rmd | Network

adverb, adjective: Over there; at a relatively distant place.

Following on last month's re-release of The Writer's Little Book of Naming, The Writer's Little Book of Platitudes is back out in the world!

A white background with the text "The Writer's Little Book of Platitudes: Tips and Tricks for Taking (and Ignoring) Advice," by Marie Brennan, author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent. In the center is a red circle with a diagonal line through it (the symbol for "no") with the words "thou shalt not" inside.

A white background with the text "The Writer's Little Book of Platitudes: Tips and Tricks for Taking (and Ignoring) Advice," by Marie Brennan, author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent. In the center is a red circle with a diagonal line through it (the symbol for "no") with the words "thou shalt not" inside.

“Show, don’t tell.” “Murder your darlings.” “Write every day.”

Certain pieces of advice are widespread in the writing community — but what do they really mean? And are they nuggets of universal wisdom, or do they only apply to some writers in some circumstances? Award-winning author Marie Brennan tackles these old saws, dissecting each one to see what purpose it might serve . . . and when you should toss it aside.

And starting next month, there will be a brand-new Writer's Little Book -- stay tuned for news on that . . .

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://www.swantower.com/2026/07/07/the-writers-little-book-of-platitudes-returns/)

james_davis_nicoll

The current Skeleton Crew ruleboo plus a Legion of adventures.

Bundle of Holding: Vast Grimm

conuly

She's fine, no worries - well, not fine fine, she's at the hospital, but it's nothing to worry about.

Taking the bus back from the hospital always gets me thinking about Hurricane Sandy. They named a corner after those two boys. They'd be in high school now, or even entering college. It's easy to judge their mother - and don't get me wrong, I do judge her, because she made every possible mistake from before the storm even hit, starting with not evacuating - but people do dumb stuff all the time and it usually works out just fine. People don't usually die because they did something stupid, they don't usually lose their kids over it.

It's been rainy too. It's really just a maudlin way to start a week.

But I still think, every time I take that bus from the hospital, that those kids should've gotten to grow up, and instead they didn't even get to go trick-or-treating that year.

The moral of this post, inasmuch as there even is one, is that if your area is under an evacuation order, or ought to be, fucking evacuate. Or if you've decided to shelter in place, shelter in place. Don't try to evacuate after the storm is already upon you. That's how it all goes wrong.

oots_feed

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1346.html

james_davis_nicoll

The Company will surely triumph over the Union upstarts, just as soon as R&D solves a few minor, pilot-killing, bugs in their cutting-edge systems.

Hellburner (Devil to the Belt, volume 2) by C J Cherryh

andrewducker

A friend reported that it was taking him 20 seconds to load my journal (as opposed to only a couple of seconds for other people's). Other people's journals weren't slow, just mine. And only when logged in.

Can anyone replicate this? (I'm putting in a support request to DW over it, and it would be good to know if this is something special about him, or a more widespread problem.)

And before anyone asks, yes, we've replicated on multiple browsers, multiple devices, and multiple networks.

Edit: Support ticket raised

wordsmithdaily_feed

https://wordsmith.org/words/dispositively.html

adverb: Conclusively; so as to settle the matter.

https://wordsmith.org/words/dispositively.html

conuly

but at least it's cooled down!

(I always picture all this rain after a heat wave like somebody reaching up and literally wringing out the damp air.)

********************************

( Read more... )

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3268/

The arbiter gave my knight a red card for capturing with cleats up :(

https://xkcd.com/3268/

magid

( Read more... )

flexagon

We had a week of heat waves (two days at almost exactly 100 degrees), and it felt like not much was happening, but in retrospect a lot was happening.

Fourth of July stuff? On Tuesday I went with Birdie to the fireworks show put on by my town, which is always carefully not on the actual 4th because nobody wants to compete with the huge Boston show. I was impressed, both with the show and with how many people turned out for it! We watched from far enough away to be out of the crowd, and it was still thrillingly close.

The squirrel and I met with a contractor on Tuesday about the redesigned cottage bathroom/closet that I've been working on. He quoted us a high price but also an appealing level of competence, engagement and organization. After several long talks about whether to let the squirrel's mom pay for some of it, which was not a simple topic for all kinds of reasons, we pulled the trigger and signed up on Thursday. Paid the deposit and everything. Let the demolition party begin! I spent a while on Tuesday, and again today, picking up little concrete overflow bits ("concrete kibble", I decided to call it) and screws, and spreading displaced gravel around to be level again. It's getting tidier.

Also on Tuesday, the existing upstairs tenants declared their intention to sign up for another year with Squirrels Inc. They agreed to a rent increase, we agreed to look into some small issues for them. Which I spent this morning doing. The peel-and-stick tiles in their kitchen are sooooo nasty and sticky, but so easy, to replace! Ewwww, ahhhh. I replaced what I could and bought some more.

Wednesday, new neighbors moved in -- at the house I live in -- to replace the ones who moved out. These ones also seem nice, but with nobility yet to be determined. We asserted our position as house elders, and now they come to us with cute questions like which garbage can is theirs (it's all communal) and whether they can use the compost bin (sure, join us). They have a two-week-old baby, which is the tiniest baby I've seen in a long time.

On Friday, I drove (okay, was driven) more than 2 hrs to the birthday party of the Monk, my ex acro partner. It was one of the 100-degree days, and I ended up spending four hours listening to Shearwater, a band I had to that point never heard of at all. The driver's favorite, obviously. I think I liked it, but maybe that was primarily a decision of self-defense? Anyway, this ended up feeling like the second half of July 4 festivities, since it involved outdoor grilling and bikini wearing and bug spray. The temperature wasn't bad... in the shade... as long as I didn't move.

Thursday and Saturday involved the baking and eating of a Fächertorte over at Quarte's, with the bug. It was many layers of filling, and extremely caloric. Like apple pie plus layers of plum jam, ground walnut goop, and ground poppy seed goop. I'm interested in finding ways to move an apple pie in that direction without creating a four-inch-thick monstrosity that can only be consumed by a crowd. Anyway, Quarte is imperfect but he also has cancer and is scared and is an old friend, so the bug and I are trying to be nice to him.

Workouts continue. My toe is still healing and constraining me a little. Wednesday and Sunday I did some good press practice -- no new records of any sort, just trying to get better with my current set-up and not lean too far forward in the initial lift. Trying to feel like I'm actively balancing with my hands the whole time. Trying to compress. Tiny Person was here for just a couple of days but I think she's gone until the end of the summer now, unfortunately... so I can't learn from her right now.

I did get a new-personal-record backbend on Thursday, thanks to the 100 degrees.

Also excitingly, my squirrel came back from Montreal with the phoenix tattoo design that he's been wanting forever. He finally found the right one! So he's going back up in a couple of weeks to get inked, and I might tag along. I like Montreal.

The upcoming week brings its own peculiarities. I'm getting my first colonoscopy, and circus school is closed during the daytime in favor of youth camp, and the squirrel is going away again right after getting announced as the new CEO at his workplace (!). Weather's looking a lot more reasonable, and I'm hoping to spend more time at home and watch a lot more of the sewing course I've started watching.

james_davis_nicoll

Random generators from Kent David Kelly for tabletop fantasy roleplaying games such as OSRIC (based on the 1979 First Edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) and other fantasy retroclones.

Bundle of Holding: Oldskull Generators