New England weather
Jun. 26th, 2025 06:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhetleyAir temperature 61 F, wind northeast gusting to 17 mph, partly cloudy. Cooled off enough that I haven't engaged the heat pump yet. And the dew point is down to 43 F. May get out on the bike.
jhetley
Shelter from the storm
Jun. 25th, 2025 07:08 amjhetleyAir temperature 78 F, wind northwest about 7 mph, partly cloudy. No longer being advised or warned on heat, after record highs yesterday. May get out for a walk.
The difference between first and second generation antihistamines.
Jun. 24th, 2025 06:33 pmalfreda89Just in case you wondered. I needed info, so you get to share it.
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/difference-between-first-generation-antihistamines-second-generation-antihistamines
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/difference-between-first-generation-antihistamines-second-generation-antihistamines
Yes, there are very dangerous fungi. One or two of them may have been tomb curses....
Jun. 24th, 2025 06:06 pmalfreda89Anyone who watches certain films knows that much was made in the 1920s in gossip and the print press of the Pharaoh's or Mummy's curse, when many people died after opening King Tut's tomb.
Theories have been discussed for years--not a curse, surely, but what else in those ancient sealed chambers could have slowly killed any who entered? (And what if the ancient Egyptians intentionally left mold as a trap for grave robbers? That wasn't asked in these articles--but what if?)
This happened again in the early 1970s, when ten of twelve conservationists who entered a Polish King's tomb died weeks or months later. The same fungus was found in Casimir IV Jagiellon's tomb.
That pernicious something could have been the fungal mold Aspergillus flavus.
https://bigthink.com/the-past/mummys-curse-fungus-mold-aspergillus/
Now, it turns out this fungus may have attributes that will be an excellent treatment for some cancers.
https://phys.org/news/2025-06-toxic-ancient-tomb-fungus-anti.html
Theories have been discussed for years--not a curse, surely, but what else in those ancient sealed chambers could have slowly killed any who entered? (And what if the ancient Egyptians intentionally left mold as a trap for grave robbers? That wasn't asked in these articles--but what if?)
This happened again in the early 1970s, when ten of twelve conservationists who entered a Polish King's tomb died weeks or months later. The same fungus was found in Casimir IV Jagiellon's tomb.
That pernicious something could have been the fungal mold Aspergillus flavus.
https://bigthink.com/the-past/mummys-curse-fungus-mold-aspergillus/
Now, it turns out this fungus may have attributes that will be an excellent treatment for some cancers.
https://phys.org/news/2025-06-toxic-ancient-tomb-fungus-anti.html
A new Collection from Award-winning Writer Marie Brennan THE ATLAS TO ANYWHERE
Jun. 24th, 2025 12:47 pmalfreda89We need #ShortStories & anthologies on our e-readers! Book View Cafe is delighted to offer a new collection by award-winning author Marie Brennan, THE ATLAS OF ANYWHERE.
*Seek out extraordinary lands . . .*
In THE ATLAS OF ANYWHERE, you'll find strange guardians overseeing fate-bound duels. A priceless stone on a journey toward a bloody destiny. A thief determined to steal a worthless treasure. In her second collection of worlds-spanning fantasy, award-winning author Marie Brennan takes you back to the world of her famed heroine Lady Trent, through the land of her Hugo Award-nominated poem “A War of Words,” and onward to seven other fantastical realms, filled with pirates, demigods, and murderous creatures of winter’s cold night.
#fantasy #ShortStories #HighFantasy #dragons #pirates #thieves #Judaism #Mesoamerica #StrongFemaleProtagonist
Take a look here: https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-the-atlas-of-anywhere-by-marie-brennan
*Seek out extraordinary lands . . .*
In THE ATLAS OF ANYWHERE, you'll find strange guardians overseeing fate-bound duels. A priceless stone on a journey toward a bloody destiny. A thief determined to steal a worthless treasure. In her second collection of worlds-spanning fantasy, award-winning author Marie Brennan takes you back to the world of her famed heroine Lady Trent, through the land of her Hugo Award-nominated poem “A War of Words,” and onward to seven other fantastical realms, filled with pirates, demigods, and murderous creatures of winter’s cold night.
#fantasy #ShortStories #HighFantasy #dragons #pirates #thieves #Judaism #Mesoamerica #StrongFemaleProtagonist
Take a look here: https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc-announces-the-atlas-of-anywhere-by-marie-brennan
Floral effusion
Jun. 24th, 2025 09:48 amjhetleyWe have three day-lily blooms this morning, first of our personal horde. Will not be providing a daily census, as we'll have dozens in four different patches and scattered solitary plants. They are practically weeds . . .
Rhapsody to humid heat
Jun. 24th, 2025 07:22 amasakiyumeWaking up this morning was like waking up in the Amazon, and I AM HERE FOR THIS. Out my back window, a northeastern jungle, so many shades of green, dappled sun, morning mist. An aural bouquet of birdsong and small critter sounds. Right now there's a scent of wood smoke.
I love the way the medium of humid air makes you intimate with every other thing. The way everything is right on your skin and in your lungs. The glass of water sweats, you sweat. Time dissolves, sound travels nonlinearly, odors are more vivid. I love the lassitude, the exhaustion.
I love the way the medium of humid air makes you intimate with every other thing. The way everything is right on your skin and in your lungs. The glass of water sweats, you sweat. Time dissolves, sound travels nonlinearly, odors are more vivid. I love the lassitude, the exhaustion.
Nuclear summer
Jun. 24th, 2025 06:49 amjhetleyAir temperature 69 F, wind southwest about 5 mph, sunny. We rejoice in an "Extreme Heat Warning" this morning, with forecast of mid-90s F this afternoon and "feels like" temperatures up well over 100 F from humidity. Should be able to forage on our usual schedule, moving from air-conditioned house to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned supermarket and back through that progression. Will turn on the heat pumps for the day in an hour or so.
Battening hatches
Jun. 23rd, 2025 06:52 amjhetleyAir temperature 65 F, wind near calm, partly cloudy. Low wisps of fog and dew across the park early. We have an extreme heat watch in place, with highs in the upper 80s F this afternoon. 90s F tomorrow. Have engaged the heat pump to mitigate harm, and any walk will be early.
Reap the whirlwind
Jun. 22nd, 2025 06:51 amjhetleyAir temperature 62 F, wind south gusting to 17 mph, cloudy. Showers forecast this morning, ending around noon. May get a walk in the afternoon. If we live so long.
a wonderful day
Jun. 21st, 2025 06:44 pmasakiyumeToday was wonderful!
It started out with meeting a young woman in a wheelchair, birdwatching by a small pond with cattails.
"I think I saw an American bittern," she said.
Later I brought some catalpa blossoms to a friend, and they gave me an iced, homemade-banana-syrup-and-oat-milk latte to take with me on my errands. It was a hot day and the drink was perfect!
My errands included buying a sickle to cut this long grass.
Not now: now I want to let it alone, as the fireflies and butterflies and bees enjoy it (and also I enjoy it). But later, in the fall, when the time comes to cut it. A lawn mower does a horrible, chewy job, and the shears I have are blunt.** So I want to try a sickle. I saw people cutting grass with sickles in Timor-Leste. Here is my sickle. I've named her Kusakari (grass cutter).
Now, as it happens, I also have a lump hammer, which the healing angel named Petra, and which is great for smashing open hickory nuts or acorns. Here she is, posing with some of last year's hickory nuts.
Well ... if we introduce.... Petra to Kusakari.... OMG!
Then on the way home from my errands, I was driving along a stretch of road that's marked "Turtle Crossing." Usually this is a depressing stretch of road because in spite of the sign, what I mainly see are crushed turtles -_-
But today I saw a live one, craning its neck, preparing to risk its life to get across the road. So I pulled over, went back, picked it up, and carried it across. When I set it down, it trundled on down to the water that was waiting for it.
ONE TURTLE LIFE SAVED. Yaaay!
And now I'm going to eat strawberries and whipped cream. PERFECT DAY.
**Yes, I could sharpen them. In fact I have sharpened them in the past and probably will in the future... but ... sickle!
ETA: The sickle's name should be KusaKARI, not KusaKIRI--corrected that now.
It started out with meeting a young woman in a wheelchair, birdwatching by a small pond with cattails.
"I think I saw an American bittern," she said.
Later I brought some catalpa blossoms to a friend, and they gave me an iced, homemade-banana-syrup-and-oat-milk latte to take with me on my errands. It was a hot day and the drink was perfect!
My errands included buying a sickle to cut this long grass.
Not now: now I want to let it alone, as the fireflies and butterflies and bees enjoy it (and also I enjoy it). But later, in the fall, when the time comes to cut it. A lawn mower does a horrible, chewy job, and the shears I have are blunt.** So I want to try a sickle. I saw people cutting grass with sickles in Timor-Leste. Here is my sickle. I've named her Kusakari (grass cutter).
Now, as it happens, I also have a lump hammer, which the healing angel named Petra, and which is great for smashing open hickory nuts or acorns. Here she is, posing with some of last year's hickory nuts.
Well ... if we introduce.... Petra to Kusakari.... OMG!
Then on the way home from my errands, I was driving along a stretch of road that's marked "Turtle Crossing." Usually this is a depressing stretch of road because in spite of the sign, what I mainly see are crushed turtles -_-
But today I saw a live one, craning its neck, preparing to risk its life to get across the road. So I pulled over, went back, picked it up, and carried it across. When I set it down, it trundled on down to the water that was waiting for it.
ONE TURTLE LIFE SAVED. Yaaay!
And now I'm going to eat strawberries and whipped cream. PERFECT DAY.
**Yes, I could sharpen them. In fact I have sharpened them in the past and probably will in the future... but ... sickle!
ETA: The sickle's name should be KusaKARI, not KusaKIRI--corrected that now.
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Saturday floral report
Jun. 21st, 2025 11:23 amjhetleyBedstraw blooming in the roadside grass, some of the earliest day-lilies, crown vetch, daisy fleabane. Which Wife says has no actual effect on fleas. Lupines going to seed, also black locust.
Roadkill limited to one painted turtle by the roadside, carapace shattered. No sign of geese or ducks at the cemetery pond, either going or coming. Chipmunk on the corner of our front porch when I got home.
Got out on the bike, upriver and over and back through the bog, road paving not in action for the weekend. Did not die.
15.33 miles, 1:24:50
Roadkill limited to one painted turtle by the roadside, carapace shattered. No sign of geese or ducks at the cemetery pond, either going or coming. Chipmunk on the corner of our front porch when I got home.
Got out on the bike, upriver and over and back through the bog, road paving not in action for the weekend. Did not die.
15.33 miles, 1:24:50
Still more hand-baskets
Jun. 21st, 2025 06:53 amjhetleyAir temperature 61 F, wind southwest about 7 mph, sunny. Happy solstice of your choice. We in the north half now begin our slow descent into darkness and despair. May get a bike ride in.
Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Jun. 20th, 2025 10:18 amrachelmanija
While on a commercial expedition, an unexpected accident causes Mai, an engineer, and Juna, an HR person, to crash-land on a pitch-black planet called Shroud. They can't get out of their escape pod because the air is corrosive and unbreathable, and they can't call for help. Their only hope is to use the pod's walker system to trek all the way across the planet... which turns out to be absolutely teeming with extremely weird life, none of which can see, all of which communicates via electromagnetic signals, most of which constructs exoskeletons for itself with organic materials, and some of which is extremely large.
As readers, we learn very early on that at least some of the life on Shroud is intelligent. But Juna and Mai don't know that, the intelligent Shroud beings don't know that humans are intelligent, and human and Shroud life is so different that it makes perfect sense that they can't tell. As Juna and Mai make their probably-doomed expedition across Shroud, they're accompanied by curious Shroud beings, frequently attacked by other Shroud creatures, face some of the most daunting terrain imaginable, and slowly begin to learn the truth about Shroud. But even if they succeed in rescuing themselves, the predatory capitalist company that sent them on their expedition on the first place is determined to strip Shroud for materials, and doesn't care if its indigenous life is intelligent or not.
This is possibly the best first contact novel I've ever read. It's the flip side of Alien Clay, which was 70% depressing capitalist dystopia and 30% cool aliens. Shroud is 10% depressing capitalist dystopia and 90% cool aliens - or rather, 90% cool aliens and humans interacting with cool aliens. It's a marvelous alien travelogue, it has so many jaw-dropping moments, and it's very thematically unified and neatly plotted. The climax is absolutely killer.
The characterization is sketchy but sufficient. The ending is a little abrupt, but you can easily extrapolate what happens from there, and it's VERY satisfying. As far as I know this is a standalone, but I would certainly enjoy a sequel if Tchaikovsky decided to write one.
My absolute favorite moment, which was something you can only do in science fiction, is a great big spoiler. ( Read more... )
Excellent timing
Jun. 20th, 2025 11:46 amjhetleyStarted to rain about two minutes after I got home from my walk. Had to go back out a few minutes further on, to fetch the trash barrel, but I still count it as a win. Locust trees shedding their blizzards of petals in the wind. No cat friends seen.
Minor amusement
Jun. 20th, 2025 07:22 amjhetleyThis month's edition of my amateur radio magazine has a "classic radio" article on a series of "home-brew" receiver designs from the 1960s. I showed the photos to Wife and she laughed. I built one of them for my own station, exhibited it as a high-school physics science fair project, and we schlepped it through five moves before I handed it over to an e-waste collection a few years back . . .
Hand-basket central
Jun. 20th, 2025 07:04 amjhetleyAir temperature 64 F, wind south about 7 mph, fog at the airport. Haze or mist here, can still see across the park. We do have a "special weather statement" for scattered dense fog, but they haven't scattered it in our personal neighborhood. This fits in with the general attitude -- if it isn't happening to ME, it isn't real.
FIC: The Royal Sanctuary: Jackalfire Grove (Tempestuous Tours)
Jun. 19th, 2025 09:01 pmduskpetersonThe best place to start your visit to the royal sanctuary is at Jackalfire Grove, just outside the door leading to the sanctuary. At one time, this grove of jackalfire trees was smaller, overlooking the so-called burning ground, where some of the worst events in Koretian history took place.
It is here, from the time of Koretia's earliest days, that god-cursed men and women were stoned to death. It is here that, in recent centuries, disobedient slaves were burned alive. And it is here that, during the ninth, the King of Koretia was slain by a rival in one of the many blood feuds that rent the fabric of Koretian society.
All of these atrocities – stoning, burning alive, and blood feuds – were abolished by the Emorians during their occupation of Koretia. Their abolition was confirmed by Koretia's present ruler, the Jackal, when he ascended the throne. Yet only two generations have passed since the outlawing of the most pernicious aspect of the Koretian gods' law. Many residents of Koretia's capital still remember the festive crowds that used to gather here when a god-cursed man or woman was stoned, or when a slave was burned alive.
Not surprisingly, most Koretians today avoid visiting this grove. Paradoxically, the Jackal encourages visits here, especially by families with children who like to play amidst the trees. It is his way of turning evil to good.
Before leaving, be sure to pluck a twig or leaf from one of the jackalfire trees. Bring it with you to the royal sanctuary.
[Translator's note: One of the terrible events in Jackalfire Grove occurs in Death Mask.]
(no subject)
Jun. 19th, 2025 05:47 pmjhetleyWe currently rejoice in severe weather watches (not warnings) spread across the state. Our personal county is not included, but that's awkward because it extends over a hundred miles up into affected areas.