Icon Meme
Sat, Apr. 25th, 2026 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jesse_the_kReply to this post saying 'icon', and I will tell you my favorite icon of yours.
Spread the love: copy this to your own journal, showing one of your own favorite icons.
I love icons -- I've purchased extra slots so I can choose among my 220 versions.
Pad Thai recipe
Sun, Apr. 26th, 2026 07:40 amisabrellaMy 3 weeks for Dreamwidth activity is going to be first checking out my reading page instead of Tumblr and posting a recipe every day!
I made this recipe from her cookbook, Dinner, but it's also on her website, which totally fucking slaps btw. I love the Aussies who Get It. American cookbooks make me gag... sorryyyyyyyyyyy. I made this twice and experimented a little bit with the proportion of sauce to noodles; this is what I settled on for a 4-5 serving meal.
Ingredients
250 g dried rice stick noodles (3-5 mm)
Sauce:
Stir Fry:
Instructions
@3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
Come join in for fun, memes, activities, and more ♥
I made this recipe from her cookbook, Dinner, but it's also on her website, which totally fucking slaps btw. I love the Aussies who Get It. American cookbooks make me gag... sorryyyyyyyyyyy. I made this twice and experimented a little bit with the proportion of sauce to noodles; this is what I settled on for a 4-5 serving meal.
Ingredients
250 g dried rice stick noodles (3-5 mm)
Sauce:
- 3 tbsp tamarind puree, NOT concentrate (she gives an alternative ketchup sub in the linked recipe if you can't find it)
- 5 tbsp (packed) brown sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
Stir Fry:
- 2 – 3 tbsp oil
- 1 brown/yellow onion, sliced
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (or 4 cloves, chopped)
- 300 g chicken breast (or thigh), thinly sliced (I just used chicken mince because that's what I had in the fridge)
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of beansprouts (I didn't have any, rip)
- 1 cup firm tofu, cut into batons
- 2 spring onions, sliced into rounds (in place of garlic chives, which weren't easy to get)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
- Lime (or lemon) wedges (essential)
- Ground chilli or cayenne pepper (optional)
- More beansprouts
Instructions
- Mix sauce in small bowl.
- Place noodles in a large bowl, pour over plenty of boiling water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander and quickly rinse under cold water. Don’t leave them sitting around for more than 5 – 10 minutes.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan (or well seasoned skillet) over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken and cook for 1 1/2 minutes until mostly cooked through.
- Push to one side of the pan, pour egg in on the other side. Scramble using the wooden spoon (add touch of extra oil if pan is too dry), then mix into chicken.
- Add bean sprouts, tofu, noodles, then sauce.
- Toss gently for about 1 1/2 minutes until sauce is absorbed by the noodles.
- If serving immediately: Add garlic chives and half the peanuts. Toss through quickly then remove from heat. If not: serve then sprinkle over the right amount for each serving.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with remaining peanuts and lime wedges on the side, with a sprinkle of chilli and a handful of extra beansprouts on the side if desired (this is the Thai way!). Squeeze over lime juice to taste before eating.
@3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
Come join in for fun, memes, activities, and more ♥
Colorful Dreamsheep Icons
Sat, Apr. 25th, 2026 12:41 pmsoc_puppetI've got some colorful dreamsheep icons up over at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamsheep in celebration of 3weeks4dreamwidth! I'm also taking color and color combination requests.
I'm aiming to get a Mood Theme in a Hurry calendar done and posted by this evening, but I've also got Surprise Cramps to deal with, so we'll see what wins 😑
Edit: Mood Theme in a Hurry Calendars are now available! They only cover the Minimum and Medium mood tracks, because I am not currently prepared to either stick six or seven moods on a day, or pick and choose which of the remaining 98 moods to include on the calendar. (I'd probably want to go for at least 72 moods total, including the 34 already on the Medium Track calendar, but that's still 38 moods to pick out!)
dreamsheep in celebration of 3weeks4dreamwidth! I'm also taking color and color combination requests.I'm aiming to get a Mood Theme in a Hurry calendar done and posted by this evening, but I've also got Surprise Cramps to deal with, so we'll see what wins 😑
Edit: Mood Theme in a Hurry Calendars are now available! They only cover the Minimum and Medium mood tracks, because I am not currently prepared to either stick six or seven moods on a day, or pick and choose which of the remaining 98 moods to include on the calendar. (I'd probably want to go for at least 72 moods total, including the 34 already on the Medium Track calendar, but that's still 38 moods to pick out!)
Do I know anyone in Vancouver?
Sat, Apr. 25th, 2026 11:56 amthe_shoshannaSomeone may be selling exactly the backpack I want (they're checking if it's a women's style, and whether it's regular or long torso but frankly I'm on the edge of them, I can take either), at a very reasonable price!
But they're in Vancouver, and saying local pickup only. (Also this is on Facebook Marketplace, and I hate Facebook but oh well.)
But they're in Vancouver, and saying local pickup only. (Also this is on Facebook Marketplace, and I hate Facebook but oh well.)
Relevant to the medical needs of at least 70% of my social circles
Sat, Apr. 25th, 2026 04:51 pmrydra_wongVia https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3mkboea2zgs2k
Clinician Guide: Constellation of Chronic Medical Conditions Commonly Seen in Autistic & ADHD Adults
https://allbrainsbelong.org/all-the-things/
In May 2022, we formed a Task Force of clinicians, patients, and community members to discuss what works (and does not work) to manage these medical conditions or symptoms. We also gathered information from more than 100 autistic adults. These individuals gave feedback based on their personal experiences. The content we share on this website combines evidence-based medicine, lived experience, and our clinical experiences treating patients with these conditions.
Clinician Guide: Constellation of Chronic Medical Conditions Commonly Seen in Autistic & ADHD Adults
https://allbrainsbelong.org/all-the-things/
In May 2022, we formed a Task Force of clinicians, patients, and community members to discuss what works (and does not work) to manage these medical conditions or symptoms. We also gathered information from more than 100 autistic adults. These individuals gave feedback based on their personal experiences. The content we share on this website combines evidence-based medicine, lived experience, and our clinical experiences treating patients with these conditions.
3W4DW - Friending Meme & Community Recs
Sat, Apr. 25th, 2026 07:54 amalthea_valara
Friending Meme! Come make new friends!
OKAY FOLKS it is time for another round of Althea's List of Interesting Dreamwidth Communities! I last posted this during
snowflake_challenge this year, so just a few months ago, but I've stealth added some more since then.Rules:
1. Share freely! This post is public for that reason.
2. If you know of a good comm and want to see it featured, comment and I'll very likely add it.
3. I refuse to add comms that full of bigotry and hate. That seems to not be a Dreamwidth thing, but I am sure they are out there. I'm here for supportive / fun places!
And now, here's the list!
Dreamwidth
Non-official communities to help make your time on Dreamwidth more rich.
- 3weeks4dreamwidth is a thing in which people post/interact more on Dreamwidth, to show love for the platform. ♥
- addme_fandom A friend finding community, but with a specific fandom focus! Interested in a particular fandom right now and want more people to talk about it with? Here’s a good place to find fellow fans!
- addme_fandom is a place to find friends who share your fannish obsessions.
- findingfriends : Similar to the addme communities but with a more in-depth approach, including things like posting style and what sort of interactions you’re looking for. Takes more brain power than the addme comms, but I imagine that the connections result in a higher level of compatibility.
- followfriday recommends people/communities to follow each Friday.
- getting_started is a community with resources for those new to Dreamwidth.
- moodthemeinayear is what it says on the tin: the folks there are working on creating custom Dreamwidth mood themes over the course of a year.
- reddit_refugees offers resources for newcomers to Dreamwidth.
- snowflake_challenge runs in January, and is a way to celebrate fandom and meet interesting people on Dreamwidth.
- sunshine_challenge Like snowflake_challenge but runs in the summer months (northern hemisphere, but our Southern Friends experiencing winter are welcome too!)
- twitter_refugees is for folks migrating to Dreamwidth from Twitter.
Bingos
Creative or commenting challenges based on a bingo card.
- allbingo - They do all sorts of bingos, mostly writing-related but I think they've had some crafting ones as well. There's new challenges monthly!
- comment_bingo is a bingo challenge community for commenting on all those fanfics you read.
- genprompt_bingo - for the writers! They generate bingo cards of prompts, with all the prompts being gen. You can, of course, write a shippy fic from the prompt – it’s just the prompts themselves that are gen.
- ladiesbingo is a bingo challenge to make works focused on the relationship between women, whether gen, femslash, or familial. I'm currently having great fun trying to fill my bingo board!
- lyricaltitles is a bingo fest for fanfiction and original fiction centering around using songs for inspiration!
- vid_bingo is a community for vidders to use bingo card prompts to inspire vids
Prompts
Writing or creative challenges that are prompt-based but not bingo cards:
- 100words is a drabble community for fiction of all kinds. They post weekly challenges there.
- 1character is a writing challenge where you choose a character and prompt set, then write one line sentences to fill each prompt.
- 25poemsamonth is a community where a 25 prompt table is posted at the beginning of every month and then, members have until the beginning of the next to fill as many prompts as possible.
- fan_flashworks is a multifandom comm that posts one prompt for the week you use to write a short fanfic.
- ffprompts posts monthly prompts for the Final Fantasy video game franchise. As a big fan of this series, I'd love to see more fills for the prompts happening!
- fic_promptly is created for leaving prompts and answering prompts. All fandoms are allowed, as are original work and real-person work. Fills can be fics or poems. There is no minimum/maximum word count.
- inspiredby posts writing prompts monthly.
- kittens_and_spitefic 's goal is to prompt fan content by acting like a total troll and pretending to bash what you want to see up one side and down the other. Commenters then engage with the supposed "troll" by spamming them with cat (and other animal) macros and/or content that caters to everything the original poster professes to hate.
- sweetandshort is a low-pressure community for creating small fanworks / original works each week.
- threesentenceficathon People leave prompts, other write short fills of 3 sentences or longer.
Writing
Writing-related communities that aren't Bingos or Prompts.
- 10trueloves is a writing challenge where you pair a character with ten others (IIRC, they don't have to be romantic pairings, but I'm not sure – check the comm rules for more info!)
- getyourwordsout is a writing challenge community where you can challenge yourself by wordcount of number of days written per month.
- makezines is for folks doing just that!
Icons
Icon-creating challenges and other icon communities.
- iconthat is another icon challenge community.
- your_favourites is an icon making community that migrated over from LiveJournal. Looks like they have themes for members to create icons for, and then take a vote for best icon. I've joined it in hopes of finding more icons to add to my own journal.
Books
Read-alongs and other book communites:
- booknook posts a weekly Read-in-Progress check-in posts on Wednesdays.
- queerbookclub is a no pressure book club dedicated to fiction books of all genres that are queer in some way! each month we take suggestions on what the next month's book should be and we vote on it. if you're not interested in the book for the month, that's perfectly fine!
- readingtogether - has seen some activity the past few months. It's not like a normal book club where everyone reads the same thing - instead everyone reads their own thing and posts their progress.
Crafts and General Creativity
- everykindofcraft is what it says it is.
- get_knitted posts daily check-ins. The folks there are GREAT about commenting on each other's comments. It's not just for knitting, either - there are people there who do scrapbooking and jigsaw puzzles.
- justcreate - has weekly check in posts where you can update everyone on your creative progress. All kinds of creativity are celebrated there, including fiber arts, drawing, writing, and more.
- nacramamo is National Craft-Making Month, and is gearing up now to kick off in October. The challenge is to work on some kind of craft every day for 31 days.
- communal_creators is a community for creative types! A mini-round for time pledges will be happening this spring. ANY kind of creativity is welcome! We have people writing (both fic and original), knitting, crochet, vidding, storyboarding, baking, making websites... if it's creative, you're welcome here.
- drawesome - has drawing challenges. I haven't taken part yet because I am a very sucky drawer, but I hope to start there in the future.
Culture
Communities focusing on a specific culture.
- c_ent is for Chinese Entertainment, and comes highly recommended by a few people.
- latam is a new community for people to come together to talk about latinamerican music, films, food, culture, fandom, and more! Everyone's welcome, no matter where you're posting from! And you can also post in your language (official languages of the community are Spanish, Portuguese and English!)
- senzenwomen is a community regaling the histories of women in and around Japan, 1868-1945. Thanks to vriddy for signal boosting this fascinating community!
Nature
What it says on the tin.
- birdfeeding covers everything to do with birdfeeding, gardening for wildlife, and related topics.
- common_nature is a photo community to share nature pics from your area, and has been active recently.
Fandom & Gaming
Communities about fandom in general and in specific.
- allkindsofdolls is what it says on the tin. If you love dolls, check it out.
- anime_manga has seen some activity lately!
- bnha_fans is for fans of Boku no Hero Academia
- fandom_on_dw : Pretty much the same as above, honestly, but it’s good that there’s more than one place that hosts this kind of thing!
- fandomcalendar : This is a community dedicated to announcing fandom events, which can include fandom-specific friending memes.
- fictional_fans : A community for all fans and fandoms. If you’ve got a post you want to make about fandom in general, or a specific fandom that doesn’t have its own community, this might be a good place to check out.
- finalfantasy - of course this would be here, if you know me. It's been very slow there lately, but I'd love to see more activity there.
- indie_games sometimes sees activity, and in the past, we did a play-together of A Short Hike.
Social Justice
Because the world is a mess and we just need to fix it.
- fandomtrumpshate raises money for charity by creating fanworks.
- thissterlingcrew is the UK equivalent of the below.
- thisfinecrew is a social justice community focused on the USA. It doesn't get as much action as i once did but there are still informative posts there once in a while.
- womansplace is a community that holds dual purpose: 1) Celebrate characters who identify as women or who are aligned with womanhood in transformative fan works. Events include community recs, a prompt fest, and a vid exchange. 2) Raise funds via a vid auction
Other Communties
These didn't fit in the other categories but I feel are interesting enough to warrant being on this post!
- queerly_beloved : An anti-exclusionist queer space to get together and talk about all things queer, including intersectional matters. Hosts a weekly recommendations thread, but more and other content is very welcome!
- 1word1day posts a vocabulary word a day!
- agonyaunt - critiques letters to advice columnists and the answers the letter writers get. I love this community because it is filled with smart people that I am learning a lot from. I'm a person of a certain age, and I know because of the timeframe I grew up in I have a lot of inherit biases and whatnot. I try to be above those biases, but sometimes I don't recognize them. Reading the other commenters to agonyaunt helps me recognize those biases and better myself.
- awesomeers - they make a post for each day of the week in which they challenge the members to comment with Just One Thing you did today that you're proud of accomplishing. Of course you are free to post more than one thing if you'd like! I love the idea of this community, though I haven't been very active in it lately. I hope to change that, if only to congratulate other people. Also: we celebrate all accomplishments there, so something as simple as "I got out of bed" would be acceptable!
- bujo for bullet journalers.
- crowdfunding connects creators, patrons, and fans of cyberfunded creativity. Watch for the mid-month Creative Jam with a new theme each time.
- do_it - A community for posting to-do lists to make yourself accountable to others.
- holiday_wishes - active in the last two months of the year. People post their holiday wish lists there, and others fill them! I really was blessed one year - I got a bunch of cards, some yarn, some chocolate, and some other sweet treats. &hearts
- journalsandplanners - what it says on the tin: for those who use a journal or planner to organize their lives.
- reference_library is a place to gather helpful links and share them, run by sharpest_asp
- signalboost is for getting the word out to others about people needing help in some way.
The tiger was asleep on my knees until recently.
Fri, Apr. 24th, 2026 11:26 pmjadelennoxI hope Nael, currently age 16-ish, is doing very well, and still writing delightful poems about tigers.
Fic: The Feast of St. Olaf [SGA, Team, G, 3800 words]
Fri, Apr. 24th, 2026 11:42 amrunpunkrun
Author: Punk
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Team Sheppard
Rating: G
Content notes: No standard notes apply.
Size: 3,800 words
Summary: The hunting knife is twice the size of the fruit in his hand, but Ronon handles it with ease.
Read it on the AO3 or here »
( The Feast of St. Olaf )
I never said why I want a better backpack
Fri, Apr. 24th, 2026 09:41 amthe_shoshannaGeoff and I are leaving for the Channel Islands in a week and a half!
It's a little strange and stressful planning a trip entirely on our own! I mean, we had time on our own in Wales after we finished the supported hike, but we expected to be exhausted, so "eh, we'll just noodle around Aberystwyth and visit the National Library" was plenty of planning. Here, though, I keep trying to research specific hikes we could do, and getting overwhelmed by the confusing and incomplete way info is presented. Like, a site just gives a text list of walks, but I want to see them plotted on a map so I can tell where they are relative to where we're staying. An app tells how to get to the beginning of a hike by bus, but gives no information about what buses can get us home from the end. Another site shows walks on a map but says nothing about how to get to them, so I have to have the walking site, the island's bus route map (very schematic and abstract), and Google Maps open to try to cross-check bus routes and stop locations. After a while I just throw up my hands and hope that the tourist info places will have better info on site.
(Ahahahah, I initially typed "better" as "beer," and, well, yes please, that too.)
We have booked a couple of activities in advance. The seabed slopes very gradually away around the islands, so when the tide goes out it goes waaaaaaay out, and we have booked a three-hour guided walk across the exposed sea floor, which sounds amazing; and the next day we've booked a couple hours of guided sea kayaking around the coastline. Other than that, though, we're winging it!
Well, winging the day-to-day part. We have booked our hotels and our ferry tickets between Jersey and Guernsey in advance, because I don't feel comfortable trying to arrange things like that on the fly. And after our hotel snafu in Aberystwyth, I have made sure to directly contact each hotel with a plausible-sounding query ("we'll be arriving before our room is likely to be ready, would we be able to drop our luggage off?" is always a good one) that translates to "please confirm that you have actually received our reservation and planned for our arrival"! Yes, this wouldn't be a problem if I booked directly instead of going through Booking.com, but the fact is that many hotels don't have direct booking anymore; they outsource it all to third parties like B.c.
And of course there's the ongoing uncertainly about the world's supply of jet fuel. Will we be able to get home? Geoff keeps bringing this question up, and saying we ought to look into our options if there's a problem, but he doesn't come up with anything really actionable. Other than exploring UK-to-CA cruises? But I'm like, there is absolutely nothing we can do to affect the possibility of our being stranded for a bit; if British Airways cancels our flight it will be on them to find us an alternate means of travel; it will still be both faster and cheaper to wait for a new flight than to try to sail across; we are fortunate enough to have the ability to absorb an unexpected extra few nights in a hotel if necessary; sweetie, you are stressed about this and you're dealing with your stress by just venting it in my direction, please stop. I mean, yes, it's a stressful prospect (and I acknowledge that the whole goddamn world is a stressful prospect right now and "what if our vacation in a few days longer and more stressful than planned?" is completely a "diamond shoes gave me a blister" problem), but since there is absolutely nothing we can do I prefer not to spend nervous energy on it, thanks.
Anyway, on top of all that hiking, we want to visit some of the Neolithic passage tombs, and also some of the museums of the Nazi occupation. *shiver* And I plan to eat my own weight in seafood, although Geoff won't join me in that. And maybe we will even lounge about!
Whee! and also 😱
The Channel Islands were the runner-up for choice of destination last year, but we decided to go to Wales instead -- partly because we could do a supported hike there. But the hike turned out to be on the verge of too hard for us; apparently we are several years older than we were the last time we did one, which is just unfair. Anyway, this year we're just going to park ourselves in one place -- well, two places, ten days each on Jersey and Guernsey - and do day hikes out and back. Both islands seem to have good bus systems, so we should generally be able to take a bus to a starting point, hike for *mumble* hours, and catch another bus home. And we'll try to do a day trip to Herm, or maybe Sark, but Herm looks more appealing if we only go to one.It's a little strange and stressful planning a trip entirely on our own! I mean, we had time on our own in Wales after we finished the supported hike, but we expected to be exhausted, so "eh, we'll just noodle around Aberystwyth and visit the National Library" was plenty of planning. Here, though, I keep trying to research specific hikes we could do, and getting overwhelmed by the confusing and incomplete way info is presented. Like, a site just gives a text list of walks, but I want to see them plotted on a map so I can tell where they are relative to where we're staying. An app tells how to get to the beginning of a hike by bus, but gives no information about what buses can get us home from the end. Another site shows walks on a map but says nothing about how to get to them, so I have to have the walking site, the island's bus route map (very schematic and abstract), and Google Maps open to try to cross-check bus routes and stop locations. After a while I just throw up my hands and hope that the tourist info places will have better info on site.
(Ahahahah, I initially typed "better" as "beer," and, well, yes please, that too.)
We have booked a couple of activities in advance. The seabed slopes very gradually away around the islands, so when the tide goes out it goes waaaaaaay out, and we have booked a three-hour guided walk across the exposed sea floor, which sounds amazing; and the next day we've booked a couple hours of guided sea kayaking around the coastline. Other than that, though, we're winging it!
Well, winging the day-to-day part. We have booked our hotels and our ferry tickets between Jersey and Guernsey in advance, because I don't feel comfortable trying to arrange things like that on the fly. And after our hotel snafu in Aberystwyth, I have made sure to directly contact each hotel with a plausible-sounding query ("we'll be arriving before our room is likely to be ready, would we be able to drop our luggage off?" is always a good one) that translates to "please confirm that you have actually received our reservation and planned for our arrival"! Yes, this wouldn't be a problem if I booked directly instead of going through Booking.com, but the fact is that many hotels don't have direct booking anymore; they outsource it all to third parties like B.c.
And of course there's the ongoing uncertainly about the world's supply of jet fuel. Will we be able to get home? Geoff keeps bringing this question up, and saying we ought to look into our options if there's a problem, but he doesn't come up with anything really actionable. Other than exploring UK-to-CA cruises? But I'm like, there is absolutely nothing we can do to affect the possibility of our being stranded for a bit; if British Airways cancels our flight it will be on them to find us an alternate means of travel; it will still be both faster and cheaper to wait for a new flight than to try to sail across; we are fortunate enough to have the ability to absorb an unexpected extra few nights in a hotel if necessary; sweetie, you are stressed about this and you're dealing with your stress by just venting it in my direction, please stop. I mean, yes, it's a stressful prospect (and I acknowledge that the whole goddamn world is a stressful prospect right now and "what if our vacation in a few days longer and more stressful than planned?" is completely a "diamond shoes gave me a blister" problem), but since there is absolutely nothing we can do I prefer not to spend nervous energy on it, thanks.
Anyway, on top of all that hiking, we want to visit some of the Neolithic passage tombs, and also some of the museums of the Nazi occupation. *shiver* And I plan to eat my own weight in seafood, although Geoff won't join me in that. And maybe we will even lounge about!
Supe with a +20 to charisma
Thu, Apr. 23rd, 2026 10:04 pmfayanoraInteresting idea: A superhero who has an odd knack for talking supervillains into going into legitimate careers. The idea came from a dream I had a bit ago, and in the scene the superhero and the supervillain were fighting, the villain was using a machine to fight that ended up doing something (not sure what) that prompted the hero to ask, "Oh, this is your work? Cool. It's very nice. Have you ever considered going into landscaping?"
"No, I haven't. I'm not... are you sure I'm good enough?"
"A hundred percent! It's excellent work."
And then the villain retired from villainy and started his own landscaping business, using the machines mainly but keeping their lackeys on as employees.
Ha! It'd be funny if the hero was also rich like Bruce Wayne and could say, "Hey, I can put in a good word for you with Charles Moneybags, convince him to invest some startup funds into your new business."
Some heroes keep fighting the same people over and over and over again. Others kill their rogues gallery. This one is basically a career counsellor with connections. Half or more of his rogues gallery end up going legit and maybe even working for him via his secret identity. Hell, it'd be really funny if it happened often enough that other supes started sending their rogues gallery his way just to see if they can ease their superheroing burden non-violently.
"No, I haven't. I'm not... are you sure I'm good enough?"
"A hundred percent! It's excellent work."
And then the villain retired from villainy and started his own landscaping business, using the machines mainly but keeping their lackeys on as employees.
Ha! It'd be funny if the hero was also rich like Bruce Wayne and could say, "Hey, I can put in a good word for you with Charles Moneybags, convince him to invest some startup funds into your new business."
Some heroes keep fighting the same people over and over and over again. Others kill their rogues gallery. This one is basically a career counsellor with connections. Half or more of his rogues gallery end up going legit and maybe even working for him via his secret identity. Hell, it'd be really funny if it happened often enough that other supes started sending their rogues gallery his way just to see if they can ease their superheroing burden non-violently.
(no subject)
Thu, Apr. 23rd, 2026 08:17 pmredbirdI had an appointment with my neurologist this afternoon. The weather was nice enough that I got onion soup at the Panera in the clinic lobby and ate it outdoors before seeing Dr. Sloane.
The doctor did some low-tech neurology, including watching me walk quickly down the hall, having me walk tightrope-style to check my balance, and testing my grip strength by having me squeeze his fingers. The doctor said there was no change in those, but I think my balance was better today than at the last visit. He then sent me downstairs for blood tests: my vitamin D is where we want it (at the top of the "normal" range), and the abnormally low antibody count is what we expect from the Kesimpta.
I asked about reducing the gabapentin dose to 900 mg, since when I went from 1500 mg to 1200 the medication continued to be effective at stopping my legs from twitching at night. (For a while, it was 1500 mg, with the option of taking another 300 mg capsule if necessary. I went to 1200 after a few months of never needing the extra capsule.) The doctor said I could try it, but he would prescribe 1200 mg/day (I think the last refill was for 1500 mg/day.)
I then walked up the hill to Brigham and Women's Hospital to keepadrian_turtle company in the epilepsy monitoring unit. We talked some, I made some phone calls on her behalf, and I sat quietly reading next to her bed for a bit.
All in all, I did a lot of walking today, despite taking a Lyft to the neurologist; some of that was because I got turned around a couple of times, including inside the hospital. (I stayed home yesterday because my knee was bothering me, and wasn't sure how much walking I had in me today.)
The doctor did some low-tech neurology, including watching me walk quickly down the hall, having me walk tightrope-style to check my balance, and testing my grip strength by having me squeeze his fingers. The doctor said there was no change in those, but I think my balance was better today than at the last visit. He then sent me downstairs for blood tests: my vitamin D is where we want it (at the top of the "normal" range), and the abnormally low antibody count is what we expect from the Kesimpta.
I asked about reducing the gabapentin dose to 900 mg, since when I went from 1500 mg to 1200 the medication continued to be effective at stopping my legs from twitching at night. (For a while, it was 1500 mg, with the option of taking another 300 mg capsule if necessary. I went to 1200 after a few months of never needing the extra capsule.) The doctor said I could try it, but he would prescribe 1200 mg/day (I think the last refill was for 1500 mg/day.)
I then walked up the hill to Brigham and Women's Hospital to keep
adrian_turtle company in the epilepsy monitoring unit. We talked some, I made some phone calls on her behalf, and I sat quietly reading next to her bed for a bit. All in all, I did a lot of walking today, despite taking a Lyft to the neurologist; some of that was because I got turned around a couple of times, including inside the hospital. (I stayed home yesterday because my knee was bothering me, and wasn't sure how much walking I had in me today.)
ISO a unicorn backpack
Thu, Apr. 23rd, 2026 11:41 amthe_shoshannaNo, not that kind. The hard-to-find kind.
I carry a backpack rather than a shoulderbag, because I like to have my hands free and I don't like the way a shoulderbag can flop down in front of me when I bend forward. Also it's easier to carry a lot in a backpack, which is important for grocery shopping, day hiking, etc. For a decade or more, up until last summer, my everyday carry was a basic Jansport school-type backpack. But while we were in Wales I realized that a) the rain cover I'd put on it was useless (almost lost my passport to water damage, YIKES) and b) it was fraying dangerously thin. Which, after so many years, it was entitled to do! But that has sent me on A Quest.
I'd made do with that basic Jansport for years, but now that I'm exploring options, I have very particular requirements! And I can't find a pack that meets them, argh.
I want a 28- to 32-liter capacity, a proper hip belt, and a flat back so that I can put an iPad or a folder of papers in it, against my own back, without risking them getting bent. (In other words, not a curved-for-ventilation back like this one.) I very much want panel loading rather than top loading, which I find awkward and inconvenient, although I might settle for top loading if everything else were amazingly good. It's hard for me to imagine a really good pack without load lifter straps. And I'd love it to have shoulder straps styled after running vests, with lots of storage, although now we're getting into "I want sparkles on it!" territory.
On the spot in Wales, I bought a pack at a local Trespass store. Its hip belt was reasonably good, but had no storage pockets. It claimed a 30L capacity, but I think it lied; it felt more like 25. And when I bought it I wasn't thinking about the fact that the curved back was going to be a dealbreaker; I didn't have the iPad or a portfolio of papers with me and since it hadn't been an issue with the old Jansport, it didn't occur to me. So when we got home I offloaded it; tried unsuccessfully to sell it and ended up giving it to Geoff, who wants to give it a try.
To replace it, I bought a North Face Surge 2 off Poshmark. It claims a capacity of 32L, but while it has more capacity than the Trespass, it still doesn't feel like 32L. And it's relatively heavy, which isn't great for day hiking. It does have a flat back, but its hip belt, although it exists (and can tuck away when I'm just carrying a light load around town), is fairly minimal, doesn't transfer as much weight as a proper one would, and also has no storage pockets.
So I bought an REI Venturi 30 off Goodwill. It has much better capacity while weighing less, and a good hip belt. I think the torso may be a little short for me, but it's okay. However, the photos I scrutinized online before buying it still misled me; its back is curved. I've bought a storage clipboard to put the iPad and papers in, but it's still a bit of a kludge; it's an awkward thing to pack other things around, and it's a bit flimsy.
Meanwhile I've kept on surfing alllllll the dealer and review sites, looking for my perfect pack. For a while I thought I'd found it in the Osprey Tempest Velocity 30; I love Osprey packs in general (that's what I use as luggage), and this one was where I learned that running-vest-style shoulder straps are a thing and fell in love with the idea. I almost bought it -- but the fact that it's not only top loading but has a stupid little flap over the top, rather than a proper lid, killed it for me. (At least at list price; if I can find a used one going cheap, I might give it a try.)
Then I stumbled on what may actually be my unicorn! The Arc’teryx Aerios 30 looks absolutely amazing and I wants it, precious, I wants it nowwwwwwwwww.
It's discontinued, nobody has it in stock, and I can't find anybody selling a used one. Sigh.
ETA: I swear I didn't see any yesterday, but today there are a handful of them showing on eBay! ...but they are CA$400 and up, not counting any import duties or taxes because they're all coming from the US or Asia, and I'm certainly not paying that much for something I can't return, and possibly not for something I could, since I have a hard time imagining that even this pack is that good. I mean, I paid US$33 for the REI Venturi, and it's acceptable.
I carry a backpack rather than a shoulderbag, because I like to have my hands free and I don't like the way a shoulderbag can flop down in front of me when I bend forward. Also it's easier to carry a lot in a backpack, which is important for grocery shopping, day hiking, etc. For a decade or more, up until last summer, my everyday carry was a basic Jansport school-type backpack. But while we were in Wales I realized that a) the rain cover I'd put on it was useless (almost lost my passport to water damage, YIKES) and b) it was fraying dangerously thin. Which, after so many years, it was entitled to do! But that has sent me on A Quest.
I'd made do with that basic Jansport for years, but now that I'm exploring options, I have very particular requirements! And I can't find a pack that meets them, argh.
I want a 28- to 32-liter capacity, a proper hip belt, and a flat back so that I can put an iPad or a folder of papers in it, against my own back, without risking them getting bent. (In other words, not a curved-for-ventilation back like this one.) I very much want panel loading rather than top loading, which I find awkward and inconvenient, although I might settle for top loading if everything else were amazingly good. It's hard for me to imagine a really good pack without load lifter straps. And I'd love it to have shoulder straps styled after running vests, with lots of storage, although now we're getting into "I want sparkles on it!" territory.
On the spot in Wales, I bought a pack at a local Trespass store. Its hip belt was reasonably good, but had no storage pockets. It claimed a 30L capacity, but I think it lied; it felt more like 25. And when I bought it I wasn't thinking about the fact that the curved back was going to be a dealbreaker; I didn't have the iPad or a portfolio of papers with me and since it hadn't been an issue with the old Jansport, it didn't occur to me. So when we got home I offloaded it; tried unsuccessfully to sell it and ended up giving it to Geoff, who wants to give it a try.
To replace it, I bought a North Face Surge 2 off Poshmark. It claims a capacity of 32L, but while it has more capacity than the Trespass, it still doesn't feel like 32L. And it's relatively heavy, which isn't great for day hiking. It does have a flat back, but its hip belt, although it exists (and can tuck away when I'm just carrying a light load around town), is fairly minimal, doesn't transfer as much weight as a proper one would, and also has no storage pockets.
So I bought an REI Venturi 30 off Goodwill. It has much better capacity while weighing less, and a good hip belt. I think the torso may be a little short for me, but it's okay. However, the photos I scrutinized online before buying it still misled me; its back is curved. I've bought a storage clipboard to put the iPad and papers in, but it's still a bit of a kludge; it's an awkward thing to pack other things around, and it's a bit flimsy.
Meanwhile I've kept on surfing alllllll the dealer and review sites, looking for my perfect pack. For a while I thought I'd found it in the Osprey Tempest Velocity 30; I love Osprey packs in general (that's what I use as luggage), and this one was where I learned that running-vest-style shoulder straps are a thing and fell in love with the idea. I almost bought it -- but the fact that it's not only top loading but has a stupid little flap over the top, rather than a proper lid, killed it for me. (At least at list price; if I can find a used one going cheap, I might give it a try.)
Then I stumbled on what may actually be my unicorn! The Arc’teryx Aerios 30 looks absolutely amazing and I wants it, precious, I wants it nowwwwwwwwww.
It's discontinued, nobody has it in stock, and I can't find anybody selling a used one. Sigh.
ETA: I swear I didn't see any yesterday, but today there are a handful of them showing on eBay! ...but they are CA$400 and up, not counting any import duties or taxes because they're all coming from the US or Asia, and I'm certainly not paying that much for something I can't return, and possibly not for something I could, since I have a hard time imagining that even this pack is that good. I mean, I paid US$33 for the REI Venturi, and it's acceptable.
Also, in the unlikely event that I've sold anyone on Dark Souls
Thu, Apr. 23rd, 2026 10:47 amrydra_wongIt is currently 50% off on Steam, which I believe is as good as it gets in the post-Elden Ring era.
*un-Babels your Tower*
Thu, Apr. 23rd, 2026 10:38 amrydra_wongI can STRONGLY rec Chants of Sennaar to anyone who enjoys deduction/puzzle games, and in particular the micro-genre of games that have translating a conlang (in this case, multiple conlangs) as their central mechanic.
Looks like Sable, plays like a cross between Return of the Obra Dinn and Heaven's Vault.
(It makes the excellent choice which Sable also made and which more indie games should go for, namely putting all your characters in face-hiding hoods or masks so you can completely avoid uncanny valley bad face animation and spend your resources on other things instead.)
Made my brain ache in a good way and made me feel clever. I did have to draw maps (my spatial orientation is terrible, so others may not need to except for one specific maze-like area), and make assorted paper notes to solve various puzzles.
You have to not only successfully translate each language individually, but, later in the game, interpret conversations between pairs of languages. This requires knowing that the languages have different word order -- in a very simple way -- one language does object-first Yoda-speak, several languages vary in how they form plurals, etc., but you do have to be able to translate in a grammatically correct way, not just word by word.
And to get to the "true ending," the game requires you to go all out and "speak" the languages, by using a given language to correctly describe a picture you are given (with no text).
I admit I did get a tiny bit emotional when I made it to the end.
Has a subsidiary stealth mechanic, which I mostly enjoyed; near the very end of the game, it did briefly hit the point of requiring a somewhat quick response, but was still ultimately within the capacity of my abysmal reflexes. Nonetheless, it's not a zero-coordination-required game.
Looks like Sable, plays like a cross between Return of the Obra Dinn and Heaven's Vault.
(It makes the excellent choice which Sable also made and which more indie games should go for, namely putting all your characters in face-hiding hoods or masks so you can completely avoid uncanny valley bad face animation and spend your resources on other things instead.)
Made my brain ache in a good way and made me feel clever. I did have to draw maps (my spatial orientation is terrible, so others may not need to except for one specific maze-like area), and make assorted paper notes to solve various puzzles.
You have to not only successfully translate each language individually, but, later in the game, interpret conversations between pairs of languages. This requires knowing that the languages have different word order -- in a very simple way -- one language does object-first Yoda-speak, several languages vary in how they form plurals, etc., but you do have to be able to translate in a grammatically correct way, not just word by word.
And to get to the "true ending," the game requires you to go all out and "speak" the languages, by using a given language to correctly describe a picture you are given (with no text).
I admit I did get a tiny bit emotional when I made it to the end.
Has a subsidiary stealth mechanic, which I mostly enjoyed; near the very end of the game, it did briefly hit the point of requiring a somewhat quick response, but was still ultimately within the capacity of my abysmal reflexes. Nonetheless, it's not a zero-coordination-required game.