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Interesting Links for 31-01-2026

1. Council of Europe Assembly backs ban on conversion practices: (tags:LGBT Europe rights GoodNews )
2. New forensic technique could be 'game changer' for solving sex crime cases (it can tell which body part DNA came from): (tags:dna assault forensics )
3. Putting solar panels on land used for biofuels would produce enough electricity for all cars and trucks to go electric: (tags:solarpower transport cars )

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: it's been falling all day long

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the snow is coming down on our new england town

Our choir director, giving us pronunciation notes in rehearsal this week: "We don't want to say 'NIEW-born child,' it's too nasal for our character. NOO-born child. Like, 'ooh, a baby!'"
Me, filters obliterated: "Well, of course, you don't say 'ew, a baby!'"
A: *overhears me, cracks up, can't stop laughing for like the next three minutes*

*

H, upon arrival in Albuquerque: "... why is there snow in New Mexico?!"
Me: "It's a mile above sea level! It's like Denver!"
H: "I thought it was going to be like the Bay Area, or Phoenix."
Me: "I did tell you to bring a jacket."
H: "Isn't like how you always tell me to bring a jacket and I'm usually fine without?"
Me: "Do you wanna build a snowman?"
H: "NO."

*

Weather reports out of Boston are crowing over the second major snowstorm incoming this week, bombogenesis over the Atlantic, and many of my friends there are freaking out about how this is happening on such a similar schedule to Snowpocalypse 2015. Though the current bet is that it'll probably remain out at sea and miss the New England coast for anything but a few more sprinkles.

While I am actually a bit envious of all of the pictures of the deep, freshly-fallen snow people have been posting, I'm also really, really glad that I don't have to shovel snow anymore. That I don't have to penguin-walk everywhere trying not to slip on black ice. That when I bike home at night, my fingers may complain (I was wearing gloves!), but 25 years in New England taught me to layer a wool sweater and a puffer vest. That I'm plucking lemons off the tree from our front porch - in January - and incorporating them into lemon chicken for dinner and wild rice pancakes for breakfast. (Said wild rice pancakes: I took Molly Yeh's recipe and accidentally doubled the wild rice, added cardamom and lemon zest, and grabbed a jar of cloudberry compote for ease of portability/topping; brought them to a breakfast picnic with bike friends this morning instead of our usual coffee because of the general strike.)

In related news, boston dot com posted a list of Boston's top 11 biggest snowstorms by accumulation since they started keeping track, and I was there for most of them, ahahaha.

1. February 17-18, 2003 - 27.6". This was right after Andrew and I had broken up, and I was absolutely blaming the giant snowstorm on him, hahaha. 😁 I lived in an apartment in the Fenway at this point, so thankfully I didn't have to shovel, and aside from having to go to work, mostly got to sit in my apartment and mope dreamily out the window, like the heroine in a romance novel at the nadir.

4. March 31-April 1, 1997 - 25.4". I'd gone to Boston for the weekend with college friends and escaped back to the Pioneer Valley just as the snow started falling. College dorm living sitch, so I didn't have to shovel, but whatever they used to keep the paths vaguely clear smelled like rotting bananas and soy sauce, and this was the kind of thing I got to learn about in my first New England winter, hahaha.

5. Blizzard of 2005 - January 22-24 - 25.4". I'd moved to an apartment in Porter, didn't have to shovel, but we had prime views out our window of people stumbling to the White Hen. I would, however, move into a place with a private patio later that year, which would require me to begin shoveling myself out in order to take the trash out. At least I also began dating a guy who had to shovel himself out, and we could commiserate together!

6. February 8-9, 2013 - 24.9" . Our final winter in Roxbury, where most of our shoveling was stairs, but a loooot of them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/VkNcd8iRrS/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
https://www.instagram.com/p/VkMsdvCRqB/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
https://www.instagram.com/p/VhsUnoCRlF/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

7. January 26-28, 2015 - 24.6".

9. February 7-9, 2015 - 23.1". These last two were part of Snowpocalypse 2015, and if you used one particular entrance to the Minuteman Trail to get to Alewife that winter, THANK ME AND

hyounpark FOR SHOVELING, because the snowplow drivers kept dumping all the neighborhood snow in the culdesac at the foot of our street and blocking path access! (As is, we couldn't get our car out of the driveway until like May.) And no, we did not have a snowblower, no place to store one. I had buff-ass biceps that winter. :P

And now the word "shoveling" sounds like technobabble since I've used it so much this post.

Current Mood: distressed
Current Location: Contabile, outside Norwich
Current Music: see post, also see location

Songs for Saturday: Disaster season

Music: see post Picture: freas Location: Mood: distressed

Late January through early February is not a good time of year. My mother-in-law died January 20, 1999. My father died a little over two weeks later, on February 5th. In between, we had Challenger, 40 years ago on the 28th (last Wednesday), and Columbia, 23 years ago tomorrow. Meanwhile people are being killed in the US by the Mad King's gang of thugs. So, in order:

The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of -- written for my father, but applies equally well to my late mother-in-law, Shirley Hentzell. I sang it for him a couple of months before he died.
Keep the Dream Alive Written a couple of days after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. That was the second Challenger song I wrote; the first was Thrill-Seeker's Waltz. Sorry about that.
Rainbow's Edge written specifically for my father. tl;dr: Dad was highly influential in the field of infrared spectroscopy. See the notes at the end of the lyrics page for more details.
Rocket Rider's Prayer was written in 1986. The line in the fifth verse, beginning "better pray to Hell's own Pluto..." was not intended to be prophetic of what happened to Columbia.
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

Recordings on Bandcamp hopefully in about a week.

Current Mood: thoughtful

YMI -- ODB: 30 January 2026

ODB: In God’s Presence

Jan 30, 2026/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

January 30, 2026

READ: Proverbs 6:6-11

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! Proverbs 6:6

In 1692, Brother Lawrence’s work The Practice of the Presence of God was first published. In it, he described how he invited God into his mundane daily activities. Brother Lawrence’s words still challenge us to prayerfully seek God in everything we do, like mowing the yard, getting groceries, or walking the dog.

Each day, I take our dog, Winston, for a walk. My goal for him is to exercise. Winston’s goal? Sniffing everything. Calling this time “a walk” is a generous fiction. More often, we’re going for a . . . stop. Lately, instead of getting frustrated by a lack of forward progress, I’ve been asking God to help me see these moments as a reminder that life is a lot like walking a dog. We experience God’s presence as we faithfully obey Him in life’s everyday activities, including their unexpected interruptions.

In Proverbs 6, Solomon offers a similar lesson, using the everyday, humble example of the ant to call us to work faithfully: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise” (v. 6). Solomon used ants as an example of everyday, patient labor (vv. 7-8).

Our relationship with God needn’t be compartmentalized into designated “spiritual” times alone, like church or a quiet time. Instead, as we faithfully obey Him, God invites us to see His divine fingerprints throughout each day.

— Adam Holz

When has God used something mundane to help you see Him better? In what everyday task is He calling you to be faithful?

Dear Father, thank You for reminders everywhere that You’re a part of every moment.

For further study, read Relationship or Religion? What It Means to Follow Jesus.

Source: Our Daily Bread

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Three Sentence Ficathon Roundup (Our Flag Means Death + Starfleet Academy)

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Thoughts on the "Route for the third Edinburgh tram line"

There's been a bit of a fuss today about the unveiling of a third Edinburgh tram line route. And my thoughts about it aren't simple enough to stick into a link title, so I thought I'd ramble a little.

Firstly, it seems to me that this is not a council announcement of anything. The map is plastered with the repeated word "concept". It contains both Picardy Place and York Place (Picardy Place was created when York Place was removed, when the tram extension was carried out in 2023). I've seen discussions that it's based on an old version of the existing routes taken from Wikipedia.

The source is a Scotsman article, rather than a council publication. And even then the coverage is mostly taken from a speech given at the Rail in Scotland conference - where the council's transport convener said he "was excited at taking a closer look" - but it's not the main priority. Certainly there's nothing on the council's news page mentioning it.

So I'm not convinced that this is more than a "Here's an interesting possibility"

Secondly, I'm not convinced it's viable financially. Which isn't to say that trams, in general, can't be worthwhile. If Edinburgh hadn't badly botched the construction of the first tram line then it would be well in profit now. But that tram line runs from one of the most densely populated parts of the city (Leith Walk) to one of the business hubs (Gyle and Gogar), through some of the most touristy stretches (Princes Street).

Much though I love the idea of a tram that literally stops in my road and goes to both the airport and Portobello, nearly the whole route is low-density. The bus route that is closest to it is the 38, which is so low-use outside of rush hour that it's a single-decker that has to be subsidised.

Admittedly, it's cheaper to build than a new tram line, as it's mostly a question of re-using the old train line. But I'd like to see a concrete business case for it, that checked that the number of potential users would support running tram-trains along that route.

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but this weekend i will do some of my to-do list, i swear

I was on campus yesterday for an in-person meeting, so worked from home today, and am now entirely discombobulated and have no idea what day it even is. Although the nice thing is that when I check, it turns out to be Friday, which is the best possible option!

Our bin collection day has moved from Wednesday to Thursday so I had to put the bag out on Wednesday night when I got back from choir (I mean, obviously I should have put it out before choir, but I forgot because I'm not used to it yet!). For once I'd actually had to put a bag in my outside bin - having been away at Mum's put me all out of sync, and I had to admit last weekend that I couldn't keep piling things up and needed to start a new bag. So I went out to fetch it to add to the gigantic rubbish pile outside the other block, only to find that it had vanished??!?

I have to assume that one of my neighbours put it out for me, which is obviously very kind of them but also extremely weird, because are they just checking my bin every week or something?? I haven't put anything in there for several months, not since we switched to piling the bags up for collection.

Still, this is much nicer than the disgusting bin neighbours.

This week has been terribly unproductive, although I have listened to an entire audiobook and one and a half radio dramas. Hopefully next week will be better, but I still haven't worked out what to do for my birthday - Mum isn't feeling up to even a short expedition, but I could still go over and/or have lunch with Dad... I'm having dinner with my choir buddy S (also to mark our 22nd anniversary of joining the chorus and making friends!) and then choir, with the second new conductor candidate, so that'll be interesting.

Also have various other social things suggested or partly arranged to follow up on; I need to pull myself together and get them sorted, ideally spaced out so I don't end up with everything happening all at once as usual. I did have lunch with two friends yesterday, so that was good! Socialising with nice people: fun actually, who knew.

Current Mood: grateful

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Snowflake Challenge 2026 - Challenge 15: How'd it go?

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

Challenge #15

How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go? Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers.

I think it went well!

There are people I "know" on Dreamwidth from seeing them around places, that I don't get a chance to interact with much myself. Therefore, I find

snowflake_challenge delightful because it gives me an excuse to interact with them! And also, find new, interesting people to interact with! It really helps with the sense of community. I mean, even if I end up not interacting with a particular person for whatever reason, it's still fun to see the same names pop up all the time.

I'm a little saddened that things seemed to peter out towards the end of the challenge. I'm not sure if that was the challenge's fault itself, or if we all got tired due to +gestures at the world+. It's probably more of the latter.

I did miss the "make a fanwork" challenge, because in the past I've worked hard on that. In 2023, I made a Crocheted Carbuncle which took a heck of a lot longer than I expected BUT I DID IT, and last year I launched my Neocities site. Not sure what I would have done THIS year, but odds are I would have gone overboard again, lol. I know me.

I've said in the past that I feel mostly on the outskirts of fandom. This year, I feel like I've at least put a foot in the pool? I don't feel so disconnected as I have in the past, and a lot of that has to do with the good people at the Final Fantasy Old Folks' Home, plus being more active in making fanworks myself, and yes, also because of

snowflake_challenge. So I feel I've had a positive experience this year. Thanks, mods!

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Want justice, have bookpost

Everything's extremely fucked up at the moment, and I'm heartsick and volcanicly angry on behalf of my old home of Minneapolis.

"IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT" IS FAKE

MIGRATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT

DISBAND ICE

HAND OVER THE MURDERERS AND ABDUCTORS TO THE PEOPLE'S JUSTICE

THAT INCLUDES NOEM AND TRUMP

That's about all I've got on that. But, I guess I've also got some babbling about games and stuff stacked up in the queue, so let's post that.

Naomi Novik — A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves (re-reads)

Jan 7, Jan 8, Jan 8

My friend Isaac got around to reading these and was loudly enthusing about them; that reminded me how much I loved em, and then I had to blast through a re-read.

Isaac pointed out a recurring thematic motif I hadn't quite pinpointed on my first read: some idealistic sentiment that began as cynical propaganda, but which ends up becoming real for a later generation that absorbed the sentiment before learning the original motive.

Bonus Level: Several More STGs

Get in loser, we're dodging bullets.

( Cut for extremely niche content )

Current Mood: numb

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house,
progress

inching forward

Got a pre-listing inspection done on the old house this morning. Haven't received the full report yet, but 3 outlets that are supposed to be GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) didn't trip when they were tested. Robby is going to do some further troubleshooting on that before deciding if we need to call in an electrician. We'll also have to add smoke detectors in all the bedrooms, since having the nearest one be just outside the bedroom door doesn't meet the current requirements.

Next week I need to call someone about the minor roof leak that has developed near the front door of the new house.

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Current Mood: grateful
Current Location: Contabile, outside Norwich

Thankful Friday

Today I am thankful for...

Having lived long enough to see some of my younger co-workers retire.
Being able to walk well enough to handle the rather long trips to and from the ferry, leaving Lizzy for N to use.
Being able to get by on under 6 hours of sleep most of the time.
Good meals on the ferry, and breakfast in the convention hotel today.

NO thanks for Sable's crappy battery, which is even worse than I expected.

Current Mood: content

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snowflake

Snowflake Challenge #15 - conclusion

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #15. How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go?

Pretty well. I've completed all the challenges timely, did a couple of creative things (icons, mood boards), got to ramble about the Locked Tomb, interacted with a few peers (not much, but I was already pushing my socializing limits ;), even made a new friend! Joined a new creative community, got some great recs for games, books etc. (Thanks again to everyone who recommended Stray - I started to play, and it's truly an amazing game! and a prime example of Environmental Storytelling, which had turned up in one of my gamedev courses and apparently it's one of my favourite game design techniques.)

My DW posting definitely got a boost this month. Hopefully not crawling back under my rock in the end. (It's hard for me to do anything creative and even journaling without a structure of challenges... ;)

Big thanks to all the mods, and to all the participants! See you next year, I guess ;) Or maybe in other communities. While snooping around, just discovered a summer counterpart of this challenge,

sunshine_revival, it sounds cool :)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Infinite Rivals - The 13th Struggle (Luxord)

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fandom snowflake: 2016

Snoflake Challenge 2026 #15: Five Stars

Last call for this year's

snowflake_challenge, and, it's a bit like all the things asking us to rate and review them with our time.

Challenge #15

How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go?

I intend to keep going back and checking out entries when I'm not doing something else, and leaving comments, and trying to build that community and see interesting things that people have posted. It probably won't go that quickly, and I may not make it all the way through in a timely manner. But I'll try.

( It was fine, which is not a complaint. )

Entry tags:

reno

Reno progress

I am tentatively hopeful that after last week's bomb-throwing that the designers will come up with a revised plan that doesn't cost (without exaggeration) seven figures. Originally they claimed they'd have something early this week but unsurprisingly they punted to next week as I basically forced them to start again from concepts, which normally they allot six weeks for. I guess we'll see.

The contractor hit his first milestone, declaring demo to be complete, so I have prepared the first of six very large cheques, the kind that could buy a perfectly respectable automobile in different circumstances. I guess that means they wrestled the bathtubs out. The next phase is asbestos abatement, which became necessary when it was pointed out to me that modifying the kitchen ceiling, taking down the crown molding, installing cabinets to the ceiling, doing anything with blinds and/or drapery, or changing closet doors would all be affected.

As for me... well, if I get bored on the weekend, I may go look at some tableware at West Elm or Stokes. Secretly one of my goals is to wind up with zero silver or white anywhere in the finished result, and West Elm has some flatware in a "champagne satin" that might do, since all black feels a bit odd and brass/gold is too ostentatious. IKEA has some pretty blue stoneware in their current collection, but I suspect I might be able to do even better.

Crossposts: http://highlander-ii.deadjournal.com/296716.html https://highlander-ii.insanejournal.com/471191.html

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[challenge]: snowflake challenge

Snowflake Challenge #14

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the anaemia saga

[healthwork, diarish] ... they... lost my blood again?

Or at least I assume that's what the call I missed because [reasons this margin is too small to contain] was about, based on (i) the voicemail that said They'll Call Back Tomorrow, and (ii) the continued absence of the relevant test results in the NHS app.

I... think I am going to suggest that they ask my GP to issue a bloods request form, for me to pick up from the surgery and take up the hill to phlebotomy. Because! this is ridiculous! blood loss remains my job!!!

Other things today has contained include: TOKEN RIDICULOUS PUZZLE; Very Picturesque Bread; the Child assigning us all Pronouns and Genders and Sexualities more-or-less at random (from an LGBTQIA+ sticker book); PAKIDGES many and various Including another book on pain and box sets for the last two seasons of Elementary; lots of ridiculous windows in the general vicinity of Bank. I am very tired.

Current Mood: thoughtful

YMI -- ODB: 29 January 2026

ODB: Standing Strong in Christ

Jan 29, 2026/in Our Daily Bread/by YMI

January 29, 2026

READ: Ephesians 6:10-20

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:11

Recently, my mom gave me a play-by-play of a surprising confrontation she saw on a live webcam feed from a watering hole in Africa. The Gemsbok, a large antelope, has horns that can be more than two feet long, making it a formidable animal that doesn’t seem to scare easily. That is, unless it comes across a group of brave and rowdy ostriches.

The lead ostrich, which was taller than its foes, shook its large feathers, roared, and stomped toward three Gemsbok, causing them to flee.

“I guess they didn’t realize how powerful their horns are,” I said to my mom.

Believers in Jesus can forget the power we have when faced with attacks from our spiritual enemy, Satan. We have the Holy Spirit who lives inside us (Romans 8:11) and the armor of God to help us: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11). Satan wants to challenge our belief in God’s Word, question our identity in Christ, and tempt us to sin.

But we can stand strong because God’s armor includes “the belt of truth, . . . the breastplate of righteousness, . . . the shield of faith, . . . the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (vv. 14-17).

When the enemy attacks us with feelings of fear, condemnation, or despair, let’s remember we’re God’s children and are well equipped to stand strong.

— Nancy Gavilanes

Why do you sometimes forget to use the armor of God? How can you stand firm in your battles?

Dear God, thank You for giving me Your divine protection.

Source: Our Daily Bread