Rose-breasted Grosbeak
I saw a male rose-breasted grosbeak at the hopper feeder today. :D
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excited
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Cuddle Party
Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
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busy
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Poem: "Cooking Is Everything"
This is today's freebie inspired by prompts from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
readera, technoshaman, and dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "QUILTBAG People" in my 5-1-21 card for the Leaky Pipeline Bingo fest.
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readera, technoshaman, and dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "QUILTBAG People" in my 5-1-21 card for the Leaky Pipeline Bingo fest.( Collapse )
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Birdfeeding
Today is rainy, cool, and gray.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of doves, several bluejays, a house finch, a rabbit, and a squirrel.
Chives have buds on them.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of doves, several bluejays, a house finch, a rabbit, and a squirrel.
Chives have buds on them.
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Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Cookbooks and Cooking." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
I'll be soliciting ideas for cooks, eaters, farmers, foragers, food scientists, inventors, recipe writers, famous figures in food history, cooks of disadvantaged groups who should have become famous, superheroes, supervillains, failure analysts, ethicists, activists, rebels, wild other people active in the food world, cooking, writing recipes, discovering things, decolonizing diets, building or using kitchen equipment, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, taking over in an emergency, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, kitchens, restaurants, campfires, barbecue sites, laboratories, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, picnics, grocery stores, farmer's markets, roadside fruit stands, U-pick farms, gardens, food forests, other places where people make food, cookbooks, online recipe archives, permaculture, heritage diets, traditional foodways, culinary archaeology, trial and error, ethnic spice sets, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, new ideas in cuisine, alternate agriculture, lab conditions are not field conditions, ethics of food, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Leaky Pipeline Bingo Card 5-1-21
Hurt/Comfort Bingo Card 6-15-20
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
An Army of One has to figure out how to feed a diverse, far-flung group of people who sometimes have special dietary needs.
The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, including some aspects of food science.
A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races (plus the dragons) who all have different diets. This often poses challenges for the refugees.
Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find and prepare enough food to survive, when city libraries are out of reach.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman uses herbs and healing foods to care for her village.
Frankenstein's Family features two scientists running a valley in historic Romania. Igor enjoys cooking and has gotten at least one of the werewolves curious about cooking the human way.
Hart's Farm is a community with food used as one of the popular bonding methods.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all of whom need to eat. Primal soups and high-burn soups often have special dietary needs. Comfort food and healing food are also very popular here.
I have a linkback poem, "Ouroboros Insects" (6 verses, standalone).
What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "Cookbooks and Cooking." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.
Cyberfunded Creativity
I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:
1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.
2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated. There are multiple perks, the top one being a half-price poetry sale on one series when donations reach $300.
3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).
0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.
4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here. See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"
5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall. Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl. If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published. If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.
Linkback perk: I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of the poem. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Dreamwidth or Twitter, rather than all on LiveJournal. Comment with a link to where you posted. "Ouroboros Insects" has 6 verses and stands alone.
Additional Notes
1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."
2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function. (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.) These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.
3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity. While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category. Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those. I've also posted a list of other donor perks there. I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.
4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.
5) If donations total $100 by Friday evening then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "Cookbooks and Cooking." See above for details. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco which covers most common and many obscure forms.
I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation, and additional perks at $100-$300 in donations. Linkbacks reveal verses of "Ouroboros Insects." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.
I'll be soliciting ideas for cooks, eaters, farmers, foragers, food scientists, inventors, recipe writers, famous figures in food history, cooks of disadvantaged groups who should have become famous, superheroes, supervillains, failure analysts, ethicists, activists, rebels, wild other people active in the food world, cooking, writing recipes, discovering things, decolonizing diets, building or using kitchen equipment, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, taking over in an emergency, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, kitchens, restaurants, campfires, barbecue sites, laboratories, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, picnics, grocery stores, farmer's markets, roadside fruit stands, U-pick farms, gardens, food forests, other places where people make food, cookbooks, online recipe archives, permaculture, heritage diets, traditional foodways, culinary archaeology, trial and error, ethnic spice sets, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, new ideas in cuisine, alternate agriculture, lab conditions are not field conditions, ethics of food, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Leaky Pipeline Bingo Card 5-1-21
Hurt/Comfort Bingo Card 6-15-20
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
An Army of One has to figure out how to feed a diverse, far-flung group of people who sometimes have special dietary needs.
The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, including some aspects of food science.
A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races (plus the dragons) who all have different diets. This often poses challenges for the refugees.
Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find and prepare enough food to survive, when city libraries are out of reach.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman uses herbs and healing foods to care for her village.
Frankenstein's Family features two scientists running a valley in historic Romania. Igor enjoys cooking and has gotten at least one of the werewolves curious about cooking the human way.
Hart's Farm is a community with food used as one of the popular bonding methods.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all of whom need to eat. Primal soups and high-burn soups often have special dietary needs. Comfort food and healing food are also very popular here.
I have a linkback poem, "Ouroboros Insects" (6 verses, standalone).
What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "Cookbooks and Cooking." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.
Cyberfunded Creativity
I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:
1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.
2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated. There are multiple perks, the top one being a half-price poetry sale on one series when donations reach $300.
3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).
0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.
4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here. See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"
5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall. Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl. If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published. If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.
Linkback perk: I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of the poem. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Dreamwidth or Twitter, rather than all on LiveJournal. Comment with a link to where you posted. "Ouroboros Insects" has 6 verses and stands alone.
Additional Notes
1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."
2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function. (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.) These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.
3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity. While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category. Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those. I've also posted a list of other donor perks there. I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.
4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.
5) If donations total $100 by Friday evening then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "Cookbooks and Cooking." See above for details. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco which covers most common and many obscure forms.
I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation, and additional perks at $100-$300 in donations. Linkbacks reveal verses of "Ouroboros Insects." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.
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creative
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Today's Smoothie
Today we made a smoothie with:
1 cup orange strawberry banana juice
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup fruit salad mix (strawberries, peaches, pineapple, red grapes, kiwi)
1/2 cup ice
The texture is thin, the color pinkish, and the flavor delicious. :D
1 cup orange strawberry banana juice
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup fruit salad mix (strawberries, peaches, pineapple, red grapes, kiwi)
1/2 cup ice
The texture is thin, the color pinkish, and the flavor delicious. :D
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Notes for "Carried Away Piecemeal"
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Poem: "Carried Away Piecemeal"
This poem is spillover from the April 20, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Daughters of the Apocalypse series.
Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes dire climate change effects, the ruinous impact of dams on anadromous fish like salmon, an apocalypse that kills millions of people, survivors struggling to survive in the Aftermath, and a tribe deciding to destroy a dam to restore the river system. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
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ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Daughters of the Apocalypse series.Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes dire climate change effects, the ruinous impact of dams on anadromous fish like salmon, an apocalypse that kills millions of people, survivors struggling to survive in the Aftermath, and a tribe deciding to destroy a dam to restore the river system. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
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Birdfeeding
Today is partly sunny, mild, and breezy. The grass is still wet but it's not raining anymore.
I fed the birds. I've seen bluejays, doves, robins, and house finches.
I took pictures of flowers in my yard.
Also, my partner Doug spoke with someone who confirmed the presence of bobcats in the area; the guy owns a large piece of riverbottom land for hunting and has plentiful bobcats there, likely on the same river system as the reserve. :D
EDIT 5/3/21 -- I planted the barrel garden with moonflowers, nasturtiums, multicolored snapdragons, white snapdragons, regular petunias, and antique climbing / trailing petunias.
EDIT 5/3/21 -- After supper I pulled grass off the septic garden. I was hearing rumbles of thunder then and more now. We're supposed to get some rain tonight.
EDIT 5/3/21 -- A small quantity of pea-size hail has arrived with the thunderstorm. I note that it is hailing much more often in recent years than it used to.
I fed the birds. I've seen bluejays, doves, robins, and house finches.
I took pictures of flowers in my yard.
Also, my partner Doug spoke with someone who confirmed the presence of bobcats in the area; the guy owns a large piece of riverbottom land for hunting and has plentiful bobcats there, likely on the same river system as the reserve. :D
EDIT 5/3/21 -- I planted the barrel garden with moonflowers, nasturtiums, multicolored snapdragons, white snapdragons, regular petunias, and antique climbing / trailing petunias.
EDIT 5/3/21 -- After supper I pulled grass off the septic garden. I was hearing rumbles of thunder then and more now. We're supposed to get some rain tonight.
EDIT 5/3/21 -- A small quantity of pea-size hail has arrived with the thunderstorm. I note that it is hailing much more often in recent years than it used to.
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Monday Update 5-3-21
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Today's Smoothie
Birdfeeding
Community Building Tip: Lunch
Leaky Pipeline Bingo Card 5-1-21
Poetry Fishbowl Report for April 20, 2021
Unsold Poems for the April 20, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl
Bingo
Birdfeeding
Category 6 Isn't Enough (98 comments)
Coping Skills: Walk
Birdfeeding
Birdfeeding
Six Bluejays
Poetry in Microfunding:
There are two open epics at present.
"The Trail of Hope" opened and closed quickly, so you can read that in full. After the End, some Cherokee people walk from Oklahoma to Tenneessee.
"The Hobbomak" launches the Bear Tunnels series. Emma and Jesse explore the images on the walls.
"A Celebration and a Consolation" belongs to Polychrome Heroics. Keira comforts her mother after the breakup.
The weather has been mostly mild here. It rained yesterday. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of mourning doves (including courtship behavior), a large flock of grackles, a flock of sparrows, a flock of 6 bluejays, a few robins, several house finches who are draining the thistle sock, a pair of cardinals, a pair of brown thrashers, and a squirrel. While out hiking we saw a white-breasted nuthatch, heard a barred owl, and saw a probable bobcat track. Currently blooming: daffodils, blue grape hyacinths, violets, tulips, lilacs, yellow bellflower, white trillium, redbud trees, purple allium, white allium, lily of the valley, butterfly weed.
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Today's Smoothie
Birdfeeding
Community Building Tip: Lunch
Leaky Pipeline Bingo Card 5-1-21
Poetry Fishbowl Report for April 20, 2021
Unsold Poems for the April 20, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl
Bingo
Birdfeeding
Category 6 Isn't Enough (98 comments)
Coping Skills: Walk
Birdfeeding
Birdfeeding
Six Bluejays
Poetry in Microfunding:
There are two open epics at present.
"The Trail of Hope" opened and closed quickly, so you can read that in full. After the End, some Cherokee people walk from Oklahoma to Tenneessee.
"The Hobbomak" launches the Bear Tunnels series. Emma and Jesse explore the images on the walls.
"A Celebration and a Consolation" belongs to Polychrome Heroics. Keira comforts her mother after the breakup.
The weather has been mostly mild here. It rained yesterday. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of mourning doves (including courtship behavior), a large flock of grackles, a flock of sparrows, a flock of 6 bluejays, a few robins, several house finches who are draining the thistle sock, a pair of cardinals, a pair of brown thrashers, and a squirrel. While out hiking we saw a white-breasted nuthatch, heard a barred owl, and saw a probable bobcat track. Currently blooming: daffodils, blue grape hyacinths, violets, tulips, lilacs, yellow bellflower, white trillium, redbud trees, purple allium, white allium, lily of the valley, butterfly weed.
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