be brave, my sage little toaster!

books
The Dharma of Healing: The Path of Liberation from Stress, Pain, and Trauma by Justin Michelson. 2025. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you have a history of anxiety, depression, PTSD, chronic pain, etc. I did hate the introduction, but I loved the rest of it. I've done all but the last couple of the guided meditations, too. A++, will absolutely reread.

Italy in the Central Middle Ages: 1000-1300 by David Abulafia et al. 2004, so it's dated scholarship, but there are some interesting tidbits.

healthcrap
Sooo, last week's whining turned out to be the worst IBS flare I've had in over a decade. I didn't know it could cause insomnia! THEN! Friday I failed to add one of my psych meds to my pill box & only realized it YESTERDAY! :facepalms forever: That only added to the existing nausea and insomnia from last week. Grrrr! ( cut for mention of weight maintenance issues )

yarning
I missed yarn group Sunday due to the IBS/withdrawal nausea. Spent the time crocheting another cat stitch scarf and reviewing Yuletide canon. Monday I did a long photoshoot of the 15 items that I just listed in my shop. (So many cat toys! -- just in time for Kitten Academy Sekrit Santa to go live, woot!) Also, this soft acrylic scarf is for sale (as well as matching one in a burgundy, ivory, and grey wool-blend):



I'm holding back on making more cat stitch scarves until these two sell, unless someone commissions one in other colors, frex. Meanwhile, I have all this yarn that I'm impatient to use, and I just don't know what to make with it. Suggestions welcome! Maybe more winter hats for donation? IDK. I also am on the verge of making an S3 Lestat art doll, except I need some good reference images, esp for the scars. If I do a wire armature, he can even hold a tiny microphone. Hmmmm...

etsy
also, etsy's CEO is stepping down and a different board member, I forget her name atm, is stepping up. May she undo the stupid decisions the soon-to-be-former guy made.

#resist
THIS weekend! #50501: Disappeared in America Weekend of Action — a national mobilization to protect immigrants, expose corporate complicity, and honor the lives lost in detention. Includes protests at Home Depots, Freedom Vigils & invokes el Día de los Muertos in an actually appropriate way.

Hurricane Melissa
Stronger than Katrina! When it hit Jamaica, Melissa had surface level winds gusting up to 252mph, 185mph sustained. I don't yet know where to link to donate that isn't the Red Cross, but dear gods. Wind like that, to say nothing of the surge, isn't survivable. Please consider donating to relief operations once they unfold. (Marco Rubio says US forces are there helping dig out so relief can arrive.)

EDITED TO ADD: WAYS TO DONATE TO JAMAICA RELIEF, from minoanmiss:
https://projectdynamo.net/project-dynamo-preparing-to-deploy-rescue-team-supplies-to-jamaica-immediately-after-hurricane-melissa/

https://supportjamaica.gov.jm/

That said, I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween! It's Fall here at last, temperature-wise, and finally time to put a blanket back on the bed. I hope you're all doing well! <333

( books (Forrest, Aaronovitch, Aaronovitch, Hamaker-Zondag) )

dirt
goddamned thrips. Beyond that struggle, the spider plants are putting out babies, the baby thaumatophyllum is up to 3 leaves and needs potting up soon, the money tree is looking better, Grandma's thanksgiving cactus is looking pretty great, the rhaphidophora cutting finally put out some baby leaves, and the terrarium is overrun by red stem peperomia. I need to trim it, srsly.

meditation work
Yesterday I listened to/watched HealingVibrations' sound bath video on cutting old ties with crystal singing bowls and a windsinger instrument. It was surprisingly intense, or maybe it just hit me right at the time.

natural disaster
my heart hurts over the Hill Country floods. So many needless deaths, so many people claiming there were no warnings. Per Robert Reich's Substack: The San Angelo NWS office is missing a meteorologist, staff forecaster, and a senior hydrologist. The San Antonio NWS office is missing a warning coordination meteorologist (who left on April 30, thanks to DOGE-inflicted early retirement), and a science officer. These people are meant to notify local emergency managers to plan for floods. That said, warnings DID go out but weren't accessible or heeded by the people who needed them. (We don't have flood or tornado sirens or anything here, something the state gvt is saying will change. Though how they'll put flood sirens out in the middle of nowhere is kind of a mystery.) Regardless, it's a tragic loss. Hopefully the news blitz will help get weather warning systems put back into the 2026 fiscal budget for everyone. More personally, my parents' area had nearly all its bridges get washed out, so they're basically stranded until they can be fixed/replaced. They've got food and hopefully no need to go anywhere, so they're fine, but it's all just a completely harrowing situation. The morning of July 5, they had 10+ inches of rain in 12 hours, and that was AFTER the floods hit. I'm just glad they live on a ridge instead of down in the valley or in a floodplain, however hard it is to be stranded. There's so much destruction in their area. It's heartbreaking. Addendum: Dad texted last night that there are teams out on horseback searching for the missing/drowned. Thank gods it's ranch country so horses are locally available. Here's one place you can donate if you feel inclined: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201

#resist
July 17: Good Trouble Lives On Protest/March

I hope all of y'all are safe and doing as well as can be. <333

Welp, I'm pissed af about Roe.

If you or someone you love needs an abortion and you cannot travel to somewhere that it's legal, what with $5 gas and extortionate airfare, here is ( some oldschool information. )

Srsly, don't die. Don't let the patriarchy create any more martyrs.

books
reading: Good And Mad by Rebecca Traister. Still super empowering and validating, and I LOVE the deliberate intersectional history. I just have to take breaks to reread fun stuff until I have brainspace to revel in gorgeous expansive FURY again.

yuletide
Still haven't gotten my signup together, but there are a few days yet.

autumn
Fall blew in something fierce Monday after a week of highs near 90. Now it's sweater weather for a few days until the temperate comes back, which is fine. It's just the endless waves of cold rain that keep knocking me flat and/or migraining me to pieces. 50s and sunny is rather nice. 50s and flooding, no. The news says it's going to be a post-El Nino winter, meaning warm in the north and cold in the south. Augh.

natural disasters
The flooding in Central Texas took out the cell phone towers AND the rural internet broadcast towers serving my parents' area. Their house is fine but being incommunicado is kind of freaking them out. Dad drove all the way to the nearest town today just so he could text us. Then he didn't stick around to answer our questions before driving back into the dead zone. *facepalm*

healthcrap ( news )

4th of July
omg y'all! It is SHEETING down rain and is forecast to continue all night! Goodbye and good riddance to local fireworks displays! Hello peace for dogs and cats and combat veterans and people with arthritis across the land!

books
From Cold War to Hot Peace by Michael McFaul. Professional memoir and recent US-Russia political history by policy wonk, scholar, and 2012-2014 US ambassador McFaul. The parts about his 3 years in DC before getting sent to Russia were really uneven, but the ambassadorial stuff and the unprecedented harassment by Russians was hard to put down (very much a prelude to 2016). Putin is apparently both out of his mind and an excellent chess player. Which I kind of knew, but it's interesting to see confirmed from source who was willing to engage Putin on his own terms. It'll be interesting to see if there's a second edition post-Trump, or if he'll just write an entirely new book.

Kīlauea
If rivers of lava and ocean entry plumes make your ears perk up, see my favorite place to check in daily for new eruption photos and gifs. You can click on the Kilauea Archive link at the top to see what it looked like before and the webcam link in the left nav bar goes to the live cams. Madame Pele does not fuck around.

My brief history with volcanoes ( includes but is not limited to )

house
That thing when you wash your plastic patio furniture and it goes from dingy taupe and kind of nasty to bright white and welcoming. I also washed the door and door sill, so my front porch has gone from Zombie House to Hello I Am Making An Effort Here House! For my next trick I'd like to level the walkway between the back porch and the steps down to the yard, but I think I'd need pavers to do it right...and I can't lift pavers. Hrm.

dirt ( plants log )

We The People
Call it an act of resistance. Call it putting old skills to new use. Whatever, but ¡estudio español de nuevo! I am blowing through the early Duolingo levels, proof that I remember more than I thought I did. We'll see how far I get before it gets hard.

The New Colossus
by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"


Mother of exiles, indeed. Happy Fourth, y'all, and, as always, on behalf of me and other folks with limiting health issues, THANK YOU for marching, protesting, and showing up to be counted. We need you (I need you), and I'm grateful. ♥

books
Still reading the Phryne Fisher books, though I'm finally nearly out of them. Quality varies, but most of them are more charming than not. I have Naomi Novik's Uprooted on deck for when I've finished, as well as something else I can't remember atm.

other stuff
The weather's been the other big news. Most of the rough stuff missed us, or else didn't develop until it had already blown through in its infant stages. We had a power outage that lasted a full two and a half hours, which is practically nothing compared to what I was used to in Austin and Houston. Likewise, in Austin I learned about flash floods and growing up in Houston I learned about living on a drained swamp and what hurricanes and tropical storms do to said swamp when they decide to dump 20 inches of rain on an area at once, not even counting what rivers in flood stage do when they eventually meet the sea. Not to mention tornadoes. Not to mention 100 ft trees uprooting themselves in the mildest of breezes because the mud's too waterlogged to hold them up anymore. Growing up in a hurricane-prone area skews your scale of what's "bad", in other words. But I used to have friends in Wimberley, and an ex's grandmother lived in an ancient pioneer-days stone house on the Blanco river. Nothing could wash it away, but I wonder if it's in the river now, or if the river's eaten the house.

Fannishly, I'm feeling a little out of touch, not having seen Age of Ultron or Mad Max yet, but all the Furiosa buzz is making me want to find a way. I have some medical stuff upcoming that might, if I'm VERY lucky, diminish the optical migraine trigger from watching moving visual media, which would mean watching movies again. That's a couple of weeks away, yet, but it's something to look forward to. :)

Marvel comics fen, I see that Marvel has ended time and launched a zillion new titles and apparently a new summer event. Is this anything I need to care about? I'm way (way) behind on my reading (still, again, still), obvsly, but I'm curious, in general, only vaguely spoilery terms if that's possible, about what's going on there.

signal-boosting this:

"The Weather Channel says the northeast corridor from New Jersey to New England will be upgraded to extreme damage from high damage."

There's still time yet for them to be wrong, but they don't make these warnings lightly. This is a BIG deal. If you're on low ground and in Irene's path, please evacuate. It may save your life.

If you've never tried to ride out a hurricane before, please google hurricane preparedness checklist and get your prep-work done by Friday at the latest.

( Some things that aren't necessarily mentioned )

Remember the forecast eye-cone is only the range of where the hurricane's eye *coud* be. Hurricane Irene is much, much larger than the cone and her wind field is broad, strong, and pushing a hell of a storm surge.

Good luck with the storm prep!

helpthesouth's first round of auctions is CLOSING in 16 hours!! Bids must be in by 6pm Wednesday, Central Time!!

My auctions are:
a) beta-reading, up to 4 fics
b) writing, one fic of 10K+ words
c) writing, 2 fics of 2K+ words each

I'm offering scads of fandoms. There are so many people in need all across the entire region, which includes the areas of brand new devastation in the news RIGHT NOW. People have lost everything. If you can donate to the Red Cross, SPCA, or whatever you're good with -- please help if you can!

Deepest thanks, y'all. ♥

My offers:
1. Beta-reading or editing services: fanfic or original; will take the 4 highest bidders, minimum bids are scaled for different story lengths.

2. One fanfic, 10K+ words, choose from many fandoms (or talk me into others *g*)

3. Two fics, 2k+ words, choose from many fandoms (or talk me into others *g*)


News
• This is what the Red Cross is doing, which is a lot, since it's basically them and the Salvation Army doing everything.
• The Greater Birmingham Humane Society has been tasked by the state to rescue and shelter animals affected by the storms. Supplies are greatly needed.
• FYI: all Alabama Governor's Emergency Relief Fund donations go strictly to "Faith-based and Community Initiatives", which annoys me deep down to my pagan, queer-positive toes. If it's your thing, great, but for those of you to whom these things matter, please realize this .gov website is anything but secular.

Please donate anything you can to the southern storm relief organization you like best. Even five bucks is five more than they had before, and they desperately need every single penny.

My creative brain is turned on again at last, so please bid on my offers! Auctions end May 25th.

All my heartfelt thanks ♥

edit: helpthesouth exists! It's just getting started, but hopefully they'll hit the ground running. More links are in the comments. Thanks to china_shop for the heads up. <3

Thanks to browngirl for this post, which I'm lifting in its entirety:

Originally posted by zia_narratora at Help for Alabama

As you've probably noticed, one of my best friends in the whole world lives in Tuscaloosa. You can read about her experiences these past few days here. Now that she is in a safe place, I feel like it's time I should be helping out other folks in the area.

Here are some ways you can help.

CBS42 has a list of ways to donate water, non-perishable food items, clothing, etc., for people who are within driving distance.

AL.com has more ways for people who are in the region to help.

If you want to volunteer, call the United Way at 211.

alephz took the time to put together a list of ways to donate money. I'm c/ping that here.

You can donate to the Alabama Red Cross. Or even the regular Red Cross. There's also the Salvation Army and the Alabama Governer's Emergency Relief Fund

There is also a link to many ways you can help here:

Stuff to send to Alabama.

A couple things you should know: They are looking most for money, bottled water, and non-perishable food items, flashlights, batteries, hand sanitizer, as well as gift cards to stores like Wal-Mart, Lowes, and other big chain stores that are located in the area.

Anyone who sends me confirmation of a donation of $10 or more (you can send me a photo of a text confirmation if you do the text to the Red Cross or Salvation Army thing) will get a black and white drawing of a single figure (person, animal or thing). If you send $50 or more, I will draw 2-3 figures for you. You could have a usericon like my usericon, for only $10!

Addenda by me: if you can donate money, please do! There are a LOT of communities in need, and organized charities can translate money donations into deliveries of targeted supplies much faster and more cheaply than individually donated (random) goods (which have to be received, sorted, triaged, stored, etc.).

However, if you can donate large lots of needed goods (thousands of gallons of water, bulk lots of clothing, food, blankets, etc.), please call a charity and make arrangements!!

Also, per the links above the damage was so severe that many local charities are gone, wiped out, leaving a field of only a few organizations on the ground and able to help. One of those is the Salvation Army, which is notoriously anti-queer; however, as Zia said in the comments to the post linked above, right now there are so few options that it's hard to be choosy. Personally, I can't describe ANY of these organizations as politically neutral entities, but right now what matters is they get the job done. (FEMA is slowly rolling into some areas, but they're not what you'd call first responders.)

Reality check: when I say trees are down, let me say that Alabama has an occasionally thriving lumber industry. The trees all around my grandma's & uncle's houses are at least a hundred feet (30.5 m) tall. Sure, there are small trees like dogwoods and redbuds in the understory, but the whole region is known for its lush forests. It's not at all like the little 30 ft scrub oaks we get around here. So, when trees are down, those trees are frequently gigantic.

If anyone starts a Help_the_South comm, please let me know? I will offer stuff. I just don't have the energy to run an auction myself.

(Dear 2011, freaking stop with the disasters already! It still isn't even May yet. *counts minutes* /o\ )