Reading

Entry tags:

Certain satisfactions not usually associated with litfic?

I was reading this article about a book I actually have no particular desire to read myself, however much (or perhaps particularly because?) of a cult thing it is -

What our obsession with Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life says about us

(Who even are 'we')

(Copping to having read the author's The People in the Trees because I had a copy lying around received free and gratis in connection with the project #ifitoldyouidhavetokillyou some years back, and it was considered it didn't quite fall within parameters.)

But reading about this book, and people's response, I was wondering, does the author read/write fanfic? and if so, what?

Because there was something about the way this work was being described and people's reactions which were making me think of the term 'id vortex' and that the way people were responding to this very literarily-okay work did not seem to me entirely distinguishable from responses to certain fat fantasy series.

The article almost goes there - does cite one critic who makes a comparison with YA - but tries to make a case for Significance and Zeitgeist.

It sounded like something that provided the satisfactions that the reader gets from genre, while not being That Sort of Thing, perish the thort.

Or maybe I'm just being cynical.

(no subject)

Happy birthday,

greenet and

maeve_rigan!

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. Yesterday's total sales for the new store was just slightly less than grand opening day, and today looks like it might end up higher than yesterday.

2. I really do feel refreshed after yesterday, even though it was just one day off. Hopefully I can have two days off next weekend, though.

3. I went down there to help out today, but was able to make it a short day and meet up with Carla at Disneyland afterwards for a late lunch.

4. Jasper is such a handsome house panther.

Entry tags:

disney

2025 Disneyland Trip #53 (8/3/25)

We went a whole two weeks without going to the parks, due to me being so busy with work (well, Carla did go once by herself). Today I was going to help out at the Irvine store, but because we had so many other people signed up to help as well, I felt okay about just making it a half day (it is technically my day off, after all), so I dropped Carla off at Disneyland in the morning and then worked until around two, then headed back up to meet her.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

The Friday Five on a Sunday

What is something you collect? Why?

Space mission badges, patches, and stickers, from the ones that I've worked on. They always look so good. I never stick them on anything, though. I just hoard them in little stashes like a greedy dragon. Occasionally I'll put one of the pin badges on my suit lapel.
f you could make one ice cream flavor, what would the ingredients be and what would be the name?

I don't feel the need to invent a flavour when mint chocolate chip is already my all-time favourite.
What can't you go a day without?

I mean, I *can* go without it and I have before, but it isn't pleasant: Coffee.
What position do you sleep in? *back, right side, left side, stomach . . . etc.*

Curled up on my right side in a defensive ball.
What is your typical morning routine before work/school?

Get up, feed cats, empty dishwasher, make breakfast, make coffee, fill everyone's water bottles, pack snacks and lunches, lay out clothes and shoes for the kids, get dressed myself, pack rucksack, sneak in 15 minutes of work or email before shovelling everyone into the car.

I have left out showers, shouting about putting shoes on, and scrubbing toothpaste off school jumpers, but those things usually feature somewhere in there too.

Rabbit rabbit

It's August. How is it August? Where has my summer gone?

I am feeling swamped by work, and local politics, and family, and trying to get enough exercise, and oh yes, I am not sleeping. I am waking up at fuck o'clock every morning and I am so tired.

Aged father-in-law is coming to stay for a fortnight. I want to look after him & make little excursions & visit bookshops & eat cake & fuss him up a little, but just being pulled in so many different directions.

Some good things

Work. Got a couple of hours billable work done this morning.
Exercise. I went out delivering newsletters at 8.30am this morning (had been awake for hours, but people generally unappreciative when letterboxes are rattled too early on a Sunday morning) and then I actually made it to the gym. Wasn't there long, but spent a half-hour or so doing some strength stuff. Helped so much. IDK why, but it's better for mind-clearing & mood-boost than being outside or walking.
I napped this afternoon. Lay there in bed and closed my eyes, and drifted under. Not a deep sleep, but copes replenished. Even if I don't sleep, just lying down with eyes closed does help.
Cooking. Beets in veggie bag last week. I have roasted the roots with a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and then sauteed the stalks with olive oil, chilli, garlic. The leaves I whirred up with toasted pinenuts & made into a pesto. Very satisfying to use up root & stalk & leaf.

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just one thing: 04 August 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

Entry tags:

cooking,
recipes

Culinary

This week's bread: made Greenstein's 100% wholewheat loaf with wholemeal spelt flour approaching its use-by date, and also using up some buttermilk ditto. Turned out quite nice but a bit crumbly.

Saturday breakfast rolls: adaptable soft rolls recipe, approx 70/30% strong brown/rye flour, honey, dried cherries. Somehow turned out a bit bland.

Today's lunch: portabellini mushrooms in olive oil, rainbow carrots roasted in vaguely Japanese style in sunflower and toasted sesame oil, and tossed in teriyaki sauce and a little demerara sugar (these were rather aged carrots and could probably have done with roasting a bit longer), steamed asparagus dressed with melted butter and lime juice, and cornbread (having failed to source medium cornmeal, used a mixture of fine and coarse, turned out not badly).

Entry tags:

perfect ten

Very Sunday afternoon

D wanted to do some car repair today, so I was his glamorous assistant (fetching things, holding things, emotional support).

And the whole time I was outside it was like a stereotype of why living in a city is good: the lady across the road ran over with an empty clean plastic box that we'd given her some food in, we saw the guy next door with his toddler ("you might have noticed, every few hours he needs to go outside..." apparently he really likes the buddleia in front of our house), a stranger even stopped to ask me for directions.

It was really nice.

(no subject)

Happy birthday,

ailleurs,

cija and

lcohen!

Current Mood: accomplished

Entry tags:

Photos: Coles County Community Garden

These pictures show the Coles County Community Garden on Saturday, August 2. (Begin with Part 1: Right Side, Part 2: Left Side.)

( Walk with me ... )

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. It was so nice to have a day to rest! I did reply to more work messages than I usually do on my days off as there was stuff pertaining to organizing help for the new store, but mostly it was a work-free day and it was just nice not to have to do a lot of driving or be on my feet all day running about doing this and that.

2. We did go to the farmers market this morning, and the stall I usually get watermelon lemonade from was out, so we tried the pomegranate blood orange lemonade and that was really good, too. It was sunny and muggy so we drank the whole thing while we were there, and then Carla went back over to the stall to get another one to take home and the guy had found some more bottles of the watermelon, so she ended up getting a couple of those, too.

3. Ollie was in the other room mewing at me and when I asked him what was up, he came in here with the Grogu toy in his mouth. What a mighty hunter!

Entry tags:

weekly reading

Weekly Reading

I didn't do a reading post last week due to being swamped with work, so this is two weeks' worth of reading.

Currently Reading
The God of the Woods
71%. In the mid '70s, a teenage girl goes missing at camp, in the same woods where her brother went missing years before and was never found. This is told through multiple POVs, of the people investigating, the camp counselor, a friend, the mother. It's really good so far and a very quick read, despite being almost 500 pages. I'll probably finish it tonight.

A Death at the Dionysus Club
5%. Sequel to Death by Silver. Also listening to this as an audiobook and very disappointed that the narrator is different and not nearly as good as the first book's. If I'd previewed this before buying it, I might have decided to go with the ebook instead, but I just assumed that same series = same narrator!

Drop Dead Sisters
9%. The MC goes camping with her semi-estranged family, only to have to join forces with her sisters when they find a dead body. I'm liking this so far, though I've only just started.

The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State
11%.

Recently Finished
Sister Outsider
This was good. Not really much to say about it.

Kill Her Twice
Just all right.

Nikhil Out Loud
This was so cute!

Just Happy to Be Here
Also just all right.

Trust Me When I Lie
By the author of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. The creator of a true crime documentary finds himself tangled up in the case when his documentary gets the suspect a retrial and then his lawyer turns up dead in exactly the same way as the previous victim. I liked this a lot, though not quite as much as his other series.

Malice
A Detective Kaga novel. This is the fourth in the original publication order, but first in the English translated series. I thought maybe it was done first because the chronological order is different from publication order, but that doesn't seem to be the case so idk why they are going out of order. I read this in English and the translation didn't blow me away but was generally well done and not overly stilted. It was a very quick read and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

Death by Silver
First in a historical murder mystery series with a sort of Sherlock Holmes vibe. M/M romance, but the mystery is the primary plot. Magic is a thing, and I liked the worldbuilding for it. However! I did this one as an audiobook and I loved the narrator's voice but he often sounded like he had a lozenge in his mouth while reading, which was very distracting. It was most pronounced in the first chapter and I almost decided to switch to reading instead of listening, it was so bad. But I was in the middle of a long drive, and it got better as it went on (though never fully went away), so I stuck with it. I much prefer this narrator to the one for the second book, who is very overwrought and distracting, though at least not constantly making wet mouth noises on a lozenge.

The Night Librarian
Cute middle grade graphic novel about kids who take their dad's rare edition of Dracula to the library to find out how much it's worth, only to have the characters come alive and escape the book, which is when they find out that the library has a special department for that, and periodically lets characters out of old books to give them a break. The kids and characters try to track down the book and the person behind the rogue escape.

Upstaged
Cute middle grade graphic novel about a nonbinary teen at an arts camp, trying to navigate putting on a play and confessing their feelings to their best friend.

Shiba Tsuki Bukken vol. 1
Cute manga about a girl who rents an apartment haunted by a ghost shiba. In fact all the rooms in the building are haunted by shiba ghosts, because before being turned into apartments, it was an abusive puppy mill. So now the MC and the other residents have to give the ghost shibas the love and affection they didn't get in life. Sad background when you think about it, but it's really cute. I'll probably read more.

Dokudami no Hana Saku Koro vol. 1
Fifth-grader Shimizu has never paid much mind to his classmate Shigaraki, who is awkward and often has meltdowns, but little by little he becomes obsessed with Shigaraki's art, and decides to befriend him. Shigaraki definitely reads as autistic, though no one uses that word, but even though it's his art that Shimizu is drawn to, it's not like he's some artistic savant or anything, just a creative kid. I really like this so far.

Shadow House vol. 20

(no subject)

there's a pond with lots of frogs at my job and on my breaks I walk the perimeter and every couple steps I hear a croak and a sploosh and see one swim away. not this guy though, he wasn't scared of me at all :)

Entry tags:

Agate Beach

Our next travel stop was the Newport area and our hotel at Agate Beach. There was some fog the day we arrived but the next day dawned completely clear, giving us great views of the nearby lighthouse.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

Making trans boring

Trans Pride Manchester today.

I took photos of signs saying:

"Pride was a riot started by us" (held by a dark-skinned person
"New chair, new arse, same shit!" (with both "EHRC" and "TERF" on it and crossed out)
"I bite TERFs" (on a blåhaj)
"Corgis for trans rights" (accompanied by two adorable corgis)
"Making trans boring since 1983" (held by a trans man)

I didn't manage to get photos of the signs that said:

"You made toilets weird, not us"
"Tough year, tougher community"
"I went to Athens and all I got was this stupid top surgery"

I particularly love the concept of making trans boring -- it can be complicated because trans men/mascs are invisibilized as the flipside of trans women/fems hypervisibility and I don't think it's inherently better to pass as cis or fit in, but also there's a screenshot of a tumblr post that goes around every so often with a photo of a few standard white guys in t-shirts and jeans, completely unremarkable hair and stuff, walking with an "FTM" banner (it might have more words on it too, presumably whatever group they actually were, but this is what I remember of it), and some commentary about how great it is that they just look like Some Guys.

D's sign, tailored to be dual-purpose since we planned to do the trans march and then go counter-protest a UKIP demo in town, ended up giving us cause to illustrate an entirely different way to make trans boring. By the time we got to Piccadilly Gardens, the fash had marched off. So we went for a drink with a friend. But on our way back through there on our way to the bus home, D spotted that a couple of fash had returned. His placard suddenly had a few white guys swarming around us, phones already held up as if videoing, asking him to be "interviewed" for their "citizen journalism."

Their attempts to shock him with language about "men cutting their dicks off" didn't work even after repeated applications, and when asked loaded questions he blandly responded "Well, I don't think that's happening" and then said sensible stuff like "I think kids should learn about all the kinds of humans that there are." His standing-for-political-office skills might be dormant these days but they were undiminished! Another guy -- absolutely stereotypical British racist, down to the bad teeth -- accosted me with "if trans people end up coming out anyway, kids don't need to hear about it in school," an extremely straightforward stance for me to bat away like a fly.

Very quickly they realized that they weren't going to catch D saying anything damning or even interesting for their YouTube channels or whatever, and lost interest, and we strolled away.

This, too, is an advantage of making trans boring.

Entry tags:

This is rather nice

Okay, it's riffing off some miserable old sod phoning in to a radio show on LBS moaning on about women's voices talking about women's football DOES NOT LIEK, and as the columnist points out, for the presenter of the show this is also 'rage-bait gold'

The soundtrack of the women’s Euros was happiness … and some men can’t cope

(My dearios may be wondering how on earth the hedjog even came across anything in the sports section, the reason is that this caught partner's eye while removing it and placing in in the wastepaper pile, and was found of sufficient interest to be communicated over coffee.)

On the general tone of reporting on the women's football:

The missing noise here was: noise, the familiar sounds of rage, pain and betrayal. Instead the tone of the women’s Euros was happiness. The players were courteous. Nobody hated anyone else. England wished Spain well on the eve of the final.

(We do wonder whether they are extra-specially careful to avoid anything that might evoke media cries of 'CATFIGHT!!!', but lo, I am cynical.)

This is really interesting:

Why is men’s football defined so powerfully by rage and pain? Why does it reach for these emotions reflexively at every turn? This, I believe is what Dave is really talking about. He doesn’t find women’s sport alien because the voices are women’s voices. He finds it strange because they’re happy, because they’re not talking about the usual things, reaching for that hammy old emotional compass. Is it real if it doesn’t hurt?

I was (for I am very predictable, no?) reminded of Dame Rebecca's apercu in Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

All women believe that some day something supremely agreeable will happen, and that afterwards the whole of life will be agreeable. All men believe that some day they will do something supremely disagreeable, and that afterwards life will move on so exalted a plane that all considerations of the agreeable and disagreeable will prove superfluous. The female creed has the defect of passivity, but is surely preferable.

(I recollect she also has a line somewhere else about the tendency of men to go and see what the women are up to, and then tell them to stoppit.)

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just one thing: 03 August 2025

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just One Thing (2 August 2025)

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. Long day of stocking today, but the store is very busy still, so that's good. And we got dozens of pallets of stuff delivered to hold us through the weekend.

2. I'm very glad I've got tomorrow off. All parts of me are sore right now, but a good night's sleep will help with that, and I'm looking forward to a day of just relaxing and no work, which I have not had for two weeks.

3. I love this picture so much. Chloe's just like "ugh, pesky little sisters".