feng_shui_house

Mice and Considering Community

There is not enough paper in the world, not enough pixels in the Intarwebz to give me the room to talk about how much I loathe discovering mice in the larder.

Again.

After cleaning and supposedly - supposedly - mouse-proofing one of our two larders.

Again.

So we'll go out and get more coarse steel wool, and we'll drag everything out of the other larder - again - and I swear to every god there is, that I will stuff steel wool into every hole I possibly can, even the ones BB was so sure were too small even for mice to come through. BZZZZT wrong answer. They can.

*Heavy sigh, goes looking for the soju*

*** *** *** ***

( Thinky thoughts hereunder )

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Cyber Jazz/Blues Ambient Radio

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: sleepy

olivermoss

( How Joey Daccord does interviews for no reason )

china_shop

Previous poll review
In the spam SPAM spam poll, 52% of respondents only check their spam folder when they're looking for a specific thing, 30% check it maybe once a month, 10% weekly, and 8% daily. (This question was inspired by gmail sending multiple emails in the middle of threads to spam, wtf.)

In ticky-boxes, blanket cocoons and comfort food came second to hugs, 62% to 74%. Judgy koalas came third with 56%. Thank you for your votes! ♥

Reading
I read Courtney Milan's The Earl Who Isn't, which was just as enjoyable at the others in the series. Her kissing and UST are excellent, and I love everyone in Wedgeford.

Bounced off Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield, with prejudice. (That was one of my library books.) The first "chapter" (of three in the entire book) was a blow-by-blow account of working backstage at SNL; the second "chapter" (which I flicked through) was lockdown correspondence. I didn't like either of the characters.

I don't know what I'm reading next. Or listening to on my own. But Andrew and I have about 2.5 hours left in Barrayar.

Kdramas
Oh no, I finished One Spring Night and kind of... went back to the beginning and started it again. With occasional diversions into Something in the Rain (which ha, is by the same writer, as well as having vast numbers of cast members in common, so that explains that). At some point I'll emerge from this Jung Hae In fever dream and start something else.

Pru and I finished Family by Choice (I LOVE IT SO MUCH), and next week we're starting Love Scout (\o/).

Other TV
We're on the final disk of extras for Return of the King, and that'll be it. It's stressful seeing the last-minute absolute chaos behind the scenes, but also kind of magical. Still going on The Pitt, and we've watched a couple of episodes of Dinosaur, a UK sitcom about two sisters, one of whom is autistic. I like it!

Got a few things lined up: new seasons of The Lincoln Lawyer and Dark Winds, more Scavengers Reign, there were probably some other things, idk.

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses, some Better Offline, some What Matters Most (chatty general life psychology/advice), Cross Party Lines (local politics), Letters from an American (just a few /o\), Heaving Bosoms (chatty recaps of romance novels, just for something relaxing to put in my ears), Movie Briefs (lawyers talk about law movies, ditto).

Online life
*hugs you all, so much*

...

Writing/making things
My Yuletide treat is at beta at last. \o/ Now I've started in on my Yuletide assignment fic, unfinished at 7k words. I'm imposing a new structure on it to see if that might make it more finishable. No drawing practice.

Life/health/mental state things
Idk, I'm okay. Getting some things done, at least. Getting a fair amount of sleep and exercise. Doing righteous battle with my health insurer. Spending too much time tweaking my new phone to make it behave how I want.

Goals
This week: make a batch of vegetarian dumplings, make a mini quiche in the air fryer. All my goals are food, hi!

Good things
Sunshine. Helpful, supportive people. The 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange is coming soon! Kitty. New phone is mostly behaving itself. We went to a delightfully geeky talk about dragonflies.

Poll #34329 Being an audience

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

View Respondents

In the last six months, I've been (in person) to

View Answers

cinema
4 (50.0%)

theatre
1 (12.5%)

live music gig
2 (25.0%)

ballet
0 (0.0%)

opera
0 (0.0%)

sports game
0 (0.0%)

other
0 (0.0%)

ticky-box full of bakery treats
5 (62.5%)

ticky-box full of keeping a paper appointment diary
2 (25.0%)

ticky-box full of rambling around the podcast 'verse getting your ears dirty
2 (25.0%)

ticky-box full of softly squishable snow puppies snuggling in a heap
4 (50.0%)

ticky-box full of hugs to you all <3 <3 <3
5 (62.5%)

pattrose

Making: I made a chicken, cheesy, biscuit meal for friends today. It was delish.

Watching: Person of Interest on my player.

Reading: A Comedian Walks Into a Funeral Home by Dennis Kelly. I love this book. It's really good.

Listening: to Person of Interest

Eating: a new dessert I made. Lemon cheesecake bites.

Drinking: Dr. Pepper.

Loving: this new meme.

Hating: the dishes I just finished.

Wanting: chocolate, but being good.

Thinking: about what I'm doing tomorrow.

Planning: what I'm going to make for dinner tomorrow. People will think all we do is eat.

Wishing: I didn't have to clean my bathrooms tomorrow. I'd give anything to be Samantha on Bewitched. Then I could keep this house super clean.

Puzzle Books: I don't do them.

Weathering: I'm not sure what this means. If it's about the weather, then the day was wonderful. 79° and sunny.

Wearing: black shorts, green short-sleeve top, and no shoes.

Needing: I don't need much.

Enjoying: this meme.

Wondering: what I would be doing if I wasn't on Dreamwidth every night.

Playing: Person of Interest.

Trying: to watch the show and do this at the same time.

Cooking: not until tomorrow.

Calling: my daughter is calling me at 9:30 on her way home from work.

Texting: not texting right now.

Crafting: I don't craft.

Going: to finish this if it kills me.

Feeling: happy.

Hoping (For): another spring day tomorrow.

Celebrating: my birthday, early.

Smelling: Lemon cheesecake bites.

Thanking: I'm very thankful to my friend Vicki, who made me a gorgeous quilt for my birthday.

Considering: it might be for my spare room. The quilt is the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Finishing: I'm finishing this. Yay.

Starting: I don't know about this one.

Notes: thanks to spirelicious, for giving me something to do.

apnic_blog_feed

Posted by Dan Fidler

https://blog.apnic.net/2026/03/06/nir-updates-at-apricot-2026-ipv6-progress-rpki-plans-and-strengthening-coordination/

https://blog.apnic.net/?p=99399

All seven NIRs reflected an active and collaborative NIR community across the Asia Pacific region.

https://blog.apnic.net/2026/03/06/nir-updates-at-apricot-2026-ipv6-progress-rpki-plans-and-strengthening-coordination/

https://blog.apnic.net/?p=99399

alias_sqbr

I was tagged by

anghraine, and as is traditional am tagging anyone who thinks it looks fun. I think I may have done this one before but feel like doing it again regardless.

Since I am as much an artist as a writer I'll ponder it from both angles. Won't bother linking everything but my account is

sqbr.
( Read more... )

stonepicnicking_okapi

Today is National Absinthe Day, so please cavort as much as you dare with the Green Fairy!

Verlaine Boit by Antonin Artaud

"Il y aura toujours des grues au coin des rues,
Coquillages perdus sue les grèves stellaires
Du soir bleu qui n'est pas d'ici ni de la terre,
Où roulent des cabs aux élytres éperdues.

Et roulent moins que dans ma tête confondue
La pierre verte de l'absinthe au fond du verre,
Où je bois la perdition et les tonnerres
A venir du Seigneur pour calciner mon âme nue.

Ah! Qu'ils tournent les fuseaux mêles des rues
Et filent l'entrelacs des hommes et des femmes
Ainsi qu'une araignée qui tisserait sa trame
Avec les filaments des âmes reconnues."

Verlaine Drinks [translation from this website: http://www.absinthe.se/]

"There will always be whores on street corners,
Lost shells stranded on the stellar shores
Of a blue dusk which belongs neither here nor on earth
Where taxis roll by like bewildered beetles.

But they roll less than in my whirling head
The green gem of absinthe deep in the glass
Where I drink perdition and the thunder
Of the Lord's judgement to roast my naked soul.

Ah! How the tangled spindles of the streets
Turn and spin the fabric of men and women,
As if a spider were weaving her web.

Degas' L’Absinthe

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

ailbhe

https://xiphias.dreamwidth.org/2008/08/09/

This has been in my thoughts for along time, I realise. It crops up quite a lot.

amarie24

...The more my mother talks about decorating/fixing up her house...the more and more it hits me that she has always had much, much worse than a Fetish For Home Ownership.

I caught hints of it when she stressed over not having a Perfectly Mowed And Green Lawn for longer than a minute. (And, when I made a face after she stressed it for the nth time, she said, "Amarie, just try to think of your neighbors as guests in your house, huh?"). Hints of it when she wanted repeated wanting a carport over and over again (my mother is an Ad Nauseum person, God bless her). And hints of it again when she yet again stressed over the lawn not being mowed for a while after a few months.

And been caught hints of it ever since I was a child and, if we went over to a friend's neighborhood, she caught that it was a neighborhood full of houses. Literally sitting in the car with a jerk of her head going, "Oh! These are houses! They're homeowners!"

Now, our mailbox is a bit broken and tilted due to recent heavy rainstorms. So we need a new one. It's a need; I understand.

We were driving home from work, and she pointed out some of our neighbors' brick mailboxes with flower boxes on their bases. She wants one specifically with a red ceramic (?) cardinal on top, bc it reminds her of her home Chicago, Illinois.

We finally turned down onto our street and she slowed down before we got to our driveway. She pointed at the other houses' black metal mailboxes and went, "See? I'll be the only one with a brick mailbox! Mine will be really special with tulips and carnations!"

And ever since she bought this house in 2022 (?), she's always repeated, "I just want a nice house, Amarie, where your friends can come over for the or coffee! And they see the dining room and living room and the framed pictures I put up in the hallways and I want them to go, 'Oh! Okay!'"

My mother literally says she wants them to literally go "Oh! Okay!" at house decorations.

She has not quite...listened to me when I tried to tell her that 2 of my friends have already visited, seen the inside of her house, and complimented on it.

Not necessarily "Oh! Okay!", but in their own ways.

Now I see...with that comment about the mailbox, I see...

She's really a living, breathing example to me of how...if you only or even majority want something(s) so you can show off to others/gather others' positive opinions of you...if it's about showing something(s) to others, having things that others don't have...

Can you then wonder why you never quite reach what you're reaching for?

Current Mood: tired

musesfool

Work has been intensely busy these past few days, and tomorrow I have to go into the office because Assistant J is getting a pin for being with the organization for 5 years (even though it's more like six and a half at this point, but no one wants to hear my rant about how anniversaries work again), and I never get much done when I'm in, so we'll see what happens. I do have to take all my tax paperwork and scan it for my accountant. This is much later than usual, eep.

*

Shrinking: Dereks Don't Die
( spoiler )

*

Lost Recipes was a really good read "about the legal and logistical barriers arrayed against people trying to archive rap media." to quote the email from Defector that included the link. It made me think about how despite its many, many issues (about which I have heard no news of progress at all, btw), the OTW is doing that work for this section of media fandom, and how important that work is (and how no one else was gonna do it). There's already so much that's gone, and that impacts how our stories get contextualized and passed on (thinking of all the thinkpieces on Heated Rivalry that only reference yaoi and animanga fandom and not Western media fandom, for example) and whatever place in the larger history of media and fandom this corner of it might have. Idk. I do recommend reading that post though, even if you're not a rap fan.

*

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Music: Falling - Florence + the Machine

marina

Things that are making me happy at this current time. I want to talk about them.

Things are still very not OK, I'm still barely keeping it together most days. Everything is Very Bad. But. I want to talk about happy things.

*

( books and tv shows )

tielan

I'm just not managing to stay on top of any of the fandom trends.

Still haven't watched K-Pop Demon Hunters, or Heated Rivalry, or even Bridgerton S4...

I'm not bothering with Marvel (they're dead to me, like all the best characters in the franchise) and there's not much else that particularly interests me.

As usual, I mostly lack someone to watch things with. I'll watch movies that I'm only marginally interested in with friends, but I've never been a 'rewatch' kind of person - even in the background. Too many things to do.

--

Actually, I'm just not managing to stay on top of ANYTHING right now.

cosmolinguist

After two days of utter misery at work, I was amazed that I actually got to finish on time -- I had not been expecting to!

The unstoppable force of my executive dysfunction met the immovable object of a deadline to respond to the Government's call for evidence on Developing the automated vehicles regulatory framework.

Ugh. I am so disgusted by the whole concept of self-driving cars that it was...well, not the only reason it's difficult to write about, but it was definitely one of them.

In other car-related news, I'm always delighted to read that other people are noticing the same things I am: not only are car headlights too damn bright, but cars are too damn big.

...while bigger cars may be safer for their occupants, critics insist they are considerably less safe for other road users. "Whether you're in another car [or] a pedestrian, you're more likely to be seriously injured if there's a collision with one of these vehicles," argues Tim Dexter, vehicles policy manager at T&E. He is also concerned about the implications for cyclists.

Research carried out in 2023 by Belgium's Vias Institute, which aims to improve road safety, suggested that a 10cm (3.9in) increase in the height of a car bonnet could increase the risk of vulnerable road users being killed in a collision by 27%. T&E also highlights concerns that high bonnets can create blind spots.

This is also something I've read about in the U.S., thanks to Victoria Scott:

If, in the span of one year, 18 fully-loaded Boeing 747s crashed with no survivors, we’d reappraise airspace. We’d question how we build airplanes and how we train pilots. We would recognize this as a failure of the system, not as individual mistakes of 18 pilots. Our roads should be no different.

The good news is that we have sensible solutions in plain sight: lower speed limits, redesign intersections, build roads that prioritize pedestrians and cars equally, and most importantly, reward automakers for building smaller vehicles with better visibility. The bad news is these require some sacrifice from drivers. Safer roads have lower speed limits—likely enforced by ticketing in one form or another. These roads also require more concentration to drive on. SUVs and pickups would need to revert back to 90s sizing, and all of our cars would need to shrink. These are all a hard sell in America, admittedly, but until they happen, we keep losing lives needlessly.

I genuinely love cars, and I’ve owned some big trucks. I understand the appeal of high speeds and lifted rigs, and I’m loath to give them up. But even I can’t accept a future wherein 7,500 are killed each year, especially when the solutions are so tangible and the rewards so massive. I’d accept small sacrifices if thousands more could live decades longer. I hope the rest of America agrees.

anais_pf posting in

thefridayfive

These questions were suggested by

dray.

1. Do you know of any other words for snow? What's your favourite and why?

2. What's your ideal temperature range for winter?

3. Favourite winter activity? What about it makes it your favourite?

4. What are three things you can't do without when winter arrives?

5. Do you have favourite winter holiday activities?

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!

**Remember that we rely on you, our members, to help keep the community going. Also, please remember to play nice. We are all here to answer the questions and have fun each week. We repost the questions exactly as the original posters submitted them and request that all questions be checked for spelling and grammatical errors before they're submitted. Comments re: the spelling and grammatical nature of the questions are not necessary. Honestly, any hostile, rude, petty, or unnecessary comments need not be posted, either.**

scottishgenes_feed

Posted by Chris Paton

http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2026/03/myheritage-launches-new-scribe-ai-tool.html

With the arrival of Rootstech in the US, MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has announced the launch of a new AI based tool on its website called ScribeAI:

Introducing Scribe AI: Transcribe, Interpret, and Receive Fascinating Insights About Your Family’s Historical Documents and Photos, and MyHeritage Records

We’re excited to introduce Scribe AI, a powerful new feature on MyHeritage that transcribes, translates, and interprets historical family documents and photos. Simply upload an image file of a scanned handwritten letter, an old photograph, a gravestone, or a coat of arms, and Scribe AI will generate a clear transcription, translate it into your language if necessary, explain symbols and context, and suggest next steps for your research.

Caution is advised! This feature is highly addictive and genealogists we’ve given early access to this feature have become hooked, and can’t stop uploading more and more items for analysis! It would be fair to say that Scribe AI is one of the most important genealogical features we’ve added to MyHeritage in the past few years.

Watch the video below to see what Scribe AI can reveal:

Watch on YouTube

(Also available at https://youtu.be/zbbyRnBSPz8?si=5QkdRIdwMwM0i8_C)

If you’ve ever struggled to read an old family document, you’re not alone. Perhaps you’ve found yourself squinting at faded handwriting, trying to decipher unfamiliar script, or puzzling over a record written in a language you don’t speak. Maybe you’ve shared an image in a genealogy Facebook group or sent it around in a family chat asking, “Can anyone read this?”

Old family documents and photos often contain valuable information, but extracting that information can be frustrating and time-consuming. Scribe AI removes these barriers and does the work for you. Instead of guessing, crowdsourcing, or hiring an expert, you can get detailed answers quickly.

Scribe AI is currently available on the MyHeritage website and can be accessed through the browser on your computer or mobile device. Support for the MyHeritage mobile app will be added soon.

For further details visit https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/03/introducing-scribe-ai/ - for the tool itself, visit https://www.myheritage.com/scribe-ai

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2026/03/myheritage-launches-new-scribe-ai-tool.html

neonvincent

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: full
Current Location: House in the woods at the edge of town
Current Music: rain

dolorosa_12

I spent a delightful day working from home with the sunlight streaming in through all available (open!) windows, watching birds frolic around our new bird feeder. This latest batch of links has a similarly spring-like feeling — not all are cheerful and light-hearted, but there is a common theme of emerging into light and life.

The first three are all Ukrainian, sparked by the complicated emotions around the four anniversary of Russia's fullscale invasion, on 24th February:

The Kyiv Independent team — journalists, videographers, adminstrative staff and more — took readers behind the scenes to show the ingenuity and determination it took to survive this winter's Russian-inflicted energy crisis and carry on bringing their reporting to the world.

From Ukrainian Institute London, a panel discussion on 'culture as security'

And from chef and campaigner Olia Hercules, a video conversation with Dima Deinega, founder of an (excellent) UK-based Ukrainian vodka company, which ended up being one of the most life-affirming discussions I've experienced.

On other topics:

An interview in the Guardian about being a professional chef in Antarctica

Via

tozka, the Persephone Letter, which, to quote

tozka, They're subtle marketing, more about vibes, focused on sharing things similar to Persephone Books/the people who enjoy them then about blasting sales info or whatever. If I must be marketed to, I'd rather receive it in this manner: rambly, meandering newsletters or blog posts sprinkled with links to interesting things that give a fuller picture of the person or organisation behind it, rather than just a list of things to buy now.

(Incidentally, the Antarctica link came from a similar newsletter, this one from the Vanderlyle restaurant, which takes a similar approach.)

I think that's it for now.

Profile

feng_shui_house

February 2026

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Page Summary

kaffy_r - Dept. of This and That
princessofgeeks - In which Princess attends a Heated Rivalry dance party
olivermoss - (no subject)
china_shop - Me-and-media update
pattrose - Currently/last 2026
apnic_blog_feed - NIR updates at APRICOT 2026: IPv6 progress, RPKI plans, and strengthening coordination
alias_sqbr - Twenty Questions for Fic Writers
stonepicnicking_okapi - Poet's Corner: Verlaine Boit by Antoin Artaud
princessofgeeks - and now a moment for the flaming dumpster fire of my country
ailbhe - Use Lion With Egg
amarie24 - So About my Mother and a House
musesfool - When I'm falling I'm at peace
marina - (no subject)
tielan - passing me by
cosmolinguist - Car shit
anais_pf in thefridayfive - The Friday Five for 6 March 2026
scottishgenes_feed - MyHeritage launches new Scribe AI tool
neonvincent - A video I shared at MeWe and Facebook for Marching Music Day
dolorosa_12 - A linkpost for the northern spring
sinvulkt in fandomcalendar - Star Wars: Vaderkin Creative Exchange 2026

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feng_shui_house

Network

Dept. of This and That

In which Princess attends a Heated Rivalry dance party

(no subject)

Me-and-media update

Currently/last 2026

NIR updates at APRICOT 2026: IPv6 progress, RPKI plans, and strengthening coordination

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Poet's Corner: Verlaine Boit by Antoin Artaud

and now a moment for the flaming dumpster fire of my country

Use Lion With Egg

So About my Mother and a House

When I'm falling I'm at peace

(no subject)

passing me by

Car shit

The Friday Five for 6 March 2026

MyHeritage launches new Scribe AI tool

A video I shared at MeWe and Facebook for Marching Music Day

A linkpost for the northern spring

Star Wars: Vaderkin Creative Exchange 2026

Profile

February 2026

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Page Summary

Style Credit

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