Member Posts

blu ray drive question

Are there particular signs to look out for w/r/t an blu ray drive starting to fail?

I was importing a CD into iTunes last night and my external blu ray drive kept kinda getting stuck on some of the songs (some later imported successfully after I unplugged the drive and checking the connections plus restarting my PC seemed to resolve the issues with the last one).

I'm not sure if the problem was with the CD (it was from a historical society, so I'm not sure if it was burned or pressed), the software I was using, the USB connection, the drive, or something else, but now I'm feeling twitchy about the drive.

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Photos: Flowers, Pumpkins & More!

Blackberries! I think it's cool that you can see the entire progression here, from green to red to black.

( 15 more back here )

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The Day in Spikedluv (Wednesday, Aug 20)

Between Midnight and my bladder, I was up before 4am this morning, over an hour before the alarm went off. The original plan was to go back to bed, but I didn’t think I’d get back to sleep so I just stayed up and fed the cat. (So if you saw an early post and/or comments from me, that’s why.)

I had chiropractic and dental appointments this morning. I hit the Pharmacy while I was downtown, but decided not to walk around the park in the rain. Because I might melt. *g*

I did two loads of laundry (both washed, dried AND folded!), hand-washed dishes and emptied the dishwasher, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals and cut up some of said chicken for said meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I made cornbread to go with the chili. I also did some banking for mom.

I visited mom, read more in Hatshepsut, and got ~3,500 more words typed in! I had some extra time between appointments this morning, so I spent it typing. Based on the number of hand-written pages left, I’m estimating ~2,000 more words need to be typed in. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Temps started out at 57.6(F) (and according to TWC app, the high today is supposed to be 57, so not only is it going to be cool, it’s not going to get any warmer!). It started raining about 4am and rained most of the day. The heavier rain was in the morning while the afternoon was mostly sprinkles and drizzles. Despite the all day rain we only got about an inch. Temps topped out at 54.5. Yep, the temps just went down from the morning. I actually turned on the furnace for a short time to get rid of the chill/damp in the house. (Pip even turned on the oil burner at work!)

Mom Update:

Mom was a bit better today.( more back here )

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books

Some book stuff

Ballad of Sword & Wine by Tang Jiu Qing (translated by XiA, Jia, and amixy):

( Read more... )

I just saw today that first few volumes of Rosmei's baihe titles (volume 1 of The Creater's Grace and volumes 1 and 2 of At The World's Mercy have their preorders scheduled for October!

I also continue to be unreasonably excited about The Beauty's Blade, despite the release date being ~2 months away.

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wordy wednesday

Word: Jonquil

Wednesday's word is...

...jonquil.

a Mediterranean daffodil (Narcissus jonquilla) that is widely cultivated for its yellow or white fragrant short-tubed clustered flowers

I came across this word as an adjective meaning 'yellow,' presumably the color of the flowers. It was new-to-me.

jonquil

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book meme

Wednesday Reading Meme

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Answers in the Ashes (The Inn at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, Once Upon a Mystery (The Bookstore at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, Halloween Moon & Thanksgiving Past (The Cottage on Goosberry Bay) by Kathi Daley, Opera and Old Lace (The Bistro at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, and some fanfic.

What I am Currently Reading: Still working on The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney. I also started An Archer's Awakening (Of Crowns & Quills) by Casey Morales as my ‘light’ reading to go with the heavier reading of Hatshepsut.

(Funny thing, I didn’t remember the book when I read the blurb, but apparently I’ve already read it. o_O Some of it came back to me when I started reading it, but not enough for me to feel comfortable going on to the second book. So I’m actually re-reading this one. So many books, too little brain.)

What I Plan to Read Next: I have some library books out, so one of those. Probably the next Amelia Peabody.

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The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, Aug 19)

I hit Price Chopper while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded, though I had to make myself complete the task), hand-washed dishes and did a load in the dishwasher, took Grant for a short walk, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

I also hit the bank on my way home from mom's and browned ground beef to put together chili for tomorrow’s supper. Tonight, at Pip’s suggestion, was sausage and eggs.

I visited mom, read fanfic, and typed in ~1,200 more words on my fic! Finally! It’s been a while since I’ve typed in anything.

Temps started out at 48.9(F) and reached 75.4. Today was not nearly as nice as yesterday because it was very cloudy all day. There was some spots of blue sky and hints of sun, but overall, clouds. We’re supposed to get rain starting at midnight and lasting all day tomorrow through to 8am Thursday morning. We’ll see.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )

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tuesday is views & news day

Views & News

1. The boys and their father enjoyed the ceremony in Winnipeg. But their flight Sunday was cancelled, and the next available flight was Thursday so the boys' father found a rental car which could cross the border and drove 13+ hours to Chicago and they got on a flight which was delayed then re-routed due to fire. AND, on the way home in a taxi, the boys' father decided to stop by Carmax and test drive and buy the new-to-us car (on less than a few hours of sleep in 3 days). Nuts! So now we have a car payment for the first time in many years and it's a Toyota Rav4 if you know about cars (which I don't). I will have to take an hour and get to know it sometime soon.

2. I enjoyed my weekend alone. I worked on a jigsaw puzzle and re-watched Rear Window and read and went to a Mediterranean restaurant I wanted to try and had a really nice time. I updated my soap opera twice.

3.

booknook I have selected 22 Oct for my review. Now I need to find a book to read for it. I will take suggestions, preferably in the mystery/detective genre.

4. Monday is the first day of school.

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The Beauty's Blade links

The Beauty's Blade's preview is up on Kobo! imho the translation flows well and I adore the art.

Here's a bunch of order links I was able to find: https://books2read.com/u/br8NQZ

(Barnes & Noble seems to be taking their time with their ebook and the link for the Crunchyroll exclusive cover is here)

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media: movies

📺 watched: who done it: the clue documentary (2022)

🎬 Who Done It: The Clue Documentary: Directed by Jeff C. Smith. With Colleen Camp, Tim Curry, Syd Dutton, Jane Jenkins. Clue (1985) has become a cult classic film and is loved by multiple generations. Yet there has never been a documentary created to tell the behind the scenes stories…until now. 🔗

A cute fan documentary about the making of Clue (1985), with interviews from some cast and crew members, including the writer/director, and otherwise clips from conventions, TV interviews, and so on.

Audio levels are a bit off on the older recorded bits (the director started in 2017) but overall still watchable. Very interesting learning about the history of the movie’s development, and how they got the cast together.

I thought it was funny that Clue is so popular on social media (especially Tumblr) but the director of the documentary didn’t know any other fans IRL and even the cast/crew didn’t know people loved it. Hopefully they do now, of course!

Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.

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Sunflower Auction

Bidding at

sunflower_auction, to benefit Ukraine, is open!

My offer is HERE.

(There are only 10 offers, so it's very easy to scroll down to see them. Some are offering fic, and some art. Please go check them out!)

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The Day in Spikedluv (Monday, Aug 18)

I hit Walmart and the Dollar Tree while I was downtown. (I also stopped in at the Shoe Department to see if sneaker companies had magically started making women’s 10 1/2 or non-ugly men’s sneakers. They had not.) (Later on I stopped at Sunnycrest to see if they had the beef sticks Pip likes; they did not.)

I did two loads of laundry (including bed sheets, so also stripped and re-made the bed; both loads got washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed dishes and emptied the dishwasher, took the dogs for a couple walks, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved.

I read more Hapshetsut and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 48.6(F) and reached 73.2. It was sunny with a light breeze, which was perfect. Needless to say, I did not wear the shorts and tank top I had laid out last night. This morning definitely called for capris and a t-shirt. And a sweatshirt, natch.

Since the high for today was only supposed to be 70, I turned off the AC (we only have one in the bedroom) and opened windows to get some of that cooler air inside the house in the morning. Hopefully we won’t have to turn the AC back on for a while. That would be nice. While I appreciate the cold temps the AC provides when it’s 90+ out, I really do prefer a nice fresh breeze if I can get one.

Mom Update:

Mom was not doing great. ( more back here )

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music monday

Music Monday: So What by Miles Davis

Watch on YouTube

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traditional linen weaving, permacomputing, sloppers

Happy Monday! I forgot I had this drafted for a week or so…whoops…

Crafts & Hobbies

Marshall Dry Goods was recommended as a potential replacement to JOANN for a fabric source.

I don’t know how this got into my tabs but it’s an English transcription (with screenshots) of a German documentary about traditional linen weaving in the town of Dickenshied in 1978/1979.

Axxuy shared some typewriter resources for people interested in getting one and/or joining the typewriter-user community.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.

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Photos: Lilacs (5/7 - 5/27/2025)

Another Photo Flashback post. I posted a couple lilac photos back in May, but didn't continue, even though I took several photos every day or every couple of days. I decided to choose one photo from each day to show the progression.

Seeing them here I'm remembering how wonderful they smelled and the times I'd go outside and bury my face in them (after checking for bees first o_O).

( 9 more back here )

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The Day in Spikedluv (Sunday, Aug 17)

I went down to mom’s earlier today than usual because Pip needed to use my car in the middle of the day (he took his dad to a local annual “antique power days”, basically an antique tractor show). I only stayed for about an hour and a half, with plans to return later in the afternoon to check on her again. (More about my visit below.)

I did a load of laundry (Pip’s uniforms, so washed, dried and hung up), hand-washed dishes and ran a load in the dishwasher, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, changed kitty litter, and showered.

Pip brought home chicken dinners that we had for supper, lol!!

I read fanfic and more in Hatshepsut.

Thank you to

cornerofmadenss and

tinny for the birthday wishes!

Temps started out at 61.5(F) and reached 92.3. So much for low 80s. Again, no rain, unless it eventually came in after we went to bed.

Mom Update:

Mom was about the same today. ( more back here )

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night before the first day of "school"

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

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movies

(no subject)

Joe Baby is now on Amazon. It's not a particularly good movie imho, but I liked Dichen Lachman in it and would love to see a followup of some sort with her in the same role.

Joe Baby kinda reminds me of Dex Parios and I'm kinda delighted that, going by the Goodreads blurb of the title in question, someone took a book with a male main character and decided to adapt so said character's a queer woman (going by the preview of the first four chapters, Heather Stanton in the movie is Cornell Stanton in the book, so it's possible the main character's also queer in the book but I don't feel like buying the ebook to find out).

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sherlock sunday

Sherlock Sunday: The Hound of the Baskervilles: Chapter 12

Chapter 12 is called "Death on the Moor," which I like. We get the reunion of Holmes and Watson.

Last month, I wrote a poem about Holmes' apology for deceiving Watson. I still think it's a raw point, especially when we get it again (and more cruelly, in my opinion) in "The Dying Detective."

Title: Apology
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Prompt: sad
Rating: Gen
Length: 184
Summary: a poem about Holmes apologizing to Watson for manipulating him during the Baskerville case

( Read more... )

And we get the death of Selden the fugitive. Good riddance!

selden

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weeknotes (august 10-16, 2025)

Life Updates

I’ve been so enjoying my time in Ann Arbor– or at least in this part of A² in particular.

Every morning I wake up around 6, make a cup of coffee and go out to sit in the garden for an hour or two. Then, after feeding the cats, I go walk around the neighborhood for as long as I want, usually 40 minutes, come back and shower and then get to work! I sit at a high desk and watch the garden out the window, and I see all sorts of animals: groundhogs, rabbits, squirrels (three kinds), chipmunks, stray cats, and once even a deer!

The week has fairly raced by! I did make it into town once this week, to check out the farmer’s market and a few shops. I stopped at a used bookstore called Digger’s, where you literally dig around for media (books, DVDs, games, CDs), and managed to find four books for $0.75/each. Now I’m REALLY in trouble, between those and the ones I got from the Little Free Libraries earlier– and did I mention I found an UNLICENSED LFL on a walk the other day? Of course I got a book from there, so now I’m up to (I think) 10 books still waiting to be read.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.