forkedtongues | Member Posts

Notice to people who have access to my DW that rather than dig up my

tuesdayfic password, I'll be posting access-locked fic of my original drafts over here for the moment (eventually to be replaced with my most up to date AO3 version once AO3 is back up). I will endeavor not to spam your reading page by backdating and ticking the don't show on reading pages box. I will not be posting my entire 500 works backlog at once.

If you have wandered in from elsewhere and would like access to my fic, feel free to comment here.

As I post, I'll update this entry with which fic I've posted, starting with DCC.

( Dungeon Crawler Carl )

Also, I am actively soliciting formatting help.

Is there an easy way to convert from "written in 4thewords complete with the single return to get the usual paragraph spacing you get on AO3 with either

tags or by doing a double enter" on Dreamwidth? I use a markdown extension to convert to HTML for AO3 and it usually comes out looking fine, but the paragraphs are a little too close together for comfort on Dreamwidth.

kaberett

I lit the candle (howsoever briefly), and I made Seelkuchen, and I harvested the last of the saffron.

May their memories be blessings.

ysabetwordsmith

Ancient pollen reveals a surprising twist in the evolution of flowers

Ancient pollen reveals that extreme warming, rather than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, drove major changes in plant diversity millions of years ago.

Given the extreme warming due to climate change, expect the Anthropocene mass extinction to include a similar turnover, with many plant species dying out and new ones emerging with more resilience to current and future threats.

Want to help? Pick any plant type you like, as many as you like. Gather as much genetic diversity as you can. Breed them for climate resilience -- not just the hotter drier conditions prevailing in most places but the brutal whiplash weather that can go from freezing to 100°F in a day or drought to flood. You can also check what your local conditions will look like in 60 years, compared to a current location with similar traits, and explore what grows there that you might try in your yard now.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy, a little cooler than yesterday but still mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I pulled weeds from the tulip bed so we can spread leaves later.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- We hauled 4 wheelbarrows full of leaves to cover the tulip bed and daffodil bed along the west edge of the parking lot, for winter protection.

I saw a toad hopping out of the leaves as we were working. :D

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I pulled weeds to clear a space for planting irises by the septic garden.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I planted two irises by the septic garden.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I cut grass to clear a space for planting irises by the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I planted the last five irises by the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I spread extra soil over the irises by the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 11/2/26 -- I watered the newly planted irises from today, the telephone pole garden, and the new picnic table garden.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Recipe: "Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Wildlife
Ryan Gosling Movies Bingo Card 11-1-26
Birdfeeding
Writing
New Year's Resolutions Check In"
Safety
Samhain
Garden of Repose
Cyberspace Theory
Science
Food
Bingo
Birdfeeding
Poetry Fishbowl Report for October 6, 2026
Philosophical Questions: Emotions
Early Humans
Today's Adventures
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Fossils
Nature
Unsold Poems for the October 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl
Gardening
Happiness
Artificial Intelligence
Follow Friday 10-30-26: Pirates
Space Exploration
Moment of Silence: Patrick Stewart
Gardening
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Artificial Intelligence
Community Thursdays
Conservation
Today's Adventures
Art
Birdfeeding
Art
Hard Things

Food has 46 comments. Philosophical Questions: Genetics has 26 comments. Philosophical Questions: Rights has 41 comments. "Vocabulary: Cobra Chickens" has 21 comments.

"Save All the Pieces" belongs to The Big One. It needs $27 to be complete. Stylet talks more about what giant ground sloths eat.

The weather has been mild here. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, one male and two female cardinals, a bluejay, and a fox squirrel. Currently blooming: sweet alyssum, marigolds, million bells, petunias, portulaca, nemesia, fan flowers, pineapple sage, firecracker plant, tomatoes, frost aster, zinnias, purple aster.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

I made these today, which will be sent to a friend's cookout tomorrow.

"Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies"

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup quick oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup Ghirardelli Premium Baking Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Mantis shrimp eyes have a strange ability scientists are just beginning to understand

Researchers identified unusual visual pigments that respond to deep red light and can be switched on and off using different colors.

Mantis shrimp are fascinating.

Current Mood: busy

kaberett

Reading. ... I reacquired True North (Gavin Francis) from the library. I've made some more progress, and am now up to Greenland. I am continuing entertained by the various bits I've osmosed over the years about Norse sagas (largely from my mother) and mediaeval British history (from being around people yelling about The British History Podcast).

A Magazine -- no, hold on, two and a half magazines -- arrived in the post, and I read them and they Have Been Recycled!!!

Playing. We finished Botany Manor (about which I continued sputtering with indignation until the very end, but A was actually driving and did not have the problems I did with it); we have picked up Aer and spent an evening on it; I am playing a lot of a terrible intermittent-reward phone game specifically because I specifically wanted some intermittent reward. I am absolutely questioning my life choices here but hopefully my brain will let go of it faster this way than if I were trying to stifle the urge.

Cooking. I... made new foods??? Surely the rainbow chard thing was longer ago than the beginning of this week, but perhaps not??? Definitely made a Vanilla Black cookbook cheese-and-chutney bread pudding. And soup, because soup.

Eating. British raspberries not quite over. We acquired some panettone from the supermarket, because panettone, and have been having slices with our Evening Protein Shake.

Making & mending. The trousers slog, very slowly, on.

Growing. THE SAFFRON CAME UP AND IS FLOWERING, is the headline.

I have successfully brought one (1) of the chillis inside so far; the patio tomatoes still have tomatoes on; the kohlrabi at the plot are doing well and so (finally) are the oca; ... saffron! saffron.

Observing. THERE WAS A BAT over the New River on our way home from the gym on Saturday, spotted by A. A bat!!! It is far too late for Bat but nonetheless it was a delight to see them.

The foxes continue Particularly Noisy this year.

ysabetwordsmith

Here is my card for the Ryan Gosling Movies Bingo fest. It runs from November 1-30. Celebrate all the spooky people and things of fall! (See all my 2026 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.

RYAN GOSLING MOVIES BINGO CARD

special	"You look lonely. I can fix that."	"You'll find a solution." "You are my solution."	"You look like you’re hard to work with."	wanted
decisions	worldview	"You’re not very good at this are you?"	peace	words of encouragement
joy	memories	WILD CARD	"I’m a liberated man. I know crying is not weak."	warmth
ideas	danger	"Sometimes I feel okay about things. Not often."	information	commitment
beautiful	"Your history isn’t over yet. There’s still a page left."	"My hands are a little dirty." "So are mine."	safer	alternative

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I started working on an outdoor repair project.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did more work on an outdoor repair project.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did more work on an outdoor repair project.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did more work on an outdoor repair project.

I've seen a squirrel running through the trees above the parking lot.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did more work on an outdoor repair project.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I finished the outdoor repair project.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/1/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden and the telephone pole garden.

A single cricket was chirping, low and slow.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

vaxhacker

SO it begins. November. The ninth month of the year. Well, it should be, according to the name “November,” and it used to be, once upon a time, before emperors inserted self-tributes into the calendar without regard to the repercussions, like a careless force-pushed commit of a new feature that should “obviously just work” with no need to test it first. But now we're stuck with it as the eleventh month with a dumb name.

Where was I?

Oh, yes. November.

The month when we have to face eating all the Halloween candy the neighborhood kids didn't relieve us of entirely. When we realize we suddenly find ourselves counting the shopping days left to procrastinate getting ready for Christmas, completing our life goals for the year, and, of course, this annual tradition we celebrate here in my journal as well as millions* of others around the world: NaBloPoMo!

National Blog Posting Month, a spin-off of National Novel Writing Month that started many years ago, is simply a communal effort by all those who choose to participate to try to post something every day in your personal blog during the month of November. That's it. Simple.

Of course, in order to prepare for this, I have carefully planned a curated set of topics which will perfectly entertain and inform my readers, with the posts all pre-written and staged, ready to post on schedule as the days arrive on the calend—

Yeah, I couldn't type that with a straight face, either. I have no idea where I'm going with this or what I'll come up with yet, day by day, just like every other year. It will be a combination of what's happening in my life, what's going through my head, thoughts I'm pondering or puzzling through, bits of whimsy, memes, lists, or whatever I manage to come up with in desperation as 23:50 looms threateningly at the end of the day at me.

Happy November, and welcome to #NaBloPoMo.

Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics—more free‑form, more accident‑prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud.
—Andrew Sullivan

__________
^*Okay, maybe not millions. ~~Thousands. Hundreds.~~ Tens of bloggers!

Current Mood: amused

ysabetwordsmith

vriddy wrote a great post about Getting Unstuck in Revision. I have found these methods generally useful, but for me, the most important is letting it rest. I can't edit what's on the page until I can see what is on the page instead of inside my head. That takes a bit of distance.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

We made it to the end of October! \o/ If you have completed some of your medium-term goals or subgoals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We are now well into autumn. If you're doing seasonal goals, share what you're working on for this fall.

I'm continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 9
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 16
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 23
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In April 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In for May (June 1)
New Year's Resolutions Check In June 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In July 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In August 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In September 30

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Wildfire smoke is invading America’s schools, and staying indoors may not be enough

Keeping children indoors seems like a sensible response to wildfire smoke. But a new study found that some classrooms had dirtier air than the outdoors during wildfire smoke events.

It's not just children and schools. Smoke inhalation kills people -- sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Healthy adults have a little more resistance, but it's not infinite. Children, seniors, pregnant women, anyone with cardiopulmonary issues, people who work outdoors (or indoors if that air is worse), etc. can all suffer worse impacts sooner.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Tonight we did our Samhain ritual. This was the last in our set of creation myth sabbats, featuring the story of the Tohono O'odham people. We called quarters with mythic figures; I called Coyote. :D We read the myth aloud. For cakes and ale, we had prickly pear honey on crackers and cherry-apple cider.

We also discussed themes for the next year. Well, I suggested pageantry and interactive things, since we just did a year of mostly reading myths, then everyone latched onto that instead of suggesting different themes. Music, geometrical circle casting, using some of the figurines and other props we already own, etc. It should be fun.

Current Mood: busy

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November 2018

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Members' Journals

Member Posts

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All Souls'

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Birdfeeding

Monday Update 11-2-26

Recipe: "Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies"

Wildlife

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Ryan Gosling Movies Bingo Card 11-1-26

Birdfeeding

Begin Again: NaBloPoMo 2026

Writing

New Year's Resolutions Check In

Safety

Samhain

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November 2018

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