Miscellaneous Tips & Tricks
6 Jun 2025 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dinonugget posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
style_systemI’ve been playing around with the style system, and while it isn’t much, I’ve learned a few things that I feel are worth sharing.
( Cut for length. )Signed up for driving school...
6 Jun 2025 03:58 pmcimorene...to learn to drive stick shift, which I did not learn as a teenager. (Automatic transmission is rare here.)
Email received from the school: "Welcome! Your place is booked and here's your password for our website! We suggest that you proceed in the following order: 1. Apply for a learning permit from the government at [This Link]; 2. Start reading the theory lessons on our site; 3. Come in and book driving lessons at your local office once you receive the permit!"
I clicked on [This Link], thinking, "How nice - I didn't have to search the government website for the link myself!"
An hour and a half later, I have six browser tabs open in three languages from two different government-related sites and am waiting for my wife to get off work so she can read them and check my comprehension, or do I really have to book an appointment to visit a government-associated office to make the application in person?
Email received from the school: "Welcome! Your place is booked and here's your password for our website! We suggest that you proceed in the following order: 1. Apply for a learning permit from the government at [This Link]; 2. Start reading the theory lessons on our site; 3. Come in and book driving lessons at your local office once you receive the permit!"
I clicked on [This Link], thinking, "How nice - I didn't have to search the government website for the link myself!"
An hour and a half later, I have six browser tabs open in three languages from two different government-related sites and am waiting for my wife to get off work so she can read them and check my comprehension, or do I really have to book an appointment to visit a government-associated office to make the application in person?
- it's good to have your application filled out in advance when you visit this office,π
- but you can't get it anywhere else but this office. π€
- They want you to make an appointment in advance when you visit this office,π
- even though they want you to just drop off the papers when you're there,π
- which they want you to have prepared in advance,π
- even though they won't give them to you in advance?? I'm. π«
Daily Happiness
5 Jun 2025 09:02 pmtorachan1. I had a nice work from home day. Pretty chill. Got a lot done.
2. My Switch 2 arrived this afternoon! I have not taken it out of the box yet as I do not have time to set it up and transfer all my stuff from the Switch, so I will do that tomorrow or Saturday.
Last night Carla decided to swing by Best Buy just to see what the situation was, thinking that the store would not open until midnight, but actually they were opening at 9pm (midnight for east coast stores). She went by around 10:30, saw a bit of a line but not much but didn't want to hang around until midnight (we still thought that was the timeline) so she came home, and then ended up going back about an hour later to see if they were still open. They were, and they did not have the bundle left, but did have both the system and the cartridge version of Mario Kart, so she got both. Now we both have Switch 2s! Really surprised it was so easy to get one after all the fuss with the preorders. Since she is going out of town tomorrow, she didn't end up setting hers up yet either lol.
3. Gemma is so cute! How is she so cute!?
2. My Switch 2 arrived this afternoon! I have not taken it out of the box yet as I do not have time to set it up and transfer all my stuff from the Switch, so I will do that tomorrow or Saturday.
Last night Carla decided to swing by Best Buy just to see what the situation was, thinking that the store would not open until midnight, but actually they were opening at 9pm (midnight for east coast stores). She went by around 10:30, saw a bit of a line but not much but didn't want to hang around until midnight (we still thought that was the timeline) so she came home, and then ended up going back about an hour later to see if they were still open. They were, and they did not have the bundle left, but did have both the system and the cartridge version of Mario Kart, so she got both. Now we both have Switch 2s! Really surprised it was so easy to get one after all the fuss with the preorders. Since she is going out of town tomorrow, she didn't end up setting hers up yet either lol.
3. Gemma is so cute! How is she so cute!?
3 Purrcys, chemical adventures
5 Jun 2025 11:58 pmmecurtinIt's been a long time since I posted a Purrcy pic, I've let The Horrors eat up too much of my emotional energy. Here's what I saw first thing when I woke up the other day--a little latter than I meant to, but it was *so hard* to get out of bed!
And look at those toe beans!
-----------
After an exciting session of tail!shenanigans in the empty shelf, Purrcy sat down as a rather plump loaf and stared at me with both light-green eyebeams.
----
Sometimes #Purrcy gets overstimulated and wants his playtime to involve Fierce Fighting With Mom. I'm trying to train him to go for alternatives that do NOT involve human bloodshed -- like displacement scratching, that works!
#cats #CatsOfBluesky
There was a mess-up with one of my prescriptions, and I went off one of my "minor" brain meds cold turkey this week. By today it was NOT minor, but I finally got the right pills and within 30 minutes I felt like myself again. And then had to have a nap, because mania does NOT lead to adequate sleep.
Fortunately, my family could tell what was going on and mostly refused to engage, and didn't hold it against me. But I've had enough therapy recently talking about my mother & our relationship that I can now really see why a friend who's a shrink told me years ago, "You know your mother's bipolar, right?"
I mean, I took her word for it, diagnosing people was her *job*. But I really *felt* it today, when I realized that I'd been having a (mild-medium) manic episode and I was reacting to things *just the way my mother did*.
So. I'll make sure to remember those feelings--which include a fair bit of paranoia as well as driving intensity--and know what to call them, and look first for the chemical imbalance behind them, knowing that they lie.
"Trust your feelings" yeah no, I like *data*.
And look at those toe beans!
-----------
After an exciting session of tail!shenanigans in the empty shelf, Purrcy sat down as a rather plump loaf and stared at me with both light-green eyebeams.
----
Sometimes #Purrcy gets overstimulated and wants his playtime to involve Fierce Fighting With Mom. I'm trying to train him to go for alternatives that do NOT involve human bloodshed -- like displacement scratching, that works!
#cats #CatsOfBluesky
There was a mess-up with one of my prescriptions, and I went off one of my "minor" brain meds cold turkey this week. By today it was NOT minor, but I finally got the right pills and within 30 minutes I felt like myself again. And then had to have a nap, because mania does NOT lead to adequate sleep.
Fortunately, my family could tell what was going on and mostly refused to engage, and didn't hold it against me. But I've had enough therapy recently talking about my mother & our relationship that I can now really see why a friend who's a shrink told me years ago, "You know your mother's bipolar, right?"
I mean, I took her word for it, diagnosing people was her *job*. But I really *felt* it today, when I realized that I'd been having a (mild-medium) manic episode and I was reacting to things *just the way my mother did*.
So. I'll make sure to remember those feelings--which include a fair bit of paranoia as well as driving intensity--and know what to call them, and look first for the chemical imbalance behind them, knowing that they lie.
"Trust your feelings" yeah no, I like *data*.
May 2025 Newsletter, Volume 200
5 Jun 2025 07:36 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
otw_news_feedI. 200 NEWSLETTERS
This month marks the 200th edition of the OTW Newsletter! Starting in February 2012, the newsletter has consistently provided updates on committees across the OTW. Over time, the newsletter’s format has grown and shifted, settling into the format used today.
If you’re curious, older newsletter editions can be found on AO3 News and the OTW website! Thank you so much for supporting the OTW and our projects. Here’s to many more!
II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN
Policy & Abuse is currently running a weekly spotlight series about the AO3 Terms of Service. These news posts have been highlighting various nuances of AO3’s policies, and Policy & Abuse has been coordinating with Communications’ News Post Moderation subcommittee to answer follow-up questions in the comments.
AO3 reached 15 million fanworks in May! Communications published a news post to celebrate.
Also in May, Accessibility, Design, & Technology deployed a few enhancements related to username and password changes, as well as fixed some longstanding bugs in tag sets. Systems is preparing to mount new servers, after which they’ll be able to get them up and running for AO3.
Open Doors announced the import of Homosapien Press: the publisher of multi-fandom fanzines such as Samurai Errant, Homosapien, and Pure Maple Syrup. They also completed the import of Slash Advent Calendar and Snow Lands. Lastly, they launched a way for archivists and publishers to designate a Fannish Next of Kin to take over collection management post-import.
In April, Policy & Abuse received 2,734 tickets, while Support received 3,003 tickets. Tag Wrangling wrangled just over 490,000 tags, or approximately 1,100 tags per wrangling volunteer.
III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW
Fanlore’s annual Fanlore Bingo Challenge is in full swing! This year the event is running from June 2 to June 15, and the bingo is beach themed. All Fanlore visitors and editors, new and old alike, are invited to participate!
Fanlore also celebrated May with a themed month: Creature Feature! Their editing chat on the Fanlore Discord server was a big success; thank you to everyone who joined. You can check out Creature Feature highlights on Fanlore’s Tumblr.
Translation’s recent recruitment led to the addition of a new translation team for Irish! User Response Translation’s first ever recruitment has also concluded.
Transformative Works and Cultures continues to seek submissions for their upcoming special issue on Latin American Fandoms. The deadline for submissions is January 1, 2026.
IV. GOVERNANCE
Elections announced the 2025 Election Timeline in coordination with Communications and Translation. Candidates will be announced on June 22, and the deadline to become a member for voting is June 30.
Development & Membership is continuing to send donation gifts from April’s Membership Drive. They’re also starting to work on membership queries for the 2025 election and related mini-Drive in June.
Board, with the help of the Board Assistants Team, held a public board meeting on April 26, 2025. The meeting had 74 attendees, and Board answered 10 questions live and 7 questions asynchronously after the meeting. Meeting minutes are available on the OTW website.
Board also approved the creation of the Organizational Culture Roadmap workgroup, continued work on Crisis Procedures and Paid Staff Transition projects, and met with the Cybersecurity Delegate to discuss their report and next steps. The Board Assistants Team continued work on multiple ongoing projects, including updates to the Board Discord moderation guidelines, OTW roadmap goals, and non-profit training.
Lastly, Board announced the resignation of Zixin Zhang as a Board Director. We wish Zixin all the best in her future endeavors.
V. OUR VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers & Recruiting conducted recruitment for three committees this month: Fanlore, Finance, and Open Doors. Volunteers & Recruiting also began a large-scale project regarding their procedures on inductions and removals. This project aims to ensure documentation is consistent across all roles in the OTW, focusing especially on tools managed by Volunteers & Recruiting.
From April 21 to May 18, Volunteers & Recruiting received 154 new requests and completed 149, leaving them with 36 open requests (including inductions and removals listed below).
As of May 18, 2025, the OTW has 933 volunteers. \o/
New AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
New Open Doors Volunteers: Fandoms_addict and 1 other Admin Volunteer
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: BlackTeaAndVodka, WonderfulWorld, Pent,Β and 1 other Policy & Abuse Volunteer
New Strategic Planning Volunteers: Everett Merian and Camilla Zhao
New Support Volunteers: 1 Tag Wrangling Liaison
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Ebonwing, Jazzberries, Keladry, megidola, and Tal (Tag Wrangling Supervisors)
New Translation Volunteers: Bluebear, flatlander woman, Lavinia, Mici Pici, ΓΆmer faruk, Somber, and 3 other Translation Volunteers
New TWC Volunteers: 1 Symposium Editor
New User Response Translation Volunteers: Ekevka, meat, Patkiecoo, Remu, and 4 other URT Translators
Departing AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
Departing Communications Volunteers: 1 Chair-Track Volunteer and 1 TikTok Moderator
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: 1 Policy and Admin Volunteer
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: Fandoms_addict and 3 other Import Assistants, and 1 Technical Volunteer
Departing Support Volunteers: 1 Support Volunteer
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Eirinen, Luhba, VyslantΓ©, and 2 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: D.Taradi, dhriti, hedvig, Mai, Meep, and 4 other Translation Volunteers
For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.
murdle, leather at pride, protest poetry
5 Jun 2025 08:53 amtozkaHappy Thursday! I'm leaving this housesit tomorrow-- I have the weekend free for sightseeing and then I need to make my way over to Evanston, Illinois for my next (short) sit. Today is a lot of cleaning, packing, and trying to eat whatever's left in the fridge!
For now, here's some links for y'all:
The Quantum Bang multi-fandom fix-it big bang is live and stories are being posted now! (h/tstarwatcher)
June's theme atfancake is female relationships (of all kinds). Come make recs!
unfitforsociety posted some Batman (Batfamily) fanfic recs. ( More links! )
For now, here's some links for y'all:
The Quantum Bang multi-fandom fix-it big bang is live and stories are being posted now! (h/t
starwatcher)June's theme at
fancake is female relationships (of all kinds). Come make recs!unfitforsociety posted some Batman (Batfamily) fanfic recs. ( More links! )Things
6 Jun 2025 12:03 amvassBooks
Finished Jazz Money's how to make a basket. Mostly I liked it. Some of the concrete verse didn't work for me, but that's a me thing, not a problem with the writing.
The book's main theme seemed to be time travel: back before her land's invasion or back to her father's childhood or simply travelling minute by minute; the wish to change the past and the impossibility of doing so.
( more )
After readingskygiants' review of KJ Charles' Death in the Spires I remembered that I had bought a copy of that when it came out and hadn't read it yet. Read it.
( more )
Games
I hear that Long Live the Queen is getting a followup game, Galaxy Princess Zorana! I'm excited. (Long Live the Queen itself is current on 70% discount on Steam if anyone reading this might be interested in a fun visual novel game. It's pretty and pink and really astonishingly lethal.)
Slay the Spire: I did a few daily climbs. I'm finding them more fun than the regular runs at the moment.
Tech
Still working on the laptop. In the meantime I bought a webcam and plugged it into my desktop so that I could still attend Telehealth appointments. Got complimented on how I looked: turns out that a room with better lighting, and a better-positioned camera, really do make a difference. Go figure.
Household
My laundry area now has a shelf above the washing machine. I took the opportunity to do some decluttering of that area, and it looks much nicer now. So nice that now I want to paint the wall behind it. /o\
Weather
It's fucking freezing.
Links
Cats
Currently headbutting my hand while I'm trying to type.
Finished Jazz Money's how to make a basket. Mostly I liked it. Some of the concrete verse didn't work for me, but that's a me thing, not a problem with the writing.
The book's main theme seemed to be time travel: back before her land's invasion or back to her father's childhood or simply travelling minute by minute; the wish to change the past and the impossibility of doing so.
( more )
After reading
skygiants' review of KJ Charles' Death in the Spires I remembered that I had bought a copy of that when it came out and hadn't read it yet. Read it.( more )
Games
I hear that Long Live the Queen is getting a followup game, Galaxy Princess Zorana! I'm excited. (Long Live the Queen itself is current on 70% discount on Steam if anyone reading this might be interested in a fun visual novel game. It's pretty and pink and really astonishingly lethal.)
Slay the Spire: I did a few daily climbs. I'm finding them more fun than the regular runs at the moment.
Tech
Still working on the laptop. In the meantime I bought a webcam and plugged it into my desktop so that I could still attend Telehealth appointments. Got complimented on how I looked: turns out that a room with better lighting, and a better-positioned camera, really do make a difference. Go figure.
Household
My laundry area now has a shelf above the washing machine. I took the opportunity to do some decluttering of that area, and it looks much nicer now. So nice that now I want to paint the wall behind it. /o\
Weather
It's fucking freezing.
Links
- Petition: Justice for Kumanjayi White. (Police killed a young disabled Warlpiri man outside a supermarket in Alice Springs.)
- Why I Revealed My Kink On Television: Meghan Cherry, a Seattle comedian, on her recent audience appearance on Game Changer. (Some of her own comedy work can be found here.)
Cats
Currently headbutting my hand while I'm trying to type.
To-Do List Dysfunction
5 Jun 2025 04:11 pmcimoreneI have a long-term To-Do list, and last week I got this list down to two items, one of which was oiling the sewing machine so I don't really count it, and took myself quite by surprise. You wouldn't think that would be possible, and yet I found myself unexpectedly with Only One Thing On The To-Do List.
And I said to myself "Wow, this thing won't take that long! I will probably finish it quickly and easily tomorrow!" (I still haven't finished it.)
Only then the next day I woke up with a whole long list of things I suddenly needed to do first: clean the counter, paint my nails, have a bunny photoshoot, sweep the bunny cages, ink my italic pens and photograph sample writing. I thought vaguely in there, "Maybe I won't get it done today, but soon!" Except then I finished all those things in the day and also finished reading the book I was closest to the end of. (If I'd just done the last thing on the list instead of reading, I'd've finished after all.)
And that's when it occurred to me that I've been putting off the tasks on this To-Do list not simply because they are difficult or intimidating, but to avoid finishing my To-Do list.
At the end of the To-Do list lie all the other things that I should do, but don't know how to start! (Like removing a lot of wallpaper, because I've already tried several ways that don't work that well. We probably need to build scaffolding, which isn't something we are at all qualified to build.) Even worse, items like "Find more social activities and make more friends" are down there! They're things with a sense of 'should' but with no obvious first steps or convenient handles for executive function to get hold of.
What's more, I realized that I would never even have realized this (that I was trying not to finish the To-Do list) if I hadn't hurt my shoulder and had to stop knitting.
Because all this winter I've been furiously occupying myself with knitting, knitting itself has been serving me as a bottomless To-Do list.
This To-Do list dysfunction also means that anything I don't urgently or impulsively do at once - anything which then lands on the list - is in danger of being indefinitely procrastinated, even if there's nothing inherently difficult or anxiety-causing about it (like buying another batch of ebooks, so actually the list now has two things besides oiling the sewing machine again).
And I said to myself "Wow, this thing won't take that long! I will probably finish it quickly and easily tomorrow!" (I still haven't finished it.)
Only then the next day I woke up with a whole long list of things I suddenly needed to do first: clean the counter, paint my nails, have a bunny photoshoot, sweep the bunny cages, ink my italic pens and photograph sample writing. I thought vaguely in there, "Maybe I won't get it done today, but soon!" Except then I finished all those things in the day and also finished reading the book I was closest to the end of. (If I'd just done the last thing on the list instead of reading, I'd've finished after all.)
And that's when it occurred to me that I've been putting off the tasks on this To-Do list not simply because they are difficult or intimidating, but to avoid finishing my To-Do list.
At the end of the To-Do list lie all the other things that I should do, but don't know how to start! (Like removing a lot of wallpaper, because I've already tried several ways that don't work that well. We probably need to build scaffolding, which isn't something we are at all qualified to build.) Even worse, items like "Find more social activities and make more friends" are down there! They're things with a sense of 'should' but with no obvious first steps or convenient handles for executive function to get hold of.
What's more, I realized that I would never even have realized this (that I was trying not to finish the To-Do list) if I hadn't hurt my shoulder and had to stop knitting.
Because all this winter I've been furiously occupying myself with knitting, knitting itself has been serving me as a bottomless To-Do list.
This To-Do list dysfunction also means that anything I don't urgently or impulsively do at once - anything which then lands on the list - is in danger of being indefinitely procrastinated, even if there's nothing inherently difficult or anxiety-causing about it (like buying another batch of ebooks, so actually the list now has two things besides oiling the sewing machine again).
LEP 5.6.
5 Jun 2025 02:13 pmyvannairieIt's honestly very funny to me that in 2016 or whenever Clearview came out, I didn't like it and was sad about how my once favourite band was going in a direction I didn't like
And then two years ago I listened to it again for the first time and realised that Oh, wow, no, I was just super fucking depressed back then and the album fucks.
It's now my second favourite Poets album. Lmao.
Daily Happiness
4 Jun 2025 09:18 pmtorachan1. We finished another puzzle today. This one was a lot of fun!
2. I got the shipping notification from Best Buy on my Switch 2! It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, which I was not expecting at all because when I did the preorder they weren't guaranteeing launch day delivery. I never did get an email from Nintendo about preordering directly from them, so we're planning to check out Target tomorrow and see if they have any for sale in store, so we can each have one.
3. We had a nice morning at Disneyland. It was a little muggy but the temps were fairly low and it was nice and overcast. Started to get busy as we were leaving, but it wasn't very crowded at all earlier, which was nice.
4. Uploading the picture of the lego shelf yesterday made me realize I still haven't posted pics of the inside of the garage since it's been completed. It's still got a ways to go decorating-wise. We've got art we want to put on the walls, and more stuff to display, and it could use a few more pieces of furniture, but it has enough that it feels pretty lived-in now. I use it every day for the exercise machine and working on puzzles, and Carla goes out daily to read and listen to music (and also work on puzzles).
( Read more... )
5. The other day I looked in the cat tree and saw Chloe was lying on her back in one of the cubbies like a silly girl.
2. I got the shipping notification from Best Buy on my Switch 2! It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, which I was not expecting at all because when I did the preorder they weren't guaranteeing launch day delivery. I never did get an email from Nintendo about preordering directly from them, so we're planning to check out Target tomorrow and see if they have any for sale in store, so we can each have one.
3. We had a nice morning at Disneyland. It was a little muggy but the temps were fairly low and it was nice and overcast. Started to get busy as we were leaving, but it wasn't very crowded at all earlier, which was nice.
4. Uploading the picture of the lego shelf yesterday made me realize I still haven't posted pics of the inside of the garage since it's been completed. It's still got a ways to go decorating-wise. We've got art we want to put on the walls, and more stuff to display, and it could use a few more pieces of furniture, but it has enough that it feels pretty lived-in now. I use it every day for the exercise machine and working on puzzles, and Carla goes out daily to read and listen to music (and also work on puzzles).
( Read more... )
5. The other day I looked in the cat tree and saw Chloe was lying on her back in one of the cubbies like a silly girl.
reading wednesday
4 Jun 2025 02:11 pmtozka
2025 Reading Log | 35/200 yearly goal (+2 from last update)I've gotten sucked into a fanfic-reading frenzy (Naruto, of all things) so my book-reading has been sparse these past few weeks. However, I did read two books since my last Reading Wednesday post!
First, I decided to read the Oz books (including the post-Baum books by Ruth Plumly Thompson) as a kind of reading project thing, and I of course started with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I've read it before, but the last time was (I'm pretty sure) back in 2007 when I got my first ereader and put a bunch of public domain books on it.
It's a charming book, and I especially liked the intro from Baum in the beginning that spells out the aim of the book: to be a modern fairy tale for kids that isn't focused on morality lessons. And it does that!
( Chatter about Wonderful Wizard of Oz, including spoilers )
Besides that, I also read a novella by KL Noone called The Pooka's Share. It's a m/m urban fantasy romance between a paranormal police officer and a pookah (Celtic shape-changing spirit) with surprise (to me, because I hadn't read the summary) BDSM elements. A cute story! Perhaps spent a bit too much time on the worldbuilding when this is just a one-off and short to boot, but overall good.