ewx | Network

We live on a street where about a quarter of the houses have Muslim families. This morning I watched our neighbours opposite, who moved in fairly recently and we don't know well, pose for photos outside their house all dressed up in smart clothes. Later on our next door neighbour, who we know well enough to have sent an Eid card, was outside with his toddler and wife, chatting with another neighbour, who is white and not religious AFAIK.

The weather is nice enough that I had the windows open - not enough to overhear any conversations but enough to know that there is chatter and happiness around me. It's nice.

ETA: Our next door neighbour just brought round some food and and a really cute little teapot for us!

ecosophia

I'm pleased to report that late next month I'll be the keynote speaker at the 2026 Southeastern Masonic Symposium in Asheville, North Carolina. While it's being hosted by Freemasons, this event is open to the public and will be livestreamed over the internet. The theme for the event is the important figures in esoteric Masonry, and my talk will be on Gerard Thibault d'Anvers, the brilliant 17th-century martial artist whose book Academie de l'Espee (translated by me as The Academy of the Sword) is the longest and most elaborate treatise on swordsmanship ever written, whose work is pervaded by Masonic and proto-Masonic symbolism, and whose legacy has intriguing connections with a British school of sacred geometry deeply enmeshed in the 18th-century Masonic scene.

Interested? You can access tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-asheville-masonic-symposium-tickets-1980822909645

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Yes, "Heart of the Sunrise"

rydra_wong

James Davis Nicoll: Let’s Talk This Over: What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed

Yes I pre-ordered it blind, have you even met me.

cosmolinguist

1. What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?
I started LiveJournal in 2002 when a new friend (soon girlfriend) heard me saying that I wanted to write more and suggested LiveJournal. "What's LiveJournal?" I said, and she gave me an invite code, and here I am.

I moved to DW in 2011, I can't remember which exact thing made me do it but it was after Strikethrough, before things got very Russian but I think they were getting pretty Russian.

2. How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?
Five.

3. Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?
I mean, they're all on my reading page. Most are pretty quiet; one I made for covid-cautious people and don't use much myself any more either (its name is a pun based on "herd immunity," that's how old it is...). The best are thisfinecrew, for U.S. political actions people can taken (often online or relatively low-spoons) and thissterlingcrew, the British version of the same thing. Very useful communities to have In These Times.

4. How did you pick your user name?
This one was picked by D and another friend (I now cannot remember who) independently when I was looking for a new one.

5. If you could change your user name, would you?
It's clearly from a very specific time in my life, when I was using the name Cosmo and studying linguistics.

As for changing it, I mean, I could. I have. My LJ went through a couple of names too. I almost never re-use user names either; I just use whatever sounds like a good idea at the time. I can barely remember what it was before, and would probably prefer that one now. I did make a concerted effort to get away from puns, things based on my real-life first name, or both; no wonder this is what my friends suggested for me, this is my Brand.

While I'm here, another point I've been meaning to make under this tag for a bit but haven't gotten around to: having been writing about my life for half of it now, I find myself wishing there was a way for tags to become, like, dormant or something. There are lots of tags that I want to keep having but am not going to add new entries to, so I wish I didn't always have to look at them in the list or when I'm choosing tags.

chickenfeet

https://operaramblings.blog/2026/03/20/even-more-grimm/

andrewducker

1. Earth's first mass extinction may have been far worse than believed: (tags:extinction prehistory paleontology )
2. People using AI to give law advice finally reaches Scotland.: (tags:ai law scotland )
3. Denmark was preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland in January, with military support from France, Germany, and Nordic nations.: (tags:war usa norway germany france denmark )
4. This perfectly encapsulates why I won't surf the web without an ad-blocker: (tags:advertising web newspapers )
5. How *did* a multi-storey car park get built in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle?: (tags:edinburgh cars history )
6. Waymo self driving cars are 13x safer than humans: (tags:safety automation driving cars )
7. Police Scotland announce they don't want trans people to report any crimes: (tags:transgender LGBT bigotry OhForFucksSake Scotland )
8. The change that made lighthouses work much better - and why it drove the keepers mad. (Lots and lots of mercury): (tags:mercury light history safety ships )
9. Gen Z is broke, stressed and exhausted - but boomers won't accept it: (tags:stress society doom )

schneier_no_tracking_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/03/proton-mail-shared-user-information-with-the-police.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71749

404 Media has a story about Proton Mail giving subscriber data to the Swiss government, who passed the information to the FBI.

It’s metadata—payment information related to a particular account—but still important knowledge. This sort of thing happens, even to privacy-centric companies like Proton Mail.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/03/proton-mail-shared-user-information-with-the-police.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71749

daily_otter_feed

Posted by Daily Otter

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/3/20/you-love-me-you-really-love-me

Via Seattle Aquarium, which writes:

Thank you for sending Mishka so much love and support! 💙

ICYMI: Mishka underwent a sedated procedure [yesterday] morning to assess and fully remove a plaque (a thickened, fur-less patch) on her hind flipper. We are delighted to report that the procedure went smoothly and Mishka is recovering wonderfully! She is already back in her habitat and behaving just like the sea otter we know and love—grooming appropriately and sharing her beautiful (and very loud!) singing voice with us. Mishka's team will continue to monitor her behavior and her flipper closely as she heals. 🩹

We are grateful to our veterinary and care teams—and the Board-certified surgeon from Summit Veterinary Referral Center who joined them—for ensuring that Mishka's procedure went smoothly. ✨

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/3/20/you-love-me-you-really-love-me

andrewducker

Nice mist on Arthur's Seat this morning.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

nanila posting in

awesomeers

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!

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260319.html

musesfool

I have watched some TV!

Shrinking: ( spoilers )

Abbott Elementary: ( spoilers )

The Pitt: ( spoilers )

Here is a cool video interview with Alexandra Metz, who plays Garcia. I don't think there are any spoilers past earlier s2 episodes.

*

Current Mood: enthralled
Current Music: Mulholland Drive - Gaslight Anthem

questionable_content_feed

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5790

psst if you sign up for the $5/month tier on my patreon you can see the (very nsfw) thirst pic

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5790

archangelbeth

Not have the spoons to say it individually, but thank you.

diffrentcolours

The Friday Five for 20 March 2026

1. What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?

In 2000, a lot of the UK Goth scene ended up on LiveJournal. I tried my hand at blogging by hand-writing HTML on a shell account on a nerd friend's Solaris box in the States, but quickly realised that the comments and community were an important part. Partly I moved so I could post sickeningly cute comments on my then-gf's LJ. That... didn't end well. But I started my LJ in 2001.

I was a fairly late mover to Dreamwidth after LiveJournal started its long slide downwards; I didn't hit the migrate button until 2017, and I didn't delete my LJ account until 2018 when a then-coworker linked to it on work IRC. There were a lot of very cringe public entries from decades before I didn't particularly want to be associated with.

2. How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?

Other than thefridayfive, not many! DW never seemed to get the right critical mass for communities. I welcome suggestions!

3. Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?

See above!

4. How did you pick your user name?

About the time I needed an LJ username, I was listening to a lot of The Velvet Underground, and the line "Different colours, made of tears" from Venus In Furs was stuck in my head. Unfortunately, that was one character too long for LJ usernames, so I had to elide a vowel. I'd never heard of the TV show "Diff'rent Strokes" before.

5. If you could change your user name, would you?

I don't think so. I have many usernames in many places, but I like this one here!

wychwood

( 17. An Academic Affair - Jodi McAlister ) Enormously fun and I'm hoping for sequels!

( 18. The Shots You Take - Rachel Reid ) Fairly forgettable, but still entertaining enough to keep me reading.

( 19. The Spy Who Loved Me - Ian Fleming ) I don't think Fleming is for me, but there was some enjoyment available.

( Greenwing and Dart - Victoria Goddard ) Fluffy, fun (despite a substantial amount of mortal peril) and a generally satisfying binge.

( 26. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie ) Dated but I think still worth reading.

( 27. Holiday in Death, 28. Festive in Death, and 29. Framed in Death - JD Robb ) I always enjoy these - but particularly liked the opportunity to revisit the early part of the series in contrast to the newer state of things!

( 30. Derring-Do for Beginners - Victoria Goddard ) I was hoping for more actual, you know, Red Company, but this was so much fun I can't have too many regrets.

( 31. Jane Austen: A Life - Claire Tomalin ) I think this is probably as enlightening as it could reasonably have been, but I was a little disappointed, somehow, despite learning a fair amount. It's not badly-written at all, but it never really won me over somehow.

( 32. Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ) Ultra-violent, really thumpingly Message-y, and strangely compelling; I don't think I'll ever want to re-read it, but I am interested to see where Adjei-Brenyah goes from here.

( 33. Blood Sport, 35. The Edge, and 37. Risk - Dick Francis ) A trio of delightfully exciting nonsenses; I'm so sorry I didn't discover Francis years ago, but on the other hand at least they are a source of joy for me now.

( 34. Men Explain Things to Me - Rebecca Solnit ) A short but concentrated dose of feminist rage.

( 36. Outcrossing - Celia Lake ) On paper this absolutely should be my jam, but it entirely is not.

( 38. Batman: Wayne Family Adventures vol 2 - CRC Payne and Starbite ) Adorable. This series is just so fun.

( 39. Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor ) This is a fun concept, but the archaeology / history is worse than in Connie Willis' Oxford Time Travel books and that's saying something. I didn't hate it, but I had to disconnect my brain way too much to enjoy it.

( 40. Ambiguity Machines - Vandana Singh ) A really excellent collection, even though I couldn't muster quite the delight I wanted from it.

( 41. Get A Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert ) I enjoyed this, although I'm not sure if I'll read more Hibbert.

Current Mood: accomplished

oursin

So I think I've pretty much got my presentation sorted for next week at around the right length and with a slightly superogatory Powerpoint, but everybody seems to do these these days, sigh.

And I have got off a review of an article which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, not bad at all.

And I have read the thesis I was asked to read and am trying to think of some questions which are not, which novelist would you pick to depict the seething tensions within [local organisation therein discussed], because I was going, hmmm, is this Barbara Pym purlieu or not?

And although there have been some hiccups along the road a further volume in the Interminable Saga should be appearing in the not too distant future though there are some niggling things still happening.

And I may have mentioned Doing A Podcast some months ago and the same people have come back to ask me to contribute to another one in their series, for which I realise I ought to do a certain amount of prep.

Book review still hanging over me.

Various matters of life admin.

$radiantfracture: Beadwork bunny head (Default)$

radiantfracture

As usual, true scholars, please forgive my dilettante's sense of discovery over things you have always known.

When searching for some examples of "pleasing the heart" as erotic joy, as per

sovay's information, I arrived at this (in the ETCSL).

( A love song of Shu-Suen )

§rf§

1. Well, a balbale, but the immediate internet is of limited use in defining this except as a form that uses variety in repetition.

2. For those interested, the transliterated Sumerian given for this phrase is ^dcu-^dsuen cag₄ ^dmu-ul-lil₂-la₂-ke₄ ba-ze2-be₂-en-na-ju₁₀.

I assume the subscript numbers refer to different versions of the cuneiform character. I dunno about the superscript d.

sovay

I can't believe I dreamed an entire opera whose closing performance by a small local outfit I was all set to attend before it was canceled at the last unavoidable minute. It was a Gian Carlo Menotti from 1948 and had never before received a Boston premiere. I had read its libretto for years because it was full of sand and sea-haunting: No body that presses its mouth to the shore closer than your mouth to mine. No eye that fades into the haze of the sun more fixed than your eye to mine. No ship of a letter that crosses the seas faster than my hand to yours, unless it has foundered, unless it has torn on the black rocks of the heart. It had one of his terse, enigmatic titles, The Visitor. The company that had put it up was called Marmalade and Gold, an allusion whose meaning did not escape the event horizon of waking, and specialized in bare-bones, slightly more than concert performances of oddities or undeserved obscurities of the twentieth-century opera world: I remember perusing the catalogue of previous seasons on their website and approving of their choices, all of which I suspect of not existing outside of the hour or so I was asleep. Erich Wolfgang Korngold did write a bunch of operas, mostly before—very popular choice—leaving Germany, but I do not believe a 1932 Der lahme König was among them. I am having a terrible week for which the external world offers nothing in the way of respite and even if I didn't get to hear any of its music, I appreciate the inside of my head attempting to furnish a break of art.

Current Music: The National, "Don't Swallow the Cap"

Richard Kettlewell

Eid

2026 Southeastern Masonic Symposium

NEW CAMERON REED NOVEL OUT APRIL 7. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Friday Five

25th anniversary of Dean Burry's "The Brothers Grimm"

Interesting Links for 20-03-2026

Proton Mail Shared User Information with the Police

You Love Me, You Really Love Me!

Photo cross-post

Just One Thing (20 March 2026)

(no subject)

are there things you would reverse?

Trap Sprung

Daily Hacker News for 2026-03-19

Thank you for sympathies

The Friday Five: Dreamwidth / LiveJournal

february booklog of excess

One thing after another, really

more stumbling through ancient poetry

Everything I love is on the table, everything I love is out to sea

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January 2026

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