glowingfish

Though I started by once again sleeping til 12:00. But then I got up and had breakfast and coffee.

Then I did what I am very proud of. I got the printer working again. Before I went to Arisia I tried printing out my to do list and discovered the computer wasn't recognizing the (wireless) printer. I had no time then to play with it so I let it be, and I hadn't done anything about it since.

But today I fiddled with it and discovered that somehow something called the MP driver had gotten uninstalled or something. Then I had to find the MP driver (not the printer driver, mind you!) and install it. Allow me to say the Canon website was only marginally helpful. Yes the drivers were there to download... but difficult to locate that MP driver. I did though and got the printer working.

Then I added water to the turtle tank. And then I cleaned the cat pan.

Then I tossed on some clothes (sweat pants and my thermal shirt) and took the dirty kitty litter and the two Valentines for Middle Brother and the Kid, and ventured out into the cold. It's actually warmed up a bit but still was below freezing.

Anyway, I took the litter to the garbage, and walked around the block, and to the mailbox and mailed the Valentines. So they should arrive before Saturday I hope.

Then I had something to eat. And I went to the bedroom and lay down for awhile and played solitaire on my phone.

Meanwhile my limited edition Stephen Colbert Funko Pop has not yet been delivered, although the tracking said it was out for delivery yesterday. So I looked up how to contact Funko and I sent them a message.

Then I Teamed the FWiB. We were going along fine, over an hour, when the Teams crashed and kicked me out. We got back on, but it was annoying. Don't know if it was Teams, or my wretched computer.

The Funko people answered! They said it was normal to have a delivery delay and I should wait a few days before panicking. So I will wait.

Then I had dinner, a Lean Cuisine frozen pizza for World Pizza Day. Tasty. Then I went to the bedroom again, and played on the phone til pet feeding time.

And so I got some stuff done today.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Got the printer working without too much trouble.

3. Got the Valentines out.

4. Heard back from Funko.

5. Have Samsung Health working on my phone now to count steps.

6. Pizza.

Current Mood: accomplished

loganberrybunny

ublic

Carnival of Souls (1962)

This was fantastic. An independent horror film made for about $1.73 (and without abusing its cast, yay!), this follows the story of Mary (Candace Hilligoss) who comes out of a river after a crash which killed her two companions. She moves to take a job as a church organist, but is haunted by a strange, silent man (think a less violent Michael Myers, kind of) and discomfited by an abandoned fairground nearby.

Not terrifying as such, but wonderfully creepy and uneasy, with the organ score contributing to this. More grounded unease is provided by Mary's less-wonderfully-creepy neighbour in her rooming house. A nice jump scare late on that I didn't see coming at all, though I should have. I did twig the twist from fairly early on, some of the dialogue is a bit awkward, and the pace is slow, but allowing for that I enjoyed this greatly. ★★★★

Current Mood: satisfied

silver_chipmunk

That's what I now call the Superbowl...

Anyway, I woke up at 10:00, and today made the deliberate decision to go back to sleep til 12:00. Then I got up and ha breakfast and coffee, and at 1:30 went to the Starsky and Hutch Creative Work session and chat.

We had a really nice time chatting til somewhat after 6:00, and I got a good bit of writing done for a change.

Then at 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB and we talked til almost 9:00. We were interrupted twice, once when I went to answer the door when someone buzzed, because I am expecting the delivery of my limited edition Stephen Colbert Funko Pop, which hasn't come yet. And once at 8:30 to call Middle Brother.

Middle Brother is fine, he went to a movie yesterday, he doesn't know what it wasm but he enjoyed it and the large popcorn and Pepsi he had.

After we got off I had dinner, and then went to the bedroom where I called

mashfanficchick. We talked for awhile, ze is still at zer friend's place catsitting, nothing much going on.

As to the the Superbowl, I am somewhat glad to see that the Seahawks seem to be trouncing the Patriots, because the owner of the Patriots is a Trump supporter and gave large amounts of money to him, so f him. But aside from that, I don't really care.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.

3. Getting a story close to finishing.

4. Middle Brother is having a good time and well.

5. Warm apartment.

6. My pets.

Current Mood: cheerful

loganberrybunny

Public

Snowdrops
No larger image available
It's coming to something when that's worthy of a subject line, but oh well. I had a quiet Sunday, which wasn't particularly unwelcome. I did some tidying and got rid of a few small things that are no longer of use to me and of no interest to anyone else. Drank coffee, made food, all those thrilling things. I did break 10,000 steps again, albeit only just. I should really have tried to push on a little bit today, given the break in the weather, but I'm afraid laziness got the better of me. The not-very-good photo is of some snowdrops in a lane fairly near where I live.

Current Mood: tired

silver_chipmunk

I got up this morning at 9:00 and had breakfast and coffee. Then I showered and dressed, in one of my thermal shirts with my warm sweater, instead of my usual tee shirt with sweater. Because it is cold out! Very, very cold.

So I headed toward my meeting, and got lucky that a bus was there almost immediately so I didn't have to wait in the chill.

The meeting was very good, and afterward we went to the diner as usual. I got a ride from S as usual.

Going home, again I got lucky and didn't have to wait long for a bus. I got off at Northern Blvd to transfer to the 12, an noticed that there's a CVS where the Party City used to be, across the street. So I went over and bought Valentines for the Kid, and Middle Brother. There was such a small section of Valentines that I was startled. I'm used to huge sections of Valentines, with cards for every member of your family. But there were precious few daughter cards, and none for brother, so I had to make do with a generic one. At least I found a reasonable one for the Kid.

Anyway, I paid and went to the bus top, just missed a 12, but one came in about 8 minutes after so I was OK.

Got off at Parsons and had to walk from there as usual, it was unpleasant. Very windy. Very, very cold.

Got home safely, and put in a Shipt order from my phone while logging in to the computer to go to the Starsky and Hutch chat. The chat was, as always, lots of fun. The Shipt order this time was complete.

We talked until a little after 7:00. Then I Teamed the FWiB. Fun as always.

*sigh* I learned today about Leon Botstein's involvement with Epstein. it was a horrible shock to me, I felt heart sick. As the president of my alma mater, he was an integral part of my college years, which were, arguably the best years of my life. I could go on for pages about what Bard meant to me, but I won't. Suffice it to say, I feel like I've been poisoned. And worried about the future of Bard now this has come out. Leon couldn't go on being president too much longer anyway, it's been 50 years, and he's old now, but what will happen to Bard when he's gone?

Enough of that. I just finished dinner, made out the Valentines, addressed and stamped them, and fed the pets. I called

mashfanficchick to see if ze was doing anything for the Superbowl tomorrow, ze's not. And after I finish here I shall go to bed.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Stayed warm most of the day.

3. Four years at Bard.

4. My meetings and the people there.

5. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.

6. Valentines Day stuff.

Current Mood: pensive

loganberrybunny

Public

Despite the continuing grotty weather, I pushed myself out for a couple of walks today, meaning I've crept over 10,000 steps. Thanks to hurting my leg I haven't done that very often recently, but I wanted to get back to it and so I mostly feel being out in the drizzle was worth it! I did briefly think about posting a photo again – not a 365-style one, just something mildly interesting – but to be honest everything looks so dreary in these conditions that it's going to have to wait a few days.

Current Mood: gloomy

silver_chipmunk

Cause it's late.

Got up at 10:00, shortly after that L from my Saturday Al-anon meeting called as planned and we had a nice talk.

Then I got up and had breakfast and coffee. And spent much of the day fighting with the computer. I sent an email to John, Denise, Laurie and the Kid about the Smartmeter National Grid is installing on the cottage. And, not having heard from him, I texted Cliff about the memorial service for Oldest Brother. If he still doesn't get back to me, I'll have to call him.

I went and lay down at around 4:00 I think and played solitaire and scrolled Facebook on my phone. Then at 5:00 I got up and got ready to go to my meeting.

The first 25 bus that I could have made I missed by seconds. The next one to come along didn't stop for me. Went right on by. I was quite pissed. Then I got one about 10 minutes later, and I got a 50 quickly so that was OK.

I got my pizza for dinner as usual for Friday, then to kill time I went to Dunkin' Donuts and got hot chocolate and a donut and sat there and ate the donut. The woman also gave me a handful of munchkins.

The meeting was very small but good,, we got a newcomer. I hope he comes back.

Then L (not the same L who called this morning) drove me to the bus stop. And... the bus didn't come for over 45 minutes. And there was snow coming down. I decided that if the bus wasn't there by 10:05 I was calling an Uber. But it got there about 9:50 I think. I got to 31st and Linden ot get the 25 and my app told me it wouldn't be there for 14 minutes. So I said screw it and called an Uber.

I got home and fed the pets, then tried to Team the FWiB. The technology did not cooperate. To make a very long story short, we ended up using my phone rather than the computer to Team. Very, very frustrating.

So we talked for about an hour, and then it was after midnight so I did the solitaire daily challenge, and then totally restarted the computer and started here.

And that was the day.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. My meetings and the people there.

3. The bus finally came and I didn't have to Uber from the Bronx.

4. The computer seems to be working as I type this.

5. Uber.

6. Bed soon.

Current Mood: rushed

loganberrybunny

Public

Bullseye! (1990)

Good grief, this is a mess. A story about a pair of chancers and a pair of nuclear physicists, both played by Michael Caine and Roger Moore. At the very least you'd have thought a film teaming up those two might have had some old-school charm about it. And it does – occasionally – with Moore in particular giving some nice, sub-Bond one-liners. There are some nice shots of Inveraray in the second half, too. But for the most part Bullseye! is a confusing, overstuffed, and worst of all unfunny mess. Sizeable chunks of it could have come from the less amusing end of mid-1970s British comedy, including an agonisingly smutty scene about dogs having sex. That this was directed by that abusive bastard Michael Winner does not surprise me. ★½

Current Mood: disappointed

elyusion

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

Challenge #15: How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go?
I liked having a reason to talk about the things I like prompted. I met some cool people, and even became mutuals with at least one, so that's great and the Snowflake Challenge wasn't a complete bust. All in all I think it went well for me! And I'm really glad this challenge has been held annually for so long.

This is a personal skill issue, but making such long posts so often made me feel annoying. (The length of the posts is a choice but I'm talkative when given the chance to be, so...) I might not participate next year, or I will only via commenting, but that doesn't mean I think it's bad.

One thing: I know it didn't do well in the polls, but I think having Grant a Wish as a challenge is a good idea and it should stay. People should not only ask for things, but give too. And I'm not just saying that out of greed, because I didn't have any of mine granted. SPEAKING OF, I didn't write about it but I did grant at least 3 wishes, so please include in the record that I completed Challenge #11 too ☝🏾

Thanks to the mods, volunteers, and my subscribers for sticking around! ❄️

Current Music: Moonlight Thoughts - SING女團

elyusion

From Twitter @/SugoiLITE

@/SugoiLITE
Kyoko Hikawa's 90s Shoujo Fantasy Manga "FROM FAR AWAY" (Kanata Kara) will be receiving an ANIME ADAPTATION

There is hope for ANYTHING. NEVER kill yourself. I don't have an icon for how ecstatic I am so I chose violence instead. NEVER KILL YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit from 2 hours later: Oh, there's no release date because it's from a leak account. So it may or may not be real, but they said it with such confidence... 50% chance of peak dropping soon.

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Location: YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

loganberrybunny

Public

The Mandelson affair rumbles on, and we're now at the stage of people considering who might be Labour leader (and PM) by the end of the year. Angela Rayner is probably the front-runner, being actually vaguely human and popular with the Labour grassroots, but HMRC still hasn't decided whether to impose a penalty charge over and above the tax she pays back. Wes Streeting is more centrist but is also perhaps too closely associated with the Labour establishment – and Mandelson is so toxic that this alone might be too much for him.

Who else? I don't know. It's possible someone will come almost out of nowhere, as John Major did after Margaret Thatcher's resignation in 1990.¹ But the pace of politics is far faster what it was a third of a century ago, and the previous assumption – that Keir Starmer would be allowed to stay in post long enough to take the flak for the expected local election and Senedd disasters in May – may not in fact be true. I really don't know at this point, but Starmer surely cannot lead Labour into the next general election.
¹ Major was Chancellor, but few expected him to win the leadership vote.

All over Europe politicians seem to be being toppled like dominoes over the Epstein scandal. Not that I care about that – we must never, ever forget that the reason this is a scandal in the first place is not political infighting but the horrific abuse of hundreds and hundreds of young women and children. But it does give me slight cause for optimism that at least politicians are going. A world in which Mandelson had kept his job after this would be a worse one.

Current Mood: listless

silver_chipmunk

I got a marketing phone call at just before my alarm went off, but then went back to dozing until around 11:00, then finally left bed at 12:00.

Then I had breakfast and coffee as usual, and then I did very little physically, though I kept busy. I answered, at long last, the email I got from Croesos back before Arisia. And then I wrote another email to Isis, she didn't answer the last one I sent but I figured I'd try again.

Then I wrote to John and Denise, to let them know the date of the memorial up at the cottage for Oldest Brother.

Then, since I dodn't have an email address for him, I Facebook messaged Cliff about the memorial.

And then just because I was in a writing mood, I Facebook messaged Herschel. Just because.

I played solitaire on my phone. I puttered online. I phoned L, the person who's name I picked on Saturday at my meeting and left a message.

Finally at 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB. We had a few technical difficulties but finally got going. The connection wasn't great though. L texted and said she'll call tomorrow around 10:00. I assume she means AM.

At 8:30 I got off to call Middle Brother. He is fine, went out to dinner on Monday. He's looking forward to the Superbowl and Valentine's Day.

Then I had to charge my phone while I made dinner. Herschel Facebook messaged me back which was nice.
I had dinner, then went to the bedroom and called

mashfanficchick but se couldn't talk then.

I charged my phone til pet feeding time and here i am.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The other correspondents in my life.

3. My meetings.

4. My family.

5. Made the phone call t L.

6. Middle Brother is safe and happy.

Current Mood: cheerful

elyusion

Another one of these lol. But for January!

What I Did

Not Related To ~~Media Consumption~~ Enjoying the Arts 🍷

On New Year's Eve I saw cows up close for the first time and fed them (their tongues are very rough!), and on New Year's itself I shot a gun for the first time. Multiple guns, actually -- a pistol, shotgun, and rifle. Into the sky. As one does. You'll never believe it -- I spent the night in Texas on my mom's boyfriend's ranch. I wanted to share food with all the cows, but three greedy fucks were all in the way of the others cows 💢 Just selfish.

Not really something I did, but something that happened -- it snowed, which turned into ice, so for almost a week we couldn't really go anywhere. The power never went out though! I was surprised about that. I would probably be even more amazed if it weren't for the fact that it already had snowed in the (southern) state I was in before twice in the decade+ I lived there. Climate change is taking the joy of rare snow away from me smh

I did get to work on my resolution to learn how to dance, but I haven't gotten around to recording myself yet. I really should eventually, for growth-measurement purposes... And I participated in snowflake_challenge! Besides the final challenge, I've done every challenge I wanted to this time around. I'll do the final one another day :)

I made a community! vkotd Post in it if you can, or only sub to it if you're interested.

I got shoulder-length medium twists, and I feel so fly that I started taking care of my skin and using makeup xD Makeup looks like it can get expensive, so I'm going to avoid following anyone on socials who shows off a lot of products and things like that so I don't tempt myself into evil, but I feel better about myself. Maybe a bad thing to say about something that covers up my natural skin, so I feel kiiiiiiiiiiiiiinda bad... reeeeeeeeeeeeally deep inside. It's mostly covered up by the happy though LOL

Enjoying the Arts 🍷🕯️🌹🫦

TV/ONA/OVA

I finished Sailor Moon Classic, which I watched half of many years ago. I think it's fun, way better than the manga before since girls besides Usagi get attention. Never made me feel as Hype as Naruto did... but I guess because the fights against the villains are pretty lame. Like someone else said, they just run away until there's an opening to do their magicks. This is why Pretty Cure sweeps. Also, I feel like a complete asshole for this, but I like all the other girls more than Usagi. She's kind of........................... annoying 😭 I guess it's just due to the nature of anime and exaggerating personalities. Well, I'm sure it only gets better from here.

I watched the first two Thunderbolt Fantasy seasons and movies with a friend. Well, the second movie I watched yesterday, but I'm grouping it with the things I watched it January. I think I have the same reaction as everyone else -- Curiosity about how a puppet TV show works, and then amazed that the plot and characters are pretty darn good too. I want to watch the show it's a spinoff of, but I guess it's probably inaccessible if you don't know Chinese u_u So I'll have to put a pin in that for about 3 years or so.

But you know what ISN'T inaccessible even if you don't know Chinese? That's right baby, The Legend of Luo Xiaohei. I watched the first season. I tried to watch this years ago after watching the movie, but I was put off by not knowing how it relates to the movie. I thought maybe it was some stupid boring comedy AU or something, and the movie took the protag of the show and made something more serious. Not exactly! I've been describing the show in my head as "iyashikei if it was epic" -- it's slow-paced and calm, almost slice-of-lifey, but it's also an urban fantasy that has fast-paced action scenes when needed. It has a plot, but it takes its time for you to get to know the characters and world. I like it more than I thought it would, considering it doesn't have any of the movie characters I know and love besides Hei. I think you should watch it. You should watch the movies too. The comic? Also probably great. Please get into The Legend of Hei -- and remember who put you on. I'll watch the season season after I finish Sailor Moon R.

Also watched the 3-episode OVA Gensei Shugoshin P-hyoro Ikka(/Modern-Day Guardians, the Piihyoro Clan?). I expected something more serious than what I got, and it was best enjoyed on 2x speed. Not the worst thing ever though. It's about sibling exorcists who have to handle ghost and possession cases. Sometimes they're hired, sometimes one sibling finds themself in a Situation. I had a feeling something deeper was happening or was going to happen too, but the OVA ends before it to entice you to buy the manga. The manga was probably fun to read while subscribed to Princess Magazine, but I definitely wouldn't pay money for the OVA. I'll have to keep in mind to read this one day, since the manga isn't on Anilist and thus I cannot put it in the Planning list.

Movies

Swing Girls!! A comedy movie even a guy like me can enjoy. And despite it being about a guy teaching a bunch of bum girls how to swang, there's no romance either. Cute and feel-good with musical performances aplenty (and I'm big fan of music, personally), this is also something I feel the urge to force others to watch. And, did you know? None of the actresses knew how to play their instruments before having to work in the movie either. So in case you're like me and thinking "no way could they get so good so quickly in real life" ... yes. Yes they could.

I expected something VERY different from 2001: A Space Odyssey from what I got 😭 Since it's so popular and people still mention it I figured it was an action-adventure movie or something like that... Instead it's just. Weird. With very pretty visuals! But quiet and odd. I'm not smart enough to say anything about it, positive or negative. But I guess it's good I know what exactly it is now!

I really thought I'd love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but I just thought it was fine. I dunno. I think animation has raised my bar for fight scenes inhumanly high. Maybe this is implied in the movie, but I find it hard to believe it's possible to be free at all as a woman married to a man in that time unless you make him swear he won't keep you in chains, which Jiaolong/Jen (? Why did they change her name to Jen? Jiaolong isn't hard to read or say.) never made whatshisface do, I think. I think the flashback to how their romance developed was fun though, probably the only part of the movie where I never paused to do something else. Funny time to choose to have sex, but I suppose these things do happen.

As a (very old) Gen Z-er with a fried brain, at some point I had to swallow my pride and change the playback speed to 2x. But besides the old-school pacing, I Am Cuba was a great movie! Too great! I actually recommend NOT watching this right now what with the real things going on with Cuba, because it will make you miserable! :D Or, maybe you SHOULD watch it so that you too will want to fight to protect what those people sacrificed all they had for. #DeathToAmerica

Exactly One Book

Not something I finished, but I spent a solid chunk of the month reading Yona of the Dawn along with a shoujo server on Discord. I've tried to read or watch this MULTIPLE times in the past, but I'd always lose interest. I decided this year would be the year I force myself to read it and see why it's so beloved... or at least figure out why it repeatedly put me off 🗿 It's literally adventure shoujo, I shouldn't want for much else. AND YET... I think the main problem is the art style isn't my taste, although objectively it is good and Kusanagi is good at drawing. Because of this, I don't think the heartthrob Hak is hot, and I actually dislike him because I think he's not hot enough to justify the things he does or says. I like assholes, but not when it comes to romance or sex, so when he says the typical "I can't help myself cuz I'm a guy yknow" stuff I want to beat him to a pulp. (If the character is hot I roll my eyes when they say those things.) I do like Suwon and want to see more Suwon. Mr. Dragon Hand too. And Yona herself! But Hak needs to pay with blood, sorry. So bascially, after being semi-forced to keep going, I do like YOTD now!! But I don't like the love interest. Common Chris L. Suwon should've installed himself as communist dictator (or Yona should in the end) 💯 Tae-jun is really funny and we should imprison him in a bottle forever

I finished this a few days ago so I won't vent about it yet; I'll leave it for a separate entry or February summary, but the main thing I spent all month reading was Kamisama Kiss. Tomoe was letting Akuraoh hit jsyk (or the other way around sometimes)

Music & Games

I beat Sakura Wars. The ending was corny as hell. The ending animation I got for successfully romancing Kanna was cutefunny, and I did like the SRPG sections. I said this before, but the presentation is great. I love the art style! So there's lots of things about this game to like, but I didn't end up hitting the like button on Backloggd because... I dunno 💀 Maybe I'm too haunted by them pressuring me to be a lolicon that one chapter. And this is typical in dating sims, but I wish the girls felt a little more human and a little less like comfortable tropes. I liked it enough to want to play another Sakura Wars though -- it was only the first game after all, maybe in the second or third one they'll nail it.

Every month I had an idea/prompt/idk of what kind of new music to listen to all month, and January's was "Latin, Japanese, and Chinese music from genres I like". Compare with December's "Latin, Japanese, and Chinese music popular among speakers of those languages". I found SO much music in January I intended to make a separate entry dedicated to it, but in sort, we should find and eat the people on Spotify making all the Chinese playlists a bunch of slow ballads. For China week I felt like I was in ballad hell until I found a playlist with faster music towards the end 😭

What I Will Do in February

TV: Thunderbolt Fantasy with friend, Sailor Moon R alone

Film: The Dark Knight, Kamikaze Girls, Y Tú Mama También, A Touch of Zen. I try to choose 1. A movie important to a group I belong to (this month being U.S. Americans), 2. A movie with original Japanese audio, 3. A movie with original Spanish audio, and 4. A movie with original Mandarin audio.

Lit: I finished Kamisama Kiss, sooo Yona of the Dawn, Vampire Knight, and Deborah ga Rival if I catch up with the reading groups reading the first two.

Games: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and if I beat that before the month is up I'm going to finally plug in my SNES mini and complete Final Fantasy VI.

Whatever: I want to finish the dress-up game by the character's birthday on the 20th (<- wont happen), I should update both my personal and fan sites, of course I'll continue dancing in secret where none of you can see, aaaaaaand this month's music theme is "unfamiliar songs by familiar artists" (songs I haven't heard yet by artists who have songs I really love).

Have a good February! Or else.

Current Mood: uncomfortable
Current Location: ended dance practice 5 hours ago and my head still hurts </3
Current Music: 特務 J - Jolin

loganberrybunny

Public

Watch on YouTube

It's been a long time since I made a music post here, so let's change that! Those of you who've known me for a while will know that I adore Judith Durham's voice – she may even be my favourite female singer ever – and so it won't come as a huge surprise that I've chosen a Seekers track. Although the video is in 1960s TV quality, the audio is remastered and is much better. And, crucially given Durham's vocal style, very clear. "A World of Our Own" was released in 1965 and was a major hit in the Seekers' native Australia (no. 2) and in the UK (no. 3) as well as breaking into the US top twenty.

Current Mood: artistic

silver_chipmunk

I got up at 10:00 and had breakfast and coffee. Then I puttered online til the mail got here at1:00ish I think. And the new Jonathan Kellerman Alex Delaware book, Jigsaw, had arrived.

So I took it into the bedroom and lay down and read it. All of it. Straight through, though I went to the bathroom twice, and got a snack.

And finished it. It was just as good as the rest of the series. I loved it.

Then I called

mashfanficchick to let zer know that I finished and ze can borrow it whenever I can get it to zer. Don't know if we'll be seeing each other for the next week as ze is catsitting zer friend's cats til the 11th. But we'll see.

Then I puttered on the computer til 7:00 when I Teamed the FWiB. We talked til 8:00, then I got off to go to my gaming. The GM of the Monster of the Week game we had been playing didn't feel up to running the game tonight so we played D&D, the old Caves of Chaos campaign. I had trouble with the Discord at first and had to exit out and restart it so I missed a bit but then it worked ok.

As usual we played til 10. Killed an ogre and some orcs. And some goblins. It was fun.

Then I fed the pets and had dinner and started here. And that was the day. Oh, I heard from Shipt, they are refunding the money for the item that didn't get to me yesterday. So that's good.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Got the book.

3. Got the refund from Shipt.

4. My gaming group.

5. Friends.

6. The Discord mostly worked.

Current Mood: cheerful

loganberrybunny

Public

I don't currently have the bandwidth to deal with the stuff going on in UK politics right now, so instead I'll tell you something really boring. I was at Merry Hill (a shopping centre) today and my phone notified me that I could have a bottle of Coke Zero for a quid at Costa. So I went to the branch I usually use there (on top of Next) and it looked fine. Then I saw the sign saying "Our card machine is not working; our staff will be pleased to direct you to the nearest ATM." Irritatingly, I didn't have a pound coin – this is rare for me, since I almost always have a bit of cash on me as several shops in Bewdley are cash only.

So I plodded off to another branch of Costa at the other end of the shopping centre. No problem in getting my Coke this time, and everything went okay. A table of pensioners nearby who seemed to think everyone within ten miles needed to hear their conversation, but nothing worse than that. (These people didn't have terrible hearing, as they could talk quietly when they wanted. They just didn't want.) Anyway, I sat around for half an hour and drank my drink, and then I carried on with the other stuff I'd gone to Merry Hill to do. And if you've read all this stuff, you probably deserve some kind of medal! ;)

Current Mood: tired

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Hi all!

I'm doing some minor operational work tonight. It should be transparent, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong. The main thing I'm touching is testing a replacement for Apache2 (our web server software) in one area of the site.

Thank you!

silver_chipmunk

Last night after I posted here I kept looking for that knob for my ceiling light. And finally I gave up, turned aroun while sitting on the living room floor, and saw it! In the exact opposite direction from where I was looking and where it logically should have been. I figure that it must have bounced and landed on the bottom step of the step ladder, and when I put the ladder away, I moved it first before I folded it up, and when I folded it up the knob must have fallen off and rolled. So anyway, I found it.

So this morning I woke up with my alarm at 10:00, and once again rolled over and went back to sleept til 12:00. But then I got up, had breakfast and coffee, and then got the step ladder out again and fixed the ceiling light. Thank goodness.

Then I put in a Shipt order and waited for it. When It got here one of the items hadn't arrived, so I notified Shipt and they said I'd get an email but I haven't. Maybe because it was after 5:00 by then. So if I don't get that email tomorrow, I'll contact them again.

I puttered online til 7:00 when I Teamed the FWiB. We talked til I ha to go to my meeting, but then I had terrible technical difficulties getting Zoom to work. Finally did, and we had a small, but good meeting. Both M and S were there.

The Kid finally called, when I was Teaming the FWiB. We discussed the timing of the memorial service for Oldest Brother at the cottage this July. It looks like it will have to be the 18th which I'm not happy about, but we'll do the best we can. I have to let people know... tomorrow.

After my meeting I had dinner, and then went to the bedroom, and lay down an watched a video on my phone that the FWiB sent, the 25 best space movies. I don't know if I agree with the guy who did the list on everything, but it was fun watching.

And then it was pet feeding time so I fed the pets and started here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Found the knob!!!

3. And was able to get the light back together without a problem.

4. My meetings and the people there.

5. The Kid finally called and we have a date.

6. Found out from

mashfanficchick that The Lincoln Lawyer starts now.

Current Mood: relieved

elyusion

One month later...

Album of the Year

CAKERA (翔~カケラ~裸) - LAPUTA
I wanted a music category because I love music, but I don't listen to (new) albums much. Need to change that. Anyways, Cakera won out since it's the album with the most amount of songs I like and listened to this year (Jesus, Virgin Cry, Refrain Limit/Drug Habit...), but hopefully in 2026 I can find a new no-skip album that's not B'Day or Thriller or Aku no Hana. The only runner-up for this category is Koi no Yokan by Deftones.

Game of the Year

RHYTHM TENGOKU (and Gold)
To be honest, no game I played this year left me a different person. So let's pretend Rhythm Heaven GBA + DS are one game so that I can give them both first place. I <3 rhythm games. I think I should try playing more of them rather than JRPGs.

Runner-ups

Grandia, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy IV DS. All great, but they don't have rhythm games, so... I also didn't play a lot of games this year because for the entire first half I was struggling to make myself finish Harukanaru Toki no Naka de. I would've put Where Winds Meet as the winner if I could actually play it orz

Show of the Year

BREAKING BAD
Pretty tough competition, but Breaking Bad wins because I was so hooked I was watching it in bed and in the school library and shit. Normally during in-between time (like between wake and sleep, or between classes) I read stuff or play on my (3)DS(i) while listening to music, not watch things. It's also a popular show, so now I understand jokes I didn't understand before and have full context and everything, so that's awesome. Will I ever watch Better Call Saul? Find out next time...!

Runner-ups

PLURIBUS!!! But special mention to The Legend of the Galactic Heroes as well.

Movie of the Year

THE LEGEND OF HEI II
Beautiful animation, great fights, Nezha, good found family, blatant lesbian bait, tanking (U.S.?) missile strikes in slides, an airplane crash, this movie truly has it all. It's just as good if not better than the first movie :3 I love everyone so much. If anything ever happens to Xiaohei I will blow up at least 2 major cities.

Runner-ups

Set It Off, the Mononoke movies, and Ne Zha 2. This almost went to Set It Off until I remembered I watched Hei this year. Ne Zha 2 I think was good, but I so viscerally remember the vomit jokes more than the actually moving scenes... But I also think it's really funny how many times Nezha is called ugly throughout the film and this is resolved not by everyone deciding it's vain to care or by him developing self-love, but simply by him gaining a form that is beautiful. #China

Book of the Year

THE COLOR PURPLE
I feel like this one needs no explanation.

Runner-ups

How Do We Relationship (complicated yuri), Princess Jellyfish (just plain fun), Bongchan Story (porn with plot), obligatory Basara (adventure shoujo sweep). Didn't read much because most of the year I was focused on forcing myself to read Elric of Melniboné. Coulda spent that time reading Lenin or something...

Various Wrapped™s

Last.fm says my top five artists were BUCK∞TICK, Deftones, Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson, while my top fives songs were Ice Cream, Jesus, It Never Rains (In Southern California), Meteor, and DARLIN'. You should believe Last.fm; Spotify be lying for reasons we don't understand yet (and also Last.fm includes songs I listen to that aren't on Spotify).

Didn't use my Switch that much last year lol. My 3DS' activity log says I spent 148 hours and 56 minutes playing last year. 61 of those hours were on the PlayStation emulator, which was definitely 60% Suikoden, 30% Haruka, and 10% other random bs.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: hopeful

loganberrybunny

Public

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

This film got lukewarm reviews when it was first released. It's been so heavily reassessed that people now routinely call it a work of genius. I'm not in either camp, though I do tend more towards the good side. The buddy dynamic between Paul Newman (Butch) and Robert Redford (the Kid) as the outlaws who just can't deal with the change that's coming to the West (represented by the bicycle) works very well, and I've never seen why jokes and quips have to be restricted to comedies.

The cinematography is excellent and the whole "super posse" element was always something I didn't want to look away from. As for the ending? It's probably the only way this film could have finished and still worked, but I'll avoid spelling it out. I'm undecided about the Burt Bacharach music and the montages, and like so many movies from this era it somewhat sidelines potentially strong female characters (Katharine Ross's Etta in this case). Bolivia doesn't come out of it that well, either... ★★★★

Current Mood: productive

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glowingfish

February 2026

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Page generated Feb. 10th, 2026 04:29 am

Reading

I got things done today!

Film post: Carnival of Souls (1962)

Superb Owl Day

It didn't rain today!

Very cold Saturday

Saturday in the rain

I'm gonna make this short

Film post: Bullseye! (1990)

Snowflake Challenge #15

But when is the release date!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?

So, to politics briefly

I did very little today

New Elyusion Who Dis

What I Did

What I Will Do in February

Music time! The Seekers – "A World of Our Own" (1966)

New book today!

Mundane matters

Minor operations; testing new serving path

I found it!

2025 In Review

Album of the Year

Game of the Year

Show of the Year

Movie of the Year

Book of the Year

Various Wrapped™s

Film post: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

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February 2026

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