kaberett: a patch of sunlight on the carpet, shaped like a slightly wonky heart (light hearted)
kaberett ([personal profile] kaberett) wrote2020-02-23 10:49 pm

vital functions

Reading. The Secret Commonwealth, Philip Pullman. I have finished this. I have a lot of feelings related and adjacent to it. I will write them up... later.

I spent a significant chunk of Sunday reading various correspondence sent by my grandfather in 1943 and 1944, all out of order, from while he was deployed. One letter enclosed pictures, accompanied by a somewhat testy explanation that he was caught with his mouth open -- rather than smiling sweetly -- because the fellow with the camera had pressed the button while he was still in the middle of explaining how to operate it. It is wonderful.

Also a guide to babysitting a larval (toddler) Alex, because I was invited also to go through the hanging folders in the filing cabinet at my parents' relating to me, which Adam thought was pretty much the best thing ever.

Up next: various short stories open in tabs on my phone; then, probably, This Is How You Lose The Time War, followed by Strange Practice, which I picked up (whyyyy am I still buying new boooooks okay to be fair to me this one's been on my Sounds Intriguing list for a while) because the ebook was on sale for 99p the other day. I meant to tell you all and failed to; my regrets. I shall report back!

Writing. Words not yet on paper, but there's something starting to cohere, maybe. It feels like it'll need a sketch.

Listening. We have now got up to episode 60 of TMA. We both keep getting jolts of confusion every time JonnyJon sounds peevish or otherwise exasperated, because HI JONNY D'VILLE, which is rather disconcerting.

I wish to register my objection to the concept that gold tarnishes, honestly, what even.

Cooking. Broccoli and tofu stir-fry! With a reprise on Sunday at my parents'. Also an enormous vat of vegetable stock and, relatedly, soup. Which needs boiling up, but it's nearly 11 so we're going to bed instead, oh well.

Eating. Tonkotsu! About which I had intended to wax lyrical but also, it's nearly 11 and I'm Going To Bed.

And a pile of ridiculous heavily discounted desserts supermarket desserts; I'm not... entirely sure how Waitrose managed to combine Heston Blumenthal, lemon, elderflower, pear and cheesecake into a whole to which I am largely indifferent, but I am somewhat impressed. (And still mourning the demise of the raspberry and passionfruit cheesecake that was my Fave Supermarket Dessert Treat for a while, albeit sufficiently expensive that I largely only bought it when it was reduced, which might go some way to explaining its discontinuation.)

Exploring. The New Museums Site in Cambridge, because I spent a little while this morning in the zoology department giving wheelchair wheelie lessons. I am utterly baffled by the new Student Services building, and the absence of CUSU, and the through-path past the Arts lecture theatres.

Growing. Plants bimble along. Things not dead yet. Nightshades are actually generally doing pretty well and putting out Additional Leaves, so I have hopes for them yet. I appear to have mislaid my tomato seeds (how) and need to fix that.
hilarita: stoat hiding under a log (Default)

[personal profile] hilarita 2020-02-23 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I haven't been near the new students services building.

Also, gold tarnishes? WTF?
jesse_the_k: Big cheryl haworth deadlifts under Olympic Rings (cheryl wins olympic gold)

Gold Does Indeed Tarnish

[personal profile] jesse_the_k 2020-02-23 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
...well, probably it's oxidizing.

But -- the last time I was in a real jewelry store they cleverly offered to polish my ring while I was browsing.

White & rose gold ring -- came back 200% shinier!
recessional: a photo image of feet in sparkly red shoes (Default)

[personal profile] recessional 2020-02-24 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
To be more pedantically accurate: 100% pure gold does not tarnish or oxidize.

Almost no gold that anyone uses for Things is actually 100% pure solely gold - even yellow gold is usually somewhat adulturated - and white and rose gold are by DEFINITION not pure, and the IMPURITIES oxidize (or tarnish, if it's white gold and thus silver) or otherwise discolour (if it's rose and thus copper) etc.
vass: Small turtle with green leaf in its mouth (Default)

[personal profile] vass 2020-02-24 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
Yay for things not being dead yet.

And for the possible nucleation of a written thing.
damerell: NetHack. (Default)

[personal profile] damerell 2020-02-24 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
Oho, do you have those dragster-style little wheels on the back for doing stunts? I remember asking someone at Eastercon about those.
lebannen: self with hat and camera (Default)

[personal profile] lebannen 2020-02-27 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
...in my experience (intermittent involvement with other people's chairs), the little wheels on the back are generally intended for the prevention of inadvertent stunts.

Except the ones for going uphill by magic, which is not so much a stunt as magic (and/or technology, whatever) and occasionally a liability when attempting to board a bus.
nanila: me (Default)

[personal profile] nanila 2020-02-24 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I had a lot of feelings about The Secret Commonwealth. One that stood out was "angry with the author for tormenting Lyra relentlessly and to my mind unnecessarily."
booksarelife: Tilted photo of Peggy Carter's head, shoulders and torso, where she is wearing a navy dress with two red stripes across the middle (Default)

[personal profile] booksarelife 2020-02-25 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
Yay for plants not being dead!! What’s CUSU?
longmagpieroads: (Default)

[personal profile] longmagpieroads 2020-02-26 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
Oh I do want to know what you think of This Is How We Lose The War.
passingbuzzards: Elf with sunglasses, smiling. (Default)

[personal profile] passingbuzzards 2020-02-26 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
this is how you lose the time war is quite good! i hope you enjoy