ihavenoarms | Reading

A bundle for Mists of Akuma, the tabletop roleplaying campaign setting of Eastern fantasy noir steampunk from Storm Bunny Studios for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition.

Bundle of Holding: Mists of Akuma

rebeccmeister

Since we are 150 miles north of Manhattan, we are not getting impacted by the current blizzard to the same extent as the city. Nonetheless, we're seeing a fair amount of snow and blustery wind, and this time at least my institution decided to cancel all classes up through noon. They issued the cancellation message last night at 9 pm, which made for a pretty quick pivot for me. In turn, I canceled my plans to try and go to rowing practice this morning, and instead got up early to start making Even More Lecture Videos for Animal Physiology.

The problems are, videos are large files, and my home upload speed is pretty throttled, so it has taken almost an hour to upload the first, shorter video (~1 Gb file; 15 minute recording). I have downsampled the video quality for the second, longer video accordingly (30 minute recording), but I am barely going to have it uploaded ahead of the scheduled start time for the class. In many respects that doesn't matter, because when classes are canceled technically we cannot hold a scheduled class session. But on a more practical level, that means I really can't go anywhere until the video finishes uploading.

So far it looks like the plows have hit the primary roads (emergency vehicle access for fire fighting and hospitals), but not yet the secondary or tertiary roads; I can see one of each road type from my windows at home.

...and as the morning progresses, I'm also noticing that unmistakable throat lymph node sensation suggesting I'm fighting off illness. Quick, to the medicine cabinet! That also means it's probably most prudent to just plan on staying home and recording and uploading yet another lecture video to replace my afternoon bicycling class meeting.

...and now there's another long wait for that one to upload, too.

Here's hoping that people actually watch them and find them useful. It's not an ideal method but still far better than nothing!

There are a lot of things these days reiterating the points that doing things like reading real books and going to class in person work better and have more benefits than over-reliance on digital learning tools. To many of us, this is not a surprise. I treat the digital learning tools as accessory to learning, and that seems to be a reasonable approach, based on my learning assessments.

mallorys_camera

It's still snowing, and I don't want to jinx anything, but...

It's looking like we were well outside the bombogenesis perimeter.

Yes, "bombogenesis" is a real word! It refers to a storm where barometric pressure drops by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. With this particular storm, the barometric pressure dropped a mind-boggling 44 millibars, but it dropped somewhat to the south and east of where I'm located. Which made for some crazy totals over comparatively short distances: Like 15" in Fishkill but only 5" in Poughkeepsie.

We ended up getting around five inches of the Hideous White Stuff here.

###

We expected snow all day yesterday, but it didn't come. Instead, it was just dismal and grey and awful. I went into the office and sat there reading Midnight In the Garden of Good & Evil, which left me with a deep desire to visit Savannah even though the best thing about Midnight In the Garden of Good & Evil is its title.

###

In the evening, Ichabod upset me on the phone by reminding me my housing options would be considerably better if I didn't have pets.

Of course, I know he's right, but the kiskas have more-or-less saved my sanity these last few extremely difficult months. They have functioned effectively as a family for me; they are good company and affectionate in their highly idiosyncratic way. As awful as this place is, I'd rather live here forever than give up my gurlZ.

But I hope it won't come to that.

###

Writing-wise, I am preparing to embark upon the Daria portion of the novel.

Ideally, I would pull this off with a Jennifer-Egan-style switch of the PoV voice. Realistically, I may not be a good enough writer to do this. The important thing here, though, is not to show off my dazzling writerly gifts but to finish the damn thing however best I can.

To that end, I am setting up an interview with real-life Daria.

###

Here is a photograph of real-life Daria:

She's very beautiful, as you can see! Kinda Snow White-ish with that pure white overflip.

What I'm primarily interested in is her sexual relationship with Brian.

Grazia and Neal don't have a sexual relationship, so in the first part of the book, Neal combines the best qualities of a father and a wisecracking teddy bear.

But in the second part of the book, Neal must come across as an erotic god!

Which should be challenging.

I've read my share of porn & erotica over the years. And written it, too. For pay! 😀 My porn was always criticized for "too much story"! I guess the sexual tropes that turn most people on do very little for me; it's always the relationships that drive the sex that make it hot for me. The single most erotic book I ever read was Susannah Moore's In the Cut, wherein a professor of English stumbles into an affair with a homicide detective who drives her mad with desire with a strange little crooking gesture he does with his forefinger.

So, yes, I have to study up on real-life Neal's kinks.

But I also have to figure out what it feels like to be so fluent in three languages (as Daria is) that the languages all swirl together in your brain, and what it feels like to be that seductive—because real-life Daria is oh-so-seductive.

Also, I have to come up with a rescue situation that can play analogously to Grazia's cult rescue. Doesn't have to be as dramatic. But that's a connecting thematic element in each of the three parts of the book: Neal saves each of the women in some way.

susandennis

I had the best swim this morning. I woke up ready to go and just enjoyed the heck out of it. Funny how some days are don't wanna and some are Move Over Katie!

Steroid shots make my foot feel instantly better for a couple of days and then there are about 3 days of back to ouch before it starts working for good. Then in about a week, it will turn black and blue and stay that way for about a month. We are back to the ouchy part. But I was able to walk to the pool and back so, not horrible.

When I redid all my mp3's, I dumped them into folders - 30 files in each folder. Zero curation. I think Karen Carpenter had a beautiful voice but the current batch I'm listening to is about 25 Karen Carpenter songs and that's really more than anyone needs in a row. So I'm now swapping out for the next folder of 30. This batch has no clues. The files are named 1.mp3 and 2.mp3 so no telling what the fuck is on them. Come Wednesday - the next lap swim day - I'll probably be begging for more Karen Carpenter.

spacefem solved my Hazelnut coffee problem. Syrup! Amazon is bringing me a small assortment of small bottles of sugar free coffee syrup - Hazelnut, Carmel and Vanilla. I put the Hazelnut k-cups out in the elbow with a sign that says FREE. They were gone before I got back from my swim.

I have a plastic shoebox full of batteries. I have a few C's. a few D's. A fuckload of AA's. Some buttons - various sizes. A couple of really weird ones and 1 AAA. What do I need right now? 2 AAA's, of course. Sigh.

Another Paramount+ treat. One of my all time favorite sit coms. No one watched it but me, I think so it only lasted 2 seasons but now both seasons are on Paramount+. Superior Donuts. Good cast - phenomenal writing. Still very fun. I'm treating myself to an episode a day.

I've never put together a Lego set. I've thought about it but resisted knowing that it's likely a rabbit hole for me. Plus now I have bunnies to make 3 a day and I'm on track so far. And then I have to sew pockets onto my swim robes. I have projects. I don't need more. Plus, there are all those hours that

spifikins stole from me when she introduced me to that fucking arrow app.

shadowkat

So the snowstorm was/is Bomb Cyclone - which I learned ages ago from an allergist -will play havoc on anyone with sinus issues.

A bomb cyclone according to the National Weather Service is : "or the meteorological term "bombogenesis," refers to the central pressure of a low-pressure system dropping at least 24 millibars within 24 hours.

Most bomb cyclones happen off the East Coast, which typically sees about one of these intense storms each year. In the Northeast, they form when there’s a sharp temperature contrast usually between a cold continental air mass meeting the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

This temperature difference, combined with a strong jet-stream disturbance that forces air upward, sets the stage for bombogenesis. Many nor’easters actually fall into this category, as cold air from Canada collides with the warm Gulf Stream, creating a perfect recipe for explosive storm growth."

The reason it plays havoc on sinus issues - is the barometric pressure drops. The fluid in the head shifts - placing pressure on the inner ear, resulting in vertigo.

It gave me non-stop vertigo, which I've been battling with prescription Dramamine to combat dizziness and nausea. It's kind of like seasickness, if you've never experienced it? But on land.

I went to bed, lay down, the room began to spin, frak that, I slept sitting up. As long as I was upright, not moving my head too much, I was fine. I'm hoping it is gone by tonight. It should be - since I think it is storm related.

Oh well, it could be worse - I could be homeless with vertigo, or stuck in an airport or bus depot with it, and no pills to take for it. (They work just not as well as I'd like? Work better when it is mild and well, we aren't in the middle of a bomb cyclone, and I didn't have a cold the previous week. But they did keep the nausea and vomiting at bay.)

The storm is still going by the way. It's been going since roughly 10 pm last night. Although it's no longer a blizzard.

Currently or as of 10 a.m. Monday (it's about 11:42 AM now and yes still snowing):https://www.nbcnewyork.com/weather/weather-stories/how-much-snow-totals-inches-nyc-long-island-nj-accumulation-blizzard/6467598/

It's shut NYC down almost completely. The Mayor was smart though - he cancelled all schools, declared a travel ban, and the Governor informed government agencies to keep all non-essential employees home, for remote work, if possible. They have a Full Snow Day for the first time in years (no remote), public transportation has shut down in places, and the travel ban was extended to about 6pm. It's 31 F, and feels like 6 F.

( Transit Adjustments )

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2026/02/23/what-s-open-closed-nyc-snow-storm-feb-2026

[ETA: The travel ban in NYC has been lifted, but with the caveat that people should drive slowly and with caution.]

"As of 10 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, more than 11,200 flights in and out of the U.S. were canceled or delayed.

In the New York City area, disruptions were widespread. At John F. Kennedy International Airport, 42% of departing flights were canceled, along with 7% delayed. Incoming flights were hit even harder, with 63% canceled and 2% delayed."

- https://www.lohud.com/story/weather/2026/02/22/nyc-airports-hit-by-massive-cancellations-ahead-of-blizzard-see-live-flight-status/88762935007/

Vertigo hasn't gone, unfortunately, but the medication has helped a bit.

So how's your day going so far?

conuly

And I am trapped at work!

I mean, the buses are running, but nobody else is coming in, and it’s not a job you can just shut down for the day.

canyonwalker

They walked me.

After I submitted notice of resignation from my job on Friday morning, today (Monday) I had a 7:30am meeting with HR. It was scheduled over the weekend. "They're probably going to walk me," I figured. There are few other reasons why HR would plan the meeting on the weekend and schedule it first-thing Monday morning.

Indeed my Slack access was revoked at 7:25am, confirming what was about to happen.

At 7:30 I joined the videoconference call. "I'll get right to it," the HR coordinator said. "To ensure a smooth transition we're decided to make today your last day."

"Are you firing me?" I challenged.

The HR person beat around the bush a bit, so I offered the term I think she was looking for: "You're offering me payment-in-lieu from now until my proposed March 5 resignation date? I'll have full pay and benefits until then?"

She confirmed that (as I expected) and re-stated that this is just standard company policy.

"No it's not," I challenged. "It's standard company policy for when a person is fired. I'll note specifically that when our Chief Revenue Officer announced his resignation a few months ago, he continue to work— and have executive responsibilities— until his chosen departure date."

The HR person just stared at me blankly. I didn't expect much else. She's a clerk given a message to deliver.

Then there's also the "To ensure a smooth transition" bullshit....

Ensuring a smooth transition is what I aimed to do by giving two weeks' notice. That would be bare-minimum time to hand over things I've been working on to my replacement. Instead the company has chosen to have me drop everything on the floor as I'm escorted out the proverbial door.

Within 30 seconds after we ended the meeting I was forcibly logged out of my company laptop and my account was disabled.

Buh-bye, you stupid, dishonest clowns!

degringolade

Third three cards (the future):

>>> Queen of Wands

>>> Ace of Coins

>>> Ten of Wands

Two wands and the Ace of Coins

Queen of Wands

Wang says that when she is “well aspected” she is warm and attractive, the other side of the coin is that she is also capable of violence and tyranny. To use a current meme, sounds like a mean girl to me.

Crowley appears to agree with Wang for the most part.

Robinson is off in her usual “only positive” and does seem to agree with the warm and attractive part.

Ace of Coins

Robinson talks in a roundabout manner about how to optimize the physical, maybe I am just cynical, but what I read into it is that it is about the money.

Crowley says it more bluntly, it is all about materiality in all senses: Material gain, labor, power and resources.

Wang agrees with Crowley in a roundabout way, but he also says it is “that which brings about the fruition of the matter, rather than being matter itself”.

Ten of Wands

From what I have read about Crowley, he must have loved this card. He called it the “Lord of Oppression". Cruel and overbearing force and energy, but applied to material and selfish ends, sometimes shows failure in the matter with a too-strong opposition.

Wang calls it the most destructive card in the deck.

Robinson seems to be full-on kumbaya on this one, what I read from her is that the force implied can be bent to good.

Current Music: Grateful Dead: Casey Jones

disneydream06

This week's song is one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs, "Gold Dust Woman".

It was used in the 2019 movie, "The Kitchen".
I don't have a clue about the movie, but love the song and this is a great version of it.
Not quite the full Fleetwood Mac lineup, but wow......

Watch on YouTube

disneydream06

This Week's Movie Quote...

P.: Sometimes you got to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.

Poll #34279

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

View Respondents

Which Movie Does This Quote Come From?

View Answers

Brave
1 (25.0%)

The Good Dinosaur
1 (25.0%)

Ralph Brreaks The Internet
1 (25.0%)

I Don't Have A Clue...
1 (25.0%)

Last Week's Movie Quote...

Doris: I'm unhappy.
George Valentin: So are millions of us.

It comes from the 2011 silent movie, "The Artist", that won the Best Picture Oscar...

Watch on YouTube

Those Who Knew or Guessed Correctly...

gwendraith

sidhe_uaine42

christalin80

seaivy

davesmusictank

james_davis_nicoll

You may be surprised to learn that "Canadian thriller" is not an oxymoron.

A Brief Survey of Canadian Political Thrillers

rmjwell

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

mxcatmoon

Writing it such a fascinating process. Like, I'm riveted to this scene playing out -- I have no idea how it's going to end.

When I began writing, I intended it to be a Rico/Trudy fic that was consummated. I had a very clear idea of what would happen. It was going to be sweet and poignant.

Then, the characters had to put emotions and motivations into the process. Now, it's a battle of will they or won't they. Who knows?! Trudy is willing, and her reasons are touching and sweet. Rico is being Mr. Moral, coming up with reasons why they shouldn't.

So, the jury is still out. I have no idea who is going to win. I just know that Rico is a twenty-first century guy living in the twentieth century. I've noticed that in previous fics. I have no idea why, but I let the characters be who they tell me they are, so. Is it something I'm picking up on in canon? Going by the way he is with Valerie, I'd be doubtful, but I write on instinct and I won't force myself to go against my instincts.

Current Mood: curious

reeby10 posting in

celebrity20in20

The new deadline is Saturday, February 28, 2026 by 11:59 PM in your time zone. You can also still sign up and participate if you have not yet! Signups are open for the duration of this round.
If you need another extension, please do not hesitate to ask.

Round 19 Signups | Round 19 Themes

friendof_dorothy posting in

celebrity20in20

Please find my entry for round 19 HERE on my journal, thank you!

billroper

I spent some time today dealing with some smaller projects around the house. One of these was to take some measurements in the library, which is now done.

The next trick is going to be finding someone who wants our old Reebok RX-3000 treadmill which is sitting in the library taking up space. It is free to a good home. A good home is currently defined as "someone who is willing to take it away". :)

I am continuing my efforts to get the Flash pinball in the basement up and running. One of the projects that I may be able to handle myself is to fix some screw holes in the playfield where the screw no longer bites in properly, resulting in loose parts, which is not good. Filling these with toothpicks and wood glue has been suggested. Curiously, that is the same suggestion that has been made online for fixing Julie's bedroom door, which will not latch. I figured that I like the pinball machine better than the bedroom door, so why not experiment there?

The door still does not latch. It *might* latch if I had carved out a bit more wood to make room for the strike plate, because the door actually *does* latch if I *remove* the strike plate. But the toothpick and glue method is a bit messy.

I fixed one of our bathroom cabinets that had a similar problem using some very nice wood filler and I am thinking this may be a better solution to the problem. I will think about this a bit longer before taking a run at it. :)

Anyway, tomorrow it will be back to work, so projects will wait for a bit for me to catch up...

falcrum

Нечасто при повторном приезде в одну и ту же локацию снимаешь какой-то объект ровно так же, как в первый раз - но вот здесь прям «под копирку» вышла панорама, причём вертикальная, данного культового сооружения (внимание, по клику - везде большие фото!):

( И мегазум на голову в стене... )

А это - вторая попытка в следующем путешествии:

Здесь с резкостью вышло получше:

Сама история выглядит, мягко говоря, странной, как и большинство городских легенд: ученик стал прицениваться к дочке мастера, а тот, вот кто бы мог подумать, потребовал финансовой состоятельности от жениха. Вроде как соискатель руки и особенно других частей тела дамы своего сердца даже с разбойниками закорешился, но, в итоге, когда папаша нашёл стороннего состоятельного кандидата, обиженный герой просто поджёг их дом и, якобы, наблюдал за пожаром из окошка южной стены башни. Тут-то костёл возмутился (ага, именно само здание) и раздавил гадину, превратив заодно в камень. За счёт накала бреда байка запомнилась и пошла в массы...

olivermoss

Today I finally got full legendary armor for my main, a project I started on November 17, 2015. Yeah, it's been a minute! I had most of the set complete for a while, but for raids I was maining warrior so I switched to completing that set. Then when Obsidian came out I started working on that for light armor. I also completed other legendary projects in the meantime.

This is the messy version of a tracker that I will do nicer in my tracking notebook:

Most people I game with have, and assume I have, the two section of each column done at least. I am 1 away on light armor. A million years away on rings. Pretty close on some weapons. (Ascended and Legendary have the same stat totals, so I am not dragging things down by having inferior gear, but not having Legendary utility means I can't role flex and do other things.)

I crafted 2 pieces of legendary medium this week. I 'only' need a week of Horn of Maguuma metas and convergences to complete light and be fully done with legendary armor. So close, and yet so not doing that this week. I've got other stuff to do.

Actually, to have *full* full leggy gear I'd need double the amount of leggy weapons listed, but I am ignoring that.

I am way less invested in GW2 these days so finishing these projects is a mixed thing. I am not going to get a ton of use out of them, but also wrapping things up feels good and makes play less awkward. ... but also putting in some hours this week and I'll be done with something I've been working on for 11 years and just wont have to think about it, bank materials for it, track things for it.... No more going 'oops, can't make X because that will use materials put aside for leggy'

mxcatmoon

Not doing anything structured at the moment, just ala carte work. I still have some stuff to catch up on, like I haven't posted all my three-sentence fic that I wrote over here yet.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: contemplative

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Todd Heimbecker

December 2024

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Page Summary

james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Mists of Akuma
rebeccmeister - Snow Days / Snow Daze [status, work]
mallorys_camera - Bombogenesis
susandennis - Monday
shadowkat - Snow bound - and struggling with vertigo...
conuly - Snow shows no sign of stopping
canyonwalker - They Walked Me
degringolade - Third Stack
disneydream06 - Songs From The Movies.....
disneydream06 - Monday At The Movies.....
james_davis_nicoll - A Brief Survey of Canadian Political Thrillers
andrewducker - Interesting Links for 23-02-2026
rmjwell - Burlesque Picture of the Day, 2026-02-22: Elyse Elaine!
mxcatmoon - Will They, or Won't They?
reeby10 in celebrity20in20 - Round 19 Extension
friendof_dorothy in celebrity20in20 - Round 19 - Pippa Black - Friendof_dorothy
billroper - Smaller Steps
falcrum - Подмастерье ювелира, замурованный вроцлавским собором Иоанна Крестителя
olivermoss - Guild Wars 2
mxcatmoon - Sunday Check-in

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