silveradept: Salem, a woman with white skin and black veining over her body, sits at a table with her hands folded in front of her. Her expression is one of displeasure at what she is seeing or hearing. (Salem Is Displeased)
[personal profile] silveradept
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.

07: Doppelganger

I am not the only person in the world with my name. I think the first time I realized this was when I was looking at the credits for Eek! the Cat (although I was much more a fan of the Terrible Thunder Lizards), and I saw my own name staring back at me, and went "Huh. That's cool. There's someone else out there in the world that has my name." It probably wasn't my exact name, middle and all, but it did teach me something important about names. (This does come up in my professional life, because the slips we use for holds use a portion of the name, and sometimes we have collisions that have to be handled. We also print some other things on the slip to prevent true collisions, but.)

And, occasionally, because I know that there are other people out there in the world with my name, I run my own name through the search engines and see what comes back from there. In this day and age, I am disappointed that someone who holds my namesake had significant academic credentials and is wasting them writing up books espousing nonsense positions that are all TERF and no substance. This is one of the places in my life where I recognize where the bar is, and am very glad that I'm getting well over that, even as governments around the world, including my own, seem determined to try and match that level or find new ways of digging underneath it. Blargh.

It is interesting, though, that despite the clear and obvious successes that I have with the way that I handle names in the process of creating and updating library records, my methods are not widely adopted or incorporated into the actual policy of the organization. Probably because the way I handle names is somewhat orthogonal to the way that the organization wants names handled. They are at least willing to acknowledge the possibility that the name a person will respond to most quickly is not necessarily the name that is on their identification, but they still seem to insist that if there's a difference between the two, we're supposed to record the name that's on the identification. If I inquired about the why, they'd probably mention something about the need to have the information on the identification in case of lost book charges or something like that. Our organization hasn't used collection agency services for years (this is a good thing), and so it's not like we need to send warrants, court orders, or process servers to someone looking for the reimbursement of our lost materials or other sorts of carceral enforcement mechanisms against people who lose books (which are often children, by the way.) And if someone's going to go to the trouble of trying to evade things to get multiple cards or to try and get rid of previous lost book charges aginst them, then they're probably putting in more effort than we really need to chase down. And, eventually, even the determined run out of aliases, or they get a little too known to the staff, who start pointing out that someone seems to be doing their best to run up lost book charges for whatever reason, and perhaps they will need to manage their other issues before receiving another card.

All of this is to say that a person's name should be whatever the person in front of me says it is, regardless of what's printed on identification or membership cards or other such things. And so, when I'm making library cards, I generally ask, "Is this the correct name for you?" and follow it up with "Is it spelled correctly?" if they say it is. I catch so many incorrect names this way, just by asking. There are some people who go by a nickname, there are some people who don't want to use their full names if they don't have to, some people go by what is supposedly their middle name, some people are either getting married or have stopped being married and therefore have a different last name, and I've seen a lot of people who are trying on new names in anticipation of possibly making other changes, or who are definitely on the way to making other changes and definitely want to use the correct name for themselves, even if they haven't yet had their identifying documents updated to reflect this. The best part about getting someone's name right by asking for it is that I can see the look on someone's face when they understand there's someone in front of them who is trying to get it right, and who is asking them about it, rather than assuming whatever's printed is correct. There are other people who seem genuinely confused about why I might be asking about it, but I'm sure a little bit of thinking about it will produce at least one of the situations I've talked about above, so they can understand why someone might ask. (Or maybe I'm being optimistic about how much people actually want to know the answers to things, or even whether they ask these kinds of questions.)

I've even heard it from my coworkers about how they think it's a good thing that I do these various things where I'm trying to make sure that I get the information. But I don't see a lot of that then getting put into practice. Perhaps because they're used to the routine they have, perhaps because they don't feel like they can deviate from a process that's been laid out in front of them about what needs to be collected. It's one of those things where if I had a useful pathway to the people who set the policy, and a belief that if we raised these kinds of issues with them, they'd listen and adjust based on the feedback they're being given, I'd probably do more advocacy for getting the official processes changed so that we can put down correct names for everyone in our library system. As it is, for some of those things, I have to invoke the Nick Fury rule about foolish rules.

And until then, I can at least have the knowledge and understanding that I'm still better than that other person who has my name and is wasting it by being a professional TERF.

decisions, decisions

Dec. 7th, 2025 11:59 pm
marycatelli: (Default)
[personal profile] marycatelli
In one story, all the threads have to be gathered up for the conclusion.

In the other story, the love interest has to reveal the horrible past to the heroine.

What fun.

Milk Run

Dec. 7th, 2025 11:59 pm
marycatelli: (Golden Hair)
[personal profile] marycatelli
Milk Run by Nathan Lowell

Adventures in space!

Read more... )

Writerly Ways

Dec. 7th, 2025 11:11 pm
cornerofmadness: (writing king 2)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness
No writing thoughts today. I spent the entire day making exams (and thinking about leg-lungs). I did find out one of the stories I finished early for [community profile] fandomtrees couldn't be used. Before I post I always double check the DNWs etc only to find the prompt I wrote for was no longer there. I think the poster decided it would be too angsty (in my hands it was) and they changed it. (So I don't misremember things I copy prompts into a document and also so I don't have to keep digging in the prompts) No big deal really. I love the story and I'll just post it and start something else for this poster.


Open Calls


Cosmic Horror Monthly January 2026 Window Weird and cosmic fiction under 5,000 words

Three-Lobed Burning Eye January 2026 Window Speculative fiction with strong narrative voices

Dark Age Press January 2026 Window For Fantasy and Science Fiction Novels Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

Solar Punk Magazine January 2026 Window. Works that stir readers with themes of defiance, change, and achievement

Brink Literary Magazine January 2026 Window Hybrid fiction with the theme of Chaos




From Around the Web

George Orwell’s Six Rules for Writing Clear and Tight Prose

12 Days of Christmas Gifts for Writers

Naming Your Book: Avoiding Title Mistakes That Kill Sales

The Case for Shrinking Your Novel


From Betty


The Last Jedi and the Power of Failure

The Why & How of Character Motivation

5 Rules to Keep Writers Sane on Their Creative Journey

And Now, A Word From One of Our Judges

Four Key Moments When You Should Hold the Conflict

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus: Intellectualization

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus: Anticipation

Avoid making the reader repeat what they already know.

4 Anchors Every Writer Needs: How to Slow Down, Find Your Voice, and Reclaim the Joy of Writing

Publishing Paths for Writers: Understanding Your Options With Hybrid Publishing (Part 2)

How Writers Can Turn Their Dream Into a Finished Manuscript: The Power of Measurable Writing Goals

Homework Victory!!!

Dec. 7th, 2025 09:25 pm
soc_puppet: A gray masked dumbo rat wearing a Dreamwidth cheerleading outfit and waving red color-matched pompoms (Cheerleader)
[personal profile] soc_puppet
Interview with a Human Services Professional paper: Completed and turned in last night!

Interview with a living ceramicist paper: Completed a few days ago
Accompanying PowerPoint presentation: Completed today! turned in with the paper

Still to do:
  • Tweak the game I made for Social Problems, due Tuesday (basically done, then just needs printing)
  • Write the accompanying paper, due Tuesday (there's a template that's basically a walkthrough, I'm not too worried)
  • Personal Mission Statement for Intro to Human Services, due 2pm on Friday (not started, but I have the most time left for this)
  • Well, this was weird

    Dec. 7th, 2025 10:18 pm
    james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
    [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
    Another unconscious person on public transit. This guy just seemed to be terribly tired, but when he slumped over, he knocked his stuff on the floor. Several times. I kept putting his stuff back, and mentioned him to the drive on my way out.

    Deity Swag with Cartoonist Style!

    Dec. 7th, 2025 07:02 pm
    lb_lee: A colored pencil drawing of Raige's freckled hand holding a hot pink paperback entitled the Princess and Her Monster (book)
    [personal profile] lb_lee
    Comics we got at MICE! All are great!
    • BE NOT AFRAID, by LSJM(?) Black, white, and red one-pager that’s like if the angel from Pet was giving you a Trump-era pep talk.
    • Secret Black Woman, by Ingrid Pierre. Autobio about anti-black racism, anti-Asian racism, passing, and being biracial.
    • Default, by JCJB. Poetry essay watercolor about fighting empire and suffering. We think Phosphor of [personal profile] hungryghosts would like this!
    • Prompted: an educator’s response to generative AI in the classroom, by Caroline Hu. Science, chatbots, and college. We think [personal profile] erinptah would like this!
    • Cannon Fodder, by Eric Alexander Arroyo. Queer mecha pilots in love during wartime. Got it for the sci-fi library; we have now purchased all three printings of this, haha.
    • Maintenance, by Cryptozoology. “What if a robot liked it when their creator performed upkeep on them (in a sexual way) and they were both girls???” Grabbed for sci-fi library.
    • Silhouette, by L/V. Navy blue Riso robot porn. May also end up in sci-fi library because the art is so gorgeous.

    2563 / Fic - The Pitt/ER

    Dec. 7th, 2025 09:06 pm
    siria: (the pitt - side by side)
    [personal profile] siria
    And When the Long Absent Are Home
    The Pitt/ER | Carter, Jack/Robby | ~12,400 words | Sequel to Like Brothers We Meet; thanks to [personal profile] sheafrotherdon for betaing.

    For formatting reasons, on AO3 only.

    Daily Check-In

    Dec. 7th, 2025 08:01 pm
    mecurtin: Icon of a globe with a check-mark (fandom_checkin)
    [personal profile] mecurtin posting in [community profile] fandom_checkin
    This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, December 7, to midnight on Monday, December 8 (8pm Eastern Time).

    Poll #33927 Daily check-in poll
    Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 16

    How are you doing?

    I am OK
    9 (60.0%)

    I am not OK, but don't need help right now
    6 (40.0%)

    I could use some help
    0 (0.0%)

    How many other humans live with you?

    I am living single
    4 (25.0%)

    One other person
    9 (56.2%)

    More than one other person
    3 (18.8%)



    Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

    Season's greasons, friends!

    Dec. 7th, 2025 07:14 pm
    lumiosecity: (stock • poms on tree)
    [personal profile] lumiosecity posting in [community profile] holiday_wishes
    Hi, all! (insert enthusiastic waving here)

    I'm Callisto, and this is my first year participating here. I found the community through my Network page, and figured it'd be nice to throw my hat into the ring as well as try to fufill some wishes myself! I think that what's been done here is so cool, and I deeply appreciate the whole endeavor. Wishes are in no particular order, as no structure I could think of really felt right, and are as follows:

    1. Dreamwidth points! Dreamwidth has a lot of paid services I'm interested in, so this would be a real treat.

    2. Art of my South Park and Teen Titans OCs! Even the smallest of doodles would put me absolutely over the moon. You can find a collection of art to use as reference for Rhiannon (South Park) here, and for Evangeline (Teen Titans) here.

    3. Ideas on what to do with empty notebooks! I've got a ton just laying around, and I can only write so much prose and poetry. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

    4. Comments on my fics! You can find all of my works collected on AO3 here.

    5. Digital gift cards! Specifically, to Amazon, the Nintendo eShop, and JetPens. A good email to reach me is radionewvegas AT proton dot me.

    6. Nonfiction book recommendations! I'm in a reading slump at the moment, and I think reading nonfiction will help. Some topics I'm particularly interested in right now are movie, televsion, and animation history, space travel, cults, video game development and design, professional wrestling, theme parks, and comics as an art form and an industry.

    7. Give back! The holidays can be a rough time for a lot of people. If you've got money, time, or anything else you can give back to your community, through charity, volunteer work, or whatever other avenue you choose, then it would mean a lot to me and to so many others. It's a smidge unrealistic to wish for world peace, but I figure this is a solid step in the right direction.

    8. YouTube channel recommendations! Any channels that talk about the things listed in my wish for book recs would be lovely, as would anything centered around media retrospectives and analysis or TTRPG design.

    9. 100x100 icons! In particular, I'd love icons of Kenny McCormick from South Park, Tara Markov and Joey Wilson from DC Comics, and professional wrestler AJ Lee. If you need images to use, I can provide them; just go ahead and ask!

    10. Kind words! It's been a rough year, y'all, and I don't know about you, but I'm tired. If anyone's got any kind words to spare, I would very much appreciate them.

    That's it! Again, if you need my email, you'll find me at radionewvegas AT proton dot me. Thank you for taking a look at my list, and happy holidays to all!

    Recent Reading: Brahma's Dream

    Dec. 7th, 2025 04:32 pm
    rocky41_7: (Default)
    [personal profile] rocky41_7 posting in [community profile] books
    Brahma's Dream by Shree Ghatage was a book I snatched out of a pile of stuff my sister was giving away last year, but she'd never gotten around to reading it herself, so she couldn't give me a preview. Brahma's Dream is set in India just before it gains self-rule, and concerns the family of Mohini, a child whose serious illness dominates her life.

    This is one of those middle-of-the-road books that was neither amazingly good nor offensively bad, and therefore I struggle to come up with much to say about it. That makes it sound bad, but it isn't--I enjoyed my time with it. I thought Ghatage did a good job with exploring life on the precipice of great political change, although the history and politics of 1940s India is more backdrop to the family drama than central to the story. I liked Mohini and her family; because the nature of her illness necessitates a lot of rest and down time, Mohini is naturally a thoughtful child, as her thoughts are sometimes all she has to amuse herself. However, she never crosses the line into being precocious, which was a relief.

    Neither did I feel like the book leaned too hard on Mohini's illness to elicit sentimentality from the reader. Obviously, an illness like hers is the biggest influence on her life, and on the lives of her immediate family, and there are many moments you sympathize with her because she can't just be a child the way she wants to be, but I didn't feel like Ghatage was plucking heartstrings just for the sake of it.

    Reading the relationships between Mohini and her family was heartwarming, especially with her grandfather, who takes great joy in Mohini's intellect and is often there to discuss the import of various societal events with her. 

    Ghatage's descriptive writing really brings to life the India of the time, with the colors, smells, sounds, and sights that are a part of Mohini's every day.

    It reminded me of another book I read about a significant event in Indian history (the separation of India and Pakistan) told through the perspective of a young ill girl, Cracking India

    On the whole, this was a sweet, heartfelt book. It's not heavy on plot, but if you enjoy watching the story of a family unfold and the little dramas that play out, it's enjoyable.

    "mom's friend a long time ago."

    Dec. 7th, 2025 10:53 pm
    [personal profile] cosmolinguist

    Mom and Dad told me tonight about two friends of my brother's, and one of them's mom who was the school nurse at the time so knows all of us as well as being the mom of his friend, who she's run into lately who told her they always remember Chris at this time of year.

    Two of the three apparently said especially that it was twenty years this year, and my mom was surprised that they remembered that specifically. But I have a couple friends about my age who had schoolfriends die when they were in school or soon after, and they certainly remember the person and how long it's been. We are lucky enough to live in an age when child/young person death is rare enough to stand out.

    The school nurse mom even told my mom about how her daughter's kids know about him because the daughter has a Christmas ornament with a photo of my brother on it which my parents had made and handed out to people the Christmas after (I got one too, in my terrible flat in West Didsbury, but I never really wanted it and lost it along the way). The kids know about all the ornaments on their tree so they know this one is for "Mom's friend who died a long time ago." I love that.

    On a kinda rough day, before two days in London for work that I'm dreading, this was a nice moment.

    Their mom and my brother had been friends since kindergarten, when she was one of the girls who called him Kissyfur after a cartoon of that time, and who he used to entertain by doing stuff like pretending not to notice when the girls put snow in his hat and he put it on anyway so they could all laugh.

    She sang at his funeral, which is such a gift to be able to offer a peer, when you're only twenty-one.

    vital functions

    Dec. 7th, 2025 10:45 pm
    kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
    [personal profile] kaberett

    (Last week's also now exists and is no longer a placeholder!)

    Reading. Pain, Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen. I want to be very, very clear: unless you are specifically researching attitudes and beliefs in pain clinics in early 2020s England, or similar, do not read this book. There are bad history and no references, appalling opinions on patients (), quite possibly the worst hyphenation choice I have ever seen, stunning omissions and misrepresentations of pain science, and It's Weird That It Happened Twice soup metaphors. Fuller review (or at least annotated bibliography entry) to follow, maybe.

    Some further progress on Florencia Clifford's Feeding Orchids to the Slugs ("Tales from a Zen kitchen"), which I acquired from Oxfam in a moment of weakness primarily for EYB purposes at a point when it was extremely discounted. It is primarily a somewhat disjointed memoir for which I am not the target audience, but hey, Books To Go Back In The Charity Shop Pile but that I wouldn't actually hate reading were exactly the goal, so that's a victory. Mostly. I'm a little over halfway through it, sticking book darts on pages that contain recipes for easier reference when I go back through on the actual indexing pass.

    I absolutely needed something that was not going to make me furious and furthermore that was not going to be demanding, and there's a new one in the series, so I have now reread several Scalzi: Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades completed, The Lost Colony in progress.

    I've also had a very quick flick through the mentions of Descartes in Joanna Bourke's The Story of Pain, which is my next Pain Book. She does better than everyone else I've read, but I still think she's misinterpreting Treatise on Man. (Why do I have strongly-held opinions on Descartes now. CAN I NOT.)

    Playing. Inkulinati, Monument Valley )

    Cooking. SOUP.

    smitten kitchen's braised chickpeas with zucchini and pesto, two batches thereof, because I had promised A burrata to go with and then (1) the supermarket was out of it and (2) the opened part-pack of feta wound up doing two days quite comfortably, so the second batch was required For Burrata Purposes.

    I have also established that the pistachio croissant strata works very well in one of the loaf tins if you scale it down to 50% quantities because there were only 3 discount croissants at the supermarket (... because you had to wait and watch the person who got there JUST ahead of you taking Most Of Them...), which also conveniently used up the dregs of the cream that I had in the fridge.

    Eating. Tagine out the freezer (thank you past Alex). Relatively fresh dried apple. A very plain lunch at Teras in Seydikemer, which was apparently the magic my digestive system needed to settle itself down! And I am very much enjoying my dark chocolate raspberry stars. :)

    Chocolate

    Dec. 7th, 2025 02:28 pm
    filkferengi: (Default)
    [personal profile] filkferengi
    I like chocolate. From this first principle, interesting adventures derive [themselves]. I used to favor Hershey's Kisses, but the logistics of fiddling with tiny wrappers during an arthritis flare were an obstacle. Then I hit upon the bag of milk chocolate chips as my delivery vector of choice; direct chocolate hit, chocolatier taste, no fiddly wrappers - what's not to like?

    When they're not to be found, that's what. Over a couple of weeks, due to scarcity, my sweet spouse went to more than one store, for me. Then, last week, there were none to be found anywhere. He brought me a bag of Kroger's store brand and a bag of Ghirardelli. While not as chocolatey and with more beat-up looking chips, the Kroger was still an acceptable alternative. Ironically enough, the Ghirardelli bag combined being significantly more expensive with larger chips. My spouse called the chocolate taste "understated." I called it "nonexistent." Nothing like paying more for less flavor.

    This week, relief was in sight, as he returned home victorious with the desired chocolate. Those first chips after a week of deprivation were intensely pleasurable. [I may have to do extra walks this week, weather permitting.]

    As I went towards the fridge this afternoon, in anticipation of more chocolate chip goodness, I heard music in my head. I'm a filker; this isn't exactly a surprise. Bill & Gretchen Roper have an excellent song on the subject, "My Husband The Filker." As I let the tune play out to see which one it was, "Sha bop, sha bop" flowed into "I Only Have Eyes For You", a decidedly apt tune for chocolate on an overcast winter afternoon.

    Culinary

    Dec. 7th, 2025 06:31 pm
    oursin: Frontispiece from C17th household manual (Accomplisht Lady)
    [personal profile] oursin

    This week's bread: Country Oatmeal aka Monastery Loaf from Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno's Bread (2:1:1 wholemeal/strong white/pinhead oatmeal), a bit dense and rough-textured - the recipe says medium oatmeal, which has seemed hard to come by for months now (I actually physically popped into a Holland and Barrett when I was out and about the other day and boy, they are all about the Supplements these days and a lot less about the nice organic grains and pulses, sigh, no oatmeal, no cornmeal, etc etc wo wo deth of siv etc). Bread tasty though.

    Friday night supper: groceries arrived sufficiently early in the pm for me to have time to make up the dough and put the filling to simmer for sardegnera with pepperoni.

    Saturday breakfast rolls: adaptable soft rolls recipe, 4:1 strong white/buckwheat flour, dried blueberries, Rayner's Barley Malt Extracxt, turned out very nicely.

    Today's lunch: savoury clafoutis with Exotic Mushroom Mix (shiitake + 3 sorts of oyster mushroom) and garlic, served with baby (adolescent) rainbow carrots roasted in sunflower and sesame oil, tossed with a little sugar and mirin at the end, and sweetstem cauliflower (some of which was PURPLE) roasted in pumpkin seed oil with cumin seeds.

    Holiday Wishes 2025!

    Dec. 7th, 2025 01:21 pm
    lilliane: (solitude)
    [personal profile] lilliane posting in [community profile] holiday_wishes
    Hi! I'm Lilliane, a 60 yo person who has chronic illnesses & is disabled, neurodivergent and newly diagnosed with brain cancer (biopsy being performed on 12/9/2025) who is not only looking for some assistance this holiday season but is also looking to help others in this community!

    It is my 4th year participating and while it's been a tough year, it's been nothing compared to the last two weeks. Being diagnosed with a brain tumor (Glioma), having a stroke and a seizure is no joke, boys and girls. Not even close.

    Some of the things that I would love to give & receive this year are:

    1) Correspondence via email or snail mail! Contact me via my Inbox here and I will give you an email address or my snail mail address, whichever is to your liking. It could be exchanging holiday cards, postcards, or even letters/emails throughout the year. I, of course, will be reaching out to those of you who wish for the same.

    2) Groceries and prescriptions are more and more difficult to come by, as I think they are for a lot of folks, particularly this year and going into 2026. I would be grateful for any denomination of Walmart, Kroger, or VISA gift cards. Physical ones are fine, please ask for an address (obviously) but probably the quickest and simplest way are probably e-cards.

    3) Be of service to your local animal shelter, library, memory home, art program, unhoused shelter, aging agency or city council in your community. It is so important to give back in your community if you are able to! There are so many different ways to be of service, not just monetarily. Even one hour of helping a senior at the library every week learn to use the computer, or bring a neighbor some groceries each week, read to a blind person or a child who is not yet able to read, help the local shelter get dogs out of their cages for a day outside…so many different ways to assist! You can even write letters or send cards to people in nursing homes! Get your kids or spouse involved and have fun with it!

    4) I have an Amazon wish list Lilliane's Wish List
    I have all sorts of things on here, and trust me, they do NOT have to come from Amazon. If you wish to send them from somewhere else, like walmart.com or even yourself, just ask for my address. My roommate says my list is boring and made me add fun stuff. Not sure how I feel about that. :-)

    5) Be kind to each other. It’s free, and I think we can ALL use a bit of kindness each and every day. However, remember to not confuse kindness and niceness, there is a distinct difference!

    Thank you for taking the time to read wishes and help each other out! You are all fantastic!

    The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 14

    Dec. 7th, 2025 11:32 am
    marycatelli: (Golden Hair)
    [personal profile] marycatelli posting in [community profile] books
    The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 14 by Nekokurage

    The tales continue. Spoilers for the earlier ones ahead.

    Read more... )

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