2026-02-16 23:24![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithThese are the rest of the pictures I took today, from the savanna and prairie garden. (See the House Yard and South Lot.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
2026-02-16 23:09ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithToday I took some pictures around the yard. These are from the house yard and the south lot. (See the Savanna and Prairie Garden.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
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2026-02-16 20:55ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithThis was previously published on LiveJournal December 19, 2020.
These are the notes for "Wanting a Little of Everything."
( Read more... )
These are the notes for "Wanting a Little of Everything."
( Read more... )
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2026-02-16 20:51ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithThis was previously published on LiveJournal December 19, 2020.
This poem is spillover from the July 2, 2019 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Dialecticdreamer and Siliconshaman. It also fills the "Just Friends" square in my 7-1-19 card for the Winterfest in July Bingo. This poem belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
Warning: This poem features detailed discussion of kink, so please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
This microfunded poem is being posted one verse at a time, as donations come in to cover them. The rate is $0.25/line, so $5 will reveal 20 new lines, and so forth. There is a permanent donation button on my profile page, or you can contact me for other arrangements. You can also ask me about the number of lines per verse, if you want to fund a certain number of verses.
So far sponsors include:ng_moonmoth, technoshaman, fuzzyred, bairnsidhe, general fund
FULLY FUNDED
1132 lines, Buy It Now = $141.50
Amount donated = $110
Verses posted = 118 of 325
Amount remaining to fund fully = $31.50
Amount needed to fund next verse = $0.25
Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $0.50
( Read more... )
This poem is spillover from the July 2, 2019 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Dialecticdreamer and Siliconshaman. It also fills the "Just Friends" square in my 7-1-19 card for the Winterfest in July Bingo. This poem belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
Warning: This poem features detailed discussion of kink, so please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
So far sponsors include:
ng_moonmoth, technoshaman, fuzzyred, bairnsidhe, general fundFULLY FUNDED
Amount donated = $110
Verses posted = 118 of 325
Amount remaining to fund fully = $31.50
Amount needed to fund next verse = $0.25
Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $0.50
( Read more... )
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2026-02-16 19:44theradicalchild
theradicalchildMy sleep score last night was 67/100, with my Apple Watch not counting the last few hours of my sleep, probably because I forgot to turn off sleep mode when I got up. Again, I am never really deeply asleep at night, likely due to my fried brains because of 18 years of psych meds.
I went to breakfast at a local place per a friend's invitation on Nextdoor, and there was a long wait. I had scrambled eggs, sausage (allegedly blueberry but they didn't seem like it) and sourdough, and had to pay with cash that I luckily had on hand.
Then I went for a half-hour walk in the city park.
The Fairview soup kitchen had a meal of chicken nuggets, corn, a biscuit, and a cupcake.
I went to my chiropractor appointment, and he used his jackhammer-like thing on my spine and some other device that felt like a stapler, and I'll be back again next week.
I gassed up my car at Walmart due to having to go to Killeen tomorrow afternoon for a follow-up on that TMS I felt didn't work worth a crap, and shopped for some things. I forgot to pick up bacon and sausage that I've been having for breakfast regularly in lieu of regular cereal due to the new upside-down food pyramid.
Still trucking along The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, and I have everyone's quartz slots open and outfitted with quartz, and I encountered this good pun.
Yeah.
I went to breakfast at a local place per a friend's invitation on Nextdoor, and there was a long wait. I had scrambled eggs, sausage (allegedly blueberry but they didn't seem like it) and sourdough, and had to pay with cash that I luckily had on hand.
Then I went for a half-hour walk in the city park.
The Fairview soup kitchen had a meal of chicken nuggets, corn, a biscuit, and a cupcake.
I went to my chiropractor appointment, and he used his jackhammer-like thing on my spine and some other device that felt like a stapler, and I'll be back again next week.
I gassed up my car at Walmart due to having to go to Killeen tomorrow afternoon for a follow-up on that TMS I felt didn't work worth a crap, and shopped for some things. I forgot to pick up bacon and sausage that I've been having for breakfast regularly in lieu of regular cereal due to the new upside-down food pyramid.
Still trucking along The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, and I have everyone's quartz slots open and outfitted with quartz, and I encountered this good pun.
Yeah.
2026-02-16 17:54ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithThis planet friendly diet could cut your risk of early death by 23%
A planet-friendly Nordic diet may slash your risk of early death by nearly 25%.
A major new study suggests that eating the Nordic way could help you live significantly longer—while also helping the planet. Researchers from Aarhus University found that people who closely followed the 2023 Nordic dietary guidelines had a 23% lower risk of death compared to those who didn’t.
Compare with other healthy and/or eco-friendly diets. Notice the confluence of eating less red meat and more whole plant foods.
Climatarian
Flexitarian
Mediterranean
Vegetarian
A planet-friendly Nordic diet may slash your risk of early death by nearly 25%.
A major new study suggests that eating the Nordic way could help you live significantly longer—while also helping the planet. Researchers from Aarhus University found that people who closely followed the 2023 Nordic dietary guidelines had a 23% lower risk of death compared to those who didn’t.
Compare with other healthy and/or eco-friendly diets. Notice the confluence of eating less red meat and more whole plant foods.
Climatarian
Flexitarian
Mediterranean
Vegetarian
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2026-02-16 16:10ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithThis week, the poetry of Not Quite Kansas is on sale for half price from Monday, February 16 through Sunday, February 22. This series is dark fantasy with angels and demons. It features themes of spirituality, cosmology, coming of age, identity, family of choice, friendship, and magic. Sale prices range from $89 to $146.50, so hopefully there will be something for everyone.
Prices on open epics are locked at the time of opening; however, if anyone wants to donate to open epics and buy poetry, spending $100 will get you the quarter-price rate on the new poems, regardless of the rate on the open epic(s) you support. There are no open epics at present, so you may open one if you wish.
We are repeating the special discount for purchases of $100 or more, in which you get poetry at 25% of its original price instead of 50%. (Note that this increases the amount of poetry you get, rather than reducing the amount of money spent; the point is to get this stuff off of my desk. Yes, I can afford it.) That size of donation also makes you a k-fan which comes with some other perks, like a year-end collection of a poetic series. If several folks want to bundle their orders to make the $100 threshold and have one person send it all, that's okay; you'll get the discount and I'll list all your names as donors, but you'll have to decide amongst you who gets the k-fan credit. If you host a pool, please close it the day before the sale closes, so you have time to collect funds and turn them in on time.
Some of the poems are in sequence of related action, so in places there are prerequisites before a poem can be published. They can be sponsored at any time, just might have to wait for publication until something else gets posted first. Those are marked accordingly. I have also made lists of poems which unlock sequels, and poems which have prerequisites.
Linkback perk: The following poems have verses left to reveal. Boost the signal for this half-price sale and tell me which poem you want to extend.
"Delight in Another,"
"A Sense of Weather Changes,"
"Ouroboros Insects,"
"The Loving Embrace of Night,"
"Generations of Cooks Past,"
"Homefree and Clear, "
"One Bite at a Time,"
"Stars and Diamonds,"
"Mishpocha,"
"Changing Your Nature,"
"Besa."
( Read more... )
Prices on open epics are locked at the time of opening; however, if anyone wants to donate to open epics and buy poetry, spending $100 will get you the quarter-price rate on the new poems, regardless of the rate on the open epic(s) you support. There are no open epics at present, so you may open one if you wish.
We are repeating the special discount for purchases of $100 or more, in which you get poetry at 25% of its original price instead of 50%. (Note that this increases the amount of poetry you get, rather than reducing the amount of money spent; the point is to get this stuff off of my desk. Yes, I can afford it.) That size of donation also makes you a k-fan which comes with some other perks, like a year-end collection of a poetic series. If several folks want to bundle their orders to make the $100 threshold and have one person send it all, that's okay; you'll get the discount and I'll list all your names as donors, but you'll have to decide amongst you who gets the k-fan credit. If you host a pool, please close it the day before the sale closes, so you have time to collect funds and turn them in on time.
Some of the poems are in sequence of related action, so in places there are prerequisites before a poem can be published. They can be sponsored at any time, just might have to wait for publication until something else gets posted first. Those are marked accordingly. I have also made lists of poems which unlock sequels, and poems which have prerequisites.
Linkback perk: The following poems have verses left to reveal. Boost the signal for this half-price sale and tell me which poem you want to extend.
"Delight in Another,"
"A Sense of Weather Changes,"
"Ouroboros Insects,"
"The Loving Embrace of Night,"
"Generations of Cooks Past,"
"Homefree and Clear, "
"One Bite at a Time,"
"Stars and Diamonds,"
"Mishpocha,"
"Changing Your Nature,"
"Besa."
( Read more... )
◾ Tags:
2026-02-16 13:54ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithToday is partly sunny and cool.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows, a starling, a male cardinal, a male house finch, and a fox squirrel. There are probably other house finches mixed in with the sparrows. The fox squirrel was eating from the hopper feeder at first, then went up the tree to forage among the branches -- I think it was eating the buds off the twigs.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I put out a fresh cake of peanut suet and a corncob.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows, a starling, a male cardinal, a male house finch, and a fox squirrel. There are probably other house finches mixed in with the sparrows. The fox squirrel was eating from the hopper feeder at first, then went up the tree to forage among the branches -- I think it was eating the buds off the twigs.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I took some pictures around the yard.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I put out a fresh cake of peanut suet and a corncob.
EDIT 2/16/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
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2026-02-16 00:11ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithThese are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Safety
Artificial Intelligence
Science
Birdfeeding
Activism
Books
Poem: "If You Don't Fall Down"
Birdfeeding
Moment of Silence: Spikedluv
Space Exploration
Creative Jam
Philosophical Questions: Emotions
Pinetree Garden Seeds Order
Poetry Fishbowl Report for February 3, 2026
Unsold Poems for the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl
Vocabulary: Dinkus
Poem: "An Inkling of Things to Come"
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 2-13-26: Lord of the Rings
Read "Forelsket"
Poem: "Stones and Woods"
Extinction
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Website Updates
Poem: "The Tranquility and Beauty of the Winter Landscape"
Birdfeeding
Good News
Safety has 44 comments. Food has 45 comments. Wildlife has 37 comments. Food has 65 comments. Robotics has 136 comments.
There will be a half-price sale in Not Quite Kansas from February 16-22.
The 2026 Rose and Bay Awards are now open for excellence in crowdfunding. It's time to vote for your favorite projects!
The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2025.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2026.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2026.
These are the handlers for the 2026 award season:
The weather has been cool here, and it rained a little on Saturday. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of sparrows, several starlings, a mourning dove, and a male cardinal. I saw a honeybee in the forest garden, and when I went out to the bee tree, I saw a bee flying into it. This is way too early for them to be out; there is liquid water but absolutely no food.
Safety
Artificial Intelligence
Science
Birdfeeding
Activism
Books
Poem: "If You Don't Fall Down"
Birdfeeding
Moment of Silence: Spikedluv
Space Exploration
Creative Jam
Philosophical Questions: Emotions
Pinetree Garden Seeds Order
Poetry Fishbowl Report for February 3, 2026
Unsold Poems for the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl
Vocabulary: Dinkus
Poem: "An Inkling of Things to Come"
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 2-13-26: Lord of the Rings
Read "Forelsket"
Poem: "Stones and Woods"
Extinction
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Website Updates
Poem: "The Tranquility and Beauty of the Winter Landscape"
Birdfeeding
Good News
Safety has 44 comments. Food has 45 comments. Wildlife has 37 comments. Food has 65 comments. Robotics has 136 comments.
There will be a half-price sale in Not Quite Kansas from February 16-22.
The 2026 Rose and Bay Awards are now open for excellence in crowdfunding. It's time to vote for your favorite projects!
The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2025.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2026.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2026.
These are the handlers for the 2026 award season:
Art:
Fiction:
Poetry:
Webcomic:
Other Project:
Patron:
The weather has been cool here, and it rained a little on Saturday. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of sparrows, several starlings, a mourning dove, and a male cardinal. I saw a honeybee in the forest garden, and when I went out to the bee tree, I saw a bee flying into it. This is way too early for them to be out; there is liquid water but absolutely no food.
2026-02-15 21:53ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithSay it again: Abortion bans don't stop abortion. They only cause women and infants to die.
The Society of Family Planning, a reproductive-rights nonprofit, compiles a report called #WeCount that tracks the number of abortions in the United States. The report goes back to 2022, and the most recent data covers the first half of 2025.
Its data shows that the abortion rate hasn't gone down at all since the end of Roe. It's gone up.
( Read more... )
The Society of Family Planning, a reproductive-rights nonprofit, compiles a report called #WeCount that tracks the number of abortions in the United States. The report goes back to 2022, and the most recent data covers the first half of 2025.
Its data shows that the abortion rate hasn't gone down at all since the end of Roe. It's gone up.
( Read more... )
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2026-02-15 17:04kaffy_r
kaffy_rHe Woke Up
I awoke at about 6:15 p.m. to feed the cat, and after a night of night sweats (further, deponent saith naught because, eeuww, TMI) and dread about which Bob would greet me when he woke, I couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and tried to catch up on far too many emails. "Catch up on" quickly devolved into pitching most of the 650+ emails into the aether,
Then I thought about updating Bob's doctors on the newest situation - him being home. I finally did that, but not before fearing that Bob wouldn't easily wake, or maybe he'd regress to not waking up at all, when I brought him coffee.
He woke up.
And he got up. And got dressed, and talked to me, and joked, and was there. All there.
Another episode gone? Well, we thought it was gone back in January, and it came back, but I'm choosing to believe in hope this time. And it was a delight to be able to tell people from that damned hospital, and from one of the rehab places I was gearing up to tour that we didn't seem to have a need for them. I will also cancel the tour of another rehab place that I'd set up for Wednesday.
I hope I'm not jinxing everything, but again, I'm choosing to believe in hope this time.
That doesn't mean our work is done. We have got to figure out what the fuck goes on in BB's body to throw him into confusion, weakness and aphasia, and why it was so bad this time. There has to be a reason, or even more than one reason. So that's on the to-do list. But Sunday is a day of rest, so I will rest, watching Bob at his computer, and urging me to read the political columns he's sending me. It feels like home again.
I awoke at about 6:15 p.m. to feed the cat, and after a night of night sweats (further, deponent saith naught because, eeuww, TMI) and dread about which Bob would greet me when he woke, I couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and tried to catch up on far too many emails. "Catch up on" quickly devolved into pitching most of the 650+ emails into the aether,
Then I thought about updating Bob's doctors on the newest situation - him being home. I finally did that, but not before fearing that Bob wouldn't easily wake, or maybe he'd regress to not waking up at all, when I brought him coffee.
He woke up.
And he got up. And got dressed, and talked to me, and joked, and was there. All there.
Another episode gone? Well, we thought it was gone back in January, and it came back, but I'm choosing to believe in hope this time. And it was a delight to be able to tell people from that damned hospital, and from one of the rehab places I was gearing up to tour that we didn't seem to have a need for them. I will also cancel the tour of another rehab place that I'd set up for Wednesday.
I hope I'm not jinxing everything, but again, I'm choosing to believe in hope this time.
That doesn't mean our work is done. We have got to figure out what the fuck goes on in BB's body to throw him into confusion, weakness and aphasia, and why it was so bad this time. There has to be a reason, or even more than one reason. So that's on the to-do list. But Sunday is a day of rest, so I will rest, watching Bob at his computer, and urging me to read the political columns he's sending me. It feels like home again.
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2026-02-15 16:44ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithAnother AI Post -- on Assumptions and the Future
A discussion with a knowledgeable friend on this triggered the following post, which will cover a number of elements of both the technology and, perhaps more importantly, its uses and impacts.
AI would be a useful tool if used responsibly, but mostly it is used so people can hurt each other.
A discussion with a knowledgeable friend on this triggered the following post, which will cover a number of elements of both the technology and, perhaps more importantly, its uses and impacts.
AI would be a useful tool if used responsibly, but mostly it is used so people can hurt each other.
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2026-02-15 16:55dewline
dewlineFrom Carole Cadwalladr, formerly of the Guardian and Observer network, now a co-founder of The Nerve:
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-us-coup-one-year-on
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-us-coup-one-year-on
2026-02-15 14:54twistedchick
twistedchickSweetiecat is starting to do better. Her tail isn't dragging, she lifts her head to look at me and she's purring a little. Last night she jumped up on the bed next to Steve, which she hasn't done in a while. She is eating and visiting the litter box, and moving around.
Zoomy is a bit of a sad sack, because he feels left out; Sweetie is getting all the attention, he thinks. I have the door open, and he could come in at any time and curl up next to me, but he is not doing it; he's fussing about Sweetie. She's his big tolerant sister who puts up with him jumping on her until she does a judo move and stand over him and lets him know that's enough. He is a dear loving boy, and getting bigger every day, or longer.
And I have decided, after much upset and a cost-benefit calculation, not to go to Sacred Space, the big interreligious pagan conference that is less than 15 miles from me this time. ( more behind cut )
Zoomy is a bit of a sad sack, because he feels left out; Sweetie is getting all the attention, he thinks. I have the door open, and he could come in at any time and curl up next to me, but he is not doing it; he's fussing about Sweetie. She's his big tolerant sister who puts up with him jumping on her until she does a judo move and stand over him and lets him know that's enough. He is a dear loving boy, and getting bigger every day, or longer.
And I have decided, after much upset and a cost-benefit calculation, not to go to Sacred Space, the big interreligious pagan conference that is less than 15 miles from me this time. ( more behind cut )
2026-02-15 13:52ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithAn Ionic Gelation Powder for Ultrafast Hemostasis and Accelerated Wound Healing
Rapid and effective bleeding control remains a clinical priority, particularly for deep or irregular wounds where conventional dressings are inadequate. Here, an ionically responsive, powder-based hemostatic system (AGCL) composed of alginate, gellan gum, chitosan, and a glutaraldehyde crosslinker is presented. Upon contact with calcium ions in blood, AGCL rapidly forms an adhesive hydrogel network within ≈1 s, enabling ultrafast gelation and a high blood uptake ratio (≈725%). The powder exhibits strong bioadhesion (>40 kPa), excellent sealing under mixed-mode loading, and robust storage stability for up to 24 months under ambient conditions. In vitro assays confirm minimal hemolysis (<3%), high cytocompatibility, and greater than 99% antibacterial efficacy.
See a much more detailed explanation with illustrations here.
( Read more... )
Rapid and effective bleeding control remains a clinical priority, particularly for deep or irregular wounds where conventional dressings are inadequate. Here, an ionically responsive, powder-based hemostatic system (AGCL) composed of alginate, gellan gum, chitosan, and a glutaraldehyde crosslinker is presented. Upon contact with calcium ions in blood, AGCL rapidly forms an adhesive hydrogel network within ≈1 s, enabling ultrafast gelation and a high blood uptake ratio (≈725%). The powder exhibits strong bioadhesion (>40 kPa), excellent sealing under mixed-mode loading, and robust storage stability for up to 24 months under ambient conditions. In vitro assays confirm minimal hemolysis (<3%), high cytocompatibility, and greater than 99% antibacterial efficacy.
See a much more detailed explanation with illustrations here.
( Read more... )
2026-02-15 13:36ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmithToday is partly sunny and cool.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/15/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I refilled the hopper feeder. I've seen a sparrow.
I also saw a honeybee in the forest garden! I went to the bee tree and saw a honeybee fly into it. This is waaayyy too early for bees. There is liquid water, but absolutely nothing to eat. :( Use to be, the bees only appeared after the last frost. It's months too soon for that.
EDIT 2/15/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 2/15/26 -- I spread a bucket of mulch under the golden rain tree.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/15/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I refilled the hopper feeder. I've seen a sparrow.
I also saw a honeybee in the forest garden! I went to the bee tree and saw a honeybee fly into it. This is waaayyy too early for bees. There is liquid water, but absolutely nothing to eat. :( Use to be, the bees only appeared after the last frost. It's months too soon for that.
EDIT 2/15/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 2/15/26 -- I spread a bucket of mulch under the golden rain tree.
I am done for the night.
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