Some saved up videos
Oct. 3rd, 2025 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly( Fake Emergencies )
*********
( Common moon mistakes )
****************
( The Insane Biology of: The Pangolin )
**********
( The Most Dangerous Escalator in Rome )
**********
( Backyard Squirrelympics )
********
( Apparently, the dog dancing championships are a thing? )
************
( The Assassin's Teapot Is Weird )
**************
( All The Non-Passenger Trains in the NYC Subway )
( Common moon mistakes )
( The Insane Biology of: The Pangolin )
( The Most Dangerous Escalator in Rome )
( Backyard Squirrelympics )
( Apparently, the dog dancing championships are a thing? )
( The Assassin's Teapot Is Weird )
( All The Non-Passenger Trains in the NYC Subway )
There's a Dunkin Donuts by my house
Oct. 2nd, 2025 09:32 amconulyAnd every once in a while I end up there during the morning rush, which I try to avoid, and find somebody else bitching about how they "always" mess up their order and "always" take forever.
This is true, by the way - or, maybe not literally always true, but frequently true - but all the same, every time I hear the incessant whining I want to turn around and say "You knew what it was like when you placed your order!"
It's not like they're the only place to get coffee and a breakfast sandwich that's not your own home. There are three corner stores, every once of which will be happy, or at least willing, to make your standing order every day or week or however often you like. There's McDonald's right there, there's Wendy's right there, there's a Dunkin Donuts on the boat and another one just down Bay a bit, if you drive. Or, as I said, you can go home and make your own coffee for faster and cheaper, but you didn't do that, so you can't really complain that you're getting exactly what you obviously expected!
(It is my lack of whining, I think, that always gets me out of there a smidge faster. Should they be more efficient? Should they make fewer mistakes? Should I be able to order a muffin without fear that it'll be a bit raw in the middle? Yes to all three, and I've stopped ordering muffins! But they're close and I don't have to cook it myself, and I imagine that's why everybody else is there, so whatever.)
*********************
( Read more... )
This is true, by the way - or, maybe not literally always true, but frequently true - but all the same, every time I hear the incessant whining I want to turn around and say "You knew what it was like when you placed your order!"
It's not like they're the only place to get coffee and a breakfast sandwich that's not your own home. There are three corner stores, every once of which will be happy, or at least willing, to make your standing order every day or week or however often you like. There's McDonald's right there, there's Wendy's right there, there's a Dunkin Donuts on the boat and another one just down Bay a bit, if you drive. Or, as I said, you can go home and make your own coffee for faster and cheaper, but you didn't do that, so you can't really complain that you're getting exactly what you obviously expected!
(It is my lack of whining, I think, that always gets me out of there a smidge faster. Should they be more efficient? Should they make fewer mistakes? Should I be able to order a muffin without fear that it'll be a bit raw in the middle? Yes to all three, and I've stopped ordering muffins! But they're close and I don't have to cook it myself, and I imagine that's why everybody else is there, so whatever.)
( Read more... )
2025/154: I Who Have Never Known Men — Jacqueline Harpman (translated by Ros Schwarz)
Oct. 3rd, 2025 04:33 pmtamaranth2025/154: I Who Have Never Known Men — Jacqueline Harpman (translated by Ros Schwarz)
I ... have no memories of my own childhood. Perhaps that’s why I’m so different from the others. I must be lacking in certain experiences that make a person fully human. [loc. 1546]
We first encounter the nameless narrator near the end of her solitary life, determined that her story will not die when she does. Gradually we discover her history: that her first memories are from an underground prison where she, and thirty-nine adult women, were held captive for years. She can't recall anything from before the prison, and none of the women can tell her much: just screams, flames, a stampede...( Read more... )
podcast friday
Oct. 3rd, 2025 07:43 amsabotabby I'm way behind on podcasts as usual and I'm sure there were tons that I thought over the last two weeks that I should highlight but *gestures vaguely at the clown shoes that is my life right now*
Anyway, for your moment of relative levity, check out If Books Could Kill's Thomas Chatterton Williams' "Summer Of Our Discontent." Unlike most of the episodes I hadn't heard of that book or the author until I started listening and went, oh, that guy. For those of you who share my senility, Williams is one of those Token Black Conservatives(TM) who doesn't believe that leopards will eat his face. His middle name is a bad case of nominative determinism as he mouths far-right talking points in the most number of words possible this side of Nick Land. The book could probably be a pamphlet if he wrote like a normal person, but he doesn't. Anyway, it's garbage anti-BLM stuff now that the right has lost Cosby, but it's made a little more fun by just listening to Michael and Peter try to quote it.
Pro tip: No marginalized group is a monolith, and you can't just single out one member of a community because they happen to agree with your take. There's a fortune to be had if you can be that token member of a community that loudly proclaims that said community doesn't actually face oppression,* and that's what this guy is doing, and it's incredibly mockworthy.
* Still trying to cash in on that myself.
Anyway, for your moment of relative levity, check out If Books Could Kill's Thomas Chatterton Williams' "Summer Of Our Discontent." Unlike most of the episodes I hadn't heard of that book or the author until I started listening and went, oh, that guy. For those of you who share my senility, Williams is one of those Token Black Conservatives(TM) who doesn't believe that leopards will eat his face. His middle name is a bad case of nominative determinism as he mouths far-right talking points in the most number of words possible this side of Nick Land. The book could probably be a pamphlet if he wrote like a normal person, but he doesn't. Anyway, it's garbage anti-BLM stuff now that the right has lost Cosby, but it's made a little more fun by just listening to Michael and Peter try to quote it.
Pro tip: No marginalized group is a monolith, and you can't just single out one member of a community because they happen to agree with your take. There's a fortune to be had if you can be that token member of a community that loudly proclaims that said community doesn't actually face oppression,* and that's what this guy is doing, and it's incredibly mockworthy.
* Still trying to cash in on that myself.
Geez, I can't even... I don't even....
Oct. 1st, 2025 04:13 pmconulyHonestly, my worst thoughts about what was going to happen in that meeting of the generals were both so much more terrible and so much less terrible than what actually went on.
***************************
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
2025/153: All of Us Murderers — KJ Charles
Oct. 2nd, 2025 10:24 amtamaranth2025/153: All of Us Murderers — KJ Charles
"Gideon and I have nothing to be ashamed of. Or perhaps I do. Perhaps all of us Wyckhams are murderers, by Act or proxy or inaction or just heredity..." [loc. 2943]
Zebedee Wyckham is invited to visit his cousin's remote country house. Expecting a warm welcome from a cousin he only vaguely remembers, Zeb is horrified to find himself thrust into the company of his relations: his estranged brother Bram, Bram's wife Elise, Zeb's cousin Hawley, a new-found young cousin called Jessamine -- and, worst of all, Zeb's own ex, Gideon, who he hasn't seen since they both lost their jobs due to Zeb's behaviour.
( Read more... )
Reading Wednesday
Oct. 1st, 2025 07:30 amsabotabbyJust finished: Gothic Capitalism: Art Evicted from Heaven and Earth by Adam Turl. This was a good, if very dense, look at the intersection between art, the art market, and economic forces, and how we can create an authentically proletarian art. Basically the antidote to AI slop memes. I was just nodding along the whole way through, like, yes, someone said the thing. My one complaint is, as with a lot of small press books, it's not the most physically comfortable to read, with gutter margins that are too narrow, which makes an already challenging read more challenging. So if you're going to read it (and you should) see if there's an ebook.
Currently reading: Genocide Bad: Notes on Palestine, Jewish History, and Collective Liberation by Sim Kern. Sim Kern is a very relatable person to me, although I don't know them personally at all. They're Jewish but like, not closely tied to the Jewish community or faith, and they used to be a teacher, and they've been trying to make it as a sci-fi author. And then our stories diverge because it turns out their real gift is talking about Palestine on TikTok, and along with the death threats, they managed to get a serious platform.
The book starts with a lot of their story and philosophy, and then the bulk of it is devoted to unpacking and dismantling the main claims of hasbara (Israeli propaganda, literally "explaining"). It's all written in very approachable language with tons of footnotes. You can tell they used to be a middle school teacher. I don't know that this would convince someone with the Zionist brainworms, but for the average white American who doesn't want to be an antisemite, hears conflicting claims, and hasn't grown up in this confusing ideological soup, it's hella useful. I'd really recommend it as well for people like me who have to get in dumb Facebook fights with people who are genuinely convinced that Hamas is going to come kill them in some random American city.
Currently reading: Genocide Bad: Notes on Palestine, Jewish History, and Collective Liberation by Sim Kern. Sim Kern is a very relatable person to me, although I don't know them personally at all. They're Jewish but like, not closely tied to the Jewish community or faith, and they used to be a teacher, and they've been trying to make it as a sci-fi author. And then our stories diverge because it turns out their real gift is talking about Palestine on TikTok, and along with the death threats, they managed to get a serious platform.
The book starts with a lot of their story and philosophy, and then the bulk of it is devoted to unpacking and dismantling the main claims of hasbara (Israeli propaganda, literally "explaining"). It's all written in very approachable language with tons of footnotes. You can tell they used to be a middle school teacher. I don't know that this would convince someone with the Zionist brainworms, but for the average white American who doesn't want to be an antisemite, hears conflicting claims, and hasn't grown up in this confusing ideological soup, it's hella useful. I'd really recommend it as well for people like me who have to get in dumb Facebook fights with people who are genuinely convinced that Hamas is going to come kill them in some random American city.
2025/152: Giovanni's Room — James Baldwin
Oct. 1st, 2025 08:57 amtamaranth2025/152: Giovanni's Room — James Baldwin
As for the boys at the bar, they were each invisibly preening, having already calculated how much money he and his copain would need for the next few days, having already appraised Guillaume to within a decimal of that figure, and having already estimated how long Guillaume, as a fountainhead, would last, and also how long they would be able to endure him. The only question left was whether they would be vache with him, or chic, but they knew that they would probably be vache. [p. 53]
I read about James Baldwin's life and work in Nothing Ever Just Disappears, and it sparked the urge to read one of his novels: Giovanni's Room is perhaps the best-known: a short novel about an American, David, who goes to Europe to 'find himself', takes up with Giovanni but fears and rejects his own sexuality, and ends up with emptiness. David's first-person narrative begins, he tells us, on 'the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life': the morning on which Giovanni will be executed.
( Read more... )
(no subject)
Sep. 29th, 2025 09:52 amconulyFirst, is my cat not the most beautiful cat you've seen in the past few minutes?
( Cut for size )
***************
( Read more... )
( Cut for size )
( Read more... )
Monthly culture, August 2025
Sep. 30th, 2025 08:50 amtamaranth01AUG25: Macbeth (Shakespeare) -- Wilton's Music Hall
( Read more... )
07AUG25: Official Secrets (Hood, 2019) -- Netflix
( Read more... )
08AUG25: Weapons (Cregger, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
( Read more... )
EDINBURGH 2025
19AUG25: The Cyclops (Acting Coach Scotland) -- Annexe at theSpace @ Symposium Hall
( Read more... )
19AUG25: Mitch Benn: The Lehrer Effect -- Underbelly
( Read more... )
19AUG25: Women of Rock (Night Owl Shows) -- Grand Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall
( Read more... )
19AUG25: Iphigenia in Tauris (Intothedark / Euripides) -- The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault
( Read more... )
20AUG25: A Poem and a Mistake (by Cheri Magid, performed by Sarah Baskin) -- Assembly Rooms
( Read more... )
20AUG25: Arachne (Britt Anderson, Whisper Theatre) -- Britt Anderson, Whisper Theatre
( Read more... )
20AUG25: Miriam Margolyse -- Edinburgh International Conference Centre
( Read more... )
21AUG25: Monstering the Rocketman (Henry Naylow) -- Pleasance Dome
( Read more... )
21AUG25: Circa - Wolf -- The Lafayette at Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows
( Read more... )
21AUG25: Canvas of Sound (Tazeen Qayyum, Feras Charestan and Basel Rajoub) -- The Hub
( Read more... )
22AUG25: From Primordial Soups to Primates in Suits (Dr David Jones) -- South Gallery Annexe at Dovecot Studios
( Read more... )
22AUG25: Bolero (Kinetic Orchestra) -- DB3 at Assembly @ Dance Base
( Read more... )
22AUG25: Iago Speaks (Rumpus) -- Big at theSpaceTriplex
( Read more... )
23AUG25: Bacchae (Company of Wolves) -- Upstairs at Assembly Roxy
( Read more... )
23AUG25: Figures in Extinction (Nederlands Dans Theater) -- Festival Theatre
( Read more... )
23AUG25: Pop Off Michelangelo (Blair Russell Productions) -- Udderbelly at Underbelly, George Square
( Read more... )
23AUG25: As You Like It: A Radical Retelling (Cliff Cardinal) -- Church Hill Theatre
( Read more... )
28AUG25: Thursday Murder Club (Columbus, 2025) -- Netflix
( Read more... )
29AUG25: The Roses (Roach, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
07AUG25: Official Secrets (Hood, 2019) -- Netflix
( Read more... )
08AUG25: Weapons (Cregger, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
( Read more... )
EDINBURGH 2025
19AUG25: The Cyclops (Acting Coach Scotland) -- Annexe at theSpace @ Symposium Hall
( Read more... )
19AUG25: Mitch Benn: The Lehrer Effect -- Underbelly
( Read more... )
19AUG25: Women of Rock (Night Owl Shows) -- Grand Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall
( Read more... )
19AUG25: Iphigenia in Tauris (Intothedark / Euripides) -- The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault
( Read more... )
20AUG25: A Poem and a Mistake (by Cheri Magid, performed by Sarah Baskin) -- Assembly Rooms
( Read more... )
20AUG25: Arachne (Britt Anderson, Whisper Theatre) -- Britt Anderson, Whisper Theatre
( Read more... )
20AUG25: Miriam Margolyse -- Edinburgh International Conference Centre
( Read more... )
21AUG25: Monstering the Rocketman (Henry Naylow) -- Pleasance Dome
( Read more... )
21AUG25: Circa - Wolf -- The Lafayette at Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows
( Read more... )
21AUG25: Canvas of Sound (Tazeen Qayyum, Feras Charestan and Basel Rajoub) -- The Hub
( Read more... )
22AUG25: From Primordial Soups to Primates in Suits (Dr David Jones) -- South Gallery Annexe at Dovecot Studios
( Read more... )
22AUG25: Bolero (Kinetic Orchestra) -- DB3 at Assembly @ Dance Base
( Read more... )
22AUG25: Iago Speaks (Rumpus) -- Big at theSpaceTriplex
( Read more... )
23AUG25: Bacchae (Company of Wolves) -- Upstairs at Assembly Roxy
( Read more... )
23AUG25: Figures in Extinction (Nederlands Dans Theater) -- Festival Theatre
( Read more... )
23AUG25: Pop Off Michelangelo (Blair Russell Productions) -- Udderbelly at Underbelly, George Square
( Read more... )
23AUG25: As You Like It: A Radical Retelling (Cliff Cardinal) -- Church Hill Theatre
( Read more... )
28AUG25: Thursday Murder Club (Columbus, 2025) -- Netflix
( Read more... )
29AUG25: The Roses (Roach, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
( Read more... )
2025/151: Is a River Alive? — Robert Macfarlane
Sep. 29th, 2025 08:39 amtamaranth2025/151: Is a River Alive? — Robert Macfarlane
...the Mutehekau Shipu’s mode is, surely, purely flow, I think, and its grammar of animacy is one of ands and throughs and tos and nows, of commas not full stops, of thens not buts, aura not edge, of compounds and hyphens and fusings, silver-blues and grey-greens and mist-drifts and undersongs, process not substance, this joined to that, always onrushing, always seeking the sea and here and there turning back upon itself, intervolving, eddying in counterflow to cause spirals and gyres that draw breath into water, life into the mind, spin strange reciprocities, leave the whole world whirled, whorled. [loc. 4333]
If a corporation can be treated as a person, why can't a river? Macfarlane explores three river systems -- the Rio Los Cedros in Ecuador, the Mutehekau Shipu in Canada, and the three rivers braided through Chennai -- and combines poetry, spirituality and adventure in a philosophical discussion of what constitutes 'life' and how a river is part of the 'polyphonic world', important and valuable not just for how it can be exploited but for its own intrinsic qualities.
( Read more... )
Wedding!
Sep. 28th, 2025 11:11 amfred_mouseI had a swathe of things I was hoping to do this morning, but each one I do takes longer than I was anticipating. One of the things I'm abandoning off the list is a well thought out blog post.
In other news,
Middlest is getting married.
At the Zoo.
In about 3 hours
And it is raining (it most likely won't be by then, but now I'm in a tizz about which trousers to wear to go with which jacket because I had not planned for 'dammit, I'll get cold'. I've already hemmed one pair of trousers, going to have to do another. very much appreciating magical hemming tape)
So, I thought I was getting a palmsized scrubbie brush with a soap dispenser
Sep. 26th, 2025 08:48 pmconulybut it was a set of two regular palmsized scrubbie brushes for dishes. Which was disappointing, but E made the amazing discovery that they are really fun to smash together, bristle to bristle, so that's all right.
****************
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
booklists - august and september
Sep. 27th, 2025 04:49 pmfred_mouseI haven't been seeing as many booklists as I sometimes do; maybe it is the quiet part of the year for it, or maybe I've just been skimming past and not registering them. Anyway, what have I found?
from the Otherwise Award site, Celebrating work from 2022-2023: Part I a list of works to consider from the years the awards were on hiatus. I was in a 'no, no more books' mood so was reading for interest but not to put things on the wishlist.
from pangur-and-grim at tumblr, their favourite books from this year. Not normally the kind of list I'd look at, but at first glance it starts with Alien Clay, which I loved, has a couple I think I'd like and a stack I've never heard of. It also has The Last Unicorn. There are six that Greer has read, and three 'up next'. Turned out some of the ones I hadn't read were already on the wishlist; i added all but one of the rest.
at tumblr, suspiciouspopsicle said I need some good fantasy or scifi to read that doesn't involve romance., First set of replies from specialagentartemis. Sadly, their absolute favourites is three I've read and one I don't want to (saw the movie, don't care), and the weird and interesting is a mix of read it, can't find it, that doesn't sound like my thing. Second from girlfailuregawain, where the ones I recognise make me a bit meh on looking up the rest, because very much Not My Taste. There are some more in the comments, but I ran out of steam. One book added to the maybe list.
I also added two to the wishlist after reading bibliofile's notes about them.
Rogue Corn by Nikki Wallschlaeger
Sep. 25th, 2025 06:23 pmconulyMy fav event as harvest season approaches
is the rough seed that escaped the plots.
If there’s a cornfield adjacent to another bed
of vegetables, you can count on imperfection,
you can see stalks standing where they’re
not supposed to be, the winds have ideas,
seeds who choose wildness, here they are,
with red potatoes, alfalfa, peas, sunflowers,
they look pleased w/ themselves, outfoxing
clever farmers, making it to the unplanned
ground where nobody is around, recovering
where the amiable dirt will welcome them.
Seeds are so fun and determined,
there’s no concept of liberty, no need for it,
guaranteed if I were a seedling I’d abstain,
you know I would, I’d find a way to renounce
what’s expected of my common name,
gliding over the roads until a dream takes root
**************
Link
is the rough seed that escaped the plots.
If there’s a cornfield adjacent to another bed
of vegetables, you can count on imperfection,
you can see stalks standing where they’re
not supposed to be, the winds have ideas,
seeds who choose wildness, here they are,
with red potatoes, alfalfa, peas, sunflowers,
they look pleased w/ themselves, outfoxing
clever farmers, making it to the unplanned
ground where nobody is around, recovering
where the amiable dirt will welcome them.
Seeds are so fun and determined,
there’s no concept of liberty, no need for it,
guaranteed if I were a seedling I’d abstain,
you know I would, I’d find a way to renounce
what’s expected of my common name,
gliding over the roads until a dream takes root
Link