asmanydogsaspossible

*1st CPS case resulted in the kids being adopted out.
(Parents who have had their kids taken away “for no reason” think this is the worst thing that could happen.But it doesn’t happen without reason.

*Cut off contact even though they wouldn’t;foster mom said she didn’t like being “ignored” when bio mom was around.
(This seems like a stretch on bio mom’s part.)

It’s amazing to me(and I mention this quite a bit) that bio moms have a hard time not being around the baby daddies..and that,quite frequently is why they get their kids taken away.

Or getting their kids taken away because they are dealing drugs(harder drugs more commonly)

Current Mood: blank

mellowtigger

By now, everyone knows about this morning's event and the video. This news article contains both.
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/breaking-federal-agent-shoots-man-in-south-minneapolis

Somebody took still images from that video and highlighted a key point. The federal agents removed the gun before shooting the victim who had a phone in his hand. Elsewhere, news is reporting that the victim was registered to conceal carry that gun. I'm using online reports (caution: "I saw it on the internet, so it must be true.") and this New York Times summary.

Click to read the detailed list of former Amendments that are now useless and why...

If all of those bits of evidence are true, then it naturally follows that...

The 1st Amendment is gone. It has been repeatedly established for everyone except this Republican administration that everyone has the legal right to observe. There are trainings going on in Minneapolis based on that very right. Except it's clearly gone here, where the observer (who was holding a phone, not a gun) was killed.
The 2nd Amendment is gone. We've endured decades of school shootings and other mass murders, all because some people insist on the right to bear arms. If it's true this person had a legal firearm and a legal conceal and carry permit, then this amendment is also clearly gone.
The 3rd Amendment is gone. ICE repeatedly insists that it can do whatever it wants, including known examples of breaking and entering without a judge-signed warrant. The federal government can intrude into your house for whatever reason it wants. We saw from earlier ICE actions that this amendment was gone before today's incident.
The 4th Amendment is gone. The victim, a USA citizen, was not the intended target of this ICE invasion and action, and simply recording the incident was not interference in it. (See: 1st Amendment, above.)
The 5th Amendment is gone. The victim had a right to not answer ICE agent questions, which maybe is what annoyed them to decide attacking him? I'm not as certain on this point. If true, then this amendment is also gone. Answer, or else.
The 6th Amendment is gone. Everyone is supposed to have a right to trial. This guy was apparently judged and executed on the street, not captured and jailed. Also, ICE repeatedly prevents local officials from accessing the crime scene and data, again in today's shooting, despite local officials getting a warrant from a judge.
The 8th Amendment is gone. Everyone is supposed to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This guy was already shot and prone, when the second agent started shooting him again. I mean, you gotta be sure that your extrajudicial killing victim is dead, right?
The 10th Amendment is gone. News stories abound regarding ICE collecting data willy-nilly, soon maybe even from popular Ring cameras. Orwellian surveillance is not something really imagined by the founders of the USA, so theoretically this power should belong to the people or the states. That kind of collection has been continuing for a while, but DOGE and ICE and Palantir have clearly escalated the problem.

I took this Reddit thread and expanded it above. With little exaggeration, basically, the entirety of the famous Bill Of Rights is now shredded.

What do we do now? Our Minnesota state governor Walz sent an even more strongly worded message to Trump.

I'm ready (and so is he, "I'm 70 years old, and I'm fucking angry") to write a new detailed list of grievances for the next Declaration Of Independence, with that list eerily similar to last time.

rolanni

The Long Back Yard

#
Saturday. Sunny and bright and just as cold as you can want. Minus one now as I sit in the window under my heated blanket. Minus five when I got up.

I am dressed for success today in heavy sweatpants and Steve's red wool drover shirt and alpaca socks.

Breakfast was potatoes fried with onions and a side of cottage cheese. Speaking of things I need to remember, I need to remember that I really don't like Daisy cottage cheese. It's not them. It's me. WAY too creamy.

I'm intending to make black bean soup or black bean chili or something soupish for lunch today. It'll work out.

Speaking of alpaca socks! Right after Christmas, I ordered a bunch of alpaca socks from a local business and apparently hit the wrong button, saying that I would pick them up. A couple weeks went by and they called and said when are you picking up your socks? and I made arrangements to have them mailed to me which they have been. Their trail has gone from Lincolnville to Belfast to Nashua, and now they're expected by the post office to arrive. Oh Monday. Quite an adventure for a bag of socks.

Today's plan is to read Page proofs this morning, make soup, and do some taxes.

I'm looking for ways to get some rest in between all of this because I really need some rest right now but it's not being easy. Well, the snowstorm may actually help with that goal.

How's everybody doing this morning ?

Dictated to my phone
#
Soup's On

#
Moving right along. Biscuit baking to have with the soup -- which is kind of a black bean, mushroom, veggie, sausage thingy with a crushed tomato/veggie broth base. Smells yummy. And yes, there are going to be leftovers.

My duty to the cats has been performed. I signed up for two "courses" from the local Adult Ed -- a couple-hour Zoom discussion of Maine's Death with Dignity law, in March, and a three-hour (yeah, yeah) cruise of Messalonskee Lake, in mid-July.

After lunch, I'll stare at the taxes for awhile. This morning, the cats and I proofread two short stories from LUC6, and may I just say that "The Last Train to Clarkesville," turned out really well.

What's for lunch at your house?
#
Rookie had some after-lunch advice to give me.
#
And that? Is enough fun for one day.

The tax paperwork is a zoo. For last year, Steve of course was TAXPAYER, but this year, I'm TAXPAYER, which the CPA has already gotten wrong once. I foresee a serious boondoggle, if I try to use their damned online form.

Well. Another phone call in my future.

In any wise -- Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

I'll check in tomorrow.

#
Addendum:

And I see the weatherbeans have adjusted the timing and upped the stakes of the incoming storm. Now predicted to start tomorrow evening and go through to the early hours of Tuesday, 10-18 inches for a projected total, though it looks to me that we're still looking for 10ish inches.

Which is enough, really.

Still calling for Pretty Dern Cold tomorrow, after minus 10 on the overnight.

Tomorrow may be a pillow fort day, after I cope with the various piles. Might be I'll bring the page proofs with me into the fort and finish those. At least that's a task I feel like I have a firm handle on, and which won't cause me headache inducing amounts of angst.

Well. Plenty of angst to go around. The snowmen apparently came into Maine with a quota, if not an actual shopping list. They aim to disappear 1,400 people, and they've taken to threatening observers -- following one woman home, pulled a vehicle across the bottom of the street, another at the top, and a third at the curb, rang her bell and said, "We just want you know that we know where you live."

Stopped another guy who was following a car, and told him he was "impeding" them and that they were delivering his first and only warning. If he "impeded" them again, he would be arrested.

And, because the Portland Police Chief was mean, and said they weren't behaving like real Officers of the Law, they took 50 or so people they had stolen off the streets and stashed in the Cumberland County Jail out of the Cumberland County Jail and I'm not finding that anyone knows where they are now.

Not to mention the random killing of folks in Minnesota.

They're trying to start a war, just like the bully in the schoolyard, pushing you and pushing you and pushing you until you break and launch into a fight you can't win.

God, I hate this timeline.

I do believe I'll serve up Coon Cat Happy Hour, and have a glass of wine.

shadowkat

The high today was 18°F (degree Fahrenheit)/ -7.778°C (degree Celsius), most of the day it was 10 F/-12.2222 C, so I spent most it napping, snacking, and watching television, also did knee exercises. [Next week will be fun - since I'll have to venture out at 8-10 F/ -15-12 C, and get home at 22 F. But maybe it will be warmer? At least most of the time is spent inside the trains and stations. No outdoor stations any longer.]

Train Dreams - available exclusively on Netflix at the moment, and nominated for Best Picture, Cinematography, and song (by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) for the Oscars. Nothing against Nick Cave (who I actually love) but I don't remember the song. I think they rolled it over the end credits - and being on Netflix, I didn't watch the end credits.

Train Dreams by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner (the video is a nice trailer for the film).

It's a beautiful film - kind of dreamy, and weirdly comforting. Felt a bit like a hug on a cold winter night, which I sort of needed today as the radiators hiss to life in the background. The cinematography and the score by Nick Cave is dreamy and lovely all on its own.

The film is about the life and experiences of a logger in the Pacific Northwest, around the turn of the last century (19th to the 20th). It has strong themes about being interconnected, and the ebb and flow of life. Also grief.

Watching it felt a bit like curling up with a good book in front of a fire place, drinking hot coco on a cold winter's day.

Prior to that, I fell asleep watching Grey's Anatomy, which yes, has been on too long. It is on it's 23rd season, it is the longest running prime time medical serial on television. It beat both ER and MASH.

***

"I caught the [60s Batman] TV show in reruns after school every weekday. There’d be a great block of shows that I’d run home for: Star Trek, The Monkees, Twilight Zone, etc. There was a lot of cool stuff that hit stores from Batman-mania that Dad and Mom would get for us, so it was always I source of excitement and great joy. When I was asked to do an issue of DC Solo I immediately got together with my big brother, Lee to do our Batman love letter, BATMAN A Go-Go." - Mike Allred"

Apparently I had the same childhood viewing habits as comic book writer Mike Allred in the 1970s? Just add The Brady Bunch to the docket, and a lot of Godzilla movies. Also, quite a few Elvis Presley films - he died in the 70s, so the Afternoon Movie decided to show every single film he'd ever done. And Presley did a lot of films. None of which were any good.

We used to have The After-School Special (basically a made for television flick with a moral message or lesson), the Afternoon Movie (an afternoon film - usually from the 1950s or 60s that was rated G, they tended to steer clear of the 1970s films which kind of sneered at G ratings, unless they were done by Disney), the Western Film on Saturdays, and Wonderful World of Disney, Masterpiece Theater or Masterpiece Mystery on Sundays. We also watched Star Trek and Space:1999 and Battlestar Galatica, and any other sci-fi show that my parents could find. They liked science fiction, mysteries, noir, and Westerns.

[This was in the 1970s and early 80s. Everything changed somewhere in the 1990s.]

***

Apparently She-Rah is leaving Netflix in a month. Which means if you are like me and probably still need to finish watching the series or watching it at all - you might want to get on that nowhish? I'm guessing they are getting rid of it to make room for the new Star Search? I don't know if anyone else remembers Star Search? It was basically American Idol or Everybody's Got Talent for the kiddie set (or anyone under the age of 18). Brittany Spears and Beyonce were discovered on it. Sarah Michelle Gellar auditioned for it - but didn't make the cut. (I can see why - Gellar can't dance or sing to save her life (note it was Spike who saved Buffy's life singing not Buffy). And juggling ...unless it's death defying, isn't that interesting. This isn't really geared towards actors, it's a talent show for everyone else.) I watched it off and on when I was a kid in the 1970s-80s, but not often.

Tried it today - and lasted all of five minutes before I jumped away to something else. ( Read more... )

roaming_kate23

Passengers on the Zuiderdam have been dealing with a group who are:

Spitting in sinks

Pushing and shoving

Hoarding fruit and when they ask for the ones in the cabin they find them thrown in the trash.Also people have been stealing the hand towels in the public bathrooms onboard.

Guy taking pictures with a huge lens.
(Yeah,that is not creepy *at all*.)

The comments:

Illness is going to break out.
(They were lucky it didn’t. The cruise is ending today, fortunately.)

Disruptive behaviour should be noted and reported.
(It was..and nothing-and I do mean nothing-was done.)

Too slow to act.
(With the sheer amount of complaints, it really does make the mind boggle.)

Awkward situation
(No kidding.)

HAL crew will never say “no”.
(They are people pleasers and they know that if they *are* told no they will go on Cruise Critic and complain about it.)

Current Mood: blank

shadowkat

1. Sleep

I might actually get more than 6 hours sleep tonight. ( general state of my health such as it is )

2. The Weather outside is frightful...actually it's just really windy and as a result, really cold. ( it's cold and everyone is cancelling activities this weekend except for insane Prospect Park hikers )

3. The Unasked for, but you will get it anyway...Daily Buffy Rewatch Post - for those who are remotely interested.

On the Buffy Re-Watch - about to enter one of my favorite stretches in the Spike redemption arc - Conversations with Dead People through Never Leave Me. These episodes, along with Lies My Parents Told Me - explain the Spike/Buffy relationship rather well or what drew the characters together.
And what they needed to learn from each other. ( Where I feel the need to explain my thoughts on it for the millioneth time )

(This is probably the only television show that I've felt the need to endlessly write about. I've written about others just not to this degree. I don't what it is about Buffy that makes me feel the need to do this...)

4. Social media has found a way to convince me to check out Star Fleet Academy (which I was previously ambivalent about) and breaking my boycott of Paramount +. How? ( Read more... )

5. Not that any one cares any longer...(time was I'd see a lot of posts on this, now, John Scalzi didn't even post on it) - the Oscar nominations came out.
( Read more... )
Actually most of the nominees this year were kind of amazing. 20 Cool, Shocking, and Downright Wild Facts about the 2026 Oscars( Read more... )

*********

January Question a Day Memage

19. What colour scheme is your bedroom?

I don't know - shades of blue, with some red in there? (The bed spread, throw pillows - blue, coverlet, white, rug - it's a turkish red and blue rug, photo on wall of niece and big fluffy white (streaked with red) cats.

20. Have you read any of the Winnie the Pooh books?

Yes. To say I was an avid reader as a child would be a gross understatement. I couldn't read until the second-third grade, but once I figured out how? I read whatever I could find. I also had them read to me at one stage. I've read most of the children's classics. Plus the Winnie the Pooh books had pictures and illustrations.

21. Do you like wearing colourful socks? What do the brightest socks you own look like?

I tend to only wear them at home - and they usually are fluffy stay at home socks. The brightest ones had a raccoon on them - but I lost them, now they are the purple fluffy ones. I also have a pair of fluffy socks with penguins on them. My difficulty with socks is I lose them doing laundry.

22. In January 1496, Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tested a flying machine. Do you like flying?

Not really? I mean it's okay. I don't mind being in the plane. But I'm six foot, and planes are built for midgets. Also, I hate the logistics of flying? Which has only gotten worse over the years? Too many odds and bits to worry about. Personally, I prefer trains - easier to get on and off, not as many things to worry about, more comfortable seats, bigger windows, better views, and more leg room.

23. The pirate William Kidd was born this month in 1645. Have you read Treasure Island?

No. Seen it performed a lot on screen, but never felt the need to read it.

roaming_kate23

Oscar nominations and I am very pleased to see that Sinners was nominated for a BUNCH of Oscars.

Best Picture:Sinners. obv.

Leo DiCaprio or Michael B. Jordan for Best Actor. Gonna go with Michael B. Jordan on that one.

Best Actress:Emma Stone(who I have a girl crush on) but NOT Kate Hudson. She’s been cosplaying as her character from Almost Famous for 25 years.

Best Director:Ryan Coogler for Sinners.

Best Suppporting Actress:Amy Madigan.She was crazy good in Weapons(if you haven’t seen Weapons or Sinners *you need to*.)

Best Supporting Actor:Delroy Lindo(Sinners, again!)

Current Mood: calm

mellowtigger

We live in historic times.

I'm back home. I skipped the indoor part of the event that was scheduled. I got home in time to watch the 5pm local news (KSTP 5), 5:30pm national news (ABC World News Tonight), and 6pm PBS. None of them impress upon their viewers the actual scale of what just happened.

Minneapolis is geographically small. When it expanded and encountered other cities, it didn't annex them but just stopped expanding. This page explains some of that history. We have not quite 500,000 residents in an area of only 153 square kilometers (59 square miles) in total area, with 6% of that area being water. That's significantly smaller than someplace like Austin TX, where I lived before moving to the Twin Cities about 30 years ago. The size of home lots is smaller than most places in the suburbs, so we have a lot of people in less space.

I showed up at 2pm in the face-freezing cold weather. I was mostly prepared for it after decades of accumulating appropriate layers of gear, but I still needed chemical handwarmers, which kind people were handing out freely. I hung around for a full hour before asking someone near me about 3:05pm, "Do you know when the march is supposed to be?" They said, "Oh, it started at 2pm. There's just that many people here." What a wonderful reason to be feel frustrated. I waited a while longer before realizing that the arthritis in my back wouldn't allow much more of this inactivity. For inexplicable reasons, standing still is worse on my back than moving. I finally moved to join what appeared, maybe, to be an end of the line, and I started walking. And kept walking, slowly, for more than an hour across not-so-many blocks of downtown to the destination on the west side. Other arthritic parts were complaining by then, and my surgical mask had long since given up any semblance of function in the bitter cold (I pushed it aside because it kept freezing, leading to fogged-up eye glasses), so I headed back to the bus for the ride back home. Even at my home neighborhood, people would see me carrying an "ICE OUT" poster and honked their support at me as I walked home.

The general strike was approved even at the state-level AFL-CIO. I made sure to thank my bus drivers both going downtown and coming back home, so they knew I appreciated their enabling me to protest, which is a great form of solidarity. They're absolutely not scabs for working during an approved general strike.

CNN published the headline "Hundreds brave freezing temperatures at downtown Minneapolis rally and march". So now we know that CNN airs propaganda for the administration. The organizers claim 50,000 people attended. I don't know for sure. It easily could have been that many. Some news outlets are saying "tens of thousands" of people protested. Nobody could capture a single image, because our path on the march wound between different skyscrapers. You can get a sense of the scale in these photos, these photos, this video, and this video. I was there for over 2 hours and never saw the whole of it.

My own recording in video and photograph is lame in comparison to those links. Even early at the event, my fingers stopped working well whenever I took them out of the gloves, so I just couldn't fumble with my phone easily to record the many wonderful things I saw. I really like the loon Star Wars poster and the magnificent loon flag. The various Liam (the bunny child) posters were heartbreaking, of course. I'll leave this link to a folder with what small things I did manage to capture. I'm sorry, but it was just too cold for me to operate my smartphone skillfully.

My faith in humanity is restored for at least the next 24 hours. Until the next inhumane Republican thing happens, whatever it is.

We live in historic times.

rolanni

For those interested in the Liaden Read-along -- The Summing Up of Agent of Change has been posted.

rolanni

Sarah came, she cleaned, she left. The cats all came back to Steve's office with me, and we read the first 50ish pages of LUC6.

My duty to the cats has been performed. The oven is heating for lunch.

After, I'll work on the taxes for awhile. I'm not sure if everybody is being Very Diligent about their 1099s this year, or if I'm in a time-slip. Or, yanno -- both. In any case, those columns of numbers ain't adding themselves.

This year the CPA had opted to go Electronic Only for its fact-finding questionnaire, and I hate it with a Deep and Abiding Hatred, leavened with Frustration. Also, the upcoming snow event is weighing on my mind. I think I may not be ready for a blizzard. And February lies before me. I'm not particularly sanguine about February this year.

Also, yanno, ICE is in Maine doing its damnedest to make the False Narrative that we are a hellscape of crime and brutality into reality.

*raises hand*

May I fast forward to April 25, please?

No, didn't think so.

How's everybody doing at midday, Eastern?
#
So, I called the CPA and the poor young person who answered the phone had to tell me that, nope, I can't download the questionnaire until it's filled out, adding that she is compiling A List for the people who market this program to CPA firms, because I am not the first one of their clients to have blown a gasket.

The solution was to go to the office -- which, thank ghod, is only ten minutes away -- to pick up a paper copy to work from. I have done this. I have also, hopefully, provided the necessary encouragement to change the name on the account to Sharon Lee, as today was the third time I was asked if the account might be under another name. I was Not Nice. "Why," I said, "maybe it's under my dead husband's name?" And, yep, that's where it was.

On the way home, I picked up a chocolate milkshake. With whipped cream.

I am now going to go drink said milkshake and then make several copies of the paper form.

Technology. It will make everything easier.

Yeah...
#
In all, this has been . . . a trying day. I'm exhausted. Did get some things accomplished in a taxward direction. It just seems so unfair that you have to do all this work only to have to write a check at the end of it. Yes, yes, I know -- some people get money back on their taxes. That? Has not been my reality for a Very Long Time.

Poor Rookie is starving. Happy Hour is days late and he has Composed a Poem regarding this tragedy, which he is shouting non-stop from all corners of the house -- testing the acoustics, I guess. The girls are occupying various High Places well out of the Poet's way.

I briefly thought about hiding under the bed, but then I remembered that I have a Captain's Bed, so that's out.

Tomorrow will be more of the same, and the day after that, as well. I do find that some places are stating that they'll issue the damned 1099s on January 31 and not one minute earlier, so that's good to know, and I can't for the life of me remember what I did about BN; as in, if I closed that account entirely. I can't seem to get into my publisher account there. OTOH, they did sent me $150 last year.

I need to remember to write things down. And then I need to remember where I wrote them down.

It may be I'm losing this whole Going it Alone Thing by Slow Attrition rather than A Bolt from the Blue.

And on that cheerful thought, I bid everyone goodnight.

Be careful, stay safe. I'll check in tomorrow.

Today's blog post title brought to you by Buffalo Springfield, who first sang it in 1966. "For What It's Worth."

solarbird

The ICE fascist agent acknowledges her taking video is legal, doesn’t pretend she’s in the way, takes her photo and license plate information for their “nice little database” and declares her to be a domestic terrorist. Micah’s commentary is good, which is why I’m including it.

Klippenstein’s sources say the database is real, and that the fascist agent wasn’t supposed to talk about it. As some of us said, the “war on terror” was always going to be a war on Americans at home, and here it is.

Micah - @rincewind.runthe incredulous "this is bullshit, are you fucking kidding" tone here is a sign that you have turned someone into a lifelong radical against you and people like youthis is a stupid tactic used by stupid people who don't have any other ideas@ Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social - 3hICE agent asked why he's taking pictures of a legal observer's car, replies: "Cuz we have a nice little database and now you're considered a domestic terrorist. So have fun with that."[still image of a masked ICE fascist standing in front of a sedan]9:46 AM - Jan 23, 2026 Some people can reply

Micah @rincewind.run - 2hone of the very most deeply wired of human instincts is "this is not fair" and that's why we try to build societies that are either fair or (more likely) lie to us about being fairwhat these people are doing is breaking that contract in favor of "fuck you I'm doing this because | can"shoving someone's face directly in unfairness and telling them the rules they have built their lives around don't matter because you're in charge and they aren't triggers fury on the lizard brain level and it's a huge contributor to how autocracies fail

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

mbarrick

Friday coffee. Starting into details. Yes, it is not exactly like the reference. I'm not interested in being 100% tickety-boo. I have cameras for that. #process #painting #acrylicpainting
via Instagram

used_songs

Today I wanted to stay home from work, so I did. To celebrate myself, I made my favorite vegetarian tortilla soup and ate it with Wisconsin Organic Fontina that I got at HEB (before people panicking over the weather cleared the shelves).

It’s pretty good. It is extremely smooth and mild when you first bite into it, but then you find that it’s a bit crumbly and has a slightly sharp flavor. I actually really liked it. I had it with Hatch green chili pita chips and spicy pumpkin tortilla soup and it was a good combo.

asmanydogsaspossible

Watch on YouTube

I spent a couple of months two summers ago on a mission to listen to music from every single country on earth. That was fun, and actually quite a challenge! It's difficult to find music from some of the tinier countries, let me tell you! Anyhow, the above song is one that I found from Congo, and it really stuck with me. Felt like sharing it.

I don't really remember my dreams last night, unfortunately. Nothing interesting, anyhow. This morning I went and filled the van with gas. It's been acting up and doesn't really love cold weather; part of that is probably the fact that I usually don't have a ton of gas in it and I let it sit too long. The lines might be freezing. It's never a small dent in my bank account when I fill that thing up! Oh well.

Preparing for winter storm, now. Going to replace one of the rotten supports for the car port. Carter has anxiety that the weight of the snow and ice might finally bring it down. Should be easy to put up another post, though. I will do that this afternoon after grabbing some other last minute supplies. Tomorrow I go to see my parents and brother, narrowly squeezing in a dinner date before it starts snowing its ass off. I hope my van can handle the bitter cold. It doesn't have heat so that'll be a fun drive for me, but eh. I'm used to bullshit.

I've finished work for the week, going to mail it off later. That leaves me with a couple hours to do whatever I want. Maybe I'll scan some pages from my sketchbook and possibly draw something new. I've been trying to keep a habit of it. Art is my job, but the art I do for work isn't my whole passion. I can't share it since it's under NDA. So one of my goals is to make sure I keep making my own art on the side that I can share from time to time. Stay in touch with the reason why I became an artist to begin with. It wasn't just to make money, though that was definitely a goal.

Current Mood: okay

rolanni

Summing up: Many many people have applied for the beta reader slots. I can't possibly accommodate everyone -- it's me, not you -- but I am truly amazed and honored by the outpouring of generous offers of help. Even more are the little catch-up notes some folks have included. I love you all. Thank you.

Because the Universe is aria performed by Chaos, yesterday afternoon the page proofs for Liaden Universe Constellation No. 6 landed, sending all my happy thoughts of glass art and gathering up the tax documentation in a non-crazy kind of way out the door. I did, however, bake a loaf of bread. Damn, that's good.

This? Catches us up to Friday morning

Sunny and chillier than yesterday. The 'beans have been moving the /f/u/r/n/i/t/u/r/e atmospherics around to achieve a more favorable feng shui. We're still looking for colder'n a frog's ear starting tomorrow, but the snow has been shoved over to Sunday/Monday, with a forecasted accumulation of 8-13 inches.

PT may not happen on Monday. I think I'm OK foodwise for the cats and myself. The generator light is showing green, and I've got plenty of blankets to snuggle under while I sit in the window and read page proofs.

Breakfast for those keeping count was fresh-made bread-n-butter. Because I am an adult.

Sarah's due in realsoonnow to defur the joint, which will be much appreciated. I need to make some hot tea for my thermos and another mug, and then I'll be heading back to Steve's office to!

Yep. Read page proofs.

How's everybody doing this morning? Weather, much?

rolanni

5 *Carpe Diem ((Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4 *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
3 *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
2 A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace Burrowes (e)
1 Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)

________
*I'm doing a straight-through series read in publication order

mellowtigger

I've mentioned before that I like some of the thoughts that come from a University of Minnesota professor named P. Z. Myers.

This is a great example.

In short, they support our right to engage in lawful civic expression, but you better not participate in this one unless you’ve consulted your dean and filled out all the paperwork and you have a good excuse! Too bad. I’ve emailed all my students and told them to join in the protest. I haven’t consulted my dean or filled out any paperwork, but my excuse is that the entire country has been seized by an incompetent fascist cabal, and a brief work stoppage is the least we can do. We ought to have a nationwide general strike for a period of time sufficient to let the ruling junta know that we mean business. I wish my university had the conviction and the moral courage to speak out, rather than sending out long weasely excuses for doing nothing.
- https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/01/22/the-least-we-can-do-do-better-university-of-minnesota/

I'm not looking forward to the bitter cold for the march and protest. I'm typing this post on my phone, awake at 3am after a bad dream woke me up, lying in a warm bed with electric blanket at maximum setting, but it's currently -29C/-20F outside, ignoring any windchill factor.

Edit: 5:30am. Woken again by another bad dream. Twice in one night. It is not a restful night.

Edit: 10am. I woke up a few minutes before 9am, so I finally got a good block of sleep accomplished. I woke up to the sound of a helicopter. There's another as I type this, nearly 10am. I keep checking FlightRadar24.com, where I usually do, but it's not identifying these sounds. All I see is higher altitude plane flights. The federal government is afoot. (Aflight?) Meanwhile, I'm assembling my clothing for this afternoon. It took a while to find my balaclava. I wish I had some footwarmers and handwarmers. I know that good people intend to hand some out today, but I doubt they'll have enough for everyone.

shadowkat

I've decided the world went nuts long ago and I just happen to reside within it. It does make want to stay in my apartment and hibernate at times, like the human version of a bear. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all make like a bear and just hibernate through the winter months?

Speaking of winter - it's decided to thrust itself up the United States proverbial ass with a nasty vengeance this weekend. If you have weekend plans to travel anywhere within the US, with the possible except of the Pacific Northwest? I'd cancel them. This is a good weekend to make like a bear and hibernate. For myself? I decided to take Monday off, and canceled my Physical Therapy appointment scheduled for Monday. ( Read more... )

Overall - I think my knees are getting better? But I foresee more doctors in my future.

***

Found an article in Elephant Journal via FB - the best advice I ever saw in Ask Amy Column (kind of the modern version of Dear Abby or the print version of Am I an Asshole (spoiler? They usually are).
( gist in case you can't read it )

***

Rewatched "Him" - Buffy S7 Episode - I think 7? I can't remember the number?

It's a favorite - because I think it's hilarious, and it does a good job of satirizing/lampooning the romantic relationships/entanglements on Buffy to date. And the whole love at first sight or lust trope.

But I picked up on something that I hadn't previously - a little annoyance.

Buffy tells Dawn in Him - that her feelings for RJ aren't real. And she's rather cruel and condescending about it.

Dawn: What I feel for him is real. You don't understand -
Buffy: I think it's real for you.

It's an echo of what she said to Spike in Entropy, before he ended up sleeping with Anya.

"I think it's real for you."

Ugh. Buffy. I want to smack her. I'm not surprised both Spike and Dawn yelled at her.

wychwood

( 163. At the Feet of the Sun - Victoria Goddard ) These books are just a delight; I will definitely be reading more Goddard.

( 164. Murder in the Marginalia - Julie Ecker ) I feel a bit mean about it, given that I got this for free, but I think ultimately this just isn't my genre.

( 165. The Big Four - Agatha Christie ) Christie really needed to stay away from the Dramatic Spy Plots.

( 166. Peace Company, 168. These Green Foreign Hills, and 170. The Mountain Walks - Roland J Green ) If you like non-ultra-right-wing milSF you can definitely do worse than these books!

( 167. Hemlock & Silver - T Kingfisher ) This was probably one of the more disappointing Kingfishers for me, sadly. But fortunately I bought it on a 99p deal and not full price!

( 169. The Frangipani Tree Mystery and 171. The Betel Nut Tree Mystery - Ovidia Yu ) I'm enjoying this series! Will have to read more of them.

( 172. Odds Against - Dick Francis ) Just as fun as I was hoping, based on his rep!

( 173. Starcruiser Shenandoah: Squadron Alert - Roland J Green ) I'm sad that I wasn't as into this as the Peace Company, but I fully intend to finish my series re-read.

( 174. Unnatural Magic - C M Waggoner ) This is very different from the other Waggoner I've read; not bad, but I don't know that I would have gone for a second if I'd read this one first.

( 175. Provenance - Ann Leckie ) A delightful heist adventure; I don't need a sequel to this, but I like to think that Tic and Garal and Ingray and Taucris are all off living their best lives and hanging out a lot.

( 176. The Coming-of-Age of the Chalet School - Elinor M Brent-Dyer ) A decent addition to the series, but not particularly exciting.

asmanydogsaspossible

I dreamed I was wearing the old costume, the flat cap with long coat. I had long hair in the dream which was unusual; it felt symbolic of a lack of self care/attention. I felt energized within myself, and I was doing funny, amusing things and making people laugh. I was exploring a place that felt like a mall/school. There was a point where I had to sneak through a tight tunnel that was inside of a school locker; basically a tall, narrow opening. I had some sense that I was in Japan, maybe. Or just that there were a lot of Japanese food vendors in this mall food court. I was looking at various sushi on display, but I didn’t speak any Japanese so I wasn’t sure how to ask for it. I felt shy so I just avoided trying to ask. At some point I wandered into a closed up ballroom/cathedral/stage area. It felt grand and massive. It was dark and empty, unused. I was captivated by the impressive space. Being in it alone, in the dim light, was oddly peaceful. Then I noticed there was a balcony and I was able to look down over a busy pub. I saw members of my family there, aunts and uncles. They saw me and pointed and waved. I made my way down there. I saw Sharon, who was with a woman, and the woman asked me how long I’d had that hat. I told her I’d had it over ten years, they are sturdy hats, and she should get one.

I woke up from the dream and I felt good. Like, wow, I haven’t had a dream with the coat and hat in a long time. Maybe years. It's hard to believe that 2020 was years ago at this point. I feel like that was around the last time I had those kinds of dreams. A lot has happened since then. Many changes.

Took an iron supplement this morning. First time taking one. I'm probably just being overly hopeful but I actually feel a little more genki this afternoon than I usually do. I may also look into trying iron patches since I learned that I shouldn't be taking it with dairy, which I did this morning. Oops.

Today is warm, sunny, pleasant. The calm before the storm. Winter is coming. How many more cliches can I put in here? Seriously, though. I'm in the "prepare to..." swatch of the country that is about to get walloped by a winter storm. It might legitimately suck for the next week or even longer if it stays below freezing. Which it seems like it's going to, ugh. I left upstate NY to get away from this shit, haha. Alas.

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January 2026

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Page Summary

roaming_kate23 - [there’s reason. they don’t get that though.]
mellowtigger - The Bill Of Rights is gone. What now?
rolanni - Stormy Weather
shadowkat - Lazy Saturday - too cold to do anything but layabout and watch television
roaming_kate23 - [honestly they should be upset]
shadowkat - So glad it's Friday finally...
roaming_kate23 - [thoughts on Oscar nominations]
mellowtigger - the scale of the Minneapolis protest
rolanni - Liaden Read Along
rolanni - There's a man with a gun over there
solarbird - Fascists building a database and rubbing noses in it
mbarrick - Friday coffee. Starting into details. Yes, it is not exactly like the reference. I'm not…
used_songs - Cheese Quest
asmanydogsaspossible - (no subject)
rolanni - Catching up and getting behinder
rolanni - Books read in 2026
mellowtigger - my favorite Minnesota curmudgeon
shadowkat - (no subject)
wychwood - december booklog
asmanydogsaspossible - (no subject)

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