more science more love
Jun. 10th, 2025 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Last migration season, I subscribed to this nifty newsletter by a PhD student at UCLA—an "Early Bird Arrival Forecast" that sends personalized emails based on your location, and tells you which birds are early/peaking/late migrants in your area. It's data that I probably could figure out via other sources, but I suspect the data backing his emails is superior, and his simple summary & targeted recommendations were very handy for me to get a sense of what I might see in the field—"ooh, warbling vireos are peaking this week; let's go find one!"
Anyway. I enjoyed his recommendations again this migration season, and also, ngl his final email of the season this year weirdly made me tear up a bit:
something something "he's not giving up & i'm not either" etc
Anyway. I enjoyed his recommendations again this migration season, and also, ngl his final email of the season this year weirdly made me tear up a bit:
There are no birds forecast for this week or last week, so it's time to close down the Early Bird Forecast for your region. Very sad :(god knows a phd student could always use some spare change; incredibly classy of him to point towards Science As A Whole rn instead.
Thank you so much for participating in the second season of the Early Bird Forecast! A few asks from me before you go:
[. . .]
2. Last year, I provided a link for people to donate to me personally (AKA to "buy me a coffee"). In light of recent realized and proposed cuts to government-funded science programs, this year I would like to steer people towards donating to nonprofits that do efficient and important conservation work at home and abroad. A few good charities in this mold are Birdlife International, The American Bird Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy. If you would like to look for something more local, check out your city or region's Audubon chapter.
3. If donating is out of the question for you, consider contacting your representatives and let them know that you believe federally-funded science is worth supporting. The Early Bird Forecast is actually a by-product of a NASA-funded research fellowship I received in graduate school. If the current administration's proposed budget becomes law, funding for NASA-funded research like mine will decrease by over 50%. This science funding is cheap in the grand scheme of things – If you are the average taxpayer, you paid $0.0006 for my research (thank you!). Plus you get Early Bird Forecast for free, what a steal!
Happy Summer!
something something "he's not giving up & i'm not either" etc
Weekly summary: June 1 - June 7, 2025
Jun. 8th, 2025 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I worked late four out of five days last week 😩 this coming week will probably be crazy too. And yet, somehow, I still managed to gather a few things for this post 😅
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Tegasword Village menu translation
Jun. 6th, 2025 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Through several screencaps from various places, I've managed get a good look at the Tegasword Village menu from No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger. So I've translated it because it was funny to me, and also I'm the kind of person always trying to read signs in the background of things 😁
(I did not, however, translate the descriptions included with some of the items because my screencaps were too fuzzy to properly read the kanji. Which is a shame because they are probably funny too)
Let's all be judgey about Ryuugi's pricing together!
( Read more... )
(I did not, however, translate the descriptions included with some of the items because my screencaps were too fuzzy to properly read the kanji. Which is a shame because they are probably funny too)
Let's all be judgey about Ryuugi's pricing together!
( Read more... )
Rabbit meeting?
Jun. 6th, 2025 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
As I was driving home this evening, I passed by a house with three rabbits in the yard. One was sitting on the left side of the driveway, another on the right side, and then the third was in the middle. They were all sitting in a sort of semi-circle like you would in a meeting.
I just thought it was funny looking. These three rabbits were arranged perfectly! I wonder what they were meeting about 🤔😂
I just thought it was funny looking. These three rabbits were arranged perfectly! I wonder what they were meeting about 🤔😂
Catch-Up Book Post
Jun. 5th, 2025 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Been a while since I bookblogged here, huh? This isn't EVERYTHING, but this post already took me fucking hours to type up, so, let's get into it—
Jhereg by Steven Brust
Mickey7 by Ashton Edward
Both of these books were romps, though the former is the more compelling overall package.
( Jhereg )
( Mickey7 )
That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart (DNF, 48%)
Honest to God by John A.T. Robinson (DNF, 54%)
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thích Nhất Hạnh (DNF, 24%)
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
Look, to tip my hand, I'm in the (very!) early phase of writing a weird fantasy/historical/pastiche-y novel that dares to ask questions like "damn what was it like to be The Greatest Haterliest Poaster Of All Time" and also "what if Martin Luther was a chick" and "what if Martin Luther was two people instead of one" and "what if those peoplekissed failed to kiss" and "what if Martin Luther were a radical pacifist on top of all the other crazy shit he was doing" and "what if sacred music was actually efficacious and had geopolitical implications" and so on. I blame Lyndal Roper specifically for presenting a portrait of Martin Luther so vivid and intriguing that I could not help but go patently insane over him thereafter.
The logical next step for researching such a novel would be to read up on the theology and history of that period, because even if I'm VERY heavy on the pastiche aspects, it's nice to understand the historical context and some contemporaneous sources/writings for the period of history I'm interested in, if only for riffing purposes, yaknow.
Alas, however, I'm a magpie with no self-control, and thus easily beguiled by Every Other Book I Trip Over On The Way To The Stuff I Should Actually Be Reading, which is how I wound up with this grab-bag of rather more contemporary theology.
All of which I am entirely unqualified to properly evaluate, to be clear, as someone who's variously identified as "Southern Baptist," "Christian agnostic," "deist," "Quaker," "neopagan," "animist," and "some weird woo bullshit syncretic thing ig, sorry it's cringe I know" at various points in my life. But that sure won't stop me from prattling about 'em on my blog.
( That All Shall Be Saved )
( Honest to God )
( Living Buddha, Living Christ )
( Surprised By Hope )
Aside: all of these books felt pretty repetitive. Something to do with the genre, I guess? No way to theology-y people to feel like they've gotten your point across without restating it three different ways? IDK.
ANYWAY. I should probably quit dicking around with these books for a bit, since, y'know, novel. I gotta read more Martin Luther himself and also probably some John Calvin. (Alas this means my copy of Kosuke Koyama's Five Mile an Hour God will likely remain mostly-unread on my shelf. Did I mention I'm a magpie. Books pile up in my home whenever I get on a weird pseudo-reasearch-y kick, and I am blessed with an indulgent partner who just keeps buying me more bookshelves instead of telling me to cut it the hell out, which is very sweet of him, but also I could really use someone to stop me before I commit more Irresponsible Spending Crimes... though I saw someone the other day comparing book-buying to wine-buying, e.g. hey it's valid and normal to let some of them age in the cellar & have more than you'll be able to drink; you want to have good wine when the time is right! and UNFORTUNATELY this is very effective for allowing me to continue in my profligate ways. RIP me.)
...okay yeah I couldn't find any way to fit Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik into all of this. Spinning Silver was very good, but I don't have much to say! The primary romance was a total nothingburger, but that's fine because mostly the book is about Miryem girlbossing her way through Rumpelstiltskin and that shit totally rules. I would like to read several more books about moneylenders Being Incredibly Good At Their Job. The book gets a bit bloated and flabbier as it goes along (though the parts with secondary-girlboss Irina and horrible little man Mirnatius can stay; those bits were great) but never enough to knock it down from the "very good" tier. Fairytale retellings aren't normally my thing but this one was solid.
Jhereg by Steven Brust
Mickey7 by Ashton Edward
Both of these books were romps, though the former is the more compelling overall package.
( Jhereg )
( Mickey7 )
That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart (DNF, 48%)
Honest to God by John A.T. Robinson (DNF, 54%)
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thích Nhất Hạnh (DNF, 24%)
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
Look, to tip my hand, I'm in the (very!) early phase of writing a weird fantasy/historical/pastiche-y novel that dares to ask questions like "damn what was it like to be The Greatest Haterliest Poaster Of All Time" and also "what if Martin Luther was a chick" and "what if Martin Luther was two people instead of one" and "what if those people
The logical next step for researching such a novel would be to read up on the theology and history of that period, because even if I'm VERY heavy on the pastiche aspects, it's nice to understand the historical context and some contemporaneous sources/writings for the period of history I'm interested in, if only for riffing purposes, yaknow.
Alas, however, I'm a magpie with no self-control, and thus easily beguiled by Every Other Book I Trip Over On The Way To The Stuff I Should Actually Be Reading, which is how I wound up with this grab-bag of rather more contemporary theology.
All of which I am entirely unqualified to properly evaluate, to be clear, as someone who's variously identified as "Southern Baptist," "Christian agnostic," "deist," "Quaker," "neopagan," "animist," and "some weird woo bullshit syncretic thing ig, sorry it's cringe I know" at various points in my life. But that sure won't stop me from prattling about 'em on my blog.
( That All Shall Be Saved )
( Honest to God )
( Living Buddha, Living Christ )
( Surprised By Hope )
Aside: all of these books felt pretty repetitive. Something to do with the genre, I guess? No way to theology-y people to feel like they've gotten your point across without restating it three different ways? IDK.
ANYWAY. I should probably quit dicking around with these books for a bit, since, y'know, novel. I gotta read more Martin Luther himself and also probably some John Calvin. (Alas this means my copy of Kosuke Koyama's Five Mile an Hour God will likely remain mostly-unread on my shelf. Did I mention I'm a magpie. Books pile up in my home whenever I get on a weird pseudo-reasearch-y kick, and I am blessed with an indulgent partner who just keeps buying me more bookshelves instead of telling me to cut it the hell out, which is very sweet of him, but also I could really use someone to stop me before I commit more Irresponsible Spending Crimes... though I saw someone the other day comparing book-buying to wine-buying, e.g. hey it's valid and normal to let some of them age in the cellar & have more than you'll be able to drink; you want to have good wine when the time is right! and UNFORTUNATELY this is very effective for allowing me to continue in my profligate ways. RIP me.)
...okay yeah I couldn't find any way to fit Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik into all of this. Spinning Silver was very good, but I don't have much to say! The primary romance was a total nothingburger, but that's fine because mostly the book is about Miryem girlbossing her way through Rumpelstiltskin and that shit totally rules. I would like to read several more books about moneylenders Being Incredibly Good At Their Job. The book gets a bit bloated and flabbier as it goes along (though the parts with secondary-girlboss Irina and horrible little man Mirnatius can stay; those bits were great) but never enough to knock it down from the "very good" tier. Fairytale retellings aren't normally my thing but this one was solid.
Fan panels galore: Animazement 2025 recap
Jun. 4th, 2025 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I said I was gonna write a post about my trip to Animazement this year, so here it finally is. Mostly this is so I'll be able to remember the details later, but maybe someone out there will also be interested in a recap of my convention experience too 😅 (just a warning though that this got very long-winded 😂)
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
I'm not writing this fic but it would be funny
Jun. 3rd, 2025 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I don't really have any desire to actually write Kamen Rider Gavv fic, but I was thinking earlier that a fun AU would be Shouma and Hanto hosting a travel show where they just go eat food around Japan. (This is, in fact, basically a real genre of Japanese television 😂) And I think Sachika can be their producer who finds them new places to visit, and... Rakia can drive them all around (probably while making this face 😒 the whole time)
"What's In A Scene" signpost
Jun. 3rd, 2025 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
and that's such a fun idea that i'm vaguely gesturing that other dreamwidth ppl should try it out, so i can read more good posts :P
I WILL PROBABLY DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS MYSELF, TOO, just... i'm somewhat distracted atm... so all i can do now is gesture that "hi i'm gonna do this and you should too"
off the top of my head, some scenes that i think i'd personally probably find fun to write up:
* the Christmas party in Yukio Mishima's The Decay of the Angel
* the "Time Passes" chapter in To the Lighthouse
* the "You are tiring yourself, Joseph" bit in The Glass Bead Game
* any of a number of scenes from Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which i've read more recently than all these and found more puzzling so that's probably the juiciest candidate. ("hey Lua if you've read that one recently then where's the book post about it" shut up)
anyway yeah happy monday everybody
June '25 writing goals
Jun. 1st, 2025 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Almost forgot to write this 😅 I need time to stop flying by so fast.
Anyway, last month's goals are here
How successful was I this time?
( Read more... )
June goals:
( Read more... )
So that's that. Wishing everyone else success in their upcoming creative endeavors too!
Anyway, last month's goals are here
How successful was I this time?
( Read more... )
June goals:
( Read more... )
So that's that. Wishing everyone else success in their upcoming creative endeavors too!
Weekly summary: May 25 - May 31, 2025
Jun. 1st, 2025 11:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
A new week is here. And also a new month! It does not feel like it should already be June, and yet here we are.
Anyway, this past week was nice. Here's the usual summary:
( Read more... )
Anyway, this past week was nice. Here's the usual summary:
( Read more... )
Nature and such things
May. 30th, 2025 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I discovered last week that a bird made a nest on my porch. I'm not thrilled (bc now I can't sit on my porch for a while), but the mama's been sitting on the eggs all week so I can't bring myself to knock it down until after they hatch and eventually leave. On the bright side, I kinda do enjoy checking on them each day from the window.
In other news, I was checking my garden this evening and discovered my tomatoes currently have blossom end rot 😭 I picked and tossed the bad ones. This happens every year and it's easy to fix but I wish I'd caught it earlier. Oh well!
In other news, I was checking my garden this evening and discovered my tomatoes currently have blossom end rot 😭 I picked and tossed the bad ones. This happens every year and it's easy to fix but I wish I'd caught it earlier. Oh well!