poliphilo: (Default)
poliphilo ([personal profile] poliphilo) wrote2025-11-03 10:27 am

Picture Diary 107

 Picture Diary 107

1. Flow, flow, my tears

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2. Manifestation

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3. She is taking her leave

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4. A walk in the woods

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5. The veil is thin

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6. Music, maestro, please

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poliphilo: (Default)
poliphilo ([personal profile] poliphilo) wrote2025-11-03 09:47 am

Part Way Through A L'Ombre Des Jeunes Filles En Fleur

 Teenage romance: we've all been through it but no-one has ever described what it feels like as lovingly and minutely as Marcel Proust. By the same token he does go on a bit.

There are two masters of this sort of thing. The other is Henry James. Together they represent the end of the line. No-one since has wanted to take things any further. 

Nothing happens in Proust. Nothing by way of action. He's like Jane Austen only more so, beavering away with a camel hair brush at his little square of ivory. Except that "little" is hardly the right word. One begins to wish for a touch of melodrama. Towards the end of the sequence the Great War- unplanned for when Proust began- imposes itself upon the cushioned life of his characters and I'm rather looking forward to it.
ysabetwordsmith: Artwork of the wordsmith typing. (typing)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-03 12:05 am
Entry tags:

Monday Update 11-3-25

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Today's Cooking
Gaming
Birdfeeding
Worldbuilding
Art
Birdfeeding
Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo Card 11-1-25
Philosophical Questions: Accuracy
Moment of Silence: Patricia Crowther
Birdfeeding
Holiday
Books
Wildlife
Garden of Repose
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Follow Friday 10-31-25: Kpop
Bingo
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Today's Adventures
Sustainability
Birdfeeding
Good News

Trauma has 34 comments. Affordable Housing has 57 comments. Robotics has 95 comments.


There will be a Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, November 4 with a theme of "Fairies and Fey." I hope to see you then!


"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $191 to be complete. Maiara and Arthur discuss taking notes.


The weather is cool and fall-like now. It rained a couple of days. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, two goldfinches, and a male cardinal. A great horned owl has been hoo-hooing outside. :D Currently blooming: dandelions, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, sweet alyssum, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, oxalis, firecracker plant, tomatoes, violas. Tomatoes, ball carrots, and groundcherries are ripe. Fields are almost all harvested.
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-02 08:58 pm
Entry tags:

Today's Cooking

Today I am making Tomato-Basil Bread from Hello! 365 Tomato Recipes: Best Tomato Cookbook Ever For Beginners, the yeast version from page 32.  (This is basically the same recipe.)  We're out of parmesan cheese, so I substituted Manchego which is dry enough to grate and has a similarly sharp taste.  Already the dough is a very pretty salmon-pink, currently rising in a bowl set inside a bowl of warm water to help maintain temperature.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- Bread punched down and set for second rise.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- Bread in oven.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- It's done!  :D  This is better than the earlier quickbread I tried.  When baked, it is a bright, true salmon color thanks to the tomato sauce.  The outside is crusty, the inside is springy and chewy, with a mild tomato flavor and herbal hints.  If I make it again, I want to try the Little Italy Pizza Seasoning instead of plain crushed red pepper.  The loaf is small and round, yielding oval slices.  That's too small for grilled cheese sandwiches but would probably work for Bulgarian breakfast bread.
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-02 07:25 pm
Entry tags:

Gaming

New study: Dungeons & Dragons provides real benefits to people with disabilities and the elderly

“Serious leisure” refers to an activity that demands skill, commitment, and personal fulfillment, Messina defined. With the intricate world-building, score-keeping, and character development required of D&D, she said, it’s a blueprint for serious leisure.
[---8<---]
“Players were comfortable being themselves by engaging in the game pursuit,” she added, “but at the same time were building personas in line with, or in contrast to, their normal personality. They described it as a way to take charge, or lead an effort in ways that their normal personality would allow for, but they wouldn’t be inclined to do.”


Read more... )
jazzy_dave: (books n tea)
jazzy_dave ([personal profile] jazzy_dave) wrote2025-11-02 09:21 pm
Entry tags:

Book 59 - Christopher Brookmyre "One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night"

Christopher Brookmyre "One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night" (Abacus)




What happens when you hold a high school reunion party aboard an oil-rig that's being converted into a hotel and leisure complex and there are unwelcome visitors in the shape of a band of mercenaries with their own rather different party in mind?

This high-octane thriller starts off at a sedate pace. We meet the mercenaries; we meet the former pupils - both officially invited and not, and find out how their lives have moved on after 15 years. Then the action starts happening and everything accelerates to the final showdown at breakneck speed. In between the action with its gruesomely realised scenes of ultraviolence, we get loads of laughs in Brookmyre's unique style. Most of the characters are truly awful, but we are drawn to burnt-out comic Matt and wronged-wife Simone who in blockbuster movie traditional become heroes. Another unputdownable novel from one of Scotland's best talents.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-02 12:45 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is sunny and cool.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I trimmed weeds from the tulip bed. It's about 2/3 done now.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I trimmed weeds from rest of the tulip bed. \o/

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a cardinal.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I spread the first bag of compost and manure on the tulip bed.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I spread the second bag of compost and manure on the tulip bed.

EDIT 11/2/25 -- I spread the third bag of compost and manure on the tulip bed. It is mostly covered but still needs another bag.

I picked a handful of basil leaves so I can make tomato-basil bread tonight.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
disneydream06: (Disney Halloween)
disneydream06 ([personal profile] disneydream06) wrote2025-11-02 09:40 am

Happy Halloween.....

A couple of more days of Pumpkin entries.....

IMG_6453
Party... )
poliphilo: (Default)
poliphilo ([personal profile] poliphilo) wrote2025-11-02 09:29 am

Random Thoughts On Monarchy

 Not so very much is required of a modern royal. You don't have to be virtuous, you just have to be seen to be virtuous.  On the whole, unless word has gone out from on high that you are to be monstered ( as has happened with the Sussexes) the media will play along- and not make a fuss about your misdoings.

Edward VIII got away with being a traitor.

Louis Mountbatten got away with being a paedophile- until the IRA blew him up.

Philip Duke of Ediburgh got away with numerous affairs.

Charles III (careful now!) got away with being friendly with Jimmy Savile and various other undesireables.

And Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor got away with all sorts of awfulness until the optics became too, too shaming.

The Sandringham estate isn't Siberia, nor is it Abu Dhabi. I'm told Mountbatten-Windsor has seven dogs; well, they'll have plenty of space to run around in.

We're told a modern nation state requires a human figurehead. A monarch by preference, but failing that a President. I don't see why.

But then perhaps what I really object to is the modern nation state....
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-01 07:56 pm

Worldbuilding

The Most Powerful Type of Worldbuilding by Curious Archive

I rarely link YouTube videos anymore, but this one had some good observations about "moldy worldbuilding" and how it shows the passage of time. So I'll throw out some ideas based on that.

Read more... )
disneydream06: (Disney Halloween 2)
disneydream06 ([personal profile] disneydream06) wrote2025-11-01 08:53 pm

Happy Halloween.....

Just saw this one twitter and had to share.....

Halloween
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-01 04:24 pm
Entry tags:

Art

New study: Viewing art in galleries 'immediately' reduces cortisol levels, boosts health

“Our unique and original study provides compelling evidence that viewing art in a gallery is ‘good for you’ and helps to further our understanding of its fundamental benefits,” Dr. Tony Woods, the study’s senior author, said.

“In essence, art doesn’t just move us emotionally — it calms the body too.”

More specifically, cortisol levels — a key stress hormone in the human body — fell by an average of 22% in the gallery group, compared to just 8% in the control group
.

Read more... )
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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-11-01 02:09 pm

Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy and cool.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/1/25 -- I trimmed weeds from the daffodil bed.

EDIT 11/1/25 -- I spread the first bag of composted manure on the daffodil bed.  It covered the far side and half the center.

EDIT 11/1/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/1/25 -- I spread the second bag of composted manure on the daffodil bed.  So that's done, aside from raking up a pile of leaves to create the mulch cover for it.  This concludes today's yardwork target. \o/

EDIT 11/1/25 -- I started trimming weeds from the tulip bed.

I am done for the night.

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andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2025-11-01 05:43 pm
Entry tags:

Thoughts on the way home.

Glasgow still feels much more city-like to me than Edinburgh.

Which is probably why I prefer living in Edinburgh.

(Great to visit though)
andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2025-11-01 12:04 pm
Entry tags:

Photo cross-post


Sophia and Gideon making the DNA for their respective eye colours.

(First ever trip to the Glasgow Science Centre, it was awesome)
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

disneydream06: (Disney Happy)
disneydream06 ([personal profile] disneydream06) wrote2025-11-01 08:52 am

Comment Numbers.....

October

1. [personal profile] mrdreamjeans 85
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disneydream06: (Disney Birthday)
disneydream06 ([personal profile] disneydream06) wrote2025-11-01 03:51 am

(no subject)

OH DANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so embarrassed, I missed somebody's birthday. :o

I must send out...

*~*~*~*~*GREAT BIG HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES*~*~*~*~*

To my friend, [personal profile] joseph_teller.

I hope you had a super great birthday. :)


Disney 5