy today

My printer/scanner still works!

Daily Smiley: ₍^. .^₎⟆

Quotes of the Day

"Sir, the best apology is changed behavior!"

From a Reads with Rachel video about the Shadow and Bone series, talking about the male lead.

Dreams

I know I had at least two dreams but I don't remember any details.

Things I Bought

Nothing. Stayed in my apartment all day.

Accomplishments

I reorganized the toiletries on the shelves next to the sink in my bathroom! (Still need to actually clean, and when I go to Walmart tomorrow I'll get more surface cleaner.)

Also I cleared my work table and set up my printer/scanner! And they still work, though I had to use the Windows Store scanner software. The original software had more features, but it also would scan and then multiple files of random squares from the same scanned page as if it was so proud that it had guessed that I only wanted those parts. Originally I had to tape a manilla folder to the underside of the top of the scanner so that it would scan the entire page, and I'd just crop out the manilla bits. The Windows Store software doesn't pretend to be "smart" and all it does is scan the entire rectangle every time, but considering the alternative I am so okay with that.

Anyhow, I scanned all of three binders of papers from grade school to close to the present and most of a fourth.

Food

Brunch: frozen pancakes with butter and syrup. Snack: Trader Joe's Spiced Chai prepared as directed. Also lots of half-alkaline/half-filtered water. Early dinner: Cheeseburger (yay for the Costco microwaveable hamburger patty!) and fries (the little 4-minute microwave box from Walmart). Evening: Some Seagram's Escapes.

Today I wore:

Gray T-shirt and black straight-leg yoga pants.

Movies/TV Shows/Books/Podcasts

Books: Read a little bit of Into the Void. Podcasts: The Scathing Atheist (I'd been looking foward to the "Son of a Bitch-uary" for shmurshmur but the PIAT guys were right to not do one for a guy who was murdered, good call probably mostly Noah); Cognitive Dissonance. (Mostly watched YouTube videos while in front of the computer scanning stuff.)

Friends

Just my parasocial relationship with the Puzzle in a Thunderstorm folks. (I'm looking forward to seeing Noah at a CFFC event

Music I Loved Today

I just looked up the closest planetarium and tomorrow they're doing a Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon show so now that's in my head. Didn't actually listen to any music outside of some YouTube videos today.

What I Learned Today

To give up on Windows being consistent (I tried to have the folder the scans went into be sort by date added, descending but new stuff kept going to the bottom) and find another way to get stuff done.

===

Idea from here.

===

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Florida
Current Music: youtube

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Access Fandom

improving disability access in fandom

Better late than never

"Beatitudes for a Queerer Church" by Jay Hulme

Ah, we're lonely, we're romantic

Ceramics Progress

Today I Learned That...

Everything's Borked

Fannish Fifty #41: Even More Blessed Maiden AU Snippets From Tumblr

Write Every Day September 2025 - Day 20

Questions to update a website

(no subject)

The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan #1), by Robert Jackson Bennett

Last episode of due South — Northwest Passage

Friday Five all about soulmates

Check-In Journal #8

Write Every Day September 2025 - Day 19

[pain] today's book gets so close to The Thing

Book titles for the win

I’m not sure that’s ever worked before!

SOTD: Say My Name, "Goldilocks Water"

Check-In Journal #7

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