The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine, Vol. 6
Nov. 28th, 2025 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycatelli posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
book_loveThe Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine, Vol. 6 by Grrr
Spoilers ahead for the earlier books.
( Read more... )
Spoilers ahead for the earlier books.
( Read more... )
savanna
Nov. 28th, 2025 09:07 amprettygoodwordsavanna or savannah (suh-VAN-uh) - n., a tropical or subtropical grassland with scattered trees.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
These occur where the rainfall is seasonal, so that the plants need to be drought resistant -- this causes the trees to be far enough apart that the canopy doesn't touch, allowing grasses to cover the ground. The earlier form was zavana, from Spanish zavana, which in turn had the earlier form çavana, from Taíno zabana.
And because I have an excess word, a bonus: tobacco (tuh-BAK-oh), any of several plants of genus Nicotiana of the nightshade family, especially N. tabacum, cultivated for its leaves which are prepared for use in smoking or chewing or as snuff. From Spanish tabaco, which has an iffy etymology, as it could be from an Arawakan or Carib language, but one Spanish chronicler recorded Taíno tabago, meaning either a tube for smoking tabacco or a roll of tabacco leaves i.e. a cigar; if this is correct, the consonant shift was probably influenced by atabaca/altabaca, a Mediterranean plant with aromatic leaves widely used in traditional medicine, named from Arabic al-ṭubbāq.
And that wraps up this theme of words from the Caribbean language Taíno. That's the late group of words from indigenous languages of the Americas that I have, but I'm not quite done with this series -- but first a week of random lexicography.
---L.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
These occur where the rainfall is seasonal, so that the plants need to be drought resistant -- this causes the trees to be far enough apart that the canopy doesn't touch, allowing grasses to cover the ground. The earlier form was zavana, from Spanish zavana, which in turn had the earlier form çavana, from Taíno zabana.
And because I have an excess word, a bonus: tobacco (tuh-BAK-oh), any of several plants of genus Nicotiana of the nightshade family, especially N. tabacum, cultivated for its leaves which are prepared for use in smoking or chewing or as snuff. From Spanish tabaco, which has an iffy etymology, as it could be from an Arawakan or Carib language, but one Spanish chronicler recorded Taíno tabago, meaning either a tube for smoking tabacco or a roll of tabacco leaves i.e. a cigar; if this is correct, the consonant shift was probably influenced by atabaca/altabaca, a Mediterranean plant with aromatic leaves widely used in traditional medicine, named from Arabic al-ṭubbāq.
And that wraps up this theme of words from the Caribbean language Taíno. That's the late group of words from indigenous languages of the Americas that I have, but I'm not quite done with this series -- but first a week of random lexicography.
---L.
I miss my clothes
Nov. 28th, 2025 07:53 amsusandennisBefore I moved in here, I tossed (donated or just tossed) about half or more of all my shit. It was wonderful to purge all that stuff. I have never regretted any of it EXCEPT. I also purged about half my clothes. And I picked the wrong half. I really miss all the clothes I made for myself. I sometimes fantasize about buying a sewing machine and making some more. But there is no place here to do it without upending my house which I don't want to do and I have plenty of clothes. I don't need more. And 14 other very good reasons not to. So I just miss the ones that got away.
Yesterday was fine. I worked on the puzzle for a bit so saw some people in passing but mostly stayed in here and enjoyed a quiet day watching the latest season of Slow Horses.
I have bought a couple of Black Friday things - plenty - and don't need more so today will likely be a lot like yesterday which is fine and dandy.
I do have one tech project to do. I need to move a hub that controls all my switches. I think I can do it with shit I have on hand which means I can do it today and without buying anything else. It should be easy with a minimum off 'SHIT!' and 'fuck'. Or not.
But, first, I think I'll go swim some laps.
Yesterday was fine. I worked on the puzzle for a bit so saw some people in passing but mostly stayed in here and enjoyed a quiet day watching the latest season of Slow Horses.
I have bought a couple of Black Friday things - plenty - and don't need more so today will likely be a lot like yesterday which is fine and dandy.
I do have one tech project to do. I need to move a hub that controls all my switches. I think I can do it with shit I have on hand which means I can do it today and without buying anything else. It should be easy with a minimum off 'SHIT!' and 'fuck'. Or not.
But, first, I think I'll go swim some laps.
Friday Word: Pluperfect
Nov. 28th, 2025 07:11 amcalzephyr posting in 1word1dayPluperfect - noun or adjective.
There's never a shortage of new words to learn and yesterday I learned about pluperfect.
We've all seen pluperfect in action, usually in past perfect and wordy sentences like "It was already noon, but we had finished lunch because we were hungry." "Had" is usually the clue a sentence is past perfect.
However, it can also be used to mean "more than perfect", such as "Grandma's turkey was pluperfect--crispy golden skin and always moist."
And, lastly, ancient languages often had a pluperfect form, which Wikipedia details nicely.
There's never a shortage of new words to learn and yesterday I learned about pluperfect.
We've all seen pluperfect in action, usually in past perfect and wordy sentences like "It was already noon, but we had finished lunch because we were hungry." "Had" is usually the clue a sentence is past perfect.
However, it can also be used to mean "more than perfect", such as "Grandma's turkey was pluperfect--crispy golden skin and always moist."
And, lastly, ancient languages often had a pluperfect form, which Wikipedia details nicely.
Distraction
Nov. 28th, 2025 02:25 amnibblezzThis is why I can't get anything done, lol. YouTube's algorithm keeps me watching shit like this 😅
Follow Friday 11-28-25
Nov. 28th, 2025 04:18 amysabetwordsmith posting in followfridayGot any Follow Friday-related posts to share this week? Comment here with the link(s).
Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die".
Moonshine Bigfoot #1-4
Nov. 27th, 2025 06:38 pmzylly posting in scans_dailyThis year saw the publication of the greatest mini series of all time. Not DC KO, not One World Under Doom, not Age of Revelation…
No, I’m talking about the one, the only, MOONSHINE BIGFOOT!
Featuring Bigfoot, hippie chicks, moonshine, car races, Bigfoot Hunters, ghosts, degraded kids' show hosts, and the Cobra Commander you get on Wish!
Taking matters into my own hands
Nov. 27th, 2025 12:47 pmsusandennisThere was no line - no waiting. The turkey was nice and juicy and the ham was cooked well. The salad was excellent. And the mashed potatoes were better than usual. I passed on the yams and the oven baked vegetables and green beans casserole. The dressing was very difficult to describe. But, I'm pretty sure that in all 50 states, it would be prosecutable. It had the consistency of wet oatmeal. The color of baby shit. And zero flavor.
I did get enough of everything for leftovers but I'll be damned if I'm eating left overs without decent stuffing. So after I finished eating the good bits, I got in the car and went to Safeway and bought already chopped up onions and celery and some stuffing mix (I already had the chicken broth and butter on hand). In under 15 mins I had better than just decent stuffing.
I have enough for the left overs and plenty more for the freezer. It's delicious.
Thanksgiving travesty righted. By Me.
I did get enough of everything for leftovers but I'll be damned if I'm eating left overs without decent stuffing. So after I finished eating the good bits, I got in the car and went to Safeway and bought already chopped up onions and celery and some stuffing mix (I already had the chicken broth and butter on hand). In under 15 mins I had better than just decent stuffing.
I have enough for the left overs and plenty more for the freezer. It's delicious.
Thanksgiving travesty righted. By Me.
Thanksgiving
Nov. 27th, 2025 09:03 amsusandennisWe play volleyball with a beach ball. Under ordinary circumstances, we blow up a new one and can play with it for weeks or more before it starts losing air or gets a puncture. BUT we have one player who has long, pointed, hard fingernails. Sylvia used to routinely puncture balls. Then she didn't play for a year+ while she recovered from cancer. Now she's back and it's costing us a ball a game. We played with one ball for 6 weeks. She's been back now for 5 games and we've gone through 6 balls. The cost of the balls is not that big a deal but the stopping of the game to go get a new one is annoying and particularly for Steve who is the person in charge of the balls.
This will be a drama/dilemma for a while, I think. Stay tuned.
I have a perfectly good cart for hauling shit. Packages from the lockers, groceries to and from the car, puzzles down to the puzzle closet... It had double wheels which enable it to roll oh so easily. It folds up and lives in my closet. Sure it's old and battered but still works like a charm. I've had it for years and been perfectly happy with it untillegalmoose rained on my parade this morning with talk of a Clax Cart. Which of course is now on sale. It does not have the double wheels but it does have the easily removable box. And 'dolly' like function. But, I think I can resist.
I do have a solid plan now for the storage room/closet rearrangement. I know what I want and I think it's doable with some Bro help. And it would mean that I would not need the Closet Reorganizer. I think Christian does not want to do it so is just 'being too busy'. Which is fine. If I'm wrong and I decide I want a professional, there are several closet places that have done work here at Timber Ridge and I'll just call one of them. BUT it would be lovely to skip that step.
I had a great idea/place to put one of those pull out shoe organizer cabinets. I had one all picked out and ready to order when I decided to burrow into the comments a little farther and discovered that probably my feet are too big. Most all of the ones I had my eyes on, said somewhere in the comments that it was great for kids shoes but anything bigger than an adult 7.5 was going to be too big to get the pull out to go back in. I wear a 9. Oh well. I couldn't even find one for big feet. Saved some money there!
Today they are doing a buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. It's from 11 to 1. Last year's power outage led them to a buffet scheme that works pretty well for the staff and for us. Easy to serve and really no waiting at all - even when they are serving everyone like today. As usual, I have extra meal money so I might just get two meals. One for eating and one for leftovers.
I remember once years and years ago when I was living on my own in Charlotte, NC, one of the nicer hotels had this marvelous scheme for Thanksgiving. It was buffet style and had all the usual Thanksgiving stuff plus a lot of nice, fancy extras but their main selling point was that the deal included a box of leftovers to take home! It was such a cool scheme. I had a group of friends and one year we all pitched in and got a room at the hotel overlooking the main street. We had cocktails in our room and then went down for dinner and then had dessert in our room while we watched the Christmas parade. And we all took home leftovers. It was a very grand Thanksgiving.
This will be a drama/dilemma for a while, I think. Stay tuned.
I have a perfectly good cart for hauling shit. Packages from the lockers, groceries to and from the car, puzzles down to the puzzle closet... It had double wheels which enable it to roll oh so easily. It folds up and lives in my closet. Sure it's old and battered but still works like a charm. I've had it for years and been perfectly happy with it until
legalmoose rained on my parade this morning with talk of a Clax Cart. Which of course is now on sale. It does not have the double wheels but it does have the easily removable box. And 'dolly' like function. But, I think I can resist.I do have a solid plan now for the storage room/closet rearrangement. I know what I want and I think it's doable with some Bro help. And it would mean that I would not need the Closet Reorganizer. I think Christian does not want to do it so is just 'being too busy'. Which is fine. If I'm wrong and I decide I want a professional, there are several closet places that have done work here at Timber Ridge and I'll just call one of them. BUT it would be lovely to skip that step.
I had a great idea/place to put one of those pull out shoe organizer cabinets. I had one all picked out and ready to order when I decided to burrow into the comments a little farther and discovered that probably my feet are too big. Most all of the ones I had my eyes on, said somewhere in the comments that it was great for kids shoes but anything bigger than an adult 7.5 was going to be too big to get the pull out to go back in. I wear a 9. Oh well. I couldn't even find one for big feet. Saved some money there!
Today they are doing a buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. It's from 11 to 1. Last year's power outage led them to a buffet scheme that works pretty well for the staff and for us. Easy to serve and really no waiting at all - even when they are serving everyone like today. As usual, I have extra meal money so I might just get two meals. One for eating and one for leftovers.
I remember once years and years ago when I was living on my own in Charlotte, NC, one of the nicer hotels had this marvelous scheme for Thanksgiving. It was buffet style and had all the usual Thanksgiving stuff plus a lot of nice, fancy extras but their main selling point was that the deal included a box of leftovers to take home! It was such a cool scheme. I had a group of friends and one year we all pitched in and got a room at the hotel overlooking the main street. We had cocktails in our room and then went down for dinner and then had dessert in our room while we watched the Christmas parade. And we all took home leftovers. It was a very grand Thanksgiving.
iguana
Nov. 27th, 2025 08:42 amprettygoodwordiguana (ih-GWAH-nuh) - n., any of several species of large American lizards of the family Iguanidae (except genus Sauromalus, the chuckwallas) with a serrated dorsal crest and large dewlap, esp. the green iguana (Iguana iguana).
Thanks, WikiMedia!
The green iguana is the one kept as a pet -- its native range is from southern Mexico down to Paraguay plus the eastern half of the Caribbean, but it's been introduced to many tropical areas of the world. The name is from an Arawakan language, probably but not provably Taíno, iwana (provably via Spanish iguana).
---L.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
The green iguana is the one kept as a pet -- its native range is from southern Mexico down to Paraguay plus the eastern half of the Caribbean, but it's been introduced to many tropical areas of the world. The name is from an Arawakan language, probably but not provably Taíno, iwana (provably via Spanish iguana).
---L.
No Beaver Moon
Nov. 26th, 2025 05:37 pmyourlibrarian posting in common_nature
Was on the lookout the night it was supposed to appear, but there was a lot of cloud cover in the east, and I saw no moon at all that Thursday night.
However we did have a great sunset.
( Read more... )
Laundry Day
Nov. 26th, 2025 07:51 amsusandennisThanksgiving Eve - the best way. No getting ready to go on a trip. No food prep at all. No guests prep. In fact, it's just a regular Wednesday. Laundry day. With no other chores or todos required.
Most everyone here on this hall is leaving the premises for Thanksgiving. So it should be nice and quiet.
Every year, Timber Ridge raises the monthly fee. Last year they raised it 5.75% but this year, we're getting a deal for 2-26 - only a 5% raise. Social Security is going up 2.8%. I am always but, for sure, annually, grateful that my plan for now until the end will cover this math problem without impacting my pledge to keep Amazon in business.
It's a lovely foggy morning, perfect for swimming. And it does not look like it will clear any time soon so there's not even any hurry.
I have lots of good TV and lots of good yarn. I'm a happy camper.
Most everyone here on this hall is leaving the premises for Thanksgiving. So it should be nice and quiet.
Every year, Timber Ridge raises the monthly fee. Last year they raised it 5.75% but this year, we're getting a deal for 2-26 - only a 5% raise. Social Security is going up 2.8%. I am always but, for sure, annually, grateful that my plan for now until the end will cover this math problem without impacting my pledge to keep Amazon in business.
It's a lovely foggy morning, perfect for swimming. And it does not look like it will clear any time soon so there's not even any hurry.
I have lots of good TV and lots of good yarn. I'm a happy camper.
I Picked Up This World's Strategy Guide, Vol. 2
Nov. 26th, 2025 11:14 ammarycatelli posting in book_loveI Picked Up This World's Strategy Guide, Vol. 2 by atchi ai
Spoiler ahead for volume 1.
( Read more... )
Spoiler ahead for volume 1.
( Read more... )