it's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams
Jun. 6th, 2025 04:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Anyway, staying up for the previous games in the series (they were out in LA) caught up with me and I couldn't keep my eyes open last night, so I ended up going right to bed at 8:30. It wasn't even fully dark yet! But I slept through till 4:15, got up to use the bathroom, and then slept through again till my alarm went off at 8:15, so I guess I really needed it. I had a lot of dreams, but the one that stuck with me was something where I was already in the hospital visiting someone, and the doctor was like, "we need to talk about your appendix, it needs to come out!" And I was like, "that's news to me since I haven't had an appendix since 1976!" (truth!) And she was like, "what?" and I was like, "what?" and then the dream moved on - I don't remember anything else.
There's really not a whole lot else going on. Work is busy - our CFO keeps trying to steal me away from my boss, but like, there's nothing in Finance for me to do? My main job is board support, and that belongs either in legal or the CEO's office, so...*hands* I guess if something ever happened to my position I might consider trying to transfer, but I just don't see how that would work. No one is indispensable, but no one else in this organization does what I do (and frankly, no one else wants to). If a new CEO comes in and has different ideas, that could be a problem, but I'm trying not to think about that too much. There are closer threats to my job right now. *gestures at everything*
*
The time Padmé lost an Amidala look-alike contest
Jun. 6th, 2025 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
There are definitely drag king portrayals of Anakin and Obi-Wan in their heyday, possibly including makeouts with each other and/or drag king clones.
Anyone who has seen The Empire Strips Back knows what drag!Luke Skywalker is wearing, and as for Leia -- well, I could insert any number of pictures of people doing Leia drag, in any number of costumes, and she’s not even royalty in this galaxy. Who even knows how many hotass drag kings lust after Han’s gender, too.
Check-In Post - June 6th 2025
Jun. 6th, 2025 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: We all probably have multiple WiPs, but which of yours has been hanging around longest, waiting to be finished?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
(no subject)
Jun. 6th, 2025 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
- looking around at schools for A in case his school gets utterly consumed by the drama (yep, third teacher did leave, now we are screwed unless the Head can find someone really quickly, which to be fair he is working SUPER hard at), unfortunately all my friends who have kids at the local public school were like "if it were ten years ago we'd recommend it, but now we are telling you not to go there"
- talking (and TALKING) to people who are affected by the drama, or who are not directly affected but still angry about the drama, or who are in some cases causing the drama. There is some mean girl stuff going on and it is like, uh, we are all in our 40's and 50's, this is STUPID?? I have been on the phone A LOT this week, to the extent that E has to write a poem for Spanish about a member of her family and told me she was thinking about writing about her mom and how she was on the phone all the time.
- helping E with her final papers/projects in English and Media Arts; for the latter she sometimes needs someone to say things like "if you are making a commercial you probably need a script for it" and for the former she needs someone to be more like, "so... your thesis is made up of two sentences that seem unrelated, and also the way you're structuring this with all your lemma examples and then all your other lemma examples does not really flow very well, and also you begin several sentences in a row with 'This shows'" (some of these are the limits of approaching a paper like a proof, I guess)
Her teacher lets them rewrite after grading multiple times but does not give them any comments on their draft except for the ungraded rough draft, which means that E is on Rewrite #3 and counting, we have worked on drafts every night this week except last night, as her teacher has not graded #3 yet, which I am hoping is a good sign but might just mean that her teacher is tired of her turning in rewrites
(I do like that her teacher is a bit harsh on grading but lets them rewrite -- Rewrite #3 is quite a bit better than her original graded paper, and I think she's learned a LOT about writing a literary analysis paper, admittedly quite a bit more than I knew at her age. But more feedback would have been really nice, and then maybe she could have done fewer rewrites.)
She also has another final project in English with involves writing and illustrating a kid's story about racism, only using animals or objects or shapes instead of people. Of course when "shapes" were mentioned E jumped at that option. Her story is really sweet and involves tessellations of triangles, squares, and hexagons, but she is definitely a "tell not show" kid and also is having trouble with the part of the assignment that directs them to use descriptive language, which just goes to show you that she is legitimately D's and my kid.
In conclusion: ugh, drama. The only good things about all the drama:
- I may actually finish the crochet blanket for E that I've been working on for uh two years but have been making lots of progress on during all these phone calls? (Also getting lots of time to work on it during tutoring E, but at least that has other good things about it besides the blanket.)
- man I appreciate the other non-dramatic parts of my life a LOT more now! Including DW and all of my non-dramatic friends (the vast majority of them!) but I've also been thinking a lot of my church which is my other big social structure. There was one day where I just looked at my phone texts I'd gotten that day and half of them were school-related and were all drama, and the other half were from my church and things like "Hey, can you play piano for us?" and "I haven't forgotten about the D&D group we were talking about with E!" <-- dude and wife had a BABY last week -- and my favorite, this sweet older lady that we are friends with texting me that she went to her eye appointment and they said everything was great, and she was just happy about that. That totally brightened my day <3 And this morning they had the "morning seminary" party (these kids go to 7am scripture study five days a week -- E does it 3 days a week) and these people just give SO much <3
(edited bc cannot do math)
The Beauty's Blade
Jun. 6th, 2025 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I haven't read anything Yu's worked on yet, but I've heard good things about their work! I'm so thrilled about Velinxi doing the main cover!
( cover art under the cut )
Dept. of Brief
Jun. 6th, 2025 09:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
It's been a minute, so I decided to touch down for at least half of another minute.
In brief: before I even got past the third Dr. Who, and despite doing my damnedest to avoid any spoilers, I read the wrong headline *shakes fist at The Guardian*, so I'm avoiding actually watching the remaining episodes until I can bear to watch them. That's not logical in the least, but there you go.
Acting on advice from
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
We have one of our old bachelor friends coming over this afternoon; he wants help navigating his computer, which Bob will handle. He also wants help understanding his smartphone, and that's going to be my responsibility. This gentleman has previously had a flip phone, or some kind of dumb mobile; he really doesn't like mobiles, but I think he finally admitted that they're necessary in modern life, and so he got the smartphone, and now he needs help navigating it. We'll see if I can help him out.
I think that's all, but I hope to post again later today.
PSA
Jun. 6th, 2025 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
YMI -- ODB: 6 June 2025
Jun. 6th, 2025 03:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ODB: No Wasted Pain
June 6, 2025
READ: Exodus 3:1-4, 7-10
The
She looked into my eyes and said, “Don’t waste your pain.” My mind immediately returned to the time years prior when I’d led the memorial service for her young adult son whose life was taken in a car accident. She knew what she was talking about. She knew pain. But she also knew how God could use it to honor Him and help others—something this friend had done so very well. And as I heard her words, they comforted and encouraged me as I faced a serious cancer diagnosis. She was reminding me that God heard my cries and lament, and that He was with me in my pain and might use it to help others in a new way.
Moses also learned that God was with His people in their pain. “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt,” God said. “I have heard them crying out . . . and I am concerned about their suffering” (Exodus 3:7). The Israelites, like us at times, must have felt alone in their pain. But God assured them He had a plan to “rescue them” and that “the cry” of their hearts was heard (vv. 8-9). He would ultimately use their pain to grow their faith, defeat their enemies, and bring Him honor.
In Psalm 90, the only psalm attributed to Moses, he declared that even though our “best years are filled with pain” (v. 10
— Tom Felten
What does it mean for you to know God hears your cries? How is God using your pain to help others?
Loving God, thank You for hearing my cries and using my pain to help others.
Discover why we believe in a God who allows suffering.
Sense and Sensibility (1971) 1/4
Jun. 6th, 2025 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
( Read more... )
Friday Five - oh why not
Jun. 6th, 2025 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
No. But 'summer camp' is not a thing here in Australia the way it seems to have been in the USA. There were camps, yes, but they were very directly related to school - a week is the longest that I remember and I was 12. After that, it was school excusions, yes, or band camps, and a couple of times Beach Mission (yes, literally, Christian mission in the middle of summer at a beach).
2. Have you ever made a s'more?
Yes! Back visiting some friends in upstate NY in the early 2000s when their sons were just born. Her family had a holiday house on a lake and we went and stayed there, and they taught me about making s'mores.
3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)?
Possibly, depending on how you take it. I've slept on a wooden porch, huddled up with a bunch of other people. We were doing an "all nighter" purely for the sake of doing it. It wasn't fun.
Actually, wait yes, I have slept under the stars. At a 'B&S' (Bachelors' and Spinsters' ball) out west, in the tray of a utility truck. We'd tossed a bunch of mattresses in, and there were about a half-dozen of us all sprawled out to sleep after the ball. It wasn't terrible. We were young, and that makes a difference!
4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
Only after I became an adult. House-sharing in Sydney means you have housemates who have all sorts of people staying over.
5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
Twin. I had a queen-size at our last house (and had a queen-size pretty much since I was 24) but when we moved out into this place, there wasn't space for a queen-sized bed, so I downsized to an IKEA twin with an under-bed storage space. And, as it turns out, the queen-mattress fitted sheets fit on the twin-size when you have a super-thick mattress.
Erin Reads: the Cathy Glass extended universe
Jun. 6th, 2025 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I’ve been working my way through the library’s collection of audiobooks by Cathy Glass, a long-time foster carer in the UK who writes about her experiences with different kids over the years. So here’s a post about some of those.
Most of them have really generic titles (“Cut“, “Neglected“, “A Terrible Secret”, “Girl Alone“, you get the picture), but the actual writing is detailed and engaging. She comes off like exactly the kind of person you’d want in this job: thoughtful and attentive, firm about setting boundaries but patient and tolerant with some pretty gnarly issues, detail-oriented enough to adapt to the new batch of paperwork and scheduling (so much scheduling!) that every case dumps on her. (Obviously this could just be her talking herself up, but I’ll be an optimist and hope it’s true.)
The overall foster system fails these kids in various ways on a regular basis, but there is some comfort if you jump around in the timeline, you see how much it improves over the years. The first book I read was I Miss Mummy, where Cathy’s oldest son is 14, and there are all these procedures and check-ins and reports. Then I jumped back to Cut, where the son is an infant and the kid is her second foster charge ever — and wow, a social worker basically just rolls up to her house and goes “here, this is your problem now.”
Daily Happiness
Jun. 5th, 2025 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
2. My Switch 2 arrived this afternoon! I have not taken it out of the box yet as I do not have time to set it up and transfer all my stuff from the Switch, so I will do that tomorrow or Saturday.
Last night Carla decided to swing by Best Buy just to see what the situation was, thinking that the store would not open until midnight, but actually they were opening at 9pm (midnight for east coast stores). She went by around 10:30, saw a bit of a line but not much but didn't want to hang around until midnight (we still thought that was the timeline) so she came home, and then ended up going back about an hour later to see if they were still open. They were, and they did not have the bundle left, but did have both the system and the cartridge version of Mario Kart, so she got both. Now we both have Switch 2s! Really surprised it was so easy to get one after all the fuss with the preorders. Since she is going out of town tomorrow, she didn't end up setting hers up yet either lol.
3. Gemma is so cute! How is she so cute!?

3 Purrcys, chemical adventures
Jun. 5th, 2025 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
And look at those toe beans!
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After an exciting session of tail!shenanigans in the empty shelf, Purrcy sat down as a rather plump loaf and stared at me with both light-green eyebeams.
----
Sometimes #Purrcy gets overstimulated and wants his playtime to involve Fierce Fighting With Mom. I'm trying to train him to go for alternatives that do NOT involve human bloodshed -- like displacement scratching, that works!
#cats #CatsOfBluesky
There was a mess-up with one of my prescriptions, and I went off one of my "minor" brain meds cold turkey this week. By today it was NOT minor, but I finally got the right pills and within 30 minutes I felt like myself again. And then had to have a nap, because mania does NOT lead to adequate sleep.
Fortunately, my family could tell what was going on and mostly refused to engage, and didn't hold it against me. But I've had enough therapy recently talking about my mother & our relationship that I can now really see why a friend who's a shrink told me years ago, "You know your mother's bipolar, right?"
I mean, I took her word for it, diagnosing people was her *job*. But I really *felt* it today, when I realized that I'd been having a (mild-medium) manic episode and I was reacting to things *just the way my mother did*.
So. I'll make sure to remember those feelings--which include a fair bit of paranoia as well as driving intensity--and know what to call them, and look first for the chemical imbalance behind them, knowing that they lie.
"Trust your feelings" yeah no, I like *data*.
In your room again.
Jun. 5th, 2025 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
What a wasted opportunity.
I'm glad I went, though, for all its wasted opportunities and long-winded metaphor-straining speeches and a prerecorded speech from a chancellor that included a plug to sign up for the alumni association while detailing its many features. My sister in law E. and older brother J. seemed happy about it, and I'll know I was willing to make an effort to show up.