catsittingstill

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Activism
Climate Change
Bingo
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Gaming
Communities
Science
Birdfeeding
Read "This is a prayer to Baba Yaga"
Philosophical Questions: Government
Wildlife
Poetry Fishbowl Report for March 3, 2026
Unsold Poems for the March 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 3-27-26: Manga
Poem: "A Generous Impulse"
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Poem: "A Darkness in the Sky"
Community Thursdays
Birdfeeding
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side
Today's Adventures
Poem: "Become for Us a Highway"
Birdfeeding
Economics
Renewable Energy
Good News

Linguistics has 46 comments. Philosophical Questions: Pregnancy has 64 comments. Safety has 76 comments.

March Meta Matters Challenge banner

marchmetamatterschallenge is running this month. See my tracking post and the first check-in post.

The weather has been erratic here, with more whiplash. We did get a good soaking rain recently. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and a fox squirrel. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. Leafing out: mayapple, Dutchman's breeches. Currently blooming: crocuses, daffodils, squill, violets, apricot, grape hyacinths, tulips, cherry.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The Quiet Alliance That Helps Cities Change

In city after city, a quiet alliance often develops between two people who rarely coordinate directly: the resident pushing from outside city hall and the staff member working inside it.

One pushes from outside. The other nudges from within.

This informal partnership rarely appears on an organizational chart, yet it turns out to be one of the most reliable ways local change actually happens. A recent story from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, illustrates how this dynamic unfolds, but before getting there it helps to understand the environment inside local government that makes this relationship so important.

Nagging as an activism tactic.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Even moderate levels of warming can unleash extreme climate damage

Some climate futures at 3.6°F (2°C) of warming may be harsher for drought, rain, and fire than average projections at 5.4°F (3°C) or even 7.2°F (4°C), according to a new study.

The findings challenge a common assumption that moderate warming marks a boundary between manageable climate change and severe disruption.

2°C is not moderate. 1.5°C would have been moderate -- causing serious problems, but things civilization could withstand -- except we're far past being able to meet that goal. 2°C is tipping points dumping humans into a global environment unlike what they evolved to live in. 3°C is bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. (Note that many scientists expect a rise of 3°C or more.) But don't worry too much about Earth. It has survived a lot worse. Eventually species will adapt or new ones will evolve.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

I have made blackout on my 3-1-26 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest.

B1 (smudges) -- "Confident Guesswork and Improvisation" (Frankenstein's Family)
B2 (mended clothes) -- "The Sisters Grimké" (Peculiar Obligations)
B3 (artisan) -- "Nuff Respect" (Polychrome Heroics: Trichromatic Attachments)
B4 (writing) -- "The Expression That Crosses Boundaries" (Polychrome Heroics: Shiv)
B5 (rag rugs) -- "Hidden Opportunities" (Polychrome Heroics and Schrodinger's Heroes)

I1 (ink pens) -- Photos: House Yard
I2 (thread) -- "Our Homemade Safety Nets" (Polychrome Heroics)
I3 (tension) -- "Find a Way Forward" (The Freaks Club)
I4 (upcycling) -- fruit box pots
I5 (lacking storage) -- "Foraging Forever" (A Conflagration of Dragons)

N1 (crocheting) -- studied video tutorials
N2 (time) -- "The Duplicity of Seasons" (The Freaks Club)
N3 (WILD CARD: paint) -- "Become for Us a Highway" (Feathered Nests)
N4 (sewing) -- "A Generous Impulse" (Polychrome Heroics: Iron Horses)
N5 (small spaces) -- "Walnut Park" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels)

G1 (tangles) -- "Whirlwind Romances" (The Freaks Club)
G2 (stone) -- "A Darkness in the Sky" (standalone)
G3 (yarn) -- "Pearls of Wisdom" (Polychrome Heroics)
G4 (tape) -- "Colorful Opportunities" (Arts and Crafts America)
G5 (ribbon) -- "Refusing to Melt" (Alien Romance)

O1 (food) -- "Baked Innovation" (The Freaks Club)
O2 (woodworking) -- "A Proper Community Is a Commonwealth" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels)
O3 (colors) -- "A Confusion of Honeybees" (standalone)
O4 (garden crafts) -- DIY tomato cage
O5 (poetry) -- "The Express Bus to Crazy-Ass Death Land" (Monster House)

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Beavers are turning rivers into powerful carbon sinks

Beavers might be one of nature’s most unexpected allies in locking away carbon and fighting climate change.

Beavers may be unlikely climate heroes, but new research suggests they could play a powerful role in fighting climate change. By building dams and transforming streams into wetlands, these industrious animals dramatically reshape how carbon moves and is stored in landscapes. Over just 13 years, a beaver-engineered wetland in Switzerland stored over a thousand tonnes of carbon—up to ten times more than similar areas without beavers.

It's not just carbon. Beavers also greatly reduce the impact of droughts and wildfires by storing water in the environment over large areas. As ecosystem engineers, they create many more niches for other species to share the habitats they create -- fish, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, weasels, minks, otters, wading birds, waterfowl, and so on. Crucially, they do all this work for free. All they need is space, saplings, and a thread of water. So if you see an opportunity for beaver restoration, jump on it.

Current Mood: busy

gingicat

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

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny, breezy, and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches. A flock of blackbirds is flying around and singing.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 3/29/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 3/29/26 -- I trimmed brush around the Japanese maple tree.

EDIT 3/29/26 -- I trimmed brush between the parking lot and wild cherry grove, trying to reestablish a mow path there.

EDIT 3/29/26 -- I trimmed more brush along the mow path.

EDIT 3/29/26 -- I trimmed more brush along the mow path.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, plus a fox squirrel.

EDIT 3/29/26 -- I filled a trolley with sticks and dumped it in the firepit.

I saw a pair of red admiral butterflies courting. It's way early for them to appear.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

"'We were there in the 80s for the crash, and this is definitely crashier.'"

guess I can get where they're coming from, but I don't think the current video game industry crash feels, specifically, "crashier." It feels worse and bigger, most definitely, which is what they meant, I'm sure, but it doesn't really feel much like an actual "crash" at all, at least not in the usual sense of such things.

This discussion post links to the original article about problems in the video game industry.

Current Mood: busy

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

mdlbear

Not a bad week, though not nearly as productive as it should have been. (I know -- I shouldn't should myself. But still, some stuff needs to get done.) I have noticed that my brain doesn't distinguish well between work and health-care-related stuff like appointments. And to be fair there have been a lot of those. Explanation, not excuse.

Part of the problem may be that writing and music aren't getting done because they're prioritized behind tax and other business paperwork, email, phone calls, and similar unpleasant and sometimes difficult things. So while I'm "busy" not doing those, the more pleasant things aren't getting done either.

I did walk six out of the seven days last week, so there's that. And I got (laptop)Lilac configured to the point of being usable on extended trips. (See Tuesday.) That's probably worth a curmudgeon post at some point -- it involved setting up an encrypted directory tree, and installing a DongleHider+ to put the (Logitech)mouse and (Lenovo)keyboard dongles on the same expansion slot.

From Monday, A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie. From Tuesday, Geneva's CERN takes antiprotons for a spin in a never-before-tried test (there has to be a country music filk in there somewhere). Also, did you know there's a Socks Wiki?

( Notes & links, as usual )

Current Mood: annoyed with myself
Current Location: Schildhaven in Den Haag
Current Music: not much; see post

ysabetwordsmith

Musing on an essay: the commodification and enshittification of community

The fact that community is becoming a wellness trend—often with an aesthetic and hefty price tag—is very telling to me. Very exposing of the larger game at play here. Because upon hearing “loneliness kills”, the impulse wasn’t to rebuild the free, accessible infrastructure of community, and ask why we’re all too exhausted and automized to connect. It was to commodify connection—sell us Community as a product: friendship coaches, curated community memberships, networking events with entry fees, apps that gamify making friends.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ndrosen

I had a 4:00 PM online meeting of the directors of the Henry George Institute scheduled for this afternoon, so I didn’t attempt to go to a No Kings Rally in DC or elsewhere. I did have time to go to the drugstore and the supermarket before the scheduled Zoom meeting. It turned out that there was a No Kings demonstration outside the CVS store on Columbia Pike, right here in Arlington. Most of the people were across the street, where they had a fat orange balloon of you know who, but some were on the drugstore’s corner. I shouted “No Kings!” and otherwise conveyed my approval.

One woman on the corner near me had an “I miss Obama” sign. I approached her, and said, “Ma’am, compared to Trump, I would miss Warren G. Harding.” She mentioned that someone she knows had admitted to missing even George W. Bush.

I didn’t mention that I had voted for Dubya in 2000. Not in 2004, when I voted for the Libertarian presidential candidate.

ndrosen

I don’t currently have any amendments on my docket.

Earlier this week, I completed a first action on a Request for Continued Examination case on my Regular New docket; I still have a non-RCE application there. I also have two new applications on my Special New docket, and I have been working on the Special New which is assigned higher priority.

One week left in the second quarter of the fiscal year.

ysabetwordsmith

Why human babies are born helpless yet highly aware of the world

Because they cannot survive alone, human development unfolds through constant care. Feeding, carrying, soothing, and protecting do more than keep infants alive – they shape what babies see, hear, and experience.

A baby who cannot crawl into a group still becomes part of it, because caregivers bring the world closer. In that sense, dependence does not slow development. It creates the conditions that development grows from.

This explains a lot about why isolated or neglected infants -- in hospitals, orphanages, disadvantaged homes, etc. -- so often fail to thrive or outright die. They are deprived of the developmental needs for attention, interaction, and bonding with adults that would have supported healthy growth. The result is the same as when nutritional needs go unmet.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny and chilly.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 3/28/26 -- I did more work on the tomato cage.

EDIT 3/28/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 3/28/26 -- I sowed chives, catnip, and lemon bergamot in former fruit boxes that should make good upcycled pots.

EDIT 3/28/26 -- I fastened the tomato cage to the new picnic table. It's much less wobbly now.

EDIT 3/28/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 3/28/26 -- I did some weeding around the forest garden. There's a mayapple putting up leaves. :D

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This is a prayer to Baba Yaga; this is a prayer of resistance.

This is a prayer for Baba Yaga. This is a prayer for Resistance.

This is a prayer for the magic of chicken feet, the heat of old hates, the way old bones hurt. This is a prayer for Resistance.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

If you were given the ability to reform how your country’s leaders were chosen and how they serve, what would you change?

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Incredible Video Shows Sperm Whales Come Together to Birth a Calf

The beautiful moment when an entire group of sperm whales came together to support the birth of a calf has, for the first time, been recorded in unprecedented detail.

Over several hours on 8 July 2023, scientists recorded two sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) family groups coming together in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Dominica, taking turns to assist with the birth and help the newborn calf stay at the surface to take its first breaths.

Species survival depends on cooperation.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Our theme for this session was "World Cuisine." I wrote from 12 PM to 3:45 AM, so about 13 hours 45 minutes, allowing for lunch and supper breaks. I wrote 3 poem on Tuesday plus 3 later in the week.

Participation was up, with 7 comments on LiveJournal and another 40 on Dreamwidth. A total of 11 people sent prompts. There were no new prompters.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the March 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Confident Guesswork and Improvisation"
"Nuff Respect"
"Refusing to Melt"

"To Understand Water" (Polychrome Heroics, October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl)

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from March 3. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include: [Bad username or unknown identity: janetmiles>, <user name=], and Anthony Barrette. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 0 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Current Mood: busy

ndrosen

I went to the optometrist’s office this morning, and underwent some tests. Then the optometrist herself saw me, and explained to me how she is following changes in my eyes and level of neural tissue over the years. There are no major problems, but she is keeping an eye on things, if I may use the expression. Someday, but not now, I may have to take eye drops for glaucoma like my father and (I think) grandmother before me.

ndrosen

Elizabeth Nolan Brown has written about a jury’s verdict against Meta, and I share her concern about what this may do to the open Internet. It may be that Big Tech firms are not always as ethical as they should be; I still don’t think that it should be a crime or a tort to provide a platform on which some people spend too much time.

In Victorian England, for example, scolds condemned the publication and reading of cheap novels, as a waste of time, and a source of bad ideas; nor do I claim that these complaints were entirely groundless. However, it is also likely that some of the laboring men and servant girls who read such disapproved literature got harmless pleasure from it, and also expanded their vocabulary, mental horizons, and reading skills. One may say much the same of social media today; some people spend too much time on it, to the neglect of what they should be doing, but others are little harmed, and find their lives expanded by the friendships which they make online, or the chance to learn what a variety of people have to say.

The article to which I have supplied a link was published several days ago; I did not get around to posting this piece until now, because I have job duties, and do not spend too much time posting on Dreamwidth, or even looking at what my friends and their network of connections have to say and to show.

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catsittingstill

Reading

Monday Update 3-30-26

Activism

Climate Change

Bingo

Wildlife

Minoanmiss' online memorial

Birdfeeding

Gaming

Done Since 2026-03-22

Communities

No Kings Rally

The Red Queen’s Race

Science

Birdfeeding

Read "This is a prayer to Baba Yaga"

Philosophical Questions: Government

Wildlife

Poetry Fishbowl Report for March 3, 2026

Eye Tests

Verdict Against Meta

Profile

February 2024

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