lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-30 09:32 am

2025.06.30

Trump’s justice department issues directive to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship for civil offenses
Memo says those subjected to civil proceedings are not entitled to an attorney like they are in criminal cases
Edward Helmore
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/30/trump-birthright-citizenship-naturalized-citizens

15 Hmong Minnesotans face deportation over convictions, some decades old
More Hmong Americans are facing deportation over past convictions, after the Trump administration increased pressure on Laos to approve travel visas.
by Katelyn Vue
https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/hmong-deportation-ice-minnesota-laos/

Throwing their bodies on the gears: the Democratic lawmakers showing up to resist Trump
Republicans may literally own social media platforms, but some Democrats are buying back legitimacy with protests
George Chidi
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/30/democrats-trump-resistance

Zohran Mamdani won by being himself – and his victory has revealed the Islamophobic ugliness of others
Nesrine Malik
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/30/zohran-mamdani-new-york-islamophobia-us-politics

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner was deemed the 'safest' of planes. The whistleblowers were always less sure
Theo Leggett
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyq7vgq2e5o

'Every word has come back to haunt me': China cracks down on women who write gay erotica
Yi Ma BBC News Reporting from London
Eunice Yang BBC Chinese
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c056nle2drno
redbird: closeup photo of an apricot (food)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-06-29 02:12 pm

farmers market

Today's trip to the farmers market was successful and satisfying.

I left the house as soon as I'd had my morning tea, and went to a market that opens at 10 on Sundays. I got there at about 10:20, before they'd sold out of anything I wanted, or might want.

What I particularly wanted was raspberries, and I bought two small boxes of those (totalling about a pint).

Busa Farms had a bin full of nice-looking shell peas, and I bought almost two pounds, because Cattitude is very fond of fresh peas. When I got home, he told me that he'd thought he had missed the local pea season this year. I also bought a bunch of red radishes, because they caught my eye while I was in line to pay for the peas. (Busa had both red and purple radishes, which somehow made them more appealing than if there'd only been one kind of radish.)

Hi-Rise Bakery was there, and I bought a small loaf of their concord bread, which is the right degree of crusty for the three of us. (They also have a thicker-crust "luce.")

The raspberries are from Kimball's, where I also bought a few diva cucumbers.

Stillman's Farm didn't have lamb sausages, but when I asked about it, the vendor said "probably next week" and asked what kind I liked. She is going to report back that they had a request for merguez sausages. I don't know whether we'll get to the same market next week, but it sounds like there will be lamb sausages at the other local farmers markets soon.

A lot of other things looked good, but I decided I didn't need lettuce (multiple varieties), cherry tomatoes, or fish.
lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-29 07:49 am

2025.06.29

‘Explosive increase’ of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis
Unusually aggressive lone star ticks, common in the south-east, are spreading to areas previously too cold for them
Oliver Milman
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis

‘Lidar is lame’: why Elon Musk’s vision for a self-driving Tesla taxi faltered
The company’s rollout of its new driverless cars has gotten off to a wobbly start – and rival Waymo remains well ahead
Nick Robins-Early, Dara Kerr and Johana Bhuiyan
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/29/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi

Tens of thousands defy Hungary’s ban on Pride in protest against Orbán
Crackdown on Pride is part of effort to curb democratic freedoms ahead of a hotly-contested election next year
Lili Rutai in Budapest, and Ashifa Kassam
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/28/tens-of-thousands-defy-hungarys-ban-on-pride-in-protest-against-orban

Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for Thai-style tossed walnut and tempeh noodles
Rice noodles topped with a rubble of tempeh and walnuts and tossed in garlic oil and a sweet, salty and tangy hot sauce
Meera Sodha
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/jun/28/vegan-thai-walnut-and-tempeh-noodles-recipe-meera-sodha

America's dive bars are disappearing. Montana didn’t get the memo
The state boasts cozy venues featuring buffalo mounts, barbecue and bras on the wall – but the mark of a great bar is always the people
Janie Osborne
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/jun/28/montana-dive-bars

'Proud to be gay': K-pop star on coming out to the world
Yvette Tan BBC News Reporting fromSingapore
Juna Moon BBC Korean
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5kx7wn1nzo
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-06-28 04:36 pm

acelightning has died

I learned this morning that [personal profile] acelightning has died. She was one of the people I only know online, but feel like friends because we have real conversations (in her case, here on Dreamwidth and previously on LJ).
dreamshark: (Default)
dreamshark ([personal profile] dreamshark) wrote2025-06-28 02:29 pm

Almost ripe! My first tomatoes

No they are not large or red, but they aren’t supposed to be; they are yellow grape tomatoes. We could never grow tomatoes before we took out that giant tree, so this is a big adventure. Now it’s a race between us and the squirrels!

lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-28 07:44 am

2025.06.28

From soul food to Little Mekong Market to Pride, a jam-packed Twin Cities weekend
Twin Cities events will celebrate Pride, Indigenous fashion, and food from the African and Southeast Asian diasporas this weekend.by Myah Goff
https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/things-to-do-twin-cities-pride-soul-food-little-mekong-night-market/

Bringing back the ‘gayborhood’ in Loring Park: New Pride Cultural Arts Center debuts
Sam Stroozas
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/27/twin-cities-pride-cultural-arts-center-opens-in-minneapolis

Sven Sundgaard: Heat dome loosens its grip; several rounds of severe storms possible
Cooler air arrives in the East and Midwest, but repeated rounds of storms will continue on the northern edge of the retreating heat dome.
Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-weather/sven-sundgaard-heat-dome-loosens-its-grip-several-rounds-of-severe-storms-possible Read more... )
pegkerr: (Default)
pegkerr ([personal profile] pegkerr) wrote2025-06-27 01:01 pm

2025 52 Card Project: Week 25: Painting

For the last week I have slept on the futon in my office because my bedroom had been emptied so that it could be replastered and painted. I hired a contractor to do the plastering, and they did a great job (badly needed, as the wall was full of a bunch of long, meandering cracks). I opted to do the painting myself to save money.

The painting got delayed because it was so hot last weekend. I managed most of it over two or three days but then (total klutz that I am) I stumbled over a painting extension pole and managed to break a toe, making it increasingly painful to get up and down off the floor, just when it was time to paint the baseboards. To make things worse, I suddenly started experiencing arthritis, this time in my right hand. Suddenly, the painting job was getting to be a bit too much.

Rather desperately, I sent out a call for help to my family text thread, and one of my nephews gracefully came through. He showed up and put in several hours putting the second coat on the baseboards and window frames and finishing up the closet.

I love my bedroom's new look. I have to get new linens and curtains and put up artwork. But I'm really pleased with how it looks so far.

I found a light switch cover with a tree of life on it, which is a much-appreciated touch.

Image description: Two views of a freshly painted bedroom. Lower half: view of a bedroom with blue/green walls. Upper left corner: a small chair and side table in a corner, where dark green and light blue/green colors meet. Upper right corner: a light switch plate with an ornate botanical tree of life.

Painting

25 Painting

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.
catherineldf: (Default)
catherineldf ([personal profile] catherineldf) wrote2025-06-27 10:27 am

Readercon schedule, TC Pride and more!

It's Twin Cities Pride this weekend and I'm headed in to do some preliminary setup this morning. It's been raining for days, with some more expected this weekend and 3 of the interstates are closed - what could go wrong? No, don't answer that. At any, Queen of Swords Press will have a table in the Queer Writes Test/Zone (called different things on the map), space #496. I'm "between jobs" (out of work/taking a short break) as of 7/3 so if you can't make it to Pride and are up for buying a book or two, now would be a great time. Library requests help a lot too!

Readercon 34 - I will be attending (please buy a Pride StoryBundle if you can! My half of the curator's fee is funding my trip cash for July and these are some great books. We're also raising money for Rainbow Railroad too!). My schedule is here and I'm on everything from small press publishing to aging in sf to erotica and horror to doing a reading.  Looking for ward to it! Will I see you there? Let's get a meal/snacks.

I am also adding an October trip to Iowa City on 10/11 to accept a posthumous Laura Young Award for Jana from Guild of Bookworkers at their Standards Conference. That will be something of a whirlwind, but if you're in the area, breakfast on Sunday could be a thing.

I have a Seattle Worldcon schedule but it doesn't look quite baked yet. I also apparently promised a debut reading of Blood Moon, (Wolves of Wolf's Point #3) from some months back when I had 10K words...then had to revise and reset in a different character's head. Apparently, there will be a lot of writing in the next couple of weeks to get some things ready for readings at both cons!


lydamorehouse: (crazy eyed Renji)
lydamorehouse ([personal profile] lydamorehouse) wrote2025-06-27 09:23 am
Entry tags:

My Life, et. al

 I'm currently reading a book called CULTISH: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell.  It's a book that Mason brought home from college and had in his discard (as in to go out to the Little Free Library) pile. I picked it up because a friend of mine just shared a story about a friend of hers from college who was in a cult in the 1990s.  I'm not normally a person who is super into all this sort of thing, but I mean, I did watch all of  the 2015 movie, Going Clear about Scientology.  The book is a little frustrating because it was written in 2021 and the author skirts around taking seriously Trump's language as fantaticism (even while mentioning it) and that doesn't play well post Insurrection and current administration. Like, girl. You could have punched up HARDER. You were, in fact, on to something.

Ironically, I've been spending my free time doing something that feels cult adjactent.

I'm on the programming committee for this year's Gaylaxicon which I have mentioned a dozen times in other contexts. But, my current work has involved trying to recruit local professionals to attend. I feel a little bit like I'm standing on a soap box evangalizing, hoping to get some curious people to sign up! (Seriously, have you thought about attending?? It's a fun con! You don't have to be queer to go!  Membership is currently the low, low price of $80!!) 

 It's also been kind of time (and energy) consuming.  

Very cultish. 

Anyway, I am currently waiting for my brother-in-law to text or call to let me know that he's done with his MRIs. This whole week has been a series of tests for him (and, as it happens, the rest of my family.) So, I've been the Rounds Lyft driver, only without the pay. Ah well. That's what family is for. 
lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-27 09:35 am

2025.06.27

Bill Moyers, Lyndon Johnson press chief and celebrated broadcaster, dies at 91
Moyers, who served as Johnson’s press secretary for two years, became one of television’s most revered journalists
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/26/bill-moyers-broadcaster-dies

Road rash: Construction to close 3 major interstates this weekend
Road and bridge projects will shut down I-494 in Bloomington and Richfield, I-35W in Richfield, and I-94 in St. Paul between Friday night and Monday morning.
Author: Dana Thiede
https://www.kare11.com/article/traffic/traffic-nightmare-stretches-of-3-major-interstates-closed-this-weekend/89-76c556df-9be4-4dfa-952c-e77d6978230c

Wild, safe and sober: An antique mall in Fridley centers the queer community
Married couple David Wenzel and Joshua Larson are co-owners of Wild Things Antiques in Fridley, pictured here on June 16. "It's very important to us that our identity as a queer couple was going to be on the forefront of what we were doing as a business," Larson says.
Alex V. Cipolle
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/26/wild-safe-and-sober-an-antique-mall-in-fridley-centers-the-queer-community Read more... )
lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-26 10:39 am

2025.06.26

Mamdani’s defeat of Cuomo offers Democrats a path out of the wilderness
David Smith in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/25/zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayor-election-democrats

Zohran Mamdani offered New Yorkers a political revolution – and won
Bhaskar Sunkara
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/25/zohran-mamdani-offered-a-political-revolution-and-won

Trump is angry with a world that won’t give him easy deals
Rafael Behr
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/25/donald-trump-angry-middle-east-ukraine Read more... )
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mrissa ([personal profile] mrissa) wrote2025-06-26 09:07 am

Trade show! in! spaaaaaace!

 

New story out today in Lightspeed magazine: All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. Visit the space gift shop trade convention and learn who's most likely to try to ruin things for all of us (hint: it's Earth people, UGH).

Don't miss the Author Spotlight discussing the story afterwards!

redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-06-25 09:32 pm
Entry tags:

Wednesday reading

One book finished in the past fortnight: Aftermarket Afterlife, by Seanan McGuire, the 14th volume in her InCryptid series of fantasy novels. I was disappointed by this one: there were too many ghosts and too few cryptids, and the ending seemed abrupt, even given that this is number 14 in a loose series. I'm not a big fan of ghosts, and the book is narrated by Aunt Mary, the Price family's ghost babysitter. The ebook also contains "Excerpt from Mourner's Waltz," about a bit of Verity's life, as the superintendent and only human resident of a Manhattan apartment building. The novel and short story both contain massive spoilers for at least the two previous books in the series.

I gave up on Twelve Trees (mentioned in the previous post) because the printing was hard on my eyes, and since it's a hardcover rather than an ebook, I can't change the font or print size, and I have to take it back to the library.
lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-25 08:20 am

2025.06.25

Zohran Mamdani declares historic victory in New York City mayoral primary after Cuomo concedes
‘Tonight is his night,’ says ex-governor as progressive state representative tells supporters ‘we made history’
‘We made history’: Mamdani celebrates after shocking Cuomo in New York City mayoral primary – US politics live
Adam Gabbatt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/24/new-york-mayoral-primary-results

Who is Zohran Mamdani?
Nada Tawfik and Rachel Hagan
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly2rgzye9no

Union leaders’ exit from DNC exposes ‘mind-boggling’ tensions inside Democratic party
Lee Saunders and Randi Weingarten say party not standing up for working people amid ‘existential battle’ under Trump
Steven Greenhouse
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/25/dnc-union-leaders-democratic-party Read more... )
catherineldf: (Default)
catherineldf ([personal profile] catherineldf) wrote2025-06-24 07:51 pm
Entry tags:

How am I viewing my looming unemployment, you ask?

Well, I'm hella tired. So sleep and doing odds and ends are looking very appealing. Also writing and editing. I'm signing up for various workshops and classes and just came across a developmental editing class that I signed up for...a year ago. I should probably finish that. In a couple of weeks, I will be looking for editing, teaching, speaking, writing gigs, but I definitely need to recharge a bit. Let me know if you're interested in my sundry nonIT skills. For the IT end of things, my contracting company will keep looking and the very large healthcare co. that currently rents my services has expressed interest in having me back in another capacity so we'll see if anything works out there. In the next couple of weeks, I have vending at Twin Cities Pride this weekend (500,000+ people, 3 day marathon - come see us at the Queer Writes Tent in Loring Park!), the Inbound Book Fair for Grownups in 2 weeks (4-5000 people last year, 2 day marathon - come see us at the Fairgrounds in the Education Building!), followed immediately thereafter by Readercon (my schedule is lit!). Then back for a couple of weeks, then off to Seattle for Worldcon. Somewhere in there, I will freak about money if I haven't figured something out, but I also figure I've been planning for this for the last year and if I don't seize the moments where I can, when will I?
lydamorehouse: (Default)
lydamorehouse ([personal profile] lydamorehouse) wrote2025-06-24 05:06 pm

Little Free Library Volunteering

 I did a fun thing today.

I found out through VolunteerMatch that Tropes & Trifles was looking for people to restock books in little free library "book deserts." So, this afternoon, I drove out, got my box of books, and set out with the Little Free Library app. 

I had never installed the LFL app before. I had lost the "confirm your email" email and so I wasn't able to take notes as I drove around (I have since rectified that) and so I mostly used the app for its ability to give me GPS directions to various LFL. I still have half a box yet to deliver. I'll try to remember to take pictures when I go out driving tomorrow!  

I'm now very tired, but what fun!
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-06-24 05:40 pm
Entry tags:

updates

Cattitude took the cat in for her follow-up appointment, and the nurse said she's doing just fine, and cleared her to start eating crunchy things (which include her favorite cat treats). She hadn't been eating much in the previous few days, so they sent Cattitude home with two medications to improve her appetite. The cat has her appetite back, and headed right for the bowl of kibble, and ignored the bowl of wet food. She also informed us at dinner, when offered Greenies, that those were her proper treats, thank you very much. The other cat, Molly, is also pleased that we are once again giving them kibble and the familiar treats; there was no practical way to give Molly kibble and Kaja only wet food, so neither cat got anything crunchy for ten days.

We may be going to London last month, to sort through some of Mom's stuff, including papers and photos. (Mark needs to be there, and I want to, even though it will mean a lot of time masking, and probably a lot of takeout meals eaten in a hotel room. I emailed the cat sitter,

I checked this afternoon, and my inherited share of Mom's Vanguard account is in my account. Separately, there's a life insurance policy that seems to have asked for another form after my brother sent in what he thought was everything they wanted. In addition to the Vanguard account, there are some UK bank accounts, which Mark thinks will take several months to go through probate. All of this is a little weird, and I want my mother, not her life insurance.

Boston (along with much of the eastern United States and Canada) is in the middle of the sort of heat wave where they advise everyone to stay indoors if possible, not just people who are particularly sensitive to the heat. Both the NWS warning and the Boston heat emergency are only through this evening, but they're predicting that tomorrow will also be hotter than I find comfortable.
lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-24 09:52 am

2025.06.24

Old and corrupt vs young and Islamic -- you decide!
New Yorkers vote in mayoral primary as poll shows Mamdani leading Cuomo
Leftwing Zohran Mamdani sees surging support in race against former governor for Democratic nomination
Adam Gabbatt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/24/new-yorkers-mayoral-primary-mamdami-cuomo

Get earplugs – and never remove wax at home: 16 ways to protect your hearing, chosen by audiologists
Turn the volume down, don’t use cotton buds and get your hearing tested before it’s too late. Here’s what experts recommend to keep your ears healthy
Sarah Phillips
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/24/get-earplugs-and-never-remove-wax-at-home-16-ways-to-protect-your-hearing-chosen-by-audiologists

Three-hundred-year-old painting in the Uffizi damaged after visitor trips while trying to ‘make a meme’
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is considering imposing restrictions on visitor behaviour after the incident, which follows a similar mishap earlier this month
Dee Jefferson
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jun/24/300-year-old-painting-in-the-uffizi-damaged-after-visitor-trips-while-trying-to-make-a-meme-ntwnfb Read more... )
lydamorehouse: Renji is a moron (eyebrow tats)
lydamorehouse ([personal profile] lydamorehouse) wrote2025-06-23 02:02 pm
Entry tags:

A Walk in the Park

 This week is the week of appointments. The appointments range from a haircut (for me) to neurologists to taking my brother-in-law to see his cancer specialists. Today was the neurologist (for Shawn.) I've long noticed that there was a small park behind the office, but I had never explored it before. I discovered it's called Hazelwood Park. 

Suburban Lake
A suburban lake. It has a name, which I am sure is lovely, but I am filled with such jealousy that I can't be bothered to look it up.

Sometimes I regret buying a house in Midway. The other thing I had to do today was drive over to a friend's house in Minneapolis. This friend lives on (like literally, he has lake front property) Diamond Lake. GPS, in its infinite wisdom, drove me there via all of the parkways in Minneapolis. I started on Minnehaha and then turned off to the Lake Nokomis Parkway. I spend the entire time... well, enjoying the view, but also green with envy. I am literally looking out at concrete and garbage on a daily basis. The most lovely thing near my house is the statue of a loon near LITERALLY the busiest interesction in the entire Twin Cities (University and Snelling.) It is ugly, industrial, and garbage strewn. 

Sigh.

But, I mean, you live where you can afford, right?

Imagine having this for your backyard, though, eh?

someone's backyard
Image: that house on the hill has one helluva backyard, even if it technically belongs to the city. 
lsanderson: (Default)
lsanderson ([personal profile] lsanderson) wrote2025-06-23 07:27 am

2025.06.23

'Swedes like generous, personal, lived-in spaces': The Scandi homeware style that Swedish people love
Dominic Lutyens
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250620-the-true-scandi-style-that-swedes-love

How the Grateful Dead built the internet
Allegra Rosenberg
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250618-how-the-grateful-dead-shaped-social-media

Some beaches closed in Hennepin County after water test results
By Kilat Fitzgerald
https://www.fox9.com/news/beaches-closed-hennepin-county-water-test-results Read more... )