dcslash | Member Posts

It's Friday! And while it may not be a long weekend, especially since I'm working tomorrow, it is going to be 1 3/4 days with nothing planned. Fortunately, we have a metric ton of videos about our ship, and about cruising that we can watch.

Jess' surgery is now in 6 days! It's creeping up! They feel like time is crawling, I know. But it'll be next Thursday in no time!

We're staying in Chevy Chase the night before the surgery. Jess needs to be there about 10am (assuming that the surgery time doesn't get moved due to cancellations) which would have put us in the heart of rush hour. Just wasn't worth the risk of being late. Instead, we're staying about 5 minutes away. And the hotel has breakfast for me, which will be nice. I won't have to schlep to the cafeteria to get shitty coffee.

Yesterday, I was so tired. I had too much sleep debt and I was dragging. I went to bed, and fell asleep before I knew it. I don't even remember if we did our normal podcast. I just crashed. I feel much less tired today, which is nice.

My suitcase came yesterday! It's enormous and gorgeous. I got a dark blue, because I figured that would be easier to pick out on the carousel. I also got my second "formal night" dress. It's from Lane Bryant and is just as pretty as I thought it would be. It's this dress right here.

Today, some fleece lined leggings should arrive. I think that's it. Lands end still hasn't shipped my order, which is annoying, and Universal Standard just sent me the shipping info, but it hasn't gone out yet.

That is about all that I ordered so far. I do think I'm going to look for different underwear. The ones I have now are not moisture wicking at all. Bras I'm okay on, definitely need more socks, though. But they can be next paycheck, or the paycheck after that. No rush. It's still 247 days before we leave.

Okay, time go get myself together for work. Everyone have an outstanding Friday!

silver_chipmunk

I got up around 10:00 again, and had breakfast and coffee. I got a phone call from Duane Read that the prescriptions that my psychiatrist sent and that insurance wouldn't pay for just yet, were ready. Which is good because I only had a few days of one left.

So I showered and dressed, and headed in to Flushing to Duane Reade. Got there while they were still on lunch (it took less time to get there than I estimated) so I waited on line. Then they could only find one prescription and I had to wait while they looked for the other. But they found it and I paid and left.

I had been planning on going directly to Bowne Park from there but I forgot to bring my book, and I figured I should leave off the meds anyway, so I went back to my apartment, dropped off the meds, and tucked my book, Seven Wild Sisters by Charles De Lint, into my purse, and took the 16 bus to Bowne Park. Waited a long time for the bus, too.

Bowne Park is the one we call the turtle park. Also the one where my Al-anon meeting was held til we got the church last year. I walked to the pond, and sat on a bench by the big willow trees for awhile. Then I walked around the pond, admiring the three fountains, and the turtles sunning on the small island.

Then I walked to the playground, where I discovered a Little Free Library! So there's somewhere near by where I can bring a few books to give away. I walked around the playground, then back to the pond again, and sat down in the little section of benches. I finished reading my book there, and then I walked back to the bus stop and took the bus home. Luckily one got there almost immediately.

Then I puttered around playing solitaire and fiddling on the computer until 7:00 when I attempted to Team the FWiB. We had serious technical issues this time, it took til almost 7:30 before we were successfully connected.

As a result, we were still talking at 8:30 when I had him hold on and called middle Brother. He is fine, had a cookout on Labor Day and enjoyed it.

Got back on with the FWiB and talked til almost 9:00. Then I had dinner, and puttered online, including listening to Sex With Ducks on Youtube, til pet feeding time, when I fed the pets and started here.

I texted the Kid about going to the park and she responded, asked me about the turtles.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Got my meds.

3. The turtles are still there.

4. Bowne Park Little Free Library.

5. Middle Brother is well.

6. Good books.

Current Mood: cheerful

hannah

Coming down the stairs, I arrive at the same time an elevator opens at the other end of the hall: two adults, one stroller, one toddler. The toddler looks my way. I wave. The toddler starts coming my way. I wave again, and one adult tries to stop them, then gives up as they keep going, fast as they can, the adult following just behind as they finally get across the long, long hallway to reach me.

The adult with them advises reaching out a hand for a high-five, and the hand's offered. I give them a handshake, saying it's very nice to meet them.

And we're all on our way, happier for it.

Current Mood: touched
Current Music: Live That Way Forever - Richard Reed Parry

beanside

I slept much better last night, thankfully. Of course, now I am somewhat stiff from laying in one place without moving all night. I got up around 3 to hit the bathroom, and immediately fell back asleep when I got back into bed. It was lovely.

Nothing planned today, just going to work and then relax. Maybe I'll cook dinner, maybe not. I've got stuff to make grown up grilled cheese--boursin cheese, gouda and green apples. You use the vegetable peeler to make thin strips of apple, to make it easy to eat. It's very tasty. You can do variations, but I like the plain old sandwich. Though I do love proscuttio and Serrano jamon.

I need to see which of the butchers we used had the beef for cream chipped beef. I never used it for that, just as a snack, and I'm kind of craving it.

We had game last night, which was super fun, despite being tired. My character is quietly turning into a femme fatale. Just, you know, a senior citizen femme fatale. They're trying to find information on where our friend Andy's girlfriend is being held, and she's wearing an ivory colored pantsuit. She knows that the antagonist's husband has the hots for her, so she decided to take the shirt off from under the jacket, to properly show off her chest region in hopes that she could get him to spill. Barring that, she's a master at throat punching.

I'm going to need life to be slightly less shitty to my friends. I've got one, who is a singer and musician by trade, who is having horrible sore throat and the doctor says that she's too young for it to be something dire, so they're not ordering the tests for anything. I want to go over to Scandinavia and kick that doctor.

Much more likely, I want to go to a friend's work and smack someone. (This one is only an hour away!) The one thing that's saving them is that we're avoiding going out until after Jess' surgery.

Down to 1 week now!

We don't have any more games between now and then, which is weird. A lot of people are away this week, so we didn't schedule anything. I haven't been enjoying one shots as much as campaigns, so I'm not running one, though I was tempted.

Some of my stuff came yesterday, which was nice. I now have warm, rainproof baseball hats, with ear flaps. Also some luggage tags. Today, our first suitcase comes, which will be nice.

And on that note, I shall go forth and get myself some more coffee and get dressed. Everyone have an awesome Thursday!

svgurl

smallweb is running Small Web September, a month long event for anyone to make progress on a small web project.

allbingo is running Piracy Fest Bingo. There are pre-made cards or you can use the available prompts to create your own.

trickortreatex, a multifandom exchange inspired by Halloween (though you don't have to celebrate or are restricted to create around the holiday), is open for nominations until September 8th, 11:59PM UTC.

makeupex, a Magic Girl Exchange (all fandoms welcome), is running a Flash Exchange. Both nominations and sign-ups are open until September 8th, 11:59PM EDT.

fandommixtapeex, an 18+ multi-fandom exchange using songs as work prompts, is accepting nominations until September 9th, 11:59PM EDT. More info, including schedule/rules/links can be found HERE

fandom_empire has opened sign-ups for their Bingo Challenge until September 10th.

fffx, a multifandom gift exchange with minimums of 10,000+ words for fic and comicsof 40+ panels (min 9 pages) or 10+ pages (min 36 panels) for art, has opened sign-ups until September 11th, 11:59PM EDT. Also nominations will be reopened so you can add a max of 3 fandoms/3 requests per fandom.

festivids, a rare fandom vidding exchange, is open for nominations until September 12th.

communal_creators, a challenge to set goals to create/work on/finish projects and encourage others to do the same, is open for sign-ups until September 14th.

fourormore, a community for ships with 4+ people, is running a Four or More Ficathon. Prompting is open until September 21st.

fancake's theme of the month is: food and cooking. Click on the banner below to find out more!

Photograph of steel spoons and spices in a dramatic setting with added text that gives it the look of a gourmet magazine cover: September 2025. Food & Cooking, at Fancake. Steel teaspoons are arranged in an elogated oval to suggest a fish, with the bowls acting as scales and some of the handles left visible to create the fins and tail, giving the creature a spiky appearance. The concave bowls are dusted with a powdery orange spice for color and one spoon at the front of the fish is filled with a coarse black spice to create an eye. The fish is on a black surface with a rough texture and around it are three skinny green peppers, a mound of salt, a mound of orange spice, and a dipping bowl filled with a clear amber liquid.

hannah

It's now been suggested to me that, like job applications, I cast a much wider net in terms of sending out novel queries and pitches. The logic's fairly sound, and I can't recall if there's any specific advice or industry information I've gotten to have me disregard it out of hand. I've heard that it's good to tailor queries to specific agents, but in terms of not sending out plenty of queries, I'm drawing a blank. So maybe there's something to it. To doing something, at least.

In the absence of going anywhere, whether to gigs or the movies or out with friends, it's as good a use of my time as any I can think of.

Current Mood: moody
Current Music: nothing now

silver_chipmunk

Got up a bit after 10:00 and had breakfast and coffee. Then I logged into Netflix to check on Wednesday, and sure enough the new episodes were up.

So I sat and watched three of the four. I've saved the last for later. It was a lot of fun. I do hope there will be a third season cause this is very entertaining.

Then I showered and dressed, and lay down for awhile til it was time to go and pick up my laundry. On the way I got hit in the head by the hatchback of some a-hole's car. Fortunately no damage seems to have been done, but it hurt. I yelled at him some, an then stalked off.

I stopped in the discount store for some pencils and then I got the laundry. Opening it up, I got out my fuzzy zebra striped pants, and my SHarecon tee shirt. Sadly the stain stick did not work very well, the shirt is still stained pretty badly. I packed it anyway.

Then I used the new pencils to do my character sheet for tonight's Monster of the Week game. I had fun doing that.

Then at 7:00 I tried to Team the FWiB. Again there were technical issues. Again, we got through them and had a nice talk til 8:00 when it was time for Monster of the Week.

And Discord on this computer is a DISASTER. I don't know what I'm going to do about it. I may have to keep the old one out just to use for gaming. We'll see.

Anyway, got through the session, we're still creating characters and our party. Next week we start gaming for real I hope.

Fed the pets and had dinner, then started here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Wasn't really hurt by the idiot with his hatchback.

3. Clean laundry.

4. New episodes of Wednesday.

5. My gaming group.

6. Nice late summer weather.

Current Mood: good

beanside

It's Wednesday and good lord I'm tired. I've had a couple of shitty sleep nights in the last couple of days, including last night where I could. not. get. to. sleep. It was annoying and I did not enjoy it.

Yesterday was a quiet day. My back was really bothering me, so after I finished work, I had a gummy and relaxed. They definitely help the pain, and only seem to make me a bit mellow, so that's nice. We just made fish filets and fries, so that was pretty labor light. Not sure what I'm making tonight. I really want the box of Kraft mac and cheese in my pantry, so it might be that.

I did not realize how angry I am about our current regime until I was replying to a friend's post this morning. I'm angry that I have to go about my normal life while the world burns down, and angry that my plans for our trip feel silly and frivolous because of it. And I can't do anything about it. I can call and write my senators and reps, which I do, but they don't seem to be doing anything. I'm fed up with 90% of the democratic party, honestly. I'm still going to vote for them, but with a handful of exceptions (Looking at you Mamdani and Pritzker.) I don't feel like they're willing to break the status quo. They're not angry enough. Much as I hate to borrow a line from a sex pest: Angry gets shit done. So I'm going to need them to get angry real fucking soon.

In other news, Jess' surgery is now 8 days away! I think we've got everything we need at this point for their recuperation. I think the hardest part is going to be the inactivity. The first few weeks, they can't lift anything over 2lbs. It's going to be tough for them to sit and relax.

My packages started arriving yesterday. I went on a bit of a spree, getting things we'll need for our trip. Yesterday, I got a windbreaker jacket and a fleece shirt. I love this fucking fleece. I want to burrow in it and not come out. Today, our hats and luggage tags, tomorrow more stuff, and then on Thursday one of our big luggage bags. Need to clean out the foyer closet to put those. I'm done buying for the moment. Now I'm just going to settle my ass down. I'm really looking forward to my Lands End order, but it still hasn't shipped.

We're slowly amassing what we need for May in Alaska, which also coincides with what we'll need for Maryland in winter. It's almost time to switch over to long leggings instead of shorts. I can't wait for the cooler weather to hit. It's been relatively cool for the last few week, in the high 70's and low 80's, and I've been enjoying it. Friday it's supposed to hit 86, but next week, we're back in the 70's. They're predicting nice weather for Jess' surgery day, which is nice. I hate DC traffic enough without adding weather into it.

We're going to our hotel on Wednesday evening, probably arriving around 8. Right now, surgery is scheduled for 12, which means getting to the hospital at 10am. There's no roundabouts going to the hotel, and one going to the hospital. I'll allow extra time to arrive, of course. It's almost guaranteed that I'll miss the exit from the roundabout the first time.

Okay, time for me to hop off and start preparing for work. I need to hard boil some eggs for breakfast. Everyone have an outstanding Wednesday!

silver_chipmunk

Got up at 10:00ish, and had breakfast and coffee. Showered and dressed, and took the laundry down.

Spent quite a long time anxiously waiting for the mail because the Informed Delivery showed I was getting some mail that looked important and ominous. And of course the mail was late today, didn't come til 4:00. And there was nothing to be worried about anyway when it finally did come.

While I was waiting I took out the garbage too, and walked around the block. So I got some exercise today between that and the laundry.

After the mail came, I did some computer things, including refilling the ink in the printer. I also played a lot of solitaire on my phone.

Finally at 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB. Again there were technical issues. I think part of the problem is that this computer is much slower than the old one.

Anyway, we talked til it was time for my Al-anon meeting by Zoom. It was the first time I had a meeting from this computer, and there was a little issue, but I got it going and it worked fine.

Then I had dinner, and went to the bedroom. I texted the Kid about cat wipes because L from Friday night wanted to know, and I texted

mashfanficchick just on general principles.

So that's all there is for today. Tomorrow I pick up the laundry and find out if the stain stick cleaned up my SHarecon tee shirt. Also tomorrow the new episodes of Wednesday drop, yay!

And that's about it for today.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Soon have clean laundry.

3. Got refunds for some copays from Lenox Hill Radiology, that's what the ominouslooking mail was.

4. The kid.

5.

mashfanficchick.

6. My meetings and the people there.

Current Mood: good

beanside

And it's back to work day. Ew. It's always bugfuck crazy the day after a holiday and I am not looking forward to it.

What I am looking forward to is that it is now 9 days til Jess' top surgery! We're in single digits! I'm anxious, though not so much about the surgery, more about the travel. I loathe DC traffic with the power of a thousand suns. Roundabouts are my personal rival. We shall get there, though. There's a chance that Jess gets out of recovery around 3-4, which is going to put us in major traffic. If that happens, I suggested getting a hotel room for a few hours, just long enough for traffic to ease up, and then head out when we're not going to be in either DC or Baltimore traffic just to make it easier on both of us. Plus, then we could have dinner in the comfort of the hotel room. Or, alternately, if Jess is feeling up to it, we'll go have dinner and relax. Hopefully, this is all a moot point, and they get out of surgery early, and we just go. I know they're going to want their own bed, so we'll see how things happen.

I did absolutely nothing except have my monthly psych appt yesterday. My back was super pissed off for no reason at all, so I did something I've not done before. I had a cannabis gummy. Well, half of one. It definitely helped my back, and put me in a happy relaxed state. I considered taking a nap, but instead, we watched youtube videos of the ship on the TV. I love smart TVs with all the apps. Some of these streamers did their videos in 4k, so it seems sad not to take advantage of it.

The other night, I went ahead and booked our whale watching tour. I booked the private tour, which means that we can take up to 6 people on it. That way, if we end up taking a 3rd person with us, we'd be good. We've offered the slot to someone and should have a decision soon. But I was super nervous about the whale watching filling up, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I also booked a 7 day pass to the thermal spa. I want to be able to go lay on the heated loungers like a lizard.

Okay, time to gird my loins for patients today. Ugh. Everyone have an outstanding Tuesday!

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This is what I wrote for

seasonsofdrabbles. :)

Title: (together) we'll make it through
Fandom: MCU
Pairing/Characters: Steve & Sam
Rating: G
Word Count: 200
Summary: Sam survives the snap and learns to adjust.

Title: girls just wanna have fun
Fandom: MCU
Pairing/Characters: Natasha & Pepper
Rating: G
Word Count: 300
Summary: A long overdue vacation

svgurl

seasonsofdrabbles had creator reveals for their Summer 2025 Round collection and this is what I got. :)

Title: Just in Time
Author:

Griddlebone
Fandom: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Pairing/Characters: Kimberly/Tommy
Word Count: 100
Summary: Kimberly effects a daring rescue.

Always love them and especially when Kim gets to be the one to save the day!

Title: Take both my hands, spin me around
Author:

underfallingstars
Fandom: Ted Lasso
Pairing/Characters: Sam/Jamie
Word Count: 300
Summary: The restaurant's closed and everyone has left, but Jamie is still there

This was so cute! Here for the pining and how sweet they are together.

silver_chipmunk

Got up this morning at 10:00 because I wanted to actually do something to make labor Day special, not just sleep. I had breakfast and coffee, and showered and washed my hair.

I got dressed, I wore the green AFSME tee shirt I got at the march. Then I put my book in my purse and headed to the big park in College Point. Herman A MacNeil park, it is.

I went to my bus stop, at 35 on Linden. Then I discovered that the 25 has been temporarily rerouted to 35th and Fairington. So I went up 35th and found the stop. Only to see a bus zip past on Linden. So I went back to Linden to wait for the next bus. Which made the turn onto 35 towards Fairington. Fortunately I had time to make it the half block to the stop because someone getting out tol the driver I was coming. So I made the bus and got to the park.

I was worried with the Queens bus reorganization it might not go to the park any more, but it does, so I got out and walked around the park for about an hour. Then just as I got back to the playground, the Mr. Softee ice cream truck showed up! I couldn't resist. My one Mr. Softee of the summer. A vanilla cone with chocolate sprinkles. My regular.

I sat in the playground to eat it, and stayed there for awhile, then finally went up the hill to my favorite tree and sat and read. I texted the Kid abut seeing a parrot nest, and two parrots, but she didn't answer.

I also texted

mashfanficchick and ze did answer so we had a brief text conversation.

Finally at 4:00 I got up and walked some more, ending up at the bus stop. I got the bus home (which went down Linden, not Fairington, go figure).

After I got here I got my laundry together to take down tomorrow, and I started packing for SHarecon. A bit early but I wanted to make sure I could find all my Starsky and Hutch tee shirts for the con. Plus I needed to treat one with a laundry stain remover stick and put it in the laundry.

After that I came out to the living room to use the computer, and I looked up the SHarecon hotel phone number so I can call them from the train station and make sure the shuttle comes. I also paid the SHarecon food payment, and I paid for the perscription drugs I just got by mail.

At 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB, no technical difficulties this time, I think I figured out what was the problem. We talked for almost an hour and a half, so that was nice.

Then I had dinner, and then I went to the bedroom to play solitaire on my phone. I did that til pet feeding time, and then I fed the pets and here I am.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. I got a free book from Thriftbooks.

3. The big park.

4. New York City parrots.

5. Labor Day and the unions that made it possible.

6. Mr. Softee.

Current Mood: cheerful

ride_4ever

Here's what I wrote for the 19th Annual Bring Back The Porn Challenge.

Title: Hotter Otter
Author:

ride_4ever
Fandom and Pairing: due South; Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 200 words (double drabble)
Summary: Negotiations during sex: RayK wants something that Fraser isn't quick to give but eventually relents.
No Archive Warnings Apply

Fic on AO3.

Current Mood: porny
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

hannah

Three weeks to the day of Rosh Hashanah is an auspicious way to start a month. The season as a whole, really. It's not summer right now, no matter what produce I can find in the markets - it hasn't been for a while now, I just haven't admitted it yet. This year it ended for me on the 18th, waking up the morning after a big gullywasher cleaned out the last of the lingering humidity and giving me two weeks of the kind of days that wind up in movies and on postcards. And now it's September, with fall officially beginning.

Yes, that was the day after the Tom Cruise retrospective wrapped.

I've still got some cherries and rhubarb and plums in my fridge, and a quarter of a honeydew melon. The melon and cherries won't last much longer. But I'm not cooking with pumpkin until October, if I can help it.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: nothing now

beanside

It's a monday that I don't have to go to work, and that's awesome! I'm thoroughly enjoying being a giant sloth the last couple of days. Aside from game on Saturday, I've done absolutely nothing. The highlight was a trip to the dispensary Saturday afternoon.

Yesterday, especially was a lowkey day. 90% of it, I spent on the couch. The first of packages for the vacation showed up. I now have a very comfy pair of waterproof hiking boots from orthofeet. They fit really well, and I think they'll be excellent for walking around. Shoe wise, I still need to get a pair of slides for the pool and spa. We also got our new camera, an EOS 50. I'm learning how to use it, which should be a lot of fun. As per expected, the first few pictures on it are dog pictures. Today I shall do a cat picture or two and see how it favors boodle.

We watched the Thursday Murder Club, which was very good. The cast was fucking amazing, but good lord the ending was rough, and had both Jess and me crying. It was lovely to see so many great British actors together. It looked like they were having a lot of fun. My love for Pierce Brosnan continues unabated, Tom Ellis was adorable, and David Tennant was chewing scenery all over the place.

After that, we watched some videos about the ship we're taking, the Konigsdam. There was a full ship walk through, which was very nice to give one a bit of an idea where things are. Then, some more recent tours of our suite, which looks amazing. Last a couple of travelogues about the entertainment on the ship.

I'm looking forward to sea days as much as the ports, honestly. The ship looks amazing, and like there's always something to do.

Today, I plan to do more nothing. Maybe watch some more videos, contemplate my navel, all the usual stuff. I didn't sleep great last night, so I may even take a nap later. We'll see.

For now, my lovely spouse is up, so I'm going to spend some time with them. Everyone have an amazing Labor Day!

duskpeterson

BLOG FICTION

Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.

Latest installments:

The Royal Sanctuary: The inscriptions.

The Royal Sanctuary: The sling.

The Royal Sanctuary: The statue.

EARLY ACCESS

A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands: Novel and Side Stories (Crossing Worlds), which includes an expanded version of Deadly Introductions, is now available to my Patreon and Ream readers. The omnibus will go into general release next month.

NEWS

Early access previews at Patreon and Ream

I'm now providing one-month-early previews of my new e-book fiction through Patreon and Ream. I want to give a treat to readers who financially support me, while still making those stories quickly available to the rest of my readers. The early access model seems to be the best way to handle that.

( General news and upcoming fiction )

( Ways to offer me a tip, financial or nonfinancial )

silver_chipmunk

Slept late and then got up and had breakfast and coffee. Then I put in a rather expensive Shipt order.

While I was waiting for that to be delivered, I did more stuff with the new computer and the old one. The major thing was getting the printer hooked up to the new one, and I was successful in that!

After the Shipt order was delivered, and I put it away, I went late to the Starsky and Hutch creative work session. I got some writing done (One of the things I did earlier was move the incomplete things I've been writing to the new computer) and had a lot of fun chatting.

We finally closed somewhat after 6:00, and I then took the time to change and clean up the kitty litter. I also formally unplugged and put away the old computer, and moved the new one to the spot on the coffee table where the old one was.

Then I Teamed the FWiB. Again we had serious trouble connecting, but again we were finally able to. We talked until 8:30, and then I got off and called Middle Brother. He is fine, looking forward to labor Day tomorrow.

Then I made dinner and ate, and finally went into the bedroom. I called the Kid, and was pleasantly surprised she actually answered. We had a nice conversation. I asked her about my oncologist visit on the 17th, but just as I suspected, now that she's working she can't take me. LIRR and Uber it'll have to be.

Got off, and played solitaire on the phone until pet feeding time, and now here I am.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.

3. Got the printer hooked up.

4. The Kid.

5. Middle Brother is good.

6. Labor Day tomorrow.

Current Mood: cheerful

hannah

Picking up a new fandom used to mean picking up a new icon. It turns out I already had one. I'd thought it was nice looking and atmospheric with no knowledge whatsoever about the character in it, and to no one's surprise, I managed to pick out my favorite without even trying.

Going from MASH to Top Gun to Friday Night Lights is something where I could easily pull out a through-line beyond that it's a trio of ensemble casts working within and against the rigid structures they're living in, whether or not it's by choice. Something about maintaining a sense of self and self-worth both externally and internally, but I'm only about halfway through the first season. I know that it ends well, but not how it ends, or how it gets there, and I'm enjoying the process quite a bit.

There's no word for the feeling of watching something and being hit with the thought, "So that's where that icon comes from!" Sometimes it's reading and getting to a quote, sometimes it's a fraction of a moment caught up in a 100x100 square. But since the experience isn't unique, simply highly specific, I might a well just call it "fandom."

Current Mood: full
Current Music: august - Taylor Swift

winterfirelight

Made it outside for some good time in the garden this morning. Today I tackled the raspberry bush that's been slowly taking over underneath the apple tree. It hasn't been pruned in at least five years, and goodness, did it ever need it. I cleared out most of the dead canes, plus a bunch of weeds, plus the stump of some kind of dead bush that seems to have been buried there for ages. My hope is to pare down the remaining canes into an amount more manageable, and getting them tied up on a trellis so that next year they're easier to tend. They've been encroaching on another mess of weeds and bushes and grass on the other side of the apple tree, and I'm debating if I pull everything else and let the raspberries spread into that section in a more controlled way, or if I clear that whole area and plant something else there instead. What else would grow well under a tree with some berries?

One of my arnica plants went to seed, so I went ahead and planted a few in the ground, and saved the rest to plant next spring. I'm curious to see if the direct sowing method works this time - I've rarely had luck with that in the past. I'd love to have a more substantial arnica patch, since it's such a useful salve to have on hand. If it ever manages to be as prolific as my calendula, I'd be over the moon, but I'm sure it'll need more time to get established.

The battle against the brambles continues out back. But we finally got rid of all the rotten wood pallet furniture the previous owners left behind, so the space has opened up considerably. That's been a goal for several years, one of those things we never seemed to manage to get around to, so I'm pretty thrilled it's taken care of. Now I'm mulling over what kind/shape of raised bed will work best there, and what we might plant in it. The general thought is to grow mostly herbs out front, and veggies out back, but we'd have to sort out what veggies we would actually use. The risk is relatively high that we would plant a bunch of things, and then realize they don't fit easily into our usual cooking and food habits. I'm not the chef in the house, and generally prefer not to have to think about what to eat, so my opinion is less important than others in that regard.

We're still seeing hot days here and there, but the summer is slowly giving up the fight, so I'm hoping for more opportunity to work on things outside without baking to death in the sun. I've probably missed the window of opportunity for harvesting a couple of things, but since this was the first year for most of the plants I added to the garden in the spring, they're mostly still getting established and won't be ready for harvest until next season (at least) anyway. Very excited to see how next year goes, now that everything's had a chance to settle in.