dolorosa_12: (persephone lore olympus)
[personal profile] dolorosa_12
So much distance in between
But we're running towards the same dream
Now we're running towards the same dream




It looks as if the very Sultan + Shepard place (i.e. earnest sincerity) in which I've been for much of 2025 is going to be the mood I carry into 2026.
trobadora: (Clan Immortal)
[personal profile] trobadora
*wraps hands around mug of tea*

I just got back from my midnight walk - like every year when I'm spending New Year's Eve alone (which is most years), I went out half an hour before midnight, walked into the old town, and watched the fireworks. I wore the new coat I got just a few days ago - it's warmer than my existing one, and I wanted it for the very cold days. Which, uh, today actually wasn't, so I ended up pretty toasty. But still, tea! *g*

*belatedly remembers to clink glasses mugs*

Happy new year, everyone!

I hope you had a good slide*, or will have one if it's still in the future for you!


*) That's the idiom here - in advance, you wish people "einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr", a good slide into the new year. There are different explanations for it, but there's attested 19th century slang where sliding is used for travelling/going somewhere, so that makes the most sense to me.

Wednesday Reading Meme

Dec. 31st, 2025 01:43 pm
spikedluv: (winter: mittens by raynedanser)
[personal profile] spikedluv
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall.


What I am Currently Reading: Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher.


What I Plan to Read Next: I have another library book on my shelf and two requested, so probably one of those.




Book 113 of 2025: Boyfriend Material (Alexis Hall)

I'm not sure I have the words to tell you how good this book was. I mean, I was wary because more than one person on my f-list has said it was really good and I was like, but what if I'm the one person who doesn't like it? I did not have to worry about that because I liked it a great deal. So much! spoilers )

I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥
oursin: Photograph of small impressionistic metal figurine seated reading a book (Reader)
[personal profile] oursin

What I read

Finished Pointed Roofs - gosh, how bizarre is that German girls' school? It seems more like somewhere that parents send their little darlings to until marriagable age, and actual education is not a priority.

Simon R Green, Which Witch (The Holy Terrors #3) (2025), enjoyable popcorn read.

Which could also be said for Simon Brett, Death in the Dressing Room (A Fethering Mystery, #22) (2025), phoning it in a bit perhaps.

I thought Janice Hallett, The Killer Question (2025), was doing the opposite of phoning it in and straining too hard. This might be the thing one sees when a writer has done Something Fresh and Exciting but there comes a point when that is hard to sustain and there is a feeling that they have scurried around a bit and it feels kinds of effortful.

Matt Houlbrook, Songs of Seven Dials: An Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London (2025) (which is, I may point out, well after the epoch of Seven Dials in which I have shown interest....). It's very good, very readable, if I had been sent it for review I might have made a few quibbles - e.g. on the basis of the evidence he adduces about the changes going on in the area, even if the mixed race couple the Kittens hadn't brought a libel suit against entrenched wealthy interests, wouldn't their cafe have had to close eventually anyway? Also was reminded of those lecture by Gayle Rubin on the leather community in San Francisco and how very specific local contingent factors meant that certain phenomena could arise, also very much within a specific time. Also that cities (if they are places where things are still happening rather than historical relics) tend to see changes all the time and there is a fluidity around spaces.

On the go

Still on the go, Diary at the Centre of the Earth, which I am enjoying a lot.

Exasperatingly, because of the e-reader issue and because Some Men in London 1960-1967 alleged it was not properly authorised I had to reauthorise my reader via Adobe Digital Editions, as a result of which a large number of my books have been removed from the ereader, including that one, removing my place markers when I reimported it.

Up next

Should probably get on to Anthony Powell, Hearing Secret Harmonies (A Dance to the Music of Time #12 (1975) for the final meeting of the book-group next month.

Wicked 2

Dec. 31st, 2025 05:44 pm
profiterole_reads: (Nü Er Hong - Shi Yi and Hua Yu Tang)
[personal profile] profiterole_reads
Wicked 2 (my local cinema finally showed it!) was great, but a little too long. Since it's the sadder half of the story, it's obviously less enjoyable.

But at least they love each other! <3
geraineon: (Default)
[personal profile] geraineon posting in [community profile] cnovels
It's already Jan 1, 2026 where I am, so wishing everyone a very happy new year and I hope that this year will treat you much better than the last.

This is also your weekly read-in-progress post~

For spoilers:

<details><summary>insert summary</summary>Your spoilers goes here</details>

<b>Highlight for spoilers!*</b><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF; color: #FFFFFF">Your spoilers goes here.</span>*

Yuletide recs!

Dec. 31st, 2025 05:06 pm
trobadora: (Discworld: Hogfather)
[personal profile] trobadora
I've been a bit slow reading this year, but I couldn't let the year end without a batch of recs! Here are some stories I really enjoyed in the Yuletide collections this year.

17 recs in 22 Fandoms: Amadeus (1984), Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Alias (TV), Ancient History RPF, The Angel of the Crows - Katherine Addison, British Airways "May We Haveth One's Attention" Safety Video, Classical Greece and Rome History & Literature RPF, Coldfire Trilogy - C. S. Friedman, FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns, Hamlet - Shakespeare, Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie, Jorinde und Joringel | Jorinde and Joringel (Fairy Tale), Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers, Miss Marple - Agatha Christie, Mulan (Disney Animated Movies), 莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV), Numinous World Series - Jo Graham, Der Ring des Nibelungen | The Ring of the Nibelung - Wagner, The Philosophers Series - Tom Miller, Stargate Atlantis, Stealing Fire - Jo Graham, Troades | The Trojan Women - Euripides

Roughly in alphabetical order by fandom )
dreamy_dragon73: (night sky blue)
[personal profile] dreamy_dragon73 posting in [community profile] c_ent
Some of us are already in the new year while some us are still heading towards it and once again I’m curious:

1. What are your most anticipated cdramas/cmovies/cnovels for 2026?

2. What is on your personal watchlist/reading list – something you’re really keen on – for 2026?

3. If you do rewatch/reread things, anything you’re particularly looking forward to enjoying again in 2026?
spikedluv: (winter: mittens by raynedanser)
[personal profile] spikedluv
I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so got up and fooled around on the internet. (You might have noticed an early comment from me. *g*) The original plan was to go downtown, even though it actually felt weird to do so after three days staying home, and hit Price Chopper and Walmart. That plan changed when Pip called to tell me that the main road I’d be traveling was closed in at least three places (due to the heavy winds all night blowing snow onto the road). Easy decision to stay home. I’ll just have to do my shopping tomorrow, so *fingers crossed* I’m still feeling pretty good.

Pip called me again around 6:30am (it was early, but it felt later since I’d already been up for over 3 hours) to tell me that one of his employees was headed to urgent care with the same thing Pip had. He admitted that at one point he’d felt bad enough that he probably should have gone to urgent care, but he doesn’t like to admit to things like that in the moment. I hope I don’t start feeling like I want to head to urgent care. o_O But if this guy gets diagnosed, at least I’ll know what’s going on. Also, we’re guessing that Pip probably caught it at the garage Christmas party. Arrgh at people going out when they know they’re sick!

I have the stuffy AND runny nose today. How is it fair that you are stuffed up so you can't breathe, and also your nose is running?!! So far nothing worse. *fingers crossed*

I did three loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the bathroom sink and toilet bowl, went for a couple walks with the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, returned a book to the library (when I was already out, I didn’t make a special trip!), placed a Chewy order, and shaved. I put a pork roast in the crock pot and made pulled pork for supper.

Since I stayed home I was able to type in one of my fic; I added 1,800 words to my Murder, She Wrote/Hudson & Rex crossover! AND got it posted, which is a nice bonus. I went with the Earl Grey tea today because I wanted something familiar and comforting. I sat down on the bed to write and ended up taking an hour nap with Midnight on my lap. I also watched-watched more Secrets of the Zoo.

Temps started out at 16.9(F) (interesting because the high is forecasted to be 18!) and reached 24.1. The wind was seriously ridiculous! In some places the walking trail was blown clear, and in others the snow was at least six inches deep. And walking into the wind felt like it was trying to push me backwards. Also, the roads weren’t great when I went out to pick up Ti. We live off of Route 20, which is a four-lane ‘highway’ here. The snow usually covers one lane when the wind is blowing, maybe edging a bit into a second lane, but today it covered all four! And visibility wasn’t great because of the blowing snow. I wonder when the wind is going to stop?!!


Mom Update:

I talked to mom and she sounded pretty good. I sound like a broken record, but it feels weird not to see her at least a few times a week.
dolorosa_12: (ocean)
[personal profile] dolorosa_12
The last day of 2025 dawned clear, freezing, and frosty. I've spent the morning curled up in the living room, watching the sun rise, drinking Christmas spiced coffee, and reflecting on the year that was. I've been enjoying seeing everyone else's thoughts on their own 2025; mine are behind the cut.

And the only sound is the broken sea )

(no subject)

Dec. 31st, 2025 09:36 am

Meetings, visit, future trip planning

Dec. 30th, 2025 11:24 pm
walkitout: (Default)
[personal profile] walkitout
After catching up on the trip blogging, and writing up the whole Fraud Event, I had a couple zoom (not really, they were google meet but same same) meetings (OAC / MEPFP and one about the front door). I also reached out to Yujiled regarding the order I placed with them back on the 11th. They said they’d been emailing me and it must have gone to spam. Yeah, no, that’s not how it works with gmail, but sure we will pretend. They said they were out of stock on the linear fixtures, and neither of the types of fixture I ordered were certified for use in the US. *sigh* So at least they started the refund process promptly, which is nice.

But now I need a different lighting plan in the exercise room. I looked for dimmable high CRI linear lights over at Waveform. We’re using their shop lights in the garage, but they are not dimmable. To get dimmability, we gotta go with strip lights, so I worked out the linear feet of Centric strip (the 99CRI product seems excessive), and how many power supplies I think we would need, and what I think is the right amount of aluminum channel and set up an order page on Waveform and that is a much smaller number than the fixtures I’m getting refunded on from Yujiled. So I guess there’s that. I emailed my new proposal off to E. from the architect and the project management team, after going over it with R. fairly carefully. It’s all very tiring and a little sad. I briefly looked at Coelux, and decided Just No. At least everything is in stock.

M. came over for a visit. That was nice.

I texted with my sister’s family about future con weekends and I made hotel reservations. Flying back from one of the cons was going to be on a really crowded and ludicrously expensive flight, so I decided not to buy plane tickets for that weekend. It’s a long drive, but we’ve done ones that long before, so I think I’ll just drive the van down. I booked Acela for the other con. We’re staying at the official con hotel in both cases, which is nice, and I got four rooms for the five of us, so hopefully everyone will be very comfortable.

I also researched dining options for an Orlando trip, since we’ve never been to Epic before, and also it will have been a full year since we were at WDW (since we went to California for the holidays instead of Orlando). There’s always a certain amount of turnover. Shula’s is gone, and I’m not a huge fan of the replacement steakhouse, so I think I’ll aim for the steakhouse at the Contemporary instead. I really enjoyed that a couple years ago.

Next up is poking at restaurants for the con weekends; I’ll dig back through blog posts to refresh my memory on what we enjoyed and what was meh, and figure out if there’s anything new and awesome.
trobadora: (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu - back to back)
[personal profile] trobadora
I haven't been having a great time and was in desperate need of a distraction, so first I took approximately fifty billion Guardian screencaps and made a picspam/quiz (hoping to see more people play!), and then I found a short drama to watch:

江湖夜雨终似梦 | Realm's Night Rain Dreamlike

It's a wuxia drama that takes quite a bit of inspiration from Word of Honor and is full of wuxia tropes besides. Two jianghu wanderers run into each other - one is on a revenge quest, the other is trying to fulfil a dead man's last wish by delivering a letter. I've seen people call them "budget Wen Kexing and budget Zhou Zishu", but that's rather reductive, not the least because both characters have elements of both Word of Honor characters. *g*

Anyway, I enjoyed this quite a bit! Jiang Hu (yes, that's what he's called) and Yeyu are both very fun characters with a great dynamic that shifts multiple times in multiple ways, and the plot and the revelations hold together pretty well. If I have one criticism, it's how brutal it is to the female characters. But one thing I appreciated was that the villains weren't all one-dimensional, and more than one of them got a backstory showing how they got to where they ended up, too. Well worth a watch.

This is on Youtube in 24 episodes, or 12 episodes or a compilation - the total runtime is 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Unfortuntately the soundtrack on Youtube is missing the background music in various places (and the compiled video seems to be missing some of the dialogue too?), but the subtitles are pretty good!

Ending spoilers: Highlight to read! *No happy ending here, alas. Both main characters die together.*

Btw, about the title - this is one of those "quote/saying in the title; characters named after it" kind of things - the first four characters are from a poem, and are also the main characters' names: jianghu ye yu - literally "night rain in (or of) the jianghu". That sort of allusion makes the whole thing basically untranslatable, and the English translation is made even more opaque by rendering "jianghu" as "realm". *g*

Jiang Hu quotes the relevant lines at the end of the last episode: 桃李春风一杯酒,江湖夜雨十年灯 - from a Song dynasty poem, 寄黄几复 "Writing to Huang Jifu" by 黄庭坚 Huang Tingjian.

I looked around for translations, and this page translates these lines as:
Each of us held a cup of wine and talked amid spring wind with peach and plum blossom,
For ten years we missed each other before lamps during night rain outside.

And a Reddit comment explains the meaning of the relevant lines in partiuclar in the context of the poem:
(Remembering the old time,) enjoying wine while watching the flowers of peach and apricot trees.
(Now,) tempered by the mundane life, 10 years flew by; I often stare at the light, (thinking of you.)

I'm not sure how you'd translate the entire title - "when the night rain in the jianghu ends (or when Jiang Hu and Yeyu end), it seems like a dream"? Maybe? Idk, this is way beyond my rudimentary Chinese. Anyone with better knowledge have any thoughts?

Podfic!

Dec. 30th, 2025 02:48 pm
scintilla10: Xenk wearing high collar and armour (D&D - Xenk in armour)
[personal profile] scintilla10
A new podfic of my D&D:HAT double drabble!

Healing Word [Podfic] (35 words) by blackglass, with
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar
Characters: Edgin Darvis, Xenk Yendar, Holga Kilgore
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Double Drabble, Non-explicit references to a bleeding head wound, Banter, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming
Summary:

A podfic of Healing Word by scintilla10.

"Xenk blinked up into Holga's face."

pameladean: Orange cat heralically arrayed on a pillow depicting the face of William Shakespearee (Saffron)
[personal profile] pameladean
Our beautiful, goofy, adventuring Saffron cat is gone.

Here she is right after arriving in April of 2013.

Orange tabby cat standing on her hind legs in an armchair, playing with a cat dancer toy

Below the cut are more photos; then there's another cut before I describe her last day. Please feel free to skip that part if you don't feel up to it. She was very much herself and everything went pretty well, but it's still awfully sad.

Read more... )

Below the cut is a description of her last day. Please skip if you don't feel up to it. There are also a few more photos of her exploring the room the University provided us.

CW for pet illness, death

Read more... )

Yuletide: My Gifts!

Dec. 30th, 2025 12:55 pm
scintilla10: Bruno has his arm slung over Boots shoulder (B&B - arms over each other)
[personal profile] scintilla10
I received two wonderful gifts for Yuletide! Hoping to spend more time reading in the collection over the next few days. :D

reach down and prove something
Pitch, Mike & Ginny, 1406 words, rated G
Post-retirement. Loved the glimpses into Ginny's career, and Mike as a constant presence in her life. So forward-looking and open, what a lovely future! I loved this.

Uno Reverse
Macdonald Hall + I Want to Go Home! (Gordon Korman), Bruno/Boots, Mike/Rudy, 2579 words, rated T
Matchmaking! Pining! Mistaken for a couple! Skating on the Rideau Canal on New Year's Eve! What an absolute delight.

Catch Up Day

Dec. 29th, 2025 11:00 pm
walkitout: (Default)
[personal profile] walkitout
I’m posting this later than the date of the post. Towards the end of the day, I made a horrible mistake that you can read about in excruciating detail on the december 30 post.

I got through laundry. R. did the grocery shopping. I talked to JB at the builder; R. will go in tomorrow to the site and I’ll do the meetings remotely. We need to order the networking equipment. R. is going to go with Ubiquiti instead of Eero.

Other than the Thing, it was a pretty efficient and successful day. Among other things, I made some dining reservations for a future trip, which was fun.

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