Sunday, April 26th, 2026 07:21 am
I meant to post this last night, but I was le tired. My schedule has gotten all messed up from dog watching; I've been crashing at 9pm and getting up at 6am. It's only 7:05am and I've already had coffee and a bagel. That's UNHEARD of for me to eat that early!

Anyway: during the gear-up to the start of 3W4DW, I had decided I would post daily during the celebration with some check-ins. Here's the check-in for day one. We will ignore it is now day 2.

1. one creative thing I did today



Not much, but I worked on a swatch for a tee I'm going to knit! Actually, I already started the tee, but (a) I misread the pattern, (b) the icord edge was really tight and making everything look sloppy, so I decided to start over, this time doing a proper swatch instead of just diving in.

I also asked [community profile] smallweb for some advice. Actually, I'm interested in non-techy answers, too, so I'll ask here as well:

Currently, my Final Fantasy XI fanscripts are laid out as one expansion's entire mission line on one page, though I have horizontal rules between each mission, and also have "jump to" links at the end of each mission to jump to a different mission. Example page: https://altheavalara.neocities.org/ffxi/rotz

I'm banging my head against those jump-to links. I'm working on documenting the next expac in the series, so I need to put the jump-tos in to be consistent, but... I hand-coded them, and that is a pain. I was trying to figure out if I can automatically insert them with Jekyll magic, but I'm stumped (Jekyll is my static site generator).

So now I'm wondering if it would be better to split the expansion into separate pages for each mission. I could possibly use Jekyll magic for pagination, then. It would mean a LOT more pages on the site, but may be easier to handle? There's benefits and drawbacks to both methods. As a reader, what would you prefer?

2. one thing I'm proud of today



I started cleaning up! I'll be going home today and would like to leave the house pretty much how I left it, so I gathered dirty dishes and garbage and took care of that. I need to run the dishwasher and handwash some dishes, but I'm proud of the start I made instead of leaving it to last minute.

Also, I posted my list of community recs again, as I said I would when 3W4DW started. Go me for following through on a plan.

3. video game progress



Well, being away from home means less video gaming. I pretty much just played WordScapes on my phone. Not much to report there. But I also answered some questions on Mastodon from someone who had FFXIV Free Trial questions, and reposted my starter guide from Bsky to Mastodon... which I might have already done in the past, but whatever, it's reposted.
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 12:42 pm
Happy birthday, [personal profile] ookpik!
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 06:39 am
It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 12:04 pm

Title: Fragile As Hope
Fandom: Babylon 5
Author: [personal profile] badly_knitted
Characters: Londo, Adira.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 250
Spoilers/Setting: Day of the Dead.
Summary: For a little while, Londo allows himself to hope.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 513: Amnesty 85, using Challenge 389: Fragile.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Babylon 5, or the characters. They belong to J. Michael Straczynski.




Sunday, April 26th, 2026 05:39 am
CANON: Life is Strange: Before the Storm
CHARACTERS: Rachel Amber
CREDIT TO: [community profile] lathers



21 Icons @ [community profile] lathers
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 12:04 pm

Bad news for the week: Ticia's kidneys are failing, and she's lost a lot of weight since her last check-up. She's been with us for 11 of her 19 years; I don't know how long she'll last. But I've ordered kidney diet cat fud and high-calorie treats. About all I can do. She makes me think of Rodin's "Belle Heaulmière".

And of course that's on top of everything else going wrong in the world. Also, I'm not getting much done. And I somehow screwed up my order for a Travelpro backpack, and left off the house number. Fortunately I was able to update the address, so I got it the next day. It's supposed to fit under an airplane seat, though I have my doubts. It's also supposed to be blue, but it's a really dark blue.

I did have a zoom call with my financial advisor Thursday, mostly about estate planning. Seems like a good time for it. And I heard back from the place that repaired Scarlett -- they're going to look for the missing charger. Fingers crossed. Also heard from the place that's repairing Lizzy; they have no idea what's wrong and are consulting with the factory. I suggested that they should send us a replacement. Haven't heard back about that.

Big congratulations to this year's href=https://filkontario.ca/2026/04/19/2026-filk-hall-of-fame-inductees/ >Filk Hall of Fame inductees, Margaret Davis, Tim Griffin, and Amy McNally. For more musical mayhem, have some Angine de Poitrine

Also, Krakens in the Cretaceous. Possibly as long as 19 meters. Better hope your time machine doesn't land in the water.

Notes & links, as usual )

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Sunday, April 26th, 2026 04:43 am
Well, I'm cautiously optimistic. My stomach doesn't feel too bad this morning and I didn't throw up after eating yesterday, so that's a bonus. Jess was a little nauseous yesterday, so now I'm wondering if indeed it's a stomach bug that just is slow moving because of Mounjaro. In short, I have no idea. I'm terrified to take my Mounjaro shot today, just in case it was that. If it turns out that it is, I'm going to have to hold it for the cruise. I'll go back on Rybelsus for two weeks. It won't do a ton, but it also wont make me barf my way through the cruise.

We're down to 11 days. Aaah! I feel like I'm mentally running in circles with my arms in the air, just yelling. It's so close! And it still doesn't feel really real, but it's starting to. Especially since the Boarding Passes dropped yesterday. Even feeling assy, I immediately printed them out and tucked them safely in my luggage. As I mentioned yesterday, I don't trust the wifi in the terminal or my BIL's grasp of technology, so I have them saved 3 separate places.

I think, if my stomach maintains behaving itself, we're going to pack Jess' suitcase today. I also need to shift a few things in mine. I moved most of what was in my now personal item into my carryon, and I want to shift a few things from the suitcase to the personal item, and maybe add a lightweight fleece or rain jacket in there, just in case Seattle/Vancouver are having weather. Right now, it's calling for mostly cloudy, but that could change quickly. I have a very light rain jacket that packs tiny, so I may use that. I've already got my rain hat in there. I also want to pack my bathing suit, in case I use the balcony hottub before our suitcases arrive. I don't expect that to be a problem, because most Pinnacle Suite people get their luggage pretty quickly.

For Jess' luggage, we're starting from scratch. But I'll make sure they have enough of everything. I am the (over)packing queen. As a comedian said, "I pack like I'm expecting to shit myself twice a day on vacation." For me that means underwear for the trip, plus 2 extra.

I know we have free laundry for the trip, but the bag isn't very big, so we're going to have to ration who washes what based on what's dire. I've got 7 pairs of leggings, which shouldn't need washing, and 7 tops which might. Bathing suits will probably be okay unless the pool is especially chlorine-laden. Socks might need laundering, we'll see.

I did get a new bathing suit that I'm wearing at the very least on our balcony. It's a goth/industrial bikini top, and high waisted shorts. I don't know if I'm brave enough to wear it to the thermal spa, but we'll see. Jess says it looks hot, but they're biased. I'll probably stick with a regular suit if I go to the pool. Mostly because I don't trust a bikini to stay put if I try swimming.

I definitely am overpacking on bathing suits. I've got 3, which may be excessive. Or not, who knows. I only packed one for Disney, and we swam a lot in the evenings. The pool is only open til 9pm or 10pm, so we'll have to make our evening swims early. I'm not a huge nightlife person, though I do plan to hit the Rolling Stone Rock Room and the Billboard Onboard dueling pianos at least once each. Mostly, I plan to relax, though. It's going to be a nice easy cruise, without a ton of plans. We have one excursion per port, and nothing strenuous. We'll check out the towns a bit, and then go on our excursions, and then come back to the ship and take it easy. I know the sister and BIL are psyched about the BB King Blues Club, so they'll probably be frequenting that. I appreciate that once we're on the ship, there will be different activities, so they won't be in our back pocket the whole time. I'm sure we'll do some things together, but generaly, they'll be doing their thing and we'll be doing ours.

Some of the stuff is showing up on the app as far as daily programming, so that's cool. Right now, it's a lot of promotional stuff, but more is showing up as the time passes. I can't wait for them to start posting some of the enrichment programs. They have programs that give you information about the ports, and things to see and do that I'd like to go to. They also have nightly movies near the pool, though most of those look like family friendly stuff, and not my thing.

Mostly, I want to watch the British Columbia and Alaska shoreline go past. I plan to spend as much time on the deck as possible. We've got this amazing deck that goes on forever. It's got a table and chairs, some more chairs, and then the small jacuzzi and a couple of lounge chairs. It's going to be cold, so some of this might need to be adjusted. I don't know if I'll be able to have my coffee on deck as it may be 30 degrees. Or maybe I will. I've got fleece leggings and a nice jacket and I am stubborn. I can sit out for a while, then jump back in bed and steal Jess' warms.

And now, a meme:

Getting to know me meme swiped from [personal profile] dine via [personal profile] maevedarcy

Origin of your username: I picked it up while I was in Metallica fandom. I wrote a fic about a lonely banshee finding love, and it's a misspelling of the Gaelic version of banshee. I picked it up soon after, and it's stuck. Before that I was PHRHiannon in wrestling fandom.

I always order this food: If a restaurant has short rib, I will be all over that 9 times out of 10. Lately, I have been on a Fish and Chips kick, though.

Current overused emoji: Probably the laughing til you cry face. I use that a lot on Discord. That and hearts of varying colors.

Current favorite show: Tough one. I don't watch a ton of TV. I've watched exactly one Heated Rivalry and one Pitt episode, but I liked both. I just don't have a ton of spare time when my sister's not in the living room. I recently watched Amazing Digital Circus on YouTube and enjoyed that. The short episodes suit both my ADHD and the right time commitment.

Current favorite book: Always Feed, by Mira Grant, with His Magesty's Dragon by Naomi Novak. Both are my comfort reads. I also love anything non-horror by T. Kingfisher and John Scalzi.

Current favorite video game: I don't really have one. My computer is a Macbook, so that cuts me out of a lot of games. I enjoy listening to Jess watching Let's Plays, but that's about it.

Song on repeat: Probably either Hear my Hope fromt he Hazbin Hotel Soundtrack or something by Ghost. I'm predictable.

Last thing you really got into: What qualifies as "really into?" I haven't been in a fandom since Supernatural, and I quit that after season 4-5, so that's a good 17 years ago. I was tangentially into Marvel for a while after Winter Soldier and into The Old Guard for a hot minute. I think D&D is still my fandom of choice, honestly.

Oddly specific thing that brings you joy: Giving Jess hugs while they're still sleep-warm. It makes me happy.

phone wallpaper: Lock screen is an awesome picture of Jess from our Disney vacation. We're on the pier near sunrise getting ready to take the boat to the Magic Kingdom, and they look happy and relaxed. I'm hoping to get a new one in Alaska that I can update it to one sans boobs. The regular wallpaper is the Aurora Borealis over Alaska. It's very pretty and soothing.

What smell makes you happy: I love the smell of cooking bread, especially when I make it. I also love the smell of sandalwood and amber. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has some wonderful perfumes that make me happy. Current favorite is Black Rider.

Morning, night, or other type: I love my early mornings before anyone is up. It gives me a few minutes to chill and wake up before I have to people.

What’s your work/profession: I don't even know what to call what I do these days. It's part call center drone/part schedule sniper/part sort of supervisor? It's an interesting mix that I'm still kind of figuring out.

And on that note, I'm going to hop off and drink some coffee and see how that settles. Everyone have a stellar Sunday!
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 09:52 am
► I’m not sure how accurate this is factually, but I feel like I dropped off the face of dreamwidth for about two weeks. a quick irl recap beneath the cut )

So that’s my irl recap! Now for fannish things.

► Yesterday, I watched this animatic recontextualizing EPIC the Musicial’s “Get In The Water” in the context of an owner trying to give their cat a bath. It is just as funny as that description makes it sound, and I very much recommend checking it out.

► I also have a completely unrelated song recommendation—namely, I’ve been listening to this cover of “This Is What It Sounds Like” (Rumi & Jinu Duet) regularly pretty much since I first watched the movie. (The video title calls it a “Jinu Version”, but… I’m calling it a duet because that’s what it actually is imo.)

► Belated Pokémon Shield thoughts from like two weeks ago! Hopefully I’ll be getting back to this game soon (maybe even today, if I get through my chores & other responsibilities quick enough?), but for now: beneath the cut )

► I did download like… all of my remaining unwatched episodes of Digimon Ghost Game with the thought that maybe I’d watch a chunk of it in the evenings while on vacation, but lol, nope, that absolutely did not happen. (I did watch one episode on a train on the way back home, before coming to the conclusion that I did not enjoy watching things on trains, and decided to go back to reading instead.) I did watch a few episodes yesterday, though, but I’ll talk about my thoughts on those at another date, since I think this entry is long enough, and I want to give my wrist a break.
Friday, April 24th, 2026 03:42 pm
[personal profile] kingstoken's 2026 Book Bingo: Main Character Over the Age of 30

Spent by Alison Bechdel is a 2025 fictionalized memoir about a cartoonist (coincidentally named Alison Bechdel) who lives on a farm in Vermont with her partner, running a goat sanctuary while trying to write a graphic novel (or maybe it'll be a television show?) about capitalism (or maybe it's about her group of middle-aged queer friends).

The real Alison Bechdel is the creator of the long-running and groundbreaking comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008) and the award-winning graphic novel memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2007), and that knowledge is something I think Spent depends on. It's not just that Sparrow, Stuart, Ginger, and Lois—and a grown-up Jiao Raizel—from Dykes to Watch Out For are fictional!Alison's neighbours in this, or that fictional!Alison is grappling with having an autobiographical success publicly leave her creative control through adaptation. The heart of this work exists in a very specific instant, where a queer leftist artist in middle age and the middle class is sitting at a career crossroads in the global car crash of late-stage capitalism, finding herself in an uncertain position between privileged and marginalized, mainstream and fringe, consumer and creator, progressive and out of touch.

My favourite parts of this book were the subplots with the characters from Dykes to Watch Out For—particularly storylines like Stuart and Sparrow expanding their relationship to a throuple, only for their poly kid to nonetheless jump to the conclusion they're both having affairs—and I found myself wishing I were reading it as a serial strip that could add up to more time with them. But that might be saying something about where and when I'd rather be.

This is a book that got me thinking about a lot of its topics, but more through its general timeliness and the role of Bechdel's work in the culture than through a connection with the characters or something in the writing hitting particularly hard. Still, while even the lighter stories didn't quite land in the right place for me to see myself revisiting them on rainy days, I do want to imagine a better future where I get to go back to this book someday and see it as a snapshot of a weird moment in time where we were all trying to figure some stuff out. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as anyone's first Bechdel, but I'm glad I read it.

An Excerpt )
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 02:51 am
This is the April 26th Weekly Megapost & Chat!

Things you can do in the comments-

- trade friend codes
- ask about games
- post about in-game events
- anything you don't want to make an individual post about
- share how the RNG is treating you

Counterside is going into maintenance mode and Astra: Knights of Veda has announced EoS.
Sunday, April 26th, 2026 07:22 am
In theory, I was planning to start on the structural edits tomorrow; in practice I feel like I'm being clever "cheating" by starting today. No, I have no external deadline. This is just My Brain vs My Brain and winning 😎 (maybe???), lol.

The feeling most at the surface at the moment seems to be a kind of terror, which obviously is not nice to feel but I'm also fascinated by it. Why do I feel like this? This is the first round of editing. I'll have at least the prose edits later to refine stuff, and proofreading, and then whatever changes happen after beta-reader feedback. That means while there's a ton of work immediately ahead, there's also not as much pressure around "MUST GET EVERYTHING RIGHT LAST CHANCE!!!" Yeah there's a lot to do, but I've been working on the Cursed With for nearly 3 years. I know I can put in the work. I'm using a new method of editing based on that workshop, but normally I'm excited to try new things, especially related to something I know I have difficulties with (clearly my way of doing structural editing for the witch wasn't good enough, considering how much structural rework I had to do again after beta-reader feedback). Is this overwhelm? Is this because, while I was proofreading the witch and noticing different ways subplots or other arcs could have been worked, I kept thinking "Well, at least I'll do it better for the Soul Thief!" and now I feel some kind of pressure around it?

I noticed before that when I transition between projects, there's always a few days feeling out of balance, paddling frantically without finding my footing. Sometimes it's because I'm doing something new, like figuring out how to handle beta-reader feedback when there is a ton of it and some of it requires massive rework. But even when I know how to do something, like the proofreading of the witch earlier this month, there's still a similar adaptation period, even knowing what I wanted to do (use text-to-speech) and having previous experience doing it.

It's interesting to reread that post about implementing feedback because I suspect I wrote the post with the same kind of feeling I'm swimming against today. So I must have started writing the post, and then I made a list of what I intended to do. And today I want to break things down like that as well. There's so much to do, and the very first chapter in particular needs a ton of changes.

The Plan! )

Okay, self. You got this. And look: there's still a bit of "oh-no-this-is-new-i-don't-know-how-to-do-this" dread, but nothing terror-like anymore. There's a plan! You follow the plan. And if it doesn't work, then you learn something from it and make a new plan.
Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:19 pm
Jokes

* Why did the crab cross the road? It didn’t—it used the sidewalk.
* What’s the difference between the bird flu and the swine flu? One requires tweetment and the other an oinkment.
* What is the most popular fish in the ocean? The starfish.
* What’s the difference between ducks and dine-and-dashers? Ducks take care of their bills.
* I found a lion in my closet the other day! When I asked what it was doing there, it said “Narnia business.”
* What's the difference in an alligator and a crocodile? You’ll see one later and one in a while.
* I went to the aquarium this weekend, but I didn’t stay long. There’s something fishy about that place.
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Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:18 pm
Quotes

1. “My keyboard must be broken, I keep pressing the escape key, but I’m still at work.” – Unknown
2. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell
3. “Friendship is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth.” – Unknown
4. “A good friend will help you move. But a best friend will help you move a dead body.” – Jim Hayes
5. “I don’t know what’s tighter, our jeans or our friendship.” – Unknown
6. “We’ll be friends until we’re old and senile… then, we’ll be new friends.” – Unknown
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Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:15 pm
90 discussion questions

1. What does the sky look like today? How does it make you feel? No sun today. Very overcast and depressing. But I made up for it because it was my granddaughter’s 21st birthday.

What is something that brings you profound joy? How could you get more of that in your life?

My grandchildren. I have them over for dinner every two weeks.


If you could run any business and know it would succeed…what would it be? Some type of restaurant. I love to cook and bake.


What do you need MORE of in your life right now?

Good news. I'm hoping I have some soon.
Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:14 pm
Crunchy questions

What's a genre of fiction that you didn't think you'd like, but found yourself liking after something changed your mind?  

I read one slash story and had no idea that I would like it.



If you're an avid book reader, what are some things you wish publishers would do (or not do) when marketing a book?

I love books, so I have no wishes to tell them.

Do you like musicals? Operas? Ballets? Do you have any favorites, least favorites, unpopular opinions?

I love opera and ballet. I used to go when younger.

Have you ever known someone who got married after a short time? How did it work out?

My sister married a guy after only dating for two months. They divorced about four years later.

What are some unpopular fandom opinions you hold, or held in past fandoms?

I don't have any unpopular fandom opinions.
Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:12 pm
April not quite 365 days

20. Did you sleep well last night? Not really, but I plan to catch up tonight.

21.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be? Arizona. And I live here.


22.  If you took part in a quiz, what would be your specialist subject? I don't understand this question.


23.  In 1895, Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand detective writer and producer, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Have you ever read any of her detective novels? If not, who is your favourite detective novelist?
Sherlock Holmes is first. Then I jump to James Patterson’s Alex Cross books. I've never read one I didn't love.


24.  It’s Barbara Streisand’s birthday – are you a fan of her music or movies?

Not so much her music, but I love her movies.

25.  When’s the last time you had to use a plumber?

Last week. I hate calling them. It always costs way too much.
Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:10 pm
Granddaughters are great.

Jayla almost 18.



Sam is 21 today.

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Saturday, April 25th, 2026 11:40 pm

S. Rajaratnam, The Authorised Biography, Volume One: The Singapore Lion by Irene Ng

Anyone with sense is wary of a biography labeled an “authorised” one. That holds true here, where the life of one founder of the People’s Action Party (PAP), the still-ruling party of Singapore, is documented by an author who was both a PAP MP herself and whose journalism career was in SPH, the state-owned newspaper corporation. The writing itself is rather middling.

Those caveats aside, I enjoyed learning about this guy, to the extent that I might give volume two of the propaganda a shot the next time I’m in the country. Like, I’ll be fully transparent, my vague knowledge of him was “wrote the national pledge” and “the one Indian guy who isn’t Devan Nair among the PAP 1st gen” and I now feel pretty damn embarrassed about that.

let us run down the biographical facts )

The polemical journalist becomes Minister of Culture and then slams down restrictions on the press, expressing himself just as vigorously on the supposed necessity of that. Classic, isn’t it.

And yet the thing that’s stuck with me, a month later, is this constant sincere yearning of his for multiracialism, pluralism, whatever it is one wants to call a society that isn’t so fundamentally demarcated by race. He was one of the last holdouts on Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, because he was Malaya-born himself and wanted to believe this was a federation that could work without racial animosity being so destabilizing as to make it impossible.

I dunno. It’s a throughline that made me morose because like, in the 80s and 90s (not covered in this volume but the next one), he’s going to be publicly dismayed about the government emphasizing race more — in what your second language is, in which group you go to if you need economic/other assistance, in immigration quotas, and so on. And one can go, well yeah, natural consequence of PAP, but if we’re talking about the 50s, everyone’s crazy about race. The communists are. UMNO is. There’s no fucking escape. I get why an English-speaking Indian guy is looking around going okay, I’m sticking with LKY.

But some of the stuff he’ll get dismayed about will happen while he’s still holding office, and I suspect there is a certain political ineffectualness at work too, a kinda guy who cannot play the game beyond expressing himself and then sticking with his party.

Interesting fella, all in all.

The Singapore I recognize: Essays on home, community, and hope by Kirsten Han

On the other end of the time scale, we have here a series of essays by a writer whose work I used to read online all the time back in high school. The most surprising thing was learning she accidentally stumbled face-first into anti-death-penalty activism after college — she just got a journalism job, was assigned to cover a death penalty case, and found herself horrified by a part of the Singapore legal system that she’d previously dismissed without much thought as “probably necessary”.

A good read all around, with insights on how journalism and/or activism functions (or doesn’t) in Singapore’’s specific environment.

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie

Another Christie thriller, a quasi-sequel to The Secret of Chimneys. Much better than that one, and I am so mad at myself for not figuring out the bad guy. Such a classic Christie move, ugh!

Saving Central Park: A History and a Memoir by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers

Realizing that the books in this post have self-explanatory titles and so make me feel like a dummy when I write these first sentences, but I shall bravely forge on anyway: we’ve got here a memoir by the woman who helped found the Central Park Conservancy, a private nonprofit that did a lot of work in the restoration of Central Park in the 1980s and 1990s and basically manages the park today.

It was cool to hear about folks trying to restore some of the landscape design principles that Central Park was originally laid down by, while still making space for new practical purposes people were using the park for —- sports, playgrounds, and so on. My logistics-brain loved hearing about the acre-by-acre plans for maintenance and improvements. The rigor of the planning combined with the donations of a fair number of very rich people worked out well for Central Park. Not the sort of framework that seems extensible to many city parks, but there’s something to be said about going oh, you’d like to donate to our park, here’s our detailed list of projects we’ve already mapped out, pick your favorite.