Poem: "The Struggle Against Error"
Nov. 10th, 2025 10:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the April 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from rix_scaedu. It also fills the "dark / light academia" square in my 4-1-25 card for the Aesthetics Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden," so read that first.
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rix_scaedu. It also fills the "dark / light academia" square in my 4-1-25 card for the Aesthetics Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden," so read that first.( Read more... )
Poem: "Better Than Living Alone"
Nov. 10th, 2025 09:10 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "WILD CARD: brownie" square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Monster House, although it's a side story featuring different characters.
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dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "WILD CARD: brownie" square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Monster House, although it's a side story featuring different characters.( Read more... )
Poem: "Revealing Itself at Its Most Brilliant"
Nov. 10th, 2025 08:42 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from torc87. It also fills the "Elves" square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Eric the Elven King thread in the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "The Heart to Rejoice" and "A Perfection That Eludes Us" so read those first or this won't make any sense.
Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes the aftermath of a kidnapping attempt, dealing with difficult memories, reference to past abuse and arguing over it, reference to past breakup, reference to past unplanned pregnancy, reported death of a friend / lover, dysfunctional family dynamics, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
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torc87. It also fills the "Elves" square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Eric the Elven King thread in the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "The Heart to Rejoice" and "A Perfection That Eludes Us" so read those first or this won't make any sense.Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes the aftermath of a kidnapping attempt, dealing with difficult memories, reference to past abuse and arguing over it, reference to past breakup, reference to past unplanned pregnancy, reported death of a friend / lover, dysfunctional family dynamics, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
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Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 3 Adding Air Plants
Nov. 10th, 2025 07:57 pmysabetwordsmithToday I finished assembling the lantern terrarium. I installed the branches, air plants, and other decor. \o/ (Start with Photos: Fairy Garden Lantern Deconstruction, Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 1 Gathering Materials, and Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 2 Testing the Fit.)
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ALL YO YENS YIP YIP YAP
Nov. 10th, 2025 04:53 pmhaunted_cherriesTeetering between sticking to my guns and keeping all my OC fics off AO3 and just unhiding all of em like FUCK THIS SHIT xD
Event
Nov. 10th, 2025 05:10 pmysabetwordsmith![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
smallfandomfest is running a fest. Visit that community to see the various information posts on how to participate. Birdfeeding
Nov. 10th, 2025 01:40 pmysabetwordsmithToday is partly cloudy and cold. It snowed a bit more last night, leaving white patches sprinkled over the yard.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I finished assembling the lantern terrarium with the air plants. \o/ It looks pretty good. I had to put it on the table with two other terrariums, though, because today is too cloudy to see where the light falls in the planter window.
Also I need to bring in the ceramic pots from outside, which I should have done earlier.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches mobbing the fly-through feeder.
Most of the mulberry leaves dropped all at once, and this year they're a muddy shade of yellowish-brown instead of the normal bright gold.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I brought in the goddess statue and the ceramic pots.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I finished assembling the lantern terrarium with the air plants. \o/ It looks pretty good. I had to put it on the table with two other terrariums, though, because today is too cloudy to see where the light falls in the planter window.
Also I need to bring in the ceramic pots from outside, which I should have done earlier.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches mobbing the fly-through feeder.
Most of the mulberry leaves dropped all at once, and this year they're a muddy shade of yellowish-brown instead of the normal bright gold.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 11/10/25 -- I brought in the goddess statue and the ceramic pots.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Monday Update 11-10-25
Nov. 10th, 2025 01:56 amysabetwordsmithThese are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Extreme Animals
Birdfeeding
Grand Prairie Friends
Communities
Photos: Lake Charleston
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Photos: Charleston Food Forest
Activism
Safety
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Community
Today's Smoothie
Poem: "A Clear Path of Freedom"
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 11-7-25: Kingdom Hearts
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Food
Birdfeeding
Poem: "To the Rational Mind"
Early Humans
Hard Things
Trauma has 36 comments. Affordable Housing has 60 comments. Robotics has 97 comments.
Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I still have at least one more poem to write.
"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $191 to be complete. Maiara and Arthur discuss taking notes.
The weather was pleasantly cool, then today the temperature suddenly plummeted and it snowed a little. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a goldfinch. A great horned owl has been hoo-hooing outside along with a shrieking owlet. :D 3q3q3q!!! Currently blooming: dandelions, marigolds, red salvia, sweet alyssum, blue lobelia, firecracker plant. Fields are almost all harvested.
Extreme Animals
Birdfeeding
Grand Prairie Friends
Communities
Photos: Lake Charleston
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Photos: Charleston Food Forest
Activism
Safety
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Community
Today's Smoothie
Poem: "A Clear Path of Freedom"
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 11-7-25: Kingdom Hearts
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Food
Birdfeeding
Poem: "To the Rational Mind"
Early Humans
Hard Things
Trauma has 36 comments. Affordable Housing has 60 comments. Robotics has 97 comments.
Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I still have at least one more poem to write.
"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $191 to be complete. Maiara and Arthur discuss taking notes.
The weather was pleasantly cool, then today the temperature suddenly plummeted and it snowed a little. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a goldfinch. A great horned owl has been hoo-hooing outside along with a shrieking owlet. :D 3q3q3q!!! Currently blooming: dandelions, marigolds, red salvia, sweet alyssum, blue lobelia, firecracker plant. Fields are almost all harvested.
vital functions
Nov. 9th, 2025 10:14 pmkaberettCelebrating. Anniversary. <3
Reading. ( Ravindran, Link, Stocks )
I have also: been skimming a variety of pain-related academic publications, and: printed out not one but TWO translations of Treatise on Man for the coming week's work reading.
Playing. Things!
- Gently pootling along in I Love Hue.
- Inkulinati! Delighted by having made it along the High Combat route on the second map page of my journey with... really minimal damage sustained; also very pleased that having worked through most of the Academy and now having made Progress on my Journey I now have enough of an understanding of mechanics that Proper Shared Activity is viable. (... had a Very satisfying Pushing A Helmeted Dog Off Its Level when it had considerately broken down a neutral gate for me.)
- Fluxx! A particularly ridiculous game, that spent a whole bunch of time Draw 1 Play 1 and then suddenly exploded into Draw 3, Play All, Rich Bonus, Poor Bonus, Party Bonus, and Inflation, among others.
Cooking. Um. Three things from [the Roti King cookbook]9https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/466240/roti-king-by-sugen-gopal/9781837832118)! Surprised by how Very Into the beetroot thingy I was, and the pumpkin stew Grew On Me over the several days we spent eating it.
Also a tomato salad from East, which I was meh about -- but hey, that's one more thing crossed off that particular cookbook list!
Eating. This weekend we have had Many Avocadoes (which are a Special Treat), and also A made me blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning.
OH and a variety of Things To Share from The Artful Duke in Bromley: macaroni cheese not particularly exciting but also very definitely not Cold Sad Soup, and therefore very welcome; sweetcorn "ribs"; three bean chilli nacho Situation; halloumi fries with hot honey. This occasioned the realisation on my part that "hot honey" is upselling for "sweet chilli sauce", which I find very amusing.
And a big pile of tomatoes my mother sent us home with, along with a chunk of Schwarzbrot :)
Exploring. Bromley "zoo"!
Making & mending. ... I got one of A's mildly problematic fountain pens writing earlier today and then promptly made it stop again. Gonna keep poking at the nib. (Tines were misaligned. Fixed that but/and they are now also a bit too splayed for capillary action to work properly; I think this predated my starting to mess around with it...)
Growing. The Mystery Habanero fruit are getting bigger. I am extremely impatient about how much bigger I need to wait for them to get before I can taste one to see how bad an idea eating it neat was.
All the various patio saffron are coming up, but the trough do not seem to have any interest in flowering this year, so I am going to need to Have A Think about what to do to make them happier. Honestly the answer is probably "buy another bag of bulb compost and bury 'em deeper".
Poetry Fishbowl Update
Nov. 9th, 2025 04:49 pmysabetwordsmithThere are currently three poems available from this week's fishbowl, and I'm working on the next. If you're still shopping, now's the time to make your choices.
Extreme Animals
Nov. 9th, 2025 04:21 pmysabetwordsmithLife found in a place scientists thought impossible
Life defies limits in the deep sea—microbes flourish where Earth’s chemistry seems too extreme for survival.
Deep beneath the ocean, scientists uncovered thriving microbial life in one of Earth’s harshest environments—an area with a pH of 12, where survival seems nearly impossible. Using lipid biomarkers instead of DNA, researchers revealed how these microbes persist by metabolizing methane and sulfate. The discovery not only sheds light on deep-sea carbon cycling but also suggests that life may have originated in similar extreme conditions, offering a glimpse into both Earth’s past and the limits of life itself.
Extremophiles are fascinating.
Also, I really want to play with that blue serpentine mud to see if it would stand up to pinching, coiling, slabbing, or throwing and what would happen to it in a kiln. It looks like clay. I am betting it would fire either to a soft blue-gray (nice) or a sky blue (so much wow).
Life defies limits in the deep sea—microbes flourish where Earth’s chemistry seems too extreme for survival.
Deep beneath the ocean, scientists uncovered thriving microbial life in one of Earth’s harshest environments—an area with a pH of 12, where survival seems nearly impossible. Using lipid biomarkers instead of DNA, researchers revealed how these microbes persist by metabolizing methane and sulfate. The discovery not only sheds light on deep-sea carbon cycling but also suggests that life may have originated in similar extreme conditions, offering a glimpse into both Earth’s past and the limits of life itself.
Extremophiles are fascinating.
Also, I really want to play with that blue serpentine mud to see if it would stand up to pinching, coiling, slabbing, or throwing and what would happen to it in a kiln. It looks like clay. I am betting it would fire either to a soft blue-gray (nice) or a sky blue (so much wow).
Birdfeeding
Nov. 9th, 2025 01:09 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and much colder. Bits of snow and grauppel are falling from the sky. Last night it drizzled a bit.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I went out looking for more bits to use in the lantern terrarium, but didn't find much. It started snowing more briskly, enough to collect in places on the ground, which counts as First Snow.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I went out looking for more bits to use in the lantern terrarium, and found a bit more.
I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I went out looking for more bits to use in the lantern terrarium, but didn't find much. It started snowing more briskly, enough to collect in places on the ground, which counts as First Snow.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I went out looking for more bits to use in the lantern terrarium, and found a bit more.
I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 11/9/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
The Friday Five on a Sunday
Nov. 9th, 2025 03:36 pmnanila- What’s harder to live without, chocolate or alcohol?
I've frequently given up alcohol for weeks. I've never dared give up chocolate. I might turn into a monster. - Does the colour yellow remind you of anything?
A few things. Drawing the Sun with crayons. The walls of the Camden flat I lived in when I first moved to London. The colour of baby poop (soooo weird). - Who most annoyed you last week?
The Andrew formerly known as Prince. Just go and fade away into obscurity already, although really you should be in prison, you entitled twerp. - Do you have a cutesy romantic nickname for your partner (or previous partners)?
Yes. I'm disinclined to expound on that. - What is your favourite Stephen King movie?
Er, none of them. I can't watch most horror films. They give me nightmares for weeks.
Grand Prairie Friends
Nov. 9th, 2025 03:26 amysabetwordsmithGrand Prairie Friends Acquires New Property- Warbler Bend
Grand Prairie Friends (GPF) is thrilled to announce the purchase of Warbler Bend, a meandering 110 acres along the Embarras River in Coles County (IL). This purchase expands the Conservation Land Trust’s existing Warbler Ridge Conservation Area, now totaling almost 1,400 acres. Warbler Bend is GPF’s second property north of Highway 130, joining Warbler Bluff, located on Harrison St. Rd (Charleston).
Over the last decade, GPF has restored more than 1,200 acres at their Warbler Ridge Conservation Area including the addition of 90,000 trees, nine acres of wetlands and hundreds of acres of pollinator fields.
Connected to Lake Charleston to the north, and Fox Ridge State Park to the south, Warbler Ridge Conservation Area began in 2015, to connect these three landscapes to create an over 4,000 acre contiguous corridor for wildlife, natural habitats and public natural space for the community.
I am so excited! More riverfront!
Grand Prairie Friends (GPF) is thrilled to announce the purchase of Warbler Bend, a meandering 110 acres along the Embarras River in Coles County (IL). This purchase expands the Conservation Land Trust’s existing Warbler Ridge Conservation Area, now totaling almost 1,400 acres. Warbler Bend is GPF’s second property north of Highway 130, joining Warbler Bluff, located on Harrison St. Rd (Charleston).
Over the last decade, GPF has restored more than 1,200 acres at their Warbler Ridge Conservation Area including the addition of 90,000 trees, nine acres of wetlands and hundreds of acres of pollinator fields.
Connected to Lake Charleston to the north, and Fox Ridge State Park to the south, Warbler Ridge Conservation Area began in 2015, to connect these three landscapes to create an over 4,000 acre contiguous corridor for wildlife, natural habitats and public natural space for the community.
I am so excited! More riverfront!
Communities
Nov. 9th, 2025 12:06 amysabetwordsmithdisplacementdiaries -- Displacement DiariesA reflective space for journaling life abroad, family complexity, grief, and personal growth.
Displacement Diaries is a reflective space for journaling life transitions, grief, family complexity, and experiences abroad. This community is for those who write about survival, emotional upheaval, and the slow work of rebuilding one’s life. Longform personal narratives, introspective essays, and memory-based storytelling are welcome.
For my friends who are from afar, or forced away from home, or may become so.
Photos: Lake Charleston
Nov. 8th, 2025 10:14 pmysabetwordsmithToday we visited the Charleston Food Forest, Coles County Community Garden, and Lake Charleston. These are the lake pictures, thus meeting my fall goal for birdwatching / leafpeeping. (Begin with the food forest, community garden.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
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Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Nov. 8th, 2025 09:20 pmysabetwordsmithToday we visited the Charleston Food Forest, Coles County Community Garden, and Lake Charleston. These are the community garden pictures. (Begin with the food forest. Continue with the lake.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )