Philosophical Questions: Government

Jul. 5th, 2025 12:14 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What should the role of a government be, what boundaries and limitations should it have?

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haunted_cherries: closeup of a neon sign at a carnival that says fun (carnival)
[personal profile] haunted_cherries
Copy-of-Sunshine-Revival-Banner.png

[community profile] sunshine_revival has officially started, kicking things off with the first prompt!!

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Making goals for myself is always a bit of an interesting task for me b/c I either have trouble making them, trouble sticking to them, or BOTH! xD This year and beyond, I wanna start actively making an effort, so I feel like typing these out helped me visualize them and subsequently get them out in the open so I can start DOING instead of THINKING. xD

Without further ado--

Long term goals:

“Enjoy” myself: Love the skin I’m in b/c I only get one shot at being me, so I might as well love me and make the most of it.

Improve my finances: I need to stop being so afraid of money (I grew up dirt poor, SUE ME xD) and make it work to my advantage. Start REALLY saving for my future and taking things more seriously.

Write more: I’m still discovering what I want this to mean, but I know I want to get back to a place where I “write like no one’s reading” (aka “dance like no one’s watching”, you know the drill xD). I’ve seen both friends and mutuals alike just power through 7k+ words in one sitting sometimes simply b/c they needed to see their ideas REAL, and mentally I’m trying to be THERE. xD Not comparing my journey to theirs per se, but it’s been long overdue for me to work through my whole “desperately wanting people to read my stuff when I shouldn’t give a fuck that deeply whether they do or don’t” thing.

Short term(?) goals (could PROBABLY be done by the end of the year if I played my cards right xD):

Finish my OC’s long fic that I’ve been putting off for what feels like EONS. I know for a fact I want to finish it b/c I want my OC to face his trauma and get his happy ending, just beat myself up too much and lost steam on it when I felt like no one was reading it. I’m at that point where I’m just starting to say “screw it” so that I can hopefully get that and other long fics I want to do in the future done.

Go for a walk twice a week: starting off small, then hoping to gradually raise it to twice a day, 7 days a week.

Get through my reading backlog: thankfully it’s only 20 books, but I’ve put them all off for long enough! xD Making it a point to not buy anymore books on my wishlist until I finish the ones I have! (My Junji Ito collection specifically side eyeing the FUCK out me xD)

This isn't what I'd consider a full list, just some things that I felt were easily attainable with enough inertia that would hopefully inspire me to be more proactive about making and fulfilling goals, so WE'LL SEE!! 🤞

I also have a fic coming for the creative prompt, but that'll get attended to after I cool off from the 4th of July shenanigans. xD Take care out there, and happy Sunshine Revival! ^ 0^)/

Fireworks

Jul. 4th, 2025 09:13 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tonight we did our home fireworks show. :D These are the things we bought from JT Fireworks Sales in Charleston...

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message in a bottle

Jul. 4th, 2025 05:25 pm
paperghost: (MLP everything good comes back again)
[personal profile] paperghost
So... Long story short, a forum I was on in my late teens is still online, albeit dead and inactive. During the pandemic at one point, someone logged back into their account to pop in and leave a sentimental message. There were some replies to it after in the last few years, and I even logged into my account and left one. I also left a message with a burner email address for any users to contact. The forum has a lot of OLD, embarassing, and offensive shit I posted, but it was 2008-2011 and most people in the 30-40 range were Like That in the 00s so I figured most won't judge.

...And then, right when I was drawing OCs for Artfight, I got an email from someone! I can't believe it!

Obviously I'm not going to discuss the contents (duh), but it reminds me of how I've wanted to leave "messages in a bottle" to people I used to know over a decade ago, but I never bother... It's mainly a "what's the point, I changed too much" or feel like I'm "lame" and a loser in comparison. 15+ years from now people I know have moved states and countries, have careers and partners, are game devs, meanwhile I just work a 9-5 (more like 5-2...), only been in one short relationship, and live in the same house for the last 20 years. I've never judged anyone for not "making it big" or struggling with employment, being poor, etc., but it's just... I don't know. I always feel like a blip on people's radar and inadequate.

(I also forgot DW was the perfect site to post this stuff, lol.)

Writing About Fireworks

Jul. 4th, 2025 03:09 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
In honor of the Fourth of July, here are a few tidbits to enjoy.

Today's Adventures 6/28/25 -- We bought fireworks for our home show, and we watched the show in Tolono.

Fireworks 7/4/25 -- Read about our home show tonight.

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Birdfeeding

Jul. 4th, 2025 02:50 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and hot.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I checked the south lot and put topsoil in a few low spots, prior to our fireworks show tonight.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I picked up a trough pot that fell off the old picnic table, restored the curry plant and purple basil as best I could, then watered them and a few other things in the house yard.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I sowed 6 pots with mulberry seeds. Half are from a particularly pleasing mulberry sapling near the west end of the old fishpond, the other half from a mulberry that was left on the porch step as if a gift.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and a few seedlings in the savanna.

My partner Doug mowed the ritual meadow and prairie paths.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I picked a handful of herbs to make a skillet scramble for supper.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I picked a handful of blackberries in the prairie garden. There are plenty left; I ran out of heat tolerance long before I ran out of berries. :D

Cicadas are singing.

EDIT 7/4/25 -- I picked a handful of blackberries in the prairie garden. Still more left, but I'll have to hunt those another day, because it is still hot and the sun is about to set.


.
bluedreaming: (*killuazoldvck - dewi aesthetic stars)
[personal profile] bluedreaming
Maybe it’s just me, today, but I came across the word loach (which I’m positive I’ve heard before; it’s a type of fish after all, and sounds familiar) and the word is so delicious, it makes my mouth water.

Strong contender for next year’s word of the year? I guess we’ll see.
stardust_rifle: A cartoon-style image of of a fluffy brown cat sitting upright and reading a book, overlayed over a sparkly purple circle. (Default)
[personal profile] stardust_rifle
It's hard, when your sou-uke character is a jacked stoic 6'2 goth. It's hard, and no one understands.

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ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today's theme is Historical Fiction.

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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
FireSmart Canada is pleased to release Blazing the Trail: Celebrating Indigenous Fire
Stewardship
, a beautiful, bound publication that recognizes the contributions to wildfire
prevention of Indigenous communities in Canada
.

ExpandRead more... )

Birdfeeding

Jul. 3rd, 2025 02:49 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds. I refilled the thistle feeder. I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/3/25 -- I took a few more pictures around the yard, mostly flowers at the end of the driveway.

EDIT 7/3/25 -- I dug up three pots of wild senna and one of purple echinacea that had seeded themselves in the savanna, hopefully to transplant them elsewhere if they survive.

I've seen a pair of mourning doves and a gray catbird. I also saw a very large bird, possibly a vulture or eagle, flying over the field to the west.

EDIT 7/3/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/3/25 -- We hooked up the new, flat water hose. The "non-kinking" label is a complete lie; it is the most prone to kinking of any hose I've ever used. Straightening it out enough to work is a bitch. However, it is extremely lightweight and completely flexible, so those are pluses. Also the multifunction water wand is by far the best nozzles I've ever used. I favor with "shower" and "flat" functions the most. The new picnic table garden and septic garden have been thoroughly watered.

EDIT 7/3/25 -- I watered the old picnic table garden and the plants in the house yard.

The corn is tasseling. The pollen hangs heavy on the wind with a sweet, dusty, buttery, golden smell.

Fireflies are coming out.

I saw a skunk in the house yard. I've seen a squirrel at the hopper feeder.

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

Climate Change

Jul. 3rd, 2025 02:45 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
When rainforests died, the planet caught fire: New clues from Earth’s greatest extinction

When Siberian volcanoes kicked off the Great Dying, the real climate villain turned out to be the rainforests themselves: once they collapsed, Earth’s biggest carbon sponge vanished, CO₂ rocketed, and a five-million-year heatwave followed. Fossils from China and clever climate models now link that botanical wipe-out to runaway warming, hinting that losing today’s tropical forests could lock us in a furnace we can’t easily cool.


I pointed this out decades ago and nobody listened. Now here we are. But hey, someone could roll up this newspaper and beat Brazil with it.

June Art Reflection

Jul. 3rd, 2025 11:38 am
biteshelter: Drawing of a white cat with a bow tie (Default)
[personal profile] biteshelter

Working on a new gallery page for my website reminded me that I wanted to try doing monthly art reflections this year. I found the list of prompt ideas I made and pulled this one: “What themes have you noticed in your own recent art?” I don’t really like this prompt because I think it’s hard to make a general description of things I’ve just made. I wanted to stick with whatever prompt I got, though, so I kept thinking about it. The whole plan was rough and needed some testing anyway. My solution for now is to make each prompt have a one-time use, allow topic wandering in answers, and attempt to add to the prompts list as part of the reflection process.

While thinking about the question I got, I found that I was more interested in thinking about what things from art I’ve seen recently have been influencing my art.

ExpandRead more... )

Favorite art I saw in June:

  • Bdubs’ Nether hub
    • As I found out from doodling during these videos, drawing filigree patterns with marker and then shading them with pen is very relaxing.
  • “amid the murk that lures astray” by godbirdart
    • I love how the colors are set up to make one gradient through the whole piece. The character’s silhouette is slightly clarified by the rim lighting, but less readable than the primary focal point of the eyes.
  • “Y O U” by The Horned Sphinx, a short interactive story
    • Made in Decker, which is based on HyperCard and has a jam currently in progress.
ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Thanks to a donation from [personal profile] fuzzyred, you can now read the rest of "In the Heart of the Hidden Garden."  Lawrence gives Stan a tour of two more buildings and two more gardens -- and then explains why.
malymin: A pink and purple catlike creature made in Spore. (Sporecat)
[personal profile] malymin

So, when you do a search for walkthroughs or information about... anything in the Sims 4, the results are often useless. They simply restate obvious information that the game already tells you itself, without providing any deeper insight or knowledge. Even many sims fansites are little better than clickbait farms in 2023. Carl, the most trustworthy source of in-depth sims resources, hasn't updated his website since Cottage Living came out. Having grown up in the era of ridiculously precise GameFAQ guides, I'm frustrated.

So, here's information laid out for the grafting "recipes" in the sims 4's base game.

Keep in mind the following information for all "recipes":

Grafted plants produce harvestables at the rate of the base plant, not the plant that came from a cutting. They will also start at the quality of the base plant and grow in the season of the base plant.

It is important to note that rares and uncommons now have a small chance of spawning when you've done the correct grafting combo. This is currently an intended design and not a bug. For any given harvestable you have a 500 weight for common, 100 for uncommon, and 1 for rare. This means 1 out of every 600 harvestables will be a rare.

  • Generally, you want to prioritize a fast (lower # of hours) growth rate, to get harvestables more frequently.
  • If you're doing outdoor gardening, you want to maximize the number of seasons the plant grows in.
  • If you're working with limited space, compatibility with Eco Lifestyle's "Vertical Garden" planters will be advantageous.
  • If the "parent" plants are Common or Uncommon, and the "offspring" plant is a Rare, you may want to plant the first harvestable the spliced plant produces in order to get a more consistent supply of the Rare plant in the future.

Standalone Recipes

ExpandTwo of these involve all-season plants! )

 

Part 2: The Bonsai Bud Recipes

 

ExpandPart 2: Bonsai Bud Recipes )

 

Part 3: The Path To Cow Berries

Dragonfruit Recipe: Snapdragon + Strawberry

SpeciesRarityGrowth RateSeasonalityVertical Garden Compatibility
SnapdragonCommon36hSpring, FallNo
StrawberryUncommon24hSpringYes
DragonfruitRare96hFallNo

Cow Berry Recipe: Snapdragon + Dragonfruit

SpeciesRarityGrowth RateSeasonalityVertical Garden Compatibility
SnapdragonCommon36hSpring, FallNo
DragonfruitRare96hFallNo
Cow BerryRareN/AN/AN/A

Part 4: The Path To Death Flowers

Orchid Recipe: Snapdragon + Lily

SpeciesRarityGrowth RateSeasonalityVertical Garden Compatibility
SnapdragonCommon36hSpring, FallNo
LilyUncommon36hSummerNo
OrchidRare36hWinter, SpringNo

Tip: Plant the first orchid produced by your spliced flowers, as you need an Orchid plant for a subsequent splice.

Pomegranate Recipe: Apple + Cherry

SpeciesRarityGrowth RateSeasonalityVertical Garden Compatibility
AppleCommon36hFallNo
CherryUncommon60hSummerNo
PomegranateRare72hWinterNo

Tip: Plant the first pomegranate produced by your spliced tree, as you need a Pomegranate tree for a subsequent splice.

Death Flower Recipe: Orchid + Pomegranate

SpeciesRarityGrowth RateSeasonalityVertical Garden Compatibility
OrchidRare36hWinter, SpringNo
PomegranateRare72hWinterNo
Death FlowerRare48hWinterNo

s

Birdfeeding

Jul. 2nd, 2025 04:20 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.  Robins are foraging in the short grass that my partner Doug mowed yesterday in the house yard.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/2/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/2/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

EDIT 7/2/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, new picnic table, and telephone pole gardens.

Fireflies are out.  Cicadas are singing.

EDIT 7/2/25 -- I watered the septic garden.

I've seen a bat over the south lot, which also got mowed today.

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

Zonneschijn Opleving Uitdaging: Een

Jul. 2nd, 2025 03:24 pm
scifirenegade: (columbo)
[personal profile] scifirenegade
Missing (as of now): Snowflake Challenge number 8 and number 12.

Challenge #1

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


I want to finish uni once and for all!

As for ~ creations ~



Guess who?

Crummy picture, drawing is erhm, but it's alright.

Problem-Solving

Jul. 2nd, 2025 02:19 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
New study backs up 'sleeping on it,' suggesting naps promote creative problem-solving

All groups improved in the dot-sorting test after their nap, but 85.7% of those who achieved the first deeper sleep phase — called N2 sleep — had the breakthrough.

Hard Things

Jul. 2nd, 2025 02:17 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

Whales

Jul. 2nd, 2025 02:13 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Killer whales attempt to feed people in first-ever sightings: 'Represents altruism'

Among their own whale circles, they have long shared their prey with one another, but in a new study, recorded over the course of the last two decades, wild orcas were spotted trying to share their food with human beings.

These wild whales, on 34 occasions, across four oceans, were documented approaching humans on their own, dropping a fresh kill in front of the people, and waiting for a response.



The polite thing to do is accept it, and if you have anything suitable, swap something back. Cetaceans love the hell out of human item drops. A sturdy beach toy should go over well.  Treat this as a first-contact situation; be cautious but aware that you are dealing with a sophont of another species.

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