The Friday Five for 10 July 2026
Jul. 9th, 2026 02:04 am![[personal profile]](/post-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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thefridayfive1. What would you do right now, if money were not an issue?
2. What would you do for the next three years, if money were not an issue?
3. What is bringing you the most joy right now that requires little or no money?
4. What types of things do you find enjoyable that require no money?
5. Is there anything you've been meaning to do for a long time, but put off because of money?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
2. What would you do for the next three years, if money were not an issue?
3. What is bringing you the most joy right now that requires little or no money?
4. What types of things do you find enjoyable that require no money?
5. Is there anything you've been meaning to do for a long time, but put off because of money?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
Community Thursdays
Jul. 9th, 2026 12:01 amysabetwordsmithThis year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...
* Comment on Just One Thing (8 July 2026) inawesomeers.
* Commented on Check-In Post - July 8th 2026 inget_knitted.
* Commented on "Speak Up Saturday" intv_talk.
* Posted "Agriculture" infirst_nations_freaks.
* Comment on Just One Thing (8 July 2026) in
awesomeers.* Commented on Check-In Post - July 8th 2026 in
get_knitted.* Commented on "Speak Up Saturday" in
tv_talk.* Posted "Agriculture" in
first_nations_freaks.
Community Thursday
Jul. 9th, 2026 06:07 amvriddyCommunity Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.
Commented onbooknook.
Promotedvocab_drabbles.
Commented on
booknook.Promoted
vocab_drabbles.We tried another way we never came back from
Jul. 8th, 2026 11:45 pmsovayFollowing the successful conclusion of one of spatch's appointments for a change, we returned to Belle Isle Seafood and this time it was a beautiful gold-tilting evening and we could seat ourselves at one of the weather-polished open-air tables and a server came by with her pad of guest checks and for what we estimate to have been the first time in six and a quarter years we ate at a restaurant together. I got a plate of smelts piled just as high and sweetly sanded and ate them down to the fried tips of their tails and the delicate bones. Rob assures me that his baked haddock was as flakily rich as it looked under its crumbs and juiced lemon. We had duly observed the warning sign about the seagulls, but mostly we saw sparrows leaning like acrobats through the diamonds of the chain-link and a common tern that made an air-slicing swoop into the water after a small silver struggle of fish. I twisted corners of napkins into earplugs because of the planes roaring out of the peach-haze over Logan. The serpentine water was full of the shivered reflections of boats and the piers built green shadows under their Plimsoll lines. When we came home by way of Revere Beach where the glass-backed combers were still curling in high, the sun doubled itself fierily in the salt marsh off North Shore Road. Even more so now, the sea feels like a lifeline. Everything feels like choking and it is so important to have reasons to breathe.
spatch's appointments for a change, we returned to Belle Isle Seafood and this time it was a beautiful gold-tilting evening and we could seat ourselves at one of the weather-polished open-air tables and a server came by with her pad of guest checks and for what we estimate to have been the first time in six and a quarter years we ate at a restaurant together. I got a plate of smelts piled just as high and sweetly sanded and ate them down to the fried tips of their tails and the delicate bones. Rob assures me that his baked haddock was as flakily rich as it looked under its crumbs and juiced lemon. We had duly observed the warning sign about the seagulls, but mostly we saw sparrows leaning like acrobats through the diamonds of the chain-link and a common tern that made an air-slicing swoop into the water after a small silver struggle of fish. I twisted corners of napkins into earplugs because of the planes roaring out of the peach-haze over Logan. The serpentine water was full of the shivered reflections of boats and the piers built green shadows under their Plimsoll lines. When we came home by way of Revere Beach where the glass-backed combers were still curling in high, the sun doubled itself fierily in the salt marsh off North Shore Road. Even more so now, the sea feels like a lifeline. Everything feels like choking and it is so important to have reasons to breathe.
Historical observances
Jul. 8th, 2026 11:01 pmdraconisToday is the 250th anniversary of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence to the general public. To commemorate, there was a "communal reading" across the country at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time this evening.
I won't go into my current political thoughts just now, choosing instead to honor this day by looking ahead.
If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend doing so if for no other reason than to appreciate Jefferson's wonderful command of the language.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-independence
I won't go into my current political thoughts just now, choosing instead to honor this day by looking ahead.
If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend doing so if for no other reason than to appreciate Jefferson's wonderful command of the language.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-independence
Things
Jul. 9th, 2026 01:45 pmvassBooks
Finished listening to the audiobook of Monkey King (abridged, Monkey-centric, version of Journey to the West translated by Julia Lovell, narrated by Kevin Shen.) It was very fun.
Tech
Dug out the soldering iron etc that I bought years ago with the annual intention of learning electronics this year. Now to check whether they work and haven't become damaged over two moves and mumble years of storage.
Finished listening to the audiobook of Monkey King (abridged, Monkey-centric, version of Journey to the West translated by Julia Lovell, narrated by Kevin Shen.) It was very fun.
Tech
Dug out the soldering iron etc that I bought years ago with the annual intention of learning electronics this year. Now to check whether they work and haven't become damaged over two moves and mumble years of storage.
movies: Leviticus, Rose of Nevada
Jul. 8th, 2026 08:44 pmsnickficLeviticus (2026). Two queer teen boys in a homophobic Australian backwater are stalked by a demon that appears to each one as the other, driving them apart.
This stars Joe Bird, the little brother in Talk to Me. He was great then and he's great here, and his and co-star Stacy Clausen's chemistry is fantastic. This movie only works because they're so good together as two fumbling kids who don't really understand themselves or each other, who can't trust each other because the other guy might be a demon, but who, it turns out, can't trust anyone else in their lives either. Betrayal is the big theme here: by trusted adults, religion, the person you're into, and yourself.
The conversion therapy metaphor is very obvious, which isn't necessarily bad, but I did feel that the movie wasn't sure what to do with it once it had introduced it. Like yes, now you (or the appearance of you) are dangerous to each other, so now what? I wanted it to give me more. The movie feels like it plateaus in the last act, neither deepening the themes nor escalating the tension but just hitting a lot of the same beats until things finally resolve.
However, the actual character work is good, IMO. Both kids are complicated and make realistically bad choices, but they also both keep trying with one another. There's a really great scene where love interest Ryan uses the word dickhead about five times, and it's honestly really sweet in context. The cinematography was also good; I really felt the kind of down-and-out exhaustion of the industrial small town.
Overall, even though it didn't fire on all cylinders for me, it's definitely a worthwhile watch if teen boys in love in a horror setting sound like your jam.
--
Rose of Nevada (2026). Directed by Mark Jenkin, who also made Enys Men, this is about two guys in an impoverished Cornish fishing town who take a job aboard a lost and resurfaced fishing boat, which takes them back in time. The guy who's been sleeping rough suddenly finds he has a wife and kid; the guy who took the job to support his family no longer has one, because they're back in the present day.
This movie is largely an Experience (tm) rather than a story as such. It seems like there is some actual plot/lore underpinning, but Jenkin is not that interested in explaining what it is. We spend a LOT of time on a fishing boat. The captain might be fae, or the boat might stuck in a time loop, or... who can say.
Mostly what Jenkin is interested in is making a movie that feels old, full of fuzziness and tactile impressions of things. I'm told the camera can only store about twelve seconds of footage at a time, so everything is a quick cut, and for whatever reason he didn't mic any of it, so all the sound happened in post and all the spoken dialogue was dubbed in, like an old giallo film or something.
I got out of this and was like well that was an experience I guess, but with time I feel like I might want to watch it again. Maybe I can make sense of more things this time.
This stars Joe Bird, the little brother in Talk to Me. He was great then and he's great here, and his and co-star Stacy Clausen's chemistry is fantastic. This movie only works because they're so good together as two fumbling kids who don't really understand themselves or each other, who can't trust each other because the other guy might be a demon, but who, it turns out, can't trust anyone else in their lives either. Betrayal is the big theme here: by trusted adults, religion, the person you're into, and yourself.
The conversion therapy metaphor is very obvious, which isn't necessarily bad, but I did feel that the movie wasn't sure what to do with it once it had introduced it. Like yes, now you (or the appearance of you) are dangerous to each other, so now what? I wanted it to give me more. The movie feels like it plateaus in the last act, neither deepening the themes nor escalating the tension but just hitting a lot of the same beats until things finally resolve.
However, the actual character work is good, IMO. Both kids are complicated and make realistically bad choices, but they also both keep trying with one another. There's a really great scene where love interest Ryan uses the word dickhead about five times, and it's honestly really sweet in context. The cinematography was also good; I really felt the kind of down-and-out exhaustion of the industrial small town.
Overall, even though it didn't fire on all cylinders for me, it's definitely a worthwhile watch if teen boys in love in a horror setting sound like your jam.
--
Rose of Nevada (2026). Directed by Mark Jenkin, who also made Enys Men, this is about two guys in an impoverished Cornish fishing town who take a job aboard a lost and resurfaced fishing boat, which takes them back in time. The guy who's been sleeping rough suddenly finds he has a wife and kid; the guy who took the job to support his family no longer has one, because they're back in the present day.
This movie is largely an Experience (tm) rather than a story as such. It seems like there is some actual plot/lore underpinning, but Jenkin is not that interested in explaining what it is. We spend a LOT of time on a fishing boat. The captain might be fae, or the boat might stuck in a time loop, or... who can say.
Mostly what Jenkin is interested in is making a movie that feels old, full of fuzziness and tactile impressions of things. I'm told the camera can only store about twelve seconds of footage at a time, so everything is a quick cut, and for whatever reason he didn't mic any of it, so all the sound happened in post and all the spoken dialogue was dubbed in, like an old giallo film or something.
I got out of this and was like well that was an experience I guess, but with time I feel like I might want to watch it again. Maybe I can make sense of more things this time.
(no subject)
Jul. 9th, 2026 06:20 amlea_hazelIt's a good thing I had a super-productive June, because it's been a month since I got the shot and, right on schedule, my knee's started to twinge again. I might be overreacting, it might just be a bad day or two...or it might be a sign that in three weeks, at my next appointment, I'll have to talk to the rheumatologist about DMARDs.
The good news is that it's been almost twenty years and apparently they've been making great strides in specifically that area. However, I reserve the right to be grumpy about it.
The good news is that it's been almost twenty years and apparently they've been making great strides in specifically that area. However, I reserve the right to be grumpy about it.
eagle therapy.
Jul. 8th, 2026 06:28 pmserafaerybeen a busy productive chore day. gotta werk all day tomorrow so that'll be hard, but then I get to daaaaance hopefully. If I can muster the energy. I've been soooooooooooooo lethargic lately. Pushing through and doing things anyway but it's HARD erf.
Tyler and I had a really really nice hike yesterday at the coast. He seems a little off-kilter but mostly okay. sigh. I am trying really hard to be a better friend to him. He asks for so little.
I still want to try to get laundry done tonight, and henna my hair, and maybe do some housework or write some cards. I want to buy some special order things I am running low on, but I'll save groceries for tomorrow after werk. I have a deal for mushroom chocolates, should I go for it? I haven't had any in over a year.
Despite low energy I keep taking all of my supplements and keep endlessly batting away my depression. It never lets up, I just have to keep whacking at it. Kind of like how you never run out of laundry or dishes or weeds.
Scheduled my mammogram, I still have to look for a new PCP, look for a new dermatologist, get a new veterinarian for Avalanche, schedule a colonoscopy, get vaccinated for shingles, and a bajillion other health care things I keep putting off.
Josh wants to tackle wingspan tonight and I just want to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Avalanche has been outside all day and she's sooooooooo happy, it's the cutest. Her special venison raw cat food came back in stock and she is soooooooooo happy about that too. She was eating the salmon/chicken flavor but she doesn't like it half as much as the venison.
the eagles are doing wonderfully. what a gift.
the weather is perfect. the sky is so beautiful. what a gift.
I've been eating yummy nutritious (and a few naughty nibbles) food all day, what a gift.
my husband is the best. my car still runs. pumpkins are blooming.
group therapy continues to be weird and slightly uncomfortable. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It is family reunion season and I already go through a period of feeling alienated and invisible and locked out of something fundamentally human and important listening to people talk about it at work, now I have to listen to it in group, too. ugh.
I never had anything like that. I never met any aunts or knew any cousins, except for some distant ones once long ago in LA who never responded the last several times I tried to contact them. We don't have family gatherings or markers or support of any kind. (One of my dad's nieces still sends me happy birthday notes on fb, she found me after dad died, she's really sweet. But I've never met her and I don't know any of her family and her parents are long gone. She didn't meet my dad, either. But she's still sweet.) There are no estates or "probates" or whatever that even is because nobody has any money. No memorials or funerals (except for the one memorial I created for my mom in 2022, that made me so so so sick from the stress of it that I ended up catching covid). my dad's ashes were dumped from a plastic bag into a nameless stream by a stoned woman (widow technically, dad remarried when he got diagnosed with terminal lung cancer to a girlfriend) who also dumped her cremated cats at the same time. that's as much of a ceremony as anyone gets around here. If you're lucky. I feel like we are human versions of street rats who could get dumped in a ditch and nobody would notice, care, or remember. So, I get a little triggered listening to people talk about family reunions, I guess. Even my therapist will be gone next week for one. I'm glad they have family. Very glad for them. But it sure does make me feel more alone. Josh's family doesn't do stuff like that either. Nobody marked his grandmother's passing in any way whatsoever. They didn't even talk about it. I guess it doesn't matter. I guess it's more realistic about the real meaninglessness of my own existence. But it still is kind of painful.
watching the eagles on their nest makes it feel less so.
Tyler and I had a really really nice hike yesterday at the coast. He seems a little off-kilter but mostly okay. sigh. I am trying really hard to be a better friend to him. He asks for so little.
I still want to try to get laundry done tonight, and henna my hair, and maybe do some housework or write some cards. I want to buy some special order things I am running low on, but I'll save groceries for tomorrow after werk. I have a deal for mushroom chocolates, should I go for it? I haven't had any in over a year.
Despite low energy I keep taking all of my supplements and keep endlessly batting away my depression. It never lets up, I just have to keep whacking at it. Kind of like how you never run out of laundry or dishes or weeds.
Scheduled my mammogram, I still have to look for a new PCP, look for a new dermatologist, get a new veterinarian for Avalanche, schedule a colonoscopy, get vaccinated for shingles, and a bajillion other health care things I keep putting off.
Josh wants to tackle wingspan tonight and I just want to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Avalanche has been outside all day and she's sooooooooo happy, it's the cutest. Her special venison raw cat food came back in stock and she is soooooooooo happy about that too. She was eating the salmon/chicken flavor but she doesn't like it half as much as the venison.
the eagles are doing wonderfully. what a gift.
the weather is perfect. the sky is so beautiful. what a gift.
I've been eating yummy nutritious (and a few naughty nibbles) food all day, what a gift.
my husband is the best. my car still runs. pumpkins are blooming.
group therapy continues to be weird and slightly uncomfortable. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It is family reunion season and I already go through a period of feeling alienated and invisible and locked out of something fundamentally human and important listening to people talk about it at work, now I have to listen to it in group, too. ugh.
I never had anything like that. I never met any aunts or knew any cousins, except for some distant ones once long ago in LA who never responded the last several times I tried to contact them. We don't have family gatherings or markers or support of any kind. (One of my dad's nieces still sends me happy birthday notes on fb, she found me after dad died, she's really sweet. But I've never met her and I don't know any of her family and her parents are long gone. She didn't meet my dad, either. But she's still sweet.) There are no estates or "probates" or whatever that even is because nobody has any money. No memorials or funerals (except for the one memorial I created for my mom in 2022, that made me so so so sick from the stress of it that I ended up catching covid). my dad's ashes were dumped from a plastic bag into a nameless stream by a stoned woman (widow technically, dad remarried when he got diagnosed with terminal lung cancer to a girlfriend) who also dumped her cremated cats at the same time. that's as much of a ceremony as anyone gets around here. If you're lucky. I feel like we are human versions of street rats who could get dumped in a ditch and nobody would notice, care, or remember. So, I get a little triggered listening to people talk about family reunions, I guess. Even my therapist will be gone next week for one. I'm glad they have family. Very glad for them. But it sure does make me feel more alone. Josh's family doesn't do stuff like that either. Nobody marked his grandmother's passing in any way whatsoever. They didn't even talk about it. I guess it doesn't matter. I guess it's more realistic about the real meaninglessness of my own existence. But it still is kind of painful.
watching the eagles on their nest makes it feel less so.
Choices
Jul. 8th, 2026 09:19 pmcornerofmadnessSo today I went to the Honda dealer to look at another CR-V and went next door to the Hyundai dealer. Since Hyundai has made remarkable strides in reliability over the years it's now nearly as reliable as Honda and Toyota. After comparing the CR-V to the Tucson, I'm probably going to go with my first ever Korean vehicle. I mean Honda's warranty is 3 years. Hyundai has both the general car AND the electronics under warranty for 6 years/60,000 Miles and tops it with 10 year/100K miles on the driveline.
And then they offered me 0% apr for FIVE years.
It's hard to say no to that.
Came home, searched for end of life planning things that are also humorous found them (and then went to drink pickle brine so I can speed things along)
After that I saw something on Facebook that sounded so good so I went off the site to track it down in the real world so to speak. I found it. It's not some b.s. made up for FB. abruzzo sister tours and they do ancestral tourism. I will check into them more. This would be like archaeotours in Wales where I have a private tour. I am willing to pay for that. Hoping this is an option that doesn't have 1001 complaints lodged around them.
What I'm Reading Wednesday
What I Just Finished Reading:
One of the Girls - this was good
Our Wicked Gifts - not bad, horrorish
What I am Currently Reading:
Purra-normal Activity - a cozy mystery, so far so good
The Silent Companions - for summerween
The Harvesting - Zombie apocalypse fare
What I Plan to Read Next: some of my looming arcs (carry me to the grave or the seance garden) and things for popsugar
And then they offered me 0% apr for FIVE years.
It's hard to say no to that.
Came home, searched for end of life planning things that are also humorous found them (and then went to drink pickle brine so I can speed things along)
After that I saw something on Facebook that sounded so good so I went off the site to track it down in the real world so to speak. I found it. It's not some b.s. made up for FB. abruzzo sister tours and they do ancestral tourism. I will check into them more. This would be like archaeotours in Wales where I have a private tour. I am willing to pay for that. Hoping this is an option that doesn't have 1001 complaints lodged around them.
What I'm Reading Wednesday
What I Just Finished Reading:
One of the Girls - this was good
Our Wicked Gifts - not bad, horrorish
What I am Currently Reading:
Purra-normal Activity - a cozy mystery, so far so good
The Silent Companions - for summerween
The Harvesting - Zombie apocalypse fare
What I Plan to Read Next: some of my looming arcs (carry me to the grave or the seance garden) and things for popsugar
What I'm Doing Wednesday
Jul. 8th, 2026 07:21 pmsagebooks
America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin. 2025. FINALLY finished, though I skipped the notes bc I was just done with the book. It's a very thorough and sharply critical history of the Americas, and I loved the first half. The second half is mostly a deep dive into intra-hemispheric politics, most of which I've already studied in detail. I do wish it had started BEFORE the Conquest, rather than at it, but the book's 768 pages as it is.
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan. 2026. Started reading just before the Independence Day weekend and just now finished. A chore to read, tbh, bc there's so much orange menace in it, and I hate him. But it confirms gvt by the inept following a plan framed by the vicious. I have been angry at H&S for sitting on so much of this info for up to 3 years, rather than releasing it to the public. But the timing now is good. It's fresh in voters' minds for the midterms. And we certainly won't have an impeachment before the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd.
iwtv 3.5/tvl 1.5
Holy shit. This show is SO GOOD.
yarning
The cat scarf halves are stitched together & now I only have to weave in five million ends before mailing it out Friday. Didn't make yarn group again bc I slept too late. Stupid sleep disorder.
healthcrap
allergy shot yesterday. I need to remember to make a mammogram appt, though. Also, pain clinic appt. Oops.
wildlife
There's a(n o)possum living in my back porch laundry room. I don't know if it's a nesting female or not. It had diarrhea on top of my washer lid. Which is dried on and vile. (Cleaning it up is my project for maybe tomorrow.) I replaced the burned out light bulb today (and left it on) and left the door open, so maybe it'll vacate the premises on its own. I can call maintenance about relocating it. I just haven't yet. I thought about bombing it with peppermint or something, but peppermint is toxic to cats, and the stray cats use the laundry room for shelter in the winter, so that would suck for them.
#resist
? (I'm still waiting to see an announcement of a new march. Granted, it's hotter than hell, so maybe that's the delay? IDEK.)
I hope you're all doing well! <333
America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin. 2025. FINALLY finished, though I skipped the notes bc I was just done with the book. It's a very thorough and sharply critical history of the Americas, and I loved the first half. The second half is mostly a deep dive into intra-hemispheric politics, most of which I've already studied in detail. I do wish it had started BEFORE the Conquest, rather than at it, but the book's 768 pages as it is.
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan. 2026. Started reading just before the Independence Day weekend and just now finished. A chore to read, tbh, bc there's so much orange menace in it, and I hate him. But it confirms gvt by the inept following a plan framed by the vicious. I have been angry at H&S for sitting on so much of this info for up to 3 years, rather than releasing it to the public. But the timing now is good. It's fresh in voters' minds for the midterms. And we certainly won't have an impeachment before the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd.
iwtv 3.5/tvl 1.5
Holy shit. This show is SO GOOD.
yarning
The cat scarf halves are stitched together & now I only have to weave in five million ends before mailing it out Friday. Didn't make yarn group again bc I slept too late. Stupid sleep disorder.
healthcrap
allergy shot yesterday. I need to remember to make a mammogram appt, though. Also, pain clinic appt. Oops.
wildlife
There's a(n o)possum living in my back porch laundry room. I don't know if it's a nesting female or not. It had diarrhea on top of my washer lid. Which is dried on and vile. (Cleaning it up is my project for maybe tomorrow.) I replaced the burned out light bulb today (and left it on) and left the door open, so maybe it'll vacate the premises on its own. I can call maintenance about relocating it. I just haven't yet. I thought about bombing it with peppermint or something, but peppermint is toxic to cats, and the stray cats use the laundry room for shelter in the winter, so that would suck for them.
#resist
? (I'm still waiting to see an announcement of a new march. Granted, it's hotter than hell, so maybe that's the delay? IDEK.)
I hope you're all doing well! <333
Post and Jam: Crossing a Canyon by 54-40 [1996]
Jul. 8th, 2026 05:04 pmdelphiFandom 50 #20
For 1996, a little roots rock from a band named for some 19th century colonial sloganeering.
Crossing a Canyon by 54-40
For 1996, a little roots rock from a band named for some 19th century colonial sloganeering.
Crossing a Canyon by 54-40
