Miss Manners: They invited me to brunch at their freezing mansion
Apr. 15th, 2026 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
med_cat posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
agonyauntGreetings, everyone! I have been enjoying reading the entries and discussion in this community, and came upon this article today that I thought I'd share:
~~~
Link: wapo.st/4csfhDU
Dear Miss Manners:
I was invited to a brunch as the only guest. The hosts live in a 6,000-square-foot mansion, of which all of the rooms could be photographed for a slick architectural magazine.
Brunch was delicious, but the rub of the situation was that the house was 54 degrees in temperature, and it was 15 degrees outside.
I am on blood thinners and I am very cognizant of cold. When I inquired if they were having heating issues, the reply was that the house is too expensive to warm up to 68 degrees, and that they do not like large gas bills.( Read more... )
~~~
Link: wapo.st/4csfhDU
Dear Miss Manners:
I was invited to a brunch as the only guest. The hosts live in a 6,000-square-foot mansion, of which all of the rooms could be photographed for a slick architectural magazine.
Brunch was delicious, but the rub of the situation was that the house was 54 degrees in temperature, and it was 15 degrees outside.
I am on blood thinners and I am very cognizant of cold. When I inquired if they were having heating issues, the reply was that the house is too expensive to warm up to 68 degrees, and that they do not like large gas bills.( Read more... )
wednesday reads and things
Apr. 15th, 2026 05:28 pmisisWhat I've recently finished reading:
After I finished The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, I idly looked for fanfiction. There are all of two fics: one is Una/Owen smut, and the other is not actually for The Everlasting but is a sort of fusion, Palamedes and Camilla from The Locked Tomb Series in a plot drawn from The Everlasting...
...and I really liked it! Camilla Everlasting by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
DullestProdigalSon, about 23K, lots of very short chapters. You do have to have read Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth, as it's very firmly based in those books, but I thought the translation of the Everlasting plot to the Locked Tomb world was very cleverly done. (You don't need to have read The Everlasting. There's some reference to "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex" but you probably don't need to have read that.) In this story, Palamedes is the scholar/necromancer from the future who is sent back in time to help the famous Camilla Hect become a Lyctor. What's really cool is that in this fic, Palamedes was not the necromancer of the original narrative, but essentially overwrote that narrative to be the story we read in the novels, which I thought was very in keeping with the way that Harrow the Ninth rewrites the story of Gideon the Ninth, and also echoes Cytherea's actions in the first book. The character voices and general tone and style felt super-true to the Locked Tomb, too - overall an enjoyable read!
And...that's about all. I'm currently eyeball-reading The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, and listening to Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor (book 4 of the Bobiverse).
What I'm currently watching:
We noped out of Fallout S2 after two episodes, and are now about midway through 1923, one of Taylor Sheridan's numerous Yellowstone prequels. I had not been really inclined to watch it, but B roped me in with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, who I must admit are excellent here; however, the narrative strand dealing with the Indian boarding school is the most compelling (and horrifying) to me. (Living in Indian country now - Southern Ute land, near a college that is free for tribal members, who make up about half the student population, which incidentally was originally on the site of an Indian boarding school - I'm much more aware of this terrible part of our country's past.)
What I'm still playing:
I think I'm getting close to the climax of the second act (of three) of Ghost of Tsushima.
After I finished The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, I idly looked for fanfiction. There are all of two fics: one is Una/Owen smut, and the other is not actually for The Everlasting but is a sort of fusion, Palamedes and Camilla from The Locked Tomb Series in a plot drawn from The Everlasting...
...and I really liked it! Camilla Everlasting by
And...that's about all. I'm currently eyeball-reading The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, and listening to Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor (book 4 of the Bobiverse).
What I'm currently watching:
We noped out of Fallout S2 after two episodes, and are now about midway through 1923, one of Taylor Sheridan's numerous Yellowstone prequels. I had not been really inclined to watch it, but B roped me in with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, who I must admit are excellent here; however, the narrative strand dealing with the Indian boarding school is the most compelling (and horrifying) to me. (Living in Indian country now - Southern Ute land, near a college that is free for tribal members, who make up about half the student population, which incidentally was originally on the site of an Indian boarding school - I'm much more aware of this terrible part of our country's past.)
What I'm still playing:
I think I'm getting close to the climax of the second act (of three) of Ghost of Tsushima.
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Why Tho: Can we leave out the horrible kid?
Apr. 14th, 2026 02:25 pmpetrea_mitchell posting in agonyauntActual headline: Why Tho: My birthday kid wants to invite everyone in class to his party - but not this 1 boy
Dear Lizzy,
My son is in third grade, and his birthday is coming up. He’s told me he wants to invite his whole class to his party (at a park) except for one kid.
This kid is a menace, if I am honest. He breaks things in class and yells and hits. He is actually quite mean to my son. I want to respect my son’s wishes here, but is it fair to invite everyone except him?
To Exclude or Not to Exclude
( Read more... )
Dear Lizzy,
My son is in third grade, and his birthday is coming up. He’s told me he wants to invite his whole class to his party (at a park) except for one kid.
This kid is a menace, if I am honest. He breaks things in class and yells and hits. He is actually quite mean to my son. I want to respect my son’s wishes here, but is it fair to invite everyone except him?
To Exclude or Not to Exclude
( Read more... )
Fling Into Spring! - 8 Dresses for AF
Apr. 13th, 2026 01:24 am2fingerswhiskey
Florals? For spring? Yes! And stripes.
Here's some recolours of Skell's Elite Summer Dress mesh. They're perfect for finally shedding that winter coat far too early and getting a bit too cold an hour later (oh, spring weather...), but they're still nice, regardless. Four are striped for that 2011 girl's trip realness, and four are floral, for more current girl's trips. All of them have sandals, and are available as Everyday and Formal.
Get them here! Mesh by Skell included.
Rec [fic]: The Trouble With Harry by Azar
Apr. 12th, 2026 04:42 pmparanoidangel posting in tardis_libraryTitle: The Trouble With Harry
Creator:Azar
Rating: General
Word Count/Length/Size: 26,534 words
Creator's Summary: Abby's past and present collide when she and a missing Admiral they're searching for turn out to have a mutual friend--the Doctor.
Characters/Pairings: Marth Jones, Harry Sullivan, Abby Sciuto, Ducky Mallard, Ziva David, Jenny Shepard, Leon Vance, Original Characters, The Tenth Doctor, Anthony DiNozzo, Jethro Gibbs, Timothy McGee
Warnings/Notes: Crossover with NCIS
Reasons for reccing: It's definitely not necessary to be familiar with NCIS to enjoy this - I've never seen an episode. It's also not necessary to have read the series it's part of - I didn't know it was part of a series until I went to see if it was on AO3.
It's the sort of story the Doctor tends to get involved with, but what makes it extra interesting is seeing it from the point of view of both people who've never come into contact with the Doctor, and someone who previously has.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55183
Creator:
Rating: General
Word Count/Length/Size: 26,534 words
Creator's Summary: Abby's past and present collide when she and a missing Admiral they're searching for turn out to have a mutual friend--the Doctor.
Characters/Pairings: Marth Jones, Harry Sullivan, Abby Sciuto, Ducky Mallard, Ziva David, Jenny Shepard, Leon Vance, Original Characters, The Tenth Doctor, Anthony DiNozzo, Jethro Gibbs, Timothy McGee
Warnings/Notes: Crossover with NCIS
Reasons for reccing: It's definitely not necessary to be familiar with NCIS to enjoy this - I've never seen an episode. It's also not necessary to have read the series it's part of - I didn't know it was part of a series until I went to see if it was on AO3.
It's the sort of story the Doctor tends to get involved with, but what makes it extra interesting is seeing it from the point of view of both people who've never come into contact with the Doctor, and someone who previously has.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55183
The case of the missing notifications
Apr. 11th, 2026 11:58 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
denise posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceI keep forgetting to post about this: we've been troubleshooting the "missing notifications" problem for the past few days. (Well, I say "we", really I mean Mark and Robby; I'm just the amanuensis.) It's been one of those annoying loops of "find a logical explanation for what could be causing the problem, fix that thing, observe that the problem gets better for some people but doesn't go away completely, go back to step one and start again", sigh.
Mark is hauling out the heavy debugging ordinance to try to find the root cause. Once he's done building all the extra logging tools he needs, he'll comment to this entry. After he does, if you find a comment that should have gone to your inbox and sent an email notification but didn't, leave him a link to the comment that should have sent the notification, as long as the comment itself was made after Mark says he's collecting them. (I'd wait and post this after he gets the debug code in but I need to go to sleep and he's not sure how long it will take!)
We're sorry about the hassle! Irregular/sporadic issues like this are really hard to troubleshoot because it's impossible to know if they're fixed or if they're just not happening while you're looking. With luck, this will give us enough information to figure out the root cause for real this time.
Mood Theme in a Year: Second Medium Track Run
Apr. 10th, 2026 09:50 pmsoc_puppet posting in dw_community_promoHello, everyone! Over at moodthemeinayear, the second Medium Track run has just started.
For those not familiar with the schedule over there, the Medium Mood Track lasts about three months, and covers all of the higher-level moods: The fifteen absolute minimum moods you need for a complete custom mood theme, and the next nineteen that have moods that branch off of them (plus two extra). If you want to create a custom mood theme that's fairly well filled out but don't want to go for the whole 132 graphics, the Medium Track may be for you!
If you want to try and min-max your mood theme, on the other hand, the Minimum Track has also restarted; it lasts six weeks, and takes you through the bare minimum fifteen moods you need for a complete custom mood theme, plus the next three most populous higher-level moods, so you get the most image diversity for the least amount of work 👍
Feeling ambitious and want to go for the whole thing? Jump in now and follow along with the Medium and Maximum Tracks simultaneously! The Medium Track will catch you up to all of the moods the Maximum Track has already covered, while the Maximum Track covers all of the moods that aren't in the Medium Track.
Come check it out, and maybe earn some Dreamwidth points while you're at it!
moodthemeinayear, the second Medium Track run has just started.For those not familiar with the schedule over there, the Medium Mood Track lasts about three months, and covers all of the higher-level moods: The fifteen absolute minimum moods you need for a complete custom mood theme, and the next nineteen that have moods that branch off of them (plus two extra). If you want to create a custom mood theme that's fairly well filled out but don't want to go for the whole 132 graphics, the Medium Track may be for you!
If you want to try and min-max your mood theme, on the other hand, the Minimum Track has also restarted; it lasts six weeks, and takes you through the bare minimum fifteen moods you need for a complete custom mood theme, plus the next three most populous higher-level moods, so you get the most image diversity for the least amount of work 👍
Feeling ambitious and want to go for the whole thing? Jump in now and follow along with the Medium and Maximum Tracks simultaneously! The Medium Track will catch you up to all of the moods the Maximum Track has already covered, while the Maximum Track covers all of the moods that aren't in the Medium Track.
Come check it out, and maybe earn some Dreamwidth points while you're at it!
The Witch Hat Atelier Kink Meme
Apr. 9th, 2026 02:21 pmwhamod posting in dw_community_promo
A new kink meme based around the manga and anime series Witch Hat Atelier! If you're looking for some old-school fandom fun, this is the place! Open to all ratings and ships. 18+ only.
Links:
whakinkmeme | Rules, Intro, Mod Contact | Current Prompt Post | Fills PostGraphic Novel Favorites From My Recent Reading
Apr. 9th, 2026 09:14 amforestofglory posting in ladybusinessAfter years of struggling to read new-to-me fiction, I’ve recently entered a phase of reading graphic novels and comics and I’ve been reading so much! (It helps that I accidentally got into a comics-based fandom via stress-reading fic late last year.) It’s only April yet I have already read more books this year than I have in any year since 2020, it's truly wild. I haven’t had this much fun reading in ages!
I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been enjoying, so I thought I’d write a rec list. I find graphic novels easier to focus on when I’m stressed than prose novels, and I also love getting to see so much art. I’ve been mostly reading MG and YA works – it feels like there is a lot going on in that space right now! Plus it’s a space where there tend to be many stories focused on friendship, which I really enjoy. I’ve also been choosing more lighthearted things to read. The world is stressful and I can’t deal with stressful reading at the moment.
( Read more... )
I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been enjoying, so I thought I’d write a rec list. I find graphic novels easier to focus on when I’m stressed than prose novels, and I also love getting to see so much art. I’ve been mostly reading MG and YA works – it feels like there is a lot going on in that space right now! Plus it’s a space where there tend to be many stories focused on friendship, which I really enjoy. I’ve also been choosing more lighthearted things to read. The world is stressful and I can’t deal with stressful reading at the moment.
( Read more... )
wednesday reads and things
Apr. 8th, 2026 06:19 pmisisWhat I've recently finished reading:
In eyeball, The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Time-loop novel about a medieval historian and the lady knight he's obsessed with, in an alternate world that is not quite our England; one of you called it "sort of Arthuriana" and I guess it is, though that sort of is important. In a way it reminded me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August as much of the novel is the characters gradually figuring out that these same things are happening again, and then trying to take advantage of this knowledge to make the next loop better. Unfortunately, in this case the source of the time loop has very clear, firm aims, and does not want to be thwarted by the mere pawns acting out the story that is destined to be enshrined in the country's lore. I liked it a lot, especially as the layers unfolded, though actually I was most interested in the villain of the piece and would like to have had more of that story!
In audio, All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor, the third Bobiverse book. I'm really liking these, although they could use some closer editing to avoid repetition of things we already know. It's an interesting inversion of Adrian Tchaikovsky's "How can we see the other as a person?" in that the viewpoint characters, the Bobs, are cloned brain patterns from a now-dead engineer which run on computers installed in spaceships; though within the narrative they are unquestionably people, other humans don't necessarily see them that way. And yet as they are enabling and directing the expansion of humanity into space, they're the segment of humanity making first contact with the other sentient species of the galaxy, and they're the ones who have to handle the related decisions. The structure of these books, with the multiplicity of Bobs and their storylines, means that all the different cases can be handled: the Stone Age civilization, the early-industrial civilization, the possibly advanced civilization that no longer exists, the advanced civilization that presents a terrifying threat. And as some humans fight against the idea that the Bobs are human, some Bobs work to reclaim as much of their humanity as possible. There are some deep philosophical questions one can tease out of these books - but I don't think that's the author's intent, and they are enjoyable reads just as fun science fiction.
What I've recently finished watching:
We enjoyed the Netflix "nature documentary" miniseries The Dinosaurs; quotes are because I think it's basically all CGI. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, it's a dramatic tour of prehistory, from the first proto-dinos to the asteroid that ended it all. It does a good job of telling individual "stories" of the various dinosaurs looking for mates, protecting their young, and doing their best to eat and not be eaten.
In eyeball, The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Time-loop novel about a medieval historian and the lady knight he's obsessed with, in an alternate world that is not quite our England; one of you called it "sort of Arthuriana" and I guess it is, though that sort of is important. In a way it reminded me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August as much of the novel is the characters gradually figuring out that these same things are happening again, and then trying to take advantage of this knowledge to make the next loop better. Unfortunately, in this case the source of the time loop has very clear, firm aims, and does not want to be thwarted by the mere pawns acting out the story that is destined to be enshrined in the country's lore. I liked it a lot, especially as the layers unfolded, though actually I was most interested in the villain of the piece and would like to have had more of that story!
In audio, All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor, the third Bobiverse book. I'm really liking these, although they could use some closer editing to avoid repetition of things we already know. It's an interesting inversion of Adrian Tchaikovsky's "How can we see the other as a person?" in that the viewpoint characters, the Bobs, are cloned brain patterns from a now-dead engineer which run on computers installed in spaceships; though within the narrative they are unquestionably people, other humans don't necessarily see them that way. And yet as they are enabling and directing the expansion of humanity into space, they're the segment of humanity making first contact with the other sentient species of the galaxy, and they're the ones who have to handle the related decisions. The structure of these books, with the multiplicity of Bobs and their storylines, means that all the different cases can be handled: the Stone Age civilization, the early-industrial civilization, the possibly advanced civilization that no longer exists, the advanced civilization that presents a terrifying threat. And as some humans fight against the idea that the Bobs are human, some Bobs work to reclaim as much of their humanity as possible. There are some deep philosophical questions one can tease out of these books - but I don't think that's the author's intent, and they are enjoyable reads just as fun science fiction.
What I've recently finished watching:
We enjoyed the Netflix "nature documentary" miniseries The Dinosaurs; quotes are because I think it's basically all CGI. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, it's a dramatic tour of prehistory, from the first proto-dinos to the asteroid that ended it all. It does a good job of telling individual "stories" of the various dinosaurs looking for mates, protecting their young, and doing their best to eat and not be eaten.
