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ysabetwordsmith

Happy Monsterotica Launch Day!

The crowdfunding campaign to fund publishing of our next erotic anthology, Monsterotica: Tales of Unusual Courtship and Coupling, is now live on Kickstarter!

Now through December 2nd, 2025, we seek to raise $10,500 to cover publishing of the anthology and creation of the related merchandise. This awesome book contains 16 queer stories by 16 awesome authors, each story up to 7,500 words long. We encouraged authors to pitch us stories featuring unusual creatures and unconventional genitals; you won’t find any vampires or weres here, but you will find insectoid aliens, mountain cryptids, scales and feathers, tentacles, detachable anatomy, interspecies shenanigans, courtship confusion, and much more. And of course, in addition to featuring monster x monster and monster x human relationships, every single story also includes queer characters and queer relationships!

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

My poem "GAMING" is up on

computerworld.

beavertech has been commissioning poems to be posted in The Freaks Club family of communities.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

In praise of the small things in life: DDG Bangs!

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-respecting search engine launched in 2008 that has been slowly expanding into something else truly. (I mean, come on, Identity Theft Restoration?). Well, nevertheless, I still use DuckDuckGo because it's easy, their search results aren't polluted with all sorts of nonsense, they did introduce an AI summarize feature but I don't use it and it's easy to opt out thankfully. But all of that pales in comparison to the best DDG feature, Bangs!

Bangs are… well it's kinda hard to describe them, it's basically a shortcut from your search engine to wherever else, so if you have DuckDuckGo set as your search engine, you can basically search using other search engines quite easily!

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Here is an interesting discussion about what it costs to buy kitchen equipment. None of this is how I'd go about it, unless someone handed me grant money earmarked for that purpose. (Fair disclosure: I could make a crude but usable knife by busting a rock, and I could cook on a flat rock or with sticks. Kitchen equipment is a beloved convenience for me.)

( Read more... )

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ysabetwordsmith

Massachusetts is turning retired cranberry bogs into natural wetlands. They’re on track to rewild 1,000 acres

In November 2024, the DER funneled $6 million in grants to the restoration plan. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, more than 500 acres of retired cranberry bogs have already been converted into wetlands — with hopes of restoring 1,000 acres in the next decade.

“These projects will transform degraded former cranberry bogs into thriving wetlands that will provide habitat to important species, flood control in time of storms, and access for all to beautiful natural areas,” Governor Maura Healey said in a statement.

This is a brilliant plan that will provide tremendous benefits for wildlife, as wetlands are among the most biodiverse communities. It will be especially helpful to migrating waterfowl of the Atlantic Flyway.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny and mild, a beautiful fall day.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a fox squirrel.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I planted 4 clusters of Egyptian walking onions.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I filled a trolley with dead weeds and dumped it in the firepit.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/12/25 -- I filled another trolley with dead weeds and dumped it in the firepit.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

I hit Walmart and Agway while I was downtown. At home I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher and ran another load, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I pulled spaghetti sauce out of the freezer for supper and also browned ground beef to make the base of ~something for the coming cold days (I'm thinking our family version of goulash, which is nothing like actual goulash, which I found out when I ordered it out once and was like, wtf is this?!! o_O).

I finished the Hallmark Christmas movie I started last night and watched another. I think the light snow was making me feel seasonal-ish.

Temps started out at 26.6(F) (forecasted to be 23) and reached 34.5 (forecasted to be 30). Both the low and high temps were slightly higher than forecasted. Today is supposed to be the coldest day of the week, and I hope that holds. There was a coating of snow on the ground when I left the house this morning, but the main roads were pretty good. It snowed all day, but so light you could barely see it, and it melted as soon as it hit the ground, thankfully. It was very windy for most of the afternoon and I had to dress very warmly (aka, so many layers) on our walks.

Tumblr-speak has made it into my everyday language. When I let Ti out this afternoon I asked him if he was sure he wanted to go outside because it was awfully ‘wimdy’ out.

Mom Update:

Mom sounded good today when I called her. ( more back here )

ysabetwordsmith

Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.

We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, along with various other harvest festivals and feasts. :D Load up the table! I am putting out Delectable Turkey of Gratitude, Buddha's Hand Salad, Mashed Yams with Halva, Persimmon Crumble, and apple cider.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Solar flares are causing auroras to appear in the northern half of the continental USA.

We caught a great show here in central Illinois. :D There was a large bright green blob to the northwest, a paler green streak just south of that, a larger red area just north of it, and some pink off toward the northeast. It's the most distinctive aurora we've seen -- previous examples tended to be solid sheets and less bright.

Current Mood: excited

ysabetwordsmith

This picture of a horse in a spacesuit snagged my attention. There are a lot of things wrong with the picture, but one in particular I wanted to talk about because it's so relevant to science fiction. That horse would be almost blind. Humans see mostly forward with binocular vision. Horses see mostly sideways with monocular vision; they have a narrow blind spot in back, another right in front of them, and a little wedge of binocular vision. This is why you always approach a horse from the side, where they can see you easily, and why they often turn their head to look at you sideways if you are in front of them.

So a spacesuit helmet for a prey species with eyes to the side should have its reinforcement as a strip from front to back, with a faceplate on either side, rather than a small window only in the front. When you design spacesuits for aliens, keep in mind how their sensory organs work, and try to avoid just mimicking equipment designed for humans.

Current Mood: busy

stonepicnicking_okapi in

sweetandshort

Title: A Patent Remedy
Fandom: Poirot detective series - Agatha Christie
Rating: Teen
Length: 500
Prompt: Human
Also for: 2025 Kinktober Day 12: Sex work - kneeling
Summary: Vanity isn't the only reason Poirot refuses to wear comfortable shoes.

( Read more... )

ysabetwordsmith

Killer whales perfect a ruthless trick to hunt great white sharks

Orcas in Mexico are flipping young great whites for their livers — a chilling display of intelligence and adaptation.

In the Gulf of California, a pod of orcas known as Moctezuma’s pod has developed a chillingly precise technique for hunting young great white sharks — flipping them upside down to paralyze and extract their nutrient-rich livers. The behavior, filmed and documented by marine biologists, reveals a level of intelligence and social learning that suggests cultural transmission of hunting tactics among orcas.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/11/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a young fox squirrel at the hopper feeder

EDIT 11/11/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

9-1-1: My eyeballs are still popping. ( spoilers )

Matlock: This ep made me uncomfortable. ( spoilers )

Tracker: Good ep! ( spoilers )

ysabetwordsmith

Plausible: Privacy focused Google Analytics alternative

Even though the purpose of Plausible Analytics is to track the usage of a website, this can still be done without collecting any personal data or personally identifiable information (PII), without using cookies and while respecting the privacy of your website visitors.

By using Plausible Analytics, all the site measurement is carried out absolutely anonymously. Cookies are not set and no personal data is collected. All data is in aggregate only. The website owner gets some actionable data to help them learn and improve, while the visitor keeps having a nice and enjoyable experience.

I stumbled across this today. Here is the kind of thing that websites could be doing instead of violating people's boundaries, using their property without permission, and teaching dangerously wrong interpretations of "consent." If you have your own website where you control the software, you might look into it.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

From

prettygoodword:

apastron (uh-PAS-truhn, uh-PAS-tron) - n., the point of greatest separation between a celestial object and the star it orbits.

Many dictionaries specify that the celestial object is another star in a binary system, but the more general definition is correct. Contrast with periastron, the point of closest approach. Coined on the model of aphelion from Ancient Greek roots ap(o)-, away/apart (the form of ad- before vowels & h) + ắstron, star (ultimately from PIE root *h₂stḗr, burn/glow).

This sounds useful for my nerd friends. :D

Current Mood: busy

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I hit Price Chopper while I was downtown and then Stewart’s later on. I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for a walk with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I fried up liver for Pip's supper.

I had a bit of a brain snafu and forgot that Sister S was taking mom to her appointment today. I had written it down in my calendar, but did not keep the info in my brain. So I had an unexpected free day.

I took a nap which was nice. I’ve also been drinking hot cocoa on cool days, which is also nice. I watched Tracker and a partial Hallmark Christmas movie (I’m going to finish it, just didn’t have time tonight).

Temps started out at 35.4(F) and reached 37. Once it hit 37, about mid-morning, the temps started going down. It was quite a cool day. And we did end up getting a teensy bit of snow late afternoon, just enough to remind us that it is winter, and that more is on the way.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )

ysabetwordsmith

These are the content notes for "The Struggle Against Error."

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ysabetwordsmith

These are the location notes for "The Struggle Against Error."

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ysabetwordsmith

Here are the character notes for "The Struggle Against Error."

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dizzydrea

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