celestialdescent

erlkonig_gheyn posting in

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xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3138/

A person with two watches is never sure what time it is, especially if I got them one of the watches.

https://xkcd.com/3138/

galerian_ash posting in

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8asians_feed

Posted by Jeff

https://www.8asians.com/2025/09/05/8books-review-being-mortal/

https://www.8asians.com/?p=31016

Being Mortal book cover I learned about Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal in a roundabout way. John and I receive a lot of marketing materials about Asian American movies and media in general. One of those movies is Good Fortune directed and starting Aziz Ansari. He was working on another movie called Being Mortal when its studio suspended it. Ansari then moved on to Good Fortune. The suspended movie was based on a book. When I read what the book was about, I found it immediately relevant to me so I decided to check it out. Here is a quick review of Atul Gawande’s book, Being Mortal.

Overview

Although the Being Mortal film was planned to be a comedy drama, the book is serious non-fiction about how American medicine and society treats/maltreats the dying. It looks at the problems of institutions like nursing homes and end of life care. As an Asian American, Gawande, has a unique viewpoint on caring for the elderly. He talks about how in traditional cultures, the old were cared for by family. While this may sound great, he also points out, from experiences in his own family and others, that this can be a source of great stress. My own experience can attest to that point, having lived in a multi-generational Asian household. Gawande looks, to his credit, often looks at both sides of issues like this through out the book. He points out not just the problems of modern nursing homes but also the even worse institutions that they replaced.

Recommendations

I heartily recommend this book. Being Mortal is particularly relevant in a time of Medicaid cuts and an aging population. The books Outlive by Peter Attia and When Breath becomes Air make excellent companions to it. Outlive talks about goals to set for the last part of one’s life and how to become fit enough to reach those goals. Being Mortal points out that no one can escape death and what to consider when one is at the end of one’s health span. When Breath Becomes Air talks about one Asian American doctor’s experience at the end of his life.

The post 8Books Review: Being Mortal appeared first on 8Asians | An Asian American collaborative blog.

https://www.8asians.com/2025/09/05/8books-review-being-mortal/

https://www.8asians.com/?p=31016

elesteria posting in

fandomcalendar

Jin Nasol of GSGW, with text saying 1 Day Reverse Big Bang. Credit to happ13unni

Description: A collaborative fan event between Artists & Authors for
Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work (GSGW)
by Baek Deoksoo.
Schedule:
Artist and Writer sign-ups begin September 6
Posting Begins March 13
Links:
Carrd
Tumblr
Twitter

girlswithslingshots_feed

https://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws-hair-of-the-dog-724

New comic!
Today's News:

If everyone's exact sexual orientation were in the dictionary, it would probably have to be its own dictionary, specifically for sexual/romantic orientation. (I would read the whole book.)

Here's the original post for this one! And the chaser post!

https://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws-hair-of-the-dog-724

china_shop

Pandemic life
( Nothing to report, really. )

Previous poll review
In the Cluedo poll, by far the most popular weapon was the cassowary (53.3%), followed by extremely elegant clothing (33.3%). In ticky-boxes, musical frogs and the wishing abyss tied for second place with 42.2%, after hugs with 75.6%. Thank you for your votes!

Reading
More of Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins (I'm enjoying it, but it feels like it will never end), more of the latest Rivers of London (also audio), and more of A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (library book). A browse through Low-FODMAP and Vegan: what to eat when you can't eat anything by Joanne Stepaniak (library book), of which more below.

Kdramas/Cdramas
I'm still going with Nothing But Love, eking it out. Pru and I watched two episodes of Mystic Pop-up Bar, and it's pretty great. I don't know why I bounced off last time. It does help that Choi Won-young, one of the dads from Family by Choice, is main cast and I love him.

Other TV/movies
Wow, almost no TV. Some Vir Das standup (very good), finished The Sympathizer with our tv-watching friend (fascinating, dark, very black comedy), two episodes of Fringe season 2 with my sister. One episode of new Magnum PI (very woohoo the military!). A ton more Bluey.

Bluey observation; ignore if you prefer to watch unquestioningly.

Andrew: Why is the mum always hanging out laundry, when none of them wear clothes?
me: .........

Jaws at the cinema for its 50th anniversary rerelease, so fun!

Guardian/Fandom
Everything is happening everywhere all at once. We're wrapping up the readalong, and the Slo-mo Rewatch starts this weekend on

sid_guardian!

guardian_wishlist is in sign-ups!

fan_flashworks stuff is happening behind the scenes! And I have a ton of

fan_writers comments to reply to! \o/

Audio entertainment
Writing Excuses are doing a deep dive on Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky. I haven't read it, but I still enjoy their analysis. The last episode gave me ~writing thoughts~, and I scrawled a bunch of extra stuff for my WIP, which I then immediately took out again because it didn't fit, but I'll use it somewhere else. Letters from an American is really good, and 12ish minutes of US politics a day is about all I can take. I started Alba Salix, Royal Physician but am still not sure.

Online life
After I posted my last

fan_writers post, I got a ton of great comments, and... hit a wall with things to reply to. I'm kind of paralysed by my inbox, now, overwhelmed, and not keeping up with my reading page either. Tabs continue to propagate. Also, my arms are such a mess, argh. I'm going to need them for Wishlist, so I'm trying to slow down, but <speech tone="wail">I don't waaaaant toooooo.</speech> :-( tl;dr Sorry if I haven't replied to you! I still plan to! <333

Writing/making things
After a week and a half of brain static, I tried to write a last-minute drabble for the FFW amnesty round and ended up with 1300 words of "srsly, nobody asked for this." Still working on my DNW-kink fic and having a ball.

Life/health/mental state things
Overwhelm plus sore arms, dohhhhhh. But my mood and energy levels are pretty good, despite that.

Korean
I have a theoretical plan to read the Guardian subs in Korean (진혼 자막 한국어으로) as we go through the rewatch. I'm completely 100% expecting to fall behind, but still, any reading is better than none, right?

Food
New things I've made in the last week:

a carrot, walnut and sultana cake, recipe from the back of the sultana packet; as I added a cup of this and a cup of that, I started going, "I'm going to need a bigger cake tin." Then I got to 1 cup of oil and three eggs, and looked at my mixing bowl. "I'm going to need a bigger bowl!!" Ended up cooking it in two unevenly distributed cake tins and taking one out early, lol.
vegan nutty gravy from the vegan low-FODMAP book; I used so many substitutions (regular miso for light miso, soy sauce for low sodium tamari, etc) that I'm not sure what it was supposed to taste like. It was good but a bit strong.
baked lemon tofu (ibid); Very Tangy. I tried this twice, and the first time I didn't have enough lemon juice, used some lime instead, and thought that was why it was So Tangy. The second time I followed the recipe more closely (just switched out thyme for oregano and added some maple syrup because yum), and it was still a bit overwhelming. Overall, not unsuccessful, but I don't know how to turn this into a meal.

Conclusion: I'm enjoying my experiments. It's fun flailing around, all "Stand Back, I'm Going To Try ~~Science~~ Cooking!" :-) Also, I feel like recipe books are like fan reccers: for best results, you have to find the ones you click with.

Good things
Bluetooth earpieces. Sisters. Reading glasses (but not the needing of them). Libraries. Unexpected story developments. Recipe books. Bluey! Biking.

Poll #33572 Spice tolerance

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 45

View Respondents

I can handle

View Answers

mild
20 (44.4%)

a vague tingle
18 (40.0%)

a distinct tingle
22 (48.9%)

hot
16 (35.6%)

searing
6 (13.3%)

call the fire department
2 (4.4%)

depends on the cuisine
12 (26.7%)

other
4 (8.9%)

ticky-box full of Michaelangelo's many naked dudes
22 (48.9%)

ticky-box full of someone else is cooking dinner
24 (53.3%)

ticky-box of ducklings debating the merits of existentialism
23 (51.1%)

ticky-box full of chocolate (hot or solid)
28 (62.2%)

ticky-box full of hugs
36 (80.0%)

girlswithslingshots_feed

https://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws-hair-of-the-dog-723

New comic!
Today's News:

I think that using the word "intimate" strictly as a word for sex and sexual acts is a big shortcoming of American culture (I'm sure there are other cultures that use the word the same way, but I'm just speaking for what I know).

Anyway, so do Jamie and Erin, clearly. Not that they weren't influenced by yours truly. ;)

Here's the original post for this one! And the chaser post! By the way, I'll be at Small Press Expo (affectionally shortened to SPX) in about a week, September 13 and 14! It's in Bethesda, Maryland, just north of DC, and barely a minute from the nearest Metro stop. It's one of my favorite shows - lots of new artists, young artists, indie artists, artists you've never heard of, and great talented artists you wanna see.

I'm sure I'll wait til the last minute to come up with a list of what I'm bringing this year, so stay tuned for that! Hope to see some of you local folks out there!

https://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws-hair-of-the-dog-723

fennectik posting in

anime_manga

Only two more episodes of this thrilling anime. I remember watching the OVA from the 80s after my first experience with it from the Capcom arcade U.N. Squadron which was later ported to the SNES.

I like the mix of dogfights and drama the anime incorporates. Not sure how it will end but I at least be happy that I've finished the 2000s version when I do.

I also dig its opening them Mission(Fugga), I feel that it sets the tone highly well.

Below a screencap of my favorite character who's also my favorite to choose in the videogame adaptation, Mickey Simon, who flies the ever awesome F-14 Tomcat.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Harold Faltermeyer- Axel F

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3137/

Another group of mathematicians is working to put an upper bound on the number, although everyone keeps begging them to stop.

https://xkcd.com/3137/

theoatmeal_feed

Posted by Matthew Inman

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/silly_pumpkin?no_popup=1

A comic about a pumpkin that gets carved into a silly face.

View on my website

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/silly_pumpkin?no_popup=1

runpunkrun posting in

fandomcalendar

Photograph of steel spoons and spices in a dramatic setting with added text that gives it the look of a gourmet magazine cover: September 2025. Food & Cooking, at Fancake. Steel teaspoons are arranged in an elogated oval to suggest a fish, with the bowls acting as scales and some of the handles left visible to create the fins and tail, giving the creature a spiky appearance. The concave bowls are dusted with a powdery orange spice for color and one spoon at the front of the fish is filled with a coarse black spice to create an eye. The fish is on a black surface with a rough texture and around it are three skinny green peppers, a mound of salt, a mound of orange spice, and a dipping bowl filled with a clear amber liquid.

fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!