Pentagonal Signal Boosts of Joy
2019-02-13 06:57 pmI’ve spent the last two days trying to catch up my reading list. Not yet successful, but I sure have enjoyed the journey. So I'll share:
Unicorn chaser is the marvelous ThreadReaderApp, which makes a Twitter thread into a single webpage. I was happy to throw a little money their way, and they create PDFs for me to download.
I'm thrilled that Markdown simplifies formatting your DW posts has proved popular and helpful. I didn't explore all Markdown's features to keep it short. I regret that now. I'm drafting a "Markdown: the sequel" post with the remaining features. In a better timeline, I would have written "Markdown: the novel," integrating the sequel stuff in the first post. I want to maximize reference utility for DW users in the next decade. Three ways to do this occur to me, and I bet you have a better idea.
How to Be Comfy at -13°F
2019-01-30 01:36 pmThe key is dressing for it. On my bed are all the things I wore over standard underwear. Having recently lost weight simplified things, since I had several sizes to hand.
aqua wool blend compression socks underneath
pink wool blend ski socks inside
Keen "40 below" tan insulated boots
red wool long underwear underneath
gray wool flannel, poly lined trousers
orange cotton long sleeve crew neck underneath
black wool long sleeve crew neck "base layer" underneath
gray wool-acrylic crew neck sweater
very light weight black polypro balaclava underneath
purple microfleece tube gaiter underneath
ink blue faux fur hunter hat with ear & neck flaps down
windblock pink fleece butt length coat with integral hood pulled over my head underneath
black leather knee length cape
What I didn't wear: my glasses--my viewport was only 8 inches wide by 2 inches high, and they'd be immediately frosted.
It's not that cold, really
2019-01-29 04:11 pmWe live in Wisconsin! Yes, it's -1°F right now, headed to -26°F tomorrow, with a wind. Yes, we had around 6 inches of snow.
But honestly, it takes a full 20 minutes to get frostbite in this weather. Layer up! Wear a hat!
That the University of Wisconsin-Madison closed down based on an online student petition just stuns me.
...is one of my favorites!
How it works: reply with "Oh! Shiny" and I'll choose three of your icons. Tell me about them: where they came from, what they mean to you, and/or when you deploy them. Drop a link here to your post in your own journal. Spread it around.
ironymaiden asked me about:
Great reading today from three places.
On DW:
seperis makes me laugh really hard about living with bunnies
Bunnies can eat through anything. Even zip ties. Even dozens of zip ties. Even all the zip ties. That is how I ended up with baby bunnies in the first place. They can also jump under duress three feet at a run and two feet just because they're assholes. (One of my tiny psychopaths can do three and a half feet, catch himself halfway over the top of the play area, and shimmy over.) Rabbits also like access to small, comforting, dark spaces to hide and cuddle (each other, not me).
https://seperis.dreamwidth.org/1041231.
further background on bunny ownership: https://web.archive.org/http://seperis.
On Granta:
Jillian Weise is a poet, performance artist, prosthetic-wearing ass-kicker. She delivers the Donna Haraway smackdown I've been waiting 20 years for:
When I tell people I am a cyborg, they often ask if I have read Donna Haraway’s ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’. Of course I have read it. And I disagree with it. ( 286 wise words )
https://granta.com/common-cyborg/
I first encountered Jillian in her Tipsy Tullivan persona, as she excoriated AWP for their hostility to disabled writers:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucwfcyz-
To my delight, she was on one AWP 2016 panel, celebrating the 40th anniversary of her publisher BOA, reading several poems and a call to action/drinks. ( uncaptioned video )
On Captain Awkward
I subscribe to the DW captainawkward_feed
Cap addresses “Tips for staying positive when your body hates you.” from a PhD student dealing with sudden liver cancer. Cap wisely turns to the wisdom of disabled people, and offers lots of excellent suggestions.
What if I told you that you don’t have to feel positive or stay positive or be positive. Stay alive. Positive can wait.
[... snip ...]
Fight the idea that being sick is something you’re inflicting on others. You say: “I feel like I’m a drain on everyone around me and I can’t even contribute academically anymore.” This ableist framing is hurting you and other people.
Your worth is not based on how much money you earn, it is not based on how much research or scholarship you do.
GF DF Gingerbread Bars
2019-01-20 01:00 pmThanks to runpunkrun and
isis for extensive variations, I stumbled into a really tasty gingerbread with an exquisite crumb--delicate and coherent, unlike any GF cake I've made so far.
Chewy Gingerbread Bars
(Gluten and Dairy-Free) ( tasty and quick )
Supreme Court Fandom Iconography
2019-01-17 05:01 pmI’ve just1 learned that Ruth Badner Ginsburg, our brutally strong and smart Supreme Court justice, has a necklace she wears when she dissents from a decision the court hands down. This dissent necklace is a studded collar that stretches like a smile from one shoulder to the other, comprising 21 thumb-shaped wedges.
She wore it the day after the 2016 election.
You can buy replica pendants, earrings, tie clips etc., as well as stickers.
https://dissentpins.com/collections/
Bustle has an illustrated article about RBG’s collection of “statement” accessories.
https://www.bustle.com/p/what-do-ruth-
- Given my news fast, I’m willing to admit I’m behind the times. ↩︎
Plaidadder's Jeremy Brett Song
2019-01-16 10:44 amplaidadder wrote Wild About Harry, an epic, woman-centered BBC Sherlock fix-it which is in my reread-it-and-laugh/weep comfort fics folder
https://archiveofourown.org/series/94898
Today, she wrote a song for/about Jeremy Brett which made me cry:
http://plaidadder.tumblr.com/post/
ETA: laughingacademy reblogged it with a link to "I'm in love with Jeremy Brett," a song Poi Dog Pondering, a skiffle band from the 80s
https://laughingacademy.tumblr.com/post/
ETA2: markdown doesn't work in post titles!
So I love oolong tea and I have exhausted all the vendors locally.
When I search online I get hundreds of results. Some are in India and China--the originators of tea! Cost is not my main criterion, but I don't want to throw money into the void.
I want a vendor who will actually ship what I ordered and that’s pretty much it.
Do you have a positive experience with an online tea vendor?
Energy shortage
2019-01-13 06:55 pmI got a virus towards the end of the year and started coughing & sneezing uncontrollably on 25 December. My voice is finally back--being unable to sing for three weeks was remarkably disconcerting. I have been able to swim twice. I don't know if it's the humidity, or that I always puff up on my albuterol sulfate before I jump in, but there's nothing like being eight feet under to improve my breathing.
This moaning is just to let you know I'm way behind on all the juicy new content here on DW.
As you are!
Two Great Dessa Songs
2019-01-12 12:49 pmDessa is fierce and smart and I love her music. She's a white rapper from Minneapolis on the DOOMTREE label.
https://www.dessawander.com/music/
( Links to two YouTube videos )
ETA: rydra_wong tells me Dessa is "half-Puerto Rican", not white.
Markdown is a minimal way to format your text. The goal is to use "natural" formats, similar to email. Software that understands Markdown translates it to HTML. Markdown is much easier--and more forgiving--than HTML. This post has the markdown you'll use the most.
The full spec is hosted by its creator, Jon Gruber
https://daringfireball.net/projects/
Using Markdown Here at Dreamwidth
You can use Markdown for new posts and when you reply by email. Right now, you can't use Markdown on the website when you're replying to posts (aka commenting on entries).
( how to turn it on, formatting emphasis, strong; usernames; lists; rules and code )
Winter Skies
2019-01-07 11:02 am( deep blue sky with suburban greenery at the edges, wispy white clouds scattered like salt )
I posted this using a nifty iOS shortcut created by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Go! Use!
https://sarah.dreamwidth.org/179937.
Lucky in Life, Lucky in Weather
2019-01-01 05:55 pmThanks to Shelley for this great photo from last night. It's a pedestrian path underneath the Southwest Commuter Path near my house. A 4in snowfall covers everything. The streetlight behind the overpass picks out icy edges on the timbers holding up the path and the trees and shrubs surrounding it.
I've been reading fanfic for twenty years! I started reading on desktop computers with CRT screens. Upgraded to a Palm OS device with the lovely iSilo reader. This showed me the magic of offline fanfic: I could read while reclining. When I finally got a laptop, I backslid a bit. I would download web pages and read them offline in my browser, but I was still tied to the upright posture a laptop requires.
I had a brief flirtation with a Kobo e-ink reader, but it wasn't bright enough for me. That did teach me to appreciate ereader software—I got an iPod Touch basically just to read fanfic on the bus. I stepped up to an iPad for the larger print--things got really swell when I got a LEVO iPad Stand*
I've tried every reader program there is, and mostly I use Instapaper on my iPad/iPhone.
Instapaper is available for iOS, Android, and Kindle as well as the web
https://www.instapaper.com/apps
and the basic service is free!
* I got the older one with bungee cords which is not very 21st century but it works.
ETA 2: I've now reverted my style so it no longer supports the "whispery" tags I describe below. I've frozen this post for posterity.
ETA: Ha! I thought I'd discovered a nifty workaround and instead I demonstrated how I didn't test something before I posted.
Boost! great local-to-DW reading
2018-12-27 04:46 pmfancake is an open themed fanwork rec community. Follow the excellent organization of tags by theme or fandom, and it's a great place to make baby's first rec post.
siderea asks "So are there 'canonical' SF movies that are romances?" and gets more than 50 answers
https://siderea.dreamwidth.org/1476828.
muccamuk provides some history as to how people found friends on LJ, then transferred them to DW, and why "finding friends on DW" is a lot harder for newbies than it is for those of us who have been here all along.
Pillowfort issues
kalloway gathers info from Twitter and
fail_fandomanon documenting Pillowfort's willingness to ban a user over their TOS violation before Pillowfort published the relevant TOS
Who-what-where-when in https://kalloway.dreamwidth.org/1628277.
jamethiel discusses Why I Won't Be Doing Fandom on Pillowfort https://jamethiel.dreamwidth.org/397510.
melannen in general is just great—her December posting meme has been delicious.
https://melannen.dreamwidth.org/tag/
Let's Read A Scientific Paper: Is Social Media Bad For You? is a coherent step-by-step deconstruction of a recent psychology study which has generated a bunch of headlines. From her summary: ( learn about the results that could have been with a link )
Let it be known that Tumblr did support awesome creativity! Particularly the 221B Baker Towers headcanon universe, where all the reboot characters are marginalized folks living in a poor housing estate. A delicious improvement on the class-bound glaring-white BBC version.
I've seen most of the creative art and writing on 221b-baker-towers
Tumblr
…but just in case…
The original art manip and headcanon post, safe on AO3
https://archiveofourown.org/works/428754
Tagged Tumblr posts https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/221b+
And on the Archive
https://archiveofourown.org/tags/221B%
When I prepare to publish something here, I think "I'm writing a post." When my gentle readers respond to what I've written, I think "they're making comments." Yet the official Dreamwidth vocabulary is not so straightforward. These are the things that keep me up at night!
To publish the current item, I tapped the "Post" link on the navigation bar. The next screen is called "Create Entries," yet the final action button is called "Post a $securitylevel Entry." With each entry I control who responds with "Comment" settings, yet the relevant FAQ talks about "replies."
One of Dreamwidth's quirkier features is how you can customize much of the user interaction texts
https://www.dreamwidth.org/customize/sovay, who titles the Comment/Reply function "Performable Epic."
( So, the poll )
I've been browsing the "tumblr purge" tags at latest things (as you do) and have stumbled on two wonderful resources:
For Android Users: Close to a Mobile App with Hermit
https://bluewinged-songbird.dreamwidth.
bluewinged_songbird provides the step-by-step, with pictures!
For all of us: If you're used to Tumblr, how you do it here
https://potofsoup.dreamwidth.org/tag/dw+
potofsoup has, of this writing, fourteen step-by-step tutorials, with pictures!
I learned new things, even after being here since 1-May-2009. It also made me better understand how Tumblr works.
More DW activity is great, and all this content increases the chance that I’ll miss something.
Subscription filters to the rescue!
Here's a public filter which contains all the Sherlock-Holmes-related communities and authors I know of here:
https://jesse-the-k.dreamwidth.org/read/
Do let me know what I missed.
I also made a private filter for just the folks who post monthly or less.
( Step by Step )
Every December Dreamwidth has a sale on paid time! Ten percent off in the shop!
Columbia Journalism Review is a trade magazine for journalists. Maia Szalavitz's article on "What the media gets wrong about opioids" opened my eyes wide—
The “relatable” story journalists and editors tend to seek—of a good girl or guy (usually, in this crisis, white) gone bad because pharma greed led to overprescribing—does not accurately characterize the most common story of opioid addiction. ( a truer take and a link )
I used to keep all my fanfic on Dropbox: all my PDFs, docs, epubs, audio files and plain text notes there to access from my iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Pro.
(I'm just one person, so I don't have to worry about managing versions.)
I can't seem to do this with iCloud Drive. When I create a Project folder at iCloud Drive's root level, my iOS apps can't see the data there. The iOS apps all want their files to be inside their own app-specific folders.
Is there a way around this?
Gluten-Free Pecan Shortbread Cookies
2018-12-17 01:37 pmadapted from
Gluten Free Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich with Maya Klein
Although I’m a chatty person, I sometimes draft and erase and draft and erase many comments because of anxiety.
It’s fine to comment with just <3 or listening or cool
All users get 15 icons, and I often switch mine up as part of my comments.
https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/
If you have a paid account, you can create a Kudos button for your posts. Here’s one I stole from melannen
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32So, what did you think?
Tumblr-edition breadcrumbs
2018-12-06 03:49 pmIt's been fun watching lots of new folks come over in the past few days.
I've been following the "tumblr purge" activity via the tag cloud at DW's Latest Things page
https://www.dreamwidth.org/latest?tag=
Some tasty breadcrumbs:
An index to denise's important points in the
dw_news announcement
https://ilyena-sylph.dreamwidth.org/
Lots of FAQs answered.
umadoshi gathers tips for using DW and pondering on alternatives
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/
Tweets from
If @Pinboard were not actively trying to save the American republic I would beg him to help us figure out how to launch a fandom friendly platform that is inclusive of not just text, but visual and multimedia too
....
Um Maciej DMed me and said if fandom can get a consensus spec on what such a platform should look like, he'll see what he can do. So here's a doc. I've outlined what I want to see, but I'm sure I've missed stuff.
...
Fandom platform of the future - specs and features
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r-Wof6X0aPXjU15edcqukZjwqIiNfrbJFOwaYT48UM g/edit?usp=sharing
...
*wheezing* So, uh, the document has grown to 15 pages of feature requests/requirements. I haven't even given Maciej a link yet. Fandom is fucking amazing.
( context )
Racialized Disability Article
2018-11-29 10:11 amMinich’s essay captures the important idea of disability as a template for oppressive ideologies, while also addressing disability studies as a way of knowledge:
( extended quote )Great Writing at Lady Science
2018-11-27 06:06 pmLady Science is a podcast, a blog, a newsletter and an education!
I stumbled on their writings in The New Inquiry, in particular a fascinating historical backstory on feminist educator Dr Maria Montessori
https://thenewinquiry.com/blog/dr-maria-
Thence to their site and many nifty, short essays. From their PAIN MEMOIR series (content note: pain being ignored and belittled)
Kelli Dunham writes about a post-surgical ER visit: being treated respectfully when perceived as male, being blown off when perceived as female. ( Kelli's a nurse and comedian and it shows )
Elizabeth Ross contrasts the futuristic, whole-hearted medical response to her cancer with the backward, head-in-the-sand indifference to her vulvodynia: ( Her experience resonates with mine )
Never lose a post-in-progress again
2018-11-21 10:11 amGreat captions on baby seal video
2018-11-21 10:08 amThanks to
Thanks to sonia who provided these questions back when it was warm and sunny, and has waited patiently:
Why I Love Libro.FM for audiobooks
2018-11-16 06:16 pmThey deliver on their straightforward slogan: Listen to Audiobooks and Support Local Bookstores
You might think that Audible.com is the only place you can get audiobooks for your phone. Amazon promotes Audible on its site, and it advertises on countless podcasts and radio networks. I firmly believe Libro.FM is superior.
( Four Pluses Two Minuses and Three Footnotes )Meet Rhea Ewing's Art and Comics
2018-11-15 11:38 amRhea Ewing is a thoughtful and talented artist. They deploy oils, pencils, collage, as well as digital tools to capture how humans relate to nature. Among other subjects, Rhea's detailed illustrations combine beetles, butterflies, and human hands. I was thrilled to find their work at WisCon, and I'm delighted to support their work via Patreon. Rhea's print "Community" hangs in my living room.
Spend a happy afternoon exploring Rhea's art and writing at their site RheaEwing.com
As long as I've known them, Rhea has been working on FINE: a comic about gender. ( more about FINE )
It's beautifully produced, and their website provides complete transcripts with additional visual resources.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/
Episode 329, Orphan Drugs, fills thirty minutes with a very U.S. story:
- why drug companies systematically ignored effective medicines for rare diseases
- the woman who campaigned for change
- an affected, influential individual who noticed a small press mention
- the popular TV show that amplified a policy issue with effective drama
- the Orphan Drug Act legislation that provided Big Pharma with financial incentives to sell low-incidence medicines
- the unintended consequences: needed medicine for the end users, and huge profits for Big Pharma
"Dog guide" is the generic term.
( details about other names you may encounter )
Mornings At Our House...
2018-11-10 04:24 pminclude some stretching. Bella likes to supervise. In the photo, I'm on my yoga mat in downward facing dog, and Bella echoes my posture. Whenever I pull out the mat, she always comes over and stretches like this. Made setting up this photo much easier!
The Friday Five Gets Cheesy
2018-11-09 06:53 pm( five questions and nine answers )
Industrial Fall Foliage
2018-11-05 06:47 pmLarge winter squash or gourd is a squished globe. Its very lumpy orange skin flares out into evenly spaced protuberances, creating a gear shape suitable for vegetable grandfather clockwork
This was one of 30 unusual items at the Farmer's Market last week.
Tactile Message System
2018-11-05 06:31 pmMyGuy places one of these plastic toys in the front window as a 3D message system. The terrified rider atop a warthog means "I'm out with the dog." The miniature R2-D2 appears when he's out on a bike ride. The green Gumby says simply, "I'm out."
I had lots of 1990s-appropriate answers back when I was diagnosed, but I haven't kept up to date (and all those sites are down).
Any recommendations for books, or websites, or newsletters, or *ghu help me* specific Facebook groups?
I'd appreciate knowing if the resource is aimed at newly-diagnosed folks or family members or what.
Fall Colors Always Surprise Me
2018-11-03 11:01 amThis deep green hemlock bush with lime-green new growth hosts a single violently violet flower and eight tiny red-green leaves from a volunteer maple hiding inside.
Work flow: I read across many apps and keep many notes. I want to copy highlighted text, append basic source document info (Title, author, ISBN/URL), current time/date and then send this to iA writer. I you can create a share sheet/Siri Shortcut/macOS service/Applescript to make this happen in one step.
We will negotiate a fair rate to provide me with this utility and then work through two bug cycles.
Work from anywhere
payscale: up to $60/hour
job type: contract
Reply here--messages are screened so only you and I see them
What Kind of Wheelchair Is That?
2018-10-28 04:28 pmComprehensive Visual Dictionary of Wheelchair Types improving the search skills of all who seek knowledge in this field:
https://www.unitedspinal.org/types-of-
Jocelyn Maffin researchgirlca is the British Columbia SCI Resource Centre manager. She skewers the well-intentioned “concept designers” who predictably spit out wheeled mobility devices we can’t use and can’t afford.
https://sci-bc.ca/wheeled-mobility/
( pungent quotes )Persistent Mushrooms
2018-10-27 09:47 amThe soil has been so wet that perfectly healthy trees have fallen over.
One very local to me had a rotten knot, but otherwise fine. This photograph shows that mushrooms will make 355° turns to get their caps in the sun.
( Life finds a way )