The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe
May. 28th, 2026 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicoll
A young woman's bid to escape Nicolae Ceaușescu’s Romania is complicated by apocalypse.
The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe
james_davis_nicollA young woman's bid to escape Nicolae Ceaușescu’s Romania is complicated by apocalypse.
The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe
Thinking They Look Well in Velveteen When They're at the Table
May. 28th, 2026 12:10 amaustin_dern I'm not sure where I left off in the story of the mice. I mean the deer mice, the wild animals we've been temporarily housing so we can give them a ``soft release'' and their best shot at getting back into the wild and out of our living room. When she first caught the two we'd set in the cage bunnyhugger thought one of them looked pregnant. But a couple days later, the same mouse didn't, and supposed she had been mistaken.
You know what's come next. It was not a happy surprise to learn that the mouse had had babies, since, among other problems, it pushed back our release date by several weeks. The mice were exceptionally tiny balls of fluff that I never saw, but that bunnyhugger was able to return to the wooden birdhouse the adult mice set up as their nest. There's more here but it's sad and we've had enough of that.
This week, we figured, the baby mice would have aged enough to be mobile and maybe come out on their own. And Monday night what do you know but they did. I saw a little ball of brown energy and worry running on the wheel, and before much longer we saw both of them at once, plus an adult mouse, so we know we're not merely misidentifying them all.
Their great cuteness, and unexplained lack of fear of us, makes a strong case for keeping them as pets. Especially considering deer mice in captivity enjoy a good lifespan of up to eight years --- this is as much as quadruple a house mouse's --- but they would be a lot of trouble to keep as pets. Given how much emotional wrenching we've dealt with lately --- the past month and the past decade --- having a couple balls of happy little running fluff has been rejuvenating.
All going well we'll scout a place to set them soon, and release them soon after that, and they won't live to be eight years old but they'll have more than a couple square feet to be mice in, and things to do besides tear apart toilet-paper tubes and run a wheel. Why can't something ever be just the good parts?
Closing out now our visit that day to The Arcade, when the dream of a new league was a mere fancy. Now, what might be coming up next on the photo roll? We're in October, so amusement parks aren't really in season, but more pinball right after this? What could possibly happen ...
And what's this? Why somehow Velveteen the disapproving plush rabbit is here! That's great!
Here she is, encouraging you to be very tempted to hug but afraid what might happen if you do!
And here's Velveteen hard at work destroying castles on Medieval Madness. You know this is a thoughtful composition because the pinball machine is going straight up, indicating how doing well in the game is an uphill struggle.
Velveteen surveys the game floor from the balcony, where the furries gathered with food and costume gear and stuff.
And here she looks out over the decorated balcony. We can't quite say she likes what she sees, as there isn't a FunHouse below.
The Arcade hosts a lot of parties with a lot of kids who don't see any reason not to push the bright shiny button, such as the one to start a game, but also no reason to walk away once they're bored, strategies that work fine for a video game where you eventually lose your last life but that turn pinball games into a long wait of wondering where the four-player group that finished ball one has gone. This sign is definitely not a futile way of dealing with that.
Trivia: International Latex Corporation's initial, July 1965, contract with NASA was to supply two suits built and sized to astronauts Richard Gordon and Dave Scott, for a price of $89,981 total (something like three-quarters of a million in today's currency). Joe Kerwin and Michael Collins would be added later. Source: Lunar Outfitters: Making the Apollo Space Suit, Bill Ayrey. Gordon, Scott, and Collins would all fly to the Moon, though never on the same mission; Kerwin would fly Skylab.
Currently Reading: Walt Kelly's Pogo and Albert: Dreamin' of a Wide Catfish, Walt Kelly. Editor Mark Burstein.
Job Search: Beginning Again
May. 27th, 2026 09:58 pmdewlineMy current work contract ends tomorrow. The morning afterward, I will return the equipment loaned me by that employer and the job search will begin again.
Nothing I haven't coped with before. Hopefully, I'll recover faster this time.
Nothing I haven't coped with before. Hopefully, I'll recover faster this time.
Bundle of Holding: Undying Corruption 5E
May. 27th, 2026 02:24 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The 128-page PLAYER'S GUIDE and the 504-page for Nine Heavens Press' Undying Corruption campaign. Based on Korean history and folklore for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and compatible systems.
Bundle of Holding: Undying Corruption 5E
My Dress-Up Darling, volume 2 by Shinichi Fukuda
May. 27th, 2026 09:09 amjames_davis_nicoll
A misunderstanding leads relentlessly responsible Wakana Gojo to embrace an impossible workload, lest he disappoint those who depend on him.
My Dress-Up Darling, volume 2 by Shinichi Fukuda
Down to Junior's Farm where I want to lay low
May. 27th, 2026 12:10 amaustin_dern So first, I bet you're wondering What's Going On In Rex Morgan? Wasn't Rex Morgan supposed to look weird? March - May 2026. Second, still recovering from Anthrohio and the split-flipper tournament at pinball league so please enjoy looking at pictures instead. This would be from the warm October day we went to the Spicer Mill for a furry meetup and the chance to see mystee and spouse and friends, and then head over to the Brighton Arcade.
But before we get to the mill, here's a picture we took to not forget some of the weird potato chips we brought back from our trip to Europe a few months previously. We liked the Grills Gerookt Fumé, like we expected we might.
And then a jigsaw puzzle update picture, this one a gift from my parents that showed all the spacecraft, boosters, space stations, and suits that had brought people to space. bunnyhugger made slight progress on it until specifically inviting me to fill in, like, the boring International Space Station solar panels and then I had the rest done in like fourteen minutes and was explaining stuff at her.
OK, now we're at the Spicer Orchards mill for the furry meetup, where I get an okay picture of some bees, bunnyhugger in outfit, and obscured pictures of everyone we came to see.
There was a natural photo opportunity spot that fursuiters flocked to.
I couldn't resist getting a picture of a windmill inside a windmill.
There were a lot of inflatable rides down below, as well as grease trucks. We figured to get shaved ice at soem point but a brief, intense rainstorm spoiled that.
There's a petting zoo over the farms too that looked neat and that between arriving late and getting rained on we didn't find time for.
I ask you, does this sky look like in twenty minutes you're going to be running for your car under buckets of rainfall?
Anyway on to The Arcade, which had the rest of the furry meetup; here folks gather for the group photo.
It wasn't all fursuiters, but they get the most attention.
But since it was a group for everyone I got in on the photo, and photographed right back at them.
The Arcade has this little fairy garden setting --- they still have it as of a couple weeks ago --- that goes unexplained except for, well, does this particularly need explaining?
Trivia: A pond in what became Hilltop Park --- the first home for what became the New York Yankees --- was marginally filled in by the start of the inaugural season, which the team owners had roped off and declared ground-rule double territory. Later they would try covering it with wooden planks or having fans stand in it. Source: The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, Kevin Baker.
Currently Reading: Walt Kelly's Pogo and Albert: At the Mercy of the Elephants, Walt Kelly. Editor Mark Burstein.
The Twilight Zone: A Thing About Machines
May. 26th, 2026 06:17 pmkrpalmerAfter a week’s break involving a visit from family I got back to my Twilight Zone collection. Rod Serling’s next-episode preview for “A Thing About Machines” had stuck in my memory during that extended time. I suppose I’d considered the “machines” he had made a point of, including an electric typewriter, and thought of certain concerns of our own time. In an odd way, it might have been a more interesting link between “then and now” than a different comparison sometimes on my mind, when I think “wind that much further back as far from The Twilight Zone as it is from now, and how much more change has happened?”
( Mechanical difficulties )
( Mechanical difficulties )
Five Mostly Helpful Mentors in SF and Fantasy
May. 26th, 2026 10:17 amjames_davis_nicoll
Helping young protagonists fulfill their destiny... if they can keep them alive long enough.
Five Mostly Helpful Mentors in SF and Fantasy
Frankensteins and Foreign Devils By Walter Jon Williams (Edited by Timothy P. Szczesuil)
May. 26th, 2026 07:48 amjames_davis_nicoll
Short stories from Walter Jon Williams.
Frankensteins and Foreign Devils By Walter Jon Williams (Edited by Timothy P. Szczesuil)
Mmm, You Can Almost Taste the Hot Dogs and French Fries They Sell
May. 26th, 2026 12:10 amaustin_dernAnd now, getting close to closing out busy in favor of just the regular week of stuff, here's the close of the day at Silver Beach.
So here's why I said ``one of'' the historic plaques: turns out this was the location of a historically significant early flight! I didn't realize although I'm sure I came across mention of the flight before. I bet there's a letterbox in the area we didn't think to look for.
I can't remember what this is the top of but it's a nice dramatic top at least.
Shipping channel that leads into town. There's a lighthouse at the end of the pier that must not be open to the public as we didn't even try to visit it.
I got maybe way too into the sunset but here's a picture that came out well.
Here's some seagulls with wings illuminated by the setting sun.
The sun close enough to the horizon that it's visibly distorted! Cool, huh? And thanks, seagull, because that shadow is one of the things I wanted in this.
I do so many pictures where someone is walking out of frame. I don't know why I like that theme so.
More seagulls intruding on the setting sun. I'm sorry this isn't illuminated quite so well but that might have been impossible to do.
And the trailing edge of the sun at the horizon line.
There was still plenty of light for an hour or two; here's bunnyhugger flying a kite under the moon.
There's two lighthouse beacons and a third (far left) that were blinking just close enough to each other, but a little out of phase, that I thought I might sometime get all three lit at once. Reader, I did not.
And the end of the day, with the sky looking like a picture of the Earth and atmosphere from space.
Trivia: Strawberries are members of the rose family Rosaceae. Source: Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World's Smells, Harold McGee. So are cherries, plums, pears, and almonds.
Currently Reading: Walt Kelly's Pogo and Albert: At the Mercy of the Elephants, Walt Kelly. Editor Mark Burstein.
Well, that’s one way to meet the neighbors
May. 25th, 2026 07:22 pmrimrunnerWhen I revived this blog it was with the idea that I’d regularly make themed posts for different days of the week on things that I’m interested in or curious about. This is less because I think anyone’s waiting breathlessly for whatever I have to say, and more to instill in myself a sense of discipline. Especially as I start to pick up more freelance work, having a regular practice actually helps with scheduling.
Anyway, Mondays are mostly about whatever’s on my mind, and as I looked forward to this week I thought that might be about Memorial Day—which is, after all, today.
Mostly, though, I’m thinking about yet another rural rite of passage we experienced recently. (Not that this only happens in rural areas, but how it’s playing out is harder to imagine in a city—though not impossible.) We don’t live in the countryside yet, but we will soon, and we’re at our new place frequently working on construction and getting things set up.
Not long ago, my husband went down to get some carpentry done and found that our shop had been broken into and some things stolen.
So, we did the usual things: filed a police report (someone came out to take it in person, which…doesn’t always happen in the city I live in), documented everything we could, checked cameras and shared images with law enforcement, posted on social media. The latter led to a few leads, which kind of stands to reason in a sparsely populated area. If someone’s local, someone will know them.
We weren’t expecting to get our stuff back, but figured at the very least people who lived nearby, who we hadn’t really met yet, would want to know that there were burglars around. I made contact with another person who’d had stuff go missing and we exchanged notes, but that was about it until yesterday.
We’d been working on the new house’s interior and I’d taken a break after a dump run to chat with my brother on the phone. We were just wrapping up when my husband came in with that look people get when they really need to tell you something but don’t want to interrupt you.
“There’s a bunch of guys outside saying something about a theft. I thought you’d better talk to them since you’ve been talking with people on social media and all.”
Outside I found the owner of another place along the same roadway that had also been burgled, along with about half a dozen of his family and friends. They were going down every road and open driveway in the area to see if they could spot a veritable haul of stuff that had been stolen from this guy’s cabin. Our gate was open so they drove up until they came to the house and encountered my husband.
What I learned from them was that we’d gotten off easy, with only a few things missing. The list of things stolen from two other houses along the same road included things like ATVs, drum sets, a lawnmower, and a goddamn dump truck. It’s possible that we scared off thieves who were intending to come back later.
I’ve never seen a posse before, but it was kind of what I’d imagine one would be like. Minus obvious guns. (Non-obvious guns are very much a thing in my state.)
Anyway, we gave them leave to have a look on the more remote parts of our acreage, since we hadn’t gone looking back there yet, there were more of them, and they were younger and with more endurance. They’ll let us know what they find.
This isn’t exactly how I thought we’d meet our neighbors in the area, but maybe they’ll come to our next BBQ.
Anyway, Mondays are mostly about whatever’s on my mind, and as I looked forward to this week I thought that might be about Memorial Day—which is, after all, today.
Mostly, though, I’m thinking about yet another rural rite of passage we experienced recently. (Not that this only happens in rural areas, but how it’s playing out is harder to imagine in a city—though not impossible.) We don’t live in the countryside yet, but we will soon, and we’re at our new place frequently working on construction and getting things set up.
Not long ago, my husband went down to get some carpentry done and found that our shop had been broken into and some things stolen.
So, we did the usual things: filed a police report (someone came out to take it in person, which…doesn’t always happen in the city I live in), documented everything we could, checked cameras and shared images with law enforcement, posted on social media. The latter led to a few leads, which kind of stands to reason in a sparsely populated area. If someone’s local, someone will know them.
We weren’t expecting to get our stuff back, but figured at the very least people who lived nearby, who we hadn’t really met yet, would want to know that there were burglars around. I made contact with another person who’d had stuff go missing and we exchanged notes, but that was about it until yesterday.
We’d been working on the new house’s interior and I’d taken a break after a dump run to chat with my brother on the phone. We were just wrapping up when my husband came in with that look people get when they really need to tell you something but don’t want to interrupt you.
“There’s a bunch of guys outside saying something about a theft. I thought you’d better talk to them since you’ve been talking with people on social media and all.”
Outside I found the owner of another place along the same roadway that had also been burgled, along with about half a dozen of his family and friends. They were going down every road and open driveway in the area to see if they could spot a veritable haul of stuff that had been stolen from this guy’s cabin. Our gate was open so they drove up until they came to the house and encountered my husband.
What I learned from them was that we’d gotten off easy, with only a few things missing. The list of things stolen from two other houses along the same road included things like ATVs, drum sets, a lawnmower, and a goddamn dump truck. It’s possible that we scared off thieves who were intending to come back later.
I’ve never seen a posse before, but it was kind of what I’d imagine one would be like. Minus obvious guns. (Non-obvious guns are very much a thing in my state.)
Anyway, we gave them leave to have a look on the more remote parts of our acreage, since we hadn’t gone looking back there yet, there were more of them, and they were younger and with more endurance. They’ll let us know what they find.
This isn’t exactly how I thought we’d meet our neighbors in the area, but maybe they’ll come to our next BBQ.
Bundle of Holding: Dyson's Delves (from 2024)
May. 25th, 2026 02:09 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Hundreds of beautiful hand-drawn labyrinths from ZERObarrier
Bundle of Holding: Dyson's Delves (from 2024)
From the Park You Hear the Happy Sound of a Carousel
May. 25th, 2026 12:10 amaustin_dernAm I busy? Yes, still. So are you going to get more photo dump of our Silver Beach photos? Yes, still. Will you enjoy? I don't know, that's on you.
Around the carousel are a couple of ride or ride pieces, possibly merely from things like the amusement park used to have, and since it was October, they had skeletons.
This was once a ticket booth but they'd set a robot witch up in it as though a fortune teller.
Bumper car that's lost its skeleton.
And a decoration on the side that bunnyhugger tolerated but didn't care for.
Now to the main part of the day, which was enjoying the beach. I didn't start taking pictures until late in the day.
I remember playing this album like four times a day in college.
bunnyhugger trying to get her dragon kite to fly; it would get up a little bit but never really caught the upper winds.
Still, it always makes for great eye-catching ribbons of light and color.
I liked the way the shadow of the fence and the shadow of footprints interacted here.
I don't know how this happened. I think I was trying to get a picture of the guy occluding the sun and somehow my camera made it into a weird double exposure moment.
One of the historical plaques in the area, this one explaining the park. And why do I say 'one of'? You'll see.
``Why do photographers call this the Golden Hour?''
Trivia: Russian Empress Catherine the Great proclaimed the League of Armed Neutrality in February 1780 in response to Spain --- recently joined the American Revolution --- seizing and auctioning off a Dutch ship carrying cargo for Russia, and then the similar seizing of a Russian ship. Source: The Diplomacy of the American Revolution, Samuel Flagg Bemis. Spain had pronounced a broader range of cargos and shipping activity to be bringing war materials to the enemy than France or the United Kingdom did.
Currently Reading: Walt Kelly's Pogo and Albert: At the Mercy of the Elephants, Walt Kelly. Editor Mark Burstein.
See Anime North and Stay Afloat
May. 24th, 2026 06:54 pmkrpalmerOnly finding and buying not just one but two Gundam T-shirts at the nearest Uniqlo a week after returning to my area’s big anime convention last year did have me thinking “well, now I’ve got to go back next year!” Given I’d only got around to making my second trip to Anime North last year after first checking it out at last back in 2019, though, I was at least a little inclined to thoughts that a lot of things can happen in a year.
( Someday in the rain )
( Someday in the rain )
Spring 1980 Destinies (Destinies, volume 7) edited by Jim Baen
May. 24th, 2026 09:05 amjames_davis_nicoll
Another foray into a long cancelled, fondly remembered magazine of my teen years.
Spring 1980 Destinies (Destinies, volume 7) edited by Jim Baen