Bundle of Holding: Cthulhu Reborn

Oct. 27th, 2025 03:19 pm
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Nearly two dozen Mythos investigations in many eras from the open-license Cthulhu Eternal tabletop roleplaying game line produced by Cthulhu Reborn.

Compatible with your favorite Lovecraftian percentile-based systems)

Bundle of Holding: Cthulhu Reborn

(no subject)

Oct. 27th, 2025 02:59 pm
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird
I went to Somerville this morning for a fasting blood draw, to repeat the blood glucose test from a few weeks ago. She also ordered an A1C test and, apparently, a basic metabolic panel. I don't remember Carneb mentioning the basic metabolic panel, but I asked the receptionist to check whether I'd already had one recently, and he said I hadn't, so sure. I can spare an extra test tube of blood, I just didn't want to have to fight an insurance company about it.

From there, I took the bus to Arlington, hoping to order new glasses, but the optician's office was closed, with no sign explaining why. (It's a one-man shop, so if Ron is sick, there's nobody else to open the office or post a sign explaining when he'll be back.) Before making another trip, I'll call and confirm that he's open; it's an easier trip from Davis Square than from here in Brighton.

The timing worked for me to stop at Lizzy's Ice Cream on the way home; I bought pints of black raspberry, black cherry, and blueberry, which was listed as a seasonal flavor.

I may have overdone things, but when I woke up this morning it seemed like good timing for the fasting blood draw.
oursin: A cloud of words from my LJ (word cloud)
[personal profile] oursin

But I am so, so fed up of people who use 'silver bullet' when they mean 'magic bullet'!

Silver bullets kill things, werewolves, mostly, right; or just generally Bad Guys when fired by the Lone Ranger.

Magic bullets Do Good - like curing sifilis, thank you Ehrlich and Hato, they are targeted remedies.

Also, however hyperliterate I am myself and have been from a young age, I don't think it's the panacea proposed here: There is a silver bullet for childhood happiness: a love of reading.

Just because she (and I and I daresay many of you who are reading this) found our happy place in reading, doesn't mean it's going to be that for all children.

I am entirely there for emphasising the role of pleasure in reading, for

meeting children where they are. It means allowing children to read books that might be perceived as too old and too young for them; it means relishing your child’s love for comics and heavily illustrated books

and not gatekeeping and niggling about what they are reading.

But I don't think this is For Everyone any more than Going Out and Playing In the Nice Fresh Air.

And on that, I really liked this: Children should have a right to play in the streets, alleys, pavements and car parks of their neighbourhoods. Refers to a letter about children playing in streets, etc, rather than in designated playgrounds and parks:

It assumes that children should be “taken” to designated play spaces, rather than allowing for the possibility that children should be able to access playable space without adults. And, finally, it fails to acknowledge that parks and other green spaces afford only certain kinds of play, and that children demand – and deserve – diverse spaces for diverse forms of play, not just ball games, swings and slides.

Clarke Award Finalists 2020

Oct. 27th, 2025 09:09 am
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
2020: Boris Johnson proposes an unbuildable bridge between Scotland and Ireland, Universal Credit successfully sends stress levels soaring, and the Tories handle Covid as skilfully as they did Brexit.

Poll #33767 Clarke Award Finalists 2020
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28


Which 2020 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
1 (3.6%)

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
23 (82.1%)

Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
1 (3.6%)

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
6 (21.4%)

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington
1 (3.6%)

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
12 (42.9%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2020 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
The Last Astronaut by David Wellington
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

vital functions

Oct. 26th, 2025 09:19 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

Reading. Two things finished, various things picked up and put down again.

Ouch!, Kerr & McRobbie: the subtitle is Why pain hurts, and why it doesn't have to; it's indicative of my current preoccupations that I was actively surprised that it is not, in fact, about chronic pain, except in passing, in that it's mentioned in the introduction in the context of pains the authors have experienced, and then it just sort of... vanishes again. What it actually is is more-or-less a tour of the sociology of acute pain, from a variety of perspectives and contexts, and an invitation to reshape your relationship with pain, optionally via the medium of sports.

It's very much aimed at a general audience (by which I mean both "not people with any particular pre-existing knowledge about pain" and also "not chronic pain patients"), with the infuriating-to-me feature of having not an actual bibliography but instead a "selected references" section, i.e. any claims I wanted to actually check required digging and then guessing (and in one case working out that they were actively wrong about which year the thing was published in, at least for referencing purposes). I did nonetheless get some useful information and vocabulary out of it (I'm especially here for the pointer to the 3P approach to pain management), and it prompted another couple of articulations.

Overall: not a disrecommendation; plausibly a light read if you have, you know, a recreational interest in pain; verify any specifics you want to rely on.

The Old Guard: Opening Fire, Rucka et al. A's conclusion was Well It Was Better Than The Second Film; mine was mild spoilers? )

and would be very happy to see that show up in an extended cut of the first film. The library doesn't have the second volume and I think we're unlikely to seek it out.

DW catch-up: halfway through September!

Playing. Inkulinati, mostly watching A play and occasionally making Suggestions. Does not work as well as a Shared Activity as I'd hoped (annoyingly I think I'd need to play basically all of it hands-on myself in order to internalise mechanics and strategy, rather than being able to e.g. swap who's driving for every level) but I am enjoying it happening in my vicinity. Today we also read the PDF of the art book together, which I am not counting as Reading because it was mostly looking at the pictures in another context.

And after six months I GOT UNSTUCK ON I Love Hue! The Ascension/Air/1, extremely gratified that searching for it revealed someone who'd managed to complete everything but that, and bolstered by this knowledge I turned brightness all the way up and the phone upside down and FINALLY managed to sort out the yellows, on my nth attempt... in way fewer than the average number of moves. VICTORY.

Cooking. Read more... )

Culinary

Oct. 26th, 2025 06:51 pm
oursin: Frontispiece from C17th household manual (Accomplisht Lady)
[personal profile] oursin

I thought last week's bread was holding out pretty well until it suddenly sprouted mould - however there was still some cornbread left + rolls.

Having been out for lunch on Friday I was not feeling like anything much for supper but made partner a Spanish omelette with red bell pepper and had some fruit myself.

Saturday breakfast rolls: basic buttermilk, strong white flour, turned out v nice.

Today's lunch: Crispy Baked Sesame Tofu - not sure whether there should not have been some actual sesame seeds somewhere in the mix? also thought maybe I was a bit cautious with the amount of tamari in the sauce - and didn't think this turned out particularly crispy....; served with sticky rice with lime leaves, baked San Marzano tomatoes and mangetout peas stirfried with star anise.

Arctic ice volume

Oct. 26th, 2025 12:43 pm
ljgeoff: (Default)
[personal profile] ljgeoff
1000006134.png

"The DMI record shows that the 2025 September ASI minimum volume is the lowest since modern monitoring began and almost certainly the lowest ASI since before the rise of human civilization." Dr. Glen Koehler, University of Maine

(no subject)

Oct. 26th, 2025 11:41 am
oursin: Brush the Wandering Hedgehog by the fire (Default)
[personal profile] oursin
Happy birthday, [personal profile] finisterre, [personal profile] rivka and [personal profile] taelle!
ailbhe: (Default)
[personal profile] ailbhe
"Legends And Lattes" by Travis Baldree

I really enjoyed this - it was recommended to me by Eldest Offspring and it reminded me of Joanne Harris' "Chocolat" a bit; found community building, bit of magic, lots of lovely descriptions of food. It was an actual paper book, so my eyes and wrists got tired, but it was good and amazingly I was able to read something entirely new by a new-to-me author.

Not the effort nor the failure tires

Oct. 25th, 2025 05:56 pm
oursin: A C19th illustration of a hedgehood, with a somewhat worried expression (mopey/worried hedgehog)
[personal profile] oursin

Just one of those weeks that felt like a strain - lower back flareups and insomnia and long-scheduled commitments that could not be deferred -

Though I did get a few small bits of life admin accomplished, like finally making an appointment for the first session of dental inlay work and chasing up whether journal reviews editor actually got my review.

But at the moment having the blahs.

davidgillon: Text: You can take a heroic last stand against the forces of darkness. Or you can not die. It's entirely up to you" (Heroic Last Stand)
[personal profile] davidgillon

 I've got an Asda order due for delivery later, but a couple of the substitutions in the confirmation email confused me, What the hell are "slice cheoni" or "pizza pepsal"?

Finally worked out it's a cheese and onion slice (euuww, that's going back), and a pepperoni salami pizza. C'mon, Asda, it's not meant to be an intelligence test!

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Eight works new to me. Three fantasies, two horror, two SF, and one hard-to-classify RPG. One of the SF books is pretty horrory, so maybe that should be three fantasies, three horror, one SF, and one hard-to-classify RPG.

Books Received, October 18 — October 24

Poll #33761 Books Received, October 18 — October 24
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 48


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Abyss by Nicholas Binge (May 2026)
6 (12.5%)

Testimony of Mute Things by Lois McMaster Bujold (October 2025)
27 (56.2%)

Morsel by Carter Keane (April 2026)
4 (8.3%)

The Cove by Claire Rose (May 2026)
6 (12.5%)

Outgunned by Riccardo ​“Rico” Sirignano & Simone Formicola, with art by Daniela Giubellini (December 2024)
6 (12.5%)

And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer (May 2026)
16 (33.3%)

Lightning Runes by Harry Turtledove (March 2026)
8 (16.7%)

A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo (May 2026)
24 (50.0%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
37 (77.1%)

What is a person?

Oct. 25th, 2025 01:32 pm
emperor: (Default)
[personal profile] emperor
The second chapter of our book group book (Rowan Williams' Being Human) is "What is a person?"

He starts by paraphrasing a slightly obscure[0] essay by Vladimir Lossky, who, he says, declares that we lack good vocabulary to distinguish between something that is simply one unique instance of its kind, and the quality (whatever it is) that makes a conscious thing of this kind irreducible to its nature.

The point he's making, I think, is that there is something more to being a person than simply being an example of a kind of thing. He's saying that there is something about us as a whole that isn't captured simply by listing facts that happen to be true about us. He then quotes Lossky at more length:
Under these conditions, it will be impossible for us to form a concept of the human person, and we will have to content ourselves with saying: “person” signifies the irreducibility of man to his nature— “irreducibility” and not “something irreducible” or “something which makes man irreducible to his nature” precisely because it cannot be a question here of “something” distinct from “another nature” but of someone who is distinct from his own nature, of someone who goes beyond his nature while still containing it, who makes it exist as human nature by this overstepping [of it].
Williams then goes on to talk about how people are shaped by the web of relationships they are part of and influence "A person, in other words, is the point at which relationships intersect, where a difference may be made and new relations created." He asserts that this (at least to Christians) is a mystery that applies to each and every human individual, and that from this it follows that the same kind of reverence or attention is due to all of them (regardless of any of the features of people that result in their marginalisation).

This is all well and good, and I'm sympathetic to the desire to avoid the "meet this set of criteria to be a person" approach that can come out of debates as to what it means to be a person. And from a Christian point of view, the idea that all people are first of all in relation to God before they are in relation to anyone or anything else; and thus that we must bear that in mind in all our doings with other people is useful (and very traditional).

But it doesn't seem to me to be actually answering the question of "What is a person?" Rather like the idea (I think from Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance) that everyone knows what "quality" is, but most people would struggle to define it; fine for the day-to-day, but not a very satisfactory answer to the question posed. Williams at least half admits this, saying later in the chapter that it's only a theological perspective that makes sense of the idea of personhood "But what I'm really suggesting is that when it comes to personal reality the language of theology is possibly the only way to speak well of our sense of who we are and what our humanity is like — to speak well of ourselves as expecting relationship, as expecting difference, as expecting death [...]" But how to talk about personhood to people who reject any sort of theological worldview?

Williams notes that Science Fiction has from time to time looked at this question of personhood - when encountering an alien or a cyborg, how do you decide to accord the status of person to this other being? He concludes that the answer is that "At the end of the day, we can say this is something we could discover only by taking time and seeing if a relationship could be built." That still seems unsatisfactory to me, not least in the age of generative AI systems[1] that produce plausible-sounding answers to any question and with whom at least some people seem to convince themselves they've had a relationship.

Is there a useful way of answering the question "What is a person?" without relying on a theological worldview or having the sort of argument that concludes that some humans are less people than others?

[0] e.g. the WP article doesn't mention it at all. But then Williams did his thesis on Lossky. The article "The Theological Notion of the Human Person" is online
[1] which are stochastic models of "what would an answer to this question likely sound like", and I am axiomatically going to declare as neither conscious nor persons

(no subject)

Oct. 25th, 2025 12:30 pm
oursin: Brush the Wandering Hedgehog by the fire (Default)
[personal profile] oursin
Happy birthday, [personal profile] aurumcalendula!

UK people: Scrap The Bathroom Ban

Oct. 25th, 2025 11:33 am
rydra_wong: Grasshopper mouse stands on its hind legs to howl. (turn venom into painkillers)
[personal profile] rydra_wong
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/scrap-the-bathroom-ban

From TransActual and Trans+ Solidarity Alliance. Produces a template letter to your MP which you can customize as much as you can or want to.

Article by Jane Fae of TransActual (who have been absolutely kicking ass):

https://www.scenemag.co.uk/jane-fae-a-director-of-transactual-writes-on-the-eve-of-launching-a-new-campaign-to-get-mps-to-reject-the-ehrcs-bathroom-ban/

There are now a bunch of Labour MPs who are worried and making noises at the government, even if it's only about the impact on businesses of rules which are possibly illegal and impossible to follow without getting sued:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/23/dozens-of-labour-mps-warn-of-chaos-for-firms-over-gender-recognition-advice

It's alleged that Bridget Phillipson was sitting on the guidance because she was worried it'd scupper her bid for the deputy leadership, whereas Powell is actively trans-friendly and has called for MPs to have a chance to debate and vote on the guidance.

The below may be an overly optimistic view but it seems clear there's tension and conflict between the EHRC and government:

https://iandunt.substack.com/p/frightened-and-desperate-ehrc-anti (warning for Substack, in case you are boycotting it)

So this is a moment when leverage is possible, and letters to your MP may actually do something.

boring unless you're me

Oct. 24th, 2025 08:30 pm
ljgeoff: (Default)
[personal profile] ljgeoff
My brain doesn't really use riddles to talk to me in my dreams. Metaphores, sure, but it's all usually pre' easy to suss out. This morning before waking, my brain sent me two separate dreams about earthquakes. I am nothing if not dogged.

So, yeah, focus. I'm still struggling with focus, but last night's dreams were helpful. What is the difference between a hurricane and an earthquake? Both destroy, cause chaos.

A hurricane, my foremind's favorite metaphore for distruction, comes from outside. Sweeps in and takes away. An earthquake is at the foundation. The damage isn't swept away, it's there to dig through. A lot of work needs to be done before you can get to a clean restart.

Without really thinking about it, I sent a text to my good-daughters Crystalyn and Kayla asking them about their long range plans, well long range as in 5 years.

And, sending that out, I'm thinking about my own family unit. Both boys will be legal adults, working or in school. Mike will be retired and working on The Land. I will be working for as long as I can, until at least 73, I think. We'll be living somewhere in the UP. I'll be 70 years in January 2031, and Mike the same in October '31. In 2030, Trentyn will be 20, and Zary will be 19.

The Bad Decision loan will be paid up in April 2029, 3 1/2 more years, damnit. The Lansing house, if we keep it that long, will be paid off in 2032. We might keep it for Zary to live in while he's going to university. The Negaunee House will be paid off in 2038. The Land will be paid off in 2055, so I might as well say forever.

These loans entwine me like bindweed.

For The Land, worst case scenario is that we at least have the pole barn built, and some fruit trees planted. The trees of our two little groves, one of white oak and one of sugar maple, will be five years old, the oaks producing acorns and the maples soon to be ready to tap.

It all tumbles around in my head; if this happens, if that happens. How will I handle it? What can be put off, what is about to become five-alarm important? I have enough work this week and next week, but the week after that is bare - but that's the nature of this kind of gig work. No contracts have come through yet.

Mike says "Breathe". And he's right. But I dream of earthquakes.

Today I socialised

Oct. 24th, 2025 07:29 pm
oursin: The stylised map of the London Underground, overwritten with Tired of London? Tired of Life! (Tired of London? Tired of Life!)
[personal profile] oursin

Some while ago I was invited to A Do for the retiring secretary of An Organisation with which I had had to do for many years over their archives and in other capacities. And since it had been this longstanding relationship and relations with the person in question had always been amiable, I said yes, I would go.

It involved a smallish lunch party in a restaurant on Battersea Bridge Road, which I discovered is nowhere near Battersea Power Station Tube station, which would have made it an easy-peasy journey from my starting place, but (according to Tfl) can be reached by a journey involving at least 2 Tube lines and at least one bus journey.

Excelsior: I set out on the 2 tubes, bus from Victoria, which involved rather a lot of faffing around the vicinity of Victoria station to find the relevant stop, and it was a nice day, and the bus journey, while it does take in things like Victoria Coach Station of unblessed memory, passes by some very nice bits of Chelsea including the Embankment.

Faffed around a bit more, having got off at the designated stop, trying to find the restaurant, but arrived in fact a little early though at least one of the other guests was already there.

And it was an agreeable occasion even if these were people I have not seen for yonks and did not know all that well outside of specific context then, and some I did not know. The food was good, though perhaps not so amazing that I'm inclined to make the odyssey out to Battersea again.

And then repeated the journey in the opposite direction, in company with one of the other guests who was bound for Euston.

2025 52 Card Project: Week 42: Quiet

Oct. 24th, 2025 12:12 pm
pegkerr: (All was well)
[personal profile] pegkerr
This was one of those weeks that had me wondering, "What was this week about? What can I do for my collage?"

I had a hard time coming up with anything. The week was uneventful, and I have been feeling quiet inside. A little subdued, maybe.

The cold is starting to settle in, and I see frost on the grass in the mornings now.

I have been drinking hibiscus tea to try to bring my blood pressure down a bit.

Fiona and M came over for a visit last Sunday. Poor Fiona was so exhausted (hard work digging trenches during the day, welding classes in the evening, and up with a screaming baby at night), and so after I fed her apple pastries, I told her to go upstairs and take a nap on my bed while I hung out with M.

Babies are oblivious to schedules and deadlines. They live in the moment. I sang songs to her and let her stand on my thighs and bounce up and down (she has Strong Opinions and Takes Umbrage at traditional baby holds. No, no, no. She wants to stand). She fussed for a while until I gave her a bottle and let her sleep. I stared at her for half an hour, just drinking in her presence and enjoying the quiet, until Fiona awoke and came downstairs again, looking sleepy.

"Thanks," she said.

"Anytime," I told her. "Come back again to rest anytime."

Image description: A hand holds a brown leaf up against the sun. Top: a woman's hand cradles a baby's hand. Lower right corner: a cup of hibiscus tea with a slice of lemon floating on the surface of the tea. Semi-transparent overlay: frost on the grass.

Quiet

42 Quiet

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

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