May book bingo
Jun. 4th, 2025 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tellshannon815
Book in a series: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62226126-the-last-devil-to-die
Multiple POVs: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136276174-the-search-party
Female author: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210795013-here-one-moment
Friendship: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196764063-the-day-after-the-party
Name in the title: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197627190-the-reappearance-of-rachel-price
YA: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174163045-the-dare
Biography/memoir: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211163702-kingmaker
Scifi/fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36630924-here-and-now-and-then
Book from TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28016509-the-girl-before
With a woman protagonist: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200638897-the-fortune-teller
Ebook/audiobook: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204587595-her-majesty-s-royal-coven
Set somewhere you've been: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13614116-natural-causes
From the library: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/179312410-has-anyone-seen-charlotte-salter
Substitution list:
*Author you've never read before
*Book older then you are
*Fairy Tale or Fairy Tale Retelling
*Graphic novel or Comic - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213477761-fate
*Pet or Animal Companion
*A main character over the age of 30
*Under 100 Pages - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63945326-the-gift
*Romance Plot or Sub-plot - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203416581-a-novel-love-story
*Translated https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61448964-g-kungen
*Humour
*Non- fiction
*With a Blue Cover - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62792245-five-bad-deeds
*Horror or Paranormal
*Colour in the Title
*Seasonal Read
*Book made into a film or tv series - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36306720-the-perfect-couple
*Historical (fiction or non-fiction)
*Number in title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61653791-four-found-dead
*Female author
*Three word title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37819454-three-days-missing
*Craft, Hobby or Cookbook
*Written by an author from your state or country
*Animal on the cover
*Disability or Mental health
*Read a book from the year you were born
*Mythology
*Title begins with first letter of your name - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40770941-her-pretty-face
*Dystopian - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214471703-sunrise-on-the-reaping
*Book mentioned in another book
*Diverse reads
*One word title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218455872-sleep
*Award Winning/Bestseller
*Disabled Author
*Non-western Setting - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63247547-last-resort
*Set in your state/country
*Title is at Least Five Words Long - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203019749-things-don-t-break-on-their-own
*indigenous author
*Has illustrations (but not a comic or graphic novel) - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62715477-fire-and-blood
*Set at a school/university (my old one, in fact)- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219491276-when-we-were-killers
*No sex/romance
*Re-read
My Goodreads is here, feel free to follow: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/46625765?ref=nav_profile_l
LJ IDOL: THE WHEEL OF CHAOS FAQ
Jun. 3rd, 2025 08:48 pmclauderainsrm posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
therealljidol What is an FAQ? It stands for “Frequently Asked Questions”
Are these questions people have actually asked you on a frequent basis? No. It should probably be called, “things I think you would want to know, but even if I post them someone is going to ask me anyway. But at least when they do other people can point and laugh and say “It was in the FAQ, didn’t you read it?”
Will there be pointing and laughing? Probably. At very least one of those things.
What is LJ Idol? LJ Idol is a writing competition that I started back in 2006 combining my love of writing with my love of reality competition shows. It’s a game. It’s a community. It’s a way of life.
2006? Seriously? Yes. Seriously. Next year will be our 20th anniversary.
It’s called LJ Idol but it’s on Dreamwidth. Why? It started on Livejournal, but like a lot of people, it moved over here during the last big exodus. At this point LJ Idol is an established name, the brand would stay regardless of where we moved.
How does this work? You want to know how regular Idol works? I post a topic and give writers a deadline. They write and post it. I add all of those links to a poll and then people vote. Whoever has the least amount of votes is eliminated.
“Regular Idol”? Is this not regular Idol? Oh no. Not even close to “regular Idol” This is a “special event” . It's absolute chaos. It’s Idol on steroids mated with Calvinball and their kid shot out of a confetti cannon right at your head. This is THE WHEEL OF CHAOS!
Is there an actual wheel? Yes. Well, OK, it’s an online “random picker generation”. I am loading a bunch of topics into one and twists into another. Every week I will spin both. Whatever it tells me is what is happening that week.
Is it an actual 7 day week? No. It’s an Idol week. Which is from the moment I post the new topic to the moment the poll closes and someone is eliminated.
What sort of twists? Veteran players answer - it’s all of your favorites, and least favorites. Some new stuff. Newbies answer - Anywhere from how the poll is set up, how many people are eliminated to literal “game changing” options that will make you want to rage quit if you don’t decide to just go with it.
Will there be a “Second Chance Idol” for people previously eliminated to get back into the game *chuckles* Kind of.
How long will it last? Until there are fewer than 4 contestants OR until I decide to pull executive privilege and pull the ripcord to end things. It could last 1 week, we could be still playing this thing until the 30th anniversary. I have no idea. I do WANT to give people time to rest and recover before the big 20th anniversary season next year. So hopefully before that.
“Am I going to hate it?” Yes. You definitely will hate it. But hopefully you will love it more. I’m telling you at the onset that it’s not going to be regular Idol and that it’s going to be crazy. Take a box of Captain Crunch “Oops All Berries” and replace it with LJ Idol “Oops, All Twists” and that’s what you are getting yourself into.
“When is the Sign Up?” This weekend. Unless I roll a dice and the fates decide it’s sooner!!
Until then, ask me more questions then I can add “Questions That Were Actually Asked Once”!!
(no subject)
Jun. 2nd, 2025 07:57 amlunabee341. I absolutely adore my ridiculous children. Fiona is reading War and Peace. It's the book with the most AR points, and we kept telling her that she was probably not going to like it or understand it well, which just fueled her desire to read it more. Joke's on us, I guess, because she's moving through it a pretty fair clip, and while I'm certain that a significant amount of it is going over her head, she seems to be understanding the plot well enough (we debrief what everyone is reading over dinner every evening).
2.
A Century of Poems - TLS 100 by The Times Literary Supplement
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well, this makes clear that I do not share taste in poetry with the editors of the Times Lierary Supplement, all however many of them served for the 20th century. Lol
So many war poems, which I get given the time period, but I am not a fan of most war poetry. Also so much rhyming, way more than I'd anticipated.
I did like some of the poems, but on the whole not for me.
View all my reviews
3.
( Scholomance by Naomi Novik--major spoilers )
4.
The Best Cook in the World by Rick Bragg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I kept finding myself in the pages of this book as I read it. My people are not mountain Southern, but some things about being Southern are universal. The backstory of poverty and wringing a living out of the land with backbreaking work in Bragg's memoir could easily describe many aspects of the backstory on both side of my family. Most especially, though, reflected here is that truth that no matter how poor my grandparents were or how stingy my parents were when I was growing up to avoid poverty we still ate well. Like Bragg, my family was almost self-sustaining in eating what we grew, caught, and raised, and we ate like kings. Still do.
View all my reviews
5.
The Man Who Thought Himself a Woman and Other Queer Nineteenth-Century Short Stories by Christopher Looby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This collection of short stories is divided into four sections: queer places, queer genders, queer attachments, and queer things. Most of the stories in the queer things section don't seem to be queer to me (especially the Melville one where the protagonist is obsessed with his chimney and the Hartman story where a little waif girl drowns herself in the sea). Many of these stories are sad and/or violent, but a few of them are happy and hopeful--notably the Walt Whitman and the Mary Wilkins Freeman. The titular story of the book is incredibly fascinating.
View all my reviews
I have a PDF copy of this book, so if you'd like to read me, PM me and I'll email it to you.
2.
A Century of Poems - TLS 100 by The Times Literary SupplementMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well, this makes clear that I do not share taste in poetry with the editors of the Times Lierary Supplement, all however many of them served for the 20th century. Lol
So many war poems, which I get given the time period, but I am not a fan of most war poetry. Also so much rhyming, way more than I'd anticipated.
I did like some of the poems, but on the whole not for me.
View all my reviews
3.
( Scholomance by Naomi Novik--major spoilers )
4.
The Best Cook in the World by Rick BraggMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I kept finding myself in the pages of this book as I read it. My people are not mountain Southern, but some things about being Southern are universal. The backstory of poverty and wringing a living out of the land with backbreaking work in Bragg's memoir could easily describe many aspects of the backstory on both side of my family. Most especially, though, reflected here is that truth that no matter how poor my grandparents were or how stingy my parents were when I was growing up to avoid poverty we still ate well. Like Bragg, my family was almost self-sustaining in eating what we grew, caught, and raised, and we ate like kings. Still do.
View all my reviews
5.
The Man Who Thought Himself a Woman and Other Queer Nineteenth-Century Short Stories by Christopher LoobyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This collection of short stories is divided into four sections: queer places, queer genders, queer attachments, and queer things. Most of the stories in the queer things section don't seem to be queer to me (especially the Melville one where the protagonist is obsessed with his chimney and the Hartman story where a little waif girl drowns herself in the sea). Many of these stories are sad and/or violent, but a few of them are happy and hopeful--notably the Walt Whitman and the Mary Wilkins Freeman. The titular story of the book is incredibly fascinating.
View all my reviews
I have a PDF copy of this book, so if you'd like to read me, PM me and I'll email it to you.
New Who so far
Jun. 1st, 2025 02:49 pmelisiSome of you may remember, but almost 6 years ago Promethia created a wonderful spreadsheet of Classic Who, giving an overview of the showrunners and descriptions of the different eras.
Recently I became inspired to do one for New Who. It's a bit more comprehensive than the one for Classic Who, and very much my own take on everything. Also it's a little tongue-in-cheek.
Spoilers for everything aired so far.
( Here be spoilers for Doctor Who 2005-2025 )
Please note that I will (at some point) probably write up some actual thoughts about Disney Who so far. However I have all the time in the world for that, so just be aware that this is not the post for yelling about last night's episode. I mean - you may yell, but I'm very zen about it all. 🫶
Recently I became inspired to do one for New Who. It's a bit more comprehensive than the one for Classic Who, and very much my own take on everything. Also it's a little tongue-in-cheek.
Spoilers for everything aired so far.
( Here be spoilers for Doctor Who 2005-2025 )
Please note that I will (at some point) probably write up some actual thoughts about Disney Who so far. However I have all the time in the world for that, so just be aware that this is not the post for yelling about last night's episode. I mean - you may yell, but I'm very zen about it all. 🫶
It's a Wednesday
May. 28th, 2025 06:32 amlunabee341. Ha ha! I am vindicated.
So, my family will sometimes say stob for a small stump or a stick sticking up out of the ground or a broken off piece of fencing. Josh has insisted repeatedly over the years that this is not a real word and just something weird my family says. However, I'm reading one of Rick Bragg's memoirs and he uses the word stob, which prompted me to look it up in the dictionary and confirm it is indeed a real word and not just another example of the ways in which I belong to a bunch of hicks. I've always assumed it's a bastardization of the word stave.
2. Fiona is sick again. She has the flu now, and the pediatrician had us go to the hospital so she could get a chest x-ray (I guess their machine is better than the one at the pediatrician's, IDK). We haven't heard back about the results of the x-ray, but I really hope she doesn't have pneumonia again. I just don't understand why she keeps getting these respiratory things.
3. Dylan has a weird lump on her shoulder that we think might be lupus-related. The rheumatologist is sending her to an orthopedist to look at it (which makes no sense to me), so hopefully we'll know more about it soon.
4. I have to go to the dentist today. I've been putting it off as long as I can because I am a ding ding, but I hate going to the dentist so much. :(
5. We watched The Wild Robot on Netflix. Fiona loves the book(s?), and she was satisfied with the movie as an adaptation even though it made some minor changes to character and plot. All three of us ended up crying multiple times throughout; Josh popped into the living room at one point and turned heel and left again immediately. LOL Definitely worth a watch.
So, my family will sometimes say stob for a small stump or a stick sticking up out of the ground or a broken off piece of fencing. Josh has insisted repeatedly over the years that this is not a real word and just something weird my family says. However, I'm reading one of Rick Bragg's memoirs and he uses the word stob, which prompted me to look it up in the dictionary and confirm it is indeed a real word and not just another example of the ways in which I belong to a bunch of hicks. I've always assumed it's a bastardization of the word stave.
2. Fiona is sick again. She has the flu now, and the pediatrician had us go to the hospital so she could get a chest x-ray (I guess their machine is better than the one at the pediatrician's, IDK). We haven't heard back about the results of the x-ray, but I really hope she doesn't have pneumonia again. I just don't understand why she keeps getting these respiratory things.
3. Dylan has a weird lump on her shoulder that we think might be lupus-related. The rheumatologist is sending her to an orthopedist to look at it (which makes no sense to me), so hopefully we'll know more about it soon.
4. I have to go to the dentist today. I've been putting it off as long as I can because I am a ding ding, but I hate going to the dentist so much. :(
5. We watched The Wild Robot on Netflix. Fiona loves the book(s?), and she was satisfied with the movie as an adaptation even though it made some minor changes to character and plot. All three of us ended up crying multiple times throughout; Josh popped into the living room at one point and turned heel and left again immediately. LOL Definitely worth a watch.
Finally a diagnosis
May. 24th, 2025 07:52 amlunabee341. Dylan has been diagnosed with lupus and given medication. When we got done with the appointment, I sat in the car and cried. It's been so long with no one helping us that I had started to despair that it would ever happen. I'm scared, of course; I don't want my child to have lupus. But this means they can now take medicine to make them feel better, and they can get accommodations at school if they need to because they have a formal diagnosis.
I am also incandescently angry at the first rheumatologist we saw. Dylan's labs are essentially THE SAME as when we saw that doc; she just didn't think Dylan was SICK ENOUGH to do anything about. They could have been getting help all this time.
In the same vein, I've got a routine appointment with my PCP later this summer; I'm going to have her run the same labs she did on Dylan that led to the referral, and if my labs are at similar levels, I'm going to get a referral to the same rheumatologist. I have always firmly believed that Dylan and I have the same issue, just that they started on the path much earlier and much more severely. I couldn't get that awful rheumatologist to take me seriously, but clearly this one will.
I haven't said anything to my parents yet. I guess I will next time we talk, but I don't want to initiate contact with them. I know mom's going to be hurt and sad that I didn't immediately tell her, but I don't want to talk to them.
2. ( spoilers for all of Dragon Prince )
All in all, deeply enjoyable and highly recommended.
I am also incandescently angry at the first rheumatologist we saw. Dylan's labs are essentially THE SAME as when we saw that doc; she just didn't think Dylan was SICK ENOUGH to do anything about. They could have been getting help all this time.
In the same vein, I've got a routine appointment with my PCP later this summer; I'm going to have her run the same labs she did on Dylan that led to the referral, and if my labs are at similar levels, I'm going to get a referral to the same rheumatologist. I have always firmly believed that Dylan and I have the same issue, just that they started on the path much earlier and much more severely. I couldn't get that awful rheumatologist to take me seriously, but clearly this one will.
I haven't said anything to my parents yet. I guess I will next time we talk, but I don't want to initiate contact with them. I know mom's going to be hurt and sad that I didn't immediately tell her, but I don't want to talk to them.
2. ( spoilers for all of Dragon Prince )
All in all, deeply enjoyable and highly recommended.