writerstorm | Member Posts

Never give up anything that makes you happy just because other people think it is silly or childish. Especially never give up an effective coping skill! Yes, I have stuffed animals. I am currently most fond of Snoozimals and Squishmallows for practical use, but we also have a weird stuffy collection for artistic merit.

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

Dexterity and climbing ability: how ancient human relatives used their hands

Scientists have found new evidence for how our fossil human relatives in South Africa may have used their hands. Researchers investigated variation in finger bone morphology to determine that South African hominins not only may have had different levels of dexterity, but also different climbing abilities.

Diversity is strength.

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

web images

Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen several sparrows and house finches, a catbird, and a phoebe.

I put out water for the birds.

I set out the flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I did a bit more work outside.

I've seen a female cardinal.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I potted up 2 pink-flowered 'Toscana' strawberries, each in its own pot. I filled another pot with a purple-and-white striped 'Wave' petunia, a 'Dusty Miller' artemesia, and 2 white sweet alyssums. I put these on the tall metal planter and tied them in place.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- We moved 2 bags of composted manure to the old picnic table.

I've seen a young fox squirrel.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I potted up the last of the Shithouse Marigolds and Charleston Food Forest marigolds, each in its own pot. These are the last of the ones I grew from seed. All winter-sown pots sprouted at least one marigold, and many sprouted several. That makes this a good approach to repeat.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I sowed a pot with passionflower seeds. No idea if they'll actually fruit here, but it's a host plant for multiple butterfly species who only need the leaves. I've never tried to grow these before, and bought them on a whim when I saw the seed packet in a store, knowing that they are a valuable host plant.

I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I sowed two pots with nasturtiums.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I took pictures of the pots where I sowed seeds earlier. Of the 10 pots of Little Bluestem that I sowed on 2/24/25, five of them sprouted healthy little clumps of grass. I planted these five in one of the strips of the prairie garden. While 50% is not a great success rate, it is a useful rate particularly with native plants that are expensive to buy in pots.

EDIT 5/21/25 -- I did a bit more work outside.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches along with several mourning doves.

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

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

I essayed

Tags:

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

Tags:

recurring posts

Thanks to a donation from

lone_cat, you can now read the beginning of "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden." Lawrence and Stan look for their classrooms at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

New 7-mile-long underwater sculpture park invites snorkelers to save coral reefs

With construction starting this year, the Great Florida Reef will soon feature a 7-mile public art installation: The Reefline.

Both a sculpture park and a snorkeling trail, the development will also serve as an artificial reef to offer shelter to fish, which will, in turn, help corals thrive.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

fuzzyred is hosting a pool for the half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics. Comment on the pool post there if you wish to join the fun. You can name your own targets if you wish, but the pool targets are starting with these Shiv poems:

If I have enough interest, I would like to purchase one of the three giant Shiv epics, or open one for microfunding if there is a good start but not enough to buy it outright. If there is not enough interest, I have two other Shiv poems in mind instead.

Giant Epics
"The Release of Human Potentialities" $568 (q.p. $284) OR
"Shopping for College" $639.50 (q.p. $319.75) OR
"The Bones of Chihuly" $618 (q.p. $309)

Cheaper Options
"The First Swath Cut by the Scythe" $106.50 (q.p. $53.25)
"So Monumental and Still" $162 (q.p. $81)

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

Today is cloudy, warm, and damp with a light breeze. It rained last night.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a catbird. We seem to have a lot of catbirds this year.

I put out water for the birds.

I set out the flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I did a bit more work outside.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I trimmed grass beside the new picnic table, filled one of the new taupe pots, then planted it with a 'Pink Berkeley' tomato and Charleston Food Forest marigold seeds.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I sowed cypress vine seeds around the support wire of the telephone pole. Asiatic lilies have buds.

I planted 'Purple Ruffles' basil and curry plant in a trough on the old picnic table.

The new variegated iris is blooming pale lavender with a strong cotton candy smell. :D

I've seen a brown thrasher, a blue jay, and a fox squirrel.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I planted a Shasta daisy in the white garden. There's another one blooming there from earlier. \o/

I started pulling grass from the septic garden. I sowed cypress vine there.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I brought in the flats of pots.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I sowed borage and summer savory seeds in the trough pot with the basil and curry.

EDIT 5/20/25 -- I sowed 'Lovely Lettuce Mesclun Blend' in 3 pots on the top shelf of the metal planter.

I've seen the black-sided skunk.

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

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

I essay'ed

Tags:

Wild orangutans show communication complexity thought to be uniquely human

Researchers have found that wild orangutans vocalize with a layered complexity previously thought to be unique to human communication, suggesting a much older evolutionary origin.

All the great apes have more sophisticated linguistic capacity compared to other primates. I wonder how long it'll take scientists to figure out the rest.

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

The half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics is now open on LiveJournal. Donors, start your engines! :D

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

This poem is posted as a birthday present for Anthony Barrette.

"A Walking Song"

I walk in the morning, the sun at its rise.
I walk up the hill, and I there feast my eyes
On gardens and fields, and the grass growing green:
The loveliest sight that I ever have seen.

I walk in the midday, the sun at its peak.
I walk through the valley to find all I seek.
I pick the sweet berries, I taste the green leaves,
I gather the nuts underneath forest eaves.

I walk after lunchtime, the sun heading west.
I walk by the river, where fishing is best.
I catch a few catfish to hang on my string
And forage some cattails where young blackbirds sing.

I walk in the evening, the sun sinking low.
My baskets are full, and my heart is aglow.
The fireflies flicker, the fox and deer roam;
I walk down the hill toward the lights of my home.

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

Okay well that was extremely not fun and I am gonna vote for not doing it again, as soon as I figure out what it was and how to not do it.

Three weeks? Two and a half. Whatever. I spent another week or so recovering from covid. I honestly don't know if I'm fully recovered even yet: Shortness Of Breath is still a thing. As is Tires Easily, but, well. I spent the entirety of last week and probably a little more in a depressive episode. Bit of chicken and egg there, or vicious cycle maybe. Lots of sitting on the couch not doing anything, including classwork (finished the assignment by yelling at myself a lot, and I'm not particularly happy with it but at least it's done).

Putting Myself Out There is, it turns out, a reliable depression trigger. Dating, brand-new social situations, writing submissions... and jobhunting is perhaps the worst case for this. Against my best efforts I absorbed a lot of "if you don't support yourself then no one will ever love you" messages growning up. So jobhunting is just a desperate quest for external validation with extra steps. Jobhunting while not having a job, and in a brand-new-to-me field while the economy circles the drain, is just depression-fuel icing on the depression-fuel cake.

I try the normal things and mostly they're just more difficult and less fulfilling. Got a little sun, until it started clouding and raining in the middle of the week. Staying on top of ishes / apartment-tidying was more or less a lost cause. I went out to role-playing on Saturday but that didn't shake it either. It lifted, more or less, Saturday night or Sunday, and on Sunday I went over to Noel's for a full day of boardgaming and that was actually quite good.

My depression is very clearly situational and triggered, so I keep thinking I can manage it by managing my situations. That's of course not possible, not fully. And when it hits me it knocks me out -so- hard. Once job etc is sorted I am gonna have to look into pharmaceutical intervention.

Need to take my last midterm tomorrow; been reviewing notes etc today EDIT or I could just knock it out right now, that was not too terrible /EDIT. Need to wrap up the practicum stuff as well but there's no huge rush on that. Maybe this coming week.

Bah.

Tags:

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Poetry Fishbowl Report for May 6, 2025
Unsold Poems for the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
Poem: "A Lens of Ice"
Artificial Intelligence
Birdfeeding
Summer of the 69
Today's Adventures
Creative Jam
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Distance
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 5-16-25: Heroes
Space Exploration
Hobbies: Jewelry Making
Photos: Cookie Jar Terrarium Part 2: Planting
Corruption
Gengineering
Birdfeeding
Economics
Fossils
Photos: Savanna and Prairie Garden
Photos: House Yard and South Lot
Poem: "The Delicate Balance of Mentoring"
How to Do Anything in 6 Steps
Birdfeeding
Photos: Sunset
How to Secure Trough Pots to a Bench
Good News

"Not a Destination, But a Process" has 133 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 85 comments.

There will be a half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics from Monday, May 19-Sunday May 25.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth ran April 25-May 15. During this time, people post content only visible on Dreamwidth (although it can be reposted elsewhere after the event ends). There's usually a flurry of activity as bloggers share anchor posts, new fiction, icons, banners, questionnaires, friending fests, memes, and other goodies. Community hosts often hold special activities in their communities too. (See the introductory posts from 2022, 2023, 2024.)

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I wrote about goal-setting frameworks for

newcomers.

Goal-Setting Frameworks
* Part 1: Introduction to Goal-Setting Frameworks
* Part 2: The 1-3-5 Rule
* Part 3: The 12-week Year
* Part 4: ABCS (Achievable, Believable, Committed, Specific)
* Part 5: Backward Goal
* Part 6: BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)
* Part 7: BSQ (Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick)
* Part 8: CLEAR (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, Refinable)
* Part 9: Goal Pyramid
* Part 10: Golden Circle
* Part 11: GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward)
* Part 12: HARD (Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult)
* Part 13: KPI (Key Performance Indicators
* Part 14: MASTER (Measurable, Achievable, Specific, Transforming, Evolving, Relevant)
* Part 15: NCT (Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks)
* Part 16: OKR (Objectives, Key Results)
* Part 17: PACT (Purposeful, Aligned, Continuous, Tracked)
* Part 18: Tiered Goals
* Part 19: Theme Word
* Part 20: WISE (Written, Integrated, Synergistic, Expansive)
* Part 21: WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
* Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Wrapup

"Babes in the Pineywoods is now complete! Bo-Art and Creamjeans say goodbye to the Pineyspooks.

The weather has been variable here. It was hot, then rainy, then milder. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, several starlings, several catbirds, several blackbirds, several mourning doves, a pair of cardinals, two brown thrashers, a female goldfinch, a grackle, a blue jay, an adult fox squirrel, two young fox squirrels, and a skunk. Daffodils are done blooming. Columbine and lilies of the valley are winding down. Currently blooming: violets, dandelions, honeysuckle, alliums, Solomon's seal, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, wood hyacinths, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, pink peony, poppies, white peony, blackberries, irises, tomatoes. Mulberries and raspberries have green fruit.

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

blogging,
personal

Today is sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a catbird, a starling, and a young fox squirrel. I heard a blue jay screaming but didn't see it.

I put out water for the birds.

I put out the flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- We went shopping. I have 2 new water pans for the giant pots, 4 new large-ish pots, and 2 bags of composed manure. I still need to get more of the Evergreen potting soil, though.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I took a few pictures of flowers.

I've seen two young fox squirrels chasing each other.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I trimmed grass where I will put one of the giant pots.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I filled the giant pot with half composted manure and half potting soil, then planted a pot of 2 zucchini plants.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I trimmed grass where I will put the second giant pot.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I filled the giant pot with half composted manure and half potting soil, then planted a pot of 2 straightneck yellow squash plants.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I watered the giant pots and the picnic table garden.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/19/25 -- I sowed Shithouse Marigold seeds in the new giant pots and several others that didn't already have marigolds.

I watered the marigold seeds and some other plants.

I saw the first bat of the season! :D

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

Current Mood: busy

Tags:

I essayed

Tags:

Our theme this time was "Ethical Supervillains." I wrote from 12:45 PM to 3:45 AM, so about 13 hours, accounting for breaks. I wrote 3 poems on Tuesday and another 3 later in the week.

Participation was up considerably, with 6 comments on LiveJournal and another 41 on Dreamwidth. A total of 12 people sent prompts.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"The Care and Feeding of Supervillains"
"A Lens of Ice"
"The More Bizarre It Gets"
"Ruling from Beneath"
"Show My True Colors"

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from May 6. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This session's donors include:

siliconshaman,

fuzzyred,

janetmiles, and je_reviens. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 3 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Current Mood: accomplished

Tags:

The following poems from the May 6, 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

Tags:

Writer Storm - A Brainstorming Community

Poor Life Choices

Fossils

Nadine and the Shared Log Cabin

Birdfeeding

Goals, Motives, and Purposes, Part III

Hard Things

Coral Reefs

Pool Open!

Birdfeeding

Goals, Motives, and Purposes, Part II

Orangutans

Half-Price Sale in Polychrome Heroics

Poem: "A Walking Song"

waving and/or drowning

Monday Update 5-19-25

Birdfeeding

Goals, Motives, and Purposes, Part I

Poetry Fishbowl Report for May 6, 2025

Unsold Poems for the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl

Profile

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags