Happy birthday, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
troisoiseaux!
troisoiseaux!![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
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!
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!
tags:
Will saw there only a gap in the crowd, with beyond it the group of musicians. As he stood there, they struck up once more 'Good King Wenceslas', the carol they had been playing when first he entered the room, through the Doors. Merrily the whole gathering joined in singing, and then the next verse came and Merriman's deep voice was ringing out across the room, and Will realised, blinking, that the verse to come was his.
He drew breath, and raised his head.
Sire he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain ...
And there was no moment of farewell, no moment in which he saw the nineteenth century vanish away, but suddenly with no awareness of change, as he sang he knew that Time had somehow blinked, and another young voice was singing with him, the two of them so nearly simultaneous that anyone who could not see the lips moving would have sworn that it was one boy's voice alone . . .
[...]
On Christmas night, Will always slept with James. Both twin beds were still in James's room from the time before Will had moved up to Stephen's attic. The only difference now was that James kept Will's old bed piled with op art cushions, and referred to it as 'my chaise longue'. There was something about Christmas Eve, they both felt, that demanded company; one needed somebody to whisper to, during the warm beautiful dream-taut moments between hanging the empty stocking at the end of the bed, and dropping into the cosy oblivion that would flower into the marvel of Christmas morning.
And it was the same as it always was, as he lay curled up happily in his snug wrappings, promising himself that he would stay awake, until, until...
... until he woke, in the dim morning room with a glimmer of light creeping round the dark square of the curtained window, and saw and heard nothing for an enchanted expectant space, because all his senses were concentrated on the weighty feel, over and around his blanketed feet, of strange bumps and corners and shapes that had not been there when he fell asleep. And it was Christmas Day.
tags:
It's December Days time again. This year, I have decided that I'm going to talk about skills and applications thereof, if for no other reason than because I am prone to both the fixed mindset and the downplaying of any skills that I might have obtained as not "real" skills because they do not fit some form of ideal.
( 23: Chaos )
( 23: Chaos )
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
Slightly to my surprise, earlier today I got a text from my GP saying approximately "yes your serum ferritin is now 'normal', but also, uh, by this we mean '15, with a reference range of 13-150, after six weeks of supplements', so... keep taking the supplements and we'll retest in six weeks!!!"
It is possible that the reason this actually got flagged at all was in fact that I've got a slightly elevated white cell count, and had I just had normal serum ferritin I'd have had to submit the "uhhh sooooo..." eConsult. Which I'd been gearing up to do, because the serum ferritin result showed up in the NHS app sooner than anything else!
Unfortunately, I had been working myself up to mentioning some Possible Additional Signs Of Concern in said eConsult (the various unimportant bleeding, like "there is usually old blood when I blow my nose BUT/AND I am very much using a steroid nasal spray every day") and I now have a solid excuse to keep putting it off for another six weeks, but hey. No longer officially anaemic! Pity about what's going to happen when I run out of supplementary iron, huh!
Irises from the garden, 2025. "NOID" means "no ID", that is to say, I don't know their names. The noids in this group are all three in the street island garden and were there when I inherited it; the one identified as 'Benton Deirdre' is tentative - I decided it is that based on a combination of appearance and the recent trendiness of the Benton irises. The unnamed Pacific Coast hybrid was a random seedling child of random seedlings. The name and date in brackets is the breeder and the date of the cultivar's registration or introduction to commerce.
_4957.jpg)
Iris Miniature Tall Bearded 'In My Veins' (Charles Bunnell, 2008) 4957
©Bill Pusztai 2025
Iris Pacific Coast hybrid 4919.
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_5231.jpg)
Iris Standard Dwarf Bearded 'Dragon's Den' (Chuck Chapman, 2002) 5231
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_5335.jpg)
Iris Standard Dwarf Bearded 'Dragon's Den' (Chuck Chapman, 2002) 5335
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_9093.jpg)
Iris Standard Dwarf Bearded 'Eramosa OJ' (Chuck Chapman, 2014) 9093
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_9119.jpg)
Iris Standard Dwarf Bearded 'Eramosa OJ' (Chuck Chapman, 2014) 9119
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_1472.jpg)
Iris Tall Bearded Benton 'Deirdre' (Sir Cedric Morris, R. 1946) 1472
©Bill Pusztai 2025
Iris Tall Bearded noid blue 1460
©Bill Pusztai 2025
Iris Tall Bearded noid blue
©Bill Pusztai 2025
Iris Tall Bearded noid variegata 4361
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_4168.jpg)
Iris Tall Bearded 'War Chief' (Schreiner 1992) 4168
©Bill Pusztai 2025
_4230.jpg)
Iris Tall Bearded 'War Chief' (Schreiner, 1992) 4230
©Bill Pusztai 2025
Happy Holidays to one and all, and may my precious friends enjoy a peaceful and health-ful end of year. May you be warm, safe, and loved. Here is a hobbity Yule ficlet from a while back. I hope you enjoy it. :)
The hobbits (and Gandalf) gently introduce Yule to Tol Eressëa
Characters: Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, unnamed elves
Word Count: 440
Getting to Know You
The elves living near the hobbits' dwelling were quite puzzled at first, for even with their sharp ears they had heard no movement outside their homes. Yet in the morning they found that small bags had been hung on their posts or door latches, filled with unusual but wonderful-smelling confections. The baked goods had been fashioned in various sizes and shapes of people or trees, and decorated in bright colors. Because the anonymous gifts arrived only a few moon cycles after the arrival of the Ring-bearers, the elves hurried to the Istar, Gandalf, to consult with him.
“Ah, these are rare treats, my friends!” Gandalf informed them, peering into the bags and parcels and inhaling appreciatively. “They are gingerbread-hobbits and sugar-elves, and the trees are those most beloved by the hobbits. Frodo and Bilbo are wishing you a joyous Yule, a festival that falls about this time in Middle-earth, when their folk give thanks for the year’s bounty, and share sweets and small gifts with their neighbors.”
“What are we to give in return?” the elves queried anxiously.
“The hobbits expect nothing, I assure you,” Gandalf told them. “It is their joy to give of what they have, and I am certain it gives them comfort to continue a tradition that reminds them of their home. Merely convey your thanks and wish them a blessed Yule when you see them...” He paused, then smiled knowingly. “Wait, there is one thing more that they might like.”
That evening, Frodo and Bilbo sat together on the small bench outside their dwelling, as they did each night after supper. They sipped warm drinks and talked quietly, enjoying the bright stars as they appeared and the perfume of night-blooming flowers. After awhile, Bilbo laid his head on Frodo’s shoulder, and Frodo stroked his white curls very gently.
As the night grew darker, they saw with surprise and great joy that their neighbors had set candles in every window of their homes, and were lighting them one by one. The multitude of soft, flickering lights shone with warmth and a peaceful glow. And the hobbits' attention was caught by strings of colored jewels that had been hung amidst the branches of a noble fir tree, interlaced into the shape of a star. As the brilliance from Elbereth's stars hit each faceted surface, the gems sparkled brightly.
“It's lovely here, isn’t it?” Bilbo asked happily. “I did so hope it would be.”
“It is lovely,” Frodo agreed softly, and he smiled. “Good neighbors make for a good home, as Aunt Dora would say. Happy Yule, Bilbo."
“Happy Yule, dear boy,” Bilbo said with a sigh of contentment.
** END **
The hobbits (and Gandalf) gently introduce Yule to Tol Eressëa
Characters: Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, unnamed elves
Word Count: 440
Getting to Know You
The elves living near the hobbits' dwelling were quite puzzled at first, for even with their sharp ears they had heard no movement outside their homes. Yet in the morning they found that small bags had been hung on their posts or door latches, filled with unusual but wonderful-smelling confections. The baked goods had been fashioned in various sizes and shapes of people or trees, and decorated in bright colors. Because the anonymous gifts arrived only a few moon cycles after the arrival of the Ring-bearers, the elves hurried to the Istar, Gandalf, to consult with him.
“Ah, these are rare treats, my friends!” Gandalf informed them, peering into the bags and parcels and inhaling appreciatively. “They are gingerbread-hobbits and sugar-elves, and the trees are those most beloved by the hobbits. Frodo and Bilbo are wishing you a joyous Yule, a festival that falls about this time in Middle-earth, when their folk give thanks for the year’s bounty, and share sweets and small gifts with their neighbors.”
“What are we to give in return?” the elves queried anxiously.
“The hobbits expect nothing, I assure you,” Gandalf told them. “It is their joy to give of what they have, and I am certain it gives them comfort to continue a tradition that reminds them of their home. Merely convey your thanks and wish them a blessed Yule when you see them...” He paused, then smiled knowingly. “Wait, there is one thing more that they might like.”
That evening, Frodo and Bilbo sat together on the small bench outside their dwelling, as they did each night after supper. They sipped warm drinks and talked quietly, enjoying the bright stars as they appeared and the perfume of night-blooming flowers. After awhile, Bilbo laid his head on Frodo’s shoulder, and Frodo stroked his white curls very gently.
As the night grew darker, they saw with surprise and great joy that their neighbors had set candles in every window of their homes, and were lighting them one by one. The multitude of soft, flickering lights shone with warmth and a peaceful glow. And the hobbits' attention was caught by strings of colored jewels that had been hung amidst the branches of a noble fir tree, interlaced into the shape of a star. As the brilliance from Elbereth's stars hit each faceted surface, the gems sparkled brightly.
“It's lovely here, isn’t it?” Bilbo asked happily. “I did so hope it would be.”
“It is lovely,” Frodo agreed softly, and he smiled. “Good neighbors make for a good home, as Aunt Dora would say. Happy Yule, Bilbo."
“Happy Yule, dear boy,” Bilbo said with a sigh of contentment.
** END **
looking forward to the next episode of Pluribus
starting to read the scifi mystery Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
making note of the upcoming Grolier Club exhibition on the mechanization of printing: "The Second Printing Revolution: Invention of Mass Media", starting January 14
thinking about whether I could make some use of the new Rx Inspector tool from Pro Publica
spreading word of the Otherwise Award's year-end fundraising campaign to celebrate scifi/fantasy/genre fiction that expands or explores our notions of gender (I'm on the board)
teaching activists how to use Signal features -- usernames, disappearing messages, nicknames, etc. -- to preserve privacy and improve convenience
listening to episodes of KEXP's Runcast (music) and an Australian guy's One Man, One Hammock (rambling monologues) as I do chores
playing an ad hoc guessing game with my spouse where I look up random records on the Guinness world records website and ask him to guess, e.g., how tall the tallest chocolate fountain is
dithering on whether to write a year-end retrospective for my blog
starting to read the scifi mystery Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
making note of the upcoming Grolier Club exhibition on the mechanization of printing: "The Second Printing Revolution: Invention of Mass Media", starting January 14
thinking about whether I could make some use of the new Rx Inspector tool from Pro Publica
spreading word of the Otherwise Award's year-end fundraising campaign to celebrate scifi/fantasy/genre fiction that expands or explores our notions of gender (I'm on the board)
teaching activists how to use Signal features -- usernames, disappearing messages, nicknames, etc. -- to preserve privacy and improve convenience
listening to episodes of KEXP's Runcast (music) and an Australian guy's One Man, One Hammock (rambling monologues) as I do chores
playing an ad hoc guessing game with my spouse where I look up random records on the Guinness world records website and ask him to guess, e.g., how tall the tallest chocolate fountain is
dithering on whether to write a year-end retrospective for my blog
tags:
(cosmolinguist Dec. 23rd, 2025 07:46 pm)
cosmolinguist Dec. 23rd, 2025 07:46 pm)I started introducing it this way in 2023:
The questions here sometimes feel random and sometimes aren't very relevant to me (how many one-night stands, bless; that feels like such a fossil of the height-of-LJ days when I first encountered this meme), but I do like it as a way to think a bit differently than I normally do about my life, and some things that had a big impact on me (like what a dog-hospital year it was for Gary) barely show up here. I do find myself at random points through the year noting things I do that I haven't done before, or wondering what my musical discovery might be, or whatever.
So here we go for 2025
1. What did you do in 2025 that you'd never done before?:
Wrote an extensive as the writer and basically project lead on a report at work -- never did this before, did it three times in a row this year.
Met a person from the internet and ended up having sex with them the same day. (Sorry if this is tmi, there will be no more details about it.)
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:
I didn't call it a resolution but when asked later about what I'd like to have this year that I lacked the previous one, I said
Another sexual and/or romantic partner? This feels impossible but so do the last four years' worth of things and they all happened!
Like three days after I wrote this I started talking to somoene on the social media site that's basically a kinky version of Facebook which, like regular Facebook, you can only access if you have an account and I was getting memes and events linked to by a friend until I got fed up and made an account. Six months later, I got a random message from someone who wrote a comment that I'd "liked" (as with Facebook, it tells you when people like your shit and then you can go look at their profile and all that) and in August I met him and it was fun to have a no-strings arrangement with a friend.
Will I make more for next year? I'm not sure, I think the coming year is more about keeping what I have stable: work, house, relationships, friendships, life....
( +47 )
50. What are your plans for 2026?
Laat year I wrote
Try to help everyone survive it with as much comfort and joy as we can manage, especially in the U.S. but everywhere really.
And I don't think I can improve on that answer either.
In a lot of ways it's been a rough year: the quick and steep decline of human rights in the U.S. has been hard to watch and harder to be affected by so personally. Work has been so difficult. I've had such a miserable experience trying to get referred for top surgery -- in the process bringing up so much medical fatphobia that I haven't even blogged about the whole saga, I can barely even think about it without panic or tears. Even my escapist hobby of MLB has been reminding me that billionaires feel
But in other ways it has also been a good year: it was really nice to be able to provide a safe landing place for angelofthenorth and Mr Smith, it was nice to get through a November without anything (new) and terrible happening. Connections with the local queers have been deepened and I'm delighted that D and I are now on the small committee of people who've taken over from the two founders who have reasonably been able to step back and enjoy the thing they made as the ordinary attendees the rest of us have gotten to be the last two years.
.
