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Daily Happiness

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 09:18 pm

1. I had a dentist appointment this morning and got that new cavity taken care of. Thankfully it was a small one and didn't take them long to fix. (Also because it was just a small one, with my insurance it was only $29! The cleaning was way more than that!)

2. Look at that blep!

Tags:

media updates

aethel

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 09:11 pm

1. Found my third grade journal. In it I proudly announced how many books I had read, but mostly neglected to mention the titles. Thanks for nothing, asshole. Anyway, according to my updated spreadsheet I've read at least 776 unique titles, not including whatever Nate the Great rereads baby-me was probably using to pad her numbers. I still don't have any record for 8th or 9th grade, when I'm pretty sure I read some classic sf and Victorian novels, but also--let's face it--a lot of Star Trek tie-ins.

It is somewhat discouraging to read your own childish writing and realize essentially nothing has changed about you except your spelling.

2. I recently finished Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (so good!). Currently I'm rereading The Caves of Steel and Anne of Green Gables. I also started Station Eleven, but might not be in the mood for post-apocalyptic, and Beyond the Wall, a history of East Germany that I have so far failed to make much progress on.

3. Fic rec: The Co-Stars, A Romantic Comedy by Ryan Reynolds by cyclogenesis (addictedkitten)

Tags:

books,
recs

Lingering and Post-Deadline Pinch Hits for Early Bird Gets The Word Exchange (Due July 14)

sleepymod

pinchhits

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 09:02 pm

Event: Early Bird Gets The Word is a fic and art exchange for small and inactive fandoms. Minimum 1000 words or detailed lineart.

Event link: earlybirdgetstheword

Pinch hit links: Here on the comm. Or below.

Due Date: July 14th 22:00 EDT.

To Claim: Please comment on the dreamwidth post with your AO3 username and the pinch hit number you want to claim.

( PH 1 - Animal Control (TV 2023), Degrassi the Next Generation, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV), The Good Place (TV), North of North (TV 2025), Only Murders in the Building (TV) )

( PH 4 - ケイ�ヤク | KeixYaku (TV), 御赐小仵作 | The Imperial Coroner (TV), 作りたい女と食べたい女 | Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna | She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat (TV) )

( PH 11 - Blue Period (Manga), Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn, Advance Wars (Video Games 2001-2005; 2023), Tales of Berseria, K (Anime), Sengoku Basara, Tales of Legendia, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You (Video Games) )

Tags:

July has already been busy

azurelunatic

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 02:58 pm

Susan visited!

Thorn didn't get carjacked by a Bigfoot.

(no subject)

sholio

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 01:25 pm

I have discovered Enemies to Lovers exchange. o deer.

THAT being said, I really need to put a cork in the new exchange signups for a bit. Summer of Horror and Temperature Flash both reveal somewhere around this weekend, as well as that being the Casefic submission deadline. I have a pinch hit, I have things to edit, and I haven't even started Just Married.

Today it's rainy AND smoky, a wonderful combination.

Tags:

exchange:misc

how do I step back from a friendship with an intensely negative and argumentative coworker?

matsushima

agonyaunt

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 05:14 pm

I’ve been working at a university library for a little over a year now and have had a hard time making friends. Shortly after I started, I befriended a coworker, “Morgan,” who is also relatively new, and it has been nice getting to know them and commiserating about how hard it is to make friends in a new city and workplace.

Over the course of our friendship, Morgan has opened up more and more about the interpersonal problems they’ve had with our colleagues. They describe scenarios where collaborative projects get stalled because other stakeholders stop communicating with them, coworkers they were getting lunch with on a weekly basis suddenly stop responding to chats, and other frustrations with navigating bureaucracy that interferes with their work. It’s hard to tell if Morgan is becoming increasingly disgruntled or if they are now very comfortable with telling me their unfiltered feelings.

I’ve also had to navigate some fairly horrendous problems as a new employee, so it’s been nice to have a coworker who understands and sympathizes with our (somewhat) dysfunctional workplace culture. Morgan has made it very clear to me that they are only here for the time being and have already decided that this is not the city they would like to stay in long-term. Personally, I want to retire here and have worked very hard to improve my situation. It feels very different for me today than it did a year ago, which is why it’s become increasingly difficult to navigate Morgan’s constant negativity.

Morgan can be a lot of fun to talk to, but they’re in an increasingly bad mental space at work. They frequently come to my office to gripe for an hour or two in spite of how busy I am; I’m always actively working and trying to concentrate when they pop into my office. To my fault, they ask if it’s a good time to chat and I always say yes because they’ve been so hurt by our coworkers pulling away and I’m afraid of upsetting them. On top of this, they’ve become increasingly argumentative with me when they’re looking to talk. Again, I would say this is my fault because they are looking to vent and I’m always trying to provide solutions, so I think it’s taken as invalidating Morgan’s feelings.

Morgan is in such a bad mental space at work that seemingly any type of feedback or dialogue that they disagree with comes off as an attack. One of the issues they’ve had with multiple colleagues is that they invalidate Morgan’s feelings. Morgan has described situations where they complained about something to a colleague and rather than agreeing with and consoling Morgan, they essentially said to look on the bright side. For example, Morgan was upset about a change made to their office and the coworker responded with, “At least you have your own office.” Morgan has many examples of conversations like this and cites it as a workplace culture issue. In addition, Morgan holds on to comments like this (that took place months and months ago) and often refers back to them as examples of how bad things are. At this point, I am very afraid of upsetting Morgan because I like them, and their hyper-sensitivity is a bit triggering in light of all the reparative work I’ve done for my position and unit.

One more detail about Morgan that I think plays a factor is their odor. Morgan has a strong mildewy smell wherever they go. The odor fills a room and I can often tell if they’ve recently been in a space because of the smell. I believe Morgan maintains good hygiene practices, but that they are unaware of the fact that a lot of their clothing has developed a pungent mildew odor. Depending on how strongly they smell, it can be very difficult to spend extended periods of time with them. I’ve avoided spending time with them outside of work, like inviting them to my home, because the smell is so off-putting and am wondering if it has contributed to their interactions with coworkers.

How do I take a step back with Morgan without further inciting them?

( Alison's answer )

- how do I step back from a friendship with an intensely negative and argumentative coworker?

Current Mood: seen

Tags:

Ask a Manager: my colleagues are upset that we’re not “speaking truth to power” on social media

minoanmiss

agonyaunt

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 04:13 pm

https://www.askamanager.org/2025/07/my-colleagues-are-upset-that-were-not-speaking-truth-to-power-on-social-media.html#c

( Read more... )

Current Mood: curious

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Plot Bunnies! Nooooo I don't need another one!

melagan

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 03:42 pm

I'm drawn to the idea of Rodney being ordered back to Earth. Only he doesn't want to leave, so he doesn't go back to Earth.

Why not? Because various Pegasus cultures step in. They recognize his value and put up a bidding war for McKay.

I want to see the SGC have to enter the Pegasus bidding war to get Rodney back (because we know the SGC will come to realize that Atlantis can't or won't function without him).

Which begs the next question. What would John do to get him back? The brain ponders...

*weeps* I don't need another bunny right now. How about you? Got any plot bunnies that are jumping up and begging for attention?

Do you side-eye them and pretend they aren't there? Kick them under the bed? Give up and feed them chocolate?

Tags:

plot bunny dust off challenge 2025

Book reaction: Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)

brithistorian

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 01:27 pm

Yesterday I finished reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I enjoyed it, but was frustrated with the ending — it seemed like it didn't end so much as just stopped.[^1] Today, I learned from cmcmck's comment on my July book record that this is actually the first book of a trilogy. This makes me feel better about the ending — I'll give an author more leeway on an ending when I know that a book is part of a series. But even if Mantel does give us a satisfying ending at the end of volume 3, that's still not going chance the fact that, as much as I enjoyed the book, it feels like slice-of-life Thomas Cromwell fanfiction. (Of course, because it was professionally published and won awards, the literary establishment would quarrel with that characterization.)

[^1] Well, it didn't just stop — it reached a stopping place where one of the subplots had just resolved — but it didn't reach an actual conclusion.

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i might get a manned moon flyby for my birthday!

wychwood

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 06:59 pm

I have indeed played lots of ME:A (up to 34% completion, apparently). Also done many other things but all while lacking any desire to put any effort into documenting them! However, I have visited the Stourbridge Glass Museum with Miss H last Thursday, which felt more art-gallery-ish than really museum-y to me, but did have some lovely glass things. There's a big historic gallery, which has lots of... glasses and vases and things, mostly in categories by technique and with plaques that talk about the local connections and the like, and a big 20th century and contemporary gallery with lots of cool and fun modern art glass, with some glasses and vases and the like as well. They also have a "hot shop" with actual glassmakers working, which was my favourite part. I bought a ladybird suncatcher which is hanging on my window and looking very cheerful even behind the slatted blind.

Then on the Saturday we went to Thinktank, the science museum, to see the Space Vault exhibition and also TWO shows in the planetarium because we are suckers for a planetarium. Unlike the Leicester Space Centre we did not get to vote on any trivia questions, but we did learn about summer stars and also the Artemis project. The exhibition itself was full of space-and-astronaut objects that mostly weren't actually very exciting (a piece of broken insulation! a manual! some gloves!) but they did a good job of contextualising the artefacts and adding audio and visual components (although the audio was frankly not loud enough to actually listen to, given the volume in the rest of the floor) and I enjoyed myself. Although, as with last time I went to Thinktank, it was obscenely hot and humid, so I started dragging fairly quickly; possibly I am cursed.

Otherwise I have mostly been preparing for GRADUATIONS, mostly the part where I have to be on campus every day. I made what eventually turned out to be twelve portions of pasta bake, now largely filling my freezer, to be eaten for lunches etc, and attempted to mentally adjust to the prospect. Today was the first day, and so far I have done one ceremony (the first of the season!); I'm signed up for a second already, so we'll see how it goes...

Tags:

Musical fanfic

brithistorian

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 12:50 pm

Yesterday when I was in the grocery store, the music system started playing Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", and my mind started rewriting the lyrics, turning into part of a M/M mafia musical rom-com. Specifically, it's the song in Act 2 where the two main characters realize they have feelings for each other. Below are the new lyrics I wrote for the first verse, where person A is the small business owner (I'm thinking baker) who's in debt to the mafia[^1] boss and person B is the thug sent out by the mafia boss to collect on a loan.

A: Don't go breaking my arm. B: I'm s'posed to shatter your knee. A: Tell Vinny I'll get him his money. B: He's not so patient like me.

[^1] I just looked it up (because of course I did), when using mafia in a generic sense you don't capitalize it, and when referring to a specific organization (e.g. the Sicilian Mafia), you do.

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Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger

rachelmanija

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 10:05 am

Ellie is a Lipan Apache teenager in a world where magic, vampires, ghosts, and so forth are known to be real. She’s inherited the family gift for raising ghosts, though she only raises animals; human ghosts always come back wrong, and she’s happy with the companionship of her beloved ghost dog Kirby, not to mention her pet ghost trilobite. But when her cousin, who supposedly died in a car crash, returns in a dream to tell her he was murdered, she finds that knowing who killed him isn’t as helpful as one might imagine…

Ellie’s cousin Trevor told her the name of his killer, Abe Allerton from Willowbee, but he didn’t know why or how he was killed. Ellie enlists her best friend, Jay, a cheerleader with just enough fairy blood to give him pointy ears and the ability to make small lights. More importantly, he’s good at research. They learn that Willowbee is in Texas, near the town where Trevor lived with his wife, Lenore, and their baby. Jay brings in help: his older sister’s fiancé, Al, who’s a vampire.
All of them, plus Ellie’s parents and a ghost mammoth belonging to her grandmother, play a part in the effort to solve the mystery of Trevor’s death and bring his murderer to justice. And so, in a sense, will a major character who’s long dead (and not a ghost) but who’s a big presence in Ellie’s life: Six-Grand, her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, the last person to have a gift as powerful as Ellie’s… and who vanished forever into the underworld.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I mean, come on. GHOST TRILOBITE. GHOST MAMMOTH. It’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s heartfelt, it has lovely chapter heading illustrations, and it’s got some gorgeous imagery - I particularly loved a scene where the world transforms into an oceanic underworld, and Ellie sees a pod of whales swimming in the sky of a suburban neighborhood.

It's marketed as young adult and Ellie is seventeen, but the book feels younger (and so does Ellie.) I'd have no qualms handing it to an advanced nine-year-old reader, but it also appeals to adult me who misses the time when "urban fantasy" meant "our world, but with ghosts, elves, and so forth."

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Thrre niftinesses

minoanmiss

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 01:50 pm

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Current Mood: excited

TV Tuesday: Location, location, location

yourlibrarian

tv_talk

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 11:15 am

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk

In which shows does “place” play an important role in the success of the show to you? This could be a geographical location or some other significant space.

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Unconventional Courtship Masterlist 2025

liadt

unconventionalcourtship

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 04:29 pm

It's the end of another

unconventionalcourtship round! Many thanks to all that participated this year. Whether you wrote fic, read fic, signed up, made banners, promoted the fest or fell down the UC Generator rabbit hole your participation was very much appreciated.

Now the fest is over here is this year's masterlist to peruse while you give yourself a pat on the back!

Here is this year's masterlist of fic:
( Read more... )

Tags:

mod: masterlist

Trust I seek and I find in you, every day for us something new

beanside

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 05:57 am

It's Tuesday, and creeping ever closer to the Ghost concert. I'm very excited about it! Sadly the meeting on Friday got moved to next month, so that's a lot of preparation for nothing, and no half day. But when it comes, I'll be ready!

Today, I need to do a bit more laundry, and also find time to make French onion soup for dinner. IT should be a stretch, but we'll make it.

Yoda has been very difficult since the twin traumas of the beeping noise and the 4th of July. He will only go out once or twice per day, and only if both of us are with him. It's somewhat inconvenient. We'll keep trying and working with him, but good lord, our dog is neurotic. He has a vet appointment on Monday to discuss upping/changing his medication. He definitely needs more crazy pills.

Tomorrow, I shall work half a day, and then I shall relax for a couple of hours before I get ready for the concert. Between now and then, I need to get some makeup wipes, because we will be sneaking in after the show, and I don't want to run water to wash it off and risk waking the dog. We're going to be little church mice.

I'm a little annoyed that they cancelled my meeting, though I was not looking forward to driving downtown in the rain and bad weather. Maybe I'll be lucky and the one in August will be less icky. Plus, I'll hopefully have a foundation that doesn't go cakey by then. I'm not fond of the Patrick TA foundation that I have right now. I don't think it's formulated for old person skin. It never seems to really settle onto my skin, always feels tacky--even with setting spray or powder. I'm going to try Haus Labs and Laura Geller to see if one of those works better. We'll see.

Geller markets itself for older skin, so we'll see. I just want something that will look natural. I don't mind it being a little stark for Ghost. That's just the way it's supposed to look, striking and a lttle stark. I found the best Fenty lipstick for it. It's a really dark red/brown. It looks really good, but very striking. It'll be perfect for nights out. The downside is that it takes at least two makeup wipes to get just it off, and in between getting it off and the first wipe, you look like the freaking Joker.

I'm hoping all my stuff comes in time. I've got Lakur nail polish due to come tomorrow, with a lovely color called Black Thorn that I really would like to wear for the concert. Normally Fedex comes early, so we'll see. I'm less hopeful about the pinafore dress that I got. It's supposed to come today via UPS, but it's not even in MD yet.

My Ipsy box will probably come on Friday, which is fine. I didn't have anything in particular I needed for the concert. It'll be here in time for the Philly concert on the 19th, which is fine.

My much needed box for makeup will be coming today. It was desperately needed. I've actually got two coming, one for travel and one for the countertop. We'll see how many things they'll fit. I got a LOT of makeup, which is currently taking up the majority of the bathroom counter on one side.

Okay, time for me to get myself together. We'll be walking the dog shortly, so I should get ready. Everyone have an outstanding Tuesday!

(no subject)

conuly

agonyaunt

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 06:01 am

Dear Good Job,

I work as a speech therapist. At a family gathering, I noticed my cousin’s near 4-year-old could only say a few words and beg and point for items they wanted. They could only say “juice” or “Pad” and would cry if any other relative tried to engage them in conversation. I asked my aunt if this was normal behavior for the child, and she said yes but that she wasn’t concerned. At nearly 4, a child should be using full sentences of at least three or more words. It is a missed milestone and early intervention is key.

I checked the local school district, and they offer free screenings and testing that my cousin’s child would qualify for. I went to my aunt and suggested that, in my professional opinion, her grandchild might benefit from speech therapy or at least testing to make sure it wasn’t some other underlying problem. It was completely free and I sent her the info. I didn’t go directly to my cousin because I know some parents can be thin-skinned and defensive when it comes to advice from licensed professionals. I had parents rage at teachers for suggesting their kids need glasses because they can’t see the board.

Well, for my troubles, my cousin sent me an awful and barely coherent text telling me I was a busybody; because I don’t have kids, my opinion is worthless; and she is a mother, so she knows all, and especially what is best for her child, who is perfect. I left it alone after that. The problem is that two years later, the child started kindergarten and was diagnosed with a severe speech impediment, and the rationed therapy the school gives hasn’t really helped. My cousin had to enroll her child with a private therapist that her insurance doesn’t cover and it is pretty pricey. I know all this through the grapevine.

Then, at a family event, my aunt and cousin went off on my poor mother about how awful and selfish I am for not volunteering and helping in their hour of need. I never told anyone about the text since I didn’t want drama, but I kept it. Frankly, I am furious. I tried to help, and I thought I was respectful enough by just going to my aunt with the free resources that were available to my cousin. I didn’t press, preach, or accuse. But now, at this late date, they think publicly blaming me and dragging my poor mother into it will work? I am ready to go to war and I have the receipts, should I?

—Not Holding My Tongue

( Read more... )

Dungeon Crawler Carl books 4 & 5

sholio

Monday, July 7th, 2025 11:19 pm

"The Gate of the Feral Gods" and "The Butcher's Masquerade." I'd say this series is pretty solidly scifi now, so I'm tagging it that way.

( Random spoilers )

Moving on soon to book 6, "The Eye of the Bedlam Bride"! No future spoilers, please!

Tags:

books:scifi

Daily Happiness

torachan

Monday, July 7th, 2025 08:24 pm

1. I did indeed have a WFH day today and it was pretty chill. Got everything on my to-do list done and had two good web interviews.

2. I'm really enjoying Mario Kart World. And just ten more days until the new Donkey Kong game, which looks like it will be amazing!

3. Molly is demonstrating the proper way to help at the computer.

Tags:

The Mask of Mirrors by MA Carrick

princessofgeeks

Monday, July 7th, 2025 09:32 pm

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Blackbirds & Crows

Navigation

Tags

Daily Happiness

media updates

Lingering and Post-Deadline Pinch Hits for Early Bird Gets The Word Exchange (Due July 14)

July has already been busy

(no subject)

how do I step back from a friendship with an intensely negative and argumentative coworker?

Ask a Manager: my colleagues are upset that we’re not “speaking truth to power” on social media

Plot Bunnies! Nooooo I don't need another one!

Book reaction: Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)

i might get a manned moon flyby for my birthday!

Musical fanfic

Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger

Thrre niftinesses

TV Tuesday: Location, location, location

Unconventional Courtship Masterlist 2025

Trust I seek and I find in you, every day for us something new

(no subject)

Dungeon Crawler Carl books 4 & 5

Daily Happiness

The Mask of Mirrors by MA Carrick