librarygeek. Reading

Snowflake Challenge 13: Community

We spend a lot of time in fandom talking about community, and we mean a lot of different things by it. And that’s okay! I’m always interested in what other people think about community in fandom, and especially – considering the online nature of so much of fandom -- what are the places and groups that create/allow/encourage that community. These could be flashfic or challenge communities that encourage fanwork creation, discords for talking about the latest episode of your favorite show, exchanges, promptfests, watch-alongs, live streams… whatever promotes community for you.

Today’s challenge:

TALK ABOUT A COMMUNITY SPACE YOU LIKE. It doesn’t need to be your favorite, or the one where you spend the most time (although it certainly can be). Maybe it’s even one that you’ve barely visited. But talk about that space and how it helps support fannish community.

An old-fashioned ornament of two young girls bundled up in coats and walking side by side is nestled amidst pine boughs.

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Mood busy

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scrubjayspeaks

At last, I am not on any extra medication. I’ve gone a whole two days and haven’t exploded yet, so that’s promising. I’m only intermittently and lightly coughing. I’m pretty sure I can mostly hear out of both ears. My sinuses no longer periodically attempt to assassinate me. Yaaaay... *tiniest, groggiest pompoms*

I am particularly grateful to be feeling marginally less sick, because work did everything it could to kill me off ahead of my vacation time. Friday, in particular, threw everything it could at me. On the plus side, I programmed a robot. I also wired a temporary three-phase power supply drop. That one was a bit harrowing, but I guess I can’t say I was in over my head, because I sure did supply power without setting anything on fire.

Also, the only rain we got all week occurred in the half hour in which I was up on the roof, trying to replace air filters. Because sure, obviously, why not?

Speaking of vacation, I am now on a week of it. By the gods, I better have some fun this week. I’ve had about as much petty unpleasantness as I can take for the month.

Lewisia: still on break

Day job: 46.25 hours, with early starts and late ends

Cooking: decided to wing it on my usual curry recipe and managed to brain crisis my way through it nearly to inedibility, chocolate-chocolate chip edible cookie dough

Reading: The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher (gnole cultural studies! fantasy industrial infrastructure! some other rather upsetting stuff! ...I really liked it), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Quintessential Phase (continuing the BBC Radio productions, I found this one a bit frustrating to follow along with, though I found the whole sandwich shop bit oddly touching)

Watching: Revolutionary Girl Utena episodes 27 to 29 and halfway into 30, Sinners (spectacular, holy shit?!)

Listening: Midnight Signals by Starcadian (synthwave, with a surprising thread of disco, found by way of Dan on Game Grumps noting his death last year :/)

Playing: continuing to enjoy renewed interest in Animal Crossing, the gift that keeps on giving

Clock Mouse: 117 minutes of planning work

Mood sleepy
Music Starcadian - New Cydonia (feat. HAYLEY)

Tags:

progress

ysabetwordsmith

Ancient people carried a wild potato across the American Southwest

Ancient travelers carried a wild potato across the Southwest, shaping its future for thousands of years.

Long before farming took hold, ancient Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest were already shaping the future of a wild potato. New evidence shows that this small, hardy plant was deliberately carried across the Four Corners region more than 10,000 years ago, helping it spread far beyond its natural range.

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Mood busy

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siliconshaman

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Mood contemplative

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wttf

ysabetwordsmith

It snowed yesterday, probably about 4 inches. The ground is covered. The trees still have a little sticking to them, but this is light fluffy snow so most has already fallen off. The temperature is frigid.

I haven't been out to feed the birds yet, but they're active. I've seen a flock of sparrows, a flock of mourning doves, two starlings, and a downy woodpecker.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I fed the birds. I've seen a male and a female cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

It's snowing slightly again.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

Snow is sifting down off and on, but the wind has picked up so it's drifting more in places. Surprisingly the snowplow has already passed by at least once. That usually doesn't happen until the day after the snow stops, because we're out in the country.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Mood busy

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$mdlbear: blue fractal bear with text "since 2002" (Default)$

mdlbear

So, while I accomplished a few things -- I'll get to those later -- I'm not going to mark that as my mood because there is so much more that I was supposed to have done, and because of what's going on in Minnesota. (Just 50 miles north of where I went to college, which isn't really relevant but affects my mood nonetheless.)

I only managed three walks, all under a kilometer, but one was a st/roll with N, trying out Roman-the-Roamate. That will lead to a couple of reviews, eventually. I did rather little practicing, but sang a couple of songs during Eurofilk on Thursday, which counts. I also, at long last, retrieved Nova's old mirror drive and installed it. And downloaded a couple of tax forms.

I did more cooking than usual, too, because G was on vacation in Amsterdam. And got mostly-good news from my cardiology appointment -- basically I have a "typical hypertensive heart", but no valve problems or backflow. A little more detail Tuesday.

What didn't get done was, basically, anything that required communication. The main one here is getting Scarlett-the-Carlet serviced. (I did try email and web forms to a couple of promising-looking places, but got negative or no response. I'll have to call.) There's also some writing that needs done, both emails and reviews (see above and here). Also trip planning -- I really ought to get to Seattle in time to renew my driver's license, which expires mid-March.

Ok, links. I do not seem to have any links for the nightmare going on in Minnesota; I probably should archive some of that footage before it goes down the memory hole. But if you're there, or anywhere else where there's an ICE storm, you'll find a lot of useful stuff Friday and Saturday. Friday has whistle info, and Saturday has Melt the Ice hat: r/AntifascistKnitting. There's also a crochet pattern, and some of the history behind it.

Finally, from Saturday, Democrats Successfully Strip All Anti-Trans Riders From Final Appropriations Bills, ‘The powerful have their power. We have the capacity to stop pretending’: the Canadian PM’s call to action at Davos | Mark Carney | [Transcript] | The Guardian, and Guédelon: The Castle That Is Being Built Like It’s the Year 1228! (Which may come in handy after the apocalypse).

( Notes & links, as usual )

Mood angry, scared, discouraged
Location Schildhaven in Den Haag
Music Eurofilk on Thursday

Tags:

done,
links

conuly

The plot is picking up and I have no idea where it's going!

Also, it is absolutely impossible to track down the music for that show. There was one song I liked, so I tried to look it up. No dice. I eventually gave in and searched up "Killjoys soundtrack" and then, armed with the song title and artist name, tried again. Still no luck. I did find an entirely different song that's apparently written by somebody with no internet presence at all. If it wasn't apparently their only song I'd suspect AI. That picture is AI, though, has "artificial" written all over it, in illegible text. Song's not too uncatchy, but - I honestly don't know why the music in Killjoys is so hard to find.

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ysabetwordsmith

Today I'm making Healthy Spice Quick Bread. This way we'll have something that isn't cold to go with the apple topping.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- The spice bread turned out pretty well. The flavor is good, not particularly strong, a little on the dry side -- but it works great with the apple topping and probably would with any other wet topping. \o/

Mood accomplished

Tags:

food,
recipe

ysabetwordsmith

The January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl has made its $200 goal, so you get a free epic. Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll. I will keep it open at least until Sunday night. If there's a clear answer then, I'll close it; otherwise I may leave it open a little while longer. Here are your options...

"A Fountain of Energy"
Johan practices with his abilities.
70 lines

"Once the Avalanche Has Begun"
A foolish choice in a neighboring town makes life challenging for Shaeth's followers.
70 lines

Poll #34116 Free Epic for the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

View Respondents

Which of these should be the free epic?

View Answers

"A Fountain of Energy"
3 (33.3%)

"Once the Avalanche Has Begun"
6 (66.7%)

Mood busy

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dialecticdreamer

Unwrapping and Untangling
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 2
Word count (story only): 803
[Tuesday, May 12, 2020, 7am]

:: Reinforcements arrive. The group brainstorms ways to help Edison, and discover a complicationPart of the Edison’s Mirror (Teague Family) story arc. ::

Rather than exclude Nik from the discussion, Aidan had crouched in front of the man’s wheelchair and encouraged him to wrap his arms around the older man’s neck. Vic folded the wheelchair without releasing the brakes, and followed the pair up the steps to the living room where Shandiin and Beverly stared in horror at the animals curled on the yellow sofa. Garegin paced between the two sofas, careful not to move closer than five feet away from the figure still lying unconscious in an irregular loop of salt.
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Mood blank

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ysabetwordsmith

This poem came out of the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

siliconshaman. It has been sponsored by

fuzzyred.

lacquerware poet
haiku in and haiku out --
beauty? or cheating?

* * *

Notes:

Haiku is a form of poetry, first made popular in Japan, which has become appreciated around the world. Haiku poets are challenged to convey a vivid message in only 17 syllables.

The Machines Are Coming, and They Write Really Bad Poetry

Mood busy

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minoanmiss

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Mood amused

ysabetwordsmith

Warming spices have hot, aromatic qualities. They encourage body heat; they go well with other thermogenic foods. Their scent evokes warmth and comfort. That makes them ideal for cold days. Browse a list of warming spices; you probably have some in your cabinet already. Here is a FAQ list. Screw winter, make something redolent.

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Mood busy

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mellowtigger

By now, everyone knows about this morning's event and the video. This news article contains both.
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/breaking-federal-agent-shoots-man-in-south-minneapolis

Somebody took still images from that video and highlighted a key point. The federal agents removed the gun before shooting the victim who had a phone in his hand. Elsewhere, news is reporting that the victim was registered to conceal carry that gun. I'm using online reports (caution: "I saw it on the internet, so it must be true.") and this New York Times summary.

Click to read the detailed list of former Amendments that are now useless and why...

If all of those bits of evidence are true, then it naturally follows that...

The 1st Amendment is gone. It has been repeatedly established for everyone except this Republican administration that everyone has the legal right to observe. There are trainings going on in Minneapolis based on that very right. Except it's clearly gone here, where the observer (who was holding a phone, not a gun) was killed.
The 2nd Amendment is gone. We've endured decades of school shootings and other mass murders, all because some people insist on the right to bear arms. If it's true this person had a legal firearm and a legal conceal and carry permit, then this amendment is also clearly gone.
The 3rd Amendment is gone. ICE repeatedly insists that it can do whatever it wants, including known examples of breaking and entering without a judge-signed warrant. The federal government can intrude into your house for whatever reason it wants. We saw from earlier ICE actions that this amendment was gone before today's incident.
The 4th Amendment is gone. The victim, a USA citizen, was not the intended target of this ICE invasion and action, and simply recording the incident was not interference in it. (See: 1st Amendment, above.)
The 5th Amendment is gone. The victim had a right to not answer ICE agent questions, which maybe is what annoyed them to decide attacking him? I'm not as certain on this point. If true, then this amendment is also gone. Answer, or else.
The 6th Amendment is gone. Everyone is supposed to have a right to trial. This guy was apparently judged and executed on the street, not captured and jailed. Also, ICE repeatedly prevents local officials from accessing the crime scene and data, again in today's shooting, despite local officials getting a warrant from a judge.
The 8th Amendment is gone. Everyone is supposed to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This guy was already shot and prone, when the second agent started shooting him again. I mean, you gotta be sure that your extrajudicial killing victim is dead, right?
The 10th Amendment is gone. News stories abound regarding ICE collecting data willy-nilly, soon maybe even from popular Ring cameras. Orwellian surveillance is not something really imagined by the founders of the USA, so theoretically this power should belong to the people or the states. That kind of collection has been continuing for a while, but DOGE and ICE and Palantir have clearly escalated the problem.

I took this Reddit thread and expanded it above. With little exaggeration, basically, the entirety of the famous Bill Of Rights is now shredded.

What do we do now? Our Minnesota state governor Walz sent an even more strongly worded message to Trump.

I'm ready (and so is he, "I'm 70 years old, and I'm fucking angry") to write a new detailed list of grievances for the next Declaration Of Independence, with that list eerily similar to last time.

Tags:

thewayne

On the first day of the current administration, an executive order was announced terminating the participation of the USA in the WHO. This was broadly denounced as an incredibly stupid move. Aside from coordinating a global response to pandemics, outbreaks, the studies thereof, it has annual meetings to try to formulate the annual flu vaccines - said meeting happens next month.

The reason why? A certain person doesn't think the world did a good job with its Covid-19 response. This was at the same time that said person postulated that drinking bleach and exposing your innards to UV light would be a good cure, not to mention the other quack cures he put forth that directly led to deaths of people in the USA and perhaps elsewhere in the world.

From the article: "While the United States is walking away from the organization, a senior official with the Department of Health and Human Services told reporters on Thursday that the Trump administration was considering some type of narrow, limited engagement with W.H.O. global networks that track infectious diseases, including influenza."

and "On Thursday, the administration said that all U.S. government funding to the organization had been terminated, and that all assigned federal employees and contractors had been recalled from its Geneva headquarters and its offices worldwide.

The up-in-the-air status of the flu vaccine is just one of countless global health matters that are left hanging in the balance by the United States’ withdrawal. Global health experts are deeply concerned that if a novel bug similar to the coronavirus emerges, a lack of international coordination will lead to death and disaster." Good thing that novel bugs never happen!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/us/politics/united-states-withdraws-world-health-organization.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlA.ey5P.2X66jrh_mNPI&smid=url-share

https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/1226253/us-formally-withdraws-from-who

The Slashdot story has an interesting discussion on population and farming. You probably ought to set the right filter slider to exclude -1 rated comments.

That was Thursday. On Friday, the State of California formally joined the WHO. Governor Gavin travelled to the Davos conference in Switzerland and was scheduled to speak, but the State Department quashed that. He met with the Director-General of the WHO and his office issued a statement:

“As President Trump withdraws the United States from the World Health Organization, California is stepping up under Governor Gavin Newsom — becoming the first, and currently the only, state to join the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network (GOARN), strengthening public health preparedness and rapid response coordination,” Newsom’s office said in a statement.

...

“The Trump administration’s withdrawal from WHO is a reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring. We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”

Go, Gavin! Here's hoping that other states will step up and join the WHO and flip a massive bird to the Feds. I would probably die laughing if all 50 states plus the territories joined up!

Gavin has also been instrumental in forming a "coalition of states in launching both the West Coast Health Alliance and the Governors Public Health Alliance to lead public health policies that diverge from that of the White House."

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5703447-who-gavin-newsom-california/

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/2350246/california-becomes-first-state-to-join-who-disease-network-after-us-exit

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ysabetwordsmith

A major storm is sweeping over America. Here it has just started to snow.

Here is a post about keeping water liquid for birds. If you have feeders, make sure they're full.

Looking for something to do? Buy Nothing Day has links to many crafts and other activities.

Mood busy

Tags:

illinois,
nature

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and frigid. The first fine snowflakes are beginning to fall. Much snow is predicted for the weekend.

I fed the birds. I've seen several sparrows, a pair of cardinals plus an extra male, and a starling.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I also put more seed in the hopper feeder, so that's full in case snow covers the ground. I've seen one female and four male cardinals.

Snow is still dusting down, just enough to leave a white film over flat things and pockets in the grassl.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

The birds have disappeared, likely holed up somewhere sheltered.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I brought in more firewood for the woodstove.

I've seen birds off and on, plus a fox squirrel.

EDIT 1/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Snow has made a light layer of frosting over everything.

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

Mood busy

Tags:

cvirtue

Time to standardize on initials-only personal (first) names

Alison Hoens physioktbroker‬ “analyzing all articles indexed in the PubMed database (>36.5 million articles published in >36,000 biomedical and life sciences journals), we show that the median amount of time spent under review is 7.4%–14.6% longer for female-authored articles

Image of BlueSky post:

[link to paper in original post; link below]

Excerpt from abstract: By analyzing all articles indexed in the PubMed database (>36.5 million articles published in >36,000 biomedical and life sciences journals), we show that the median amount of time spent under review is 7.4%–14.6% longer for female-authored articles than for male-authored articles, and that differences remain significant after controlling for several factors. The gender gap is pervasive, affecting most disciplines, regardless of how well women are represented in each discipline; however, the gap is absent or even reversed in some disciplines. We also show that authors based in low-income countries tend to experience longer review times. Our findings contribute to explaining the gender gap in publication rates and representation. https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/articleid=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003574

Biomedical and life science articles by female researchers spend longer under review David Alvarez-Ponce ,Gabrial Batz,Luis Ramirez Torres Published: January 20, 2026

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civcs,
science

purplecat

Colourised image from The War Games. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe face a WWI soldier. Jamie is wearing a pointed helmet.

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ysabetwordsmith

A friend from Tennessee shared this video made by a nearby police station, a parody of "Let It Snow." Bear in mind that they're expecting a lot of snow, in an area that rarely gets any, so folks have neither the experience nor the equipment to deal with heavy snow safely.