Check out more information on this round here.
Check out more information on this round here.
Last week we were in St. Augustine and visited the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. We were hesitant, suspecting hype and fluff, but I was pleasantly surprised. The exhibits -- on things like ship construction, navigation, the indigenous populations, and guns -- were generally calibrated at a pretty basic level, but I learned things. We heard a particularly entertaining story -- sources unknown -- that no, Ponce de Leon wasn't so gullible as to think there was an actual fountain of youth, but painting him as such was beneficial to some of his rivals.
There are a lot of peacocks in the park and they are pretty used to humans in proximity. One, in pursuit of a mate, came to within about five feet of me.

Here are a couple of pictures (of other birds) that show the tail fan better:


The peacocks I saw would display their finery and then sweep back and forth in about a 180-degree arc while aimed at the hens they were trying to attract. I'd never thought to wonder what the backside looks like. The birds are wise to keep the focus on the front:

When not on display, that tail is quite a lot to drag around:

The park has a walking path along the shore. I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but I enjoyed watching it.

The park anticipates animal visitors too. This sign made me laugh:

The due date for assignments is on May 3 at 10 PM EDT (UTC-4). Due date countdown: (link)
Days 1-15
Would anyone like to volunteer for May? Or for half of May, if you'd like to split the month with someone! Please volunteer in the comments!
My check-in: Alibi sentence just now so I could check in for the day. (Indeed, his flesh had the gaunt and livid look of a cockfish who had ceased to take food.) More writing once I get this posted.
Day 26:
Day 25:
Day 24:
( More days )
When you check in, please use the most recent post and say what day(s) you’re checking in for. Remember you can drop in or out at any time, and let me know if I missed anyone!
A side-effect of my TV viewing still being Rome had me looking at a giant pot of lentils that were cooking down to porridge with some vegetables and herbs and thinking, "Yeah, that looks about the same." I've got tomatoes and more spices than the Romans did back in the day, and I don't think they'd developed rapini yet, but in the ways that matter, it's about the same.
Related, in browsing the drink aisle, I found there's a company called Ancient Drinks selling modern versions of ancient drinks - not that they're saying "modern" on the label, but Rome didn't have maple syrup as an available ingredient, so I don't know what else to call it. Modern lentils, modern posca - and it's still lentils and posca.
Idly, this has me thinking of a conversation from a few weeks ago where an Italian-American related a story of drinking wine with some French people, who commented on the development of glass bottles, and he said that the French had the Italians to thank for wine and related technology. As it was Passover and we were kicking it very old school, I had to say, "Yeah, but you stole it all from the Greeks."
The Organization for Transformative Works’s April Membership Drive is over and we are delighted to say that we are finishing with a total of $362,171.85 raised, far exceeding our goal of US$150,000. These donations came from 9,702 people in 87 countries: thank you to every single one of them, as well as to all of you who posted and shared the news about the drive!
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If you were intending to donate or join and haven’t yet done so, don’t worry! The OTW accepts donations all year and you can always choose to become a member with a donation of US$10 or more. Memberships run for one calendar year from the date of your donation, so if you donate now you’ll be able to vote in the 2026 OTW Board elections, which will take place in August. And our exclusive thank-you gifts are available whenever you donate!
I went up on the bus that Sports Bra charted for the game. The bus had a bit of a wait list. Good thing I kept an eye on that and nabbed my seat immediately. The group for the bus was really cool. I sat next to a girl was was knitting scarves for the trinket exchange people do at Torrent games. (I'd hope to do that but my project did not come together...) Half way through the ride she knotted some yarn to make a little holder for her cell phone to hook on the back of the seat in front of her so she could watch the Goldeneyes at the Frost on her way to see the Victoire take on the Torrent.
My first visit to Climate Pledge Arena, the place I've seen on TV so often! I thought my seat would be pretty bad, but it was great. People who say there are no bad seats in that house might not be wrong. My cheap seat was waaaay better than I expected.
The food situation was dire. Well, when we arrived my priority was trying to get some of the PWHL Pride Collection, only being sold at pride nights at pride games. Teams have been struggling to meet demand for even basic generic shirts, so I expected stuff to sell out and it did. Even with our bus dropping us off at the lesser-used entrance and not having a bag at all, sizes where gone by the time I got the merch.

I did get some, but when I got it home I realize it's all too big. There was no way to try things on, sizing was wonky overall, and I got that sweatshirt in the smallest size they had left. I wasn't going to get the sweatshirt, but other people had nabbed it and put it on already, and it seemed to wear really nicely on them, especially the trim around the waist. It's too big on me, not in an intentionally-oversized way, but it's still a sweatshirt disappointing but I can get some use out of it. The T shirts are a problem. I grabbed it in 2 sizes and both are two big for me, but I am pretty sure a size smaller would have been too small. I need to figure out what to do with them, sadly even the smaller one makes me look like I am wearing scrubs. Maybe if I figure out how to style them right? Might need to just use the larger one as raw material for something.
If I can make these pieces work, they will solve several problems with my wardrobe, including my perennial 'what to wear to pride / this queer event' problem. They are currently air drying after a very gentle wash to get the stadium smell out of them. I will find a way. I paid [redacted] for them PLUS this thing called sales tax that I forgot about.
Yeah, if I hadn't been so focused on the exclusive drop and also team store exclusives, I might have found a food option that wasn't... beer.

The game was a lot of fun. The crowd was hype. For the puck drop, they started listing the accomplishments and awards of the person who was going to drop the puck. People around me started freaking out. Lots of 'no way... no way... omg really... it's her!!!!' The very hype person brought out for the ceremonial first puck drop of the Pride Night game turned out to be Brandi Carlile. I have no idea who that is. Everyone around me was losing their shit. I will look up some songs by her later.
The game did go double overtime. The bus service we had was great, but around 1 AM I was feeling it a bit.
Really, really hope to see more of those buses next year! Also, with Amtrak finally getting more rolling stock so they can start to meet demand for train travel between Seattle and Portland, maybe train/ticket combo packages for both teams next year?? One of the PDX teams has an Amtrak deal so fans all ride down together, would love to see the squids or toothpaste get in on that.
Also, I was in the same building as Alison Lukan. I <3 Alison Lukan. Maybe someday I'll meet her. I'd love for her to be involved in one of the Kraken or Torrent events in Portland next season

Chapter 23: Lol at Misa being the token het. Exam season is coming and Nobara has deplorable grades;;
Chapter 24: Nobara has unexpected strong points, English and Italian.
Yukino introducing Nobara to dagashi (cheap sweets). 😂 Cheap doesn't always mean nasty, thankfully.
So sweeet, more than the snacks, Nobara wants to go out with Yukino.
Chapter 25: Yukino and Ookami made top 20 on the exams!
Lmao at Okisaki getting jealous over Kinoshita's roommate (I forgot her name).
Aw Nobara got slightly above average. <3
Chapter 26: Casual clothes!!
Sounds like Ookami's parents are absent. I nearly teared up when Yukino invited her to have her birthday over summer break at her place. Yes!! And they'll go to a festival too!!! This is healing my soul.
Chapter 27: Aw, Botan got into dagashi because of Nobara sharing after Yukino told her to try. <3
Chapter 28-29: Summer vacay and camps. Lol at Yukino's tomato shirt. Nobara charging up on Yukino so they won't see each for five days. 🥹
...Except they somehow got booked at the same place. *side-eyes Okisaki*
Chapter 30: Finally some info on Kinoshita and Okisaki. They were childhood friends. Okisaki's parents were absent and she couldn't trust kids who tried to befriend her because their parents forced them. People found her creepy because she acted older than her age and didn't show much emotion. She also has a sadistic side that likes to see Kinoshita suffer sometimes...
( Protest Poem )
Title: Mind and Matter, Skin and Stone
Fandom: Gravity Falls
Characters/Relationships: Bill Cipher/Ford Pines
Rating/Warnings: Rated teen for some non-explicit sexual content.
Tags: Second and third person, non-linear narrative, experimental structure, Bill and Ford's messed-up relationship, touch
Length: ~1700 words
Summary: Touch in the mindscape can be unsatisfying. Touch outside it can be horror. Stanford Pines, be careful what you wish to touch.
Author's Notes: Written for Gen Prompt Bingo, for the prompt "Flesh and Bone."
Mind and Matter, Skin and Stone
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Pinch hit is claimed! Thanks, pinch hitter!
( Pinch Hit #5 )
1.
I've been at a different work site for 2.5wks, which was a lovely break. Chill worksite, small job; just me and one journeyman who I enjoy working with. He was like "this is one of the best jobs I've ever worked" about it, which is a wild contrast to how the big job we'd both been working (and are returning to tomorrow) is one of the worst.
The little job isn't fully done, but we can't do anything else until they get all the remaining parts in. The hope is that when that happens (in a month, maybe...? nobody had estimates.) they'll call us back to finish it, since we know what's going on and what the plan was. This is especially pertinent because we were not given particularly detailed plans, and then proceeded to change a lot of it (memorably: one unit we were supposed to install couldn't be installed where they wanted it because of service requirements, so it had to be flipped and therefore everything coming from it had to be re-routed to accommodate that).
also, we just want to go back, since it was a nice job.
Back to the big job tomorrow, and...
well, not looking forward to it. In theory it'll wrap at some point this summer. idk when. But it's a job site where everyone always seems stressed and that trickles down and makes it so much harder than it needs to be.
(also, like, having lunch at 10:30am as the only break in the day is. not ideal? yes we get out at 2:30 but man the clock usually feels so slow between 11am-2pm...)
2.
I drew a cover for On the Lord's Estate the other week!
[Click to View Image]
Left to right: Mal, El, and Benny.
I've known more or less what I wanted to draw for bk2 since... mm, the halfway mark of writing it, maybe? Important to have all three of them together, important to show Mal happy, important to place it in the conservatory. I'm very happy with how it came out—especially Mal. <3 Mal turned out just as I was hoping as far as expression/vibe goes.
This also means that
(which means more thinking about what I want to do with Rhei, and also continuing to noodle about Tolly... many ideas, only so much time and energy, but also no rush beyond my own internal "BUT I WANNA HAVE THIS DONE SOONER" feelings. xD)
3.
I've been keeping up with the new Star Wars cartoon Maul: Shadow Lord, and it is such a funny example of Disney Star Wars Overconnected Bullshit in a few very specific ways.
a. No characters are really introduced. You are expected to simply already know who they are. Even as someone who has watched pretty much all the Star Wars cartoons, I was not aware of who some characters were because some of them were introduced in comics about Maul. (Additionally: the prequel comic series for this show has 2/5 issues out as of right now, as the show airs. I think this is hilarious.) HOWEVER.
b. Even the characters who were not previously introduced are given particularly in-depth introductions. This is mostly confusing because I expected them to be introduced somewhere, since it took until episode three for two major characters to have their names spoken on-screen. Their names have been known via promo material? But didn't show up in the show? This is fine if it's intentional but it's so weird when it's the same vibes as characters who were introduced in comics.
c. I mean this isn't a Disney problem specifically but it sure is very Star Wars: There is only one (1) prominent female character, one (1) prominent secondary female character, and one (1) tertiary female character allowed at a time. It was honestly really funny when the tertiary character got Sent Away and then a new tertiary female character showed up a couple scenes later?
anyway I like it well enough when it's not Fight Scenes, and sort of don't care when it's Fight Scenes, but since it's a show for like tweens I think it's forced to have Fight Scenes in every episode. Which, like, that's fine but I find it more fun to watch Maul attempt to seduce everyone into helping him than I do watching the flashy lights show of a combat sequence involving blasters and/or lightsabers.
4.
It is finally spring. Flowers are blooming, the trees are turning green with new leaves, and the weather is consistently above freezing! These are all good things!
5.
anyway while I'm thinking about it, right, I meant to post this (which I wrote like a month ago at least) and now I have! Mouse! :D
The Question of Crushes, 2.4k, gen, wherein a teenager is interrogated by a like eight year old about if they have a crush on the kid's oldest sibling.

Ella and Cathy are on the floor, looking under Ren's bed while Ren stands in the foreground and watches,
"I see him!" Ella exclaims. "Here kitty kitty! Foomie!"
Cathy makes the pstpstpst noise.
"Sorry, Ella," says Ren. "He IS a barn cat. Not very sociable."
They leave Ren's bedroom, with Ella saying, "I can come back another time."
"I'll let you know when he starts acting friendly," Ren offers.
"Cool, thanks," Ella sighs as Cathy looks on, trying to follow the conversation. "Head to my place now?"
They get ready to go to Ella's house, which is their typical hangout spot because she lives on the ground floor and Jon can't easily do the stairs to Ren, Cathy, and Maurice's attic apartment. "Coming?" they ask Maurice, who is sitting on the futon spread out to function as his and Cathy's bed.
"I have to learn this song," Maurice replies, but Ella encourages him to drop by later.
Finally alone, Maurice starts strumming on his solid body Yamaha, which needs an amp, but if you don't have an amp, it still makes notes - just very, very quietly. He doesn't notice little cat ears pop up behind him.
The line of tiny notes turns into one crumpled note as Foomie pounces on the strings. Maurice frowns and mutters, "Really?!"
***
Based on about a hundred true stories. Typhoon has never pounced on my ukulele while I was playing it, but it's only a matter of time, I'm sure. She's pounced on a large number of other things I was using while I was using them.
How are you doing?
I am OK
6 (66.7%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now
3 (33.3%)
I could use some help
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single
3 (33.3%)
One other person
3 (33.3%)
More than one other person
3 (33.3%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
水 parts 30-33
漂, to float; 漆, paint/lacquer; 漏, to leak; 演, to perform; 漠, desert; 漩, whirlpool; 漱, to rinse (the mouth); 潮, tide/moist; 澄, clear; 澡, bath; 激, to excite; 灌, to irrigate/to install
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=85
犬 parts 1-2
犬, dog; 犯, to violate; 状, condition; 狂, mad; 狐, fox; 狗, dog
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=94
语法
3.25 又 X 又 Y, both X and Y
3.26 一边 X, 一边 Y, doing X and Y at the same time
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-3-grammar
4.1 part 1 并 before 不/没 for negative emphasis
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-4-grammar
词汇
本科, undergraduate program; 本来, originally; 基本, basic; 基本上, basically
笨, foolish
鼻子, nose
笔试, written test
毕业, to graduate; 毕业生, a graduate
便于, to facilitate; 不便, inconvenient; 顺便, in passing; 随便, whatever
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
玩玩
Lu Zhuo 船, Jiang Dunhao 我的轻舟是我自己, Zhou Shen 行舟问柳, just for the common theme.
大家过得怎么样?我还行,但我的小草莓第一次结果了🍓
They also planted grape hyacinths through the lawn:

The hyacinths last up until the guy hired by the landlord comes by and starts the annual lawnmowing.
Useless Rhubarb update:

I have two varieties of tulips:

Some are Teeny Tiny Tulips, you can see a teeny tiny white flower from one of them in the above photo.
I don't think I'm going to get many flowers from the larger tulips this year. Plus, the bunny rabbits do love to snip off the flowers. If I had bunny rabbit teeth, I'd probably enjoy snipping off the tulip flowers, too. I don't know what kind of soil amendments the tulips like.
Next to the Teeny Tiny Tulips are some blooming violets. The side yard lawn has a number of violets embedded in it, too.
The violets all made me think about the Creme de Violette liqueur I obtained several years ago, so I also mixed up an Aviation cocktail for myself this afternoon.
Gin is strong, and I think that's why I wound up spilling chopped garlic all over the kitchen floor while cooking today's soup. On the other hand, cooking while tipsy is pleasant.


