From the website: Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe. She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the fa...

From the PDF Tales from the Wild Blue Yonder: Chapter II Magister Lor is the last surviving member of the Strelai — an ancient order of mystics that imprisoned the demons who cast the worlds i...

Now that the whole crossposting thing is working, I plan to continue reducing my presence on Facebook. I often post things there to remember them, but I can't find them later when I want them. So it makes much more sense, of course, to post them here. There's also the fact that Meta can't make money off me if I'm not over there.

Dead End by Annabel Chase My rating: 2 of 5 stars I got through eight books of this nine-book series. The main character makes the same very serious mistakes over and over again, but there was enough progress that I kept reading. HOWEVER, in book nine she started to make the most serious of those mistakes AGAIN, and I was done.

Level up 2026 with the only Wall Calendar you can use as a Battle Map! Includes 12 5E Adventures (playable as a campaign or as individual one shot adventures). Extras include themed gift wrap and gree...

Diviner's Bow by Sharon Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars I stretched this one out as long as I could manage it, because I was enjoying it so much, and I never want any of the Liaden Universe books to end. I love this series and its authors! The prose in these books is always just perfect to my ear.

Note from Juan Cole: I used to write letters to totalitarian governments on behalf of Amnesty International complaining about their detention of political prisoners for mere thought crimes. One of the worst offenders was Communist Czechoslovakia, which…

YouTube video by White Rose Resistance

By replacing independent, nonpartisan leadership with a politically aligned appointee, this administration is attempting to undermine the integrity of our nation’s historical record and the mechanisms...

Why do most women give birth (in the United States, anyway) while lying on their backs? Is it the most comfortable way to do it? Nope. It goes back to Louis the XIVth and his thing about watching his mistresses deliver his offspring. He didn't like having anything obstruct his view, so he insisted they lie on their backs. It came to be the standard in the U.S.

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law? There’s a WordPress Daily Prompt that I’ve never really noticed before. Today’s question caught my eye, though. Yes, I’m sure that I’ve unintentionally broken the law at some point in the past. Our ridiculous tangle of city, county, state, and federal laws mean that there’s absolutely no way for anyone to truly know every statute, much less to understand them and how they interact.

I’m off to enjoy the rest of the evening with my husband. Have fun!

...about current events in the U.S.? Here's one set of suggestions. Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now which probably won't magically catalyze a mass movement against Trump but that are still wildly important

I created a new article on my professional site today, Useful skills for growing in tech. I'd love to get some feedback on it.

I've had a Google account since 2004, when you needed an invitation to join. I had previously used an email on this domain, and I have been transitioning most of my email back to that for the past year or so. Current events have me looking at how I can get off Google Calendar and any other services. Google Calendar removes Black History Month, Pride, and other cultural events…

I've only been crocheting for a little while. Apparently, February is National Hobby Month or something similar, so the leader of the Women's ERG at work asked us about our hobbies. Another woman and I mentioned crochet, and we found ourselves volunteered to teach. Every Monday this month, we've gathered to crochet during or just after lunch. Fortunately, the other woman is much farther along the process.

Yeah, 4:30 am was a long time ago, especially since it came after a night that was interrupted for an hour. I have a lot of trouble with hypoglycemic episodes in the middle of the night. I wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) because my sugar is volatile, and I have hypoglycemic unawareness. It's a damned good thing I have the CGM.

Well, we tried to go to a house concert. We looked forward to it all week. I asked the host about the accessibility of the location, and she said she had a close-by place where we could park and easily access the venue and that the concert room itself had no barriers. None of that was true. The venue was down a pretty long residential street and had all of three parking spots (the sorta-wide dead end of the street) at the end of a long, steep driveway.

How to get started on getting started "I signed up to volunteer with a tribe in southeast Michigan who need help transcribing archival documents" "I'm planning to start a monthly (themed?) karaoke night with my pals" "Working on a multi faceted project around police accountability/reform/ abolition" "I sent out another round of invitations to our potluck, and I used Elise's ideas to help create a handout for the potluck for a whole range of commitments people could make."

I didn't even have time to read my personal email today until after work, when I usually do that before the workday starts. Despite meetings, I wrote and published a whole section of knowledge base articles. However, I wasn't able to crochet through today's meetings. I love my job. My employer is great, and they treat me well. There are days, though, when I remember being at home with Katie and my stepkids and miss it. There were other good things about those years, too. But now is pretty damned good.

I feel like I need a news break. I do that periodically to stay sane. There's so much happening right now that I don't feel I can take such a break. It's frustrating. My anxiety level is pretty high, though. There's some really good material out there, at least. I try to be judicious about what I consume. These are two of the pieces I read today.

Two excellent articles about things we should all be doing: Democracy Playbook 2025: 7 Pillars to Defend Democracy in 2025 and Beyond The article expands on why to defend each pillar and how to do it. Protect elections Defend rule of law Fight corruption Reinforce civic and media space Protect pluralistic governance Counter disinformation Make democracy deliver 10 Things We Can All Do to Protect Democracy…

For about six weeks, I've spent Sunday mornings participating in a video gathering for an hour or two. A friend started it to build and maintain personal connections. I look forward to it each week and always learn something. Today, I had more energy after the meeting than before, which is astonishing for an avowed introvert. I also got a chance to crochet during that time, which was rewarding.

Rick and I had a productive day, though we didn't accomplish one thing I needed to do. That was dependent on another person, and he let us down. We started by going to the Artist Alley event at Giga-Bites Café. It's been a while since I visited the store. They seem to have expanded their merchandise while reducing the number of gaming tables.

We've had SUCH an exciting Friday night of pizza and Black Doveswhich is a bit too violent for my tastes, but so very well done! on Netflix. Yep, I can feel us getting older all the time. But then, I've been awake since 2:30 am. That entitles me to a lovely, comfy evening at home doing nothing that requires effort.

I had three straight hours of meetings today. That simply should not happen. I didn't schedule any of them. Two hours of them were three standard meetings that happen on regular cadences. Thankfully, they don't often fall on the same day. The third hour was a product webinar that occurs mostly monthly but moves around to accommodate other events. Today, it was from noon to one.

It feels earlier, but I did (mostly) miss work yesterday. Seven years ago today, I checked myself into a partial hospitalization program (PHP) at a psychiatric hospital. With the PHP program I did, you stay in your own home but report to the hospital each weekday for a full day of group therapy and occasional individual sessions. One or more social workers run the group.

39 years ago today, the crew of the Challenger died in a fiery explosion 73 seconds after liftoff. I was in the warehouse at work when a field engineer told me the shuttle had exploded. I thought it was a sick joke. That couldn't happen, right? Then I returned to the office, and the engineering manager asked me if I'd heard about Challenger blowing up.

There were two interesting stories in the news recently that are of interest to those of us diagnosed with depression. This research proves that depression isn't just situational or a matter of character. It could also lead to new, more effective treatments. Researchers find hundreds of new genetic variants linked to depression This nasal spray could be an excellent alternative for those who can't tolerate, digest, or absorb oral antidepressants for some reason. I know someone for whom it could be a game-changer. FDA-Approved Nasal Spray For Depression Is First Of Its Kind

In other pieces, doctors and researchers have stated that long COVID is indistinguishable from chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). One of the hallmarks of both conditions is post-exertional malaise or exhaustion, which is all out of proportion to the amount of exercise the patient has done. Why long COVID can cause exhaustion, or post-exertional malaise, after exercise Patients with both conditions are frequently told to exercise "to get back in shape." Those who haven't experienced post-exertional malaise seldom show comprehension of the bone-deep fatigue (and often increased pain) following any physical exercise that can last days or even weeks.

I previously talked about Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde's courageous homily when the felon attended a service she led at the National Cathedral on inauguration day. A couple of days ago, I came across a Facebook post that someone claimed was the Episcopal church's response to the felon's social medial temper tantrum about Bishop Budde. Unfortunately, it wasn't their official response. But it is very good, and I'm sharing it with the permission of its author, …

The felon had many, many conflicts of interest during his first term due to his business holdings. He promised to place his businesses in a blind trust, then refused to do so. Concerns about the risks posed were born out almost immediately. Now, things are even worse, with more links to Middle Eastern countries and other risks. This is a good article on the topic. It is unlocked. An Illustrated Guide to Trump’s Conflict of Interest Risks

It's very sunny but cold today. There was a freeze warning overnight, with very low wind chill factors. We were predicted to have weather this past week for the second week in a row. While the rest of the Atlanta area got some ice and snow, we were fortunate enough to avoid it. We did get very cold temperatures (for Georgia) of 16° F and below 0° wind chills.

It's a good time for planet-gazing! This month, a planetary alignment means that four planets are visible together to the naked eye: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. Uranus and Neptune are there, but you need a telescope to see them. Look Up For January's 'Parade Of Planets' By February 28, you'll also be able to see Mercury.

Felon 47's administration nixed the whole government reproductive rights site Monday. Some wonderful person has reproduced it as it was before they took it down. Keep Your Reproductive Rights

I'm missing my Daddy something fierce. I came across this photo of him and Mom from 2009 a couple of days ago. They both look so happy! This one of him and one of the grands is from 2014. You can see the model trains they'd been playing with around them. He really enjoyed those. Some salvaged HVAC equipment is behind them. Daddy took units that were being discarded, fixed them, and got them to people in need.