trying to run the gauntlet

Mar. 13th, 2026 07:21 pm
musesfool: drs abbot and robby of the pitt (you did not desert me)
[personal profile] musesfool
I finally got some Minute Maid frozen orange juice concentrate and Orange Julius take 2 is way better than the watery version I made last month. Woo!

Tomorrow, I have to get up early and bake Irish soda bread to take to the family - we are going out for St. Patrick's Day dinner (and also the NINTH[!!!!!] anniversary of my father's death - it is his recipe I use; I miss him a lot).

TV quick takes:

Shrinking: spoilers ) Anyway, the first few episodes of this show are a little tough to take but it has morphed into a funny, endearing, poignant hangout comedy and I recommend it! Harrison Ford is SO GOOD in it too.

The Pitt: spoilers )

I am very interested to see where the rest of this season is going.

*

stuff and bother on a Friday

Mar. 13th, 2026 10:41 am
tielan: (clings)
[personal profile] tielan
I think I waited too long to investigate the Solar Battery situation. The guy has not replied to my emails or my texts.

Actually, most people are rather bad at responding to my emails and texts. GRARGH.

Anyway, looking at other solar battery quotes, his looks very cheap, which...I'm mostly okay with tbh.
I'm thinking of this as a stop-gap measure, really until I can set up a longer-lasting nickel-iron battery - the kind that old Nikola Tesla came up with, and which work for 100 years. Yes, it takes a little maintenance, but I'm more worried about losing access to electrical technicians than I am about having to replace the electrolyte solution once a month.

Yes, that says where my priorities and fears are right now. Frankly, I'm more worried about robustness of our supply-demand chain (newsflash: it's about as robust as your grandmother's crystal in a quarry) than I am about having to do things manually.


--

My garden is open on the 21st-22nd March, for guests, and it's seriously 'underdone' right now. Everything is wild (it's that time of year when the weather is hot and the rain is happening, and EVERYTHING GROWS). I had some friends by last weekend to put together some garden beds, and they're done and set, and now I just have to fill them.

And that's where this weekend and the teenager I'm hiring to do the work comes in.

A pile of woodchips is being delivered this afternoon.

We dig out the back paths (carefully! there are pipes in there!), discard the runner grass, and put it in the garden beds (bottom).

We dig out the chicken yards and all the lovely soil that's down there, and put it in the new garden beds (top).

We fill the back paths with the woodchips, then the chicken yards, then the chicken tunnels, then the banana circle, then the composts...

And all this after going for a 5km run on Saturday (maybe I shouldn't have committed to the run).

Then, Sunday morning is a Crop Swap!

OOF.

--

Yesterday, I made the sudden realisation that I've been writing Maria Hill (all my agents, in fact) like they were Australian SAS, not US Special Forces. An operative goes out and is given the trust to deal with the situation as needed rather than having to go up the chain of command as US Forces (even special forces) have to do.

The difference is rather telling.

I wonder how recent this doctrine is - the military doctrine of minimising possible fuck-ups by ensuring that decisions have to be approved up the command chain. I wonder if (pragmatically) there was a significant cultural difference between the WWII Howling Commandoes and the way the US military worked (at least pre-2025) such that Steve would have found it distinctly difficult to work with the modern US military units, who are trained not to go off-road and make their own decisions: the YT video says that even units like Navy Seals and Delta Force are reliant on communications and up-chain decisions to go/no-go.

Anyway, it's a thought.

Not to mention, I can use this in my novel: if the MC is more inclined for an Aussie SAS mentality (although she is American) and doesn't quite fit into the paramilitary organisation she's working with (which runs off a US military authority mentality) then I can make that work.


--

Finally, Jima-wu, our remaining chicky-babe, is still with us. Survived and thriving. Back to what she was before the sickness, still on medication, and will be for a few more days.

*sigh* I'm still sad about Nien-go, and a little tired. It's a lot going on right now.

another big swing from a young hitter

Mar. 10th, 2026 10:08 pm
musesfool: a baseball and bat on the grass (the crack of ash on horsehide)
[personal profile] musesfool
I don't love that Nolan McLean gave up 2 home runs in the same inning in this game, but I do love that Team Italia celebrates with an Armani blazer and an espresso (they literally have an espresso machine in the dugout and if someone hits a homer, he gets a shot) and then the team captain kisses the guy while everyone else does this: 🤌

*

Work is currently bananas. Listen, I have a whole document I wrote on how to change/streamline board stuff to foster discussion and engagement, but we were supposed to do it methodically and not implement it until the June meeting, except now we are doing it NOW, and everything got upended in the stupidest way possible. I maybe kind of couldn't control how irritated I am about it because it is basically making me do double the amount of work and is seems to me like it is just going to achieve the exact opposite of what we want it to, but apparently this is coming directly from the new board chair. I told my boss that if I am right, and that this doesn't do what they think it is going to, I might not say it, but I will be thinking the world's biggest "I told you so." And she was like, that's fair. Sigh.

*

bad chicken news

Mar. 9th, 2026 06:25 pm
tielan: brown chicken looking at camera, white chicken in profile (garden 01 - pumpkin vine)
[personal profile] tielan
The two pullets we got a couple of weeks ago started going downhill from probably Friday night. We could only get them to the vet this afternoon (Monday).

They have antibiotics and we're crop-feeding them, but I don't think it's going to do much good.

Fifteen minutes later: Nien-Go is dead. We're not sure if Jima-wu is going to survive, although she was always doing better than dainty little Nien-Go.

feeling like I failed )
musesfool: a loaf of bread (staff of life)
[personal profile] musesfool
Ugh, daylight savings, why are we still doing this???

Anyway, I got up at my usual workday time instead of sleeping in so I could get the onions in the slow cooker, and I did both the "soak onions in cold water in the fridge for 15 minutes" and wore the stupid onion goggles, and still by the 4th onion my eyes were extremely unhappy with me. *hands* Thankfully I only had 6 onions total, so it all got done, and for dinner I made French onion pasta as planned, and now I have dinner for 3 more days as well. I do love this pasta dish - and I always use bucatini, which is one of my favorite pasta shapes, so it was pleasing all around. Every time I make it after not having made in a while, I'm like, why don't I make this more often!? and then I remember the onion-slicing and how annoying it is. Anyway, definitely recommended for a delicious and easy dinner (except for the onion-slicing). I also made bacon so I have lunch for the week also.

I meant to mention this yesterday and forgot, but The Mountain Goats collaborated with Mary Chapin Carpenter to cover World Party: Put the Message in the Box (don't worry if you only recognize one or two of those names - the song is good!).

*

that wasn't a no

Mar. 7th, 2026 09:07 pm
musesfool: a baseball and bat on the grass (the crack of ash on horsehide)
[personal profile] musesfool
Went to the office yesterday and as much as I enjoyed seeing so many of my co-workers, almost no work got done. it is just not a good use of time if they want us to be productive. Since it's an open office and we are all sitting together with no walls between us, we just chat and jump into each other's conversations and people stop by and also join in, and it's great for socializing but most of my work is stuff that requires concentration and quiet, which is in short supply at the office. But the anniversary celebration is a lot of fun and I probably won't have to attend another one for 4 more years. *g*

Our next in-office day is in late April, and I floated the idea of maybe bringing in baked goods, so I'm already considering what recipe I might choose to make, since I can experiment.

Today, I made these orange shortbread cookies and they're good, though I would zest another orange (I did 2 this time) if I make them again. Also I didn't sift the flour and instead of rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters, I rolled it into a log and just sliced them (after chilling), since they are just for me so there was no need to get fancy.

I also planned to caramelize onions overnight in the slow cooker, but then I ended up engrossed in F.D. Signifier's Tyler Perry video (which is FOUR HOURS long - I have one hour left but I'm taking a break to watch the WBC) and didn't end up doing the slicing I need to do, so I figure I'll do it in the morning, let them slow cook for most of the day, and then make French onion pasta for dinner. Anyway, I have never seen a Tyler Perry movie or show, but F.D. Signifier's videos are always worth watching.

So yeah, I've been sort of paying attention to the WBC and why is the "S" in USA like a strip of curly bacon on the Team USA jersey??? Once I saw it I couldn't unsee it. Also so many of these unis could be cool and yet so many of them are just meh. Design fail, Nike! Come on! Also, I might be rooting for the DR since Juan Soto is on that team; if Lindor were in it, I'd probably be rooting for Puerto Rico. Though of course I was pleased for Clay Holmes just now, and will be interested to see Nolan McLean pitch.

*

When I'm falling I'm at peace

Mar. 5th, 2026 05:55 pm
musesfool: lester bangs on rock'n'roll (music)
[personal profile] musesfool
Work has been intensely busy these past few days, and tomorrow I have to go into the office because Assistant J is getting a pin for being with the organization for 5 years (even though it's more like six and a half at this point, but no one wants to hear my rant about how anniversaries work again), and I never get much done when I'm in, so we'll see what happens. I do have to take all my tax paperwork and scan it for my accountant. This is much later than usual, eep.

*

Shrinking: Dereks Don't Die
spoiler )

*

Lost Recipes was a really good read "about the legal and logistical barriers arrayed against people trying to archive rap media." to quote the email from Defector that included the link. It made me think about how despite its many, many issues (about which I have heard no news of progress at all, btw), the OTW is doing that work for this section of media fandom, and how important that work is (and how no one else was gonna do it). There's already so much that's gone, and that impacts how our stories get contextualized and passed on (thinking of all the thinkpieces on Heated Rivalry that only reference yaoi and animanga fandom and not Western media fandom, for example) and whatever place in the larger history of media and fandom this corner of it might have. Idk. I do recommend reading that post though, even if you're not a rap fan.

*

(no subject)

Mar. 5th, 2026 10:35 pm
marina: (NO.)
[personal profile] marina
Things that are making me happy at this current time. I want to talk about them.

Things are still very not OK, I'm still barely keeping it together most days. Everything is Very Bad. But. I want to talk about happy things.

*

books and tv shows )

passing me by

Mar. 6th, 2026 08:42 am
tielan: anthony bridgerton and kate sharma dancing at the featherington ball (bridgerton 1)
[personal profile] tielan
I'm just not managing to stay on top of any of the fandom trends.

Still haven't watched K-Pop Demon Hunters, or Heated Rivalry, or even Bridgerton S4...

I'm not bothering with Marvel (they're dead to me, like all the best characters in the franchise) and there's not much else that particularly interests me.

As usual, I mostly lack someone to watch things with. I'll watch movies that I'm only marginally interested in with friends, but I've never been a 'rewatch' kind of person - even in the background. Too many things to do.

--

Actually, I'm just not managing to stay on top of ANYTHING right now.

she won't catch me or break my fall

Mar. 2nd, 2026 02:48 pm
musesfool: rogue one darth vader with lightsaber (i find your lack of faith disturbing)
[personal profile] musesfool
I really enjoyed this season of Bridgerton despite being mostly indifferent to Benedict as a character. Yerin Ha as Sophie was everything - I really hope this launches her into a long, bright career. spoilers )

In other fannish news, I saw some folks on bsky discussing who the best lightsaber duelist is in Star Wars, and since I didn't really know the people being quoted, I took myself to tumblr to post about it. I also texted my eldest nephew, who is the biggest Anakin and Obi-Wan fan I know (which, given some of the fangirls I know, is saying something) and his knee-jerk response was Anakin*. Which is the wrong answer, so we argued back and forth a bit, and he came around to my way of thinking that it has to be Obi-Wan, even though we never see him go up against Palpatine or Mace Windu (who may have beaten Palpatine if not for Anakin).

I did see people saying Ahsoka, because she survives Maul, Vader, and very briefly, Palpatine, but as much as I love her, she survives and escapes. She doesn't win. The list of Obi-Wan's duels is extensive and no one ever even lays a blade on him that I recall (though he doesn't beat Dooku, which was an argument my nephew made, and Anakin eventually does) until he puts up his saber and lets Vader kill him. Like, is Obi-Wan destroyed emotionally and psychologically by dueling with Anakin? One hundred percent! But he still wins until not winning is the best way to win in the long-term.

*I think you can make a case for him when he's Vader, but even then, Obi-Wan beats him on Mustafar and he only wins on the Death Star because Obi-Wan lets him. In the OWK show, he maybe sets Obi-Wan on fire a little but Obi-Wan takes no real damage in any of their fights until the Death Star.

*

monday morning

Mar. 2nd, 2026 11:37 am
tielan: brown chicken looking at camera, white chicken in profile (garden 01 - pumpkin vine)
[personal profile] tielan
Day 1 of the new contract.

I do wish the agent had negotiated a day or two off. I could do with a break. Everything is mad crazy busy around here.

And we're trying to acclimatise the Tweety Sweeties right now, but don't really have anywhere to put them right now, so they're in a cage on the front porch during the day (with water, food, dustbath, and perch) and get brought in at night to sleep safely.

Tweety Sweeties


That should be Nien-go on the left, and Jima-wu on the right. They are, once again, named after food: nien go is the palm sugar and glutinous rice new year cake, and jima-wu is black sesame.

The sole exception to this chicken naming standard has been the 'Lockdown Ladies', Gladys Berechicklian (named after the NSW Premier - like a US state governor - during the early part of the pandemic) and Dr Kerry Chant (named after the NSW Health Minister at the time). I don't know why we landed on those, but it seemed funny at the time, and Gladys Berechicklian always gets a good laugh out of people!

I have political thoughts about Australia and everything that's going on in the world, but will post them another time. *sigh*

Heated Rivalry

Mar. 1st, 2026 03:56 pm
unavee: Abstract floral photo (Default)
[personal profile] unavee
I finally watched Heated Rivalry. Based on all the hype around it, I knew I would like it or even love it. And wow, yes, I love it, and I also feel fannish about it ;___; I finished it a few days ago and I've already watched some reactions and promotional videos, read a few interviews/excerpts, and have been browsing AO3 tags. I'm not ready to leave the show world so I have been reading a lot of outsider POV fic and anything that seems like it will let me wallow in character feelings. I'm going to look for fannish meta and commentary, too. I might read the book.

gushing about the show )

Also now I need to try to go back and read everyone's posts about the show.

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