Braille Reader

Sep. 11th, 2025 04:35 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tiny explosion-powered braille screen could boost literacy for blind students

Scientists have created a new, durable, multi-line braille display device, which is water and dirt-resistant.

Interestingly, it can simultaneously display multiple lines of braille and even complex graphics like emojis.

Hobbies: Knitting

Sep. 11th, 2025 12:02 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Folks have mentioned an interest in questions and conversations that make them think. So I've decided to offer more of those. This batch features hobbies.

Knitting is a fibercraft hobby of making things from yarn with a pair of pointy sticks, mostly clothes but also toys and other stuff. If you feel frustrated by planned obsolescence, artificial intelligence, and other current issues then consider knitting as a form of protest. Nothing says "Fuck off, fast fashion!" like knitting a 100% natural-fiber garment that will last for years and years.

On Dreamwidth, consider communities like [community profile] crafty, [community profile] everykindofcraft, [community profile] dwsockclub, [community profile] get_knitted, [community profile] justcreate, and [community profile] knittingpix.

Read more... )

Today's Adventures

Sep. 10th, 2025 10:39 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to Mattoon.

Read more... )

Music

Sep. 10th, 2025 06:17 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This flash mob put on a complex performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody."

It reminds me very much of the "musical dimension" -- the world in which people naturally, spontaneously form into teams for song and dance routines. People here are just using prosthetic technology to substitute for whatever energy phenomenon allows that in Musical Land. :D

Birdfeeding

Sep. 10th, 2025 02:30 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly cloudy and hot.

I fed the birds.  Lots of sparrows and house finches today.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a male cardinal.

I picked several groundcherries.

EDIT 9/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/10/25 -- I watered the new picnic table, telephone pole garden, and some of the savanna seedlings.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

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

Cuddle Party

Sep. 10th, 2025 12:04 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.

We have a
cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!

Today's Cooking

Sep. 9th, 2025 10:46 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tonight I'm making the Tomato Basil Bread on page 15 of Hello! 365 Tomato Recipes.  It uses dried basil flakes and sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, rather than fresh, so it can be made any time of the year.  We are planning this as an accompaniment to a meatloaf later this week.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- The result is ... interesting.  Way sweeter than we expected.  It will probably work as an accompaniment to meatloaf, but I'm not sure it'll work as sandwich bread.

Libraries

Sep. 9th, 2025 07:55 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Library Loot on [personal profile] chroniclesofreading 
Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
See the tag feed.

Exoplanets

Sep. 9th, 2025 03:33 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Planet birth photographed for the first time

For the first time, a growing planet outside our solar system has been discovered to inhabit a gap in a disk of dust and gas.

Astronomers have directly spotted a rare young planet, WISPIT 2b, still forming within the gap of a dusty ringed disk around a star like our sun—something long theorized but never observed until now
.

Birdfeeding

Sep. 9th, 2025 02:46 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, plus one tiny brownish-olive bird I couldn't identify.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I bagged up 21 Ginger Gold apple seeds with damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator.

I watered the telephone pole garden and some of the savanna seedlings.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did some work around the yard.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did more work around the yard.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I watered the old picnic table plants and the new picnic table plants.

I picked some groundcherries.  :D

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

Moment of Silence: Acelightning

Sep. 9th, 2025 01:08 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
I spotted this, for those of your interested:

Online Memorial

In case you have not signed up and would like to, a Virtual Memorial for Alice Stewart/Acelightning has been set up as a Zoom meeting starting Sept 13 2025 at 1:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada).

To sign up please send an email to MemorialForAceLightning@gmail.com to get specific details.

Thanks to all that want to come.

Magpie Monday

Sep. 9th, 2025 02:51 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Lost and Found."


Welcome to another prompt call! This month’s theme is Lost and Found. That could mean a literal box of random things left behind in a diner just off a freeway connection, a person wandering back and forth, unable to translate what they know from the map into the correct spot to wait for an upcoming bus, or the metaphorical sense of “Well, NOW what?” after being stranded by a flat tire on the way to a Very Important job interview.
[---8<---]
For each reader who offers an idea, I’ll write at least a thousand words. That’s about four pages, but let’s be honest, I tend to lean into it, so that’s truly a minimum word count. Estimate four to five minutes of reading time, which is just about perfect for a good rest with a cup of your favorite beverage and your feet up.
[---8<---]
Readers who might want to sponsor a story, thank you. Feel free to message me as soon as an interesting summary goes up. The usual request is two cents per word, or $20 per 1k words, and that’s steep for today’s pockets. It’s perfectly fine to sponsor a story other than the one for which someone prompted; that doubles the fun for the amount spent. Sponsored stories will get another typo hunt, then be posted with either an anonymous or named sponsor (let me know if you wish to be acknowledged, but I default to anonymous sponsorships). Many thanks.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This month's theme was "Communication Styles." I wrote from 1:30 PM to 3:45 AM, so about 11 hours 45 minutes, allowing for lunch and supper breaks. I wrote 5 poems on Tuesday and actually finished everything. \o/

Participation was about the same, with 6 comments on LiveJournal and another 30 on Dreamwidth. A total of 9 people sent prompts.


Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the September 2, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:

"Bring Unique Qualities"
"For Those Who Work at It"
"The Only Thing That You Absolutely Have to Know"
"A Reader, an Interpreter, and a Creator"
"Simple and to the Point"


Buy some poetry!
The September fishbowl sold out! Wow, that hasn't happened in a while. You are all awesome.

If you've been wanting to sponsor an older poem, or commission something new, now is a good time -- I have time to post things. Ask me if you need a list of available poems in your favorite series, characters, topics, etc.


This month's donors include: [personal profile] janetmiles and [personal profile] fuzzyred. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 0 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.


The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Walkability

Sep. 8th, 2025 09:55 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Can we imagine life without cars?

The builders of a car-free community in Arizona want to find out.

Read more... )

Poem: "Bring Unique Qualities"

Sep. 8th, 2025 08:19 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the September 2, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] see_also_friend, and [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "affiliate" square in my 9-1-25 card for the Piracy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the series Daughters of the Apocalypse.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the September 2, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from [personal profile] mama_kestrel and [personal profile] librarygeek. It also fills the "patch" square in my 9-1-25 card for the Piracy Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Sep. 8th, 2025 12:37 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and mild.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/8/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

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

Monday Update 9-8-25

Sep. 8th, 2025 12:59 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Mantra
Today's Cooking
Poem
Green Energy
Birdfeeding
Crafts
Birdfeeding
Artificial Intelligence
Philosophical Questions: Economy
Climate Change
Neighborly Request
Today's Adventures
Friday Five
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 9-5-25: Internet
Food
Affordable Housing
Birdfeeding
Bad Advice
Hobbies: Sewing
Wildlife
Education
Hard Things

Let's Boycott Mississippi has 54 comments. Affordable Housing has 41 comments. Robotics has 68 comments. Food has 37 comments. "Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 53 comments.


[community profile] summerofthe69 has concluded. See Closing Ceremonies for a list of all works. The Amnesty post is also up.


"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $200 to be complete. Shiv attends the first session of his Worldbuilding class.


The weather is still mild to warm and quite dry. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a gray catbird, a male rose-breasted grosbeak, and a gray squirrel. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, purple echinacea, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant, firewheel, cypress vine, sunchokes, sedum. Tomatoes, ball carrots, cucumbers, and groundcherries are ripe.

Physics

Sep. 8th, 2025 12:55 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This video demonstrates how the location of mass affects travel downhill.

If you want to build a wheel, put as much of the mass as close to the hub as possible for more efficient travel. Here is an old wagonwheel. See how the center is built up? That's not just to strengthen the area around the axle, it makes the wheel work better.

Mantra

Sep. 7th, 2025 11:03 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
We were watching Miraculous Ladybug tonight, and one of the characters said something that sounded very useful to me: "My anger is mine, but I am not my anger."  It seems like an effective way to acknowledge any overwhelming emotion without letting it run away with you.
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