Sunshine Revival Post

  • Jul. 2nd, 2025 at 1:23 PM
1) As part of [community profile] sunshine_revival's first challenge: "Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community."

I just shared some necklaces I made a few months back over at [community profile] everykindofcraft. I did a lot of beading in the first 13 years after I took it up, but things have been rather start and stop in the last 10. A craft store closeout + a challenge from a relative got me making some new things in the last few months. That probably also contributed to my starting [community profile] everykindofcraft here, because I saw various people posting wonderful stuff that not many people were seeing, whereas on Pillowfort some general craft communities there are always getting posts.

Hopefully we can get more crafters sharing here!

2) Have been watching a slew of Apple+ shows as our subscription cutoff nears. The miniseries Disclaimer was framed in an interesting way, one which I suspect had a lot more clarity in multimedia than in the book, but perhaps not. It uses multiple narrative voices and POV for the narration, including second person, first person, and some omniscient narrative. This was pretty relevant because of who was being framed (literally) and who actually got to have their voice(s) heard. Read more... )

3) Surface is a story told in a much more straightforward manner even though it also involves an unreliable narrator of sorts in that our central character had memory loss and is trying to piece together her past which also involves a parental mystery. Read more... )

4) Also saw the movie Wolfs, which is fine but largely a vehicle for us to watch Pitt and Clooney do fun stuff. Read more... )

5) Finished The Big Conn and Cowboy Cartel, two documentaries about big crime. I found the former much more interesting, even though I'd heard about the case before. What was probably the most striking about both was the role of the media in precipitating change. Read more... )

6) Careme was marketed as the story of the first celebrity chef, who served Napoleon, Tallyrand and others. It was certainly about far more than cooking. Read more... )

Poll #33317 Kudos Footer-529
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
4 (100.0%)



BUFFY: You realize that Anya's probably seducing R.J. even as we speak.
WILLOW: My God. You think so?
BUFFY: Well, I wouldn't put it past her. She's recently evil, you know.
WILLOW: Well, so am I. Why should I miss out?

~~~~



[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

[Chaptered Fiction]

[Images, Audio & Video]

[Reviews & Recaps]

[Recs & In Search Of]

[Community Announcements]

[Fandom Discussions]

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Kink Hub: A Sharing & Reccing Community for Kink Fics

Links:[community profile] kinkhub | Community Rules | Posting Guidelines | Monthly Themes & Free-For-All | July: Sex on the Beach

Description: Kink Hub is an 18+ comm for anything kink fic, where you can self-promote, share and rec fanfics of all fandoms and original works. RPF is welcome.

For the month of July, the theme for all shared fics is "Sex on the Beach", which means any kinks related to outdoor fun (no actual beach required) and/or alcoholic beverages (no cocktail required). If you've written or read fics featuring any related kink, you're very welcome to share the links to them in this comm.
WILLOW: It says that Meredith and two other girls in the car were killed instantly. They were all on the Fondren High Pep Squad, on the way to a game.
BUFFY: You know what this means.
XANDER: That Fondren might actually beat Sunnydale in the cross-town body count competition this year?
BUFFY: She wasn't killed by vampires. Somebody did dig up her corpse.
CORDELIA: Eww! Why is it that every conversation you people have has the word 'corpse' in it?

~~BtVS 2x03 “Some Assembly Required”~~




[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]


[Images, Audio & Video]


[Reviews & Recaps]


[In Search Of]


[Fandom Discussions]


[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]


Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

Rebuilding journal search again

  • Jun. 30th, 2025 at 3:18 PM
We're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.

Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.

All is Well

  • Jun. 30th, 2025 at 12:15 PM
1) A few more trip photos posted over at [community profile] common_nature, these of Oneonta Gorge.

2) Saw The Flash film and found it better than expected but also so-so. The big problem to me was the lead himself. Granted his character isn't really written to have any charm but a good bit of the humor fell flat for me, and when he was on screen twice as much it made it worse. Read more... )

3) Just an update about the bed situation listed in my last post. Everything went well! The youngsters delivering the bed had no problem with taking the old one down to the moving truck, and moving the other one to another room. Read more... )

4) A new wrinkle in the last few weeks is that during yet another heavy rain we got a leak near our front door. Read more... )

5) I quite liked this diagram of the interaction between entertainment production and fan activities. This came from an interview on Henry Jenkins' blog about a new set of textbooks for studying fandom.



Poll #33307 Kudos Footer-528
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Want to leave a Kudos?

View Answers

Kudos!
6 (100.0%)



VI: I hurt his arm. (nods proudly) Yep. And an arm can be as lethal as a mouth.

~~Potential~~




[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]


[Images, Audio & Video]


[Reviews & Recaps]


[Recs & In Search Of]


[Community Announcements]


[Fandom Discussions]


[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]


Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)


Ironheart (TV Series) Episodes 1 - 3

  • Jun. 29th, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Aka the series which was delayed for years, with the result that there is much preemptive sceptism. Having watched the first three episodes which got dropped a few days ago, I very much like what I'm seeing so far. The way the series provides a distinct feeling of a place and people reminds me of what the show Ms Marvel did with the Pakistani community in New Jersey - in this case, Riri Williams comes from the Chicago South Side, as does the director, google tells me, and that's where she returns to in the series' pilot.

Spoilers could make an Iron Suit in a cave, but would need the cash to be brought to the cave first )

Allbingo and Crowdfunding

  • Jun. 29th, 2025 at 4:16 AM
[community profile] allbingo provides a space for creative people to share their work, using bingo cards for inspiration.

[community profile] crowdfunding is a community for creators, patrons, and fans of cyberfunded creativity.

Further details below ...

Read more... )

Bon Dance festival

  • Jun. 28th, 2025 at 9:56 PM
The Bon Dance last night was incredible! The yard in front of the Kauai Soto Zen Temple in Hanapepe was all decorated with paper lanterns and string lights, with a big circular display area where the performances took place. There were food booths, and the food I saw people eating looked good, but we didn't eat there. Maybe next time, because this is something I would like to do every year! I'd seen the announcements every year since we moved here (including two years when it was canceled or done virtually because of COVID restrictions) and always wanted to go.

It was a great community event, with lots of people wearing beautiful yukatas and kimonos. There's a pretty large Japanese population on Kauai, and this seemed to be a popular event with the Japanese community. But there were lots of other people too, mostly families who appeared to be residents, but there were a few visitors, too. Some from very far away, like South Africa and Australia.

We found chairs near the performance ring, and we had a pretty good view. The first performance was a group of taiko drummers, who were very impressive. The beat of their drums was so powerful that we could feel it reverberating in our chests! I've always loved taiko drumming, and I went to a performances a couple of times back in Berkeley, but seeing it performed outdoors on the temple grounds under the paper lanterns was really different. It felt less remote, more like we were all part of the same community event, which of course we were.

After the taiko drumming performance, there was a transitional period, when the taiko drummers performed with flautists and a singer while dozens of people (maybe a hundred people? there were a lot) danced a dance with set steps that everyone performed simultaneously as they moved in a slow circle around the performance area. It was a beautiful dance, and it was neat to see how some people were very graceful and practiced, while other people went out there and did their best to dance along and no one judged them. During this time, though, a high percentage of the people dancing were in kimonos, yukatas, and flowing Japanese-style shirts. The sun started setting during the dance, and the sky was all pink and blue and gorgeous.

Then there was a break while they removed all the taiko drums, and a lot more people went into the circle, more of them just casually dressed in street clothing, though the people in Japanese clothes didn't leave the circle. They were just joined by a lot more people.

And then we were BLASTED by recorded music that was probably 5 times louder than the live performance had been, so loud that Shannon and I could hardly bear it. Everyone continued dancing in their slow circle, but Shannon and I pretty rapidly decided that we'd had enough. Shannon insisted that we could stay if I wanted to, but I'm prone to headaches and I knew music that loud wasn't going to do my brain any favors. So we headed out.

But it was a lovely evening, and a perfect date night. It's been a long time since we were able to go out to stuff like this together much. We've been to the theater together a few times during these past several years, but outdoor stuff like this festival and the Pride parade are a very different sort of thing. This festival would have been difficult (though not impossible) to navigate on my knee scooter, for example. And the bathrooms were port-a-potties, which would have been a nightmare when I was having my digestive problems. So it is very exciting to be well enough to be able to easily go out to this sort of community event.
FAITH: (mumbling) Scratch you out...
FRED: She's not making any sense.
LORNE: And speaking of sense, have you gone on permanent sabbatical from yours? Tell me you did not shoot that girl full of junk, and then feed her to Angelus.
WESLEY: It was her choice. Faith knew the risks.
LORNE: Aw, she couldn't! (Fred glares at them, then quieter) Wesley, I know what that drug does to people. Especially when they super-size the doses to make sure they really get the job done. And you damn well know it too.

~~AtS 4x15 “Orpheus”~~




[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]


[Images, Audio & Video]


[Reviews & Recaps]


[Recs & In Search Of]


[Community Announcements]


[Fandom Discussions]


[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]


Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

Some things take time

  • Jun. 27th, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I saw the physical therapist today, and we're getting me started back on my exercises. I've actually improved since I last saw him, because I've been walking whenever I can, especially since the injections started helping me feel better and I could leave the house more often. My legs are quite strong again now, but the muscles are still very tight and need stretching. It's nice that I've overcome some of the atrophy that was a huge problem when I first went to PT after my second foot surgery! I remember my left calf muscle was weirdly concave because of atrophy in late 2021 / early 2022.

So I'm going to start doing physical therapy stretches at least twice a day again, along with my frequent walks (whenever I have the opportunity!) and the water exercise class twice a week. It seems like a good plan.

I talked with the physical therapist about the fact that I think we need to set our expectations for the long term, because my body just doesn't heal/adjust quickly, so it's going to take a long time to get those muscles more flexible. I'll work on it, but my effort won't be enough ... it'll take time. In the past, I've always felt that if I just worked harder, then I could make things happen faster, but with my body's recovery it definitely doesn't work that way. It's a cliche, but it's also true: some things take time. That's frustrating, but it's also reassuring. If I don't seem to be improving noticeably, it isn't my "fault" ... it's just my body taking its time, and I need to learn to be okay with that.

In an example of how small the community is here on Kauai, Mary is working with the same physical therapist that I'm working with ... and the woman I met on Wednesday at the writers' group is friends with Gary and Mary because they all go to the same church. Kauai really is like a small town spread across an island's space.

Shannon and I are heading to Hanapepe for a Bon Dance festival tonight, which should be fun!
PUPPET ANGEL: Wes, put the special ops team on red alert.
WESLEY: Red alert?
PUPPET ANGEL: I want helicopters and tear gas.
GUNN: Angel—
PUPPET ANGEL: This is war!
LORNE: Angel, baby... Muppet, pumpkin, uh, this show is number one in its time slot. Tykes love it all across the Southland. We can't just toss a Jihad at their studio.

~~Smile Time~~


[Drabbles & Short Fiction]
[Chaptered Fiction]
[Images, Audio & Video]
[Reviews & Recaps]
[Fandom Discussions] [Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

celebrity20in20 Round 15

  • Jun. 27th, 2025 at 3:14 PM


Link: Round 15 Sign Ups | Round 15 Themes

Description: [community profile] celebrity20in20 is a 20in20 community dedicated to making icons of actors and actresses. You have 20 days to make 20 icons about a celebrity of your choice, based on a set of themes for the round.

Schedule: Round 15 sign ups are open NOW. Icons are due July 17, 2025.
We see Buffy standing in a circle of people. Riley makes his way through towards her. RILEY: Excuse me. Hi.
BUFFY: Hi.
RILEY: Um...Buffy... (He pauses looking at a loss.) You do the reading on chapter 9?
BUFFY: Uh-huh. (She gives him a look.)
RILEY: Wow. Some theories, huh? (He gives an earnest grin.)
(Buffy smiles, as if holding back a laugh.)
RILEY: Cheese? (He holds up a cube of cheese on a stick.)

~~The Initiative~~




[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]


[Images, Audio & Video]


[Reviews & Recaps]


[Recs & In Search Of]


[Community Announcements]


[Fandom Discussions]


[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]


Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

Another nice day

  • Jun. 26th, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Another nice day today, though less eventful than yesterday. I started out the day with writing morning pages and doing some meditation, and I think that really started the day off on a good note. I didn't get a lot of work done, but I felt cheerful. In the late afternoon, I went to Poipu with Shannon and Gary, and I went for a walk while they swam.

I notice that my knee seems to be doing better since I stopped doing my physical therapy exercises a couple weeks ago. I think a problem I have is that I expect noticeable improvement from PT exercises, and so I overdo it a little bit. I think this is especially an issue when I have weekly appointments with the physical therapist, because I feel like I should be making notable improvement every week. My body just doesn't heal or change that fast. So I think I need to establish different expectations with my physical therapist. I'm seeing him tomorrow to restart treatment, so I'll talk to him then.

Currently, walking and the water exercise class seem to be serving me well, and I've even been able to go up and down the stairs a few times this week without pain, but I know I should be stretching. I just have to figure out how to do it without hurting myself.

Tomorrow Shannon and I are also going to the Bon Dance festival at a Buddhist temple in a nearby town. There will be fancy lights, taiko drum performances, dances, food, etc. These Bon Dances are held at various places on the island every year, and I've always wanted to go, but this is the first time my health has allowed it. I'm looking forward to it!

Film Review: A Complete Unknown

  • Jun. 26th, 2025 at 12:41 PM
As far as musical biopics go, they tend to be more of a miss than a win in many cases, with the plus side that at least you, potential watcher, get to listen to some good music even if the script fails. There are exceptions, i.e. films where both the music is good and the film doesn’t feel like a visualized wikipedia entry, for example, Love & Mercy, which escapes the formula by picking two distinctly different and important eras of Brian Wilson’s life instead of his whole life, with 1960s Brian on the verge of creating his masterpiece and having a mental breakdown played by Paul Dano and 1980s Brian, in the power of a ruthless exploitative doctor but about to freed via encountering his second wife, by John Cusack. The performances are great, the different eras are poignantly commenting on each other, and even were Brian Wilson a fictional character, the film would be worth watching. If Love & Mercy wins for originality with the template, Walk the Line (about Johnny Cash) wins for doing the formula expertly, in fact so well it became endlessly copied and parodied thereafter. James Mangold, who directed Walk the Line to a lot of commercial and critical success back in the day, waited for near two decades before going near another musical biopic again, but he did last year, resulting in A Complete Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan, which courtesy of the Mouse channel I have now watched.

You who are so good with words and at keeping things vague )

All in all: good, very good, though not great. But it’s the first film in a while where I absolutely want to have the soundtrack.

West Side Writers' Group and Korean studies

  • Jun. 25th, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I went to the West Side Writers' Group this evening, and though there were only 2 of us there, it was SO fun!

Apparently, there are sometimes 6 or 7 people, sometimes as few as 2, and today was one of the small groups, but I didn't mind. The other woman there (M.) is the person who created the group, and she's a writer who loves BTS and Eurogames, so we had tons in common! She also doesn't live too far away, just the next town over from Kalaheo. So we exchanged numbers and maybe we'll try to get together to play games or something. I'm not going to push it, though. I don't want to be the desperate person looking for friends.

Even if I am kind of the desperate person looking for friends. lol

This writers' group only meets once a month, and it's aimed primarily at writers who are in the process of working on projects. Apparently there are a couple of novelists, a couple of poets, an essayist, etc. The woman who created the group is one of the poets, and she created the group partly to encourage Kauai writers to finish pieces and submit for publication. Talking with her was very inspiring, and I'm going to try to start morning pages again (a practice of writing three pages long-hand first thing every morning). I've done it for various periods in the past, but last time I gave up right about a year ago, because I found that creative juices weren't flowing, and every morning I was just writing about my plans for the day. But now I'm feeling more inspired to write again, so I'm going to give it another try.

I also discussed with M. my idea of rewriting one of my Korean short stories in English as a children's story. She said it might be interesting to write it in English, then later translate the Korean to see the differences. I think I might actually avoid re-reading the Korean version before writing it in English, because I remember the gist but not the details. My goal right now is to write this story before the next meeting of the writers' group in a month.

-

It was actually a pretty exciting day, because I also met with my old grammar class for the first time in 2 years. Our old teacher always seemed unimaginably far above my level, but today after 2 years I actually knew more about some grammar points than she did. It was shocking. She still knows a lot more than I do about Middle Korean, but in a lot of other ways we're on a more similar level now. I'm blown away.

The class was really fun: reading aloud together, translating, and discussing grammar. My reading aloud still needs a lot of work. My pronunciation seems to be okay, but I read very haltingly, just a few words at a time without good intonation. I read dialogues aloud with my friend Zsofi every Thursday, so I think that will help in the long run. But if I'm also reading aloud with this study group every week, that will help even more.

Tags:

ANYA: Oh, crap. (slaps down her cards) Look at this! Now I'm burdened with a husband and several tiny pink children, more cash than I can reasonably manage...
XANDER: That means you're winning.
ANYA: Really?
XANDER: Yes. Cash equals good.
ANYA: Ooh! (claps her hands in excitement) I'm so pleased. (Scoops up the plastic markers that represent children) Can I trade in the children for more cash?

~~Real Me~~




[Drabbles & Short Fiction]


[Chaptered Fiction]


[Images, Audio & Video]


[Reviews & Recaps]


[Recs & In Search Of]


[Community Announcements]


[Fandom Discussions]


[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]


Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

Profile

cordelianne: (Default)
[personal profile] cordelianne
cordelianne

Latest Month

July 2009
S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios
Designed by [personal profile] chasethestars