Reading

Current Mood: busy

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Books with Queer Autistic Characters for Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness month, and we’re here to share (more) of our favorite queer autistic or autistic-coded characters! Last year we shared six books; three of those are back this year, and we’ve got 5 more.

Current Mood: happy

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Today's Adventures

We went up to Amish territory today.

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Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy, rainy, and cool. It started raining yesterday evening and is still going.

I fed the birds. Not much activity today.

EDIT 4/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

It is not currently raining.

EDIT 4/19/25 -- I took out one of the big self-watering pots from Family Dollar. I filled the bottom half with American Countryside composted manure and the top half with American Countryside potting soil. Then I planted a 'Mr. Stripey' heirloom tomato. I put the pot on the new picnic table.

.

Current Mood: exhausted

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journal

so close yet so far

The end of this semester is rapidly approaching and I'm honestly kind of stunned that it's flown by like it has.

I mean, seriously. I don't think I remember a single thing from January or February (though, it was still winter, and I was still...out of it, then) and it feels like I blinked and just arrived here. I've kind of put the rest of my classes on the backburner to focus on getting through Calc II, so my grades in those have suffered a bit, but they're still high, objectively speaking, so I'm not worried about them. Haven't learned a thing in them because the only thing I've been focusing on is calculus, but I can also go back and re-learn the material if necessary.

Speaking of which, focusing solely on calculus has actually paid off—that exam I mentioned I took a few entries back? Made an 86/100 on it! The highest grade I've ever made on an exam in Calc I & II both! Now all I have to do is keep that energy going, finish the last module, and study my ass off for the final exam on the 7th. And therein lies the problem. I'm tired. I suppose the knowledge that I won't have much of a break after this semester is done doesn't really help; that calculus exam is the last one, and then summer classes start on the 19th. So I pretty much don't even get a full two weeks of break—and like, I don't mind that, I'm doing it to myself because I want to graduate as quickly as possible, but it's not the best motivator when you're mentally and physically tired (I haven't been sleeping well on top of all of that). The classes I'm taking during the summer are also all going to be more difficult as well, so that's...fun.

I really just have to kick my ass in gear and get through this final sprint. Doing bad on the Calc II final is not an option (I am not retaking this class again!!!) so, y'know. Just gotta hang in there.

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recurring posts

Philosophical Questions: Immigrants

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Is it just and right to deny entry to a country when doing so probably means death for the immigrant and their family?

No. People should have freedom of movement, and not need the permission of one owner to leave the cage they were born in and another owner's permission to enter a different cage. Safety is also a human right.

And this is going to kill a lot of people, because climate refugees aren't even recognized as real refugees with rights, but humans are creating millions of them.

Current Mood: busy

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Creative Jam

The April

crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Empowerment." Com give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration!

What I Have Written

From My Prompts

Current Mood: amused

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Vocabulary: Ladramhaiola

From

1word1day

Friday word: Ladramhaiola
Ladramhaiola (Irish Gaelic): a day that was frittered away, despite one's planning to get a lot done.

We call this "day eaten by locusts."

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Join the Fictionfolk Webring

Are you fictionfolk? Do you have a personal website? We'd love to have you join our webring! We've have yet to see anyone make fictionfolk webring, so we're filling the gap ourselves.

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Safety

WHAT MAKES A HOME FEEL SAFE FOR AUTISTIC PEOPLE?

Autistic children and adults often lack access to spaces that make them feel safe, or allow them to decompress and be themselves without interference or unwelcome scrutiny. Sometimes a lack of safe spaces is no one’s fault, as when living quarters have limited size or privacy. But too often, autistic safety, comfort, and ease are not considered due to a lack of autism understanding, or rejected outright due to insistence on complying with non-autistic lifestyle approaches.

While ideally all non-autistic people and professionals would understand what makes spaces feel safe for autistic people, the baseline should be that autistic people have at least one space to retreat to: their homes. We talked to autistic people from a variety of backgrounds—including autistic parents of autistic and neurodivergent kids—about strategies for making homes feel safe for the autistic people who live in them.

( Read more... )

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Read "The Greater Good"

I found this story painfully accurate regarding angels.

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy, windy, and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, several grackles, and a robin.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/18/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/18/25 -- I planted one spearmint in the cistern garden and two bleeding hearts in the log garden.

EDIT 4/18/25 -- I planted a 'Festival Maxima' white peony and 3 lilies of the valley in the white garden.

EDIT 4/18/25 -- I watered the recently planted things.

EDIT 4/18/25 -- I filled a trolley with dead weed stems and dumped it in the firepit. I think that's about it for weed stems in the way of that particular spot. There's still a pile of dead brush that needs picking up though.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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Safety

Survivor of notorious New Orleans child sex abuser priest speaks out for first time

Neil Duhon blames archdiocese for allowing his rapist to prey on children throughout his career.
The clergy abuse survivor who helped prosecutors secure the only conviction against a notorious child rapist and retired Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans is still hoping that authorities file criminal charges against his former high school principal and everyone else who enabled the clergyman.
“Everybody that had any part … needs to be held accountable. Period – period,” Neil Duhon, whose rapist was Lawrence Hecker, said in an interview with WWL Louisiana and the Guardian, the first and only time he’s ever revealed his identity to the public.

"Priests are fuckers."
-- Shiv

Current Mood: angry

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Food

FDA to suspend quality-control program for food testing due to staff cuts

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is suspending a quality-control program for its food-testing laboratories as a result of staff cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
The proficiency testing program of the FDA’s Food Emergency Response Network is designed to ensure consistency and accuracy across the agency’s network of about 170 labs that test food for pathogens and contaminants to prevent food-borne illness.
The firing and departure of as many as 20,000 HHS employees has upended public health research and disrupted the agency’s work on areas like bird flu and drug reviews. Donald Trump hopes to slash as much as $40bn from HHS.

Disturbing, but hardly a surprise.

Do you have a yard, or access to a community garden? You might want to plant edibles so you'll know where they've been.

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Where are the trans people toilets?

Copied from

jayblanc for brilliant activism:

Here's a sample letter you might consider sending to your local authority if you live in the UK.

"To Whom it may concern,

I'm making a freedom of information request for information regarding your provision of toilets and changing rooms in Cherwell council operated buildings. As the new legal ruling requires the rights of Trans people not to be discriminated agains, can you please identify the Trans persons bathroom and changing facilities in all [LOCAL AUTHORITY] operated buildings, and certifications that they are of equal amenity to any other present bathroom and changing facilities. I advise that shared spaces currently dedicated to Disabled persons would not count towards such amenity, as it would be dilution of the provision for Disabled people.

Yours - Name and address"

And perhaps we can start a campaign of going into public authority buildings and asking where "The Trans person toilets" are, then explaining they now have a legal obligation to provide one.

Current Mood: busy

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Jug Crafts for Gardening

This is one of the comments I made over on Frugal Friday.

A translucent plastic jug (e.g. milk jug, water jug) can be used to make various garden crafts. I prefer the gallon size, but half-gallon will work for some purposes.

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Frugal Friday

ecosophia has posted Frugal Friday where everyone is welcome to share money-aaving tips. \o/ This is a recurring post so watch for it weekly.

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art,
followfriday

Follow Friday 4-18-25: Graphics

Today's theme is Graphics.

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Never Forget

The survivors of the Shoah remember, because they have seen this before.

Watch on YouTube

Never forget. Never again.

And in case you need a reminder of why.

Current Mood: frustrated

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Reality Imitating Art

Exclusive: Musk's SpaceX is frontrunner to build Trump's Golden Dome missile shield

SpaceX is leading a bid to build Golden Dome with startups Anduril and Palantir, six people said
The SpaceX-led group is pitching the Pentagon on a 'subscription model' for missile defense, sources said
SpaceX proposes a constellation of 400 to more than 1,000 missile defense satellites, sources said

The stupid, it burns like hydrogen.

Today In “I Literally F*cking Wrote This” by John Scalzi

You know who thought up a subscription-based defense model in his book Starter Villain? FUCKING ME THAT’S WHO. That smug fascist owes me a percentage. I won’t get it, of course and if I did get it I would donate that shit to all the “woke” things he hates so fast it would make his brain swim.

*sigh* Those who don't read science fiction are doomed to repeat it.

Current Mood: busy

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Navajo Peaches

How a Navajo Scientist Is Helping to Restore Traditional Peach Horticulture

People have grown peach trees in the vast desert landscape of the southwestern United States for hundreds of years. Peach orchards in Canyon de Chelly National Monument were first sown by predecessors of the Hopi people and in the 1700s by the Navajos. They were part of a local economy of shepherding, small-scale farming, hunting, and gathering. Of the orchard fruits adopted by the Navajo people, the peach became the most culturally significant. It was a versatile food, trade good, and feature of traditional ceremonies. The peaches are now predominantly modern varieties, but young Navajo horticulturist Reagan Wytsalucy, who is collaborating with the National Park Service at Canyon de Chelly, understands there’s great interest in returning to the centuries-old, traditional peaches. Her groundbreaking research shows why.

Wytsalucy is working with Indigenous communities to increase the availability of traditional crops for original uses. She hopes this will counter food insecurity, increase resiliency, and perpetuate traditional cultural knowledge.

This is a great cultural accomplishment. It's also valuable in the face of climate change, which is causing droughts in many more places. You can help by growing a climate-resilient garden with drought-resistant crops.