mrissa: (Default)
mrissa ([personal profile] mrissa) wrote2025-10-29 04:01 pm
Entry tags:

Vertigo writing workshop!

 Exciting news! I've been working all year on a vertigo arts project, collaborating with people in academia, physical therapy, puppetry, and dance. Now I'm running a creative writing workshop for people directly or indirectly affected by vertigo to process some of their experiences through the written word.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 at 1100 a.m. Central Standard Time (5 p.m. GMT). This workshop is FREE TO ATTEND with funding provided by the Impact and Innovation Fund of the University of St Andrews, Scotland--but we do ask that you register in advance! For more questions or to register, please email ar220@st-andrews.ac.uk

We will draw on some of the complexities, difficult symptoms, and feelings that characterise the condition such as loss of balance, mobility, disorientation, dizziness, anxiety, impact on social relationships, etc. You will be given some prompts to work with, but you will be encouraged to write at your own pace, using forms or technique that are most comfortable to you.

I know that this doesn't apply to many/most of you, but please spread the word to anyone you know who DOES live with vertigo or someone who has vertigo. This is not the last thing I will get to tell you about from the vertigo arts project--this is just the beginning of the cool stuff we've been doing.
purplecat: A purple pikmin in a airplane costume. (Pikmin)
purplecat ([personal profile] purplecat) wrote2025-10-29 07:09 pm
Entry tags:

Pikmin Icons


Purple Pikmin in an airplain, next to a pikmin with a Carreg Dhu mountain badge. Photo of Grafitti saying Peace Monkey Graffit, Withingon, Manchester, with two pickmin with yellow flowers on their heads down the front. Bunch of Mii's in a mixture of outfits, most with sunglasses, celebrating 100063 steps. View of a road layout showing a red mushroom, and various planters. A blue pikmin an a 3 cupcake holding a cherry

It's remarkably difficult, at least I find it so, to take screenshots of one's iPhone. As a result capturing good images of Pikmin proced challenging.
marycatelli: (Golden Hair)
marycatelli ([personal profile] marycatelli) wrote in [community profile] books2025-10-29 11:15 am

Something of Myself

Something of Myself by Rudyard Kipling

An autobiographical account.

Read more... )
sabotabby: (books!)
sabotabby ([personal profile] sabotabby) wrote2025-10-29 06:50 am
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Reading Wednesday

Just finished: The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein. I don't really have a lot to add: This was good and useful, especially if you're in the revision stage of a project, which I am not. It weirdly made me want to read a few of the books that it talks about as examples, though with my TBR list as it is and a general disinterest in YA literature, I likely won't.

Currently reading: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang. It's time, fuckos! I've had a hold on this one since I read a bad review of it. I have heard that Kuang often doesn't land her endings, which I hope is not the case, because this has one of the best openings I've come across in a good long time. It begins with Alice Law, a postgrad in linguistic magick, preparing a chalk circle to go to Hell to retrieve the soul of her recently dead advisor, Professor Grimes, because he's on her dissertation committee and is her only chance to get tenure. The cost for going to Hell and returning is half your remaining lifespan, but Alice is more than willing to pay that in exchange for having a stable job, making her possibly the most relatable character in genre fiction. Her plans are interrupted by Peter, her hated academic rival and the department's golden boy, who insists on coming with her even though his prospects for career advancement are much better than hers.

Anyway this is completely hilarious and painful and only an inconvenient need to work and sleep is keeping me from it at the moment.
purplecat: Donna Noble (Who:Donna)
purplecat ([personal profile] purplecat) wrote2025-10-28 08:29 pm
Galactic Journey ([syndicated profile] galacticjourney_feed) wrote2025-10-28 04:00 pm

[October 28, 1970] Pop Goes the Science Fiction: The Futuristic British Sound

Posted by Kris Vyas-Myall

By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall As regular readers of my pieces know, I have bemoaned somewhat the nostalgic country and folk stylings, where it can feel like everyone wishes they were living centuries ago. As much as I enjoy the countryside, I also don’t want to be cutting crops with hand tools all day, only to … Continue reading [October 28, 1970] Pop Goes the Science Fiction: The Futuristic British Sound

The post [October 28, 1970] Pop Goes the Science Fiction: The Futuristic British Sound appeared first on Galactic Journey.

sabotabby: (doom doom doom)
sabotabby ([personal profile] sabotabby) wrote2025-10-28 07:20 am
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Your moment of climate grief

 Barely making headlines yesterday was the announcement that governments have failed once again to meet climate targets. As Hurricane Melissa barrels towards Jamaica, threatening to do catastrophic damage, it's important to remember that these governments had a choice, that we as so-called Western civilization had a choice, and we chose wrong every single time.

The thing you may not have heard of at all was the announcement yesterday of the extinction of the Christmas Island shrew. This little animal was a victim of an even older human-caused catastrophe, the colonization of Australia and its surrounding islands by first Britain, then Japan. The invasion of Europeans introduced black rats to the island, which in turn introduced a parasite that wiped out most of the population. 

With so many other horrors, including the continuing horrors perpetrated by colonialism, take a moment to grieve for this tiny, innocent creature, which was a unique being that in our carelessness and cruelty, we destroyed. Just another beautiful life lost to the gaping maw of capitalism. The people in charge think that they can cheat death by colonizing Mars or uploading their brains into a god-machine but there won't be any little shrews there, and also their fantasies are impossible. There is only this world and we're shitting it up like we have a spare one stashed somewhere.
abomvubuso: (Over the Edge)
abomvubuso ([personal profile] abomvubuso) wrote2025-10-26 10:00 pm
Entry tags:
purplecat: An open book with a quill pen and a lamp. (General:Academia)
purplecat ([personal profile] purplecat) wrote2025-10-27 06:56 pm
Entry tags:

That A-Z Meme

Goodness it is ages since I did a meme and, I suspect, even longer since I actually managed to write any fanfic, however the A-Z meme got me curious so without more ado.

frandroid: A key enters the map of Palestine (Default)
frandroid ([personal profile] frandroid) wrote2025-10-27 06:35 am

the dots

The Legendary Pink Dots were a 3-piece band tonight. Once you removed Ka-Spel, the remaining two musicians formed "Orbital Service", which turns out played better LPD-style material than when Ka-Spel sang with them. LPD were also good, but nowhere as good as on some of their albums.

Showing how far down they've come, they were playing at the Dance Cave rather than Lee's.
brithistorian: (Default)
brithistorian ([personal profile] brithistorian) wrote2025-10-26 10:04 pm
Entry tags:

Wow! That's a lot of words!

I stumbled on a list of word counts of famous novels and discovered that my longest piece of fanfic is approximately 16,000 words longer than Moby Dick!

Galactic Journey ([syndicated profile] galacticjourney_feed) wrote2025-10-26 04:00 pm

[October 26, 1970] Ringworld…and beyond (October Galactoscope #2)

Posted by Winona Menezes

For our second Galactoscope of the month, we've got a much-awaited book from Larry Niven, and a lesser jewel from Damien Broderick.  Let's take a gander, shall we? by Winona Menezes Ringworld, by Larry Niven Niven's latest novel is a real doozy. Set in the same universe as Beowulf Schaeffer and (presumably) Lucas Garner, it … Continue reading [October 26, 1970] Ringworld…and beyond (October Galactoscope #2)

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sabotabby: (possums)
sabotabby ([personal profile] sabotabby) wrote2025-10-26 08:19 am

Night of Dread

I faithfully go to the Kensington Festival of Lights every year, but I haven't been to its darker, spookier, sister festival, the Night of Dread, in forever. It's run by Clay and Paper out of Dufferin Grove Park (for non-Torontonians, this is one of the best parks in the city, though in recent years it has fallen victim to violent encampment sweeps over the protests of nearly everyone who uses it).

IMG_3287

what lies within? )
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
Mark Smith ([staff profile] mark) wrote in [site community profile] dw_maintenance2025-10-25 08:42 am

Database maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

no_apologies: (Music is Love!)
Marianne Ancapikitty ([personal profile] no_apologies) wrote in [community profile] add_a_writer2025-10-25 07:31 am

Looking for creative writing partners that I hope to inspire in return. <3

Name: Marianne (I also don't mind being referred to as Kitty, short for one of my main online aliases, Ancapikitty.)

Age: 41

Location: Northeast coast of the U.S.

About Me: Well, there's a LOT I could say about myself, but I'll just briefly describe my current life as is! I have been going through a lot over the past two years. I have been going through some really trying times. I have my own complex and personal spiritual connection with God but I am not heavily religious. He knows that I haven't been entirely happy in life lately, and I sometimes still have my moments in which I feel heartache and frustration over uncertainties, and doing all I can to steer clear from despairing... Thankfully, I have this really creative side to myself that gives me escape whenever reality feels too painful and unforgiving. Whenever I need to vent or express my inner emotional storms, or thoughts that just won't go away entirely.

Music and creativity is a healing and coping tool for my very sensitive heart and soul.

About My Journal: Lately I've been using this blog of mine over Google Docs to write out music style prompts and song lyrics, without having to worry about taking up too much space for my Google Drive. I keep a bunch of my songs stored on it, and I often listen to them from my phone. I share my songs with friends that way. And I often share them with my friends online as well.

What I Write: Sometimes I vent when I need to about whatever it is in my life that weighs me down or stresses me too much. Other times I write out songs that either help spread awareness to others about real-world issues that should be addressed, or just me expressing my thoughts about things I strongly think are so crazy-backwards and self-destructive things. (AKA, Liberty-Minded Tunes. I haven't been writing anything new in that area, but I have been remastering some of my favorites at times. My latest remaster is of and old song, a satirical as well as a critical stab at a very collectivist, socialist and communistic organization. It's a lengthy commercial jingle of a song. UNESCO rhymes with the old snack company, Nabisco. That's why the song is styled like that, lol)

I also have been writing a lot of songs centered around fictional characters. I recently used my Suno persona of this eldritch goddess of insanity, Xel'lotath, to make a new song that would be very in-character to her very, very awful and horrifying schemes. (This old and revived/renewed muse is the one who ENABLED me to get into the Suno personas.) Have a listen! Suno did a great job in making sure that her secondary, more chilling whispery voice is included. Xelly here is the one in charge of a 4-member Cosmic Horror/Psychological Horror music group that I decided to call "Team Insanity". I have a playlist that is meant to be ongoing for them. I already finished my epic and awesome Xel'lotath Album. (I'm a diehard fan of this old 2000's video game known as Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. That album is my own custom soundtrack of Xelly, her creatures, her emissary, and other game lore. Even a funny song about the 4th wall breaks that occur, whenever a playable protagonist's sanity meter is very low.)

I have others, two others that are apart from Team Insanity; a Kirby and an really gentle and enigmatic ancient spirit of an original character, named Necrosan. I'll get back to them when I feel very inspired to. My own interpretation of that cute pink Nintendo character is a very cutesy and silly friend who is looking forward to his own "music career". The Necrosan songs are like chapters in a story about him, from his own narrative. Very interesting!

What I Don't Write: Pointless drivel, or content that lacks substance or doesn't carry any meaning for me. And, sexually explicit stuff is also not an interest of mine.

What I Have Been Reading: Most currently, I have been reading this manga series known as The Promised Neverland! It's a mix of cute and fantasy thriller/suspense. These kids have escaped from a place that appeared to be an orphanage on the surface level when in truth, they discovered the horrible secret that Grace Field House has been a place to raise and nurture children to be shipped off as food for demons. The oldest among them are really smart.

I have felt most drawn to the character Norman. He's a bit like me; being a sharp, smart strategist and very caring soul. But I'm not very good at math the way he is though, lol. (I might have a Norman Suno persona in the near future! Oh gosh that would be so cool.)


I would love to connect with kindred spirits! I yearn to write creatively with others, with these characters of mine. (Story writing or RP writing, or just coming up with song lyrics together--that'd be fun.) I have been riding on this creative momentum that's been uplifting and exciting for me. Let's have a grand time. Let's brainstorm! Let's experiment! My own ideas tend to be very big and crazy at times.
rydra_wong: Grasshopper mouse stands on its hind legs to howl. (turn venom into painkillers)
rydra_wong ([personal profile] rydra_wong) wrote2025-10-25 11:33 am

UK people: Scrap The Bathroom Ban

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.
purplecat: A ruined keep. (General:Castle)
purplecat ([personal profile] purplecat) wrote2025-10-24 05:42 pm
Entry tags:

Random Castle


Two hexangonal looking turrents joined by a battlemented wall.  Each turret has a mini-turret on top of it.
Caernarfon
coffeeandink: (Default)
Mely ([personal profile] coffeeandink) wrote2025-10-23 01:37 pm
Entry tags:

Chess (Imperial Theater, New York City, 9/17/25)

Chess is a show I know entirely through the cast recordings; if I recall correctly, it was such a thoroughly Cold War project that the liner notes referred to the two chess players as only "the American" and "the Russian". The new book by Danny Strong turns it into a (even more) melodramatic period piece, with the chess matches not simply a allegory for political tensions or a way of obtaining minor diplomatic concessions but tools for averting World War III. The Arbiter is dragooned as a narrator, who exposits both the global situation and the personal interactions with the characters, partly through a series of very bad and very obvious jokes.

Freddie Trumper, American grandmaster and obnoxious wunderkind, is challenged by Anatoly Sergievesky, mordant, depressed, and engaged in a clandestine flirtation with Freddie's chess second and lover, Florence Vassy. Freddie is notoriously a weak point in the original book, so prone to anti-Communist slurs, misogyny, and temper tantrums it is impossible to extend him much sympathy. The new version mitigates this by giving him bipolar disorder and medical noncompliance, and also by casting Aaron Tveit. Tveit is indeed so good and so charismatic that I was on Freddie's side way more than I expected, although not enough to take self-pity anthem "Pity the Child" seriously. (The rest of the audience seemed less skeptical.) Lea Michele as Florence is just as strong vocally, and almost as strong in terms of acting, though unfortunately without much romantic chemistry with either partner. (The closest any scene comes to a sexual charge is Freddie's sleazy half-assed attempt at persuading Anatoly to throw the game in Act II.) Nicholas Christopher as Anatoly is the weak point in Act I, where I had the same opinion as I had of his Sweeney Todd: he's got the potential to be great, but he isn't quite there yet. He really needs to work on his emoting, which is too flat even for the murderous Sweeney or the dour Anatoly. He is greatly handicapped in Chess by having to affect a Russian accent, which I really hope the production drops. But! He pulled out all stops in Act II, both for the songs and the acting, and won me over with his intensity and vocal power.

So basically: the book is still flawed and they need to cut the runtime, particularly in Act I. This was the second night of previews, so there's still time for changes before the show technically "opens". If we're lucky, they'll start by cutting the topical jokes.

But the point of Chess has never been the book; it is the score full of bangers and power ballads. The music is by ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and the lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice. And the musical performances are GREAT. I am still guiltily fond of the kinda-no-really-very-racist "One Night in Bangkok" (which can plausibly be explained as Freddie's typical white guy take on the city) and which in this production is a camp masterpiece. I am seriously tempted to see the show again just for that.

Galactic Journey ([syndicated profile] galacticjourney_feed) wrote2025-10-24 02:00 pm

[October 24, 1970] Hey, Pollution is Bad (No Blade of Grass)

Posted by Jason Sacks

by Jason Sacks Hey, did you know that pollution is, you know, bad? Did you know we’re destroying our rivers with waste and making many species badly endangered? Did you realize the famines in Africa and Asia are terrible? Oh, and did you realize the deep existential threats that rogue biker gangs provide to British … Continue reading [October 24, 1970] Hey, Pollution is Bad (No Blade of Grass)

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