Aurendor D&D: Summary for 6/25 Game

Jun. 26th, 2025 12:16 am
settiai: (Siân -- settiai)
[personal profile] settiai
In tonight's game, the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 25th, 2025 09:07 pm
torachan: (Default)
[personal profile] torachan
1. I am taking the day off tomorrow for my birthday! (I do have to go in to work on Friday, and it's going to be a busy day, but at least I have a mini break.)

2. Molly!

On the fannish front...

Jun. 25th, 2025 08:08 pm
settiai: (AO3 -- stultiloquentia)
[personal profile] settiai
Okay, I just have two more days of work to get through, and then I have an entire week off. Nine whole days. The first five of which will hopefully be spent not leaving the hotel if I can manage it, because I desperately need to recharge. I'm even going to try to wash clothes either tomorrow or Friday so that I won't have to leave my suite unless there's an emergency of some type. A complete removal from all human interaction will do me so much good.

I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.

I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.

My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 24th, 2025 10:45 pm
torachan: close-up of a sleepy kitten face (sleepy molly)
[personal profile] torachan
1. Had a good day at work today. No meetings, so I was able to get stuff done. Tomorrow should be the same.

2. In April we had our annual open enrollment for insurance at work and the company switched dental insurance. When I got the new insurance info and checked on their website, it didn't show my current dentist as an option, so I assumed I would have to find a new one. I don't currently have any outstanding dental work that needs to be done, so I wasn't worried about it and figured I'd find a new dentist eventually but I did have a scheduled cleaning coming up this week, so I planned to call the dentist on Monday to let them know I needed to cancel, but they actually called me instead, to confirm the appointment, and when I talked to them they said they do take the new insurance, so I won't have to change dentists after all. The appointment is tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out for sure then if they really do take it or not, but since it's just a cleaning, even if it turns out they don't, I won't be out a ton of money.

3. Today was the first round magic key presale for Oogie Boogie Bash tickets. First round is only for the highest tier keyholders (which includes us), and the general magic key presale is tomorrow, and then they go on sale to everyone on Thursday. Anyway, since today was only Inspire keyholders, it was very easy to get tickets. I'm really glad they started offering that as a perk, and it actually makes it easier for everyone because that's fewer people trying all at once on Thursday. We're not going on Halloween, but rather the Sunday before.

4. I haven't had much chance to catch up on my Bluesky feed tonight but I glanced at it quickly and it seems there's good news out of today's elections in New York. (And maybe other places, too? Like I said, not much time to read thoroughly.) So happy for any bit of good news politics-wise.

5. Tuxie just chilling on these random boards the neighbors left in our planter after repairing their fence a few months back.

6/24/2025 Inspiration Trail

Jun. 24th, 2025 02:29 pm
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
[personal profile] mrkinch
I expected there to be fog and wind but not THAT much fog and wind. Unlike last week there was no sky, let alone sun to be seen during the not quite two hours I was there, and this time I did in fact not go beyond the corner. The exposed stretches of the trail, especially the beginning, were pretty miserable, the wind nearly knocking me over, but once under the shelter of the ridge I was reasonably comfortable. Birds sing and forage in all weathers, but it was still my shortest list in a while. There were White-breasted Nuthatches! They seem to appear on this trail towards the end of the breeding season, possibly dispersal of this year's birds. I heard a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher again, as I have remarkably frequently this Spring. The list: )

The most interesting thing to me was hearing a MacGillivray's warbler song in the usual spot but not at all the song I expected. I've never noticed that they change songs, so a different individual? The next time I can go is Friday, although the weather for Saturday looks better.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 23rd, 2025 08:37 pm
torachan: a cartoon owl with the text "everyone is fond of owls" (everyone is fond of owls)
[personal profile] torachan
1. I did not get all my work tasks done today because there were so many and so much other stuff kept popping up, but I got the ones that had the highest priority done, and both tomorrow and Wednesday are pretty much free days with no meetings, so I should have plenty of time to work on all these little tasks.

2. The new store is set to open in just about one month and unlike the store that opened in December, I have not had to do any of the hiring except for a handful of interviews a couple months ago. The total staff is less than it was for the last new store but still, I am very relieved and impressed that the management team for this one has been able to do it all themselves and I haven't had to spend all day every day doing interviews.

3. Ollie is such a cutie guy.

6/23/2025 Tilden Nature Area

Jun. 23rd, 2025 03:48 pm
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
[personal profile] mrkinch
Swainson's Thrushes were still singing everywhere but Orange-crowned Warblers are largely quiet now. At the Lake the Anna's Hummingbird was feeding her chicks, who will almost certainly have fledged by next week (have I said that before?). There was a Brown Creeper on the tall snag and they even went into the nest briefly; just checking things out, I think. Highlight of the morning for me was a Western Tanager passing through, singing occasionally as it seemed to be moving east to west. We all heard it but the report may not be accepted. The list: )

The camp kids came through again. I'm looking for an alternative until summer camps are over./o\ They are largely uninterested in their immediate surroundings and very loud.
heresluck: (book)
[personal profile] heresluck
Animals

The president called undocumented immigrants
animals, and in the nature documentary
I watched this morning with my kids,
after our Saturday pancakes, the white
fairy term doesn't build a nest but lays
her single speckled egg in the crook of a branch
or a tree knot. It looks precarious there
because it is. And while she's away,
because even mothers must eat, another bird
swoops in and pecks it, sips some of what now
won't become. The tern returns and knows
something isn't right—the egg crumpled,
the red slick and saplike running down the tree—
but her instinct is so strong, she sits. Just sits
on the broken egg. I have been this bird.
We have been animals all our lives,
with our spines and warm blood, our milky tits
and fine layers of fur. Our live births, too,
if we're lucky. But what animal wrenches
a screaming baby from his mother?
Do we know anymore what it is to be human?
I've stopped knowing what it is to be human.


— Maggie Smith
from Goldenrod

Team Nether: so many treasures

Jun. 23rd, 2025 06:34 pm
schneefink: Hotguy and Cuteguy thumbsup (Hermitcraft Hotguy and Cuteguy)
[personal profile] schneefink
The main gameplay phase of [tumblr.com profile] mcytblraufest Battleship is over. Team Nether! *raises fist in triumph* We finished third (out of five teams), and we fully cleared all three boards, before work reveals even. I had such a great time on my team, with our two strider mascots Dirk Slow and Aragorn Steady. Massive props to the mods, everything ran very smoothly. In the first board every field had very cool flavor text even, and the bosses were very cool (we defeated the Wither Storm!)

I ended up with ten (!!!) gifts!
And I'm proud to say that despite that I reached my semi-serious goal of creating more gifts than I received. Though if I get more treats after this I'll give up. I've never received so many comments on one day as I did yesterday, it was great.

My wonderful gifts:
Sharp teeth and spring rain, Hermitcraft SMP
3.4k, Mumbo & Etho, fantasy AU, platonic kink
Summary: That anticipation, now cooled, mingled with fresh dread as the blank, flat space on the horizon tore open.
A thousand-year old dragon emerged from the void and blocked out the sun with his wings.
Mumbo gulped.
“Oh, Gem!” he fretted. “You expect me to dom that?”
Why I love it: Excellent premise, very cool worldbuilding, great character voices and development of their relationship.

Careful People, Hermitcraft SMP
1.3k, Cleo/Etho, cyberpunk AU post-divorce
Summary: "We'll be careful," says Etho.
"We're not careful people," Cleo reminds him.
"Maybe we know better now!"
Why I love it: I love the banter. Them. So divorced and yet.

seven more shorter ones and one piece of art under the cut because this got long )

The three weeks of the event were very intense. Multifandom Battleship starts soon and I don't think I'll sign up for it even though I had a great time last year, but that'd be a bit too much.

And now, off to read more from the collections! All Ages and 18 Plus, almost 1.200 works in total already, and there are still almost two weeks of the anon period.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 22nd, 2025 09:04 pm
torachan: an avatar of me done scott pilgrim style (scott pilgrim style me)
[personal profile] torachan
1. We had a nice time at Disneyland this morning. The weather's definitely trending summerish but thankfully not too hot yet.

2. Alexander's hasn't been feeling well for the past few weeks so he hasn't been over for his usual Sunday dinner and hangout, but he was able to make it over tonight. It was good to see him again!

3. Look at these sweeties!

Titansfall D&D: Summary for 6/22 Game

Jun. 22nd, 2025 11:08 pm
settiai: (Sim -- settiai (TriaElf9))
[personal profile] settiai
In tonight's game, the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

2025 Disneyland Trip #43 (6/22/25)

Jun. 22nd, 2025 05:18 pm
torachan: anime-style me ver. 2.0 (anime me)
[personal profile] torachan
Set the alarm and got up early this morning so we could get down there when the parks opened as it was supposed to be a pretty warm and sunny day.

Read more... )

6/21/2025 Loop Road and Laurel Canyon

Jun. 21st, 2025 03:45 pm
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
[personal profile] mrkinch
Sun! I had quite a lovely few hours along Loop Road and up Laurel Canyon as far as the foot of the steep bit. A surprise to me was that there was still activity at the Red-breasted Nuthatch nest. I found it ten days ago and thought at the time that I saw a well-grown chick at the entrance, a chick that I would expect to be fledged by now, but perhaps what I saw was an adult feeding their mate, so the chicks could have been very young then. I also watched a family of Wrentits acting much like the ones on Inspiration Trail. Neither time did I hear anything that sounded like juvenile begging, just saw them chasing parents and fluttering. So many begging juveniles are quite noisy. The list: )

On the way back I walked down to the bench at the top of the Little Farm hoping to see swallows. No swallows, just Wild Turkeys. Couldn't even find a Black Phoebe, which was a disappointment.

Uterus: yeeted

Jun. 22nd, 2025 10:31 am
bironic: Neil Perry gazing out a window at night (Default)
[personal profile] bironic
Discussion of menstruation, reproductive organs, surgery recovery )

I took off work ’til the end of the month. My mom came for a week, my sister for almost a week, and now it’s “vacation” with daily-ish friend visits. I’m hoping my brain will permit playing around with a vid for some of the time. I have ideas for a show and a movie, neither of which I had any plans to vid until compelling songs presented themselves.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 21st, 2025 08:44 pm
torachan: john from garfield wearing a party hat and the text "this is boring with hats" (this is boring with hats)
[personal profile] torachan
1. Finished another puzzle today.



2. Finally got Carla's Switch 2 set up on the TV so now we can play Mario Kart World together. It's gonna take me a minute to get used to the split screen view, though.

3. Chloe is curious.

Weekly Reading

Jun. 21st, 2025 04:36 pm
torachan: charlotte from bad machinery saying "oh the mysteries of the moth farm" (oh the mysteries of the moth farm)
[personal profile] torachan
Currently Reading
A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge
74%. I have liked the other books in this series and this one is not putting me off the whole thing but it is definitely not a favorite. The whole plot revolves around this guy blackmailing the MC and threatening her family, and the only reason he can do so is because they don't know who he really is and has insinuated himself into their home as he grandfather's doctor. If she would just tell them the truth then he might still threaten her and her family, but he wouldn't be able to sneak around in their home. But she's too embarrassed to tell them that she's being blackmailed and determined to fix things herself. It's really, really frustrating to read.

The Mystery of Locked Rooms
9%. Middle grade book about a group of friends who love escape rooms. When the MC's mom gets an eviction notice, the MC and her friends decide to explore an old abandoned fun house that's said to hold a hidden treasure. Just started it but seems good so far.

Horrorstör
27%.

Riding the Rails
No progress.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
57%.

Recently Finished
Break in Case of Emergency
This was less about the MC's relationship with her estranged father and much more about her suicidal tendencies than I'd realized from the blurb. I did like it, though.

The Fourth Girl
I didn't end up enjoying this as much as I'd anticipated from the premise. There were too many unanswered questions at the end. One of the characters even says something like "I guess there are some things we'll never know" and I'm fine with the characters not knowing, but as the reader, I want to know! Especially when the book uses multiple outsider POVs to reveal stuff the main characters are unaware of, but then still leaves a bunch of questions.

Bokura no Hentai vol. 7-10
This really was a great series. I'm surprised I'd never heard of it before but I'm glad I stumbled across it.

may booklog

Jun. 21st, 2025 08:21 pm
wychwood: Elaine looks quizzical (due South - Elaine quizzical)
[personal profile] wychwood
46. Random in Death - JD Robb ) Another solid book! These are just fun.


47. Orbital - Samantha Harvey ) I don't know if I'll want to re-read this, but it was rather beautifully done.


48. Masquerades of Spring - Ben Aaronovitch ) Frothy and extremely charming.


49. The Two Towers - JRR Tolkien ) Usually the middle book is the weakest of the trilogy, but honestly: so much is happening here.


50. Saint Death's Daughter - CSE Cooney ) There was a lot about this that was Not My Thing, but there was enough in the worldbuilding and plotting that really did work for me that I'm sort of... reluctantly considering the sequel. Comparators: a bit of less-depressing Gormenghast, maybe some Gideon the Ninth with fewer pop culture references? I definitely think there's an audience for this book, if they can find it.


51. Listening Together - Timothy Radcliffe ) It was a good reminder for me of some approaches I can try with people I respect but disagree with, at least.


52. Feminism is for Everybody - bell hooks ) A good introduction, and still more relevant than I would like! But more basic than I think I want these days.

Daily Happiness

Jun. 20th, 2025 10:56 pm
torachan: (chloe yawn)
[personal profile] torachan
1. Finally after all week feeling like each day should be Friday, it's really Friday!

2. Today actually wasn't too bad at work and wasn't a long day. Though I didn't end up getting to everything I wanted to get done, so I had to push a lot of things till Monday. They're not urgent things, so it's fine, but I feel like Monday is going to end up with a lot of things, especially since I have a meeting in the afternoon. But so far I have nothing scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, so hopefully one or the other can be a catch up day if I need it.

3. This is an irresistible spot for cats. A canvas bag on top of a plastic bin, which is itself on top of a pile of other bags, on top of a blanket, on top of a chest. Plus it's got a nice view of the sidewalk!

torachan: (Default)
[personal profile] torachan
This is the third year they've had an official Pride Nite at Disneyland. With only two dates each year, it's on a smaller scale than most of the other events, but still a lot of fun and I just love being there at the park when almost everyone (even many of the cast members working that night) is queer.

Read more... )

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