stonepicnicking_okapi

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So for the end of 3 Weeks 4 Dreamwidth, goodbyebird posted a challenge about songs, and so I took the first option, a song title for every letter in my [abbreviated] username:

O - Osaka Blues by Dave Bruebeck [jazz]

K - Kiss by Prince [80's pop/r&b]

A - Agust D by Agust D [k-rap]

P - Private Investigator by Graham de Wilde [jazz instrumental]

I - Invincible by Pat Benatar [80's rock]



( Embedded Youtube videos )

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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The comm of the day is...adventdrabbles!

My favorite winter comm. Multi-fandom drabble comm with daily picture prompts during the month of December.

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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The comm of the day is...summerofthe69!

This is a multi-fandom kink challenge focused on...you guessed it...the 69 position. Now if (like me) you're thinking there can't possibly be enough variations to run at challenge from 9 JUN to 6 SEPT (6/9 to 9/6) ...well, you'd be wrong. At the moment they are doing a poll for themes. I did a couple fill for this last year and it's interesting.

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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The comm of the day is...1word1day

an elite squadron of volunteer posters present tasty, daily morsels of old, new, forgotten and modern words to educate, enlighten, and amaze our readers.

Because who doesn't like words? And actually, looking at the profile, they are still looking for mods to cover certain days so I might throw my hat in the ring.

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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Today the theme is...questions.

There are many places to find questions.

goodbyebird is offering 5 interview questions here: https://3weeks4dreamwidth.dreamwidth.org/8120.html

Here are mine:

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

I love the ocean. I have never lived by the ocean and I know there are challenges, but I would love it. I would also love to live in a crossroads place. The kind of place where historically people from very different places have crossed paths. So, maybe, a port with a nice beach.

2. When was the last time you were totally out of your comfort zone?

Really, the whole time I was a nurse, which was only for 3 years, I felt like an impostor. I was not a good nurse, and I never felt like I knew what I was doing and it was like working in a minefield.

And also when I was a volunteer manager for Minor's soccer team. It was a bunch of conservative families, very right-wing and rich, and I felt uncomfortable every time I interacted with them and the coach which was, unfortunately, very often.

3. What's a craft you'd really like to learn?

I don't feel strongly that I need to learn a new craft. I would, however, like to learn to juggle.

4. Do you own anything sentimental you can never get rid of?

I still have about 6 ceramic vegetables my grandmother painted. There was a large collection (she hung them on the wall in her kitchen). My grandmother's dead and my relationship with her was very problematic. She (in part) raised me and she used emotional manipulation a lot and even this week I caught myself using her twisted logic in an argument, so it's a lifetime un-learning what she taught me.

But I still have those @#$! vegetables.

5. Have you discovered any new poets this National Poetry Month?

Yes. I discovered William Matthews. More about him here: https://stonepicnicking-okapi.dreamwidth.org/482420.html

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My own set of 365 Questions for 2024 is here: https://stonepicnicking-okapi.dreamwidth.org/447737.html

Today's question:

8 MAY: No Socks Day: How often do you not wear socks?

I don't sleep in socks unless it's very cold. I wear flipflops to the pool without socks. I'm not a big sandal wearing person otherwise. If I go outside, there's a 99% chance I'm wearing socks, but inside it's hit or miss depending on if I've been outside (or doing Yoga with Adriene). Or how cold it is. I do have sleepsocks if it's very cold.

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I also did the friending meme at booknook. Here: https://booknook.dreamwidth.org/7810.html

Name: okapi
Pronouns: she/her
Age Group: 49

I Recently Finished Reading: The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves
A Book I Want to Reread: Trent's Last Case by EC Bentley
Some Published Titles From My To Be Read List: Coq un Vin by Charlottle Carter; Three Doors to Death by Rex Stout
A Book Not-Yet-Published I'm Excited About: The Little Sparrow Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (English translation available 30 May 2024)

My All-Time Favorite Book(s): One Thousand Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
My Favorite Book Genre(s): Mystery & detective
A Book I Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s): The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
A Book I Don't Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s): The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Link to My Latest Book Review: I'm reading all of Agatha Christie's oeuvre in UK publication order here [I'm up to 1956]: https://stonepicnicking-okapi.dreamwidth.org/483511.html
Link to My Reading Log: This year's book bingo is here: https://stonepicnicking-okapi.dreamwidth.org/484129.html

Books/Genres I'm Interested in Discussing/Chatting About: Mystery & detective novels, poetry, steampunk

Other Books I Like: Murderbot series, KJ Charles romance novels, historical true crime like The Devil in the White City by Erik Lawson

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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the comm of the day is...get_knitted!

Far and away, the most active DW comm I belong to is Get Knitted. There is a daily post that members can respond to and members comment on all kinds of crafting. It's nice to follow other members' progress on various projects, baby books, quilts, sewing, and the term 'craft' is very open.

Today, I just enjoyed collaging and the most dramatic one I did was this one. The postcard is from dine and I have been thinking about doing a collage with it since I received it.

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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the challenge of the day is...unconventionalcourtship!

Unconventional Courtship is a fic challenge where you use a summary of a Harlequin or Mills & Boon or other romance novel as a starting point and post the fic in the month of June. You sign up for a day in June.

This is the one I picked. I want to do a hardboiled detective fic of it.

279) Another Side of Midnight - Mia Zachary

Two months, two weeks and four days ago, Steele woke up alone in a hotel room. All Stone left was a note--and a lot of questions. He's back, and she wants answers--but he wants more.
Smart-mouthed Vegas private eye Estella 'Steele' Mezzanotte is used to all kinds of trouble. She's nursing another black eye from her bartending sideline, her mom's dropping hints about nice Italian boys and Midnight Investigation Services is struggling. Otherwise, Steele would never have accepted her current gig--suspected adultery, maybe embezzlement. Possibly murder. Her ex, Cameron Stone, wants to partner. Steele wants to punish him for past misdemeanors.
But she's got to trust him or risk facing another side of danger alone...

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the challenge of the day is....Book Bingo!

This is organized by the lovely kingstoken. If you'd like to participate here is the card and the information.



Pet or Animal Companion: Hop Til You Drop by J. M. Griffin. This is #3 in the Jules & Bun Mystery series. Jules runs a rabbit rescue and a yarn shop. And Bun is her rabbit, with whom she has a telepathic bond. The murder takes place at an Easter egg hunt. It's...kind of awful. Bun is not cute. He's kind of obnoxious (with no other characteristic like genius a la Sherlock Holmes to make up for being obnoxious). I don't think cozies are my thing. It could have been cute. But it was kind of tiresome.

Book from your TBR: How to be a Poet by Jo Bell and Jane Commane. This was a very helpful guide. It covers the process, writer's block, inspiration, and there is a lot about publishing and practices in modern poetry publishing. What editors are looking for. How to submit. How to build a track record. Techniques to make your work more serious and things not to do. Interspersed are some philosophical bits which were also good, food for thought.

Sci-Fi or Fantasy: Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. I listened to the audiobook version which is good. Narrated by Grover Gardner who is a solid American narrator. 8 hours. I learned of it from garonne. I kept thinking, 'oh this is science fiction' or 'oh, this is like Star Trek' or 'oh, this guy is like William Shatner and this lady is like one of the Star Trek ladies.' It is very heterosexual. I don't have any desire to read another but it didn't bother me. Probably what a science fiction lover would say if they read a Golden Age of crime novel.

Cordelia Naismith, the captain of a Betan Astronomical Survey ship, is exploring a newly discovered planet when her base camp is attacked. While investigating, she is surprised by a soldier, hits her head on a rock, and awakens to find that, while most of her crew has escaped, she is marooned with an injured Betan ensign and Captain Lord Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar, notorious as the "Butcher of Komarr", who has been left for dead by a treacherous rival. During their five-day hike to a secret Barrayaran cache, she finds Vorkosigan not at all the monster his reputation suggests, and she is strongly attracted to him.

( The full list 11 out of 25 )

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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the comm of the day is...100words!

A multi-fandom fic comm, fills are 100 words exactly, prompts go up Tuesdays (so today!) and every 10th week is an amnesty for all past prompts (and it's on #391!).

This week's prompt is...map. And I did a BBC Sherlock drabble [No signal].

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
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So the comm of the day is...emotion100.

So this is a multi-fandom fic comm where there is a monthly prompt, which is an emotion (or emotion-related adjective) and the fills have to be 100 words or a multiple of 100. There is no expiration, all past prompts are fair game, and they are on #27 which is...mellow.

I did a double drabble from my BTS Omegaverse AU where Suga is a music producer and Jimin is a massage therapist and Hoseok is an aromatherapist. Jimin & Hoseok convince Yoongi to celebrate his professional success with a picnic [Picnic].