Curses! 23/23
Jul. 8th, 2026 04:01![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
leifandthorn_feed
Thorn’s office.
Thorn (thinking): Reassigned? Moving?? There was a whole prophecy that my team has to be at the Embassy!
I guess . . . with all the wild events of the past few years . . . maybe it’s fulfilled?
When Kale gets back, he could move with me . . . There’s no more court order tying him to Central.
But Leif . . . ?
[Bleep].
gambol
Jul. 8th, 2026 01:00merriamwebster_feedMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 8, 2026 is:
gambol • \GAM-bul\ • verb
Gambol means "to run or jump in a lively way." It is used as a synonym of frolic.
// There are few sights more charming than that of lambs gamboling about in a meadow in full flower.
Examples:
"There's also charming footage of a couple gamboling in Central Park that might be some of the first scenes Warhol ever shot ... They're so lighthearted and playful, they're more in the spirit of his jaunty commercial drawings from the 1950s than of the deadpan Pop Art he was just then perfecting." — Blake Gopnik, The New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
Did you know?
In Middle French, the noun gambade referred to the frisky spring of a jumping horse. In the early 1500s, its influence leapt into English twice, lending a playful bounce to both noun and verb forms of gambol. (The noun means "a skipping or leaping about in play.") Neither English word is restricted to horses, but rather can be used of any frolicsome creature. The more common of the two, the verb, suggests levity and spontaneity, and it tends to be used especially of the lively activity of children or animals engaged in active play.
Tuesday word: Doff
Jul. 7th, 2026 21:34![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
simplyn2deep posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
1word1dayTuesday, July 7, 2026
Doff (verb, noun)
doff [dof, dawf]
verb (used with object), doffs, doffed, doffing
1. to remove or take off, as clothing.
2. to remove or tip (the hat), as in greeting.
3. to throw off; get rid of: Doff your stupid ideas and join our side!
4. Textiles.
a. to strip (carded fiber) from a carding machine.
b. to remove (full bobbins, material, etc.) from a textile machine.
noun
5. Textiles.
a. the act of removing bobbins, material, etc., and stripping fibers from a textile machine.
b. the material so doffed.
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: 1300–50; Middle English, contraction of do off; cf. don
Example Sentences
"Long before the civil wars, men and boys were expected to doff their hats, indoors or out, whenever they met a superior," he says.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
The sellout crowd, which had long been on its feet, continuing cheering, eventually drawing Kershaw back out onto the field to doff his cap in appreciation.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2025
When they arrive, there is a ceremonial greeting, where the Lords doff their black bicorn hats and the Commons representatives acknowledge this by bowing.
From BBC • May 25, 2024
“Courage Hats” wants a little too forcefully to guide us into “deep” places where we will doff our hidey-hats to reveal our true selves — abstract concepts for the literalizing peewee set.
From New York Times • May 20, 2022
We were required to doff our hats as the warder walked by.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Doff (verb, noun)
doff [dof, dawf]
verb (used with object), doffs, doffed, doffing
1. to remove or take off, as clothing.
2. to remove or tip (the hat), as in greeting.
3. to throw off; get rid of: Doff your stupid ideas and join our side!
4. Textiles.
a. to strip (carded fiber) from a carding machine.
b. to remove (full bobbins, material, etc.) from a textile machine.
noun
5. Textiles.
a. the act of removing bobbins, material, etc., and stripping fibers from a textile machine.
b. the material so doffed.
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: 1300–50; Middle English, contraction of do off; cf. don
Example Sentences
"Long before the civil wars, men and boys were expected to doff their hats, indoors or out, whenever they met a superior," he says.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
The sellout crowd, which had long been on its feet, continuing cheering, eventually drawing Kershaw back out onto the field to doff his cap in appreciation.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2025
When they arrive, there is a ceremonial greeting, where the Lords doff their black bicorn hats and the Commons representatives acknowledge this by bowing.
From BBC • May 25, 2024
“Courage Hats” wants a little too forcefully to guide us into “deep” places where we will doff our hidey-hats to reveal our true selves — abstract concepts for the literalizing peewee set.
From New York Times • May 20, 2022
We were required to doff our hats as the warder walked by.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
no, "no subject" is accurate; accept
Jul. 7th, 2026 22:59starandrea♥ mixed language
I was watching a Chinese vlogger open some mail and she was like, "If you can guess what's in this, leave a comment," and I immediately thought, "yi ben livre." Which is a combination of French and Chinese that I blame on Language Jones because youtube had just shown me a thumbnail of his video "Stop Mixing Languages." (And he speaks French, which I assume was the connection my brain made, since when I started learning Chinese it was ASL that I kept substituting with, probably because it was my most recent non-native working language.)
♥ language in dreams
The other funny thing about that is that it's a reminder of how differently we think, since I know a lot of people don't think in words and I definitely do. The other day I saw a discussion of dreaming in non-native languages, and several advanced language learners seemed convinced this phenomenon is either imaginary or "bogus" (not sure exactly what they meant by that), despite multilingual people assuring them it's real and normal. I remember my glee the first time I woke up and realized I'd been dreaming in Chinese. But I know a lot of people don't remember their dreams, either, so it must just be different brains with different experiences.
♥ AI face editing
Relatedly, I hadn't noticed any AI face editing until tonight, when I was watching my one of my favorite Taiwanese vloggers and suddenly thought, "wait, that's not a real face shape." (China has a relatively extreme "beauty filter" culture, and constant exposure to it may make people more likely to slide across the line from "very idealized" to "straight up anime" face without realizing it.) I googled AI face editing, and now I can't stop noticing people's teeth. I hope that passes quickly.
♥ AI face editing and faceblindness
Oh, but also, I found a helpful English video about a Chinese demonstration of AI face editing (the comments were definitely from non-Chinese viewers), and it included a demonstration of live AI face-swapping at the end. I'm faceblind, which I didn't think about at all until the face-swapping demonstration, because the face-editing was very clear to me. I could easily see the difference between the edited and unedited faces. But I could not see the difference between an original face and a face swap. It was amazing: the narrator would be like, "here's a Tom Cruise face swap" and I was like, "it's the same guy," and then the narrator would be like, "and here, obviously it's Scarlett Johannsen" and I was like, "what obviously; what are you talking about, it's obviously the same person."
So anyway, I don't know what that means, except that there's something different about AI face editing that's visible to me as a faceblind person in a way face-swapping isn't. (By comparison, I mean, I've never recognized editing without a comparison until tonight, and this wasn't "that face looks edited" or even "that face doesn't look real," but literally "that's not a normal human face shape." It looked perfectly real, it just wasn't biologically possible.)
♥ training with the pup
Finally, Daphne and I met with a dog trainer today, and as I told Marci, "I was impressed by him." She was like, "That's not a reaction you usually have to men." I know. So rare. (I often get along better with old men, and he says he's been training for 50 years, so maybe the pattern holds.) On the strength of our first meeting I agreed to a few "private" classes rather than a group class. No money was exchanged until the end of today's session, so I don't want to gush until we meet again, but he did everything right in the initial evaluation.
I was watching a Chinese vlogger open some mail and she was like, "If you can guess what's in this, leave a comment," and I immediately thought, "yi ben livre." Which is a combination of French and Chinese that I blame on Language Jones because youtube had just shown me a thumbnail of his video "Stop Mixing Languages." (And he speaks French, which I assume was the connection my brain made, since when I started learning Chinese it was ASL that I kept substituting with, probably because it was my most recent non-native working language.)
♥ language in dreams
The other funny thing about that is that it's a reminder of how differently we think, since I know a lot of people don't think in words and I definitely do. The other day I saw a discussion of dreaming in non-native languages, and several advanced language learners seemed convinced this phenomenon is either imaginary or "bogus" (not sure exactly what they meant by that), despite multilingual people assuring them it's real and normal. I remember my glee the first time I woke up and realized I'd been dreaming in Chinese. But I know a lot of people don't remember their dreams, either, so it must just be different brains with different experiences.
♥ AI face editing
Relatedly, I hadn't noticed any AI face editing until tonight, when I was watching my one of my favorite Taiwanese vloggers and suddenly thought, "wait, that's not a real face shape." (China has a relatively extreme "beauty filter" culture, and constant exposure to it may make people more likely to slide across the line from "very idealized" to "straight up anime" face without realizing it.) I googled AI face editing, and now I can't stop noticing people's teeth. I hope that passes quickly.
♥ AI face editing and faceblindness
Oh, but also, I found a helpful English video about a Chinese demonstration of AI face editing (the comments were definitely from non-Chinese viewers), and it included a demonstration of live AI face-swapping at the end. I'm faceblind, which I didn't think about at all until the face-swapping demonstration, because the face-editing was very clear to me. I could easily see the difference between the edited and unedited faces. But I could not see the difference between an original face and a face swap. It was amazing: the narrator would be like, "here's a Tom Cruise face swap" and I was like, "it's the same guy," and then the narrator would be like, "and here, obviously it's Scarlett Johannsen" and I was like, "what obviously; what are you talking about, it's obviously the same person."
So anyway, I don't know what that means, except that there's something different about AI face editing that's visible to me as a faceblind person in a way face-swapping isn't. (By comparison, I mean, I've never recognized editing without a comparison until tonight, and this wasn't "that face looks edited" or even "that face doesn't look real," but literally "that's not a normal human face shape." It looked perfectly real, it just wasn't biologically possible.)
♥ training with the pup
Finally, Daphne and I met with a dog trainer today, and as I told Marci, "I was impressed by him." She was like, "That's not a reaction you usually have to men." I know. So rare. (I often get along better with old men, and he says he's been training for 50 years, so maybe the pattern holds.) On the strength of our first meeting I agreed to a few "private" classes rather than a group class. No money was exchanged until the end of today's session, so I don't want to gush until we meet again, but he did everything right in the initial evaluation.
Works due July 11!
Jul. 7th, 2026 20:29summerofhorrorexchangeWorks are due July 11 at 8pm EDT. Here is a countdown.
We hope the creepiness is coming along nicely!
We hope the creepiness is coming along nicely!
Unwanted Update (part 1 of 2)
Jul. 7th, 2026 23:26dialecticdreamerUnwanted Update
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 2
Word count (story only): 761
[1 pm on Wednesday, 29 November of 2017]
:: Jules has to handle a glitch in his waiting job… or is it a glitch? Part of the Lodestar story arc in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
Jules parked his new surrey in the garage, patting his father’s motorcycle, or at least the custom cover fitted over it, on the way to the door into the utility room. His phone chimed with a text.
Then another.
Then three or four more.
( Read more... )
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 2
Word count (story only): 761
[1 pm on Wednesday, 29 November of 2017]
:: Jules has to handle a glitch in his waiting job… or is it a glitch? Part of the Lodestar story arc in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
Jules parked his new surrey in the garage, patting his father’s motorcycle, or at least the custom cover fitted over it, on the way to the door into the utility room. His phone chimed with a text.
Then another.
Then three or four more.
( Read more... )
Poem: "Its Weirdness Is Evident Without Comparison"
Jul. 7th, 2026 21:33ysabetwordsmithThis is today's freebie. It was inspired by a prompt from 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... )
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... )
move the coyotes
Jul. 7th, 2026 22:26starandreaI have several pictures of the "coyotes," but none at the top of my camera roll, so I searched my photos for "wolf" (since that's what these coyotes look like to me). My photos turned up an actual Irish Wolfhound, whom I don't remember meeting at all, along with several pictures of Mimi running, which I found hilarious and charming.
Then I searched for "coyote," and lo, this picture came up.
( coyote and friends )
One of our neighbors has two cardboard "coyotes" that she puts by the river to keep geese from coming up on the banking. Apparently real coyotes move, so the geese are more convinced by this ruse if the coyotes are not in the same place every time they pass by.
The same neighbor also has a hammock, hence my explanation, "She says the rent to sit in the hammock is to move the coyotes, so I moved a coyote."
(I first encountered the coyotes years ago, at night, while I was out walking with Mimi by flashlight. I genuinely though we had come upon a live animal and I quickly scooped Mimi up and backed away. Mimi was completely unworried, which I admitted after the fact should have been a clue.)
Then I searched for "coyote," and lo, this picture came up.
( coyote and friends )
One of our neighbors has two cardboard "coyotes" that she puts by the river to keep geese from coming up on the banking. Apparently real coyotes move, so the geese are more convinced by this ruse if the coyotes are not in the same place every time they pass by.
The same neighbor also has a hammock, hence my explanation, "She says the rent to sit in the hammock is to move the coyotes, so I moved a coyote."
(I first encountered the coyotes years ago, at night, while I was out walking with Mimi by flashlight. I genuinely though we had come upon a live animal and I quickly scooped Mimi up and backed away. Mimi was completely unworried, which I admitted after the fact should have been a clue.)
#157 Diffident / 199 Reticent -- Miami Vice -- Destruction or Salvation?
Jul. 7th, 2026 21:49mxcatmoon posting in vocab_drabblesTitle: Destruction or Salvation?
Fandom: Miami Vice
Author: Cat Moon
Rating: PG
Words: 954
Characters: Sonny Crockett, Orlando Jordan
Summary: When Sonny Crockett pays a visit to Orlando Jordan of the Broward County PD before heading out on his vacation, it only leaves Orlando with more questions than answers as he wonders about the bond between his old friend Rico and Rico's partner. Clearly, something is not quite right there. As for Sonny, it was something he needed to do.
( Destruction or Salvation? )
Fandom: Miami Vice
Author: Cat Moon
Rating: PG
Words: 954
Characters: Sonny Crockett, Orlando Jordan
Summary: When Sonny Crockett pays a visit to Orlando Jordan of the Broward County PD before heading out on his vacation, it only leaves Orlando with more questions than answers as he wonders about the bond between his old friend Rico and Rico's partner. Clearly, something is not quite right there. As for Sonny, it was something he needed to do.
( Destruction or Salvation? )
Daily Happiness
Jul. 7th, 2026 19:00torachan1. My stomach felt almost as bad this morning when I woke up, but once I got going, I started to feel a lot better, and it wasn't like yesterday where I'd feel better for a while but then anything I ate would make me feel worse again. Not quite 100% but mostly back to normal.
2. There was another ant invasion this morning, though not nearly as bad as yesterday. I was worried that despite my precautions and clean up this morning, I might come home to more after work, since yesterday we had both been home during the day to monitor any scouts and keep things from snowballing, but with Carla out of town, there's no one to keep an eye out during the day. But the diatomaceous earth I put down this morning seems to have been enough and there were no ants in the kitchen this evening and only a couple in the dining room near where they had been coming in. So hopefully I won't wake up to ants again tomorrow.
3. When I first moved offices last year, the area I was in was the coldest in the whole building, but then they made some change and it was the warmest. It was tolerable for the winter and spring, but it's really bad now and I was just sweltering at my desk this afternoon. I put in a request to the facility maintenance department and they said they will get it looked at ASAP so fingers crossed they can get it to a more reasonable temperature.
4. Look at this sweetie girl.
2. There was another ant invasion this morning, though not nearly as bad as yesterday. I was worried that despite my precautions and clean up this morning, I might come home to more after work, since yesterday we had both been home during the day to monitor any scouts and keep things from snowballing, but with Carla out of town, there's no one to keep an eye out during the day. But the diatomaceous earth I put down this morning seems to have been enough and there were no ants in the kitchen this evening and only a couple in the dining room near where they had been coming in. So hopefully I won't wake up to ants again tomorrow.
3. When I first moved offices last year, the area I was in was the coldest in the whole building, but then they made some change and it was the warmest. It was tolerable for the winter and spring, but it's really bad now and I was just sweltering at my desk this afternoon. I put in a request to the facility maintenance department and they said they will get it looked at ASAP so fingers crossed they can get it to a more reasonable temperature.
4. Look at this sweetie girl.
no fandom : icons : they've got ears
Jul. 7th, 2026 20:49highlander_ii posting in fan_flashworksTitle: they've got ears
Fandom: no fandom
Rating: G
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of mules and their big ears, made from images found on the interwebs
( they've got ears )
Fandom: no fandom
Rating: G
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of mules and their big ears, made from images found on the interwebs
( they've got ears )
(no subject)
Jul. 7th, 2026 17:47greghousesgfI went to my favorite cafe today but could only get a slice of vanilla cake because they ran out of the other cake flavors and I got hassled by some old fart bible thumper on the way home, I told him to leave me alone because I'm an atheist and I saw him walk into traffic as I went inside my bldg. He probably thinks god will stop cars from hitting him. It was a short walk because the cafe is right in my neighborhood but my legs hurt so bad anyway.
July Prompt
Jul. 7th, 2026 19:20enchanted_jae posting in dove_drabblesHello everyone; welcome to the comm! Here is the prompt for July:
Prompt # 153: Small steps can still walk miles
Use the phrase itself, or simply convey the meaning. I'm not sure what it means, myself, but let's have fun with it!
How it Works:
-Prompts will come from the messages on the inside of the wrappers of chocolate Dove candies.
-Prompts will be posted at the beginning of each month.
-You may use the prompt as a direct quote, a phrase, or simply convey it somehow in your creation.
-You're free to write/draw any fandom, pairing, threesome, gen fic, etc.
-Fic of all length, art, drabbles, drawbles, poetry, etc, are all welcome.
-Combine the prompt with other challenges, etc if you can.
-Please crosspost your entry to the community. (You may of course post to your journal and simply link back when you post to the community.)
-You have until the last day of the month to submit an entry.
-If you wish, you can also post on the ao3 collection.
Posting header for LJ/DW.
Anyone can join in. Please submit your drabble/fic/art to the community by the end of the month.
Prompt # 153: Small steps can still walk miles
Use the phrase itself, or simply convey the meaning. I'm not sure what it means, myself, but let's have fun with it!
How it Works:
-Prompts will come from the messages on the inside of the wrappers of chocolate Dove candies.
-Prompts will be posted at the beginning of each month.
-You may use the prompt as a direct quote, a phrase, or simply convey it somehow in your creation.
-You're free to write/draw any fandom, pairing, threesome, gen fic, etc.
-Fic of all length, art, drabbles, drawbles, poetry, etc, are all welcome.
-Combine the prompt with other challenges, etc if you can.
-Please crosspost your entry to the community. (You may of course post to your journal and simply link back when you post to the community.)
-You have until the last day of the month to submit an entry.
-If you wish, you can also post on the ao3 collection.
Posting header for LJ/DW.
Anyone can join in. Please submit your drabble/fic/art to the community by the end of the month.
round 65: text
Jul. 7th, 2026 19:57word_never_said posting in fandom10in30Preview:
10 Widow's Bay & My Lady Jane
the rest are here @stillpermanentt
10 Widow's Bay & My Lady Jane
the rest are here @
stillpermanenttReading Darkover in the 21st Century: The Forbidden Tower
Jul. 7th, 2026 17:51patrick_morris_miller
First publication in 1977 by DAW Books (DAW Collectors #256)
Read from DAW omnibus The Forbidden Circle (DAW Collectors #1239)
Time period: Against the Terrans - The First Age (Recontact)
The Spell Sword ended with Callista rescued and the Great Cat vanquished, and the future looks bright for our four friends and lovers. Marion Zimmer Bradley could never let a happy ending stand...
( Read more... )