An outing with style
Jan. 7th, 2026 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kazzy_ceeYesterday I braved the colder weather and travelled to the V&A in London to see their exhibition Marie Antoinette Style.
Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) was born an Archduchess in Austria and became the Queen of France in 1774 when her husband, King Louis XVI, ascended the throne (having married him four years earlier when she was 14). She was a patron of the arts and a style icon, and the exhibition examines her style and influence on fashion right up until the present day.
One of the first things you see when you enter the exhibition is the wonderful portrait by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (one of my favourite artists). Marie Antoinette is only 23 in this portrait.
The artist described the queen's appearance: "Her features were not regular; she inherited the long and narrow oval face peculiar to her Austrian nationality. Her eyes were rather small, their colour was nearly blue; her expression was intelligent and gentle. Her nose was small and pretty, and her mouth was not too big. But the most remarkable thing about her face was the brilliance of her complexion."
Many of the items owned by Marie Antoinette were sold, stolen or went missing following the French Revolution, which ended her life at 37. Even so, the exhibition was huge, with dresses, jewels, personal items, fabrics, furniture and artwork, and there are many photos under the cut of things she owned, styles she influenced and modern interpretations...
( Read more... )
Apologies for the picpam - but it was a wonderful exhibition and I had so many favourite things. It closes in March this year and it well worth visiting. When I came out of the V&A it was snowing again, but it was worth the trip.
Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) was born an Archduchess in Austria and became the Queen of France in 1774 when her husband, King Louis XVI, ascended the throne (having married him four years earlier when she was 14). She was a patron of the arts and a style icon, and the exhibition examines her style and influence on fashion right up until the present day.
One of the first things you see when you enter the exhibition is the wonderful portrait by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (one of my favourite artists). Marie Antoinette is only 23 in this portrait.
The artist described the queen's appearance: "Her features were not regular; she inherited the long and narrow oval face peculiar to her Austrian nationality. Her eyes were rather small, their colour was nearly blue; her expression was intelligent and gentle. Her nose was small and pretty, and her mouth was not too big. But the most remarkable thing about her face was the brilliance of her complexion."
Many of the items owned by Marie Antoinette were sold, stolen or went missing following the French Revolution, which ended her life at 37. Even so, the exhibition was huge, with dresses, jewels, personal items, fabrics, furniture and artwork, and there are many photos under the cut of things she owned, styles she influenced and modern interpretations...
( Read more... )
Apologies for the picpam - but it was a wonderful exhibition and I had so many favourite things. It closes in March this year and it well worth visiting. When I came out of the V&A it was snowing again, but it was worth the trip.
PSA to US people
Jan. 7th, 2026 01:06 pmrydra_wongAs well as Venezuela, I think you might want to start phoning your representatives and screaming about how very much you do not think the US should invade and occupy Greenland.
I don't know how it's being reported on in the US, but it's looking extremely imminent over here:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/06/trump-greenland-control-us-military
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/france-and-allies-discuss-possible-response-to-donald-trump-us-invasion-of-greenland
https://news.sky.com/story/trump-is-likely-gambling-he-could-get-away-with-greenland-grab-as-nato-needs-us-more-than-he-needs-it-13491116
I don't know how it's being reported on in the US, but it's looking extremely imminent over here:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/06/trump-greenland-control-us-military
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/france-and-allies-discuss-possible-response-to-donald-trump-us-invasion-of-greenland
https://news.sky.com/story/trump-is-likely-gambling-he-could-get-away-with-greenland-grab-as-nato-needs-us-more-than-he-needs-it-13491116
Interesting Links for 07-01-2026
Jan. 7th, 2026 12:01 pmandrewducker- 1. How LEGO made its new Smart Bricks
- (tags:lego Technology viaSwampers )
- 2. Why managing Donald Trump will be far more important than defending international law for Keir Starmer in Paris
- (tags:politics ukraine greenland usa uk europe )
- 3. Nvidia unveils self-driving car tech
- (tags:nvidia driving automation )
- 4. False Hydra (a suggested gaming monster that's delightfully creepy in a way I haven't seen in a while)
- (tags:monsters roleplaying )
Tags:
- automation,
- driving,
- europe,
- greenland,
- lego,
- links,
- monsters,
- nvidia,
- politics,
- roleplaying,
- technology,
- uk,
- ukraine,
- usa,
- viaswampers
The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, Jan 6)
Jan. 7th, 2026 06:26 amspikedluvI hit Walmart while I was downtown, the library to return books on my way to visit mom, and Stewart’s on the way home from mom’s. It was my first in-person visit with her since Christmas Day!
I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I made kielbasa for Pip’s supper.
Started another Amelia Peabody book, the last that takes place in the current timeline rather than going back. I watched an episode of House Hunters International and Secrets of the Zoo. I forgot to mention that my tea box arrived today! (It's this one. Link goes to Amazon.)
My ‘trying to be better about healthy eating’ win today was staying out of the Valentine’s candy aisles. o_O
Temps started out at 26.9(F). This morning’s low is higher than yesterday’s high, though it’s only supposed to get up to 32. We’ll see . . . Well, it actually reached 41.0!! And there was sun, briefly. But then it almost immediately started going down because we were supposed to have rain, freezing rain, and a wintery mix coming in. Not fun. I’m already planning to leave the house later than usual tomorrow morning (presuming the roads are even good enough to travel ~then).
Mom Update:
I saw mom today and she was looking okay. Honestly, not as good as she sounded on the phone. Still very weak. I helped her write out some papers for her income taxes and with lunch. She has a meeting tomorrow (now today, Wednesday) with someone from hospice. I only know because her PCP office called while I was there and she told them; she said she hasn’t told anyone. I don’t know if she didn’t want anyone else there because she wanted to handle it herself or because she didn’t want one of us to have to deal with it?
I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I made kielbasa for Pip’s supper.
Started another Amelia Peabody book, the last that takes place in the current timeline rather than going back. I watched an episode of House Hunters International and Secrets of the Zoo. I forgot to mention that my tea box arrived today! (It's this one. Link goes to Amazon.)
My ‘trying to be better about healthy eating’ win today was staying out of the Valentine’s candy aisles. o_O
Temps started out at 26.9(F). This morning’s low is higher than yesterday’s high, though it’s only supposed to get up to 32. We’ll see . . . Well, it actually reached 41.0!! And there was sun, briefly. But then it almost immediately started going down because we were supposed to have rain, freezing rain, and a wintery mix coming in. Not fun. I’m already planning to leave the house later than usual tomorrow morning (presuming the roads are even good enough to travel ~then).
Mom Update:
I saw mom today and she was looking okay. Honestly, not as good as she sounded on the phone. Still very weak. I helped her write out some papers for her income taxes and with lunch. She has a meeting tomorrow (now today, Wednesday) with someone from hospice. I only know because her PCP office called while I was there and she told them; she said she hasn’t told anyone. I don’t know if she didn’t want anyone else there because she wanted to handle it herself or because she didn’t want one of us to have to deal with it?
Things learned in December
Jan. 7th, 2026 11:46 amtinnyI was unfortunately not very consistent about writing down things in December. Once I realized on December 6 that I'd already forgotten three things again that I'd failed to note down, my motivation dropped considerably for the next two weeks. Which is why there are now only
( 8 (+2 related) things I learned in December )
( 8 (+2 related) things I learned in December )
Not quite 365 days meme questions
Jan. 7th, 2026 01:13 ampattrose7. In 1803, Henri Herz, an Austrian pianist and composer, was born in Vienna, Austria. Have you ever learned the piano? If not, would you like to?
I took lessons for a year with my brother Dan. After the year he was playing classical music and played the organ at the church on Sundays. I on the other hand could play one piece called the spider dance. Our teacher told my mom I just didn't have it. It took me a year to play one song. Let that sink in. And you would think I would dislike my brother for his talent, but I worshiped him. He was like an angel. He worked with me for a year on singing lessons. He told me my voice was like an angel. I realized that people do certain things well and others not at all. We sang together for the next eight years. Best time of my life. It all started with the piano lessons. Now aren't you glad you read this? 😂😂 oh, I still talk to him once a month for two hours. We're very close. This is a pic of him. He's a religious artist and the stain glasses window behind him is one of the many in his house. His home is gorgeous.
I took lessons for a year with my brother Dan. After the year he was playing classical music and played the organ at the church on Sundays. I on the other hand could play one piece called the spider dance. Our teacher told my mom I just didn't have it. It took me a year to play one song. Let that sink in. And you would think I would dislike my brother for his talent, but I worshiped him. He was like an angel. He worked with me for a year on singing lessons. He told me my voice was like an angel. I realized that people do certain things well and others not at all. We sang together for the next eight years. Best time of my life. It all started with the piano lessons. Now aren't you glad you read this? 😂😂 oh, I still talk to him once a month for two hours. We're very close. This is a pic of him. He's a religious artist and the stain glasses window behind him is one of the many in his house. His home is gorgeous.
On the D&D front...
Jan. 7th, 2026 12:50 amsettiaiIt's been several weeks since I played any D&D at all, and I've missed it a lot.
My Wednesday game has been on break the last two weeks because of people having plans for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, which wasn't particularly unexpected once we realized both of those holidays fell on Wednesdays this year. We're supposed to be back this week, though, so hopefully nothing happens to push it back. 🤞🏻
... although that reminds me that I still haven't recorded the summary video of the last game. Oops. I should get that done during my lunch break so that I can get it uploaded.
My Friday game has been on hiatus since mid-October because A. the DM desperately needed a mental health break and B. a number of people were going to be unavailable in November and/or December. Right now, the plan is that we're going to start back next week. One player may still be unavailable for a while because of work reasons, but we've got a plan for where her character will be for a bit.
And then there's my Sunday game, which went on hiatus at the end of November. It's a bit more up in the air at the moment when it will start back. One of the players is in the middle of planning his wedding and another is currently in Ireland until the end of February, as they're visiting their boyfriend (and presumably soon-to-be-fiancé if things work out well) to see if living together more long-term works out. She also plans on moving to Ireland if things do work out, so making sure it's somewhere they could see themself living long-term is important too.
We took all of December off just because everyone's schedules were super busy, but as far as I'm aware the plan is that we might have some mini sessions here and there in January and February. We're doing a time skip in the game, so there's lots of opportunities for one or two characters to have some side adventures. Plus we can shift times and even days around a bit for those, depending on people's availability.
The plan is that we'll be back to playing regularly in March once the currently-in-Ireland player is back in the United States, but we'll see if that changes at all.
My Wednesday game has been on break the last two weeks because of people having plans for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, which wasn't particularly unexpected once we realized both of those holidays fell on Wednesdays this year. We're supposed to be back this week, though, so hopefully nothing happens to push it back. 🤞🏻
... although that reminds me that I still haven't recorded the summary video of the last game. Oops. I should get that done during my lunch break so that I can get it uploaded.
My Friday game has been on hiatus since mid-October because A. the DM desperately needed a mental health break and B. a number of people were going to be unavailable in November and/or December. Right now, the plan is that we're going to start back next week. One player may still be unavailable for a while because of work reasons, but we've got a plan for where her character will be for a bit.
And then there's my Sunday game, which went on hiatus at the end of November. It's a bit more up in the air at the moment when it will start back. One of the players is in the middle of planning his wedding and another is currently in Ireland until the end of February, as they're visiting their boyfriend (and presumably soon-to-be-fiancé if things work out well) to see if living together more long-term works out. She also plans on moving to Ireland if things do work out, so making sure it's somewhere they could see themself living long-term is important too.
We took all of December off just because everyone's schedules were super busy, but as far as I'm aware the plan is that we might have some mini sessions here and there in January and February. We're doing a time skip in the game, so there's lots of opportunities for one or two characters to have some side adventures. Plus we can shift times and even days around a bit for those, depending on people's availability.
The plan is that we'll be back to playing regularly in March once the currently-in-Ireland player is back in the United States, but we'll see if that changes at all.
Pass It On 6
Jan. 7th, 2026 12:34 aminnitmarvelous_og posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
iconthat
LINK: https://i.imgur.com/V5XvZsV.jpg
Next: Andor Season 2 (Star Wars)
Pass It On 6
Jan. 6th, 2026 11:09 pmnarnialover7 posting in iconthat
https://i.postimg.cc/ZR3pg6Nm/pass-it-on-8.png
Spencer Brown (Buffalo Bills Football Player)
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Round 157 Runoff
Jan. 6th, 2026 09:53 pmxandromedovna posting in fic_rushTicky box won by a landslide again? Sure Jan... So considering there's a three-way tie and the majority have no strong opinion, we're doing a runoff poll featuring the two January options with the most Mods available and a skip option. This time around ticky box will be celebrating its victory and is not available, meaning you can choose only one.
Poll #34054 Round 157 Runoff
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14
No but actually, when should we have the next Round?
View Answers
9-11 Jan
6 (42.9%)
16-18 Jan
7 (50.0%)
neither, ask again in February
1 (7.1%)
I literally could not care less
0 (0.0%)