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(Edited May 4, 2022)
OK, this is supposed to be a sticky post. I've had this journal for years, just for reading, and hope to be more active from now on. Please forgive some flailing as I figure out posting, formatting, etc.
I'm a civil servant by day, Renaissance dancer by night, and 24-hour bibliophile. Gafiated Canadian SF fan, proud recipient of 1 and 1/8 Aurora awards for fan organization.
My last name is distinctive, and I prefer to keep my personal and professional lives separate. If you figure it out (not hard) please just don't use it here.
I love reading, am not so good at outward communication. I may vanish at irregular intervals if I am in the middle of a depressive episode.
If I ask to subscribe, it's because I enjoy your writing. No hard feelings if you don't accept or reciprocate.
I live in Treaty Six territory.
My pronouns are she/her.
Trans women are women, trans men are men, human rights are for everyone.
Bionic ears
Jan. 14th, 2026 07:42 pmI got fitted with my first pair of hearing aids a month ago. Some of my friends complain about theirs. I'm having an excellent experience and am so glad this technology exists. I had no idea how bad my high-frequency hearing loss was until it was compensated for. Our dishwasher makes a soft chime when you press a button! Who knew? (Not me.)
Chassis maintenance
Dec. 10th, 2025 12:04 pmMultiple appointments this week for various kinds of body work:
Monday - blood draw for Vitamin D levels
Tuesday - pedicure
Wednesday (today) - physio for strained calf muscle
Thursday - deep tissue massage
Nothing (yet) for Friday
I want to be as physically prepared as I can be for two days of dancing at Borealis' Yule feast this weekend. There's a social dance on Saturday and an extended dance practice on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the event!
Monday - blood draw for Vitamin D levels
Tuesday - pedicure
Wednesday (today) - physio for strained calf muscle
Thursday - deep tissue massage
Nothing (yet) for Friday
I want to be as physically prepared as I can be for two days of dancing at Borealis' Yule feast this weekend. There's a social dance on Saturday and an extended dance practice on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the event!
A little treat
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:54 pmI usually buy only milk and yogurt. Last week I bought a little carton of coffee cream (18%). This morning I enjoyed cream both in my coffee and on my oatmeal.
It's been a pretty good six months. I probably won't get around to trying to write a summary. I've been intermittently reading you all, although not commenting.
Here at latitude 53 sunset is at 4:15 pm today. I don't enjoy the long nights. Only two more weeks to the solstice!
It's been a pretty good six months. I probably won't get around to trying to write a summary. I've been intermittently reading you all, although not commenting.
Here at latitude 53 sunset is at 4:15 pm today. I don't enjoy the long nights. Only two more weeks to the solstice!
I'm covid-cautious, and for last five years I've been staying out of theatres. But there is a circus arts festival taking place this weekend and it's an artform I adore watching. I decided to mask up and roll the dice.
On Thursday I went to see a performance by House of Dust called HAUS of YOLO. It's bawdy and messy and the audience was there for it. I had such a good time - I had not realized how much I'd missed seeing this kind of show.
Here's a review of their Vancouver performance earlier this month
Tonight I have a ticket for Flo, by a Quebec troupe, where the stage set is a life-sized ship built inside the theatre. I'm looking forward to it a lot.
On Thursday I went to see a performance by House of Dust called HAUS of YOLO. It's bawdy and messy and the audience was there for it. I had such a good time - I had not realized how much I'd missed seeing this kind of show.
Here's a review of their Vancouver performance earlier this month
Tonight I have a ticket for Flo, by a Quebec troupe, where the stage set is a life-sized ship built inside the theatre. I'm looking forward to it a lot.
Productive and pleasurable
Jun. 21st, 2025 10:36 amIt's been a good, and busy, month.
I think the hypomania is starting to wear off, so I'd better find those overdue lab requisitions and book appointments, so future me can get her thyroid meds renewed.
- For the first time in four years, bought new glasses
- Attended Scintillation,
![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bluejo's book gathering in Montreal - Went to my first SCA event since last winter, to see a friend made a premier member of the new Order of the Mark
I think the hypomania is starting to wear off, so I'd better find those overdue lab requisitions and book appointments, so future me can get her thyroid meds renewed.
A day of small pleasures
May. 22nd, 2025 03:39 pmPedicure and new shimmery toenail polish. An orange and cardamom latte from a new-to-me indie coffee shop. A bunch of tulips to put on the dining room table.
We are at Eastercon!
Apr. 18th, 2025 11:14 amIt's been a couple of months of ups and downs, and this month is very definitely up. K and I are on a bucket-list trip overseas. We started with three days in Amsterdam followed by 10 days in London. Many thanks to cosmolinguist for recommending the Travelodge chain. We stayed in the Covent Garden hotel and it was brilliant.
We arrived in Belfast yesterday. I hope to do a bit of promotion for the Edmonton in 2030 Worldcon bid. I'm not on the committee, however I can testify as to how my home city is pretty great. I have brought a package of maple sugar candies with me for the purpose of giving one to each person who asks me a question.
cosmolinguist for recommending the Travelodge chain. We stayed in the Covent Garden hotel and it was brilliant.We arrived in Belfast yesterday. I hope to do a bit of promotion for the Edmonton in 2030 Worldcon bid. I'm not on the committee, however I can testify as to how my home city is pretty great. I have brought a package of maple sugar candies with me for the purpose of giving one to each person who asks me a question.
Bought memberships to Eastercon 2025
Oct. 20th, 2024 02:49 pmWe had an overseas trip planned for August, and then K broke his ankle and we had to cancel. We agreed we'd try for next spring instead.
We are both SF fans, the old-fashioned book-reading types. We missed the Glasgow Worldcon, so decided we'd find another largish con to attend as one of the elements of our trip. Reconnect, the next Eastercon, takes place April 18-21, 2025 in Belfast. I just bought us two memberships.
This gives me an anchor date to plan the rest of the trip around. I'm going to rebook many of the destinations we settled on last time: Amsterdam, Dublin, Portsmouth, London. Next up is to figure out what order we'll visit them in.
(K's ankle has healed just fine.)
We are both SF fans, the old-fashioned book-reading types. We missed the Glasgow Worldcon, so decided we'd find another largish con to attend as one of the elements of our trip. Reconnect, the next Eastercon, takes place April 18-21, 2025 in Belfast. I just bought us two memberships.
This gives me an anchor date to plan the rest of the trip around. I'm going to rebook many of the destinations we settled on last time: Amsterdam, Dublin, Portsmouth, London. Next up is to figure out what order we'll visit them in.
(K's ankle has healed just fine.)
Home again, home again
Oct. 5th, 2024 10:19 amI flew home on Tuesday, and spent much of the following two days asleep. After many hugs from K, a massage, and a good conversation with a friend about our upcoming Renaissance dance class, I am reviving.
This afternoon I'll be meeting friends on the patio of Beer Revolution for some brews and socializing. Today's forecast is sunny and 14 C, pretty good for this time of year. K's broken ankle has healed enough that he can drive. He doesn't drink alcohol, so I'm safe to have a beer.
Beer Revolution runs a couple dozen rotating taps, and I just looked up their beer board for today. Hmmm, the coffee brown ale looks interesting. Ooooh - haskap cider!
This afternoon I'll be meeting friends on the patio of Beer Revolution for some brews and socializing. Today's forecast is sunny and 14 C, pretty good for this time of year. K's broken ankle has healed enough that he can drive. He doesn't drink alcohol, so I'm safe to have a beer.
Beer Revolution runs a couple dozen rotating taps, and I just looked up their beer board for today. Hmmm, the coffee brown ale looks interesting. Ooooh - haskap cider!
I just learned about this from a CBC article:
1 oz. Pure Silver Glow-in-the-Dark Coin – Canada’s Unexplained Phenomena: The Langenburg Event
A 50-year-old story of UFOs at a farm near Langenburg, Sask. — a town 220 kilometres east of Regina — is being celebrated by Canada Post and the Canadian Royal Mint with a new coin. The story of the UFOs and the five crop circles from 1974 have prompted Canada Post and the Royal Canadian Mint to issue a coin that commemorates the event. "The Langenburg Event" coin is the seventh in the Canada's Unexplained Phenomena series.
The coin is one ounce of pure silver, glows in the dark, and can be purchased online for C$140.
www.mint.ca/en/shop/coins/2024/pure-silver-glow-in-the-dark-coin-canadas-unexplained-phenomena-the-langenburg-event
(edited to fix the link)
1 oz. Pure Silver Glow-in-the-Dark Coin – Canada’s Unexplained Phenomena: The Langenburg Event
A 50-year-old story of UFOs at a farm near Langenburg, Sask. — a town 220 kilometres east of Regina — is being celebrated by Canada Post and the Canadian Royal Mint with a new coin. The story of the UFOs and the five crop circles from 1974 have prompted Canada Post and the Royal Canadian Mint to issue a coin that commemorates the event. "The Langenburg Event" coin is the seventh in the Canada's Unexplained Phenomena series.
The coin is one ounce of pure silver, glows in the dark, and can be purchased online for C$140.
www.mint.ca/en/shop/coins/2024/pure-silver-glow-in-the-dark-coin-canadas-unexplained-phenomena-the-langenburg-event
(edited to fix the link)
Back in the late 70s/early 80s my mother taught one of the first courses in Women's Studies offered by the University of Alberta.
She's 82 now. Earlier tonight I found a pin with the above slogan stuck to the bulletin board in her apartment.
Here's an example of her work, the program for the Second Annual Feminist Research Forum, which she organized in October 1989.
omekaprojects.artsrn.ualberta.ca/files/original/6e2089274ab0cb048d8d1fbd879a80592aa5802b.pdf
The thing is, though, every time I say I'm proud to be a daughter of a feminist, I get earwormed by this song.
"Daughters of Feminists" was first recorded in 1990 by Canadian humourist and songwriter Nancy White. It's not what I did, but if you want to rebel and drive your feminist mother up the wall, try wearing pink and celebrating Cinderella as a role model.
www.youtube.com/watch
She's 82 now. Earlier tonight I found a pin with the above slogan stuck to the bulletin board in her apartment.
Here's an example of her work, the program for the Second Annual Feminist Research Forum, which she organized in October 1989.
omekaprojects.artsrn.ualberta.ca/files/original/6e2089274ab0cb048d8d1fbd879a80592aa5802b.pdf
The thing is, though, every time I say I'm proud to be a daughter of a feminist, I get earwormed by this song.
"Daughters of Feminists" was first recorded in 1990 by Canadian humourist and songwriter Nancy White. It's not what I did, but if you want to rebel and drive your feminist mother up the wall, try wearing pink and celebrating Cinderella as a role model.
www.youtube.com/watch
I made a food
Sep. 13th, 2024 04:10 pmAutumn arrived this week, which means I can bake without overheating the apartment. I used the oven for the first time in three months and made banana bread. Actually, I made banana-oatmeal-strawberry-almond-chocolate chip bread. It is yummy. K thinks so too. Between us we have already eaten half of a large panful.
New Rivers of London novella!
Sep. 7th, 2024 07:58 pmThanks to thewayne I learned that the new Ben Aaronovitch novella, The Masquerades of Spring, has dropped!
His deal with Subterranean Press is that they get exclusive rights to publish fancy hardcovers. The e-book is not available on Kobo in Canada. However, I can go directly to the SubPress site, buy it in epub format for US$6, then sideload it into my Kobo app.
https://subterraneanpress.com/the-masquerades-of-spring-ebook/
(Since it's DRM free I believe it can be opened with other readers too, but I have not tested this.)
I'm going offline now so I can start reading! See you all tomorrow!
thewayne I learned that the new Ben Aaronovitch novella, The Masquerades of Spring, has dropped!His deal with Subterranean Press is that they get exclusive rights to publish fancy hardcovers. The e-book is not available on Kobo in Canada. However, I can go directly to the SubPress site, buy it in epub format for US$6, then sideload it into my Kobo app.
https://subterraneanpress.com/the-masquerades-of-spring-ebook/
(Since it's DRM free I believe it can be opened with other readers too, but I have not tested this.)
I'm going offline now so I can start reading! See you all tomorrow!
Happy Labour Day!
Sep. 2nd, 2024 10:17 amI prefer Utah Phillips' version of the Joe Hill song, as it's gender-neutral.
Oh, would you have freedom from wage slavery?
Then come join the grand Industrial band
Would you from misery and hunger be free?
Come on, do your share, lend a hand
There is power, there is power in a band of working folks
When they stand hand in hand
That's a power, that's a power that must rule in every land:
One Industrial union grand
Oh, would you have freedom from wage slavery?
Then come join the grand Industrial band
Would you from misery and hunger be free?
Come on, do your share, lend a hand
There is power, there is power in a band of working folks
When they stand hand in hand
That's a power, that's a power that must rule in every land:
One Industrial union grand
Not even garlic powder?!?!
Connection question
Aug. 19th, 2024 10:01 pmIs a fannish equivalent of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon: "Do you know jonsinger?"
Asking because I think it's the mutual connection for a couple people I just subscribed to.
jonsinger?"Asking because I think it's the mutual connection for a couple people I just subscribed to.
