otherkin

Today is mostly sunny, breezy, and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and at least one starling.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- We installed the first of the new latches.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- We installed the second of the new latches.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I put out a peanut suet cake.

EDIT 1/21/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

hera

My dyslexic ass does not belong in medical school, and I would not be keen to go if I could. But I am belligerently forcing myself to read up on things and study so that I can at least fucking try to understand what is going on with my heath.

There's always the moderate frustration of wanting to be fair to medical providers and the general institution of medicine. Everyone is trying their best! No one is out to get you. When insurance companies are consistently pushing for short appointment times and less testing, it is not on the individual practictioners that issues are not resolved - it falls onto the patient to advocate, and to put in the effort to try new things and seek solutions on their own as well.

But I do get very tired of trying to be fair, when I end up laid out because I took too much Tylenol, and subsequently, my liver and my pancreas are irate at me. But I'm just mildly foaming from pain right now. I've got heat packs, I've got a heavy weight, I've got water and I'm compressed. It is a waiting game to feel better, but that feels very intolerable when I am at the "actually tearful" stage of pain.

Also slightly intolerable right now:

"How are you?

"Not great!"

"I'm sorry to hear that!"

"It's fine, just annoying -"

"It's not fine!! :(((("

I love My People(tm) very, very, very dearly, but if I have that particular conversation one more time, I think I will actually just cry on someone. Ridic!!

ysabetwordsmith

Snowflake Challenge 11: Granting Wishes

This challenge is a follow up to Challenge #5. You've made your own wishlist, now it's time to grant someone else's wish from theirs! This can be as simple as answering a question to creating something from scratch, one wish or many wishes. Let your inspiration run wild!

In your own space, grant someone's wish from Challenge #5. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your own post with the wishes you granted if you feel comfortable doing so.

Be sure to check out other people's creations, whether they're granting your wish or someone else's. If you post any granted wishes elsewhere, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

A gold snowflake ornament is nestled amidst pine boughs

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis

Scientists have found a way to regrow aging cartilage, raising hopes for arthritis treatments that could make joint replacements obsolete.

Scientists at Stanford Medicine have discovered a treatment that can reverse cartilage loss in aging joints and even prevent arthritis after knee injuries. By blocking a protein linked to aging, the therapy restored healthy, shock-absorbing cartilage in old mice and injured joints, dramatically improving movement and joint function. Human cartilage samples from knee replacement surgeries also began regenerating when exposed to the treatment.

Well, that would be super useful ... if it's not blocked by megacorps making the current arthritis treatments. Then again, most politicians are old and would probably like to have this option, so maybe they'll tell the megacorps to fuck off for once.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, inspired by a discussion with

a_natural_beauty. It also fills the "WILD CARD: Denial" square in my 2-1-25 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

dinogrrl

Yikes, back to making monster chapters I guess.

( Chapter 18: Roll for Chaos (In which Wheeljack does not even need to be present for things to get destroyed, and the Twins go on a drunken rampage in which they wreak havoc and mayhem. Also, Prowl's ready to bust someone's ass. Doesn't even matter whose, at this point.) )

ysabetwordsmith

Thanks to a lot of work by

fuzzyred, you can now read A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows on its own landing page. :D This series of linguistic poetry uses novel words presented in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Cow are the latest animals observed using tools, reopening the debate about animal intelligence

Researchers report the first documented case of tool use in cattle, based on a Swiss Brown cow named Veronika who doesn’t just grab an object and rub it against herself.

She chooses the “right” part of a tool for the job, changes her technique depending on where she’s scratching, and repeats those choices in a way that looks consistent and intentional.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/20/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/20/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen at least one starling.

EDIT 1/20/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

We brought in more firewood to stack beside the stove.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Here's an interesting observation:

Hey ding-dongs, let’s have a chit-chat about Ablaut reduplication.

If you have three words, the order usually goes 'I-A-O.'
-tic-tac-toe

If there are only two words, ‘I’ is the first and the second is either ‘A’ or ‘O.’
-click-clack
-King-Kong

I can think of a few exceptions, like "bone-dry," and more rhymes like "helter-skelter." Some like "merry-go-round" seem to follow a similar high to low pattern.

Current Mood: busy

bedes

Challenge #10

Choose something you love and create a mini mood collection of three (or more) items that evoke your feelings about it. You don't have to limit yourself to visual media, or collect the items into a special format like a square (though you can if you'd like).

Subject: In Stars and Time (indie video game)

Moodboard:

A moodboard for the game In Stars and Time. It is in black and white, and has themes of time, timeloops, stars, acting, and pretending to be alright

A moodboard for the game In Stars and Time. It is in black and white, and has themes of time, timeloops, stars, acting, and pretending to be alright

The same moodboard as before, with an image of Siffrin overlayed on top of it

Playlist (click the "play" button):

ENCORE!

1:07 / ∞

▶︎

THE RECORD PLAYER SONG ☆ Daisy the Great

"i need a dictionary
someone look me up and define me
please remind me who i'm supposed
to be around you
so you will do what i want you to
i'm always winning the wrong game
i don't remember my real name"

FLIGHT OF THE CROWS ☆ Jhariah

"well, i think that i've gotta go and i don't know why
but i need you to promise me that you won't cry
'cause you'll be fine and so will i
so, just let me out of your mind
in the morning, you'll learn i disappeared off into the night so quietly
that your love for me will vanish, too."

LOVE LIKE YOU ☆ Steven Universe OST

"when i see the way you look
shaken by how long it took
i could do about anything
i could even learn how to love like you
love like you
love me, like you"

code

fayanora

We need more main characters with glasses, especially ones with round frames, so H***y P****r isn't the first character we think of every time someone or something with glasses on pops up.

And honestly, more characters with glasses in general!

In my Ravenstone series, there's over ten characters with glasses:

1. Calandra "Cally" Metaxas (has regular frames/lenses at first, later changes to round frames/lenses)
2. Eris Metaxas
3. Steven Lambert
4. Ceridwen Ravenstone
5. Oleander Ravenstone
6. Delbert Freudenberger
7. Dr. Alicia Roberts (Dalia's therapist)
8. Zabi Rahim
9. Juniper Carmichael (canonically has round frames/lenses, even gets compared to Mirabel from Encanto)
10. Drusilla Morgenstern
11. Elijah Ryder
12. Aisling Tierney (an old woman)
13. One of Aavraak's parents
14. Sarah's dad
15 and 16. Brandon's mom and dad
17+. Some of the teachers

Also, Vedya wears "smart glasses" to recognize faces for her, and Chooli wears smart glasses to transcribe what people say around zem and display it for zem because Chooli is deaf. Oh, and I've got in my notes that Felicia Grimaldi needs glasses, but she hasn't worn them yet in canon.

Yes, magic is a thing in this story, most of the characters listed above are witches. Human magic hasn't really worked out how to fix eyes any better than mundane medicine has, and most people either don't trust faeries to fix their eyes or don't know that's an option.

bedes

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

Since I already talked about my all-time favorite trope last year, internalized homophobia, I'll talk about another favorite: character studies!

"Character Study" is actually my most-used tag on AO3 (if we're not counting "Betaed", which I don't), and that's because I absolutely adore both writing and reading them. The name of the game is exactly what I love about fanfic: getting into a character's head.

In writing, it's a very fulfilling exercise. It's an exploration of the character in question, and how you (you, specifically!) interpret their actions, their motivations, and their mental state. And, in reading, it's a fun way to explore how other people interpret the character, helping you appreciate your faves through a fresh set of eyes!

ysabetwordsmith

The following poems from the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

These are the content notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today I made Crockpot Xawaash Chicken Stew. I added some chopped cherry tomatoes. They worked pretty well, but didn't cook very evenly.

I also made Sour Cream Biscuits. We had sour cream left over from a previous recipe. Honestly, I thought these were a failure because they didn't fluff up at all. The texture is more like a dumpling than a biscuit. But they have a great sour cream flavor, and they worked quite well with the stew. If you have spare sour cream, it's worth a try.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Challenge #10: Big Mood (Board)

CHOOSE SOMETHING YOU LOVE AND CREATE A MINI MOOD COLLECTION OF THREE (or more) ITEMS THAT EVOKE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT IT. You don’t have to limit yourself to visual media, or collect the items into a special format like a square (though you can if you’d like).

I’ve seen other people put together visual moodboards – assembling colors, stock photos, character stills, and other images that go together and evoke the feeling of that fandom (or story, or character). I’m not that good with visuals, so I’ll often put together playlists, or song quotes, or some mix of all of the above.

I love freeform challenges that let you choose how you want to respond, so I hope you’ll like this one! (And if you’d like a bit more direction, I have some suggestions later in this post.)

Snowflake Challenge: A mug of coffee or hot chocolate with a snowflake shaped gingerbread cookie perched on the rim sits nestled amidst a softly bunched blanket. A few dried orange slices sit next to it.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Scientists trace fertilizer microplastics from fields to beaches

Tiny plastic coatings from farm fertilizers are quietly reshaping the mystery of “missing plastics” in the ocean.

Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct drainage from fields to the sea sends far more plastic back onto shore. Once there, waves and tides briefly trap the particles on beaches before many vanish again. This helps explain why so much plastic pollution seems to disappear after reaching the ocean.

That sounds like another problem that could be reduced with a ban on using plastic to make microbeads.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a lady cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen two starlings and a male cardinal.

EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night. 5:20 and I can still see light in the west. :D

Current Mood: busy

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Otherkin

January 2026

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Member Posts

Birdfeeding

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Snowflake Challenge 11: Granting Wishes

Science

Good News

Poem: "A Hurricane of Butterflies"

Living With Autobots

Website Updates

Animal Intelligence

Birdfeeding

Linguistics

Snowflake Challenge 2026 #10

We need more characters with glasses

Snowflake Challenge 2026 #9

Unsold Poems for the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl

Content notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"

Today's Cooking

Snowflake Challenge 10: Moodboard

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Birdfeeding

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January 2026

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