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Eat Your Heart Out
ER | Carter, Weaver Gen | ~1200 words | Episode tag for 7.05. Thanks to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sheafrotherdon for audiencing.
(Also on AO3)
( Carter, Kerry, and the aftermath of the day. )
ER | Carter, Weaver Gen | ~1200 words | Episode tag for 7.05. Thanks to
sheafrotherdon for audiencing.(Also on AO3)
( Carter, Kerry, and the aftermath of the day. )
Walked past this poor little guy, right outside the gallery (so i.e. a pretty busy walking path). Suspect he’d fallen in the lake or gotten separated from his mob in some other fashion, and was just sitting in the bushes shivering while people took photos (and also called the wildlife people to come help him).
But to anyone who’s like "do kangaroos just jump down the street in Australia?" generally no, but here specifically, yes (they are a menace).
Ugandan Coffee Growers Shrug Off Drought Thanks to Regenerative Agriculture
Among the rolling hills of Uganda’s Masaka region, robusta coffee plants are producing larger, tastier yields thanks to a pilot program utilizing regenerative agriculture to battle droughts or erratic rainfall.
A catch-all term for a variety of growing techniques as simple as mulching to as complex as cover cropping, regenerative agriculture is especially useful in the coffee belts where nutrient-poor tropical soils and heavy rainfall make erosion a real threat to productive crops.
Of course regenerative farming works. Nature knows how to compensate for common problems. Humans just need to quick fucking up those processes.
( Read more... )
Among the rolling hills of Uganda’s Masaka region, robusta coffee plants are producing larger, tastier yields thanks to a pilot program utilizing regenerative agriculture to battle droughts or erratic rainfall.
A catch-all term for a variety of growing techniques as simple as mulching to as complex as cover cropping, regenerative agriculture is especially useful in the coffee belts where nutrient-poor tropical soils and heavy rainfall make erosion a real threat to productive crops.
Of course regenerative farming works. Nature knows how to compensate for common problems. Humans just need to quick fucking up those processes.
( Read more... )
Oh, hello there. Been a while!
Working in a school, while a deeply rewarding vocation I love more than I can say, also saps everything from me. Physical, mental, life force...? Hard to describe. The last couple months of this particular school year were especially rough (not to mention how I've had the same ongoing cough for nearly three months now, and no, I don't think the cough is entirely unrelated to the stress). So when the school year finally ended (AND my cough got abruptly much worse again...), I very determinedly spent the first week and a half of the summer mainly lying in bed, until I very gradually started to feel like a person again. It turns out, I DO still have the attention span to read actual books? And the physical energy to cook actual food for myself? How novel!
Anyway, I've now remembered that I was trying to get back to doing these book posts, so here's one for the first half of 2026. Again this time, there isn't anything I read that's a super standout for me (definitely not helped by the fact that I only managed to read 17 books TOTAL in the whole 6 months, yikes) so I'll just talk about some books I enjoyed reading, in no very particular order:
( SOME BOOKS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF 2026 )
Working in a school, while a deeply rewarding vocation I love more than I can say, also saps everything from me. Physical, mental, life force...? Hard to describe. The last couple months of this particular school year were especially rough (not to mention how I've had the same ongoing cough for nearly three months now, and no, I don't think the cough is entirely unrelated to the stress). So when the school year finally ended (AND my cough got abruptly much worse again...), I very determinedly spent the first week and a half of the summer mainly lying in bed, until I very gradually started to feel like a person again. It turns out, I DO still have the attention span to read actual books? And the physical energy to cook actual food for myself? How novel!
Anyway, I've now remembered that I was trying to get back to doing these book posts, so here's one for the first half of 2026. Again this time, there isn't anything I read that's a super standout for me (definitely not helped by the fact that I only managed to read 17 books TOTAL in the whole 6 months, yikes) so I'll just talk about some books I enjoyed reading, in no very particular order:
( SOME BOOKS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF 2026 )
.
Heylo, fellow Pillowfolks, and HAPPY FRIDAY!! I wanted to share an update that the PF owner Julia posted today to ensure folks here could see it, too! (Any questions should be directed to Staff on PF!) It reads as follows:
IMPORTANT: Help Pillowfort become a non-profit!
Dear Pillowfolks,
To cut to the chase: I’m making this post because Pillowfort needs some helping hands.
I started Pillowfort ten years ago because I, like many others, was growing frustrated with how shareholder interference and corporate greed was degrading social media platforms. The need for a site like Pillowfort, that puts its users first, doesn’t take venture capital funding, and doesn’t subject its users to corporate censorship for the sake of ad revenue, has only grown since the site was launched nearly 10 years ago. And yet, at the same time, it has grown even harder for independent social media platforms to survive, especially ones that support NSFW creators.
Pillowfort has long been held back by a financial catch-22 situation. We’ve always needed more personnel in order to put in the features and infrastructure necessary for Pillowfort to grow, and yet to hire these persons we would need money that we don’t have. And the reason we don’t have that money is because we don’t do the exploitative things that other social media platforms do to make money, such as selling user data, displaying advertisements, or driving traffic with opaque content algorithms.
In addition, ten years is a long time for me personally to have dedicated myself to a project that demands so much of me– I’ve spent the last decade doing work that should have been spread between probably 4 or 5 different people, and the constant stress of this responsibility has been wearing on me. Ultimately, I think it is time for me to hand Pillowfort over to a passionate group of people who can continue what I’ve started.
As a result, I’ve come to the decision that in order to give Pillowfort the best chance at surviving and staying loyal to its mission in the face of these challenges, it would be in Pillowfort’s best interest to become a volunteer-based nonprofit. I think the world badly needs a social media platform that exists purely to foster genuine communication rather than exploiting user attention for profit, and it’s going to take a community of dedicated and passionate people to make that happen.
In order to register as a nonprofit, we will need at least three board members to assume the roles of President and Secretary. We’re also looking for people to join as directors and/or officers and helm the following responsibilities:
➤ General Operations & Administration
➤ Development
➤ System Administration
➤ App Security
➤ Legal
➤ Finance (Treasurer role)
➤ Content Moderation
➤ Community Management
If you are interested in joining the Pillowfort team in any of these capacities, please fill out THIS FORM!
Note that these roles will not be compensated, at least initially, though there is a possibility for compensation in the future as Pillowfort’s revenue increases. I’d also love to talk to anyone who has experience in being on the board of a nonprofit and would be willing to provide guidance as we make this transition.
I believe that becoming a non-profit is the ideal way forward to ensure Pillowfort remains loyal to its ideals; we just need help from our community to make it happen! Please share this announcement amongst your circles so we can reach as many potentially interested people as possible.
Sincerely,
Julia
Reading journal for July 8 2026
What I’ve Read
OK, look, I read nothing to completion this week. I got sucked into a deeply unhinged Chinese boy love drama and I rode that till the wheels came off! And I’d do it again! Subtitles take up a similar level of eye strain as reading a book!
So here’s my review of that:
Revenged Love (2025) is a gay (BL) Chinese language drama that focuses on a young man who gets dumped by his girlfriend and decides to seduce the rich man she replaces him with. The story starts out with magnificent levels of plotting and scheming, and gradually shifts from a story about manipulating people to get what you want to a story about knowing people deeply and loving them with your whole heart. The young revenger falls, and falls HARD, for the rich young man that his girlfriend replaced him with, and it’s a great set of performances from these two. It’s comic and goofy and heartfelt. It also involves someone having a deep care for his pet snakes – a thing that I find fairly rare in TV!
The whole series can be watched in Mandarin with English subtitles on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlCSMHgOKbE&list=PLiCVOcxScfwh-Gkl0A0SeugdHQUg4QZIu
Trigger warnings for: suicide attempts, self destructive behavior of several kinds, tossing a twink to a gang, OODLES of manipulative behavior, LOTS OF SNAKES
What I’m Reading
I have abandoned the sheep book – I had too little time left on the audiobook to finish and after I found out the reason for the murder, I lost interest.
Shroud – Adrian Tchaikovsky – about 85%
逆袭 - 柴鸡蛋 | Counterattack - Chai Jidan – the English language translation of the novel that is the basis for Revenged Love. It’s absurd and very, very funny.
What I'll Read Next
Hugos! No changes
Death of the Author Nnedi Okorafor Novel
Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction Paul Kincaid Related Work
A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel written by Ursula K. Le Guin Graphic Story
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler Susana M. Morris Related Work
Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon written by Kelly Thompson Graphic Story
The Space Cat written by Nnedi Okorafor Graphic Story
Automatic Noodle Annalee Newitz Novella
The Summer War Naomi Novik Novella
The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers written by Kieron Gillen Graphic Story
The River Has Roots Amal El-Mohtar Novella
Murder by Memory Olivia Waite Novella
What I’ve Read
OK, look, I read nothing to completion this week. I got sucked into a deeply unhinged Chinese boy love drama and I rode that till the wheels came off! And I’d do it again! Subtitles take up a similar level of eye strain as reading a book!
So here’s my review of that:
Revenged Love (2025) is a gay (BL) Chinese language drama that focuses on a young man who gets dumped by his girlfriend and decides to seduce the rich man she replaces him with. The story starts out with magnificent levels of plotting and scheming, and gradually shifts from a story about manipulating people to get what you want to a story about knowing people deeply and loving them with your whole heart. The young revenger falls, and falls HARD, for the rich young man that his girlfriend replaced him with, and it’s a great set of performances from these two. It’s comic and goofy and heartfelt. It also involves someone having a deep care for his pet snakes – a thing that I find fairly rare in TV!
The whole series can be watched in Mandarin with English subtitles on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlCSMHgOKbE&list=PLiCVOcxScfwh-Gkl0A0SeugdHQUg4QZIu
Trigger warnings for: suicide attempts, self destructive behavior of several kinds, tossing a twink to a gang, OODLES of manipulative behavior, LOTS OF SNAKES
What I’m Reading
I have abandoned the sheep book – I had too little time left on the audiobook to finish and after I found out the reason for the murder, I lost interest.
Shroud – Adrian Tchaikovsky – about 85%
逆袭 - 柴鸡蛋 | Counterattack - Chai Jidan – the English language translation of the novel that is the basis for Revenged Love. It’s absurd and very, very funny.
What I'll Read Next
Hugos! No changes
Death of the Author Nnedi Okorafor Novel
Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction Paul Kincaid Related Work
A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel written by Ursula K. Le Guin Graphic Story
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler Susana M. Morris Related Work
Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon written by Kelly Thompson Graphic Story
The Space Cat written by Nnedi Okorafor Graphic Story
Automatic Noodle Annalee Newitz Novella
The Summer War Naomi Novik Novella
The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers written by Kieron Gillen Graphic Story
The River Has Roots Amal El-Mohtar Novella
Murder by Memory Olivia Waite Novella
At a time when scientific data on rising sea levels, melting ice, and ocean acidification are widely known, my role is not to repeat these figures, but to embody them, to bring them to life, to make them heard. Because understanding is no longer enough — one must feel in order to act.
This piece is an invitation to listen to a world in change. An active, committed listening that may, I hope, open the way to other narratives, to other possibilities.
I suppose people will never not be interested in the Mary Toft rabbit-birth case: this however is a somewhat different take born of going into a particular archive, Mary Toft and the Radical Birth Control Movement (an archive of which I have knowledge), though I am perhaps more interested that Griffith was asking Helena Wright to ask her side-piece, Kenneth Bruce MacFarlane, a distinguished historian, for reading recommendations. But that is because the ladies running that clinic, who were trying to make birth control a respectable cause were all into all sorts of what would now be considered polyamorous configurations.
(I will not advance my critiques from my personal knowledge of the birth control movement of the 20s and 30s....)
***
When the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson gave a sermon in 1787 at Manchester Cathedral – during the city’s first mass meeting against the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans – he saw a “great crowd of black people standing round the pulpit”.
However, little is known about Black Mancunians in the Georgian era, which makes one recently rediscovered entry in parish records at Manchester Cathedral particularly significant.
***
The 6‑7 craze offered a brief window into the hidden world of children:
But as media scholars who study children’s culture, we didn’t view the meme with bewilderment or exasperation. Instead, we thought back to our own childhoods on three different continents – and all the secret languages we spoke.
....
With or without access to the internet, children will continue to transform language and games to suit their needs – which, yes, includes getting under the skin of adults.
Kidz b kidz, hmmmm?
***
Not precisely 'history from below' - this was still the monarch's court, after all - but looking beyond the obvious players and how much there is to discover about them beyond the immediately apparent: Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France:
I aim to demonstrate through my new Transactions article that a meticulous examination of archival sources can reveal far more about the lives and activities of people with dwarfism – and marginalised people in general – than the archive’s apparent silence initially suggests.
At the same time, I hope this study can serve as another example, alongside my book on Louis XIII’s court, of the rich potential in an approach to court studies that de-centres the monarch, his ministers and absolutism to better understand the court – its institutions and its culture – in its own right.
***
The man who invented the Tube: or rather, had the idea and campaigned for it, died shortly before the opening of the Metropolitan line, which may have something to do with his absence from the annals.
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: What's on your crafting wish list?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
Today is partly cloudy and warm.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked two more yellow pear tomatoes. The first sunflower in the septic garden is blooming -- medium height, medium-small single flower, yellow petals.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered seedlings in the savanna.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered plants in the house yard.
.
Today is partly cloudy and warm.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked two more yellow pear tomatoes. The first sunflower in the septic garden is blooming -- medium height, medium-small single flower, yellow petals.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered seedlings in the savanna.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered plants in the house yard.
.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked two more yellow pear tomatoes. The first sunflower in the septic garden is blooming -- medium height, medium-small single flower, yellow petals.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered seedlings in the savanna.
EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered plants in the house yard.
.
Well, we are now in Cameron Highlands, on the last leg of our roadtrip. Day 1 was shockingly uneventful, hence the lack of updates - and Days 2 and 3 were quite eventful, hence the lack of updates. I'm looking forward to winding down at the end of this.
( Day 1 Recap )
Taman Negara: Day 2&3
So before Taman Negara we stopped by an elephant sanctuary in Kuala Gandah. I foolishly assumed it would be more like a bit of land set aside for elephant rescue and rehab, that visitors could look at from a distance. I think that's how animal sanctuaries are supposed to be?
Well, this was not it. Elephants were kept in confined areas, mostly separated, for tourists to feed. Like a petting zoo. And I say tourists - I feel like my family were the only locals there. We were surrounded by Europeans, I suppose, on summer holiday. Also, we were one of the few there without a guide, and we were told not to enter an area in the back where you could theoretically touch them. Which makes sense, but put a pin in that.
So we finally arrived proper at Taman Negara after that, which you need to be ferried across a river to get to. The place we were booked at was on that side of the river, so we are technically staying on park grounds - neat. But again - surrounded by Europeans. I think I only saw one other local group staying there. No hate to Europeans, but it is rather disconcerting.
And yes, we needed a guide. Our room came with a tour package for a reason. It turns out the amount of land you are allowed to walk in, as a visitor without a guide, is very limited. There are practical reasons for this - the land is generally rugged and difficult to traverse. Natural dirt trails don't really exist - you walk on constructed platforms. But I increasingly suspect there is a monetary aspect to it. Basically: pay to be a tourist or don't enter at all.
Which is sad, to me. What is the point of places like these if can't walk freely in it? My best birding has been done in places that weren't advertised as "nature" places at all. In a local hill where our durian is collected as they fall from their trees. By a river where fishers' boats are lined up upon its banks. To walk freely is all you need.
That is not to say the trip was unenjoyable. A lot of wildlife was spotted - I am very glad to have spied a rhinoceros hornbill, not in the forests, but in a tree across an empty field in the resort itself. And the night and day treks provided interesting sights, like this snake, likely a Wagler's pit viper, which is a very familiar snake to me.
My legs got quite sore on the day hike, but at least I can say I made it up there. Here was the view.
Cameron Highlands: Day 4
I now write from the cold heights of Cameron Highlands, where we arrived in the late afternoon. It's a familiar place to me, and I look forward to taking it easy for the weekend. But I will get up early to watch some Summer League games (Knicks and Nuggets young blood are up). We need to be early to be driven to Mossy Forest anyway, another natural attraction. Private vehicles have recently been restricted from entering, and visitors require a guide - notice a pattern?
I'd hope the birding is good, but with the amount of people around, that may not be so. Here's to hoping.
