Reading

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Recent Reading: Concerning My Daughter

Today I finished book #11 on the "Women in Translation" rec list: Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-Jin, translated from Korean by Jamie Chang. This book is about an a widow in her mid-70s who ends up sharing a home with her adult daughter and her daughter's partner. Her contentious relationship with her daughter pits her long-held beliefs and societal viewpoints against her love for her child; simultaneously, she struggles in her job caring for an elderly dementia patient in a nursing home.

The protagonist is a person who values, above all, keeping your head down and doing what's expected of you. She does not believe in standing out; she does not believe in involving yourself in other people's problems; perhaps for these reasons, she believes the only people you can ever count on are family. This is how she's lived her whole life, and she believes it was for the best. However, this mindset puts her directly in conflict with her daughter, a lesbian activist who is fighting for equal employment treatment for queer professors and teachers in the South Korean educational system.

When her daughter, Green, runs out of money to pay rent after a quarrel with the university where she was lecturing, the protagonist allows Green and her partner Lane to move in, despite their fractious relationship.

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Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Spare Room

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Not the world's most successful day, honestly. :(

Sooo I was SUPPOSED to have my stupid appointment today but did I??? No. Because they didn't call me. >/ Same thing happened to Sibling, so that's something but ARGH. (I did in fact call them to let them know, but the auto-responder said they had too many calls and hung up on me. Which is just. FFS. Will try again Monday.)

I also tried making pancake mix! Alas, while it did the whole turn into pancake thing just fine, it tasted overwhelmingly of baking soda and so was pmuch inedible. :/ :/ :/ Soooo that's a whole lot of flour (and stuff) that's going in the compost tomorrow! But at least it's stuff we had laying around already?? Clearing out the cupboard if nothing else...

Chooks are fine, and the cats are cute, though so nothing's too bad! :D Gonna nap now, yessss.

The Proving Trail

The Proving Trail by Louis L'Amour

The young narrator of this tale leaves his job herding cattle to find his father, and learns that his father was murdered after a night of successful gambling.
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ffvii,
ffxv

FFXV Fandom Event Round Up - August Edition

Happy Mid-August everyone, sorry for posting again but wanted to update y'all! Here's a round up of the ffxv fandom events going on and coming up that I hope y'all don't mind me sharing. FFXV Zine News (Bsky is the best resource for people to use for up to date news as the lovely mod there reblogs news constantly. If anybody knows of any others please let me know?

( FFXV Fandom Events )

I'm not as up to date with FFVII news but here's one which I know is coming up.

//FF7 Fandom Event//
Strifesodos Week - October 6th - 12th (Ao3 Collection)

//Zines//
Final Fantasy Gents Zine - Preorders Open until September 7th (Bsky, X)

Have a happy Rest of Summer! 💚

(X-posted to

ffxv &

finalfantasy)

Current Mood: relieved
Current Location: Spare Room

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Chooks Safe!

When I went out this morning, the red chook was there! :D :D :D She's fine, despite all the feathers everywhere!

I didn't see the black chook all day, which was worrying, but when I went to put them to bed...

Three chooks in a coop!

No idea where she was hiding, but she's safe and that's the important thing. :D

Other than that, Sibling did come over and did a couple of things. Pointed out a few bits where I need to keep touching things up on the skirting boards, but they're definitely close to done (yay!). Won't be back until next week, so got quite a while to go out there and give various bits extra coats (there are a few bits where I had to sand back, and while MOST of the board is fine...). So I'm feeling somewhat better about that.

Current Mood: grumpy
Current Location: Spare Room

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Chook Attack :( :( :(

( Content Warning: Possible Animal Death (nothing confirmed as yet) )

Other than that... slept stupid late, which was annoying, but I DID manage to get down to the optometrist before they closed. Alas, they can't do anything about the coating, the lenses just need to be replaced. :/ Soooo that's even higher up on my to-do list. Just gotta wait for, you know, money. Ugh. Might even be worth taking cash out of my savings for it, buuuut I'd rather not.

Also did another coat of paint on all the skirting boards! Will see how they look tomorrow, I'm hoping that the small ones are really done this time, but they had a few mysteriously appearing rough bits I had to sand back today, so that might. Also happen. Again. :|

Dunno if Sibling is gonna be over tomorrow, but if so will get a second opinion on stuff. Answer may well be 'jfc how are you SO BAD at this???', but at least then I'll know.

And now to bed! >: Or. Soon. There is a cat on my lap and I don't really want to annoy her...

Sanders' Union Fourth Reader

Sanders' Union Fourth Reader by Charles Walton Sanders

Despite the titles, this is more recent than his New Fourth Reader. It repeats three or four readings from the earlier works, not all of them from the fourth reader.

Interesting nowadays chiefly for the views of edifying works and science of the time.

Current Mood: tired

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all star 2 all star harder

What's better than one all star? Two all star!

Last time I shared this, tank was elite 4 and dps was elite 3. I really gotta stop lmao. It took about 38 games on D.Va to get into pro, and then 16 more to get through pro; the final number was 54, and Juno/Mercy was 55, 30 wins in each role. D.Va has more hours because most of her games were longer... I love my lava build but it's often five maps or more. If I was to do this with Ashe (I am not going to), she's at 21/44, and would take significantly longer. Hence why I'm not planning to, lol.

I did see someone on the fabled legendary tier, and the jump in games played to get to legendary is like, 230 games, 130 wins. So I am definitely not doing that even remotely. Thank you random Kiri for your science service to know how obscenely low the gains are in all star so I don't have to. Honestly, what's keeping me and my duo playing this mode is that losses aren't as punishing as standard comp; even in pro three loses can equate the percentage of one win. It is much, much easier to see number go up, and that time investment means you get better naturally and you're like oh, well I might as well go all the way now. I am looking forward to having an unranked mode next season though; I'd like to try out some other characters and figure out some builds, but it's really not possible with the current set-up. This will split my time some for sure, but I don't know if I'll go this hard on point gains again. We'll see.

Also this points out to me I almost got 1k comp points in less than two weeks jfc Rems please. Add this to being level 10 in the PvP season in XIV on two characters after eight days and I really, really gotta be stopped. I need those arm warmers.

Wuyang's trial is this weekend and next week is drives before season end. I think I'll put together my stadium build thoughts as drives wind down, if not sooner. Time to lock in.

To Tame a Land

To Tame a Land by Louis L'Amour

You can do a lot of things in Westerns. This one is a bildungsroman.

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Current Mood: blah
Current Location: Spare Room

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Glasses. Why.

So the coating is flaking off the back of one of my lenses in a MAJOR way, it's extremely annoying. Given what I can see peering through the bits where it's gone it's also been exacerbating the flare from my astigmatism, which is... not great, and also explains a lot. I'm gonna go down to the optometrist and see if they can remove it tomorrow, I think! And ask them what that particular coating is for; I think it was for glare reduction? Which um. Maybe that one is not for me...

Other than that... finally did the stupid application for unemployment support. Which I definitely SHOULD have done as soon as I got made redundant, but I did not. Bleh.

Didn't do any painting today, mostly because it was cold and raining. But also just brain shit. Sibling DID come over and do another coat on the floor, though! Should just be one more to go, but I guess we'll see how it is.

Also managed to actually make myself have a shower, so I can go to the shops tomorrow without fear of stinking people out, heh.

Anyway, going to bed now! Maybe I'll be able to sleep easily tonight! Sure as fuck couldn't last night, uuuugh...

The School Reader. Third Book

The School Reader. Third Book: Containing Progressive Lessons in Reading, Exercises in Articulation and Inflection, Definitions, by Charles Walton Sanders

The third book is still focused on reading. Very few of the pieces come with bylines. Still, it's taking on the aspect of the later readers, with the focus on good readings, edifying and instruction.

May be chiefly of interest in view of what they selected in the era.

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: Spare Room

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Taxes: paid!

Paid my taxes today. UGH, it was indeed ~3K ;; So much money to be surprised with!!! :( Still, done now!

Sibling did come over, and did the first coat of the floor, yay! The floor sealant takes long enough to dry it's gonna be a day for each coat, basically. Which is fine! Just means more driving time for Sibling, which is less fun :/

Had to sand back some of the skirting boards again - just a little bit, but Sibling pointed out it was kinda rough in a couple of places, so... yeah. Annoying! But I did a third coat on all the small ones, and a second coat on like... one and a half of the big ones. Will see what Sibling says about them tomorrow! >:

Not much other than that. Found a shiny dodonzo in pokemon! It was in a mass outbreak I was doing for exp, but not even the later parts with the best shiny chance, just. Turned up, pretty early! XD It's a yellow one, too, which is always fun. :3 :3 :3 Love shinies with serious differences to the original colouration! :D

Anyway now is time for sleeps, yes. >:

Current Mood: tired

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sweep again and by then it's like seven fifteen

Finished clearing and cleaning my bookshelves out yesterday, changed my bedsheets today. Took about six days total to empty them out. I would spend like, half an hour stints of doing cleaning in clusters, such as grouping a bunch of books together on an emptied shelf, coming back later to clean them and then move them, repeat with figures I did the same with, etc. Bookshelf and desk contents are all now safely stashed in my new kallax or boxes; truly the biggest inspiration whilst doing this is the fact I never have to dust my bookshelves again after this, and that taking six days to do it wasn't a death knell of everything being dusty again by the time I was finished.

I will have to dust and clean the shelves again before doors go on - that won't be this week but next - but as I've said before... an empty surface is much easier to manage and is a price I'll happily take. Originally I was going to have dad build new bookcases next time but I decided doors should be the priority, then new bookshelves if he has time/I can tolerate it. Having cleared them out in just the one week means I can spend next week post groceries languishing, and then hopefully have the energy to shuffle everything back to where it should be once the doors go on. And then I can go about stashing a second round of things into the new kallax as I clean the old kallax... it's a process...??

If PEM is okay, this should give me time to do 7.3 next week, hopefully. This week has been mainly pvp and me finally getting into crystalline conflict (genuinely idk why it took me this long). Also stadium. I'm now pro in all roles... might reach all star in tank soonish... truly what has become of me...

I also opened up undercovefic again after not being able to look at fic at all for maybe three weeks due to y'know, furniture stuff. (I was posting Estelline chapters intermittently but that was a lie, they were long finished.) If it holds up after this lengthy break and I'm still happy with it, I'd like to start posting it soon.

The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard Review

This is the first self-published book I have ever read a good chunk of without realizing it was self-published. [EDIT: This is not a dig at self-published writing. I am self-published and hope my books are roughly comparable to traditional in quality, but it is a mountain to climb to do all the traditional publisher work yourself on your own dime, so I'm impressed when a work does it, and I want to uplift that it's possible.] The book is as well written as a number of recent traditionally published books; it’s well edited, proofread, designed, nice cover art. It looks professional.

But in retrospect, it had to be self-published because it’s a Silmarillion fan fic with the names changed, and a traditional publisher wouldn’t take it for fear of being sued. (Not really spoilery: this is clear quite early.) Its premise (I’ll just render this in Tolkien terms) is one of the exiled Noldor returns to the Undying Lands after dying (?) in Middle-earth. That’s a fantastic premise for a fic! With some alterations, it’s a great premise for an original story. That’s why I bought it! I don’t think it fully exploits this premise, though. It’s a goldmine for psychological and philosophical development, and it has fairly little of either, in my opinion.

It does have a great original addition in the idea of a male and female elf who are well-matched “professional/vocational” rivals to such a degree they can be almost interchanged with each other. That concept may be the story’s strongest, and again, I felt it wasn’t fully exploited.

But some of my discontents are discontents with the source material (The Silmarillion): 1) the style is, for my taste, too expository—too much “telling,” not enough “showing”; 2) I just don’t get the concept of the Undying Lands on any deep level, because my cosmology is very different from Tolkien’s. Goddard is, I think, trying to follow Tolkien here, and part of my difficulty suspending disbelief may come from my just not getting it. I give her marks, on the whole, for showing respect for Tolkien’s work and not altering his Elves in any bizarre ways.

One the whole, I find the book conceptually fascinating but not developed deeply enough to fully engage me.

Spoilery review at my DW.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Spare Room

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Sunday

Nothing huge today, really. DID make satay, which was delicious :V :V :V Also did a second coat on the smaller skirting boards! They look a LOT better with the second coat, yessss. Other than that... eh, it's Sunday. I mostly just read fic and I refuse to feel bad about it! :3

Tomorrow will probably be a Sibling day, plus I'm gonna try and get the skirting boards finished. Will depend on the weather and the number of coats needed, of course, but I think I can probably do it, at least for the small ones. Bigger ones might need extra work.

Ghost in the Tombs

Ghost in the Tombs by Jonathan Moeller

Caina's 32nd book. Spoilers ahead for the earlier ones.

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Sanders' young ladies' reader

Sanders' young ladies' reader : embracing a comprehensive course of instruction in the principles of rhetorical reading : with a choice collection of exercises in reading, both in prose and poetry, for the use of the higher female seminaries, as also, the higher classes in female schools generally by Charles W. Sanders

A selection of prose and poetry intended for elocution classes. Interesting, nowadays, chiefly for the selections choosing. With an eye to variety, the preface assures us, because they are intended for the young.

This one is, unlike the fourth and fifth readers, aimed specifically at girls. Which means a couple on the education of women and the necessity of its being for their whole lives, and not the flurry of society to win their husbands, and more female characters in the stories. It has a couple of selections that overlap with those readers.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Location: Spare Room

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Painting: round 1 done!

Yup, got a first coat on all of the skirting boards! :D Wasn't actually intending to do all of them, I started uh... much later than I intended... but I poured out more paint than I actually needed for what I intended to do hahahaha. Even though I was trying to only pour out just a tiny bit! From now on I think I'll just go directly from the can...

First coat looks pretty good, though it's definitely a bit blotchy where the wood is darker in some areas. As expected! I'll probably do another coat tomorrow, and see how it goes. :3

Didn't end up cooking satay tonight, I um. Well I didn't eat anything between breakfast at ~9am and uhhhh 7:30ish?? So yeah waiting around for stuff to cook rather than just shoving stuff in the microwave wasn't happening. Tomorrow! Will do it for lunch, and I will definitely get out of bed in time to make lunch, ffs. Yes. I will. Look, I'm going to bed MUCH earlier than I have been! >:

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Recent Reading: Annihilation

Today I wrapped up Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, a horror/sci-fi novel with fantastical (?) elements about a biologist exploring a very unsettling landscape.

There are no names given in this book—the narrator and protagonist is simply "the Biologist," and she refers to her other three teammates by their job titles as well. Locations outside of the place they're exploring—Area X—are not given either, but the world is implied to be much the same as our own, with Area X a troubling and relatively recent anomaly. A private company hires the Biologist and her colleagues to venture into this strange place and take notes. They are the 12^th such expedition.

I appreciate that much of the horror in Annihilation isn't in-your-face: it's the slow build of things that are just off. This quiet and subtle approach means that when something extreme happens, it feels extreme. The Biologist and her colleagues know that Area X is dangerous before they venture in, but even so, they are unprepared for how and to what degree. VanderMeer's portrayal of how trust frays among relative strangers under these conditions felt realistic.

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Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Birthplace

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Pancake Sibling o noes

Yeaaaah, turns out that Sibling really was pushing it a bit much yesterday, so today turned into a pancake day. Sad! But also I'm not real surprised, given everything. So sealing will probably be done next week instead, which is fine. Health is much more important! (Even though I would like to get back to my room, hahaha.)

Today I did some stuff, but not a huge amount either. ( Blah blah blah mostly food related )

I also set up the deck for painting! (Mostly, gotta cover over one more bit, which I will do tomorrow.) So I'm planning on getting a start on that tomorrow, if not a whole first coat. (Probably not though there's too many pieces and only so much space.)