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Welcome to Winterfaire 2025

The Winterfaire spreads out as far as the eye can see. Some booths show streamers of red and green, while others sport blue and silver. All of them offer treasure after shining treasure. Music fills the air with lyrics of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yule. From the Wordsmith's Forge comes the bright chiming of words being hammered into literature. Delicious scents of hot chocolate, spiced cider, peppermint, baking cookies, and gingerbread tantalize the appetite. Smiling, laughing shoppers amble from booth to booth with lists in hand. Vendors grin back, calling out, "Come try, come buy...!"

I know a lot of artists, writers, musicians, crafters, and other talented folks who make some of their living from their creative endeavors. I don't always have the money to support them as much as I'd like, but what I can do is set up a virtual faire where vendors can offer their wares to an audience that likes crafts, literature, and small businesses. For those of you doing your holiday shopping, here's an opportunity to buy or barter or find something made with love, something unusual or unique, in a way that helps make it possible for creative people to go on creating wonders. And there will be no traffic jams, stampedes, or gunfights at the Winterfaire!

This holiday season, support local and independent artists, designers, and crafters.

This holiday season, support local and independent artists, designers, and crafters.

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Current Mood: busy

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Wildlife

Scientists discover a hidden deep sea hotspot bursting with life

Beneath the waters off Papua New Guinea lies an extraordinary deep-sea environment where scorching hydrothermal vents and cool methane seeps coexist side by side — a pairing never before seen. This unusual chemistry fuels a vibrant oasis teeming with mussels, tube worms, shrimp, and even purple sea cucumbers, many of which may be unknown to science. The rocks themselves shimmer with traces of gold, silver, and other metals deposited by past volcanic activity.

Current Mood: busy

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recurring posts

Philosophical Questions: Wants

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

If all humans want the same basic things, why is there so much violence and strife between people?

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Current Mood: busy

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Small Business Saturday

Celebrate Small Business Saturday. Shop small, shop local! What are you doing for Small Business Saturday?

Small Business Saturday banner

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NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251128.html

NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251128.html

I seem to be batting above average wrt unconscious people

But this time, I managed to wake her up without help. Go me.

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Post-Turkey (well, there are leftovers...)

The new dryer is just fine, except the top is ever so slightly slanted in a way that makes it a bad place to set your dryer balls.

Have I mentioned that especially after Colonoscopy Week I've had more trouble than usual walking? I've been using my cane inside the house for the first time in quite a while, and I'm limited in how much I can carry without (more) pain. It sucks. Belovedest has set up the short ramp against the shortest outside stairs, and while going up it is Bad, going up the stairs without it is Worse. (Both outside doors have stairs.)

I wasn't available to assist with any of the Thanksgiving cooking. Belovedest did it themselves! Including: turkey, the epic tray of dressing, biscuits from the mix, and instant potatoes made the way that erases the taste of Box. (There was also salad available, but there's quite a bit of vegetable in the sausage-cornbread dressing.)

Today we had some roof inspectors. The inspection's free; the quote for fixing things up is *sigh* very much not free.

Is the DHS X account based in Israel? Dubious screenshot sparks rumor

Posted by Anna Rascouët-Paz

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/11/29/dhs-homeland-security-account-israel/

Elon Musk's social media platform temporarily made information about its users' localizations public, sparking the rumor online.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/11/29/dhs-homeland-security-account-israel/

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books read in 2025

Books read in 2025

58 The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman (e) (bkclb)
57 The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams, Mindy Thompson (e)
56 Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (e) (bkclb)
55 Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega 2)(re-read) (e)
54 Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega 1) (re-read) (e)
53 Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega.5(re-read) (e)
52 Blind Date with a Werewolf, Patricia Briggs (e)
51 The Women, Kristin Hannah (e) (bkclb)
50 Emilie and the Hollow World, (Emilie Adventures #1) Martha Wells (e)
49 Black Tie & Tails (Black Wolves of Boston #2), Wen Spencer (e)
48 Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky(The Final Architecture #1)e)
47 Hemlock and Silver, T. Kingfisher (e)
46 Outcrossing, Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm #1) (e)
45 Outfoxing Fate, Zoe Chant/Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters)(e)
44 Atonement Sky, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) (e)
43 Stone and Sky, Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #10) (e)
42 Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41 I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40 To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39 These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38 Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37 Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36 The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35 Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33 The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32 Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31 The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30 The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29 Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28 The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27 Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26 The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25 Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24 The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23 Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22 The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21 The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20 A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19 The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18 A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17 All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16 Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15 The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14 A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13 Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11 Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10 Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9 House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6 Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.

The whole Tom King Situation

Some impactful opinion pieces by First Nations authors:

Niigaan Sinclair: The inconvenient truth: Thomas King’s admission he isn’t Cherokee hits hard.

Tanya Talaga: Thomas King’s storytelling now feels like a betrayal.

Jesse Wente: Jesse Wente on Thomas King and finding hope in a hard moment (Video: 42min).

Thoughts:
I'm glad Lee Maracle and Murray Sinclair didn't see this betrayal. I wonder how many more are to come.

Personally, as a basic white girl who casually follows CanLit discourse, I'd heard the rumours for close to ten years, and assumed they weren't true because it seemed like the Cherokee Nation would've said something. And it just felt to obvious, maybe? Surely someone would've looked into it when the Michelle Latimer situation happened? Guess not! Or maybe they did, and this is how long it takes to gather that level of detail.

My hot take (which I've heard going around a bit): you can't be in King's position and not know that. A lot of us with roots in that part of the world have family stories about Cherokee ancestors, myself included. Which a lot of people believe because why would their families lie to them? Then you learn it's a whole trope, and look into it, and realise it's just family mythology. Or don't, because you're not claiming anything based on it, anyway. But if you're speaking on behalf of a people, as King was, not having the least curiosity, or desire to reconnect with family, feels like wilful ignorance at best. (Which is why the rumours felt too obvious. Surely, I thought, he must have made sure.)

It's not something that is making me, personally, reconsider my CanLit canon. I read a few books by King, and enjoyed them, but he wasn't a favourite author.

Palate cleansers:
Elamin asked Jesse Wente for some recs, and here's his list (copied from the episode description on YouTube):

Books:
The Knowing by Tanya Talaga
Bad Indians Book Club by Patty Krawec
The Idea of an Entire Life by Billy Ray Belcourt
The Boy From Buzwah: A Life in Indian Education by Cecil King
Survival Ojibwe by Patricia Ningewance
Danger Eagle written by Jesse Wente and illustrated by Shaikara David

Film & TV:
Saints and Warriors (coming soon to Crave)
The Knowing - documentary series based on Tanya Talaga's book (on CBC Gem)
Aki by Darlene Naponse
Uiksaringitara: Wrong Husband by Zacharias Kunuk
Meadowlarks by Tasha Hubbard (coming soon to theatres -- it’s a drama adaptation of her documentary, Birth of a Family, available on the NFB website)
Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man by Sinakson Trevor Solway

Finally, let's laugh about a funny time someone got fooled: 'Made-up quote' in Canadian satire site The Beaverton fools Time Magazine.

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weekly update

Me-and-media update

Previous poll review
In the Making friends with chatbots poll, 66.1% of respondents hadn't used AI in the last seven days, as far as they were aware, and 8.9% had used it for work. A quarter of respondents had used it against their will. Once again, I'm left wondering how representative Dreamwidth denizens are. My people!

In ticky-boxes, alpine octopuses practising their yodelling came a distant second to hugs, 41.1% to 67.9%. Thank you for your votes!!

Reading
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Kdramas
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Other TV
( Read more... )

Audio entertainment
Tons of Tech Won't Save Us, which is really good. Argh, everything. /o\ Most of the available episodes of new Aotearoa NZ political podcast Cross Party Lines (in the vein of and inspired by The Rest is Politics), which is really good -- intelligent and informed, of course, and I appreciate that the right-wing representative has zero time for our current government. Writing Excuses. Letters from an American. One episode of Fansplaining. A couple of episodes of The Life Indigenous, and the start of an episode of The Tongue Unbroken: Language Revitalization & Decolonization.

Online life
Constantly running to keep up, partly because I haven't been around as much. | I need to not compare my Yuletide productivity with last year's -- finishing my assignment is enough! Anything else is jam. | The

sid_guardian Slo-Mo Guardian Rewatch continues to be wonderful!

Writing/making things
A few bits and pieces inspired by the Slo-Mo Rewatch, a few flashfics. It's time to roll up my sleeves and dig into my Yuletide fic: so far I have 360 words and a scene list. I'm in a reasonably good writing headspace, so I expect it to be fun ~~if I can keep from second-guessing my prose~~. *knock on wood*

Life/health/mental state things
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Link dump
Ryan Coogler gives a speech at Chadwick Boseman's posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony (via

minoanmiss) |

dyk-tv-theme-song | wordhippo.com is my current thesaurus of choice | The Old College Try (Feel Good (TV) fanvid) by

periru3 | Japanese heavy metal (who linked to this? the video is amazing) | From Now on I’m Taking All of My Storytelling Lessons From This Wild Epic About Love, Loyalty, and Necromancy by Kali Wallace (via

starandrea) | !!!!! Did you know you can search across all sign-ups for events on AO3? !!!! :D

Good things
Meerkats and kangas and lemurs, oh my! Sunshine. TV. Dumplings. Biking. Yuletide and Guardian. Dreamwidth. Haircuts (I had 8 months' worth cut off, and when I stood up, there was a MOUNTAIN of clippings on the floor). Coloured pencils. Podcasts. Libraries.

Poll #33888 Subscriptions

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17

View Respondents

Have you cancelled any subscriptions for political reasons, lately?

View Answers

yes
6 (35.3%)

no, but I'm going to
0 (0.0%)

no, but I'm thinking about it
2 (11.8%)

no (too hard, don't have any, or other no)
7 (41.2%)

other
1 (5.9%)

grar at everything
7 (41.2%)

ticky-box full of hard copy media
8 (47.1%)

ticky-box full of instant gratification takes too long (Carrie Fisher)
7 (41.2%)

ticky-box full of lemurs locked together like lego pieces
5 (29.4%)

ticky-box full of the dishes are done!
4 (23.5%)

ticky-box full of fairies "helpfully" filling all your cups and mugs with snowdew and honeyflakes
7 (41.2%)

ticky-box full of hugs
10 (58.8%)

more thanks given, I guess

I went to the big family Thanksgiving gathering yesterday. People were glad to see me, and I was glad to see them, particularly the niece from Fresno with husband and three kids, all of them now in their teens - it'd been a while since I'd seen them.

Nonetheless I found it a difficult experience for other reasons. I was not feeling very well, and was worse after I got home - I left immediately after dinner, about 3 hours after arrival, while B. stayed on for another four hours and, by arrangement, was delivered home by nephew and niece who live vaguely in this direction. Also the heavy food was tough for me to handle. I've been living at home mostly on soup, baked fish, and other soft and gentle things. But we improvise! Now to make turkey noodle soup for dinner with some leftovers I brought home.

Gap Week, November 28, 2025 (Thanksgiving)

Posted by Bret Devereaux

https://acoup.blog/2025/11/28/gap-week-november-28-2025-thanksgiving/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gap-week-november-28-2025-thanksgiving

https://acoup.blog/?p=32560

Hey folks! This week is Thanksgiving in the United States and I’ve opted to take advantage of the break in teaching to focus down on getting some chapter revisions done, so we’ll be back to hoplites next week.

In the meantime, if you are looking for things to read or watch, I have a few suggestions.

First, as always, there is a new Pasts Imperfect (with mummies!) which always features a great classics roundup.

There’s also another video with Roel Konijnendijk reviewing depictions of ancient Greek warfare in popular culture, in this case taking a crack at some scenes in AC: Odyssey. And I’m glad he is doing that because I assume it is delaying the 57-post long bluesky thread he is inevitably going to write about everything I am getting wrong about hoplites.

Finally, if instead you want a bit of inside higher education grumbling, I ran across this older Angela Collier video on adjuncts and the nature of adjuncting which – while depressing – is accurate and worth watching. We ought to demand that our public higher education be better than this: students deserve teachers who have the time and resources to properly prepare classes and instructors deserve salaries they can live on and finally the public deserves real scholar-researcher-teachers for their money, not overworked, underpaid adjuncts (so the money can go to upper-level administrators or football coaches instead).

In any case, I hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Thanksgiving and we’ll be back next week with more hoplites!

https://acoup.blog/2025/11/28/gap-week-november-28-2025-thanksgiving/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gap-week-november-28-2025-thanksgiving

https://acoup.blog/?p=32560

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life after the apocalypse

PSA

Don't expect to see me around tomorrow, Saturday, November 29. I'm taking an Electron Free/Mental Health Day.

Everybody stay safe.

Current Mood: busy

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Poetry Fishbowl Report for November 4, 2025

This month's theme was "Fairies and Fey." I wrote from 12 PM to 3 AM, so about 13 hours, allowing for lunch and supper breaks. I wrote 3 poems on Tuesday plus 5 later in the week.

Participation was down slightly, with 9 comments on LiveJournal and another 23 on Dreamwidth. A total of 11 people sent prompts. You have new prompters

ljgeoff and

gs_silva to thank for the second freebie.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Better Than Living Alone"
"A Clear Path of Freedom"
"Revealing Itself at Its Most Brilliant"
"Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic"
"To the Rational Mind"

"No Worthless Herbs" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis, October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl)
"The Struggle Against Error" (Polychrome Heroics, April 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl)

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from November 4. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include:

janetmiles,

librarygeek, and Anthony Barrette. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 2 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Current Mood: busy

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Unsold Poems for the November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl

The following poems from the November 4, 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."

"The Coracle in the Forest"
Story Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025]
Summary: Two teens go foraging for food and find something unexpected.
208 lines, Buy It Now = $104

Digby and Maerwynn Aldebourne
grew up in Lancaster until 2022, when
a heat wave killed their parents while
the children were in a programme
at the air-conditioned library.

"The Heart to Change the World"
Story Date: Sunday, May 29, 2016
Summary: A fairy godmother has an idea to clean up after the Big One.
98 lines, Buy It Now = $49

Violanira had always been an oddball.

For a fairy, she was strangely attracted
to human science and technology,
especially now that more of it
consisted of things like plastic
and aluminum instead of cold iron.

"The Universal Assent to the World"
Story Date: Saturday, September 26, 2015
Summary: Nebuly takes some of his friends to a Renaissance Faire.
355 lines, Buy It Now = $355
Double price for research.

Nebuly had convinced some
of his friends to come to
the Lyonesse Faire
just outside River City,
since it included a variety
of fantasy elements.

holiday love meme

✨ holiday love meme 2025 ✨
my thread here

Rumor that Charlie Kirk subscribed to trans influencer's OnlyFans lacks evidence

Posted by Aleksandra Wrona

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/11/28/charlie-kirk-trans-onlyfans/

The rumor relied on an unverified screenshot that did not prove the slain conservative activist was the user behind the account.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/11/28/charlie-kirk-trans-onlyfans/

Kamala Harris called for lowering US voting age to 16

Posted by Anna Rascouët-Paz

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kamala-harris-voting-age-16/

The former vice president made the proposal during an interview on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kamala-harris-voting-age-16/

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Weekend to-do list

Slo-Mo Rewatch post
Yuletide assignment draft
media update post (or, as I generally refer to it in my notebook: MUp) ✅
attack email inbox/tabs
First Aid flashfic (started)
draw something *struggles with the urge to disclaim this to the horizon and back*

Already achieved: dishes;

fandomtrees signup submitted, tweaked, and re-tweaked (I'm not going to touch it again!) (NINE fandoms, whaaaat?).

Also, I took almost no zoo photos the other day (and none of the meerkats), but I did snap these.

A conspiracy of ring-tailed lemurs, tightly huddled.

A conspiracy of ring-tailed lemurs, tightly huddled.

A conspiracy of lemurs, tightly huddled but some have perked their heads up.