davidlevine | Reading

Apropos of recent attic archaeological finds (no, I mean from my actual attic*), there was a time when Mike and I were talking about funnymen and who-knows-what, and I conflated two names. This yielded "Victor Borges" instead of Victor Borge, and THAT yielded a good several minutes of improvisatory Fordeana covering labyrinthine comedy and surrealist punctuation.

Anyone else remembering points of departure to Mike-spiels is invited, nay, implored, to post them here.

Sincerely,
Elise,
who is still recuperating from COVID by RESTING LIKE A POTATO

* Yes, the attic of which Lois McMaster Bujold said, at first sight, "It really IS the attics of Vorkosigan House."

lovelyangel

I have really, really missed working with my full, dual-monitor computer setup. It is such a joy to have six Workspaces distributed across two 5K monitors.

A new joy is the uncovering of the tall window to the right of my fireplace. That window had always been blocked because the light coming in was harsh. Now that it’s open (after, like, 20 years), I’ve discovered that the covered deck that we added in 2020 blocks some direct sunlight – and also the neighbor’s trees have grown, and they also filter the light. My view outside is now a pleasant, green scene with my patio table and chairs in the foreground.

Belldandy is fully connected now. Yesterday I activated the twin Time Machine drives (Makina II and Michiru II) and manually launched an initial backup, building off the older archives on the drives. (Belldandy/Madoka has never had a Time Machine backup. The previous Time Machine backups were Belldandy IV (Frieren)/Amane back in May 2025.)

Today I moved the printer from the bedroom to the library. I’ve connected the subwoofer and desktop speakers to Belldandy and tested sound. I borrowed a Cat6 Ethernet cable from my stash of cables so that I could connect Belldandy directly to the Netgear box, bypassing wifi. I have to say, I wasn’t able to avoid a massive snarl of cables and cords behind my desk. I don’t know if there’s a solution to that.

I am slowly re-adding items to my desk. I’m trying not to bring back the full clutter, and I’m bringing back only things that are essential to operations. The lesser-used items I hope to store offline (that is, in the office cabinet). It’s a process. A slow, deliberate one. This will take weeks, I think.

The printer cabinet and the oak file cabinet are temporarily set about 10" behind my desk. They look pretty crude compared to all the new furniture in the library. I’ve asked my interior designer to look for a single furniture piece to replace them both.

I have to say, though, the view from my chair at my desk is totally wonderful. I’ve very much spoiled myself.

The View From My Desk, November 2025
iPhone 13 mini photo

lovelyangel

Japanese Aa! Megamisama manga

You know when you are looking for something but then find something completely unrelated? That was today’s escapade when I was looking for a box of items I brought back from my workplace – and somehow discovered more manga I had stored in the garage.

While populating the bookwall in the library, in the back of my mind I’ve been thinking of a number of books/manga/series that I know I should have – but never showed up. This was one of those series.

The box in the garage had my complete Japanese manga collection of Aa! Megamisama. I don’t know why there is no volume 9 and two volume 10. 🤔

Coincidentally, in the bookwall, right behind my English translations of Oh, My Goddess! there is just enough open space to hold the entire Japanese collection. So I guess this was fated, somehow. Belldandy’s doing, I imagine.

lovelyangel

Belldandy Operational

Belldandy, my Apple Mac Studio M4 Max, is back in my home office – dual Mac Studio monitors ablaze and all external SSDs networked. My cherry table is outfitted with a new, crystal clear desktop protector. I am so very happy to have my desk back. There is again room for me to write on letter paper and use my computer keyboard at the same time. The twin monitors were sorely missed, and I’ve spent time setting up app windows and workspaces across both. I feel like everything had been crammed into a little box – and now that I’m out, I’m able to stretch my arms and legs again.

Belldandy is still working off of WiFi as I haven’t yet located my ethernet cable to connect directly to the cable modem. Also, the external optical drives and Time Machine HDDs have not yet been connected. They’ve been disconnected since Belldandy’s relocation to the bedroom, and they can wait a little longer to be brought back.

I also have a new Haworth Desk Chair that replaces my old Steelcase office chair, which was falling apart. The new chair is excellent, being comfortable and easy-to-configure. And it’s so nice not to be rolling on carpet anymore.

Current Mood: happy

lydamorehouse

Here in St. Paul, we woke up to a light dusting of snow.

I reported my CoCoRaHS amount of melted snow (barely 0.01 of an inch), but I have fully forgotten how to report the actual snowfall. So today at lunch time, my plan is to watch the snow webinar that is posted on the CoCoRaHS main site.

I also need to take some time to do some personal science, by which I mean that I need to schedule my mamogram and a physical so that I can get some prescriptions renewed. Wow, okay, I just popped off to do that on the other screen and I could get a mamogram today (though late in the evening, which is not great for me), but my doc can't see me until January. So much for the so-called convenience of non-socialized medicine. I always hear from my UK friends, "Oh, well, at least you can get in to see someone right away." I would not say that a two month out appointment to get prescriptions that need renewing this month is actually at all convenient, myself.

I'm sure I have more to report, but I need to go make gravy to have with our lunch (which are leftover pasties from dinner last night. Yum!)

lovelyangel

The Photography Studio

The week went like this:

Tuesday: New furniture delivered
Wednesday: Outing with Debbie for her birthday
Thursday: Hang framed photos
Friday: Hang framed art
Saturday: Old office furniture moved from garage to library

Those are just the highlights. There were a bunch of tasks including moving stuff around temporarily to make space for furniture moves. Complicated and labor-intensive.

( Some Photos, Below This Cut )
While furniture and art are now in place, there is still a lot of work to be done, simultaneously with other responsibilities. But, slowly, we’re getting there. I’m pretty sure there isn’t enough room for everything, and I’ll have to figure some things out.

Next up: Restoring my full computer setup.

mrissa

Review copy provided by the publisher.

This is the second half of what is being called a duology, with The Witch Roads as the first half of the story. I would say it's less a duology than a novel in two volumes. The first volume ends on a cliffhanger, and the second picks up basically immediately with no reintroduction to the characters, setting, and plot. So: one story in two volumes, now complete.

There were things I really liked about this and things that left me cold. I feel like the pacing was weird--the chapters are short, but that didn't really obscure how many pages were spent on basically one argument. I also found the ending deeply unsatisfying--the situation of having a character possessing other people was basically glanced at as problematic and then embraced as a happy ending that was entirely too convenient for all involved.

But the return to our protagonist Elen's past home, illuminating it with her adult eyes, was really well done, and I liked the courage and strength shown by the child she encountered there. I love having a fantasy that has an aunt/nephew relationship as one of its emotional cores. This duology simultaneously locates itself centrally in the secondary world fantasy genre of the moment and branches out to do things that I'm not seeing a lot of in other fantasy of this type.

swan_tower

Nine years and eight months ago, I earned my black belt in shōrin-ryu karate.

Today, I became a second degree black belt.

It was supposed to happen sooner. But right when the head of my dojo began saying that maybe it was time for me to prep for testing, a pandemic started. Which put a dent in my training. And even once classes began again, various factors meant I wasn't able to go regularly. And then 2024 was, in hindsight, a rather abysmal year for my health. And and and, spring of this year rolled around, and I realized I was in danger of it being ten years since my previous test, and dammit, I did not intend to let that milestone pass without me at least trying to take the next step.

There were more than a few hurdles along the way. I've had wrist problems for years that meant I hadn't been doing kobudo (weapons training), but you're expected to do that as part of your test. So starting in August I began a crash course, scraping the rust off the sai kata I was expected to perform -- not too bad; it was one I used to know well -- and, uh, learning from scratch a long and difficult bo kata that I did not know in the slightest. I went so gung-ho on that, in fact, that I managed to give myself a repetitive stress sprain in my right ankle five weeks before the test (bear in mind that sprains take about six weeks to heal . . .). And then, to put the cherry on top of that sundae, I caught my big toe against the mat nine days ago and basically re-activated the hellacious sprain I had in that joint some years previously.

As I put it to several people, by the time I got to the test, I felt like I was being held together by chewing gum. Not even duct tape: that would have been an upgrade.

But these higher-level tests can only be done when our dojo's founder is in town (he moved back to Okinawa a few years ago), and his next visit will likely be for the seminar in April of next year. That would be past the decade mark I was determined to beat. So, come hell or high water, I was going to drag my sorry carcass through the test -- and I did! And, barring a couple of utterly bone-headed errors brought on by nerves (which got knowing nods of "yep, that happens" from other black belts later), I did acceptably well. I faced down literally an international panel of seven sensei -- Shihan being in from Okinawa, and also we have a contingent of Germans from one of our sister dojo here for the fall seminar -- whose collective belt rank totaled well over forty degrees, and I achieved ni-dan status.

You don't get a new belt, of course. It's still the same black belt as before. But there's kind of a joke that a truly experienced black belt becomes a white belt again, because over time the black threads fray and break, revealing the white canvas core underneath, so that a truly high-level sensei's belt can be tattered indeed.

And this afternoon, after I passed my test . . .

. . . I glanced down at my belt . . .

. . . and I found a tiny frayed spot on the corner of one end where the white canvas is peeking through.

I consider it my ni-dan badge. ^_^

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/u7LBNv)

kengr

The recent court decisions forcing Trump to pay for SNAP benefits have implications that I'm not sure most people recognize.

In particular his "request" that the courts tell him where to get the money.

This is actually a *major* red flag. He wants the courts to spell it out so he can use their logic to mess with other funds that h's been holding back (illegally!) and redirect money to things he wants.

So that "innocent request" is apt to become a *major* problem if the courts don't treat it like the trap it is.

swan_tower

Nearly all of the essays for the New Worlds Patreon this month are going to be talking about genitals or other explicit topics, beginning this week with circumcision. You have been warned; now comment over there!

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/hYcOsz)

elisem

At our house, Opportunity Food is defined as what you can make when you can't stand up that long today.

Currently, is Bowl o' Cronch:

take bowl
spread some nut butter on bottom/sides of bowl (note: INsides, not OUTsides) - today is peanut butter
throw some dried fruit at nut butter if you got some - today is raisins and some crystallized ginger
put in puffed brown rice (or whatever you got)
add milk, or if no milk, a couple really big spoonfuls plain yogurt
anything else you got that seems appetizing
get big spoon
eat

elisem

We are still getting through COVID.
We are still resting LIKE POTATOES.
(Still funny. Every time.)

A helpful person pointed out it is still open enrollment time for health insurance.
Well then.

Have inquired with health insurance broker.
(It doesn't cost anything. If you are in Minnesota or Wisconsin, and need one, I have references.)
There are things that can be done, it looks like.

For right now, though, my tasks:

Wash a few dishes - DONE
Have brekkie - IN PROGRESS
Take meds - IN PROGRESS
Sit Up because it helps breathing - IN PROGRESS

OK. Onward.

P.S. Love all of y'all. You are still the best.

lovelyangel

Two Photography Books from Rocky Nook

A week ago Rocky Nook offered customers 40% off its entire book catalog. Rocky Nook has the best photography books; I haven’t seen a bad one yet. So I did look around and ended up buying two books: Wedding Storyteller, Volume 1 by Roberto Valenzuela and The Natural Light Portrait Book by Scott Kelby. I have Photoshop books by Scott Kelby; he’s an excellent teacher.

Anyway, the books were delivered today. I flipped through them, and both are outstanding guides. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to read them now, and they become the latest guests of the new tsundoku stack. 😑

(And, yeah, I’m already starting to stress the new but nearly full bookwall. I sort of expected this.)

redbird

I had my twice-a-year appointment with the neurologist. All the low-tech neurology stuff was fine, with little change from the previous exam. We are reducing my dose of gabapentin, which we talked about last time, and I told him I want to give that a try.

lydamorehouse

It's been a day for weird email interactions.

First up is Silent Book Club Singapore. Silent Book Club Singapore contacted me about "highlighting" Unjust Cause (a curious choice being the second in a somewhat unpopular series) for their November 15 gathering. Of course, the inital email mentions no fees, but I could smell it on them. There are plenty of legit places that will offer to have you Zoom in to a club meeting, so I was a tiny bit hopeful. Hope springing as it does, eternal, I wrote back and said, sure, tell me more...

Alas.

The second email was immediatly, "for the low, low price!" ($100, not actually low, friends.)

So, fellow authors? Beware. They're not legit.

Next, when I should be working on the sequel to Boy. Net, I wandered over to my ancient Hotmail account to clean it up. It occured to me that I actually have a lot of mail from many years ago on just stilling unread on Hotmail (now Outlook, but it still functions) and it behooved me to start trying to clean that stuff up. So, I'm clicking away, registering names only long enough to determine whether or not the email is worth saving, and there, in the middle of 2020 is an email from an old high school friend. The email came to me shortly after George Floyd's murder and it's from the one high school friend that I really, really wanted to have reconnected with. I had two besties in high school and one of them completely disappeared on me... and here she was, reaching out FIVE years ago. She wrote to ask after good places to donate post-the uprising and, I guess to make the email feel worth it, tell me about how her children (and dad and dog) were surviving the pandemic and lockdown.

Both of these emails were deeply demoralizing.

I sent my old high school friend a "hey, I guess I ghosted you five years ago? Hey, awkward, but I didn't mean to," email from my real gmail account, but I'm not expecting a reply. I've actually tried to reconnect with this particular friend several times over the years and have gotten zip. I suspect that I was just a sudden "Oh, I know someone in Minnesota I can ask about good charities" stray thought and not a real desire to reconnect, since... well, I did write several tims over several decades. And, maybe those also ended up in email accounts barely checked? But, also? I'm not actually hard to find. I mean, I guess Googling "Lyda Morehouse email" you do get directed to my Hotmail, something I should figure out how to correct that, but dang.

Anway both interactions I kind of made me feel... I don't know, not "used," but definitely not loved for myself.

lcohen pointed out last night when we were chatting that I have been posting a lot of things lately that make it seem as though I'm down on myself (or my writing career,) and I just want to assure you all, I'm doing fine. There is, alas, an ebb and flow to one's writing career and I've been in the ebb (whichever one is the lowest) for a long, long time now. So, that does wear on me? But, it's also just where I am. Tomorrow or in five years, maybe I'll be back in the flow. You never know.

But sadly, the ebb is where all the scammers find you and try to prey on you.

And I dunno, missing an email from my friend just sucks.

swan_tower

On November 12th, 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific, 1 a.m. UTC), I'll be the Guest of Honor for a session of the Electric Sheep online reading series -- for poetry! Yep, I'll be reading my Hugo poem, "A War of Words," and possibly something else if time permits. But I won't be alone: my fellow finalists Mari Ness, Ai Jiang, Angela Liu, and Oliver K. Langmead will be joining us, along with Brian U. Garrison (the president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association) and Brandon O'Brien, who was Poet Laureate for the Seattle Worldcon. So it's a heck of a lineup!

Attendance is free, but you do have to register in advance, and space is limited. If you're interested in joining us, sign up now!

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/DgpOvt)

lovelyangel

Things are just crazy here. The library project requires my attention and continual work. Also, I have a photo processing backlog from a visit to the Portland Japanese Garden and three days of Kumoricon – with corresponding journal write-ups needed for those activities. I’m also late on annual photo calendar layouts. Plus, I have commitments to friends and community. My days are fully scheduled, and it’s unclear as to when I’ll get caught up. Continuing to work out of my bedroom isn’t helping.

elisem

Have had food. (Soup!) Have had meds. Vented on Bluesky, where I am

lionesselise. Am about to rest again for a while. LIKE A POTATO. If a potato could crochet, anyhow. I'm in a mood for a little crocheting before sleepage.

Love you all.
You are the best.

redbird

The three of us voted this afternoon, then went to the supermarket, where we had to deal with a pushy person who wanted us to sign dodgy-looking petitions: he said they were for same-day voter registration, but I noticed that the page he wanted us to sign didn't say what we were signing for. There are dozens of possible state ballot questions for next year, so it could be almost anything. (The procedure in Massachusetts, as I understand it, is people or organizations say "I want to put this on the ballot," and then the attorney general vets the proposals, and either OKs them or explains why not. After that, they can collect signatures.)

The only thing on the ballot in Boston today was city council seats, after the incumbent mayor's main opponent formally withdrew after coming in a distant second in the primary. Happily, I had a choice of five or six good candidates for the four at-large city council seats.

Addendum: there are in fact forty-seven "petition initiatives" on the state website, including a few that are labeled as versions A, B, or even C of the same thing. The list is on the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments

elisem

Because I recently turned 65, there were changes in my insurance.
I now have Blue Cross Blue Shield, which I used to have some years ago before I got switched to a different insurance.
They have now denied a med that is a cornerstone of why I am feeling better and breathing better these days.

The switch happened after my August birthday.
All the other meds are (allegedly, and I do believe them) on the way from the mail order pharmacy (who were good when I used to use them).
This med has been denied by insurance, which is BCBS. Even after special authorization, which they told me I needed, they denied it.

Am almost out.

(Yes, this is the med that the other insurance company kept only filling for one month, despite my doc writing a three-month scrip every frikkin time. Yes, this is one of the things I worry about running out of, because it matters a lot.)

Also you may imagine bitter laughter as various med and scheduling people explain to me that the insurance is apparently requiring the patient, me, go in to meet with the doc. The agoraphobic patient, these days. Though we did get to "virtual visit is acceptable," which is good, before we got to "the first virtual visit possible is a while after patient runs out of meds" which is not.

This stuff is what I was already making calls on and trying to handle before I got COVID. The two together is just a really horrible coincidence.

(Even if we did try to switch me to the insurance that was fine with it before (like Blue Cross Blue Shield was actually fine with it a few years ago when I had it!), there's no guarantee we won't run afoul of some new rule.)

There are options being looked into, for which details will be scant and the passive voice, for the moment, will be employed.

I do not have words that will cover exactly how I feel about this insurance bullshit. However the person just now taking the note to give my doc did write down faithfully that "patient is worried that without this med, she may not be around to keep this appointment," which is at least something I guess.

I am hungry. (I am the king now and I want a sandwich?) Actually what I want right now is soup. I wonder if I can stand up long enough to microwave some. Gotta put some food in or the meds might bounce, and it's meds time.

Grrrrr.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

David D. Levine

idle memories (while resting LIKE A POTATO)

Library Update #21: Rebuilding

Belldandy: Lost Then Found

Library Update #20: Belldandy Returns!

Snow Season!

Library Update #19: All At Once

The Nameless Land, by Kate Elliott

The No Longer Littlest Black Belt Takes the Next Step

the SNAP trap

New Worlds: Circumcision

Opportunity Food

Health Natter: still resting like a potato. also, possibly useful bureacracy

Tsundoku Addition

neurologist

Weird Email Day

Electric Sheep online reading!

Angel Underwater

Health Natter: COVID, and continuing to REST LIKE A POTATO

voted

Health Natter: insurance switchover bites me hard: stuff already in progress has bad timing

Profile

October 2025

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags