nnozomi | Reading

nnozomi posting in

部首
手 part 4
扫, to sweep/to scan; 扬, to raise; 扭, to twist ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64

词汇
充电, to charge (as in electricity); 充电器, charger; 充分, to the full ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
小郭今天要去墓地扫墓, Xiao Guo is going to the cemetery today to sweep his family's grave
没有充分的证据, there isn't sufficient proof

Me:
可以扫微信吗，我发给你。
你到底把充电器放在哪里？

china_shop

Ughhhhhh! *hugs to everyone, all of you, so many hugs and then some more*

For those who need it,

troyswann linked to her art-blog post Gardening in the Rubble, about continuing normal life while the world is on fire.

*

Lately, I've been having trouble focusing on written words, so the fic edits are going verrrrry sloooowly. I don't think these are going to count as late

fandomtrees gifts anymore, but I'd still like to finish them!

I've also been continuing to mess around with art. ( Current status, for future reference. ) In conclusion: noses are the worst, followed by lips, followed by eyes. Ears are also terrible.

Aaand now my right wrist/base of my thumb is furious at me, owww, because of course I chose a new hobby that involved a ton of detailed/controlled handwork. Should've taken up singing instead. *poutsigh*

wychwood

176 books read in 2025 - just under the long-term average (182) but my highest since 2020.

( stats ) ( awards )

My book of the year

A tough one! I'm not sure anything really stands out. But I think I've spent more time thinking about Augustine the African than the others, so maybe that.

trobadora

Hi! Someone please tell me where I can buy some extra hours for my days ...

I'm a bit behind on a few things, and nothing is going very quickly, but I'm catching up! This week will be busy both at work and otherwise, but my schedule should be regular again overall, and check-in posts should go up at the usual time.

(I also haven't done this week's Guardian rewatch yet, but soon, I hope!)

Yesterday's and today's writing

Some much too slow writing yesterday; an alibi paragraph for today. Faster and more substantial writing tomorrow, I hope, because the next deadline is close ...

Tally

( Days 1-20 )

Day 21:

alightbuthappypen,

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

sanguinity,

shadaras,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora,

ysilme

Day 22:

badly_knitted,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

sanguinity,

shadaras,

sylvanwitch,

the_siobhan,

trobadora

Day 23:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

luzula,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora

Day 24:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

luzula,

sanguinity,

shadaras,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora

Day 25:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

goddess47,

luzula,

sanguinity,

shadaras,

sylvanwitch,

the_siobhan,

trobadora

Day 26:

china_shop,

trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

oursin

Should we sell our kidneys?

My feeling, on finding somebody who is apparently a reader in political theory at a well-respected institution of Teh Highah Learninz positing this, is that he may have read a lot of political theory, poor lamb, but maybe he should spend some time with dystopian science fiction if he's going to contemplate these sort of questions.

I suppose, with the Organ Donation register, there is an issue that a) it is Opt-In and b) presumably by the time many people reach that state when their organs come up for donation, those organs are probably past their Best Before date.

(I just now, in connection with an entirely unrelated transaction with a government body, was solicited to sign up with the Organ Donation Register. Already have, thanks, if anyone will want my tired old organs when the time comes.)

And on the intrusion of Commerce into this matter, has this person considered the sorts of things that have been happening - only, one admits, affecting the bodies of wymmynz? - over selling their eggs, or being surrogates, and the stories one hears are Not Pretty.

He might also consider Richard Titmuss' famous 1970 work The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy on blood donation:

[T]he author compares blood donation in the US and UK, contrasting the British system of reliance on voluntary donors to the American one in which the blood supply is in the hands of for-profit enterprises, concluding that a system based on altruism is both safer and more economically efficient.

(Also I am not sure about his understanding of the dynamics at play here:

In the 18th century, for example, some viewed being paid to sing as akin to prostitution, and professional opera singers, particularly women, could be deemed morally suspect. At that time, therefore, it might have seemed appropriate to subject professional singing to legal strictures, just like prostitution.

I really think this was - dependent upon local legal systems of course, but, really, don't get me started on that - much more about social stigma. Which adhered to publicly performing women for a lot longer, mate.)

(I'm also thinking - has this one cropped up on agonyaunt or have I seen it elsewhere - of that scenario in which member of a family - even an estranged member of family - is being heavyed into being a donor for a relative because they are A Match. Was it even child adopted but later traced?)

philomytha

We have had our annual Biggles Airdrop with 24 excellent fics to read, which considering only a dozen people were signed up suggests that the fandom's enthusiasm is still going strong.

I received two amazing gifts:

Odette, a von Zoyton-centric fic in which he provides a bitingly hilarious outsider perspective on von Stalhein's unhinged Biggles Obsession, with superb characterisation, glittering prose and EvS asking von Zoyton for flying lessons. 7000 words, background Biggles/EvS insanity about each other.

A New Life, a gorgeously written vignette looking at Fritz visiting his Uncle Erich later in canon, with a truly adorable surprise for him. 700 words, background Biggles/EvS.

And I wrote two fics:

Soft Landings (3000 words, gen), slight Hatchet AU where Algy is the first person to encounter von Stalhein.

dialogue for one voice (with chorus), (2000 words, Biggles/EvS/Marie as a work in progress), an additional scene from the ending of Looks Back, Marie sitting with Biggles in hospital.

And while this was not a gift for me, I do have to give honourable mention to International Relations, which is 15k of Marcel Brissac cheerfully fucking his way through everyone in Biggles's orbit starting with Raymond, and is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, and also makes it plain that Bertie has been talking to the fitters from 'The Raid'!

Many thanks to

sholio and

sheron for organising it all, I had a wonderful time!

shewhostaples

Make an appreciation post to those who enhance your fandom life. Appreciate them in bullet points, prose, poetry, a moodboard, a song... whatever moves you!

Dear friends (mostly, but not all, on Dreamwidth) who...

... are really enjoying that ice hockey series
... are really enjoying playing ice hockey themselves
... are really looking forward to the Winter Olympics
... are reading that book that everyone is reading
... are reading that book that everyone read three years ago
... are reading books that nobody's read for a hundred years
... are reading things I wrote when I could string more than ten minutes together at a time
... are knee-deep in an obscure spin-off of something I saw once
... are singing or playing
... are listening to other people sing or play
... are going out and eating delicious things
... are cooking delicious things for other people to eat
... are going to interesting places and seeing interesting wildlife and sharing pictures
... are doing small things (or big things) in pursuit of a better world

... I am really enjoying reading about your enjoyment and activity, though I never manage to comment as often as I'd like. Thank you for keeping me in touch with the fandom world!

TALK ABOUT A COMMUNITY SPACE YOU LIKE. It doesn’t need to be your favorite, or the one where you spend the most time (although it certainly can be). Maybe it’s even one that you’ve barely visited. But talk about that space and how it helps support fannish community.

Having talked mostly about Dreamwidth above, I'm going to go super literal here and talk about the bandstand in my home town. It's set at the centre of a park next the river, and every summer Sunday afternoon a different brass band from one of the surrounding towns and villages turns up to give a free concert. Programme-wise, you always know more or less what kind of thing you're going to get: a march or two, some film music, an arrangement of some classic rock, and so on, but since it's never advertised in advance you don't know the specifics. There's always a mixed audience: people who know it's happening and have turned up deliberately; friends of the band; people who were just wandering past and stop to listen; kids playing on the slides. Some people stop for a few minutes and then move on; some stay for the whole thing.

I love the energy of live music, and it's so good to have something that's so very relaxed, so very - literally - open.

mekare

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

osprey_archer

Still trotting away on my 2015 book log list (only Project Hail Mary holding me back now!), but I wrapped up 2016 so I decided it was time to post the author list for 2017.

Barbara Cooney - Only Opal (a picture book about Opal Whiteley, one of my minor obsessions)

Jane Langton - Her Majesty Grace Jones

~~Gary Paulsen - The Cookcamp~~

E. M. Delafield - I’ll finally continue the Provincial Lady books, unless someone has another recommendation

Chris Van Allsburg - A Kingdom Far and Clear (illustrated by Allsburg rather than written by him, but it’s a Swan Lake retelling so I’ve been meaning to take a crack at it)

E. F. Benson - I’m going to give the Mapp and Lucia novels a go! Should I start at the beginning (Queen Lucia) or is this one of those series where order doesn’t matter, in which case where should I start?

Carol Ryrie Brink - I’ve read all the more easily available ones at this point. Tempted by Four Girls on a Homestead or Strangers in the Forest just for their titles.

C. S. Lewis - I’ve read all the famous ones, I think. Leaning toward The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature right now.

~~E. Nesbit - The Phoenix and the Carpet~~

~~Kate Seredy - The Open Gate~~

~~Emily Arnold McCully - Starring Mirette and Bellini~~ (I realize I didn’t post about this one. An inferior sequel to Mirette on the High Wire.)

Julia L. Sauer - Mike’s House

~~Ngaio Marsh - Singing in the Shrouds~~

Sarah Pennypacker - Pax (I’ve wanted to read this for YEARS based purely on the Jon Klassen cover. Hopefully the book lives up to it.)

Daphne Du Maurier - I’m thinking it’s going to be The House on the Strand, but open to persuasion if you have words in favor of The Scapegoat, Frenchman’s Creek, or The King’s General.

William Dean Howells

Randa Abdel-Fattah - Does My Head Look Big in This?

~~Edward Eager - Red Head~~ Another one I didn’t review. A rhyming picture book about a red-headed boy who runs away from home because he’s so cross about being called Red all the time, but he learns to appreciate his red hair when it lights his way home. Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. Slight. Not up there with Mouse Manor.

oursin

Happy birthday,

makamu!

sovay

The snow has built a slice of six or eight inches against the glass of my office window, like the honeycomb of an observation hive. Out in the street it looks twice that height not counting the drifts which have crusted where the sidewalks used to be and swamped at least one car and its forlorn antennae of windshield wipers. I would have enjoyed more of the snowglobe of the day without the return of the phantom detergent which

spatch could smell even through the storm as soon as he turned up North Street, but I took a picture early on in the snowfall. None of the needles are visible any more.

I can't believe no one has ever written a crossover between Mavis Doriel Hay's Death on the Cherwell (1935) and Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night (1935). It must have been unspeakably awkward for Oxford to suffer two unrelated criminal investigations in separate women's colleges in the same year. Just as Sayers modeled her Shrewsbury College on Somerville, Hay fashioned her Persephone College after her own alma mater of St Hilda's and then inflicts on it the discovery of the body of the college bursar by the same quartet of students who were meeting that afternoon to hex the victim with no expectation of such immediate or spectacular results. They plunge into the business of detecting with the same gestalt enthusiasm, a fast-paced, fair-play, often very funny blend of detective and campus novel as their amateur sleuthing attracts the competitive interest of an equivalent circle of male students as well as the police and the resigned relatives who starred in the author's previous Murder Underground (1934). Every now and then an appropriately chthonic allusion surfaces from the winter damp hanging over the river which loops around Perse Island and its contested territory to which an Elizabethan curse may be attached, but it's not, thank God, dark academia; the ordinary kind can be lethal enough. With its female-forward cast and its touches of social issues in the humor, it would have made a terrific quota quickie. "Undergraduates, especially those in their first year, are not, of course, quite sane or quite adult. It is sometimes considered that they are not quite human."

It delights me deeply that my mother regards the young Mel Brooks, as pictured c. 1949 in a recent edition of the Globe, as a snack.

Current Music: Dry Cleaning, "Cruise Ship Designer"

ladyherenya

I’m listening to music on shuffle and “Lothlorien” is playing. Now I want to rewatch The Fellowship of the Ring.

• Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher: Anja, an expert in poisons and antidotes, is asked by the king to determine if his ailing twelve-year old, Snow, is being poisoned.

This is a very loose retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (sans dwarfs). Mostly it feels like its own story but every so often Kingfisher weaves in another element of the original tale – and puts her own spin on it, of course. I really enjoyed that!

I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of Kingfisher’s practical, down-to-earth and unconventional protagonist with a royal household (even if said household is a distant, desert retreat rather than the main palace). There is also a similar contrast between the mystery about whether Snow is being poisoned, which involves attention to mundane, unglamorous matters like Snow’s symptoms and habits, with the mystery of why Snow is being poisoned, which much is more the plot from a fantasy.

Occasionally I skimmed over details about poisons that made me feel squeamish, but I didn’t mind the horror elements – perhaps because Anja didn’t really mind them. Or at least her scientific fascination for what she discovers is stronger than any fear or disgust. Some of the time she’s also accompanied by a bodyguard, which might have also contributed to my perception that Anja was sufficiently invulnerable that I could relax enough to enjoy her adventures, even when those were rather creepy.

I liked how the romance is very much a subplot, too.

I’ve enjoyed all of Kingfisher’s fantasy but, upon reflection, I think this one qualifies as one of my favourites! ( ‘According to the herbwife, I would probably need to poison either dogs or prisoners, and I had moral objects on both counts. (Also, I was twelve and unlikely to be given access to the palace prisons for scientific purposes.)’ )

I have a train of thought that I started writing from last year. It bears no connection to The Lord of the Rings or to Hemlock & Silver, but I am going to endeavour to finish it and post it here anyway.

What does one do with beloved stories by people who have been revealed to be problematic?

This is something I find myself pondering every so often. I’ll see a news article about a celebrity, reminding one of said celebrity’s problematic-ness. Or I’ll be wondering about something I have on my shelves (Am I actually going to read that?). Or I will come across someone online explaining how they think other people should be responding, and criticising and making assumptions about those who have, for example, certain books on their shelves.

I have concluded that I feel quite strongly that if one is making a decision personally – and not for a business/organisation/institution – then the answer is very personal. Case-by-case. Your mileage may vary. ( The trouble is when the personal ceases to be private and becomes performative, I guess. )

yaaurens

It's been a week of not much, or so it feels. A lot of going to work and being told to go home early because there's nothing to do and there's no sense in wasting the budget to have me sitting around doing nothing but studying. (We're not usually paid for CE, so I'm really getting as much in as I can while it's quiet and I'm getting paid, lol.) My appointment who rescheduled flaked again - I even called him and was like, hey, what's the what, and he said "oh I thought it was at four" so I said, cool see you at 4. And did he show up at 4? No, no he did not.

Health stuff has gone nowhere, other than me booking my blood test - there weren't any morning appointments until next week though, which kinda sucks. No word on referrals for anything yet though.

Good-ish news - the Methodists aren't closing just yet, so I will probably have one more month of playing piano there, which is good for my bank account. Especially since my hours at the tax office are lacking and I have no appointments scheduled. I can't even do my OWN taxes (or mom's for that matter) because I don't have W-2s or 1099s.

Started looking into info on power of attorney since the parentals are both getting older and actually admitting to forgetting things now. It seems both simple and complicated at the same time. I should probably talk to the bro-ski about it too. It's not something I want to have on my own plate all by my lonesome.

Shakes this week, and then Hamlet at the end of the week, and no official work until Wednesday. Might do some work for the other gig I picked up, might do some work for mom, might try to get some stuff together for the Escapade art show. Do have plans to get rocks identified tomorrow afternoon, which means I will then be able to get rid of them hopefully.

Still watching The Immortal Ascension, which continues to be amusing. Finally finished Vengeance of the Mountain Deity, the ending of which was very WTF after a relatively reasonable storyline. Where was my mountain deity? Ah well, it was fluffy and fun.

Goals for the Week: Survive. Write up talking points for new tax laws. Let myself enjoy the Hamlet experience.

Good Things: warm laundry. Ginger snaps (I caved and bought some). New Z1L photos.

starandrea

I have a lot of plants. That's what I thought when I woke up this morning and stared at my very out-of-focus wall of greenery. (I never have to turn on lights anymore. All of the plant lights are on timers this year, and they start coming on down the hall around 6:30, a kind of artifical rolling dawn as one timer after another ticks over.)

I spent all of last year journaling daily in Chinese to hit my

inkingitout goal, and it may have worked: it now feels so much easier to write 500 words in Chinese that apparently I have energy left over to journal in English as well. So far I haven't written about the same thing in both journals once, not by design but just out of sheer verbosity.

( journaling and ADHD )

( speaking practice, and LLM-as-AI chatbots, including Duolingo )

In conclusion, the

snowflake_challenge. Dreamwidth, I appreciate you tremendously, as I hope I indicated above somewhere in my ramble about journaling. And also youtube, which I was going to use as a lead-in to the speaking challenge, but since it's now at the end, here are three insights that youtube has (usually accidentally) given me about language learning.

( youtube and language learning )

Which brings me to my favorite part which is, I watch the occasional vlog in English, just for variety, and do you know how smart these kids are? It really bolsters my faith in humanity to see people being thoughtful and competent and insightful on youtube. And everywhere. So thanks, internet communities. You make my life so much better.

petra

Lint rollers (200 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: White Collar (TV 2009)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey
Characters: Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey, Elizabeth Burke, Satchmo (White Collar)
Additional Tags: Double Drabble, Psychic Wolves
Summary:

Peter and Satchmo make an arrest -- and a friend.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: Let's misbehave

trobadora

Sorry for lateness; will reply to comments and update the tally tomorrow!

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
心 parts 20-22
意, idea/thought; 愚, stupid; 感, to feel; 愿, to wish; 慌, to panic; 慢, slow; 慰, to comfort; 憋, to suppress; 懂, to understand
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=61
手 parts 1-3
手, hand; 才, talent/just; 打, to hit; 扔, to throw; 托, to ask; 扛, to carry; 扣, button/to deduct; 执, to carry out; 扩, to enlarge
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64

语法
2.19 (part 1) Result complements 完，会，懂，住
2.19 (part 2) Adjective result complements: 对, 错, 干净, 坏
2.20 Potential complements: 见，完，下，起
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-2-grammar

词汇
承担, 承受, to bear; 承认, to admit
程序, program; 工程, engineering/project
吃惊, to be amazed; 小吃, snack
迟到, late; 推迟, delay
尺, 尺子, ruler (as in measurement); 尺寸, size/measurement/dimensions
冲, to punch
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

玩玩
Because I’m in a Li Hao mood, why the hell not: I should be with you , 别世知己, 你会做得很好的 (with Huang Qishan).

世界过得很差，我自己没事，大家怎么样？好好保重好好生活吧，互相拥抱拥抱。

luzula

Do you want to read about our vegetable gardening plans for the year? : D Perhaps it can take your mind off less fun things for a while (of which there are unfortunately many in the world)...

( Read more... )

petra

Letters from Luigi: Responses to Alleged Fan Mail (981 words) by Petra, Teland, the_Jack
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Political RPF - US 21st c.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Luigi Mangione
Additional Tags: American Politics, Delay Deny Defend, Epistolary, fan mail, Humor, Political Prisoners, the lost art of the thank-you note, United States, Unrequited Crush
Summary:

Teland said, of a photograph of Luigi Mangione reacting to some evidence against him being thrown out:

"There's still a certain 'Je ne sais why a 67-year-old woman who calls herself PresidentMILF keeps trying to convince me to send nudes' about the eyes.

"'Please stop perceiving me kthxbye —LM'"

Nineteen more letters follow that Luigi might, semi-plausibly, have written back... to a wide variety of admirers.

Current Mood: responsive
Current Music: As I sit in contemplation of the human situation

shewhostaples

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Grant someone's wish from Challenge #5.

I answered a couple of requests for recommendations, and am copying my answers here for reference.

1. for someone who wanted to hear from people forty and up about shopping for clothes:

I hit forty last year, and what I've done is to keep on experimenting until I find something that works - whether that's a shape, a colour, a manufacturer - and then keep on experimenting with that. What that looks like depends very much on circumstances - at the moment I have quite a lot of unscheduled time and my small town has a lot of charity shops, so I'm mostly buying things second-hand and donating them back if they don't end up working. But when I was working full-time I did a lot more internet shopping. (Svaha and Joanie were what worked for me then, for what it's worth.)

I had a most illuminating conversation recently with a group of friends, most of whom like Seasalt. I said that Seasalt ought to work for me but never quite does, but that Fat Face is pretty reliable. Interestingly, most of the Seasalt fans said that Fat Face never quite works for them. I take from this the lesson that even makes that appear very similar at first glance will be more or less suited to different groups of people, so it's worth keeping on looking.

I also like the Who Wears Who blog for thoughtful prompts on style and experimentation with same.

2. replying to someone who wanted to talk about femslash

Femslash! Here are three of my favourite books with canon femslash ships:

- my oldest - The Count of Monte Cristo, a rambling but enjoyable French doorstopper tale of revenge, appeared from 1844 to 1846 and has canon femslash. And no bury your gays! (Obvious warning: it is, of course, very much Of Its Time.)
- my newest - I've just finished The Priory of the Orange Tree. Will it be one of my favourites of all time? Probably not, but it was a lot of fun - an ambitious fantasy novel that attempts to put a valiant number of belief systems and all the dragon lore on the page. And yes, canon femslash.
- the one that feels like it was written just for me - the Alpennia series by Heather Rose Jones. It includes many of my favourite tropes (fictional European country, swashbuckling, complicated power dynamics) and weaves religious practice into the way the magic works in a way that I've rarely seen done so effectively. And, for a third time, canon femslash.

Profile

nnozomi

January 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

nnozomi in guardian_learning - 第五年第十七天
china_shop - Link and creativity/art update
wychwood - wychwood's 2025 book awards
trobadora - Write Every day 2026: January, Day 26
oursin - Maybe get people to sign up to the Organ Donor register instead?
philomytha - Airdrop!
shewhostaples - Snowflake Challenge: day 12 and 13
mekare - The Old Guard Art: Reunion (Andy/Quynh)
osprey_archer - Revisiting My 2017 Reading List
oursin - (no subject)
sovay - I make sure there are hidden messages in my work
ladyherenya - hemlock & silver
yaaurens - Weekly-ish Update, 1/25/26
starandrea - "this is just a moonlight-soaked, ring of smoke, right hand on a cold one confession" (fgl)
petra - Lint rollers - White Collar + Psychic Wolves
trobadora - Write Every day 2026: January, Day 25
nnozomi in guardian_learning - 第五年第十六天
luzula - Vegetable gardening in 2026
petra - Letters from Luigi: Responses to Alleged Fan Mail - US Political Satire co-written with Jack and Te
shewhostaples - Snowflake Challenge: day 11

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