andrewducker | Reading

I don't really have a lot to write about today. Two more members of BTS were discharged from the military today, and it happened while I was in a Korean class meeting online, so suddenly people were in the text chat exclaiming "IT'S HAPPENED!" and "THEY'RE FREE!" in the middle of our class. lol. Only one member of the band is still waiting for discharge, which should happen within the next 2 weeks. And then there will be much rejoicing!

One of the band members, Kim Namjoon (김남준), has been very frank about how miserable he was while in the military. The others have been quieter about their experience.

I'm going to start saving my money toward concert tickets. I'm sure they'll all need some time to relax, recover, and readjust to civilian life, but I also know they all really enjoy performing and will want to tour as soon as they can. I've talked with my friend Ginny who lives on Oahu, and we're hoping to finally go to a concert together. She invited me to come with her to Las Vegas when they were performing there a couple years ago, but I didn't have enough money for the flights. This time I'm determined to have enough money for concert tickets and flights!

I've been continuing to feel stressed/anxious, but I'm trying really hard to manage it without Valium. I just hate feeling so sedated! It would be much easier if I was able to go for walks on my own without waiting for a ride! I find solitary walks very calming. But my knee isn't up to that quite yet. Yesterday my knee started hurting just from our shopping excursion in town. It's so frustrating!

But I'm hopeful that the water exercise class will help. I've dropped one of my weekly Korean classes and moved one of my weekly study groups to a different day, so that I'll have time to go to the Y without stressing myself out more.

Shannon and I are planning a trip to Honolulu to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in August, and I'm hoping to be able to walk around more while we're there! Waikiki is pretty flat, but there are some hills in the surrounding areas. I'm hoping we'll get to go to some museums, some nice restaurants, maybe even swim in the ocean a bit together, since I believe the water is pretty safe in some places there. We might see a movie, too. A few days in the big city will be fun!

Current Mood: tired

conuly

I don't want this getting lost in the links: A Journey Through the Dystopiaverse (some of those poems hit hard)

In personal news, how many nos is one expected to get before they get a yes?

********************

( I managed to find some non-doom-and-gloom links to shove in here as well )

darkoshi

I have a memory from the 1980s of a certain semi-public restroom (like in restaurants, but this was a building with a big meeting room where one of my aunt's clubs had meetings and events) in Germany. The building itself was probably built in the preceding decades.

The soap dispenser was metal with a small crank-handle that you would turn. Inside must have been a block of bar soap. Turning the crank would grate off flakes of soap into your other waiting hand. I think the soap was pink.

The hand towel was a long length of fabric which presumably was rolled up at the top and bottom inside the device it was dispensed from. You would only see a section of the fabric at a time. To get a fresh part of the towel you would either pull on the fabric, or perhaps turn a knob on the side; I don't recall exactly. This would cause the fabric to unroll from the top and get rolled up into the bottom of the unit.

The towel was mostly white like the one in this photo, but I think it had colored stripes on both vertical edges instead of in the center.

This video shows the inside of a similar device:
Continuous Cloth Roll Towel Machine

The soap device was like this one:
GRUNELLA® -Seifenmühle
Soap for cranking

That wasn't the only restroom I encountered those devices in; they were common back then in many places. Similar devices can still be bought nowadays, and for your own bathroom too, from what I see.

conuly

Watch on YouTube

ysabetwordsmith

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The following poems from the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "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," and "Besa."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

lovelyangel

Puff
Nikon D810 • AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G
f/13 @ 60mm • 1/30s • ISO 400

The Soft Gray Bunny I bought two weeks ago on my Excursion to MudPuddles Toys & Books needed a name. The manufacturer, Douglas Cuddle Toy, named the bunny Stormie. I thought the name was a bit harsh for a critter so very soft and cuddly.

I considered Mofumofu (which means Fluffy) – or maybe Mofu-tan. But these names seemed too bulky for my little bunny. So I’ve decided to call her Puff.

Puff will inherit Mr. Bear’s position when Mr. Bear retires (due to age and wear). Mr. Bear is hanging tough after 17 years, though. Amazingly, the pads on Mr. Bear’s paws are still silky soft. I think he wants to be hugged every night forever.

dewline

Go read this if you want cues on how to respond and you live in the States:

https://flamingsword.dreamwidth.org/496875.html

Current Mood: angry

juan_gandhi

Иногда, слушая Наки, удивляюсь иным фразам.

"В военную прокуратуру поступает много жалоб на расстрелы"

"Жители деревни в Курской области отказываются эвакуироваться, пока им не выплатят пособие; им положено же"

frith

Day 2 it was pony moving and walking, Day 4 it was pony trotting and walking and now for Day 5 it's sprinting and running for their lives. The record is skipping, skipping, skipping. 9_9 But... Running for their lives? That's Iron Maiden, 1982! Run to the hills, run for your lives. This appeals to my inner rage at genocide and my annoyance at getting asked for the same thing three times out of five. So there you are, album art from Iron Maiden, Run To The Hills. Run for your lives!

dewline

Amplifying this tonight, just in case it can get to someone who really needs to see it:

https://elainegrey.dreamwidth.org/990198.html

Current Mood: worried

lannamichaels

Title: And If You're Under Him, You Ain't Getting Over Him.
Author:

lannamichaels
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga
Pairing: Ges Vorrutyer/Aral Vorkosigan, Ges Vorrutyer/Serg Vorbarra
Rating: R
A/N: The title is from New Rules, sung by Dua Lipa, written by Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren, and Ian Kirkpatrick.
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: Ges Vorrutyer has ex-boyfriend problems.

( This has languished in Scrivener since 2019... )

ysabetwordsmith

CEO invites the world to invest in refugees: 'Humanity flourishes when people have the tools to succeed'

“One in 10 of us will be displaced in 25 years. One in 10. Each of us is more likely to be displaced than ever before,” Oyler said in her TED Talk, which will be published at a later date.

“The time for incremental change is over. We must do things differently.”
[---8<---]
“When Uganda allowed refugees to work, the country's GDP increased by nearly a billion dollars,” Oyler said. “Ethiopia reformed its policies, and now thousands of refugees contribute in key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing.”

“When Rwanda, the country where I live, included refugees in its national ID program, they gained access to health care, financial services, and are growing an economy.”

It's all about knitting people into society as fast as possible. Make sure they have access to survival needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and health care. Then compare what they can do with what needs doing. To accommodate untrained workers, list your top 10 or so fields with a desperate shortage of workers, then offer free training for anyone who wishes to enter those fields.

Current Mood: busy

wychwood

Survived the Week of Church (Tuesday night, Wednesday night, ten hours on Saturday), and am looking forward to a whole! week! off! work! next week - the expected project go-live date is Thursday that week, so I'm probably going to have to log on for a couple of hours to make updates to student-facing content that can't be done until live day, which is annoying, but I'll get the time back and I've made it clear that anything else launch-related will have to wait until I'm back on the Monday!

In the meantime, there's plenty of tasks that need to be done before we go live, and I'm only avoiding some of them... some tasks are just freakishly intimidating and I can never tell why; half of them only take ten minutes once you actually face them.

The buses took a long time to recover after COVID - there was a phase where it felt like I was waiting 25 minutes every time I caught a bus - but the last year or so things have been much more reliable. Of course, sometimes that doesn't work in my favour, like how my bus home from church reliably arrives three minutes too late for me to catch the bus that stops by my house instead of having to walk ten minutes home. But the other day I was waiting for a bus which was twelve minutes away when I got to the stop... five minutes later it was thirteen minutes away... seven minutes after that it was fourteen minutes away... after that I stopped checking, because I was a little bit afraid of what might happen, and walked home instead.

Mum's started chemo now, and is doing OK-ish. I'm going over to see them on Sunday for Fathers' Day, possibly along with my brother and his tribe, but we'll see. Ticking along!

vivdunstan

Continuing to catch up on my gargantuan Big Finish Doctor Who audio backlog.

This one is rather fun, and includes Liz Shaw's Mum as a quasi companion.

The main image is a spooky blue-tinged one, featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, Louise Jameson's Leela, and three spooky looking nuns

The main image is a spooky blue-tinged one, featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, Louise Jameson's Leela, and three spooky looking nuns

dewline

I mentioned privately last week that I'd been accepted for enrolment into the Canadian Dental Insurance Plan. The one that our federal government hired Sun Life to administer for everyone earning less than C$90K/year and not already covered by their employer or their province?

That one.

I finally got the card in the papermail from Sun Life today.

Orange and pink and white plastic.

It's just hitting me now that, after over three decades of paying out of pocket by instalments for my dental health basics - exams, fillings and repairs of same, that sort of thing - I no longer have to worry about that part of my life's financial juggling. It's already covered through my federal income tax from now on unless I land a sufficiently lucrative job with its own coverage.

Hoping it all works out.

Current Mood: groggy

hunningham

I have a cold. It's horrible. I am headachy & full of snot & my ears hurt. But there's some relief in saying "yes, a cold" and having a reason for why I was feeling so very very tired yesterday & why slept so badly. It's not just hayfever. Today I have spent rather a lot of time on the sofa & eaten many oranges & not fussed about work.

I hope himself doesn't catch it; he always gets feverish and sick for at least a week and ends up with a cough dragging on & on.

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and at least one mourning dove.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it.

EDIT 6/10/25 -- I've been outside a couple of times to walk around the yard. Fireflies are starting to come out, but it's still so light that they're hard to see. I may try again later. I've seen a bat over the south lot, and a skunk on the patio.

.

Current Mood: busy

conuly

( Read more... )

vivdunstan

Staring again briefly at the testament(*) of an ancestor who died in 1591. And very grateful for colour manipulation options to make it more readable. Two pics - part of the original, and part of the colour adjusted version. It's still lots of 16th century squiggles, but at least they are clearer 16th century squiggles!

* sort of equivalent to English probate records. It includes legal matters relating to the estate, and debts. And may include a will if there was one. Also occasionally a detailed inventory of personal possessions.

Colour adjusted testament of an ancestor who died in 1591

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Page Summary

kimberly_a - Mostly about BTS: military discharge and future tour
conuly - Why do things always go from bad to worse? Why can't they go from bad to somewhat less bad?
darkoshi - soap and towels in olden day public restrooms
conuly - (no subject)
ysabetwordsmith - Hard Things
ysabetwordsmith - Unsold Poems for the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
lovelyangel - Puff
dewline - About that US CDC Vaccine Committee Chaos?
juan_gandhi - куда смотрит начальство
frith - NATG XV prompt set 5, Run To The Hills
dewline - Related to Events in Los Angeles and Elsewhere...
lannamichaels - "And If You're Under Him, You Ain't Getting Over Him." (Vorkosigan Saga) R
ysabetwordsmith - Refugees
wychwood - dispossessed, aside-thrust, chucked down
vivdunstan - Current listening: Doctor Who - The Cloisters of Terror
dewline - Health: Dental Milestone Made Official
hunningham - Not just hayfever
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
conuly - Prodigy
vivdunstan - Historical squiggles

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Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 08:06 am

Very cool, if true

Reading

Mostly about BTS: military discharge and future tour

Why do things always go from bad to worse? Why can't they go from bad to somewhat less bad?

soap and towels in olden day public restrooms

(no subject)

Hard Things

Unsold Poems for the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl

Puff

About that US CDC Vaccine Committee Chaos?

куда смотрит начальство

NATG XV prompt set 5, Run To The Hills

Related to Events in Los Angeles and Elsewhere...

"And If You're Under Him, You Ain't Getting Over Him." (Vorkosigan Saga) R

Refugees

dispossessed, aside-thrust, chucked down

Current listening: Doctor Who - The Cloisters of Terror

Health: Dental Milestone Made Official

Not just hayfever

Birdfeeding

Prodigy

Historical squiggles

Profile

June 2025

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