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Permaculture [Jul. 8th, 2026|05:36 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

“IMPOSSIBLE!” No Work Food Gardens Based on Wild Edible Ecosystems

About 20 years ago, after I first started studying Permaculture, I went to work for a very sustainable Permaculture-oriented CSA farm. One day, after working all morning painfully tending, pruning, and weeding a patch of cane berries, I went for a bike ride along my favorite trail. Black raspberries were in season, so I went home, grabbed 3 3 gallon buckets and filled them up with raspberries.

That was when it hit me. NOBODY was working tending these, except for perhaps the deer and birds fertilizing them. Meanwhile, my own hands were covered with scratches from my morning work
.


This is an example of humanity's earliest agriculture: encouraging plants we find useful in places where we go, and occasionally ripping out ones we don't want there. Wild plants can mostly take care of themselves. You don't have to fuss over them like delicate domestic fruits and vegetables.

My approach to laissez-faire permaculture is similar. I plant new things that seem promising. I try to help them establish. They live or die. The ones that live, I expect to take care of themselves. Some of what I grow is really good at that. \o/
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Questions [Jul. 8th, 2026|01:42 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

"Plural Checklist" by leathersys on tumblr -- copied on DW by [personal profile] synecdoches

I recently found an interesting survey on Tumblr by leathersys, called the Plural Checklist. They made this as a quiz for people who think they may be plural/multiple, but don't have classic amnesiac barriers, since a lot of quizzes and diagnostic tests are geared toward the most obvious dissociative symptoms. I like the questions, but I strongly dislike Google and don't want to send this info to a stranger, so I'm going to copy the questions here and consider my answers. Most of the questions were very insightful-- some shockingly so-- and only one or two of them made me feel like an out of touch old man.
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Vocabulary: Doff [Jul. 8th, 2026|01:39 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Today's word is "doff."  Many folks will know it from "doff a hat" meaning to tip or take off.  However, it's also used widely in fibercrafting to mean removing fiber from a tool. 
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Artificial Intelligence [Jul. 8th, 2026|01:16 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Pop Culture Squad has a post about current Batman threads. In one of those, Oliver Queen / Green Arrow explains to Bruce Wayne / Batman what is wrong with the tech industry nowadays:

Ollie has a turn as the crusading liberal ex-millionaire, as he has a few opportunities to let us all know what he really thinks of Generative AI companies founded by tech bros. There’s one point where Ollie fills Batman in on it all. "They’re another generative AI company. Scraping personal data. Stealing art and stories and knowledge. Polluting and poisoning. Using masses of energy and water. Taking what the world actually needs to produce what nobody wants."


It's that last line I want people to remember and use to describe what is wrong with generative AI: "Taking what the world actually needs to produce what nobody wants." That's it in a nutshell.
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Birdfeeding [Jul. 8th, 2026|12:40 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Today is partly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- We started breaking up the parts of the birdgift tree that had fallen into the south lot. There's about twice as much mow path past it now. We dumped 2 wheelbarrows of sticks into the firepit in the ritual meadow.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.




.
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Good News [Jul. 8th, 2026|02:50 am]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
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Erin Reads: Pet Shop of Horrors, Collector’s Edition (volume 6, chapters 31-33) [Jul. 8th, 2026|01:15 am]

erinptah
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Since we’re all melting, let’s enjoy a Pet Shop of Horrors reread-and-translation-comparison thread that opens with The Beach Episode.

Start of Tokyopop volume 8, and Seven Seas volume 6. Originally liveblogged in separate threads on Mastodon / Bluesky, combined here.

TP volume 8 has a “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” warning on the front. None of the others have that! I just double-checked! Why only flag the Canon-Typical Violence that on this book…? (It’s the one with the cutest cover, too — Chris, surrounded by T-chan, Pon-chan, and Q-chan.)

Meanwhile: Chapter 2 of the Little Sister D fixit is up! Which is good, because I’m giving myself even more new plotbunnies in this one…

Pet Shop of Horrors art of D with fish
You're just too good to be true / Can't take my eyes off of you )
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Poem: "Its Weirdness Is Evident Without Comparison" [Jul. 7th, 2026|09:33 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

This is today's freebie. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] gs_silva. It also fills the "Ambiguous Situation" square in my 6-1-26 card for the Hazbin Hotel Fest. This poem belongs to the series Schrodinger's Heroes.

Read more... )
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Got tagged in a meme! [Jul. 7th, 2026|06:54 pm]

linky
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[mood | tired]

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )
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History [Jul. 7th, 2026|05:58 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

... is repeating itself.  This post compares Washington, D.C. with occupied Berlin from the perspective of someone who's seen both.

Never forget.
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about me(me) [Jul. 7th, 2026|04:21 pm]

dragonofeternal
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[mood | mellow]

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )
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Poetry Fishbowl Open! [Jul. 7th, 2026|11:46 am]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | creative]

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this page as I am still writing.


Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Don't add to the casualty list in an emergency." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

I picked this theme for today from the selected list of themes, because of the violent storms that swept through central Illinois in late June. Here's my post about Tornado Alley moving from the Great Plains through the Midwest to the Southeast.

Among my previous poems that mention tornadoes or other violent storms are "A Tornado of Thought," "Windswept," "Know What You Stand For," "Better to Meet Danger," "In Growth, Reform, and Change," and "Nature's Great Masterpiece," and "The Pequot War."

Established settings in Tornado Alley: Omaha Reservation and Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska (Polychrome Heroics), Stillwater, Oklahoma (Polychrome Heroics), Waxahachie, Texas (Schrodinger's Heroes), River City and Ava and Bluehill, Missouri (Polychrome Heroics), Onion City and Urbanburg, Illinois (Polychrome Heroics), Easy City, Louisiana (Polychrome Heroics), Ninovan, Tennessee (Daughters of the Apocalypse), Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center
for Elephant Conservation in Florida (Daughters of the Apocalypse).


I'll be soliciting ideas for first responders, troubleshooters, activists, rebels, Women Who Run with the Saberteeth, explorers, refugees, runaway youth, housemates, siblings, parents, teachers, clergy, police, soldiers, leaders, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, failure analysts, ethicists, other people who get into dire situations, running into a fire while others are running out of it, rescuing people, protesting, rebelling, planning, panicking, throwing in the towel, escaping, running like you stole something, adventuring, divorcing, teaching, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, war zones, disaster areas, wastelands, trails, sailing ships, distant lands, the forest primeval, prehistory, liminal zones, schools, homeless shelters, prisons, hotels, churches, sharehouses, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, stores, farmer's markets, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where disasters happen, cataclysms, natural disasters, climate change, the end of the world, S-risks and X-risks, unhappy relationships, PACE your planning, protest rallies, travel mishaps, sudden surprises, the buck stops here, trial and error, supplements that turn out to be mutagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Hazbin Hotel Fest Bingo Card 6-1-26

Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-26


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One has some serious challenges between the Galactic Arms.

The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, in hopes of preventing genocide.

A Conflagration of Dragons features the Six Races struggling to survive as the dragons take over more and more territory.

Crystal Wood is about how the mass death of trees can wreck civilization.

The Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find enough resources to survive, when former cities are unsafe.

The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy.

Not Quite Kansas deals with demons, magic, and other mayhem.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks after quitting as the God of Evil. Addiction always has the potential for disaster.

Path of the Paladins includes some really awful situations due to divine politics and mortal foolishness.

Peculiar Obligations deals with Quakers, pirates, and organized crime.

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Among the more relevant threads are Berettaflies, the Big One, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Shiv, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Schrodinger's Heroes has a lot of situations that can destroy things, up to and including whole dimensions.

The Wandering is a series about fantasy time travel where people loop back within their own lifespan.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

Read more... )
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Birdfeeding [Jul. 7th, 2026|11:28 am]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Today is cloudy and warm. We got a little rain yesterday.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a gray catbird splashing in the big red birdbath.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Sparrows and house finches are eating from the hopper feeder.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I also walked around the yard a bit. Cosmos are blooming in the east-west strip of the prairie garden. Sunflowers are up in several places but not blooming yet. There are some zinnias too. :D

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I cracked 6 apricot pits and got 4 usable seeds, which I bagged in damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator.

Fireflies are out. Cicadas are singing. I saw 2 bats swooping over the house yard.

I am done for the night.
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Music [Jul. 7th, 2026|03:33 am]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

100 STRING ACOUSTIC GUITAR SOLO

Such amazing sound. <3
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Video [Jul. 7th, 2026|03:08 am]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Jolene (H.P. Lovecraft Version) - Michael Kelly - (Dolly Parton filk)

A truly splendid filk song. :D
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Nature [Jul. 6th, 2026|10:18 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | busy]

Wildflower meadow returned without planting a single seed

A patch of farmland left to its own devices for over a decade has quietly transformed into a thriving wildflower meadow. It didn’t take expensive seed mixes or heavy machinery. Recovery required only patience, a yearly hay cut, and letting nature do what it does. The find could reshape how governments approach one of conservation’s biggest and most expensive challenges.


This is worth trying anywhere that has at least some seedbank left (that is, the topsoil hasn't been killed or hauled away) and where you have a large amount of land to cover (which can make other options cost-prohibitive). In places that used to be scrub or forest or something other than grassland, it needs mowing at least once a year. Otherwise succession will take over and turn it back into whatever it was. Ideally, mow late enough that nesting creatures have finished and decamped, but early enough to permit regrowth before fall, so there will be winter cover for wildlife and erosion protection for the soil.

Read more... )
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Wildlife [Jul. 6th, 2026|09:55 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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Honeybee queens protect themselves from pesticides, but their colonies pay the price

Early on, the workers did their job well. In the first day they stripped out about 95% of the pesticide from the food before it reached the comb.
[---8<---]
But the filter began to slip. By day 10 the workers were removing only 86% of the poison, and it started to build up in the food stored in the cells. The bees’ bodies told the same story. Over 10 days, workers took on 55 times more pesticide than the queen did.


That delay will make pesticide problems difficult to detect and solve. Outside of a study like this, by the time you notice something wrong, it already has a lot of inertia baked in.

Read more... )
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Today's Adventures [Jul. 6th, 2026|08:57 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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[mood | happy]

Today we went out to Mattoon so I could attend a permaculture club meeting at Douglas-Hart Nature Center.

Read more... )
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Buffalo [Jul. 6th, 2026|02:21 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
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From One Surviving Male Bison, Azerbaijan Now Has 25 Calves Born Wild in 7-Year Success Story

As has been the case with other animals, a West Europe zoo held the last remaining male member of the Caucasian bison population. He was bred with several European bison as part of an effort to restore the animal to Azerbaijan, which began in 2012 and culminated with the release of the first animals in 2019.

In Shahdagh, WWF Azerbaijan has slowly watched over the herd as it grew through the additions of 25 calves born wild so far
.


It's a valiant effort, but that genetic bottleneck will cause problems.
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Birdfeeding [Jul. 6th, 2026|01:11 pm]

ysabetwordsmith
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[mood | busy]

Today is mostly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked the first tomatoes, 2 red cherries and 1 yellow pear.

I saw a tiger swallowtail butterfly. :D

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I watered the telephone pole garden.

I've seen a male cardinal and a starling in the forest garden.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I watered plants in the house yard.

I've seen a mourning dove in the forest garden.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I went out to a local permaculture club meeting, which was lots of fun. :D

On the way home, we saw a heron at the drainage ditch. There were puddles in the road, so we got at least a little rain. That's means I don't need to water plants tomorrow during the Poetry Fishbowl. \o/

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I cracked open a bunch of cherry pits to expose the seeds.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I bagged up the black cherry seeds in damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator. I think the ones that had been air-drying longer were smaller than the plump ones from today's batch. I'll have to try cracking more sooner and see if that holds true.

Fireflies are coming out. I've seen at least one bat above the house yard.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
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