chuckro (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chuckro) wrote2025-07-09 03:27 pm
chuckro) wrote2025-07-09 03:27 pmEntry tags:
Straight No Chaser (Summer 90s Concert)
Originally formed as an undergrad acappella group at Indiana University in the 90s, the founding members re-formed their group in 2007 as professional performers after a video they made in 1998 went viral. Since then, they continued to rotate in new members (apparently all of whom were once in the still-extant undergrad group), and currently touring with a nine-man lineup.
( Read more... )
Overall: This was a fun concert, and nostalgic in more ways than one, as it was an extremely 90s acappella group doing 90s songs. College acappella has evolved (often for the better, but not always), and this felt like a time capsule in a bunch of ways.
( Read more... )
Overall: This was a fun concert, and nostalgic in more ways than one, as it was an extremely 90s acappella group doing 90s songs. College acappella has evolved (often for the better, but not always), and this felt like a time capsule in a bunch of ways.
Sholio (sholio) wrote2025-07-09 10:29 am
sholio) wrote2025-07-09 10:29 amEntry tags:
Enemies to lovers
I ended up nominating a few things for Enemies to Lovers (hush, I'm using it as a bribe for finishing my other assignments xD) and this made me spend some time thinking about which of my ships actually qualify - I had some trouble coming up with a third fandom, and trying to figure out where exactly I'd draw the line. (Like, I wouldn't call Sam/Bucky E2L - more like people who mildly antagonize each other to friends/lovers. But some might!)
So I got to wondering how other people define it. I selected check boxes since some people might have more than one answer. I mean, *I'm* not even sure where I fall in all of this!
So I got to wondering how other people define it. I selected check boxes since some people might have more than one answer. I mean, *I'm* not even sure where I fall in all of this!
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 43
How would you define Enemies to Lovers? (or Enemies to Friends, if you're not a shipper)
View Answers
Must try to kill each other (or at least want to), or be on opposite sides of a conflict with life-or-death stakes
14 (32.6%)
Rivalries like sports rivalries are fine, but there needs to be a strong personal element and/or unhealthy fixation on each other (not just regular sports team conflict)
22 (51.2%)
Any kind of rivalry or antagonism will do
9 (20.9%)
For me it's about the Vibe™ - from distrust/antagonism to trust, whatever form that takes
18 (41.9%)
I do not accept it as proper E2L if there's any softening at all - they must remain antagonists
0 (0.0%)
I know it when I see it but don't get too fussed about definitions
6 (14.0%)
My thoughts are too complex for your ticky boxes (answer in comments)
1 (2.3%)
Not my trope so I don't care, but I want to click something.
3 (7.0%)
pauraque (pauraque) wrote2025-07-09 12:14 pm
pauraque) wrote2025-07-09 12:14 pmEntry tags:
Sunshine Revival Challenge #3
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sunshine_revival's next challenge is:Snack ShackWhen I was growing up, the most coveted summer treat was universally acknowledged to be the It's-It. This is an ice cream sandwich made with soft oatmeal cookies, coated in a thin layer of chocolate. It was invented in San Francisco in 1928 and for decades it was sold only at the local amusement park Playland at the Beach. The Playland era was before my time, though; now It's-Its are sold prepackaged in stores and from roving food trucks all over the Bay Area.
Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?
Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes.
I didn't realize until I moved away that It's-Its are made by a local company and nobody outside California had heard of them. I also didn't realize what a weird name they have until I tried to explain to other people what they were. "Itsits? What does that even mean?" I guess it made sense in the context of the 1920s when everyone was talking about "it girls" and having "it." (The movie It starring Clara Bow sounds like a horror title now, but it didn't in 1927!)
As a kid I never questioned it. The origin of the name did not matter. All that mattered was sitting on a sunny park bench after waiting patiently in line at the food truck, and finally biting into your precious It's-It, which instantly started melting, and trying to contain the ice cream in the flimsy crinkly plastic but always failing, having it drip all over your hands as it squeezed out from between the cookies with the chocolate coating cracking into melty bits. Pure summer childhood bliss.
You can actually order It's-Its online if you're in the US, and I've read that in recent years they've been selling them at brick and mortar stores outside California, though I haven't run into any in the wild. I've been told that they're pretty good even if the mere sight of them does not overwhelm you with nostalgia.
The Gauche in the Machine (china_shop) wrote2025-07-09 03:06 pm
china_shop) wrote2025-07-09 03:06 pmEntry tags:
Me-and-media update
Previous poll review
In the Crowd-sourcing randomness poll, heads got 19.4%, tails got 22.2%, edge got 25%, and zero-g (the coin never falls) got 38.9%. Either a) the laws of probability have ceased to function in a localised manner, b) Dreamwidth is surprisingly popular in space, c) we've stepped into an alternate dimension, or d) these results are not statistically robust.
In ticky-boxes, hugs came first with 75%, followed by surviving AO3 outages (69.4%), and grumbly cats in search of treats (66.7%). Thank you for your votes!
Reading
Two chapters to go in The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. It hasn't hugely grabbed me, maybe because of my stop-start reading habits, but I am very much enjoying mentally casting Grover from Sesame Street as Gurgi. I have an omnibus of the Chronicles, so I may continue on to The Black Cauldron.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, read by Arian Moayed -- ahh, this is so good! It's about a young death-obsessed recovering-alcoholic gay Iranian American who's writing a book about martyrs. It reminds me a bit of Love in the Big City, but it's more experimental and lyrical. I'mhalfway through nearly done. Surprising, funny, sad, beautifully written. Warnings for drug use, alcohol addiction, suicidal ideation, and politics.
Also Guardian by priest, and I currently have on loan from the library: No Rules Tonight by Hyun Sook Kim and Freya Marske's Swordcrossed in audio.
Kdramas
My Dearest Nemesis -- I am enjoying this so much. The leading man, as well as being a closet fanboy, is adorably ridiculous and so love-starved. I want to give him a puppy. (In fact, I think he should just have a dog for a couple of years, and one or two more friends, and then he can get a girlfriend.)
Other TV
Ghosted on Apple TV+, a spy/romcom with Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. The reviews are terrible, and it was indeed very very silly, but we watched it on its own terms and enjoyed it tremendously. Some laugh-out-loud moments. A+ popcorn movie! (The trailer is VERY spoilery, ftr.)
Murderbot, Poker Face, Fringe, Étoile (omg, someone please give these people media training!! Also, I'm sad I looked at that one gifset, because I'm very spoiled for the plot thread I'm most invested in, which is undercutting the tension), and Turning Point: The Vietnam War (so disturbing and thoughtful and informative).
Guardian/Fandom
Partying on. <3 <3 <3
Audio entertainment
Not much; my listening time is being eaten by Martyr!
Writing/making things
I'm currently working on a handful of different shortish things in a desultory "what shall I pick up today?" fashion. This is not how I finish things or even get a satisfying sense of progress! (Yesterday's was another CSZ/SW/ZYL fic -- many deliciously difficult feelings; today's was a gen drabble sequence for FFW.) Just pick a WIP and finish it, china!
I now have 238 Guardian fanworks on AO3. Ten more will make it my most-created-for fandom. # writing goals
Online life
I keep getting as far as checkout on shop websites and then drifting off. The fear of buyer's remorse is very real. Yet another reason I have so many tabs open.
Link dump
Screenwriter's Secret to Mindblowing Plot Twists by![[youtube.com profile]](https://youtube.com/favicon.ico)
heyjameshurst | mergatrude's e/R playlist (Youtube) | Music: Mon Rovîa - Rust. (Live) (Youtube, via teaotter) | US politics: 5 calls | Newsblur RSS reader | ‘I wanted to be a teacher not a cop’: the reality of teaching in the world of AI (The Spinoff, local indie newsite) | Hieronymus Bosch butt music (tumblr link, via mific) | Underrated Apple TV+ show recs? (tv_talk post) | Thai Coconut Chicken Soup recipe (via autodach) | Poetic fic meme (via extrapenguin). There, I've closed a dozen or so tabs. # progress
Good things
New shampoo making my hair soft. Guardian. Warm buttery toast. My sister coming over this evening. Kdramas and books. Yesterday's sunshine, and walking through the trees along a shared mountain-bike trail. Sushi on the waterfront. Writing. Clean sheets.
In the Crowd-sourcing randomness poll, heads got 19.4%, tails got 22.2%, edge got 25%, and zero-g (the coin never falls) got 38.9%. Either a) the laws of probability have ceased to function in a localised manner, b) Dreamwidth is surprisingly popular in space, c) we've stepped into an alternate dimension, or d) these results are not statistically robust.
In ticky-boxes, hugs came first with 75%, followed by surviving AO3 outages (69.4%), and grumbly cats in search of treats (66.7%). Thank you for your votes!
Reading
Two chapters to go in The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. It hasn't hugely grabbed me, maybe because of my stop-start reading habits, but I am very much enjoying mentally casting Grover from Sesame Street as Gurgi. I have an omnibus of the Chronicles, so I may continue on to The Black Cauldron.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, read by Arian Moayed -- ahh, this is so good! It's about a young death-obsessed recovering-alcoholic gay Iranian American who's writing a book about martyrs. It reminds me a bit of Love in the Big City, but it's more experimental and lyrical. I'm
Also Guardian by priest, and I currently have on loan from the library: No Rules Tonight by Hyun Sook Kim and Freya Marske's Swordcrossed in audio.
Kdramas
My Dearest Nemesis -- I am enjoying this so much. The leading man, as well as being a closet fanboy, is adorably ridiculous and so love-starved. I want to give him a puppy. (In fact, I think he should just have a dog for a couple of years, and one or two more friends, and then he can get a girlfriend.)
Other TV
Ghosted on Apple TV+, a spy/romcom with Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. The reviews are terrible, and it was indeed very very silly, but we watched it on its own terms and enjoyed it tremendously. Some laugh-out-loud moments. A+ popcorn movie! (The trailer is VERY spoilery, ftr.)
Murderbot, Poker Face, Fringe, Étoile (omg, someone please give these people media training!! Also, I'm sad I looked at that one gifset, because I'm very spoiled for the plot thread I'm most invested in, which is undercutting the tension), and Turning Point: The Vietnam War (so disturbing and thoughtful and informative).
Guardian/Fandom
Partying on. <3 <3 <3
Audio entertainment
Not much; my listening time is being eaten by Martyr!
Writing/making things
I'm currently working on a handful of different shortish things in a desultory "what shall I pick up today?" fashion. This is not how I finish things or even get a satisfying sense of progress! (Yesterday's was another CSZ/SW/ZYL fic -- many deliciously difficult feelings; today's was a gen drabble sequence for FFW.) Just pick a WIP and finish it, china!
I now have 238 Guardian fanworks on AO3. Ten more will make it my most-created-for fandom. # writing goals
Online life
I keep getting as far as checkout on shop websites and then drifting off. The fear of buyer's remorse is very real. Yet another reason I have so many tabs open.
Link dump
Screenwriter's Secret to Mindblowing Plot Twists by
mergatrude's e/R playlist (Youtube) | Music: Mon Rovîa - Rust. (Live) (Youtube, via teaotter) | US politics: 5 calls | Newsblur RSS reader | ‘I wanted to be a teacher not a cop’: the reality of teaching in the world of AI (The Spinoff, local indie newsite) | Hieronymus Bosch butt music (tumblr link, via mific) | Underrated Apple TV+ show recs? (tv_talk post) | Thai Coconut Chicken Soup recipe (via autodach) | Poetic fic meme (via extrapenguin). There, I've closed a dozen or so tabs. # progressGood things
New shampoo making my hair soft. Guardian. Warm buttery toast. My sister coming over this evening. Kdramas and books. Yesterday's sunshine, and walking through the trees along a shared mountain-bike trail. Sushi on the waterfront. Writing. Clean sheets.
Poll #33341 Companions
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 49
What talking animal would you take on an adventure?
View Answers
emotionally unavailable alley cat
21 (42.9%)
naive gecko
9 (18.4%)
sad wolf
10 (20.4%)
stoic capybara
18 (36.7%)
trivia-obsessed fennec fox
21 (42.9%)
upbeat skunk
9 (18.4%)
coffee-addicted giant panda
11 (22.4%)
other
7 (14.3%)
ticky-box of frittered-away time
21 (42.9%)
ticky-box full of infinite monkeys and... wait, who's providing all the typewriters?
21 (42.9%)
ticky-box full of liquid birdsong that tastes like vengeance
19 (38.8%)
ticky-box full of dancing, light as thistledown, to an orchestra of metronomes
18 (36.7%)
ticky-box full of hugs
32 (65.3%)
ice cream (bluedreaming) wrote2025-07-08 09:06 pm
bluedreaming) wrote2025-07-08 09:06 pmEntry tags:
sunshine challenge 2025
sunshine_revivalI have been working on the challenges, all signs to the contrary, so I figured I’d better just get this post up even if it’s on my phone (always a fun experiment when there’s more formatting than usual).
I’m not really a journalling person, so it seems like I’ll be going with the creative prompts.
As always, this is also a hello post 👋
( Friending Meme )
( Challenge #1 )
( Challenge #2 )
Sholio (sholio) wrote2025-07-08 01:25 pm
sholio) wrote2025-07-08 01:25 pmEntry tags:
(no subject)
I have discovered Enemies to Lovers exchange. o deer.
THAT being said, I really need to put a cork in the new exchange signups for a bit. Summer of Horror and Temperature Flash both reveal somewhere around this weekend, as well as that being the Casefic submission deadline. I have a pinch hit, I have things to edit, and I haven't even started Just Married.
Today it's rainy AND smoky, a wonderful combination.
THAT being said, I really need to put a cork in the new exchange signups for a bit. Summer of Horror and Temperature Flash both reveal somewhere around this weekend, as well as that being the Casefic submission deadline. I have a pinch hit, I have things to edit, and I haven't even started Just Married.
Today it's rainy AND smoky, a wonderful combination.
Sholio (sholio) wrote2025-07-07 11:19 pm
sholio) wrote2025-07-07 11:19 pmEntry tags:
Dungeon Crawler Carl books 4 & 5
"The Gate of the Feral Gods" and "The Butcher's Masquerade." I'd say this series is pretty solidly scifi now, so I'm tagging it that way.
( Random spoilers )
Moving on soon to book 6, "The Eye of the Bedlam Bride"! No future spoilers, please!
( Random spoilers )
Moving on soon to book 6, "The Eye of the Bedlam Bride"! No future spoilers, please!
chuckro (chuckro) wrote2025-07-07 09:46 am
chuckro) wrote2025-07-07 09:46 amRitual Zero Proof Whiskey Alternative
For some reason, Facebook decided I was really interested in non-alcoholic liquor replacements and started spamming me with advertisements for them. I did a little research and found a coupon that let me get two bottles from Ritual Zero Proof for $50 with free shipping, so I tried the Whiskey Alternative and Rum Alternative. (Their gimmick is that in addition to being no-alcoholic, these are only 5 calories per serving.)
( Read more... )
Overall: At least with this brand, it makes for tasty, interesting mocktails but it’s not actually a good substitute for the real thing if you’re going for a specific flavor set. (Actually, it makes me want to make up distracting names for all the mocktails so that nobody confuses them with the originals. Try a Disappointed Sailor, a Charlie Peanuts or a Turbo Lime Wedgie.)
( Read more... )
Overall: At least with this brand, it makes for tasty, interesting mocktails but it’s not actually a good substitute for the real thing if you’re going for a specific flavor set. (Actually, it makes me want to make up distracting names for all the mocktails so that nobody confuses them with the originals. Try a Disappointed Sailor, a Charlie Peanuts or a Turbo Lime Wedgie.)
meteordust (meteordust) wrote2025-07-07 09:42 pm
meteordust) wrote2025-07-07 09:42 pm
Entry tags:
KPop Demon Hunters
Loved this. Lived up to the hype! Highlights:
- Banging songs
- Satisfying character arcs
- Tiger! Magpie! (spoilers)
Also agree with these comments seen online:
( Vague spoilers )
- Banging songs
- Satisfying character arcs
- Tiger! Magpie! (spoilers)
Also agree with these comments seen online:
( Vague spoilers )