The Wordsmith's Forge

This month's theme was "I never thought I'd have to say that." I wrote from 1:30 PM to 5:45 AM, so about 14 hours 15 minutes, allowing for breaks. I wrote 4 poems on Tuesday and 7 later in the week.

Participation was down, with 14 comments on LiveJournal and another 47 on Dreamwidth. A total of 15 people sent prompts.


Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the June 1, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"All That Tyranny of Biology"
"Dig a Little to Find It"
"Not the Answer I Was Expecting"
"An Unconditional Acceptance of Life"

"The Loving Embrace of Night" (standalone, April 2021 Crowdfunding Creative Jam 100) (linkback perk)
"A Fabric of Our Own Making" (Polychrome Heroics: Kraken, April 6, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl)
"Science on the Side" (Polychrome Heroics, May 4, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl)
"The Hobbomak" (The Bear Tunnels, March 2, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl)


Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from June 1. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available. All sponsored poems have been posted.

This month's donors include: janetmiles, ng_moonmoth, and Anthony & Shirley Barrette. There were no new donors. There are 2 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.


The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Toward the end of lunch, it started raining vigorously, so I won't be able to get outside for a while.  We sure can use the rain though. 

EDIT 6/27/21 -- When the sun came out after the rain, I went outside and spotted a rainbow low in the northeast.  :D  There are more clouds to the west, so we may get more rain later.

People use voice profiling and recording to spy on each other.

Shit like this is why I refuse to be recorded.  And that means there are things I can't get, especially services.  Remember, it's not consent if there are consequences to either choice.

Also bear in mind that when a society routinely pressures or forces people to do things they don't want, or abuses them for making choices that annoy those in power, you wind up with a really rape-friendly nation like America.  >_<

Here's an article about conformity and evil. Now, we know that most humans are contextual and that evil spreads readily.

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There are a lot of them, and without advance preparation, Earth is defenseless.  We need to get the Umbrella up.

There's actually a lot more to modular building than this article goes into.  It's not all blocks.  Modular is any system with preset pieces that can be assembled in various ways. 

LEGO is indeed a good example, and some interlocking concrete blocks really  resemble LEGOs.  The giant ones are for big construction projects, but you can also find small versions in many styles at home improvement stores for walkways and retaining walls.  Shipping containers are another option.  This modular set has units of different shapes that can be stacked in different ways.

Here's an example where the modules are flat pieces.

This one focuses on framing, more like an Erector Set than LEGOs.

Sand castle molds support modular construction on beaches.  Just a few shapes enable many structures.

The modules can be anything.  The only requirement is that there's a standard set of pieces which can be arranged as needed.

 ... was even bigger than previously estimated.

But don't worry.  Giant sharks don't fit into shallow waters.

... in case you need a map of Mars with the same amount of water as Earth.

This article talks about autonomous weapons.

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Today is partly sunny, muggy and warm, quite windy.  Chance of thunderstorms later.

I fed the birds.  I've seen house finches, doves, and a squirrel today.

We started breaking down the brushpile in the middle of the yard.  Nobody else would get around to it for months, which does not constitute actually solving the problem.  >_<  This society is so broken.

When I was little, people had more tools and more connections.  So it wasn't left just to individuals or professionals.  With the work spread out, it got done faster.  Now, things often don't get done and that can cause problems.

Meanwhile over in Terramagne, most towns have a municipal response to things like storms.  See "Windswept" for an example.

EDIT 6/26/21 -- We filled a wheelbarrow with smaller sticks and hauled it to the firepit.

EDIT 6/26/21 -- Just as we finished supper, it began pouring rain, enough to cover the patio with water, not just a few puddles like usual.  So no more yardwork today.