Sunshine Revival Challenge #2
Jul. 5th, 2025 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingstoken
Challenge #2
Tunnel of Love
Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.
Creative: Write a love poem to anyone or anything you like
Oh man neither one of these challenges was made for me. Summer is not my favourite season, that would be Autumn, I know very basic white woman of me. Plus, I grew up on a farm, so summer always meant work. I guess I do like how fast and easy it is to get dressed in the mornings, just throw on shorts and a t-shirt and you're good. I also love all the summer fruit we get this time of year, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, etc, yummy!
I'm not a person who really writes poetry anymore (I dabbled a little bit when I was teenager). I got nothing against it, I enjoy other people's poetry, it just not something I enjoy doing myself.
As recompense for my lack of creativity please accept his famous poem about Sherlock Holmes:
Serpico and the corruption epidemic
Jul. 5th, 2025 01:15 pmmxcatmoonI did not celebrate July 4th. They served hot dogs and hamburgers at work, yeah, but, free food, can't afford to turn down.
( Political rant and unpleasant truths under the cut! )
( Political rant and unpleasant truths under the cut! )
The Day in Spikedluv (Friday, July 4)
Jul. 5th, 2025 07:04 amspikedluvHappy belated The Original No Kings Day.
I had mom duty from 8am to 3pm. Before I left I hand-washed some dishes and changed kitty litter. I returned a book to the library on my way there. While I was at mom’s I went for a walk. (I had eyed up this walk previously, thinking it would be close to my half-mile walks, but this was the first time I tried it. It turned out to be .65 mi, but it was a nice walk. Aside from the horrid sidewalks. The village really needs to fix the sidewalks, which have been in poor condition since I was a child, and probably before that.)
When I got home I did more hand-washing of dishes, grilled steak for Pip’s supper, shaved, and tossed a load of bath towel in the washer (AND dryer!).
I started the next Amelia Peabody book.
Temps started out at 57.4(F) and reached 77. It was a lovely day, sunny with a strong breeze.
Mom Update:
Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )
I had mom duty from 8am to 3pm. Before I left I hand-washed some dishes and changed kitty litter. I returned a book to the library on my way there. While I was at mom’s I went for a walk. (I had eyed up this walk previously, thinking it would be close to my half-mile walks, but this was the first time I tried it. It turned out to be .65 mi, but it was a nice walk. Aside from the horrid sidewalks. The village really needs to fix the sidewalks, which have been in poor condition since I was a child, and probably before that.)
When I got home I did more hand-washing of dishes, grilled steak for Pip’s supper, shaved, and tossed a load of bath towel in the washer (AND dryer!).
I started the next Amelia Peabody book.
Temps started out at 57.4(F) and reached 77. It was a lovely day, sunny with a strong breeze.
Mom Update:
Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )
What I'm Reading: Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman
Jul. 4th, 2025 04:20 pmdelphi✓ kingstoken's 2025 Book Bingo: Non-Human POV
(I checked this square off my bingo card last time, but this new release arrived with perfect timing, so I'm doubling up.)
Ew, It's Beautiful is the newest collection of cartoonist Joshua Barkman's webcomic False Knees. It contains around 120 short comics, the majority of which were new to me, separated into sections for winter, spring, summer, and fall based on their setting.
The stars of False Knees are usually birds, but there are some cats, insects, and at least a couple of beavers in the mix here. Barkman's art is legitimately beautiful, with a naturalist's specificity and a knack for combining human expressions with realistic animal features, and his writing captures the universal experience of being a small creature in an unfathomably big world. It's full of absurd humour, occasional moments of awe, and recurring bits about the creative process, self-image, and the way friends or family can be on entirely different wavelengths. The comic is where I got my current default icon from, and it almost never fails to bring me a little joy or give me something to appreciate.
( 3 Comics )
kingstoken's 2025 Book Bingo: Non-Human POV(I checked this square off my bingo card last time, but this new release arrived with perfect timing, so I'm doubling up.)
Ew, It's Beautiful is the newest collection of cartoonist Joshua Barkman's webcomic False Knees. It contains around 120 short comics, the majority of which were new to me, separated into sections for winter, spring, summer, and fall based on their setting.
The stars of False Knees are usually birds, but there are some cats, insects, and at least a couple of beavers in the mix here. Barkman's art is legitimately beautiful, with a naturalist's specificity and a knack for combining human expressions with realistic animal features, and his writing captures the universal experience of being a small creature in an unfathomably big world. It's full of absurd humour, occasional moments of awe, and recurring bits about the creative process, self-image, and the way friends or family can be on entirely different wavelengths. The comic is where I got my current default icon from, and it almost never fails to bring me a little joy or give me something to appreciate.
( 3 Comics )
The Day in Spikedluv (Thursday, July 3)
Jul. 4th, 2025 07:08 amspikedluvI did not have any mom-duties today so I went downtown like usual. (My old usual. *g*) I hit Walmart, but was unable to get in a walk around the park because it started to pour just as I was checking out. (I stood in the self-check out area and stared in dismay out the doors. It was not supposed to rain this morning.) Thankfully, by the time I got home, it was no longer raining here. (Must’ve hit us first and headed east to downtown.)
Once I had unpacked the car and put everything away, I left to visit my aunt, stopping at the library on the way. The librarian working today is the one who got me into two of the book series I’m reading, and I had to talk to her about them. *g* I showed my aunt photos from Ian’s graduation and paid my monthly visit to the business office.
I stopped at Sunnycrest on the way home and picked up more of the beef sticks Pip likes, hit Stewart’s for milk on the way to pick up the dogs, then went for a short walk with the dogs when we got home. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, hard-boiled some eggs, and scooped kitty litter. Being home meant I could make supper, so I grilled pork chops.
I finished reading the second book in the Lily Adler series, watched an HGTV program, and talked to mom on the phone like old times!
Temps started out at 63.3(F) and reached 82.4. There was some sun, but not much.
Mom Update:
Mom had her follow-up visit with the surgeon this morning. ( more back here )
Once I had unpacked the car and put everything away, I left to visit my aunt, stopping at the library on the way. The librarian working today is the one who got me into two of the book series I’m reading, and I had to talk to her about them. *g* I showed my aunt photos from Ian’s graduation and paid my monthly visit to the business office.
I stopped at Sunnycrest on the way home and picked up more of the beef sticks Pip likes, hit Stewart’s for milk on the way to pick up the dogs, then went for a short walk with the dogs when we got home. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, hard-boiled some eggs, and scooped kitty litter. Being home meant I could make supper, so I grilled pork chops.
I finished reading the second book in the Lily Adler series, watched an HGTV program, and talked to mom on the phone like old times!
Temps started out at 63.3(F) and reached 82.4. There was some sun, but not much.
Mom Update:
Mom had her follow-up visit with the surgeon this morning. ( more back here )
Return of the living dork girl
Jul. 3rd, 2025 10:21 pmhamimi_fki.e. Me!
I'm about 50% less angsty and in my feels now! Got a new laptop (that I bought myself - used but a beauty nonetheless). I have a job... as my mom's caretaker, but I get paid for it, so win!
It's crazy that I haven't posted in such a long time but I was in a shit headspace for a while there. Depression is a bitch, ya know? I'm no better by any means, just kind of learned to let go of what I can't win. Playing video games helps, too. A Lot.
I don't fangirl as much as I used to, but I miss it. I have much fangirling to do about Genshin Impact and My Hero Academia. I'm not sorry about it, lol.
Oh! I've been reading a lot lately. I discovered the ability to walk down the street and read a book on my phone. Sounds impossible but it's the best time for me to get my reading done.
There's other things to say, but mostly I wanted to say hi!
I'm about 50% less angsty and in my feels now! Got a new laptop (that I bought myself - used but a beauty nonetheless). I have a job... as my mom's caretaker, but I get paid for it, so win!
It's crazy that I haven't posted in such a long time but I was in a shit headspace for a while there. Depression is a bitch, ya know? I'm no better by any means, just kind of learned to let go of what I can't win. Playing video games helps, too. A Lot.
I don't fangirl as much as I used to, but I miss it. I have much fangirling to do about Genshin Impact and My Hero Academia. I'm not sorry about it, lol.
Oh! I've been reading a lot lately. I discovered the ability to walk down the street and read a book on my phone. Sounds impossible but it's the best time for me to get my reading done.
There's other things to say, but mostly I wanted to say hi!
current fandom events
Jul. 3rd, 2025 12:03 pmsvgurl![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sunshine_revival is active through the month of July! There will be 7 challenges, one posted every four days. There is also a Friending Meme.allbingo is running Winterfest in July. There are both pre-made bingo cards or you can create your own based on the available prompts.allbingo is also running a Western Bingo Fest. Premade cards and the option to make one yourself are both available here as well. littleblackdressex, a fic/art/podfic exchange based on works about your "little black dress" character (the one you feel goes with everything/you multiship), is open for sign-ups until July 6th, 11:59PM EDT. Nominations have also been reopened. battleshipex, an event where you join a team and race to clear a board of targets by creating fanworks, has opened sign-ups until July 9th or until they reach 280 sign-ups. Nominations are also still open.narniaexchange, a Chronicles of Narnia fic exchange, is open for sign-ups until July 11th.no_true_pair has opened sign-ups for their No True Crossover Event, where you sign up with four different fandoms and use the posted prompts that uses all the fandoms in different combinations, and you create works using those randomly made crossovers.fancake's theme of the month is: working together. Click on the banner below to find out more!
sunshine revival challenge #1
Jul. 3rd, 2025 10:55 amsvgurl
Challenge #1:
Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Goals for July:
-write and complete at least one fic (writing more non-exchange fics has been a constant goal and I am hoping to get there)
-read three books (I keep checking books out but I need to actually finish them and find the motivation to read again)
Goals for the rest of the year
-get more organized (a constant struggle)
-try something new (vague but it's easier when it's broad)
-make more solid traveling plans
-try to write a little very day (I'm hoping consistent habits will be good for me)
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community
I made 5 summer-y icons. Anyone is welcome to save/use them! :)
The Day in Spikedluv (Wednesday, July 2)
Jul. 3rd, 2025 08:13 amspikedluvI had the morning off of ‘mom-duty’ because of appointments. I told my sister S I’d be there by noon definitely, but would try to get there earlier, just so I didn’t have to rush. I got there around 11:30am.
I had a chiropractic appointment this morning (to go over results of last week’s tests and an adjustment) followed by a pedicure (I cancelled the last appointment because mom was still in the hospital so I really need it as I have an ingrown toe nail issue that needs addressing almost every visit). I chose a pretty lilac purple for my toes. I also got in a walk around the park.
I was also relieved early because my one sister has ‘summer hours’ and gets out early, and since she wasn’t staying the night, she bridged me and our other sister. I was home early enough to grill baby back ribs for Pip’s supper (saving the frozen GF pizza for another night). I also did a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, hand-washed dishes, and scooped kitty litter.
I started the second Lily Adler book, watched an HGTV program, and showered.
Temps started out at 66.7(F) and reached 84.4 that I saw. It was beautiful today, hot but not humid and there was a lovely breeze. A perfect day, really.
Mom Update:
Mom was up and sitting at the table with my sister, who was putting together a puzzle, when I got there. Mom didn’t seem that interested in the puzzle, but she was eating a yogurt. She later got on her tablet and then ate some rice krispies. I turned on Matlock while I was eating lunch, but it was a bust because it was two eps that my mom didn't like to watch (with Matlock being locked inside a prison to solve a crime).
I asked my sister S about scheduling for Friday and she was like, I can barely think about Thursday. *rolls eyes* I told my sister A (can't recall if I mentioned it to S) that I want to have a meal free to cook something for the holiday, either lunch or supper. I'm happy to spend the day there as long as I can get off early enough to grill (and it better not rain). We'll see what happens.
I had a chiropractic appointment this morning (to go over results of last week’s tests and an adjustment) followed by a pedicure (I cancelled the last appointment because mom was still in the hospital so I really need it as I have an ingrown toe nail issue that needs addressing almost every visit). I chose a pretty lilac purple for my toes. I also got in a walk around the park.
I was also relieved early because my one sister has ‘summer hours’ and gets out early, and since she wasn’t staying the night, she bridged me and our other sister. I was home early enough to grill baby back ribs for Pip’s supper (saving the frozen GF pizza for another night). I also did a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, hand-washed dishes, and scooped kitty litter.
I started the second Lily Adler book, watched an HGTV program, and showered.
Temps started out at 66.7(F) and reached 84.4 that I saw. It was beautiful today, hot but not humid and there was a lovely breeze. A perfect day, really.
Mom Update:
Mom was up and sitting at the table with my sister, who was putting together a puzzle, when I got there. Mom didn’t seem that interested in the puzzle, but she was eating a yogurt. She later got on her tablet and then ate some rice krispies. I turned on Matlock while I was eating lunch, but it was a bust because it was two eps that my mom didn't like to watch (with Matlock being locked inside a prison to solve a crime).
I asked my sister S about scheduling for Friday and she was like, I can barely think about Thursday. *rolls eyes* I told my sister A (can't recall if I mentioned it to S) that I want to have a meal free to cook something for the holiday, either lunch or supper. I'm happy to spend the day there as long as I can get off early enough to grill (and it better not rain). We'll see what happens.
No Kings! Icon
Jul. 2nd, 2025 09:40 pmmxcatmoonSo, I just whipped up a little something for the creative part of the challenge. It's not much, but feel free to swipe if you want. I've been wanting to do something along this line for a while now... There are also a couple of other themes that I was wishing I had icons for, but now I can't remember what they were.
Sunshine Revival Challenge #1
Jul. 2nd, 2025 06:54 pmalexcatChallenge #1
Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
Goals? Oh my! I think I might have given goals some time back. These days, just getting thour8gh the day is good. Living in t****'s America is draining. I would love to get back into writing. It does help with all that existential dread and angst I feel these days. My favorite Big Bang canceled this year. Maybe I'll hunt another one. Anyhow, my rest of the year goals and July goals are to do more fandom things.
I made this:
Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
Goals? Oh my! I think I might have given goals some time back. These days, just getting thour8gh the day is good. Living in t****'s America is draining. I would love to get back into writing. It does help with all that existential dread and angst I feel these days. My favorite Big Bang canceled this year. Maybe I'll hunt another one. Anyhow, my rest of the year goals and July goals are to do more fandom things.
I made this:
Wednesday What I'm...
Jul. 2nd, 2025 06:53 pmreeby10Reading
- Still on New World Witchery by Cory Thomas Hutcheson, but I'm very close to the end! Not that I've taken much time to read this week since I'm using the roommate's car to commute.
- Ficwise, I'm still deep in Gradence. I think I'm starting to run out of the good stuff though, so we'll see how long until I switch to something else. Maybe the Stobotnik fics my friend sent me a couple of weeks ago lol
- The roommate's out of town, so I've been watching some movies she doesn't like. So far:
- Python and Python 2. I liked Python alright, it had some fun moments and good character dynamics. The second movie starred the best character from the first movie, but they committed complete character assassination on him imo, which sucked.
- Piranha. I was really surprised by how well this one held up! I liked it a lot, actually more than Jaws, which it's very similar to.
- Dinoshark. Pretty ok, but definitely of the bad CGI variety lmao
- Bad Moon. I was expecting to like this one more than I did tbh. Really did not like the werewolf guy and the werewolf effects were honestly pretty terrible.
- Underground. Only made it 30 mins into this one before I gave up bc literally nothing was happening. They were still doing set up! And it was boring!
- Forgot to say last week that I started watching some PBS Nova episodes that they've got posted on youtube. They're great to work to! So far:
- Arctic Ghost Ship, about looking for the ships of the Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage. It kind of made me want to watch The Terror lol
- Arctic Sinkholes, about arctic sinkholes caused by defrosting permafrost caused by climate change. Oof.
- Ötzi the Iceman: A 5,000-Year-Old True Crime Murder Mystery, about researching Ötzi's origins and creating a replica for study.
- Ancient Maya Metropolis, about a particular Mayan city but also about the decline of the civilization as a whole. It made me miss studying anthropology...
- Ancient Builders of the Amazon, about the relatively new research into city building in the Amazon.
- AEW as usual. It's fine.
- Lots of radio time while I've got my roommate's car. Wish they'd play more than the same couple of songs on every station :/
- I'm trying to get back to being active on comment_fic for the first time since leaving LJ. I've written three fills so far!