Culinary
Mar. 29th, 2026 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oursinLast week's bread held out pretty well, though got rather dry.
Enough left - though perhaps a bit too much on the dry side - to include in frittata for Friday night supper along with a yellow bell pepper and eggs also getting used up.
Saturday breakfast rolls: adaptable soft rolls recipe, Marriage's Light Spelt flour, maple syrup, ground ginger: turned out a little on the dense side.
Today's lunch: the Mediterranean roasted vegetable thing: garlic cloves, red onion, fennel, baby courgettes, green bell pepper, red, yellow and orange baby peppers, aubergine; served with couscous - this time I tried M&S, and while the packet instructions are a bit misleading, turned out a lot better than Waitrose.
Crafts - March 2026
Mar. 29th, 2026 01:08 pmsmallhobbitI'm part way through a number of cross stitch projects, so will share them next month when they will probably be finished.
( March crafts )
It's not what I was made to do, but believe me, I still care
Mar. 28th, 2026 03:10 pmsovayI aten't dead! I have been flat for the last two days and would have continued the practice except for No Kings, but since it turned out the nearest rally was a grand total of ten minutes from my house I walked them to practice my democratically rightful freedom of assembly in the brightly freezing afternoon and was rewarded with the unexpected company of a long-time and little-seen friend who is not on DW and some excellent signs and costumes, of which I confess myself the most impressed by the inflatable riding frog. It was one of a small party on the lesser island of the rotary which included an impressively starred-and-striped Uncle Sam and an otherwise normally dressed protester wearing an American flag top hat. I suspect these rallies of being the one context nowadays in which I do not side-eye the deployment of traditional patriotic imagery. The larger island hosted a solo and determined Make Orwell Fiction Again. I had a chance to compliment the sign against The Lyin King whose black-on-red silhouetting had gone particularly doom metal in the execution, like a kind of psychedelic death's-head poppy. A woman whose jacket was embroidered with dragons and her pants with forests carried signs for herself and her artistically antifascist high-schooler. We had no signs of our own—I said that I was queer and here and that was about what I was up for—but were welcomed onto the curb to wave at the traffic, standing next to No War in Iran. The drive-by honking was heartening and considerable. I felt prudent to have brought earplugs. The crowd meanwhile went wild for the SUV from Cambridge Immigration Law. Making eye contact with passengers and drivers who waved back or thumbs-upped felt as useful as the presence or the noise, especially when it was someone with a headscarf or visibly non-white. The Amazon driver absolutely leaned on the horn as they went through. We were a comparatively small group, but I was not physically capable of getting myself to Boston Common and glad to have been able to demonstrate at all. I want it to mean something beyond the carnival of free expression, although the free expression should not be taken for granted: just around this time of last year was the abduction of Rümeysa Öztürk. I am going to eat some chopped liver on a challah roll and return to irregularly scheduled flatness.
Penric 16 impending!
Mar. 28th, 2026 12:20 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
lois_mcmaster_bujold_feedI am pleased to report that I have just today finished the first draft of a new Penric & Desdemona novella, to be titled "Darksight Dare". I plan to read a little section from it at next weekend's upcoming Minicon here in Minneapolis. (See prior post for Minicon link.)
Artist Ron Miller has nearly completed the cover for it -- we're down to fine tuning last-done things like the color and placement of the font. I'll post a sneak peek when we're finished.
Still to be done on my end are collecting and collating my test readers' comments, and final revisions. I expect this to take a couple of weeks, after which I'll turn the pieces over to Spectrum for e-publication distribution on our five vendor platforms. I'm thinking this novella may be out as early as mid-April, but parts of the process are not up to me, so we'll see.
Also still to do is writing the vendor-page copy, which is going to be the usual challenge of trying to give folks a clear idea of what they'll be buying without undue spoilers. I can say the story takes place in the late fall after "The Adventure of the Demonic Ox", and will feature some new characters bringing new problems to Pen & Des.
In a bit of good timing, the box of tip sheets for me to sign for the upcoming Subterranean Press limited signed edition of "Testimony of Mute Things" arrived yesterday. Signing my name 1300 times, again, will be a chore, but not a mentally challenging one, fortunately right now. It will have another attractive cover by SubPress artist Lauren Saint-Onge, which I look forward to sharing with you all in due course.
Ta, L.
posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on March, 28
Artist Ron Miller has nearly completed the cover for it -- we're down to fine tuning last-done things like the color and placement of the font. I'll post a sneak peek when we're finished.
Still to be done on my end are collecting and collating my test readers' comments, and final revisions. I expect this to take a couple of weeks, after which I'll turn the pieces over to Spectrum for e-publication distribution on our five vendor platforms. I'm thinking this novella may be out as early as mid-April, but parts of the process are not up to me, so we'll see.
Also still to do is writing the vendor-page copy, which is going to be the usual challenge of trying to give folks a clear idea of what they'll be buying without undue spoilers. I can say the story takes place in the late fall after "The Adventure of the Demonic Ox", and will feature some new characters bringing new problems to Pen & Des.
In a bit of good timing, the box of tip sheets for me to sign for the upcoming Subterranean Press limited signed edition of "Testimony of Mute Things" arrived yesterday. Signing my name 1300 times, again, will be a chore, but not a mentally challenging one, fortunately right now. It will have another attractive cover by SubPress artist Lauren Saint-Onge, which I look forward to sharing with you all in due course.
Ta, L.
posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on March, 28
Books - March 2026
Mar. 28th, 2026 05:18 pmsmallhobbit8 books this month, so I'm well ahead of my annual goal.
DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee
Recommended bynagi_schwarz it's a department store which sells dreams, in which a new employee learns what people need in the way of dreams. It's not within my usual genres, but I enjoyed reading it, so, if you're looking for something different, it might be worth trying.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
I read this for the current Goodreads Winter Challenge. It brings together two people, one a teenage girl working in the library during her summer holiday and the other a lonely widower, with a series of books which they both read and how it affects them. Set in Wembley in N W London. Not something I would have read in the ordinary course of things, but I'm pleased I did.
Liberty Bar by Georges Simenon
Continuing my Maigret reads, set in published in 1932, it sees Maigret in Antibes in the south of France. The story is slightly different, in the fact that Maigret is very affected by the heat and sultriness of the place and this comes through in the story, but enjoyable nevertheless.
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
One of the standalone stories within the Discworld series. A student assassin is suddenly recalled to become the next king of the kingdom of Djelibeybi, when his problems really begin. However, assassin training stands him in good stead, and we learn what happens when the biggest pyramid that's ever been conceived is built - no, it doesn't work out as expected. Highly entertaining
Yarn to Go by Betty Hechtman
Recommended bytherealsnape this is a cosy crime set within a knitting retreat. An easy read, with knitting, so happily entertaining. The first of a series and I plan to read some more.
Green for Danger: The Official Anthology of the Crime Writers' Association edited by Martin Edwards
Recent short stories set in the countryside. I enjoyed a few, but on the whole I wasn't taken with them.
Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
Another book for the Goodreads Winter Challenge. This one, written by a rare book seller in the States, looks at the women writers who Jane Austen enjoyed reading. It was interesting seeing how many women writers fell out of circulation, deemed far inferior to Austen, when she herself admired them. For anyone interested in the period or women writers in general I'd definitely recommend this.
Nobody's Boy: Sans Famille by Hector Malot
Recommended bytherealsnape this was written in 1878 and tells the story of Remi, a young orphan, and the trials of his upbringing. Sold to a travelling showman, he learns to earn money from the shows, deals with a number of misfortunes while tramping across France. The story is told from Remi's viewpoint and so has a childlike air, but despite that is worth reading.
Here's my book bingo card:
DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee
Recommended by
nagi_schwarz it's a department store which sells dreams, in which a new employee learns what people need in the way of dreams. It's not within my usual genres, but I enjoyed reading it, so, if you're looking for something different, it might be worth trying.The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
I read this for the current Goodreads Winter Challenge. It brings together two people, one a teenage girl working in the library during her summer holiday and the other a lonely widower, with a series of books which they both read and how it affects them. Set in Wembley in N W London. Not something I would have read in the ordinary course of things, but I'm pleased I did.
Liberty Bar by Georges Simenon
Continuing my Maigret reads, set in published in 1932, it sees Maigret in Antibes in the south of France. The story is slightly different, in the fact that Maigret is very affected by the heat and sultriness of the place and this comes through in the story, but enjoyable nevertheless.
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
One of the standalone stories within the Discworld series. A student assassin is suddenly recalled to become the next king of the kingdom of Djelibeybi, when his problems really begin. However, assassin training stands him in good stead, and we learn what happens when the biggest pyramid that's ever been conceived is built - no, it doesn't work out as expected. Highly entertaining
Yarn to Go by Betty Hechtman
Recommended by
therealsnape this is a cosy crime set within a knitting retreat. An easy read, with knitting, so happily entertaining. The first of a series and I plan to read some more.Green for Danger: The Official Anthology of the Crime Writers' Association edited by Martin Edwards
Recent short stories set in the countryside. I enjoyed a few, but on the whole I wasn't taken with them.
Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
Another book for the Goodreads Winter Challenge. This one, written by a rare book seller in the States, looks at the women writers who Jane Austen enjoyed reading. It was interesting seeing how many women writers fell out of circulation, deemed far inferior to Austen, when she herself admired them. For anyone interested in the period or women writers in general I'd definitely recommend this.
Nobody's Boy: Sans Famille by Hector Malot
Recommended by
therealsnape this was written in 1878 and tells the story of Remi, a young orphan, and the trials of his upbringing. Sold to a travelling showman, he learns to earn money from the shows, deals with a number of misfortunes while tramping across France. The story is told from Remi's viewpoint and so has a childlike air, but despite that is worth reading.Here's my book bingo card:
( bingo card )
There is not one single immediate thing doing change
Mar. 28th, 2026 04:52 pmoursinThings happen over a long term.
Things that look at the time like a failure or even a disaster may be sowing seeds or releasing spores and having an impact that will go on.
Or even have a counter-intuitive impact at the time: okay, The Well of Loneliness got convicted for obscenity in 1928 but 1000s of women realised they were not alone just from reading the reports in the newspapers, and 1000s of them wrote to Radclyffe Hall.
Just because something does not endure does not endure does not mean it had no influence.
Am currently reading book by a friend which makes quite a thing of long-term impact of small obscure organisations of early C20th I worked on.
Was a piece in Guardian Saturday today which doesn't appear to be yet online which was doing the ever-recurrent WO about 'I see no feminists' and I wonder what they expect them to look like and perhaps they are supposing something flashy and dramatic, which can be appropriate at times. But the work is not necessarily drawing attention to itself.
Further thought: I was a bit irked to see this: Lifeline is both a musical following Alexander Fleming’s discovery of the first antibiotic and a warning about the threat of superbugs in the present day, because the Fleming narrative erases the immense amount of work that Florey, Chain and Heatley had to put in to make pencillin actually viable.
The Friday Five on a Saturday
Mar. 28th, 2026 11:47 amnanila- What is a common ear worm that you get?
My children rickroll me pretty regularly, so That Song gets stuck in my head. - How long do they last?
Not very long. My brain is usually too preoccupied with other sources of worry and stress to spend long on an earworm. - What do you do to get rid of them?
I don't know if this will sound contradictory, but on the rare occasions when an earworm sticks, I find that playing the actual song gets rid of it. - What is the worst ear worm you've ever had?
There's this Robyn song that I dislike intensely, and it popped in and out of my head for a week. I don't like the song so was very reluctant to employ my usual remedy. - Do you get some guilty pleasure in passing the ear worm along?
Not unless it's reciprocally rickrolling my children.
Friday misc
Mar. 27th, 2026 07:31 pmoursinGosh those people with the archivists' sales team are persistent! I've heard again - okay, different name and email, exact same wordage - TWICE, second time with added 'Worth a chat?'
No, sir, not in the least.
***
This week I got the Authors Licensing and Copyright Society payout, which was an agreeable sum, maybe it would not actually support me in My Old Age, but it is Better Than A Bat In The Eye With A Burnt Stick. Furthermore, as it is itemised - all the tiddly sums that get totted up - it is a Revelation of what works of mine are still being looked at, wow.
***
Church attendance report pulled after YouGov finds 'fraudulent' responses:
A report claiming the number of young people attending church in England and Wales had skyrocketed has been retracted, after the underlying data was found to be flawed.
The Bible Society's "Quiet Revival" report had been widely reported on since its publication last year and became an accepted part of discourse among many Christians.
Now YouGov, which carried out the research, has told the Bible Society that an internal review of the data found that some of the respondents who completed its survey were "fraudulent".
It has said that quality control measures, which usually remove such responses, were not applied due to human error.
....
But academics questioned the findings, pointing out that the results seemed out of step with other data. Results from the long-running British Social Attitudes Survey, and even the Church of England's own figures, show a long term decline in church attendance.
Experts said that YouGov's methodology - gathering data from volunteers who received cash rewards for their time - left it vulnerable to "bogus respondents" skewing the data.
Murmurs about Mammon distorting the data....
***
Pepys ‘curated’ letters to conceal being offered enslaved boy as bribe – research:
Howe wrote to Pepys to “crave your acceptance” of a “small” enslaved boy, which “I brought home on board for your honour … Hoping he is so well seasoned to endure the cold weather as to live in England.”
Pepys wrote back indignantly rejecting the offer. But Edwards argues this was not because of ethical concerns about slavery, but the optics of looking like a man who could be bribed.
***
This is quite resonant with discussion I was having this week apropos of my 1930s feminists and the less visible ways in which the work was happening, so much so that it's been supposed (it was being claimed at the time) that Feminism Woz Ded: The Way of Water: On the Quiet Power of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Activism.
Writing - March 2026
Mar. 27th, 2026 04:19 pmsmallhobbitSo far this month, although there are a few days left, I've written 6,500 words, so it's a good job I had some in hand from the last two months giving me an annual total of 32K.
There is therefore not a lot to record!
As anticipated last month I did have an additional work for A Family Saga which is a Spooks (MI5) series reflecting on Lucas North's family situation. An Unexpected Situation And there will be another in the series at some point.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
allbingo held a National Crafting Month bingo, for which I wrote Pulling the Strands Together a retirement era ACD Sherlock Holmes story.
I've also written, and is being posted each day, my entry forno_true_pair four character challenge The Meeting on the Island another Spooks work, this time including werewolf!Lucas.
There is therefore not a lot to record!
As anticipated last month I did have an additional work for A Family Saga which is a Spooks (MI5) series reflecting on Lucas North's family situation. An Unexpected Situation And there will be another in the series at some point.
allbingo held a National Crafting Month bingo, for which I wrote Pulling the Strands Together a retirement era ACD Sherlock Holmes story.I've also written, and is being posted each day, my entry for
no_true_pair four character challenge The Meeting on the Island another Spooks work, this time including werewolf!Lucas.Another publickation day
Mar. 27th, 2026 09:32 amthe_comfortable_courtesanWe are pleas'd to announce the publickation today of Choices: Taking Decisions (Clorinda Cathcart's Circle, #25), in elecktronical form and as a pretty bound volume:
A Parliamentary election causes considerable upheaval to the summer plans of Society in general, and of Clorinda and her circle. But besides any choices concerning the government of the nation, several of them find that they have to make decisions touching on more personal matters.
though there is alas some delay in the production of the Google edition.
It is anticipat'd that the work will shortly be available via Overdrive for libraries.
The usual notes on Allusions and References have been provid'd.
The Friday Five for 27 March 2026
Mar. 26th, 2026 07:57 pmanais_pf posting in thefridayfive1. What is a common ear worm that you get?
2. How long do they last?
3. What do you do to get rid of them?
4. What is the worst ear worm you've ever had?
5. Do you get some guilty pleasure in passing the ear worm along?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
2. How long do they last?
3. What do you do to get rid of them?
4. What is the worst ear worm you've ever had?
5. Do you get some guilty pleasure in passing the ear worm along?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
Into the Void: Baby not Baby no more edition
Mar. 26th, 2026 03:19 pmstonepicnicking_okapiToday, my baby turns 11! Happy birthday Minisculus!
1. I need to make the cake. Now. [Edited to add: it's in the oven now]
2. The other big thing is that BTS dropped their new album Arirang. The seven have finished their military service obligation and are getting ready to go on a world tour. They performed a one-hour showcase of the new songs in a historic square in Seoul and now are making the rounds doing promotions.
I like the album more and more as I listen to it. I am so glad I got the Netflix. I think I have watched the showcase at least 10 times (more in bits and pieces) since it aired live on Saturday morning. I pre-ordered a version of the album and it came but I wasn't entirely smitten with my photocards so I ordered a different version of the album today which comes with STICKERS (very important) and photocards I think I am going to like more. For ARMY reading this, I got the simple Rooted in Music version and the other version I ordered today is Living Legends. Needless to say, I did not tell the boys' father I ordered another version of the same album. These are the secrets which keep a marriage strong. I am looking forward tobethctg visiting in August and going to the concert when they come here. RM seems to be recovering from his sprained ankle and I hope the boys stay healthy and strong for the long journey ahead. They performed at the Guggenheim in NYC which was very nice, elegant, classy. I will be posting videos and fan cams as we go along. They did a Spotify event in NYC and were looking very good, more fuck boy style.
So when I was a nurse in the nursing home a long time ago, there was a resident who was a fan of Prince and she had a little VCR and watched Prince videos (concerts, Purple Rain, etc) day and night and I always thought it was a bit bizarre but I will be her one day with my BTS videos.
3. So air force guy moved two weeks ago and I have been filling in here and there at work, picking up shifts when regulars go on vacation or call out. I had a VERY stressful lady last week. I had a quiet guy yesterday. I am supposed to start a regular next Wednesday. I still have jazz man and my Indian lady as regulars.
4. Minor is doing track and chorus. Minisculus is doing soccer and gaming.
5. I am reading The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. I am listening to Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals read by the author Oliver Burkeman. Stil trying to get through the contemporary black poetry anthology This is Honey.
6. I watched The Glass Onion (Knives Out) and loved it. This is my kind of film. I really loved Brick, too, back in the day.
Here is a fan cam of the Spotify event:
5. No weight loss. Sigh.
1. I need to make the cake. Now. [Edited to add: it's in the oven now]
2. The other big thing is that BTS dropped their new album Arirang. The seven have finished their military service obligation and are getting ready to go on a world tour. They performed a one-hour showcase of the new songs in a historic square in Seoul and now are making the rounds doing promotions.
I like the album more and more as I listen to it. I am so glad I got the Netflix. I think I have watched the showcase at least 10 times (more in bits and pieces) since it aired live on Saturday morning. I pre-ordered a version of the album and it came but I wasn't entirely smitten with my photocards so I ordered a different version of the album today which comes with STICKERS (very important) and photocards I think I am going to like more. For ARMY reading this, I got the simple Rooted in Music version and the other version I ordered today is Living Legends. Needless to say, I did not tell the boys' father I ordered another version of the same album. These are the secrets which keep a marriage strong. I am looking forward to
bethctg visiting in August and going to the concert when they come here. RM seems to be recovering from his sprained ankle and I hope the boys stay healthy and strong for the long journey ahead. They performed at the Guggenheim in NYC which was very nice, elegant, classy. I will be posting videos and fan cams as we go along. They did a Spotify event in NYC and were looking very good, more fuck boy style. So when I was a nurse in the nursing home a long time ago, there was a resident who was a fan of Prince and she had a little VCR and watched Prince videos (concerts, Purple Rain, etc) day and night and I always thought it was a bit bizarre but I will be her one day with my BTS videos.
3. So air force guy moved two weeks ago and I have been filling in here and there at work, picking up shifts when regulars go on vacation or call out. I had a VERY stressful lady last week. I had a quiet guy yesterday. I am supposed to start a regular next Wednesday. I still have jazz man and my Indian lady as regulars.
4. Minor is doing track and chorus. Minisculus is doing soccer and gaming.
5. I am reading The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. I am listening to Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals read by the author Oliver Burkeman. Stil trying to get through the contemporary black poetry anthology This is Honey.
6. I watched The Glass Onion (Knives Out) and loved it. This is my kind of film. I really loved Brick, too, back in the day.
Here is a fan cam of the Spotify event:
5. No weight loss. Sigh.
Word: Theremin
Mar. 26th, 2026 02:22 pmstonepicnicking_okapiWednesday's word is a day late...
...theremin.
a purely melodic electronic musical instrument typically played by moving the hands in the electromagnetic fields surrounding two projecting antennae.
---
I read this in The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher which is this months's book over at the DW bookclub_dw:
...All that buildup and it didn't even make a noise. I don't know what noise I wanted it to make. Glorp or some kinda theremin shit.
...theremin.
a purely melodic electronic musical instrument typically played by moving the hands in the electromagnetic fields surrounding two projecting antennae.
---
I read this in The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher which is this months's book over at the DW bookclub_dw:
...All that buildup and it didn't even make a noise. I don't know what noise I wanted it to make. Glorp or some kinda theremin shit.
Poet's Corner: The Black Girl Comes to Dinner by Taylor Byas
Mar. 26th, 2026 01:57 pmstonepicnicking_okapiThe Black Girl Comes To Dinner by Taylor Byas
We drive into the belly of Alabama,
where God tweezed the highway’s two lanes
down to one, where my stomach
bottoms out on each brakeless fall.
Where God tweezed the highway’s two lanes
with heat, a mirage of water shimmers into view then
bottoms out. On each brakeless fall,
I almost tell you what I’m thinking, my mouth brimming
with heat. A mirage of water shimmers into view then
disappears beneath your tires.
I almost tell you what I’m thinking, my mouth brimming
with blues. Muddy Waters’ croon
disappears beneath your tires.
I want to say I’m nervous beneath a sky brilliant
with blues. Muddy Waters’ croon,
the only loving I’m willing to feel right now, the only loving
I want. To say I’m nervous beneath a sky brilliant
enough to keep me safe means to face what night brings.
The only loving I’m willing to feel right now, the only loving
that will calm me—I need you to tell me I am
enough. To keep me safe means to face what night brings
to the black girl in a sundown town—
that will calm me. I need you to tell me I am
safe. That they will love me, that the night will not gift fire
to the black girl in a sundown town.
Your grandmother folds me into her arms and I try to feel
safe. That they will love me, that the night will not gift fire
are mantras to repeat as
your grandmother folds me into her arms. And I try to feel
grateful. But get home before it’s too late and watch out for the flags
are mantras to repeat as
we drive into the belly of Alabama.
We drive into the belly of Alabama,
where God tweezed the highway’s two lanes
down to one, where my stomach
bottoms out on each brakeless fall.
Where God tweezed the highway’s two lanes
with heat, a mirage of water shimmers into view then
bottoms out. On each brakeless fall,
I almost tell you what I’m thinking, my mouth brimming
with heat. A mirage of water shimmers into view then
disappears beneath your tires.
I almost tell you what I’m thinking, my mouth brimming
with blues. Muddy Waters’ croon
disappears beneath your tires.
I want to say I’m nervous beneath a sky brilliant
with blues. Muddy Waters’ croon,
the only loving I’m willing to feel right now, the only loving
I want. To say I’m nervous beneath a sky brilliant
enough to keep me safe means to face what night brings.
The only loving I’m willing to feel right now, the only loving
that will calm me—I need you to tell me I am
enough. To keep me safe means to face what night brings
to the black girl in a sundown town—
that will calm me. I need you to tell me I am
safe. That they will love me, that the night will not gift fire
to the black girl in a sundown town.
Your grandmother folds me into her arms and I try to feel
safe. That they will love me, that the night will not gift fire
are mantras to repeat as
your grandmother folds me into her arms. And I try to feel
grateful. But get home before it’s too late and watch out for the flags
are mantras to repeat as
we drive into the belly of Alabama.
I am a Nexpert, but not That Nexpert
Mar. 26th, 2026 03:53 pmoursinBit of a flurry of Misguided Spam: this one is quite funny:
[W]e're working with other archivists that are offering historical resources.
I’m currently working with a few archivists on campaigns that are getting their sales teams meetings with warm leads every month. We’re targeting people who need historical resources using personalized email sequences.
If I could help you connect with potential clients like this, would that be helpful to you?
WOT. Unless this is some kind of operation like that BM curator who was selling off stuff from the storerooms, what kind of money do they honestly think there is in ARCHIVES??? Sales teams - No Can Haz.
Another one of the usual 'Contribute your article/join our editorial board/reviewer team' from an international journal... offering a space for the exchange of powerful ideas among academics and experts which cannot distinguish between the title of a book I reviewed and anything I actually wrote my own self.
This one is frankly cheeky, if presumably being spammed at a vast array of people?
I am sure you're quite busy, but I would appreciate if you could take a moment to my below request.
Well, our Open Access Journal of Advances in Complementary & Alternative Medicine (ACAM) is scheduled to release its Volume 9 Issue 2 by 6thApril, but we are in deficit of one article. So, is it possible for you to support us with any of your manuscript to achieve this goal?
Appreciate if you could provide your acknowledgement within 24 hrs.
Presumably they are anticipating recipients will stick prompts into ChatGP or whatever, though you'd think if it's that urgent they'd do it themselves.
Am also being followed on Bluesky by very dubious looking 'Global' conferences within my fields of interest. Suspect these are a racket.
***
However, in realm of being A Real Nexpert, gave a presentation at Institution With Which I Am Now Affiliated yesterday and I think it went quite well, insofar as there was a certain amount of discussion and people coming up and asking questions afterwards.
Also got 2 compliments from much younger persons on hair (green streaks in) though as one was outside the Scientology HQ in Tottenham Court Road I fear this may be one of their recruitment strategies.
Birds singing oldies
Mar. 25th, 2026 07:50 pmstarwatcherDoes anyone know Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles? Probably not; it goes back to 1979. But I listen to the "Oldies" station on the car radio, or if I want music in the house, and I've heard it often enough that I recognize it.
The entrance to the chorus (?) is a female voice singing, "Oh, ah-oh!" (At about the 30-second mark on the video.)
So Monday evening, I was out cleaning pump filters for the pond and water tubs, and a bird was calling nearby. I swear, part of his call matched the "ah-oh" in cadence and note-interval. (My ear isn't good enough to know if it was the right notes, or just the right relationship between notes.) It was distinct enough, and recognizable enough, that it immediately reminded me of the song, and there I was, trying to sing it.
(Unfortunately -- or maybe fortunately? -- I know only four lines of the song, two of which are, "Video Killed the Radio Star." LOL!)
I wasn't able to get a visual sighting of the bird, but it wasn't one I recognize by call. We don't have that many varieties of birds around here, and I know most of the calls. (House finch, dove, mockingbird, grackle, meadowlark, quail are most common.) It could have been passing through, heading for more northern latitudes. I'll be alert for hearing it again, but it could well have been a one-time occurrence.
Nothing big, here. Just a possibly interesting snippet of outdoor life in rural New Mexico.