Snowflake Challenge
Jan. 11th, 2026 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith... is running a bit late today, but the mods are on top of it. If they can't reach the planned day host, someone else will step in to post the challenge.
ysabetwordsmith
2026 Three Sentence Ficathon
Jan. 11th, 2026 02:14 pmrthstewartit's [almost] heeeeeeeeerrrre
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
threesentenceficathon begins 17 January.
Schedule is here.
Dust off those prompts!
threesentenceficathon begins 17 January.Schedule is here.
Dust off those prompts!
Science
Jan. 11th, 2026 01:05 pmysabetwordsmithThis new imaging technology breaks the rules of optics
Scientists have unveiled a new way to capture ultra-sharp optical images without lenses or painstaking alignment. The approach uses multiple sensors to collect raw light patterns independently, then synchronizes them later using computation. This sidesteps long-standing physical limits that have held optical imaging back for decades. The result is wide-field, sub-micron resolution from distances that were previously impossible.
I immediately thought of how many species have multiple eyes. Vertebrates favor two, but invertebrates often have more. Spiders run to 8. Scallops can have hundreds. Since eyes are delicate and expensive tissue, there must be a compelling advantage, specially for more than 1-2 of them. I would suspect that greater detail is among the advantages.
Scientists have unveiled a new way to capture ultra-sharp optical images without lenses or painstaking alignment. The approach uses multiple sensors to collect raw light patterns independently, then synchronizes them later using computation. This sidesteps long-standing physical limits that have held optical imaging back for decades. The result is wide-field, sub-micron resolution from distances that were previously impossible.
I immediately thought of how many species have multiple eyes. Vertebrates favor two, but invertebrates often have more. Spiders run to 8. Scallops can have hundreds. Since eyes are delicate and expensive tissue, there must be a compelling advantage, specially for more than 1-2 of them. I would suspect that greater detail is among the advantages.
Birdfeeding
Jan. 11th, 2026 01:02 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and cold. It snowed a little last night, just enough to leave riffles in the grass and some larger white patches in the fields.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows, several mourning doves, and a starling.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/11/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a male cardinal.
EDIT 1/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen one female and two male cardinals.
EDIT 1/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows, several mourning doves, and a starling.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/11/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a male cardinal.
EDIT 1/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen one female and two male cardinals.
EDIT 1/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Pegasus Bridge, Normandy
Jan. 11th, 2026 01:12 pmrthstewartThe spousal unit and I spent 5 days in Normandy, France last year touring D-Day sites as well as Mont Saint Michel and a bit of Paris. We stayed in Bayeux (Tapestry!) and spent two days touring the British and Canadian becahes and sites, and then the American sites. We were able to go back and spend a full day at Pegasus Bridge and the Merville Gun Battery.
We had lunch at the Ham and Jam creperie right across the street from the sadly closed Gondree Cafe. It's so sad now to think of the US going to war with its French and British allies because Drump psychologically needs to invade Greenland.
NGL it was awesome to see the inspiration for my stories in real life and to realized that yeah, I got pretty damned close. I cried a few times, thinking of how much I wrote, how hard I worked at it, and wondering if I would ever get that again. Wonderful. And so personally devastating too.
A few pics below.
Château de Bénouville
Posters on Av. du Commandant Kieffer, Bénouville, France which crosses the Caen Canal where the original Pegasus Bridge stood and Operation Tonga
Major John Howard Avenue, Pegasus Bridge Sign, and Marker where Horsas crashed
Wally Parr's Number 1 gun "I didn't know it was going to be a quiet war."
Ultra report on Operation Tonga
And last, the gravesite of Lt. Den Brotheridge (maybe not the first casualty of D-Day). As it turns out, there's a very different tradition between American vs Canadian/British fallen. Americans are collected in single, solemn, uniform sites; Canadian and Britsh are interred where they fell. So Normandy is dotted with scores of tiny church graveyards with Canadians and British who died there.
The stained glass windows throughout Normandy churches, including the cathedral in Bayeux, are a mix of traditional Catholic iconography and signs and insignias of the D-Day operations, including parachutes, flying horses, St George and the Dragon, eagles, and service insignia, all in stained glass.
We had lunch at the Ham and Jam creperie right across the street from the sadly closed Gondree Cafe. It's so sad now to think of the US going to war with its French and British allies because Drump psychologically needs to invade Greenland.
NGL it was awesome to see the inspiration for my stories in real life and to realized that yeah, I got pretty damned close. I cried a few times, thinking of how much I wrote, how hard I worked at it, and wondering if I would ever get that again. Wonderful. And so personally devastating too.
A few pics below.
Château de Bénouville
Posters on Av. du Commandant Kieffer, Bénouville, France which crosses the Caen Canal where the original Pegasus Bridge stood and Operation Tonga
Major John Howard Avenue, Pegasus Bridge Sign, and Marker where Horsas crashed
Wally Parr's Number 1 gun "I didn't know it was going to be a quiet war."
Ultra report on Operation Tonga
And last, the gravesite of Lt. Den Brotheridge (maybe not the first casualty of D-Day). As it turns out, there's a very different tradition between American vs Canadian/British fallen. Americans are collected in single, solemn, uniform sites; Canadian and Britsh are interred where they fell. So Normandy is dotted with scores of tiny church graveyards with Canadians and British who died there.
The stained glass windows throughout Normandy churches, including the cathedral in Bayeux, are a mix of traditional Catholic iconography and signs and insignias of the D-Day operations, including parachutes, flying horses, St George and the Dragon, eagles, and service insignia, all in stained glass.
Art
Jan. 11th, 2026 12:39 pmysabetwordsmithA friend mentioned Belgian symbolism in art, and when I asked about that, recommended the work of Jean Delville. Fascinating. :D I'd never seen it before, and it really does have a lot of symbolic imagery.
On the way out
Jan. 11th, 2026 11:54 amrthstewartNo, don't panic (if you're still here and reading) not out, out as in dead. but on Tumblr someone commented, essentially, whoa, rthstewart is retiring? I didn't know she was that old. Yep. I'm old. Yep, I'm retiring 12/31/26 and will return to fic and chasing wolves and bears in American national parks. I am reminded of the Bujold quote, "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards". None of those really apply. In my field, reputation probably matters more than honor and if I don't stop soon, I won't outlive the bastards.
( about health )
Once you reach a certain age, I think we'd like to think there will be parties, balloons, and celebration of a 40+ year career. That there will be some sort of capstone. But, that doesn't seem to be the reality. ( short work blather )
So that's all the news here.
In other news, I realized I never shared a particular highlight. I finally made it to Normandy! It was magical. I'll post some pics of my time (2 DAYS) at Pegasus Bridge, Bénouville.
Here are two pics of the doggos! Kili and my Christmas present, Big Book of Bread, which is fabulous
.
And Kili and Komo at Christmas
( about health )
Once you reach a certain age, I think we'd like to think there will be parties, balloons, and celebration of a 40+ year career. That there will be some sort of capstone. But, that doesn't seem to be the reality. ( short work blather )
So that's all the news here.
In other news, I realized I never shared a particular highlight. I finally made it to Normandy! It was magical. I'll post some pics of my time (2 DAYS) at Pegasus Bridge, Bénouville.
Here are two pics of the doggos! Kili and my Christmas present, Big Book of Bread, which is fabulous
.
And Kili and Komo at Christmas
Fanfic, Moon Child, Kei & Sho, soothing nightmares
Jan. 11th, 2026 11:50 amkalira in smallfandomfestTitle: Cunning Comfort
Author:kalira
Fandom: Moon Child
Ship/Characters: Kei & Sho
Rating/Category: T/Gen
Prompt: Moon Child, Kei & or / Sho, soothing nightmares
Spoilers: general, that Kei has nightmares
Summary: If Kei won't accept comfort for himself . . . well, Sho will just have to think of some way to work around him and give it anyway.
Notes/Warnings: N/A
Wordcount: 1,050
Read on AO3
Author:
kaliraFandom: Moon Child
Ship/Characters: Kei & Sho
Rating/Category: T/Gen
Prompt: Moon Child, Kei & or / Sho, soothing nightmares
Spoilers: general, that Kei has nightmares
Summary: If Kei won't accept comfort for himself . . . well, Sho will just have to think of some way to work around him and give it anyway.
Notes/Warnings: N/A
Wordcount: 1,050
Read on AO3
2025 reading wrap up
Jan. 11th, 2026 11:39 amfred_mousehopefully this storygraph link goes to the public option, not the for me specifically option.
I'm choosing to not look at what was planned; I've already posted about my 5 star reads and some other thinking. This is me just reading through and having feelings.
- The first (We Were Dreamers, Simu Liu, biography) and last (The House That Horror Built, Christina Henry, horror) sure are an interesting juxtaposition
- The 'mood' graph seems weird and I wish it wasn't there
- Going back to study had a noticeable effect on how much I was reading, which is not a surprise
- I hate the way that storygraph does 'genre' because my top five are fantasy, science fiction, short stories, LGBTQIA+, and horror, only three of which I consider to be genres.
- 15 days per book as an average just shows how much my reading is an overlapping thing.
- 'top authors' - Katherine MacLean was 4 (that can't be right, there were 8 short stories, I must not have tracked them all), Premee Mohammed (3 stories, hmm, something odd there as well), and Dave Warner (3 books, that's a trilogy)
- average rating 3.75 - probably because the DNF/0 don't get counted; I gave 11 2 star ratings, which seems more than I would have expected. Most frequent rating of 4 is also higher than I would have expected.
- somehow there were 52 'new to me' authors, which is interesting because I felt like I was sticking to comfortable stuff.
- DNF - 22 books; not sure if that feels high
- read 24 of my books - I bet that this is an undercount, because I don't always mark books as owned, particularly if I only have them as ebook.
- it is weird that my highest rated reads tend to be non-fiction, because I read so little of it
I clicked through to the more detail
- most commonly applied tag is 'borrowed', applied to 21 books. 21 borrowed + 24 owned =/= the number read
- I need to update the tags on some, because they don't have the
-readsuffix added
(no subject)
Jan. 11th, 2026 09:35 amfred_mouseYesterday, I was having a conversation with Youngest about (SF) con-running. The topic was international guests, and what the timelines are for inviting them.
I said something flippant about 'well, that timeline would be doable these days, because everyone has email, at least we don't have to write letters'. And there was that moment where I could see Youngest's world view shift in real time, so we talked in a bit more detail about my memories of the first con I was involved in running*. That in 1996, when we were approaching people to be guests, email addresses were not ubiquitous**. That our primary method of contact was letters. And then I talked about the fact that we had to assume a best case scenario of a month turn around on anything we sent.
What I didn't think to say, is that because of that, there is a reasonably high chance that there is a letter from Douglas Adams in the WASFF archive. The reasons there might not be is that it might be from their agent, or it may have been lost when various documents were transferred to the archives.
* I was Treasurer for SwanCon 23 in 1998; that committee then did a quick reshuffle and ran SwanCon 25 in 2000. I started my committee habit early -- I was on the UniSFA (UWA SF club) as Fresher rep ('92), President ('93) and IPP ('94).
**We got into a side discussion about how rare email addresses were in 1992, when I got my first email address, when the uni I studied at decided to do the somewhat radical thing of provide an email address to any student who requested one, regardless of faculty. I'd love to know what the thinking was and whether it was 'this is going to become essential knowledge' or if it was something more.
Fanfic, Bionicle - All Media Types, Jaller & Takua & Hahli, Feast Day in Ta-Koro!
Jan. 10th, 2026 03:36 pmbluerosekatie in smallfandomfestTitle: Feasts and Friendship
Author: bluerosekatie
Fandom: Bionicle - All Media Types
Pairing/Characters: Jaller & Takua & Hahli, background Hahli/Jaller
Rating/Category: Gen, background het
Prompt: Bionicle - All Media Types, Jaller & Takua & Hahli, Feast Day in Ta-Koro!
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Jaller enjoys a day off with his friends.
Notes/Warnings: Fic is archive-locked to avoid AI scraping.
Read it on Ao3 here!
Author: bluerosekatie
Fandom: Bionicle - All Media Types
Pairing/Characters: Jaller & Takua & Hahli, background Hahli/Jaller
Rating/Category: Gen, background het
Prompt: Bionicle - All Media Types, Jaller & Takua & Hahli, Feast Day in Ta-Koro!
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Jaller enjoys a day off with his friends.
Notes/Warnings: Fic is archive-locked to avoid AI scraping.
Read it on Ao3 here!
Photos: Contorta Willow
Jan. 10th, 2026 05:07 pmysabetwordsmithI took some pictures yesterday but didn't have time to upload and post them until today. The night before, a windstorm blew down the contorta willow sapling that used to stand between the house yard and the south lot, near the big maple tree.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Birdfeeding
Jan. 10th, 2026 02:01 pmysabetwordsmithToday is mostly cloudy. It rained again at some point last night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows and a mourning dove.
I heard the owl hooting all night too. :D
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 1/10/26 -- I put out a fresh suet cake and refilled the hopper feeder. Sparrows have been mobbing. There is now a starling in addition to the mourning dove, but he isn't trying to squeeze in there either -- he knows he is outnumbered.
EDIT 1/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
It is 5 PM. The sun has recently set but the sky is still fairly light.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows and a mourning dove.
I heard the owl hooting all night too. :D
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 1/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 1/10/26 -- I put out a fresh suet cake and refilled the hopper feeder. Sparrows have been mobbing. There is now a starling in addition to the mourning dove, but he isn't trying to squeeze in there either -- he knows he is outnumbered.
EDIT 1/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
It is 5 PM. The sun has recently set but the sky is still fairly light.
I am done for the night.
Fossils
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:34 pmysabetwordsmithWhy Earth’s earliest animals left little trace behind
Spicules, tiny mineral needles that stiffen sponge tissue, drop into seafloor mud and can persist for ages. When early sponges lacked these needles, the fossil record would mainly show empty space and a few ambiguous chemical traces. Many of the rocks that capture early animal life formed during the quiet stretch just before the Cambrian explosion. Geologists call this interval the Ediacaran, the last Precambrian period with large, soft animals, and they mark it on official time charts. In those layers, sponge bodies are hard to spot, so the debate has leaned heavily on genetics and chemistry.
( Read more... )
Spicules, tiny mineral needles that stiffen sponge tissue, drop into seafloor mud and can persist for ages. When early sponges lacked these needles, the fossil record would mainly show empty space and a few ambiguous chemical traces. Many of the rocks that capture early animal life formed during the quiet stretch just before the Cambrian explosion. Geologists call this interval the Ediacaran, the last Precambrian period with large, soft animals, and they mark it on official time charts. In those layers, sponge bodies are hard to spot, so the debate has leaned heavily on genetics and chemistry.
( Read more... )
#footscraygoose by facingthenorthwind
Jan. 10th, 2026 01:38 pmmythicmistress in fancakeFandom: Original Work
Pairings/Characters: Original Characters, Original Soulmate Goose
Rating: T
Length: 4,278 words
Creator Links: facingthenorthwind(spacegandalf) at AO3
Theme: Crack Treated Seriously
Summary: Biosecurity officers have identified and captured a lesser white-fronted goose in Footscray, Victoria. Due to the biosecurity risk to Australian bird life and the poultry industry, the bird is not permitted to remain in Australia and will be humanely destroyed.
Reccer's Notes: This fic was brought to my attention in a Discord server. I found it too hilarious NOT to share here. Also points for having accurate details according to the Australian server member who linked it.
Fanwork Links: #footscraygoose on AO3
Pairings/Characters: Original Characters, Original Soulmate Goose
Rating: T
Length: 4,278 words
Creator Links: facingthenorthwind(spacegandalf) at AO3
Theme: Crack Treated Seriously
Summary: Biosecurity officers have identified and captured a lesser white-fronted goose in Footscray, Victoria. Due to the biosecurity risk to Australian bird life and the poultry industry, the bird is not permitted to remain in Australia and will be humanely destroyed.
Reccer's Notes: This fic was brought to my attention in a Discord server. I found it too hilarious NOT to share here. Also points for having accurate details according to the Australian server member who linked it.
Fanwork Links: #footscraygoose on AO3
Science
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:28 pmysabetwordsmithHuman brains emit light and glow in the dark, revealing our mental state
All living tissues give off photons as excited molecules shed excess energy. The phenomenon is so subtle – roughly a million times dimmer than the threshold of human vision – that researchers call it ultra-weak photon emission (UPE).
Oh look, scientists have "discovered" the aura of life energy. Now go figure out how people detect it without tools, because humans have been drawing and writing about that for ages.
All living tissues give off photons as excited molecules shed excess energy. The phenomenon is so subtle – roughly a million times dimmer than the threshold of human vision – that researchers call it ultra-weak photon emission (UPE).
Oh look, scientists have "discovered" the aura of life energy. Now go figure out how people detect it without tools, because humans have been drawing and writing about that for ages.