chickenfeet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chickenfeet) wrote2025-10-01 09:20 am
chickenfeet) wrote2025-10-01 09:20 am
oursin (oursin) wrote2025-09-30 07:27 pm
oursin) wrote2025-09-30 07:27 pmEntry tags:
I know that there are a vast array of readers out there, but....
I do feel, Lee Child, that this categorisation is a bit simple:
But I think it’s nuts that people think genre is easier than reaching a very small and reliable audience. Some good, middle-class Julian Barnes or Martin Amis reader, they don’t expect to be 100% satisfied with a book. They put it down and start the next one. When you’re a bestseller, you’ve got to satisfy the person that reads one book a year on the beach. If you leave him disappointed, he may never read another book.
(Quite apart from the weird class thing going on.)
Okay, I read a lot and I very very seldom expect to be 100% satisfied with a book, but the ones that ring the bell are all over the place. I won't say I expect to be satisfied by a book but you know, Middlemarch exists, Tam Lin exists, The Fountain Overflows exists, etc etc, I can always hope.
And what do we mean by being satisfied by a book anyway? I was in Slow Motion Trainwreck Relationship with a person who had some very weird stuff going on about reading and what they would or would not read and somehow being afraid of investing time in reading a book that might not be Right. It was not about satisfaction precisely, it was about having some internal template a book had to match.
Actually I suppose this rather went with making the occasional askance expressions and noises at the kind of things that I was reading, because I may not be entirely indiscriminate in what I read but I do have to be reading something and I will give quite a lot of things A Go.
I also wonder how one fits into the above paradigm people who do read a lot but want the exact same thing with just slight changes, which is also a market that bestsellers aim at, surely?
Also, are there literally people who only read one book a year when they're on holiday (and probably on the plane rather than the beach)?
On another paw (how many have I got up to?) there is Uncle Matthew in The Pursuit of Love who would never read anything (except for Country Life, presumably, if he found the chub-fuddler there) after the transcendant experience that was White Fang.
chickenfeet (chickenfeet) wrote2025-09-30 09:58 am
chickenfeet) wrote2025-09-30 09:58 amCollide-o-Scope
Slow Rise Music explore the boundaries of "classical"
https://operaramblings.blog/2025/09/30/collide-o-scope/
https://operaramblings.blog/2025/09/30/collide-o-scope/
shadowkat (shadowkat) wrote2025-09-29 07:26 pm
shadowkat) wrote2025-09-29 07:26 pmThere's a crack in everything but that's how the light gets in?
I'm not allowed to buy more books. So I stared at the books at Lofty Pigeons, briefly picked up one on the art of making gluten free bread (hint, sourdough) and hobbled out again. I was dripping in sweat, since it was a hot and humid day and I'd walked three miles. So sweaty, that I could feel the booksellers giving me the side-eye (do not drip sweat on our books or touch them with sweaty fingers). That was yesterday not today.
Today - I went to work, got there way too early, and was so horribly bored, I found myself debating copyright law on Dreamwidth. (Thank you by the way for that. I may go back to it tomorrow. Note debate/discuss not argue. I'm conflict adverse not debate adverse. There is a difference. One is emotional, one is logical and analytical.) And then, unsuccessfully tried to revise my contemporary romance novel - which I'm becoming increasingly convinced doesn't quite work and requires a wee bit too much suspension of disbelief from the reader? ( Read more... )
Art History Major was back and felt the need tobrag whine regale me with how busy she is. I wish people wouldn't do that. Yes, yes, we all know you are swamped and very very busy...bored now. (Actually all she does is chat in Teams meetings, or go to meetings in person, or go to training, or go chat in her boss's office - according to Breaking Bad - all AHM and her boss do is chat all day long. New agency that old agency was forcibly merged into is really into video chat and meetings. They have meetings about everything. ) So, I rarely talk to or see her. She might as well be out. We share a cubical wall, but I rarely see her outside of briefly in the morning or occasionally during the day.
Mother: does she accomplish much from these meetings?
Me: No, they never appear to.
I hate meetings - I find them to be generally speaking a colossal waste of time. Unless they are negotiations - in which case - those can be somewhat productive?
**
Allergies are beating me up this week a bit. Itchy eyes, sniffles, and a bit of chest congestion. It's fall - or end of summer - so allergy season.
COVID vaccine - didn't have any side-effects outside of the sore shoulder, unless we count the allergies, which showed up two days later, so probably not? Sore shoulder is over finally - thank god. I had to take aleve for that finally. It hurt more than it had the last time - this version of the vaccine really packs a wallop. Although I'm grateful it was just a sore shoulder.
**
Meditations - last night's and this morning's were helpful. As was the Sunday UU sermon. Or comforting at least.
Last night, I was listening to part four of a six part sleep story about a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. ( Read more... )
The other one, this morning, was about not needing to please people all the time, or at all. And it told a fable - about a old man, a boy and a donkey.
( fable ) (Both are in the Calm meditation app.)
And in Sunday's service - I was reminded of the Leonard Cohen song, Anthem"
"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"
It's similar to the Native American view that all art needs to have a flaw in it, so as not to attempt to improve on nature, and remain balanced. My grandmother actually taught me the Native American view - she'd learned to bead and create beaded art, and dream catchers from watching the Hopi and Navajo in Arizona and Nevada. And deliberately put flaws in all her work - to ensure that the light got in. You know a work is genuine and not mass produced - when it has the deliberate flaw.
***
The clothing I ordered from Talbots came - or three of the four items. And they all fit and looked good, or I was pleased with them. Whew! Since they were mostly final sales items.
**
The day was sunny but hazy, and not good for allergies. But I took a long walk - first briefly through the trees and garden, then along the pier with the water brushing its sides, looping back through the tall buildings, old and new to get two chocolate chip cookies from Insomiac cookies. (Every time I go, I'm both annoyed and relieved that they only have one type of cookie that is gluten-free and it is chocolate chip.)
The picture is of a mural that is around the corner from where I work. I found it striking, so took a photo of it. NYC is a city that just vibrates with an artistic vibe. It's as if all the artists in the world decided to perch here for just a bit, to drink coffee, tea, and play, before popping off again somewhere else.
Today - I went to work, got there way too early, and was so horribly bored, I found myself debating copyright law on Dreamwidth. (Thank you by the way for that. I may go back to it tomorrow. Note debate/discuss not argue. I'm conflict adverse not debate adverse. There is a difference. One is emotional, one is logical and analytical.) And then, unsuccessfully tried to revise my contemporary romance novel - which I'm becoming increasingly convinced doesn't quite work and requires a wee bit too much suspension of disbelief from the reader? ( Read more... )
Art History Major was back and felt the need to
Mother: does she accomplish much from these meetings?
Me: No, they never appear to.
I hate meetings - I find them to be generally speaking a colossal waste of time. Unless they are negotiations - in which case - those can be somewhat productive?
**
Allergies are beating me up this week a bit. Itchy eyes, sniffles, and a bit of chest congestion. It's fall - or end of summer - so allergy season.
COVID vaccine - didn't have any side-effects outside of the sore shoulder, unless we count the allergies, which showed up two days later, so probably not? Sore shoulder is over finally - thank god. I had to take aleve for that finally. It hurt more than it had the last time - this version of the vaccine really packs a wallop. Although I'm grateful it was just a sore shoulder.
**
Meditations - last night's and this morning's were helpful. As was the Sunday UU sermon. Or comforting at least.
Last night, I was listening to part four of a six part sleep story about a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. ( Read more... )
The other one, this morning, was about not needing to please people all the time, or at all. And it told a fable - about a old man, a boy and a donkey.
( fable ) (Both are in the Calm meditation app.)
And in Sunday's service - I was reminded of the Leonard Cohen song, Anthem"
"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"
It's similar to the Native American view that all art needs to have a flaw in it, so as not to attempt to improve on nature, and remain balanced. My grandmother actually taught me the Native American view - she'd learned to bead and create beaded art, and dream catchers from watching the Hopi and Navajo in Arizona and Nevada. And deliberately put flaws in all her work - to ensure that the light got in. You know a work is genuine and not mass produced - when it has the deliberate flaw.
***
The clothing I ordered from Talbots came - or three of the four items. And they all fit and looked good, or I was pleased with them. Whew! Since they were mostly final sales items.
**
The day was sunny but hazy, and not good for allergies. But I took a long walk - first briefly through the trees and garden, then along the pier with the water brushing its sides, looping back through the tall buildings, old and new to get two chocolate chip cookies from Insomiac cookies. (Every time I go, I'm both annoyed and relieved that they only have one type of cookie that is gluten-free and it is chocolate chip.)
The picture is of a mural that is around the corner from where I work. I found it striking, so took a photo of it. NYC is a city that just vibrates with an artistic vibe. It's as if all the artists in the world decided to perch here for just a bit, to drink coffee, tea, and play, before popping off again somewhere else.
selenak (selenak) wrote2025-09-29 11:38 am
selenak) wrote2025-09-29 11:38 am
Entry tags:
Alien: Earth 1.08
Darth Real Life hounds my every step these days, but I did manage to watch the ( Alien: Earth )
oursin (oursin) wrote2025-09-29 09:58 am
oursin) wrote2025-09-29 09:58 amEntry tags:
Menz B Weeerd
I do not think these are healthy or useful ways to look at SEX. Notches on the bedpost was bad enough, or how many times per night they could Do It, but really, these are taking the whole thing to new levels.
My boyfriend sees sex as a competition he is losing. How can I change his mind?:
He feels like he doesn’t perform enough (he does) and worries he isn’t big enough (he is!). He grew up without a father – the father’s fault – and I wonder if this has something to do with it. How can I assist him to see sex as non-competitive?:
Response:I assume he doesn’t think he’s losing the competition with you, somehow, but with imagined manly foes, comparisons, symbols of everything he (imagines he) isn’t?
I suppose there isn't actually some scoreboard somewhere out there Rate My Manly Performance but I wouldn't entirely rule that out, alas.
Because of this: Sperm-racing investors blow $10 million on ‘seed round’ for sports venture:
Last weekend, Zhu flew to YouTuber David Dobrik’s slick white Los Angeles mansion, collected the sperm of three influencers, and injected it onto a small race track as a crowd gathered in the living room. The competitors — Harry Jowsey, Jason Nash, and Ilya Fedorovich — watched a video of their swimmers, overlaid with animated tadpoles, zoom to the finish line.
Apparently, 'Zhu insists he has a deeper, more profitable mission: to gamify health and build an empire around male fertility'.
Yeah, well, I'm over here going
a) tortoise and hare, and are those sprinters whooshing right past the ovum in their mad gallop?
b) bit of an assumption that they are actually, you know, viably fertile, which I don't think at all correlates with speed. Motility is one thing, having what it takes to fertilise that ovum is another (and haven't I read something somewhere about It Is The Ovum That Chooses? Heh.)
c) Mary Ellman's image in Thinking About Women: 'the activity of ova involves a daring and independence absent, in fact, from the activity of spermatozoa, which move in jostling masses, swarming out on signal like a crowd of commuters from the 5:15.
cactuswatcher (cactuswatcher) wrote2025-09-28 06:51 pm
cactuswatcher) wrote2025-09-28 06:51 pmEntry tags:
Caviar snob
Via shadowkat
22. Are you good at managing your time, or would you love to be better organized?
Yes, reasonably good. I used to procrastinate a lot, but eventually found that things went better if I didn't.
23. Do you know how to perform the ‘Heimlich manoeuvre’?
Yes, but I don't know anyone personally who actually needed to use it.
24. Have you ever seen a comet in the sky?
Yes, I have a nice telescope, and I've seen comets. I saw Halley's comet, but it wasn't very impressive that pass through the solar system.
25. ‘Rotomontade’ is a bragging speech or rant. When was the last time you had a really good rant about something?
I rant all the time about things to my cat. He understands enough to ignore it.
26. Have you ever been fruit-picking? What kind of fruit did you pick, and what did you do with them?
Yes. We had apples, peaches and pears in the yard, strawberries in the garden, raspberries and blackberries along the edges of and in woods, and grapes a mini-vineyard. And far from the house we had persimmon trees in the yard, whose fruit was ripe after the first frost. We ate fresh picked fruit all summer, the berries often with ice cream. It depended on how short of funds we were, how diligently we sought out the fruit. By the time the persimmons were ripe, we were a little bored of fresh fruit, but my mother made apple pie this time of the year, which we looked forward to.
27. Do you know how to change a tire on a car? Have you ever had to do it?
Yes, I've changed tires. Back in the day it was a lot more common to have to change flats. I've even rotated tires on a car. These days I let the mechanics do it for me.
28. Have you ever eaten caviar?
Oh, yes. When I visited the Soviet Union they were very interested in letting us try it in hopes we would buy a large can of it to take home with us. Black caviar from sturgeon, the good stuff. It was interesting to have a generous amount with our lunch one day. Nice to say I had several spoonfuls of the stuff. But I can't say I fell in love with it. Nothing wrong with it. Perfectly edible, but nothing I'd care to pay a lot of money to have again!
shadowkat22. Are you good at managing your time, or would you love to be better organized?
Yes, reasonably good. I used to procrastinate a lot, but eventually found that things went better if I didn't.
23. Do you know how to perform the ‘Heimlich manoeuvre’?
Yes, but I don't know anyone personally who actually needed to use it.
24. Have you ever seen a comet in the sky?
Yes, I have a nice telescope, and I've seen comets. I saw Halley's comet, but it wasn't very impressive that pass through the solar system.
25. ‘Rotomontade’ is a bragging speech or rant. When was the last time you had a really good rant about something?
I rant all the time about things to my cat. He understands enough to ignore it.
26. Have you ever been fruit-picking? What kind of fruit did you pick, and what did you do with them?
Yes. We had apples, peaches and pears in the yard, strawberries in the garden, raspberries and blackberries along the edges of and in woods, and grapes a mini-vineyard. And far from the house we had persimmon trees in the yard, whose fruit was ripe after the first frost. We ate fresh picked fruit all summer, the berries often with ice cream. It depended on how short of funds we were, how diligently we sought out the fruit. By the time the persimmons were ripe, we were a little bored of fresh fruit, but my mother made apple pie this time of the year, which we looked forward to.
27. Do you know how to change a tire on a car? Have you ever had to do it?
Yes, I've changed tires. Back in the day it was a lot more common to have to change flats. I've even rotated tires on a car. These days I let the mechanics do it for me.
28. Have you ever eaten caviar?
Oh, yes. When I visited the Soviet Union they were very interested in letting us try it in hopes we would buy a large can of it to take home with us. Black caviar from sturgeon, the good stuff. It was interesting to have a generous amount with our lunch one day. Nice to say I had several spoonfuls of the stuff. But I can't say I fell in love with it. Nothing wrong with it. Perfectly edible, but nothing I'd care to pay a lot of money to have again!
shadowkat (shadowkat) wrote2025-09-28 07:06 pm
shadowkat) wrote2025-09-28 07:06 pmEntry tags:
Sunday wanders into an art fair....
It was a lovely day, the sky bright as a robin's egg, so I took a long walk to the local art festival or Artmeggadon - which allegedly had over 400 artists participating. ( Read more... )
But I found it a bit crowded in places, and often hard to see the art, so chose not to walk any further into the fair, and zig-zagged back home taking in the scant offerings on the way. It being Brooklyn, I saw a variety of landscapes on the walk - from multi-family homes that one might well see in the wealthy suburbs of Connecticut or Mass, with their broad porches, arched roofs, and well manicured lawns - to the brick multi-storied pre-war apartment buildings, and old school shops. Upon two walls were painstakingly painted murals, telling their own stories of the people who lived here, with songs in their hearts.
As I neared my own block, I chose to snap a few photos of the sunflowers growing in wild abandon in front of stone and mortar house that dated well back to the 1950s and the pre-war apartment building next door.
Television this weekend
* Great British Baking Show - up to Episode 13
* The Newsreader on Prime - it only has season 1, and it's leaving in four days, after that you can only see it and the next season on AMC. S3 has aired in Australia but isn't available yet on streaming. It takes place in yesteryear - the yesteryear in question, 1986. And focuses on a National News/Local News broadcast station in Melbourne, Australia during 1986. It stars Sam Reid (Lestate in Interview with a Vampire), Anna Torv (Fringe), and Robert Taylor (Longmire). I finished S1. The later seasons aren't available on streaming (outside of AMC). But S1 kind of stands by itself, and wraps up neatly on its own. I didn't really need to see anything after it? It doesn't really require more episodes, although there is obviously more story there. It's a workplace serial. Also discusses homosexuality and bisexuality through a 1980s lens - which is painful at times, but accurate and informative - it's good to see how far we've come, I think.
* Call the Midwife - this is a partial re-watch continuation. I can't remember when I stopped watching the show? I think it was somewhere around S6 or S7? Since I vaguely remember the episodes I'm watching now.
But not well enough to skip ahead. It's a comforting series that takes place in the 1950s-60s in London - Great Britain. It's on Netflix, so it's just streaming from one episode to the next. I'd originally watched it on PBS several years ago.
*Angel the Series - started my re-watch. It's better than I remembered and holds up better than expected. Things I didn't realize? ( Read more... )
****
Question a Day Meme - End of September
22. Are you good at managing your time, or would you love to be better organized?
Yes. Perhaps too good - work wise. I've had to be - because of deadlines, and I get anxious. So, I don't procrastinate on big things, and get them done quickly. Also, I don't over-schedule myself.
23. Do you know how to perform the ‘Heimlich manoeuvre’?
No. I used to, ages ago. But I don't now.
24. Have you ever seen a comet in the sky?
No.
25. ‘Rotomontade’ is a bragging speech or rant. When was the last time you had a really good rant about something?
My rants tend to be more kvetching not bragging? I don't tend to brag? Bravado is not a skill of mine.
26. Have you ever been fruit-picking? What kind of fruit did you pick, and what did you do with them?
Yes. Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries as a child. We made pies with them and put them over cereal and ice cream. Also muffins and cake with the blueberries. I can't remember if we picked apples.
27. Do you know how to change a tyre/tire on a car? Have you ever had to do it?
No. And no.
28. Have you ever eaten caviar?
Yes. It's salty, but I'm not really a fan? Expensive but not worth the price or the bother.
But I found it a bit crowded in places, and often hard to see the art, so chose not to walk any further into the fair, and zig-zagged back home taking in the scant offerings on the way. It being Brooklyn, I saw a variety of landscapes on the walk - from multi-family homes that one might well see in the wealthy suburbs of Connecticut or Mass, with their broad porches, arched roofs, and well manicured lawns - to the brick multi-storied pre-war apartment buildings, and old school shops. Upon two walls were painstakingly painted murals, telling their own stories of the people who lived here, with songs in their hearts.
As I neared my own block, I chose to snap a few photos of the sunflowers growing in wild abandon in front of stone and mortar house that dated well back to the 1950s and the pre-war apartment building next door.
Television this weekend
* Great British Baking Show - up to Episode 13
* The Newsreader on Prime - it only has season 1, and it's leaving in four days, after that you can only see it and the next season on AMC. S3 has aired in Australia but isn't available yet on streaming. It takes place in yesteryear - the yesteryear in question, 1986. And focuses on a National News/Local News broadcast station in Melbourne, Australia during 1986. It stars Sam Reid (Lestate in Interview with a Vampire), Anna Torv (Fringe), and Robert Taylor (Longmire). I finished S1. The later seasons aren't available on streaming (outside of AMC). But S1 kind of stands by itself, and wraps up neatly on its own. I didn't really need to see anything after it? It doesn't really require more episodes, although there is obviously more story there. It's a workplace serial. Also discusses homosexuality and bisexuality through a 1980s lens - which is painful at times, but accurate and informative - it's good to see how far we've come, I think.
* Call the Midwife - this is a partial re-watch continuation. I can't remember when I stopped watching the show? I think it was somewhere around S6 or S7? Since I vaguely remember the episodes I'm watching now.
But not well enough to skip ahead. It's a comforting series that takes place in the 1950s-60s in London - Great Britain. It's on Netflix, so it's just streaming from one episode to the next. I'd originally watched it on PBS several years ago.
*Angel the Series - started my re-watch. It's better than I remembered and holds up better than expected. Things I didn't realize? ( Read more... )
****
Question a Day Meme - End of September
22. Are you good at managing your time, or would you love to be better organized?
Yes. Perhaps too good - work wise. I've had to be - because of deadlines, and I get anxious. So, I don't procrastinate on big things, and get them done quickly. Also, I don't over-schedule myself.
23. Do you know how to perform the ‘Heimlich manoeuvre’?
No. I used to, ages ago. But I don't now.
24. Have you ever seen a comet in the sky?
No.
25. ‘Rotomontade’ is a bragging speech or rant. When was the last time you had a really good rant about something?
My rants tend to be more kvetching not bragging? I don't tend to brag? Bravado is not a skill of mine.
26. Have you ever been fruit-picking? What kind of fruit did you pick, and what did you do with them?
Yes. Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries as a child. We made pies with them and put them over cereal and ice cream. Also muffins and cake with the blueberries. I can't remember if we picked apples.
27. Do you know how to change a tyre/tire on a car? Have you ever had to do it?
No. And no.
28. Have you ever eaten caviar?
Yes. It's salty, but I'm not really a fan? Expensive but not worth the price or the bother.
oursin (oursin) wrote2025-09-28 07:14 pm
oursin) wrote2025-09-28 07:14 pmCulinary
Last week's bread did some spectacular mould action, bah, so I made the light rye loaf from Elizabeth David's English Bread and Yeast Cookery, discovering as I weighed out the ingredients that I had rather less strong white flour than I thought and had to make up the requisite proportion with white spelt. Turned out v nice, though.
No Saturday breakfast rolls because of rushing off to conference.
Today's lunch: pork spare ribs, which I rubbed with a mix of maple sugar, hot and sweet smoked paprikas, black pepper, garlic salt, and salt, and left overnight, then wrapped in foil and cooked for 3 hours in a very low oven, then basted with what was more of a barbecue sauce than a glaze of a small tin of chopped tomatoes + apple vinegar + dashes of tabasco and worcester sauce, simmered together, and cooked at a slightly higher temperature for 45 or so minutes - v tasty if a little dry - possibly did not need quite so long at that final stage; served with tenderstem broccoli and okra simmered for 45+ minutes in coconut milk with ginger paste and fresh coriander (possibly a little overdone?); baked San Marzano tomatoes; and cornbread (plain white flour + baking powder, half and half with mixture of fine/coarse cornmeal).
shadowkat (shadowkat) wrote2025-09-28 11:23 am
shadowkat) wrote2025-09-28 11:23 amReturn of Good News Report...
Good News From the American Resistance and Its Global Allies
Disclaimer: As always, Good News like beauty and humor is often in the eyes of the beholder, hopefully something makes you smile, even if its just a picture at the end.
1. Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle claims that it tricked customers into signing up for Prime, then made it hard to cancel.
How to determine you are eligible and how to get your refund
It's really just for folks who signed up in 2019, and it's no more than $51.
2. "Prototype device controlled by silent speech
( Read more... )
Alterego - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03084-7
3.The health and economic benefits generated by vaccines against COVID-19 in the first year alone — a return of $60 to $475 on the dollar.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2496200-covid-19-vaccine-benefits-worth-up-to-38-trillion-in-first-year-alone/
4. "Podcast: an AI health oracle
( Read more... )
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03026-3
5. Colorado pastor and wife ordered to repay $3.4M to victims of their crypto scam
( Read more... )
https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/colorado-pastor-and-wife-ordered?publication_id=95153&post_id=173867959&isFreemail=true&r=335kz&triedRedirect=true
6. New research on nature’s effect on focus is so compelling.
( Read more... )
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/nature-walk-focus-attention-1.7109264
7. "With dementia rates expected to double by 2060, it’s normal to think about ways to stay sharp. Unfortunately, many popular brain-training apps and games don't produce lasting memory benefits, but there’s a simpler approach that doesn’t even require a screen.
( Read more... )
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/12/11/114
8.New research reveals a connection between grip strength and mental health.
https://www.askmen.com/fitness/mental-health/the-surprising-connection-between-grip-strength-and-mental-health.html
9.Remember the race to cure HIV? We're closer than you think. Remember the race to cure HIV? We're closer than you think.
A new clinical trial in South Africa delivered a rare but extraordinary outcome: One young woman may be cured of the virus.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/08/25/g-s1-84393/whatever-happened-to-the-race-to-cure-hiv-theres-promising-news
10. The Dutch are quietly shifting towards a four-day work week
Opponents say they make us less productive. Fans say they give us freedom. What do the results really say?
https://www.ft.com/content/7b61e52c-93fc-4634-b9ad-fdacac5d6538
( mostly situations of resistance and medical health improvements like above - 46 in all )
Disclaimer: As always, Good News like beauty and humor is often in the eyes of the beholder, hopefully something makes you smile, even if its just a picture at the end.
1. Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle claims that it tricked customers into signing up for Prime, then made it hard to cancel.
How to determine you are eligible and how to get your refund
It's really just for folks who signed up in 2019, and it's no more than $51.
2. "Prototype device controlled by silent speech
( Read more... )
Alterego - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03084-7
3.The health and economic benefits generated by vaccines against COVID-19 in the first year alone — a return of $60 to $475 on the dollar.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2496200-covid-19-vaccine-benefits-worth-up-to-38-trillion-in-first-year-alone/
4. "Podcast: an AI health oracle
( Read more... )
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03026-3
5. Colorado pastor and wife ordered to repay $3.4M to victims of their crypto scam
( Read more... )
https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/colorado-pastor-and-wife-ordered?publication_id=95153&post_id=173867959&isFreemail=true&r=335kz&triedRedirect=true
6. New research on nature’s effect on focus is so compelling.
( Read more... )
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/nature-walk-focus-attention-1.7109264
7. "With dementia rates expected to double by 2060, it’s normal to think about ways to stay sharp. Unfortunately, many popular brain-training apps and games don't produce lasting memory benefits, but there’s a simpler approach that doesn’t even require a screen.
( Read more... )
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/12/11/114
8.New research reveals a connection between grip strength and mental health.
https://www.askmen.com/fitness/mental-health/the-surprising-connection-between-grip-strength-and-mental-health.html
9.Remember the race to cure HIV? We're closer than you think. Remember the race to cure HIV? We're closer than you think.
A new clinical trial in South Africa delivered a rare but extraordinary outcome: One young woman may be cured of the virus.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/08/25/g-s1-84393/whatever-happened-to-the-race-to-cure-hiv-theres-promising-news
10. The Dutch are quietly shifting towards a four-day work week
Opponents say they make us less productive. Fans say they give us freedom. What do the results really say?
https://www.ft.com/content/7b61e52c-93fc-4634-b9ad-fdacac5d6538
( mostly situations of resistance and medical health improvements like above - 46 in all )
shadowkat (shadowkat) wrote2025-09-27 05:51 pm
shadowkat) wrote2025-09-27 05:51 pmEntry tags:
Saturday is overcast and threatening sunshine...
Humid overcast day, with sunlight filtering through - and a bit on the hazy side. In the mid to upper seventies, although felt warmer due to the humidity. I put on the A/C and installed the new reverse and inverse air window fan in the bedroom - which I'm hoping will help when it gets colder and they start blasting the heat. Now, it's not an issue. ( Read more... )
Also cleaned out the chemistry experiments in the fridge - basically transferred them to the compost bin, and the plastic to the recycling bin.
Didn't do a deep clean - I hurt enough, and that would kill my back.
Had lunch, which consisted of gluten free cheddar and chive "American Southern" biscuits (think American scones but puffy?) by way of Capulla's (an Italian Gluten Free Baking company). The biscuits are excellent by the way. Can't tell they are gluten free at all. (Turns out I didn't like biscuits previously because they had gluten - and made me sick.) Added proscuitto, cheddar cheese, and some English mustard, and it was a decent lunch.
Worked it off by going to the health food stores on Courteylou. Flatbush Coop and Frontier Health Food Store. I had an unexpected and somewhat toxic interaction at Frontier with an old guy that shelves things and advises people where to find stuff (he's always in my way, and I get a really bad vibe off of him every time I see him). ( Read more... )
The whole interaction left a bad taste in my mouth and rage in my heart at old farts, Turkish restaurants, people who are desperate enough to carry guns and gun manufacturers.
**
Spoke to mother, earlier, who regaled me with the story of a snake. They have poisonous snakes in Hilton Head, SC. She's also concerned about a Tropical Storm that is barreling in her general direction, but so far they are just sheltering in place.
Apparently one of her neighbors was watering plants in her garden and got bitten by a copperhead.
( the evils of gardening and snakes )
Apparently the neighbor tried to drive herself to the emergency room, got woozy, and ambulance came to her. It had bitten her foot. They couldn't give her the anti-venom because she was on blood thinners. But they monitored her, and it was okay - since it was a more mature snake (younger ones release it all at once apparently), and it was her foot. She also got fined by security - for pulling over, even though it was an emergency. At least they didn't tow her.
***
Dinner was mixed greens, feta, black pitted kalmata olives, falafal, tahini sauce, glazed pecans, apple cider vinegar/lemon juice. With iced unsweetened black tea (and lemon juice) for beverage. And gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookie for desert. ( Read more... )
The photo was obviously not taken today but several weeks ago, I just never got around to posting it until now.
Also cleaned out the chemistry experiments in the fridge - basically transferred them to the compost bin, and the plastic to the recycling bin.
Didn't do a deep clean - I hurt enough, and that would kill my back.
Had lunch, which consisted of gluten free cheddar and chive "American Southern" biscuits (think American scones but puffy?) by way of Capulla's (an Italian Gluten Free Baking company). The biscuits are excellent by the way. Can't tell they are gluten free at all. (Turns out I didn't like biscuits previously because they had gluten - and made me sick.) Added proscuitto, cheddar cheese, and some English mustard, and it was a decent lunch.
Worked it off by going to the health food stores on Courteylou. Flatbush Coop and Frontier Health Food Store. I had an unexpected and somewhat toxic interaction at Frontier with an old guy that shelves things and advises people where to find stuff (he's always in my way, and I get a really bad vibe off of him every time I see him). ( Read more... )
The whole interaction left a bad taste in my mouth and rage in my heart at old farts, Turkish restaurants, people who are desperate enough to carry guns and gun manufacturers.
**
Spoke to mother, earlier, who regaled me with the story of a snake. They have poisonous snakes in Hilton Head, SC. She's also concerned about a Tropical Storm that is barreling in her general direction, but so far they are just sheltering in place.
Apparently one of her neighbors was watering plants in her garden and got bitten by a copperhead.
( the evils of gardening and snakes )
Apparently the neighbor tried to drive herself to the emergency room, got woozy, and ambulance came to her. It had bitten her foot. They couldn't give her the anti-venom because she was on blood thinners. But they monitored her, and it was okay - since it was a more mature snake (younger ones release it all at once apparently), and it was her foot. She also got fined by security - for pulling over, even though it was an emergency. At least they didn't tow her.
***
Dinner was mixed greens, feta, black pitted kalmata olives, falafal, tahini sauce, glazed pecans, apple cider vinegar/lemon juice. With iced unsweetened black tea (and lemon juice) for beverage. And gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookie for desert. ( Read more... )
The photo was obviously not taken today but several weeks ago, I just never got around to posting it until now.
oursin (oursin) wrote2025-09-27 08:21 pm
oursin) wrote2025-09-27 08:21 pmEntry tags:
Hedjog is go flop
Today was the day of the conference at which I had been invited, at rather short notice, to give a keynote.
Not only did I have to get up EARLY especially for a Saturday, I had a rotten night because the lower back decided to kick off and even when it had calmed down a bit it took ages to get back to sleep.
And then as I was doing my final preparations I discovered the battery in one of my hearing aids was flat, which was a bit irksome, because I had been expecting all week for it to do the warning bonging, like the other one did, and had to replace that.
So anyway, I got out, and found that the place I was aiming at was not quite so far distant from the Underground station as had been indicated, and also, even though I was late, so was the start.
Rather few actual in-person attendees - I'm not sure how many there were on the Zoom.
Crisis! there was supposed to be a delivery of sandwiches at lunchtime which Did Not Arrive so we all went out to forage (these later turned up some hours later, what is the point).
So, I think my paper went over okay, and there were some questions, even if some of them got rather off-topic onto more general questions about archives.
Some of the papers were moderately interesting, some of them were a bit hard to hear, and I picked up at least one useful reference (possibly) for one of my own projects.
Met one old academic acquaintance from way back, and a couple of interesting Younger Scholars.
Had already decided that I was not up for going on to meal in restaurant, so came home to flop.