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第四年第一百四十九天

部首
冫 part 4
凉, cool; 减, to decrease; 凑, to gather together ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=15

词汇
特色, characteristic (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
我平常说什么来着，别总减肥减肥的, what am I always telling you, don't diet so much
[no 特色]

Me:
今天比昨天凉多了，好舒服。
这个动物的特色是什么？

One column, two letters

Link

1. Dear Care and Feeding,

I work from home. My kids are 8 and 12. When they were little, we hired a sitter to watch them on the random days off from school, but they don’t really need a sitter now.

For holidays when they are off and I’m working, my husband and I agreed to a set of rules for them: If the kids help with two small chores, read for 30 minutes, and play outside all before noon, then they can have screen time. The kids reluctantly agreed to this policy.

But they still demand my time. They will complete the list above, then ask to FaceTime with a grandparent (a clever loophole). They come into my office whining that they are bored. They are old enough to help themselves to snacks, but if I don’t supervise, they will eat everything before lunch. I make and serve lunch. Even after lunch, they play on their tablets and mindlessly snack. If they ate everything earlier, they come to my office whining for more snacks.

I feel like my husband is taking advantage of my work-from-home job. I feel like my work and time come second to his. I would like to have a full day off the weekend after one of the school holidays. A day when no one asks me for food or entertainment or a ride somewhere. A day when I’m not picking up after everyone. I don’t need a spa day; I need a day to myself. My husband says that’s not fair because his job doesn’t have working from home as an option, and I can’t just “quit parenting for a day.”

—Holidays Are Not Days Off

( Read more... )

**********

2. Dear Care and Feeding,

When should I let my daughter learn lessons on her own? My daughter “Chloe” is 12 years old. She recently went with her two closest friends to the zoo. She really wanted to wear a summer dress and white sandals and tried to leave the house without wearing sunscreen.

I talked to Chloe and made her go wearing sunscreen, and also shoes that would be better for walking on the dirt paths at the zoo (I couldn’t change her mind about the dress, so I picked my battles). But I’m not sure I like doing that.

She’s 12 now, and none of the consequences would have been disastrous. The next time something like this comes up, should I just let her make her mistakes and experience the consequences?

—When to Intervene

( Read more... )

I don't know why this was sent to Pay Dirt, but Pay Dirt gave excellent advice the LW will not heed

Dear Pay Dirt,

Our next-door neighbors were really welcoming when we first moved into our new home. Within weeks, though, they started complaining that our son was too loud and that he was “bothering” their dogs. He’s 5 years old and rambunctious, and he’s attracted to furry animals, which makes it really hard to keep him away from fun, furry floofs!

We tried talking it out with our neighbors, but they lodged a complaint with our HOA, presented us with a massive bill for repainting their fence after our son drew on it with chalk, and twice called the police because he was “trespassing” on their property (he entered their garden uninvited to play with their dogs).

We’re at our wits end. We are seriously considering selling up and moving, as we can’t reasonably expect a child to forever remain indoors. But it will result in a loss we cannot afford.

Is there any way to fix this situation? We feel like we’re being bullied out of our home, but our neighbors are operating well within the law and their rights.

—Homewrecker

( Read more... )

Lake Chad’s Water, Wetlands, and Dunes

Posted by NASA Earth Observatory

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/154407/lake-chads-water-wetlands-and-dunes

Astronauts have photographed the diminishing lake in Central Africa for decades, most recently in January 2025, as its area remained just a fraction of its past size.

Costa Rica highlights: birds

We're back!

Got back yesterday around noon, after a rather brutal return trip that involved a red-eye flight from San Jose to LAX, then a 2-hour shuttle bus ride from LAX to San Diego, then a Lyft home from the shuttle stop.

Costa Rica was amazing. As I said to The Boy at one point, it felt like we've spent two weeks living in a David Attenborough documentary. So green! So full of wildlife! So gorgeous! I'll be sorting through pictures for a while, and The Boy even longer, but here are some birds to start off with.

Keep in mind, these were all taken with my phone, so not nearly a complete list of what we saw, just what I could get a decent photo of.

( birds!birds!birds! )

There were also toucans, and scarlet macaws, and tons more hummingbirds and lots of other stuff that will have to wait until The Boy sorts through his photos. Stay tuned!

Entry tags:

farmer's market

Farmer's Market -- 7 June 2025 (Pitchfork Day, 20th of Meadows, Year 233)

Three quarts of strawberries, 3 pints of sweet cherries, a pint of sugar peas, locally grown brown rice, locally grown polenta, large soft pretzel, gruyere-bacon pastry wheel, lemon tart, fennel plant, dill plant, zinnia, cilantro, basil (all three plants given away by the local Master Gardeners group).

I guess I'm making strawberry jam this weekend.

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Speak Up Saturday

Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

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Fic: Opportunities (The Last Performance) [G]

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 9 & 10

Hi, and welcome to this week's installment of the Guardian novel readalong! ♡

Here are last week's chapters, and you can find all previous discussions in the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), or via the !readalong tag.

This week's chapters:

Chapter 9: In Kunlun's memories, the young King of the Gui gives Kunlun a gift, retrieves his soul fire from the Great Seal, and gets kissed twice. Kunlun tells him to keep the soul fire, gives him the power to rule over mountains and rivers, makes him half-divine, and sets him free from the Great Seal. The King of the Gui doesn't want to let Kunlun die, but his death is inevitable. Zhao Yunlan wakes up from the memories and meets Ghost Face, who makes him doubt what he's learned about Kunlun's past. Shen Wei shows up and stops Ghost Face from talking. Zhao Yunlan mysteriously disappears.

Chapter 10: Zhao Yunlan is transported to a white void where he meets Shennong and suspects him of tampering with the memories in the Great Divine Tree. Zhao Yunlan is sent back to the Mortal Realm, but he lands in the past, in 2002. He secretly follows his father/Shennong's Mortar to Antiques Street and to the Netherworld. His "father" meets the Soul-Executing Emissary and accuses him of not honoring his promise to stay away from Zhao Yunlan. They argue about the Great Seal and what Shen Wei plans to do if it collapses. After watching them, Zhao Yunlan is left with even more questions. He finds that his copy of Record of Ancient Secrets is blank, and decides to buy another copy in 2002 to see if it ends up at the SID in eleven years.

The corresponding chapters in the Chinese version on JJWXC/the fan translation are 87 and 88.

Excerpts:

( 1) The young King of the Gui's gives Kunlun a gift )

( 2) The two kisses )

( 3) Ghost Face airs his grievances and reveals too much )

( 4) Zhao Yunlan ends up in the past )

( 5) Shen Wei's ominous plans )

Questions:

What is your favorite soft (or angsty, or soft and angsty) Weilan moment in the primordial past? Do you sympathize with Ghost Face? How do you feel about the time travel storyline, and how does it compare to the drama version? Would you also immediately buy ice cream if you suddenly ended up in the past? Are you as confused as Zhao Yunlan about what is true and what isn't?

You can answer as many or as few questions as you like, or just comment without answering any of them at all! And if you see this post and you're not actually reading the novel: As always, I would love to know what you think about any of this with limited context. :D

And here is the new schedule, and that's where you can sign up to host a post!

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weekly chat

Weekly Chat

The weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?

Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or

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just one thing

Just One Thing (07 June 2025)

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

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Daily Happiness

1. Got up early to take Carla to the airport this morning. She's going to be visiting family for the next week and a half. She flew out of one of the smaller local airports rather than LAX, which means it was a longer drive to get her there, but it's just so much easier all around. Waaaaaaaay less crowded and much more chill. And not only did she have an easy check-in experience, but the flight arrived in Chicago half an hour early! Plus it's not that far from Disneyland so while I couldn't stop by there today after dropping her off, I will be able to stop in after work before picking her up when she comes back.

2. Last night the power went out at two of our stores, and while one of them came back on during the middle of the night, the other was out until around noon today. Thankfully they were able to keep loss to a minimum with dry ice, but it was a pretty hectic day. One of the things I most like about being the area manager rather than the store manager is that I'm no longer the one who directly has to deal with stuff like this when it happens.

3. When I took a walk around the neighborhood this evening I noticed that the junior high a couple blocks from us has a huge Pride flag out front. And there's a church down the street with one, too.

4. Very glad it's the weekend. Since it's just me, I'm going to save my Disney trips for after work next week (easier to coordinate going directly from work when it's just me) and just stay home and relax during the weekend.

5. This is one of my favorite pictures of Ollie and Jasper ever. Ollie loves plopping down next to (or sometimes on) Jasper and snuggling, and Jasper is not always that into it, but he can be pretty tolerant. He actually stayed like this with Ollie for longer than I thought he would.

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第四年第一百四十八天

部首
冫 part 3
冻, to freeze; 净, clean; 准, allow/standard ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=15

语法
Chapter 24 quiz: Comparatives (one of those where I feel like if they don't make the full English text clear, there could often be multiple right answers)
https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781138651142/quizzes.php

词汇
糖, sugar (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
人是被冻死的, he was frozen to death
你比我更值得拥有这份殊荣, you deserve this honor more than I do
吃颗糖, have a piece of candy

Me:
他不准去那里。
你没有他那么善良。

Geometry in the Golden Triangle

Posted by NASA Earth Observatory

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/154401/geometry-in-the-golden-triangle

Agricultural fields in north-central Montana, where wheat grows in abundance, display captivating patterns when viewed from above.

[Daf Yomi] Maseches Shevuos perek 1-4

Notes on the first 4 prakim of Tractate Oaths, of which two of them were not about oaths at all.

( Read more... )

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misc

Seasons of Fandom- Now Open To New Members!

Introducing

seasons_of_fandom, an interactive fandom challenge community/landcomm that allows you to create work for any fandom you can think of! We were previously

lands_of_magic, a name we ran under for over 10 years, but we figured we needed a facelift and a name change since it has been a long time since we had only focused on fantasy fandoms. We welcome TV, movies, books, games, music, anime, celebrities... almost anything goes! We have all kinds of challenges- writing, graphics, games, and some challenges that are miscellaneous fanworks! This round we'll also be trying out monthly drabble and icon contests.

We have four wonderful teams- The Spring Court, The Summer Court, The Autumn Court, and The Winter Court.

Sign-ups for new members start today, and though our first round under our new name doesn't start until August, we will have two challenges open before the round officially starts. To sign up, all you have to do is read the rules and fill out the survey here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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baihe,
books

The Beauty's Blade

The The Beauty's Blade now has both cover art revealed and a translator officially listed!

I haven't read anything Yu's worked on yet, but I've heard good things about their work! I'm so thrilled about Velinxi doing the main cover!

( cover art under the cut )

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just one thing

Just One Thing (06 June 2025)

Entry tags:

Daily Happiness

1. I had a nice work from home day. Pretty chill. Got a lot done.

2. My Switch 2 arrived this afternoon! I have not taken it out of the box yet as I do not have time to set it up and transfer all my stuff from the Switch, so I will do that tomorrow or Saturday.

Last night Carla decided to swing by Best Buy just to see what the situation was, thinking that the store would not open until midnight, but actually they were opening at 9pm (midnight for east coast stores). She went by around 10:30, saw a bit of a line but not much but didn't want to hang around until midnight (we still thought that was the timeline) so she came home, and then ended up going back about an hour later to see if they were still open. They were, and they did not have the bundle left, but did have both the system and the cartridge version of Mario Kart, so she got both. Now we both have Switch 2s! Really surprised it was so easy to get one after all the fuss with the preorders. Since she is going out of town tomorrow, she didn't end up setting hers up yet either lol.

3. Gemma is so cute! How is she so cute!?

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第四年第一百四十七天

部首
冫 part 2
决, to decide; 况, situation; 冷, cold ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=15

词汇
汤, soup (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-3-word-list/

Guardian:
我已经决定了, I have already decided
我真的不用，我不冷, I really don't need it, I'm not cold
[no 汤]

Me:
这个情况怎么整呢。
你喜欢清汤挂面吗？