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Jun. 16th, 2025 10:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmolinguistThe way my voice now resonates in my body feels better to me than I ever thought it could.
I was thinking of this this morning because I talked with a fellow trans dude about singing over the weekend; him dealing with changes to his range made me ponder how I've been kinda avoiding trying to find what my singing might be like?
I know voice training and documenting changes, in speaking and singing, is a Thing for a lot of trans people but the notion gave me big anxiety so I've stayed away from it.
Today I am carefully singing along with the radio (in the sense that I am doing it with care, rather than just finding myself doing so while I am working or whatever) and I don't really care how I sound but I love how it feels.
I said this on fedi and was charmed to have one of my dadliest friends (who we call Other Erik because he's another Erik) say
I hope you never lose that joy! For my part, I still love the feeling and I’ve had a mature low “adult” voice for over 30 years. I find myself humming low-range tunes to myself rather frequently just for the feeling of it in my chest.
It's nice to know it can stay fun for that long!
The problem is that they don't stop - Early June 0205
Jun. 16th, 2025 09:37 amsilveradeptLet us begin this entry with a commentary on the changing visibility of women in animation, where women are eventually getting to higher positions and responsibilities in addition to the often stellar and strong work they do as ink and paint animators, cel creators, and much of the day-to-day work that makes studios like Ghibli so well-known and beloved for their productions. And, of course, women in careers is also a following on from academic institutions that finally allowed women to sit their examinations.
And perhaps is even more following on from the work being done to make sure that people know about the contributions of African women to their societies, and that many old societies in Africa had reading, writing, mathematical knowledge, and were otherwise the opposite of the colonial narrative that wanted to paint them as barbarous and uncivilized so they could be enslaved without disturbing the colonizer's conscience.
Brian Wilson, best known as a member of the Beach Boys and a pioneer of a specific style of pop that came from it, has left the world at 82 years of age. The details of his personal life, as well as some of the more experimental turns and albums that Wilson did, are a stark contrast to the sounds and the easy commercial co-option that has happened to the Beach Boys music and sound. We are all more complex than we appear on the surface.
( More governmental entities behaving lawlessly, more kidnapping, and more inside )
Last out for this post, highly-decorated, multi-gold medal winner, multiply-Olympic champion, and first to perform several maneuvers that now bear her name in the Gymastics Code of Points gymnast Simone Biles read undecorated, grievance-profiting, Fox News-supplicating, and all-around mediocre swimmer Riley Gaines for filth when Gaines posted about a softball team with a trans girl on it winning a championship. Gaines attempted to clap back by calling Biles a "male apologist," but I couldn't hear it very well over the sound of all that hardware clanking. Biles did eventually post something clarifying her comments as being about competitive equity and inclusivity and not singling out individual athletes for public scrutiny, but it has the feel of "people concerned about my brand made me do this 'clarification' " rather than a genuine change of position from Biles. Because that clarification makes it sound like Gaines might have had a point, and that's objectively untrue.
A libertarian-leaning, eye-catching eyesore has been bought, along with the land under it, by a local Native tribe, so hopefully the billboard will have a better sense of humor, or a better sense of politics, or both.
The National Hockey League's candidates for the Stanley Pup, thirty-two rescue dogs (one for each team in the NHL) looking for adoption, and all of who have great facts and team material available for them. Think Puppy Bowl, but hockey.
And the deliberate decision to lean into cringe in the Murderbot television series and buck the idea of people who never have human moments as protagonists. Combined with the performance of gender by SecUnit, and how that performance becomes meaningful once it's a choice instead of a requirement.
(Materials viaadrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
And perhaps is even more following on from the work being done to make sure that people know about the contributions of African women to their societies, and that many old societies in Africa had reading, writing, mathematical knowledge, and were otherwise the opposite of the colonial narrative that wanted to paint them as barbarous and uncivilized so they could be enslaved without disturbing the colonizer's conscience.
Brian Wilson, best known as a member of the Beach Boys and a pioneer of a specific style of pop that came from it, has left the world at 82 years of age. The details of his personal life, as well as some of the more experimental turns and albums that Wilson did, are a stark contrast to the sounds and the easy commercial co-option that has happened to the Beach Boys music and sound. We are all more complex than we appear on the surface.
( More governmental entities behaving lawlessly, more kidnapping, and more inside )
Last out for this post, highly-decorated, multi-gold medal winner, multiply-Olympic champion, and first to perform several maneuvers that now bear her name in the Gymastics Code of Points gymnast Simone Biles read undecorated, grievance-profiting, Fox News-supplicating, and all-around mediocre swimmer Riley Gaines for filth when Gaines posted about a softball team with a trans girl on it winning a championship. Gaines attempted to clap back by calling Biles a "male apologist," but I couldn't hear it very well over the sound of all that hardware clanking. Biles did eventually post something clarifying her comments as being about competitive equity and inclusivity and not singling out individual athletes for public scrutiny, but it has the feel of "people concerned about my brand made me do this 'clarification' " rather than a genuine change of position from Biles. Because that clarification makes it sound like Gaines might have had a point, and that's objectively untrue.
A libertarian-leaning, eye-catching eyesore has been bought, along with the land under it, by a local Native tribe, so hopefully the billboard will have a better sense of humor, or a better sense of politics, or both.
The National Hockey League's candidates for the Stanley Pup, thirty-two rescue dogs (one for each team in the NHL) looking for adoption, and all of who have great facts and team material available for them. Think Puppy Bowl, but hockey.
And the deliberate decision to lean into cringe in the Murderbot television series and buck the idea of people who never have human moments as protagonists. Combined with the performance of gender by SecUnit, and how that performance becomes meaningful once it's a choice instead of a requirement.
(Materials via
adrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
Round 151 Has Ended!
Jun. 15th, 2025 07:01 pmxandromedovna posting in fic_rushWe did it! What exactly did we do? Well, that's up to you to tell us! Please brag about your accomplishments in the comments and tell us how your Rush went. And as always, raucous cheering for this Round's truly stacked Mod Squad:
xandromedovna, WerebunniesBane
lullabymoon, Supreme Yarn Botherer, this Round's Champion Usurper
glinda, Supreme Tea Temptress
thedarlingone, Rainbow Fairy Godpenguin, just back from the Abyss
lilly_c, Clumsy Rhino
falkner, Elegant Flower
xandromedovna, WerebunniesBanelullabymoon, Supreme Yarn Botherer, this Round's Champion Usurperglinda, Supreme Tea Temptressthedarlingone, Rainbow Fairy Godpenguin, just back from the Abysslilly_c, Clumsy Rhinofalkner, Elegant FlowerSuccess is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to success
Jun. 15th, 2025 11:59 pmcosmolinguistI had a fun time tonight watching D play a very silly round of Hardspace: Shipbreaker, which then got surprisingly stressful and harrowing for a game about taking spaceships apart, and then had an eventful and actually sweet cutscene.
Just one thing: 16 June 2025
Jun. 15th, 2025 04:45 pmjazzyjj posting in awesomeersIt's challenge time!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Into A Bar: The Golden Girls/Designing Women
Jun. 15th, 2025 03:30 pmsenmutTitle: The PFLAG Conference
Author:senmut
Prompt: Dorothy Zbornak goes into a bar and meets... Julia Sugarbaker (Designing Women)!
Fandoms: The Golden Girls / Designing Women
Word count: 587
Rating: General Audiences
Contents: The situation for support for Southern queers has not changed since the era of these shows and that is referenced here.
As far as conferences and political rallies went, Dorothy was glad this one seemed to be staying at a civil discourse. Not, she amended in her own thoughts, that she wasn't ready to blaze truth across narrow-minds in a hope of seeing people live better, stronger lives in the open. She had to stand up for all of her principles, and was glad that joining PFLAG had given her a new outlet to do so.
Still, it had been a long day, and while she wasn't given to drinking much, a nightcap would settle her muscles down, giving her a better chance for sleep in the hotel's luxurious bed. She slipped into more casual, but still classy, attire, picked up her clutch, and headed down to the bar. It might even give her a chance to mingle with others of like minds.
If she found some of different minds, she had a piece or two of her own she'd be able to give out.
Julia Sugarbaker had been brewing on a storm since early that morning. It was bad enough that Georgia didn't have a proper organization to help the young men and women suffering from vitriol and hate, but she'd run into one too many damned Yankees tossing around their patronizing looks about even attempting to get one set up!
She straightened out her blouse, adjusted the sleeve at the wrists, and then snatched up her purse rather than stay in this ridiculously ill-decorated hotel room. She'd seen a bar downstairs. A nice little cocktail hour would help bring her down from her anger, and leave her more likely to find the right words on where to tell the next New York organizer where they could stick their disbelief in gay rights for the South!
Dorothy had seen the brunette going into one of the conference rooms earlier in the day. The decided emphasis on how the woman sat at the bar next to her spoke of difficulties.
"You're here with the PFLAG conference, yes?" Dorothy asked after the woman had a mint julep in front of her, while playing with the straw in her Long Island Iced Tea.
"I am here attempting to convince them to invest in my geographical region instead of writing us all off under the heels of those — " The woman cut herself off completely, took a deep breath. "Yes," she answered instead. "Julia Sugarbaker."
Dorothy raised an eyebrow. "The Julie Sugarbaker who was thanked in Representative Sugarbaker's speech last week?"
Julia softened her stance. "You pay attention to Washington, I take it, ma'am?"
"Dorothy Zbornak. Trying to put more effort into my ideals these days.
"And yes. Helping keep my chapter informed of events, since I have more free time."
"Were you instrumental in organization, or did you step in later? And either way, would you be willing to share any tips? The idiot I spoke to today doesn't feel there is any room in Georgia for them."
Dorothy sighed. "There are so many places in Florida that need outreach, and we run into that there. Or upstate New York, because no, the entire state does not follow the city's lead," she agreed, sympathizing. "I would be glad to work with you, and talk about how to get the support you need."
Julia smiled broadly. "Then Ms. Zbornak, I am looking forward to getting to know you."
"Likewise. Someone willing to stand up when the deck is stacked that way is the kind of woman I'd like to know," Dorothy agreed.
Author:
senmutPrompt: Dorothy Zbornak goes into a bar and meets... Julia Sugarbaker (Designing Women)!
Fandoms: The Golden Girls / Designing Women
Word count: 587
Rating: General Audiences
Contents: The situation for support for Southern queers has not changed since the era of these shows and that is referenced here.
The PFLAG Conference
As far as conferences and political rallies went, Dorothy was glad this one seemed to be staying at a civil discourse. Not, she amended in her own thoughts, that she wasn't ready to blaze truth across narrow-minds in a hope of seeing people live better, stronger lives in the open. She had to stand up for all of her principles, and was glad that joining PFLAG had given her a new outlet to do so.
Still, it had been a long day, and while she wasn't given to drinking much, a nightcap would settle her muscles down, giving her a better chance for sleep in the hotel's luxurious bed. She slipped into more casual, but still classy, attire, picked up her clutch, and headed down to the bar. It might even give her a chance to mingle with others of like minds.
If she found some of different minds, she had a piece or two of her own she'd be able to give out.
Julia Sugarbaker had been brewing on a storm since early that morning. It was bad enough that Georgia didn't have a proper organization to help the young men and women suffering from vitriol and hate, but she'd run into one too many damned Yankees tossing around their patronizing looks about even attempting to get one set up!
She straightened out her blouse, adjusted the sleeve at the wrists, and then snatched up her purse rather than stay in this ridiculously ill-decorated hotel room. She'd seen a bar downstairs. A nice little cocktail hour would help bring her down from her anger, and leave her more likely to find the right words on where to tell the next New York organizer where they could stick their disbelief in gay rights for the South!
Dorothy had seen the brunette going into one of the conference rooms earlier in the day. The decided emphasis on how the woman sat at the bar next to her spoke of difficulties.
"You're here with the PFLAG conference, yes?" Dorothy asked after the woman had a mint julep in front of her, while playing with the straw in her Long Island Iced Tea.
"I am here attempting to convince them to invest in my geographical region instead of writing us all off under the heels of those — " The woman cut herself off completely, took a deep breath. "Yes," she answered instead. "Julia Sugarbaker."
Dorothy raised an eyebrow. "The Julie Sugarbaker who was thanked in Representative Sugarbaker's speech last week?"
Julia softened her stance. "You pay attention to Washington, I take it, ma'am?"
"Dorothy Zbornak. Trying to put more effort into my ideals these days.
"And yes. Helping keep my chapter informed of events, since I have more free time."
"Were you instrumental in organization, or did you step in later? And either way, would you be willing to share any tips? The idiot I spoke to today doesn't feel there is any room in Georgia for them."
Dorothy sighed. "There are so many places in Florida that need outreach, and we run into that there. Or upstate New York, because no, the entire state does not follow the city's lead," she agreed, sympathizing. "I would be glad to work with you, and talk about how to get the support you need."
Julia smiled broadly. "Then Ms. Zbornak, I am looking forward to getting to know you."
"Likewise. Someone willing to stand up when the deck is stacked that way is the kind of woman I'd like to know," Dorothy agreed.
Weekly proof of life: mostly media, including a review of my history with Leverage
Jun. 15th, 2025 01:50 pmumadoshiEating: This weekend is scruloose's and my anniversary (year 22 is a go!), so last night we ordered Chinese roast duck and crispy pork belly and had half of it, with the rest set for supper tonight. Sous vide reheating works so well. This future is a complete nightmare in so many ways, but we sure do have cool kitchen technology. (Kitchen technology that spies on you, talks to the internet, and/or demands proof of your humanity is excluded from this praise.)
Reading: Two novels last week: Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus and Alix E. Harrow's Starling House. I parasocially adore Chuck Tingle as a person, but this was my first time reading any of his work, and it's very possible it'll be my only time, as I just plain didn't click with this one. I had a better time with Starling House (and it too was my first book by its author), but also didn't really bond.
I'm currently about halfway through Adrian Tchaikovsky's Service Model, and can definitely see why it gets compared to Murderbot from some angles, although the vibe is wildly different and I can't say I would've made the comparison myself. (Ginny noted approvingly that anything people dare compare to her beloved Murderbot has a high bar to reach, and she feels it's fair in this case.) But then, whatever the things are that make a book really click/resonate for me, they don't seem to have any connection to the things that make people draw comparisons. Too nebulous, I guess. Anyway, this is an interesting read so far.
Watching: Murderbot, of course. I liked last week's episode a lot. Besides that,scruloose and I saw ep. 2x02 of Kingdom [disambiguation: the historical Korean zombie show] and, for a change of pace, got back to watching the original Leverage.
Some of you may dimly recall that in the days before covid, there were a few years there where we and Ginny and Kas would go towildpear -and-family's place and watch TV on Sunday nights. We got through a couple of shows that way, and started in on Leverage, which I'd seen up to about halfway (?) through season 4 and then somehow wandered off from despite loving it, and otherwise only saw a couple of later episodes, including the series finale; Ginny had seen and adored the entire thing, and I think Kas was in the same camp as scruloose and wildpear and her then-partner and hadn't seen it.
We made it to...well, roughly halfway through season 4.wildpear's kidling, Pumpkin, was old enough by then to want in on what we were watching, so they sat in for TV night, just in time for "The Grave Danger Job", which freaked them out really, really badly (fair! That episode is brutal!). My mental timeline here is very fuzzy on how long that was before covid arrived, but it wasn't too big a gap, and all in all, that was the end of our group watch. And I still basically hadn't seen past somewhere in season 4 (plus the finale). I watched the first few episodes of season 1 of Leverage: Redemption when that came out, and with that, too, I wandered off and kept meaning to get back to it.
But last week,scruloose and I took the DVDs off the shelf and got back to it. We have now seen "The Boiler Room Job" (which I'm confident I'd seen before, but I wonder if I'll know for sure when I hit new-to-me episodes?). Hopefully this time I'll actually see it all through properly. In theory, at some point we'll get to have cognitive dissonance over Noah Wyle, which will be funny since Leverage: Redemption was where we first saw him but now my association with him is 95% The Pitt.
scruloose's and my anniversary (year 22 is a go!), so last night we ordered Chinese roast duck and crispy pork belly and had half of it, with the rest set for supper tonight. Sous vide reheating works so well. This future is a complete nightmare in so many ways, but we sure do have cool kitchen technology. (Kitchen technology that spies on you, talks to the internet, and/or demands proof of your humanity is excluded from this praise.)Reading: Two novels last week: Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus and Alix E. Harrow's Starling House. I parasocially adore Chuck Tingle as a person, but this was my first time reading any of his work, and it's very possible it'll be my only time, as I just plain didn't click with this one. I had a better time with Starling House (and it too was my first book by its author), but also didn't really bond.
I'm currently about halfway through Adrian Tchaikovsky's Service Model, and can definitely see why it gets compared to Murderbot from some angles, although the vibe is wildly different and I can't say I would've made the comparison myself. (Ginny noted approvingly that anything people dare compare to her beloved Murderbot has a high bar to reach, and she feels it's fair in this case.) But then, whatever the things are that make a book really click/resonate for me, they don't seem to have any connection to the things that make people draw comparisons. Too nebulous, I guess. Anyway, this is an interesting read so far.
Watching: Murderbot, of course. I liked last week's episode a lot. Besides that,
scruloose and I saw ep. 2x02 of Kingdom [disambiguation: the historical Korean zombie show] and, for a change of pace, got back to watching the original Leverage.Some of you may dimly recall that in the days before covid, there were a few years there where we and Ginny and Kas would go to
wildpear -and-family's place and watch TV on Sunday nights. We got through a couple of shows that way, and started in on Leverage, which I'd seen up to about halfway (?) through season 4 and then somehow wandered off from despite loving it, and otherwise only saw a couple of later episodes, including the series finale; Ginny had seen and adored the entire thing, and I think Kas was in the same camp as scruloose and wildpear and her then-partner and hadn't seen it.We made it to...well, roughly halfway through season 4.
wildpear's kidling, Pumpkin, was old enough by then to want in on what we were watching, so they sat in for TV night, just in time for "The Grave Danger Job", which freaked them out really, really badly (fair! That episode is brutal!). My mental timeline here is very fuzzy on how long that was before covid arrived, but it wasn't too big a gap, and all in all, that was the end of our group watch. And I still basically hadn't seen past somewhere in season 4 (plus the finale). I watched the first few episodes of season 1 of Leverage: Redemption when that came out, and with that, too, I wandered off and kept meaning to get back to it.But last week,
scruloose and I took the DVDs off the shelf and got back to it. We have now seen "The Boiler Room Job" (which I'm confident I'd seen before, but I wonder if I'll know for sure when I hit new-to-me episodes?). Hopefully this time I'll actually see it all through properly. In theory, at some point we'll get to have cognitive dissonance over Noah Wyle, which will be funny since Leverage: Redemption was where we first saw him but now my association with him is 95% The Pitt.
On a centennial
Jun. 15th, 2025 12:21 amsenmutMary Dell (Tanner) (Allen) Shipp June 15, 1925 to August 28, 2015 (aged 90).
( Miss you Grammy )
( Miss you Grammy )
Just one thing: 15 June 2025
Jun. 14th, 2025 02:33 pmjazzyjj posting in awesomeersIt's challenge time!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!
Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Go!
Screm at own ankle
Jun. 14th, 2025 06:11 pmcosmolinguistEver since D's girlfriend broke her leg while roller skating last weekend, my ankle has been sore, something it hardly ever does any more and I've done nothing physical (like walk a lot) to cause it.
So I have tried yelling "Shut up, this is clearly psychosomatic! You're fine!" at it. Repeatedly.
Disappointingly, this doesn't seem to be working. (I didn't really expect it to. I'm just saying it woulda been nice if it did, is all!)
