ealgylden | Reading

I watched the new Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery, and then reread the book, as I had only a slight recollection of it. The visual design and costumes charmed me, but I was baffled by adaptation choices. Then I watched The Residence, which was much better, and visually lovely as well, as expected from Shondaland.

I stopped reading the works of Freeman Wills Crofts - I read all I could find, but there are more that I haven't yet. The guy was quite prolific. Then I finally got around to reading John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man, the last book I hadn't read on the bookclub list in Wake Up Dead Man. It was... okay. It did not revise my previously unfavorable opinion of JDC as a mystery writer. It's a fun enough and okay read, but it's not satisfying and the tone and style are... weird. I suppose if I want to articulate this better I'll have to read more of his work.

Anyway, I've been reading some other random early mystery novels since then - AEW Mason (pretty good but some Of Its Time issues), GDH Cole (the majority of the narration is by silly characters whose cluelessness the reader is presumably meant to see through, a narrative technique which makes me gnash my teeth), JJ Connington (better but loses major points for extended scenes of a dumb detective being dumb and his smarter boss being even smugger and more secretive about everything than Sherlock Holmes).

I also have experienced a change of heart, not about the NHL - it's still evil and its culture is toxic and most NHL hockey players suck - but about posting the unfinished hockey WIP with all the names changed. I didn't want to do that from 2016 until like, this month, but now I think I would be okay with it, provided I did finish it (I like the bit I have anyway). I can't at all explain why this feeling changed, though. But clearly we've all been able to process quite a bit about the nature of fanfiction with the names changed since the release of Heated Rivalry.

I keep thinking I want to write something about one of these things, but shingles is making it uncomfortable to sit up with the laptop and type and I keep going, "Fuck it, I have a moderately horrible ailment anyway right now, so lying down and resting is virtuous", and crawling into the flannel duvet tent against the radiator with Sipuli. It's nice in there. In fact at times it's so toasty that I forget it's chilly out in the rest of the house.

serrico

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Current Mood: indescribable

musesfool

Over the past few days, I finally watched the most recent season of Only Murders in the Building and I enjoyed it tremendously. I feel like I laughed a lot more than I did last season. The thing that is so great about this show, other than all the other things that are great about it, is that the cast is so stacked that you can't play the "most famous guest star is the murderer" game. I mean, this season alone, we had ( spoilers )

In other news, we are - and possibly you are too - supposed to be getting a big winter storm this weekend so I'm thinking about baking plans. I will definitely post if I make something good. *g*

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Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

mrkinch

Reading the rare bird alert this morning I saw that three of four birds I'd looked for and missed in the last two days had been reported by other people.:( Very discouraging. So discouraging that I stayed in bed with a cat instead of heading out before dawn. But I can't stay in bed all day, I get bored, so I left about 8 and started my list about 8:30. Better weather than four days ago and two more species but less interesting overall. No visible raptors or quail but more Golden-crowned Sparrows than I've seen lately. Acorn Woodpecker and Dark-eye Junco were heard and seen, and the California Thrasher was singing rather than just barking. ( The list: )

A Yellow-rumped Warbler isn't generally cause for celebration but there have been very few Warblers on this trail this Winter.

mrkinch

U and I went down to MLK Regional Shoreline to see if we could find the Green-tailed Towhee, which she saw briefly the first time and I did see at all. We couldn't, but we birded an area we'd only seen from afar, getting a much closer view of the shorebirds that roost there: lots of American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts, lots of Willets and Marbled Godwits. We were also delighted to discover that the seasonal wetland at Garretson Point still has water and ducks two weeks plus since the last rain. I wish the Berkeley Meadow ponds were that well fed! ( A combined list: )

The Garretson Point parking lot was blocked so we parked in a little lot off Zhone Way with direct access to the Damon Slough area as well as a back route to Garretson Point. Could come in handy.

musesfool

I did indeed get in bed by 9:30 last night and slept pretty hard. I probably could have slept even more, but 11 hours is a pretty good night!

For some reason, I woke up with Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik in my head, and when I wondered to

angelgazing whatever happened to him, she said he co-wrote Spring Awakening, which I did not know, so good for him! From one-hit wonder to Tony winner!

On the Mets front, they finally got a centerfielder in Luis Robert Jr. I guess if he can stay healthy, he'll be an upgrade over last year, offensively at least, though I am still a Tyrone Taylor fan for his A+ defense. #better call tyrone

In other sports news, my attempt to get interested in basketball seems to have done serious damage to the Knicks. They have been losing a lot lately. Plus, everyone I mentioned it to was like, don't do that. I didn't realize people in my wider circle felt that way about basketball. I guess there's always the Liberty! I should figure out when that season starts. Or the Sirens for hockey, but I don't think they've been very good either. Just a bad time all round for NY sports, I guess. And it's not like I'm a fair weather fan, though this certainly sounds like it - it's just I'd like to root for a team that isn't completely terrible, you know? As a treat!

On the books front, there is finally cover art and a real blurb for Dungeon Crawler Carl 8: Parade of Horribles, but still no Kindle* or e-book edition, so I broke down and pre-ordered the hardcover. (I can't do audiobooks. I've tried.) I also decided to do a reread of the series, because I've been trying to map out all the various stuff that needs resolving - and it is A LOT - so I wanted it to be fresh in my mind. So at some point there will be a post that is basically me as that Charlie Day-at-the-murder-board meme trying to figure it all out. *hands*

*I realize that I probably need to do a "free trial" of Kindle Unlimited to get the Kindle edition but I do not want to do that at this time. As the release date gets closer, we'll see if a Kindle edition shows up and I end up cancelling the hardcover, as I would prefer not to buy a hardcover tbh. I have all the rest on kindle, which is where I do 99.5% of my book-reading these days.

So anyway, I guess for the Wednesday reading meme, I just finished a reread of book 1 of Dungeon Crawler Carl and started rereading book 2: Carl's Doomsday Scenario. And I will probably read book 3: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook after that and so on and so forth. *wry*

***

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik

cimorene

Apparently I have shingles....

Going to the pharmacy for antivirals and bandages when Wax is done with work.

This raises the interesting possibility that I've had headaches and fever for the last week without really noticing because I'm already miserable, huddling in blankets with no energy as my default state in January.

mrkinch

I made a third try for the Tennesee Warbler at Booker T Anderson, but still no joy. I briefly had hope but it was an Orange-crowned, similar enough to get me excited. Oh, well. The trees were full of Yellow-rumped Warblers and I also found two Townsend's that were very cooperative, ignoring me as they flitted around it the very nearby willows. Again there was a Purple Finch singing, and I found an American Goldfinch eating catkins with a Lesser. So I had an enjoyable hour and a half even without the star bird. ( The list: )

From there I crossed the freeway, parked at Richmond Marina, and walked around the north side of the harbor to get the other side of Winter. The first bird I saw was a Spotted Sandpiper.:) I saw small Grebes of all three species, quite a few Bufflehead, some Scaup, and a Surf Scoter or two, but no other ducks. ( Another list: )

The biggest surprise was hearing no Yellow-rumped Warblers!

musesfool

The conference was interesting, if maybe 1 panel too long (it ended at 4:55 pm, but the last panel was...not great, imo), though the lunch options were, to me, appalling. (Many people ate and enjoyed the sandwiches but there was not one that I would eat. I made do with salad, chips, and cookies.) My boss and I both felt validated by some things being mentioned that we already do and some that we are planning to do (if the new board chair approves), so that part was good too.

It was hard to get up (it was hard to sleep, knowing I had to get up 90 minutes earlier than usual), but I did it. I also saw two fun signs on the way: "Lube Entrance" and "You can ship anything." As

devildoll said when I told her, I'll take AO3 tags for $200, Alex. *g*

Now I'm going to try to stay awake for another hour and then go to bed because I am le tired.

*

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Get a Grip - Semisonic

mrkinch

Well, it wasn't like last week but we had a good time. Instead of California Quail we had a wonderful view of a Varied Thrush, the best I've had this season and Chris's first. We've hear them but they've been visually elusive. I took Lower Packrat Trail and found it dry enough, with a few patches of mud but nothing I couldn't manage. There were two pairs of Mallards on Jewel Lake, so I guess Spring is here, and the Great Egret was in place for the third Monday in a row. The trees at the Lake were full of Lesser Goldfinches, and a Nuttall's Woodpecker was exploring loudly, possibly for nest sites; one nested right there last year. We even had multiple Golden-crowned Sparrows on the walk back. ( The list: )

U and Chris may have seen a selasphorous hummingbird but not quite well enough to list. It's early, but they are just beginning to be reported.

musesfool

I used one of my Christmas gift cards to order a 12" carbon steel frying pan. I have a cast iron one but it is very heavy. I don't need it often, but when I do I'm always worried I'm going to drop it when it's full of hot food and I have to transfer it from stove top to oven or broiler, or vice versa. So we'll see how the carbon steel pan goes. I love the one I have for crepes, but it is much smaller and flatter.

It was top of mind this weekend because I decided to make this skillet chicken parm, but I was able to use my 10" (enameled) cast iron pan for it, which is more manageable, since I only had 2 chicken breasts. And it was pretty good! I made the Marcella Hazan simple tomato sauce for it and it worked out well. It's definitely easier than breading and frying a bunch of cutlets, and it gives a decent approximation of the best bits, which are the breading and cheese and sauce all melding together.

Then today I made this slow cooker creamy lemon chicken and it was okay - needed more lemon, imo, and also after reading the comments, I was prepared and added more cornstarch when the sauce didn't thicken much. I also thought it was weird that they want you to brown the chicken in butter first, but not saute the shallot and garlic. I didn't bother with searing the chicken, since generally I don't bother when I'm using the slow cooker, but I did saute the shallot and garlic first and added the dried herbs and let them sizzle for about 30 seconds before removing the pot from the stove and fitting it into the Instant Pot.

So it's been nice and cozy in here while the weather has been stupidly cold. Sadly, I have to go to a conference on Tuesday, when the high is supposed to be like 20°F. The agenda sounds interesting but I already told my boss if it was snowing I was staying home, but I don't think I can bail if it's just super cold but clear and dry. Who runs a conference in New York in January!? This is the time of year to be someplace warm. (Not that they would pay for me to go to a conference someplace warm! We're not even paying for this one - the tickets are comped because our head of HR is moderating a panel.)

I'm just glad I don't have to go out tomorrow, when it will be messy.

*

Current Mood: cozy
Current Music: Bears vs Rams on tv

mrkinch

I was atop the first rise before the sun came up so I got to see this:

sunrise on a hillside

Worth it.:) It wasn't as cold as I'd feared, but there weren't many birds. I managed thirty-one species but few sparrows and no Acorn Woodpeckers - not a bird I often miss there - and numbers of each were low. Except California Quail; I saw two coveys of 10 plus, one at each end of the trail. So cute. There were also at least two Hutton's Vireos countersinging near the dip, with very different songs. They seems monotonous to me, but they were really going at it. ( The list: )

I try never to startle California Quail foraging in the trail, but this morning they kind of did it to themselves. I'd seen them on the lower trail and left them alone, but while I was standing on the upper trail, concentrating on listening for the California Thrasher, I heard a flurry of wings and calls. Apparently they'd come up the slope under cover of the brush and popped out on the upper trail ten or fifteen feet away from me. Unfortunately I didn't hear them arrive and must have flushed them when I moved. Or something. I certainly didn't see them after that.

cimorene

We made a simple oven pan of roasted root vegetables, chicken, and lemon, which we've eaten many times, but it came out extra delicious, partly just from a larger, juicier lemon.

This got me thinking. I love lemon bars and two near-identical recipes from my childhood for lemon tea cookies and lemon muffins. But I've never been really impressed with a lemon cake, and I wonder if it's just that it could be lemonier? The intensity of lemon meringue pie is nice, but I don't fully love the texture combination.

Maybe a lemon meringue cake? Or some other dessert that combines lemon curd or custard with something cake- or cookie-like?

serrico

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Current Mood: pleased

lets_call_me_lily posting in

cap_ironman

Marvelling is Stevetony exchange where works have to focus on the relationship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark and be set in the Marvel Noir universe, or be centred around Marvel Noir's Tony Stark and any Steve Rogers (from whichever reality you desire).

⭐Signups are OPEN!⭐

SCHEDULE
This exchange is in NZT! Don’t get confused and think you have an extra day, folks—make sure to check those time converter links.

Sign-up (and tagset nomination) period: Saturday 17 - Sunday 25 January, 8pm NZT what time do sign-ups close for me? | countdown

Assignments out: No later than Monday 26 Jan NZT

Assignments due: Sunday 15 February, 8pm NZT what time is that for me? | countdown. Work reveals will happen shortly after.

Creator reveals: Tuesday 17 February, evening NZT

By signing up you are committing to creating, at minimum, one of the below:

One clean traditional or digital sketch on an unlined surface
One fanfic of at least 500 words
One podfic of at least 250 words
One vid of at least 15 seconds
One gifset of at least 2 frames
One manip/edit
One fanmix of at least 5 songs, with cover art (which can be digital, traditional, an edit, etc.)

All exchange information is located on the AO3 profile. Looking forward to seeing your creations!

musesfool

Okay, everything about the last 2 episodes of Abbott Elementary ("The Mall" parts 1 &2) was THE BEST.

( spoilers )

I haven't laughed so hard in a while.

In other news, my nephew and I keep texting each other "wtf?" about everything the Mets have done (or not done) this offseason. Today we were just like, "Wtf?" The Mets now have like 17 second basemen. Hopefully at least one can pitch and one can play left field, because those are the spots they needed to fill. Now they are going to put Bichette at third and Baty in left? What is happening!?! Also, have an obligatory fuck the Dodgers!

Meanwhile, the Rangers' sell-off begins. It's the right thing but ugh, it's going to be hard if Panarin goes to Florida. I can and do root for Detroit and Dallas, but I cannot root for Florida. I guess we'll see what happens. Maybe they'll be able to foist Miller off on someone else too. *crosses fingers*

*

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac

serrico

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Current Mood: mischievous

mrkinch

I went out to Valle Vista again and walked out over the bridge and beside the reservoir just until I could see a bit of shoreline. I'd checked ebird before going and knew there weren't many ducks, so it was a disappointment but not a surprise to find only Ring-necked Ducks and a few Mallards. I'd hoped for Wood Ducks, but no. I did get a great view of the singing California Thrasher, and a couple of male Ruby-crowned Kinglets were getting territorial and flashing their bright red crowns. A Belted Kingfisher flew around rattling, though I never saw them, and I heard, once, a Red-breasted Sapsucker. Also heard my first Spotted Towhee song of the year. ( The list: )

I encountered no school traffic at 9:40 am, which was lovely. I'll try to go a little earlier next time, and walk out a lot further.

cimorene

J. Mortimer Fotherby-Wentworth, M.D.
Messrs Bumpus (a business consisting of multiple Bumpuses)
Wilfred Leatherhead
Rupert Brangstrode
Abel Garstone
Mr. Blott
Mr. Clotworthy
Dr. Runciman Jellicoe
Markham Crewe

musesfool

I had a very long anxiety dream last night that involved trying to get home and failing repeatedly. First I told the driver I lived at my old address on the Upper East Side, then other people joined the ride and demanded to get dropped off before heading to Queens. The then driver bailed and a new set of passengers took over the driving and refused to exit the BQE to the LIE to get me home. Eventually I was dropped off on what appeared to be Hillside Avenue, which is not far from me in the waking world, but somehow in the dream the walk never brought me any closer. Ugh. I guess it was a new spin, since usually I'm trying to get to work in these dreams, but it felt like it lasted all night (I did sleep through for about 6 hours straight, so maybe it did).

Anyway, despite the ongoing trashfire, some cool stuff is coming:

- NEW SIX OF CROWS BOOK IN JUNE!!!! It's supposed to be the "private correspondence of Kaz Brekker with a mysterious person identified only as 'I.'" KAZ/INEJ EPISTOLARY STORY!??! I am seated and ready. Take my money, please!

- You probably already know this, but The Pitt was renewed for a third season last week.

- Pitchers and catchers report in less than 1 month. The Mets only got worse over the winter, so who knows what the hell is going to happen, but that is always a sign spring isn't too far away!

- The (NY football) Giants may be getting an actual factual head coach? I don't expect miracles but maybe they won't be embarrassing next season?

I feel like there were one or two other things I meant to post about but can't remember what they were. Oh, there's a new Fonda Lee novel coming, too! I do want to try out Matt Fraction's Batman at some point, and Cass's new book, but since I generally wait for the trade paperbacks (in ebook form anyway), they're not always top of mind. Still no release date for Alecto the Ninth (is it ever coming out?) and no kindle edition for DCC: Parade of Horribles but I keep checking!

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Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

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Joan's Journal

Woman with a Sword

Status

Are you ready for almost 3000 words discussing Pretender nonsense?

the grand facade so soon will burn

1/22/2026 Inspiration Trail

1/21/2026 Damon Slough & Garretson Point

a fool for another day

Oh okay

1/20/2026 Booker T Anderson Park // Richmond Harbor

Here at the end of the lonely world

1/19/2026 Tilden Nature Area

settling into a good one in the snow and the wind

1/18/2026 Inspiration Trail

Lemony desserts lemonier?

If you're going to San Francisco

Signups Open for Stevetony Noir Exchange

⭐Signups are OPEN!⭐

better put your kingdom up for sale

It's really very good. Until it's not.

1/16/2026 Valle Vista Staging Area Rocky Ridge Trail

Character names from Freeman Wills Crofts

and every demon wants his pound of flesh

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October 2005

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