Feathering the Nest
Jun. 24th, 2025 12:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithdialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest, which always has a theme of fluff and comfort. Leave prompts, get ficlets!ysabetwordsmithdialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest, which always has a theme of fluff and comfort. Leave prompts, get ficlets!
Communication
Jun. 23rd, 2025 05:11 pmysabetwordsmithAmericans share their hopes for the country on 'wish walls' nationwide. The responses are surprisingly unifying
On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th birthday. To prepare for the big celebration, museums across the country are inviting the public to answer the question: “What’s your wish for America’s future?”
In a project designed by 26-year-old artist Katie Costa and developed by Made By Us, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement among Gen-Z, thousands are responding.
( Read more... )
On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th birthday. To prepare for the big celebration, museums across the country are inviting the public to answer the question: “What’s your wish for America’s future?”
In a project designed by 26-year-old artist Katie Costa and developed by Made By Us, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement among Gen-Z, thousands are responding.
( Read more... )Solutions
Jun. 23rd, 2025 05:09 pmysabetwordsmithNew cheese packaging decomposes in 300 days, not 1,000 years: 'The solution was in the cheese itself'
As an alternative to single-use plastic wrapping, Ogilvy Colombia and Nestlé Central America have created “Self-Packing Cheese.”
The new biodegradable film is designed to decompose within 300 days of disposal — in stark contrast to the estimated 1,000 years it takes for standard plastic to break down.
And it’s entirely made from cheese waste and whey.
Now that's brilliant! Admittedly, we tend to buy block cheese or shredded cheese rather than slices, but lots of people prefer slices.
As an alternative to single-use plastic wrapping, Ogilvy Colombia and Nestlé Central America have created “Self-Packing Cheese.”
The new biodegradable film is designed to decompose within 300 days of disposal — in stark contrast to the estimated 1,000 years it takes for standard plastic to break down.
And it’s entirely made from cheese waste and whey.
Now that's brilliant! Admittedly, we tend to buy block cheese or shredded cheese rather than slices, but lots of people prefer slices.
Monday Update 6-23-25
Jun. 23rd, 2025 02:21 pmysabetwordsmithThese are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Photos: Barnyard Picture
Birdfeeding
Book Bans
Philosophical Questions: Harm
Today's Adventures
Books
Birdfeeding
Photos: Charleston Food Forest
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Recipe: "Pretzel Bread Savory Bread Pudding with Ham"
Birdfeeding
Heat
Photos: Charleston Library Butterfly Gardens
Follow Friday 6-20-25: Highlander
Today's Adventures
Recipe: "Chicken Stir-Fry with Mushrooms and Swiss Chard"
Birdfeeding
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party
"Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 36 comments. "Not a Destination, But a Process" has 141 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 91 comments.
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summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the current theme is "Theme for June 16th throuth 30th: Forced 69."
"In the Heart of the Hidden Garden" belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It needs $66 to be fully funded. Lawrence shows Stan the Iron Courtyard garden.
The weather has been sweltering here and is predicted to remain so for the rest of the week. The weekend currently predicts rain, though. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, several mourning doves, a male cardinal, a catbird, a skunk, a fox squirrel, and at least 1 probably 2 bats. Zucchini has flower buds. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, red coreopsis, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, Asiatic lilies, cucumber, astilbe, daylilies, snowball bush, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory. The first 'Chocolate Sprinkles' tomato ripened. Blackberries and tomatoes have fruit showing color. Wild strawberries, mulberries, and black raspberries are ripe.
Photos: Barnyard Picture
Birdfeeding
Book Bans
Philosophical Questions: Harm
Today's Adventures
Books
Birdfeeding
Photos: Charleston Food Forest
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Recipe: "Pretzel Bread Savory Bread Pudding with Ham"
Birdfeeding
Heat
Photos: Charleston Library Butterfly Gardens
Follow Friday 6-20-25: Highlander
Today's Adventures
Recipe: "Chicken Stir-Fry with Mushrooms and Swiss Chard"
Birdfeeding
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party
"Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 36 comments. "Not a Destination, But a Process" has 141 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 91 comments.
summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the current theme is "Theme for June 16th throuth 30th: Forced 69.""In the Heart of the Hidden Garden" belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It needs $66 to be fully funded. Lawrence shows Stan the Iron Courtyard garden.
The weather has been sweltering here and is predicted to remain so for the rest of the week. The weekend currently predicts rain, though. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, several mourning doves, a male cardinal, a catbird, a skunk, a fox squirrel, and at least 1 probably 2 bats. Zucchini has flower buds. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, red coreopsis, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, Asiatic lilies, cucumber, astilbe, daylilies, snowball bush, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory. The first 'Chocolate Sprinkles' tomato ripened. Blackberries and tomatoes have fruit showing color. Wild strawberries, mulberries, and black raspberries are ripe.
Birdfeeding
Jun. 23rd, 2025 02:17 pmysabetwordsmithToday is partly sunny and sweltering.
I fed the birds, including a refill of the thistle feeder. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/23/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden.
I've seen a gray catbird.
EDIT 6/23/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
Fireflies are coming out.
EDIT 6/23/25 -- I watered the new picnic table plants and the septic garden.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds, including a refill of the thistle feeder. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/23/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden.
I've seen a gray catbird.
EDIT 6/23/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
Fireflies are coming out.
EDIT 6/23/25 -- I watered the new picnic table plants and the septic garden.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Audience Becomes Choir
Jun. 23rd, 2025 12:37 amysabetwordsmithThis performance from AGT snagged my attention, in which the contestant turns the audience into a choir.
1) Some people with Bardic gift can share theirs with other people; it's rare but I've known people who could do it. That's likely part of this.
2) Some people have a gift for conveying abstract ideas visually, which is rare enough, but doing it intuitively like that is really rare and impressive. Musical scores are precise but take a lot of training to read, especially sight-read without practice. Creating a visual representation of a song in three voices (high, middle, low) with indications of pitch and duration -- which works well as demonstrated -- is epic.
Business world: "Dammit, I wish we had someone that good with visuals to do whiteboard notes for our meetings."
Music world: "We saw her first."
1) Some people with Bardic gift can share theirs with other people; it's rare but I've known people who could do it. That's likely part of this.
2) Some people have a gift for conveying abstract ideas visually, which is rare enough, but doing it intuitively like that is really rare and impressive. Musical scores are precise but take a lot of training to read, especially sight-read without practice. Creating a visual representation of a song in three voices (high, middle, low) with indications of pitch and duration -- which works well as demonstrated -- is epic.
Business world: "Dammit, I wish we had someone that good with visuals to do whiteboard notes for our meetings."
Music world: "We saw her first."
Photos: Barnyard Picture
Jun. 22nd, 2025 11:54 pmysabetwordsmithHanging this picture of a barnyard was one of my goals for the year. \o/ It took us a lot of fuss and bother, but we got it up there eventually!
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
New verses in "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden"
Jun. 22nd, 2025 09:53 pmysabetwordsmithThanks to a donation from lone_cat, there are 24 new verses of "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden." Lawrence shows Stan the Iron Courtyard.
lone_cat, there are 24 new verses of "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden." Lawrence shows Stan the Iron Courtyard.Birdfeeding
Jun. 22nd, 2025 02:19 pmysabetwordsmithToday is partly sunny and sweltering. It's 87°F and the heat index is 95°F. :P A beautiful day to stay indoors and write!
I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows and house finches, several mourning doves, and a fox squirrel.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 6/22/25 -- I watered the plants on the new picnic table.
EDIT 6/22/25 -- I watered the old picnic table and house yard, and the septic garden.
I've seen at least one, possibly two bats. Lots of fireflies are out.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows and house finches, several mourning doves, and a fox squirrel.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 6/22/25 -- I watered the plants on the new picnic table.
EDIT 6/22/25 -- I watered the old picnic table and house yard, and the septic garden.
I've seen at least one, possibly two bats. Lots of fireflies are out.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Pride Month
Jun. 22nd, 2025 12:45 pmysabetwordsmithDuck Prints Press is doing a set of 10 pride dragons that will be available on stickers and other swag. These are kawaii dragons rather than fierce ones, but sometimes people want a non-confrontational signal.
Book Bans
Jun. 22nd, 2025 12:03 amysabetwordsmithOregon has passed a bill to protect school libraries from book bans.
Another win for freedom to read legislation on the West Coast this week, as Oregon’s state House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1098 on Monday, a bill that will protect access to books in school libraries. It’s great news: books can no longer be banned solely because they discuss sexuality, religion, or other topics, nor can books be removed because they are written by someone from a protected class. SB 1098 now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it into law.
I'm delighted to see laws against book bans spreading. To promote this, point out that it will save lots of time and therefore money that is currently wasted dealing with attempt after attempt to tell other people what books they can't read. Most people love saving time and money, and will thus support the effort even if they don't care about books or freedom.
Another win for freedom to read legislation on the West Coast this week, as Oregon’s state House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1098 on Monday, a bill that will protect access to books in school libraries. It’s great news: books can no longer be banned solely because they discuss sexuality, religion, or other topics, nor can books be removed because they are written by someone from a protected class. SB 1098 now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it into law.
I'm delighted to see laws against book bans spreading. To promote this, point out that it will save lots of time and therefore money that is currently wasted dealing with attempt after attempt to tell other people what books they can't read. Most people love saving time and money, and will thus support the effort even if they don't care about books or freedom.
Philosophical Questions: Harm
Jun. 21st, 2025 11:56 pmysabetwordsmithPeople have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
How far should governments go to prevent its citizens from causing harm to themselves?
( Read more... )
How far should governments go to prevent its citizens from causing harm to themselves?
( Read more... )Books
Jun. 21st, 2025 04:03 pmysabetwordsmithA Rainbow of Queer Books for Pride 2025: Turquoise
HAPPY PRIDE 2025! For Pride this year, we’re changing up our usual rec lists. Instead of doing books with specific identities or themes, we’re focused this time on cover color! Throughout the month of June, we’ll be doing 8 rec lists, each with covers inspired by one of the colors of the original Gilbert Baker Pride Flag. We drew a little additional inspiration from the meaning behind the color and why it was included in the original LGBTQIA+ flag (in this case, turquoise = magic), but we prioritized color over meaning. The contributors to this list are: May Barros, Rhosyn Goodfellow, Linnea Peterson, Tris Lawrence, Sebastian Marie, Shannon, Rascal Hartley, and Nina Waters.
HAPPY PRIDE 2025! For Pride this year, we’re changing up our usual rec lists. Instead of doing books with specific identities or themes, we’re focused this time on cover color! Throughout the month of June, we’ll be doing 8 rec lists, each with covers inspired by one of the colors of the original Gilbert Baker Pride Flag. We drew a little additional inspiration from the meaning behind the color and why it was included in the original LGBTQIA+ flag (in this case, turquoise = magic), but we prioritized color over meaning. The contributors to this list are: May Barros, Rhosyn Goodfellow, Linnea Peterson, Tris Lawrence, Sebastian Marie, Shannon, Rascal Hartley, and Nina Waters.
Birdfeeding
Jun. 21st, 2025 12:26 pmysabetwordsmithToday is mostly sunny, muggy, and hot.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/21/25 -- Temperature when we went out shopping was 94°F. Temperature in our yard is currently 88°F. Trees sweat so you don't have to!
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio. The evening has started to cool off a little.
I've seen a mourning dove.
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I watered the patio plants and the ones in the house yard including the old picnic table.
Fireflies are starting to appear.
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and the savanna seedlings.
More fireflies are out. :D
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and the septic garden.
As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/21/25 -- Temperature when we went out shopping was 94°F. Temperature in our yard is currently 88°F. Trees sweat so you don't have to!
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio. The evening has started to cool off a little.
I've seen a mourning dove.
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I watered the patio plants and the ones in the house yard including the old picnic table.
Fireflies are starting to appear.
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and the savanna seedlings.
More fireflies are out. :D
EDIT 6/21/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and the septic garden.
As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
Photos: Charleston Food Forest
Jun. 21st, 2025 02:03 amysabetwordsmithThese pictures are from Thursday. I went foraging at the Charleston Food Forest. It's across the parking lot from the Coles County Community Garden.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Jun. 21st, 2025 12:16 amysabetwordsmithThe Coles County Community Garden is across the parking lot from the Charleston Food Forest. It's not the kind where you rent a bed and grow what you want. It's tended by the community and anyone can come pick things to try.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )Recipe: "Pretzel Bread Savory Bread Pudding with Ham"
Jun. 20th, 2025 10:18 pmysabetwordsmithWe made this tonight. It was delicious! We used some of the pretzel bread that we got at the Marshall Farmer's Market.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )Birdfeeding
Jun. 20th, 2025 05:09 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and muggy.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches. I also saw a male cardinal and a squirrel up in the trees.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/20/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 6/20/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked the first 'Chocolate Sprinkles' tomato and several 'Toscana' strawberries. I love the Toscanas and will definitely buy more if I see them next spring.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches. I also saw a male cardinal and a squirrel up in the trees.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 6/20/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 6/20/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked the first 'Chocolate Sprinkles' tomato and several 'Toscana' strawberries. I love the Toscanas and will definitely buy more if I see them next spring.
