It's a Grind(er)
Mar. 21st, 2026 02:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kayla_allenBecause of how Day Jobbe went the previous two days, I went to bed on Friday about 4 PM. Around seven hours later, I woke up and about the time I though I was ready to go back to bed for a little while, I heard an unusual sound from the railroad. Looking out, I saw this.
This is a rail-grinding train. The railroads periodically grind the rails to smooth them out and prevent small cracks from becoming large ones. Of course it certainly makes the sparks fly! The trailing part of the train is the water cars that spray water over the area to prevent fires, and that is why there is a cloud over the train.
At the very start of the video, you'll see Lisa briefly passing through the frame, as she had also come out to have a look at the show. There even was a passing car that stopped to see what was going on.
The Railway Legends, Myths, and Stories channel is very quiet these days, but it serves as a good place to post videos like this.
This is a rail-grinding train. The railroads periodically grind the rails to smooth them out and prevent small cracks from becoming large ones. Of course it certainly makes the sparks fly! The trailing part of the train is the water cars that spray water over the area to prevent fires, and that is why there is a cloud over the train.
At the very start of the video, you'll see Lisa briefly passing through the frame, as she had also come out to have a look at the show. There even was a passing car that stopped to see what was going on.
The Railway Legends, Myths, and Stories channel is very quiet these days, but it serves as a good place to post videos like this.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn - 2026-03-21
Mar. 21st, 2026 12:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
phoebeandherunicorn_feedComic strip for 2026/03/21
in bed with Anya by moreloveforjm_ (SFW)
Mar. 21st, 2026 05:43 pmmific posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fanart_recsFandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov & Anya
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: moreloveforjm_ on instagram
Why this piece is awesome: Extremely cute - the boys cuddling in bed, with Anya the dog!
Link: on instagram, and on tumblr
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov & Anya
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: moreloveforjm_ on instagram
Why this piece is awesome: Extremely cute - the boys cuddling in bed, with Anya the dog!
Link: on instagram, and on tumblr
What If.....
Mar. 21st, 2026 07:09 ampoliphilo What if the hammering of fossil fuel facilities across the Middle East persuaded the energy companies to develop and release the alternative technologies they've been sitting on?
Just One Thing (21 March 2026)
Mar. 21st, 2026 06:30 amnanila posting in awesomeersIt'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!
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!
Philosophical Questions: Marriage
Mar. 21st, 2026 12:30 amysabetwordsmithPeople have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
Does marriage as an institution need to be updated or is it fine how it is?
( Read more... )
Does marriage as an institution need to be updated or is it fine how it is?
( Read more... )
fannish things
Mar. 20th, 2026 10:23 pmsnickfic- For fic reasons, I've been watching the first night of Knebworth 1996, and gosh, the footage is gorgeous. Incredible that they sat on it for almost thirty years. Here's an example:
- Speaking of Oasis, did you know the mangaka of Chainsaw Man also wrote a one-shot about two young female mangakas? And more importantly that the title Look Back is a direct reference to the Oasis song Don't Look Back in Anger? Yes.
- Have a silly video about the Oxford comma, among other punctuation. Really takes it up a notch in the second half.
- Trailer for Dune Part 3!! My perspective of the Villeneuve Dune movies is that the visual spectacle is incredible, but they're a little too self-serious and not weird enough. The books also take themselves very seriously, but make up for it via frequent batshittery. However, I'm definitely interested to see how Villenueve finishes things up, especially since he'd started going off the map by the end of part 2, and part 3 appears to all be taking place in the gap between the end of the first novel and beginning of the second. Here's hoping for lots of Jessica. 🙏🙏🙏
- They cast Jason Momoa's son as Paul and Chani's kid. Let the Paul/Duncan mpreg headcanons begin.
- You can now filter your AO3 bookmarks by wordcount!!
- IDK how it never occurred to me before that the bugging scene in The Matrix would spawn a whole new kink, but it absolutely did, and I stumbled across that corner of deviantart earlier this week. Bless.
- I'm not going to do a whole Oscars postmortem, but horror movies got EIGHT awards, which has got to be an all-time best, including two of the four acting awards. I'm especially happy for Michael B Jordan and Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw.
- Tough week for Buffy fans. I'm relieved that the reboot appears to be DOA; I was going to watch it, but I wasn't hopeful. Meanwhile, sucks about Nicholas Brendon. Losing him and Michelle Tractenberg a year apart, when they were both so young, is fucking rough.
- Speaking of Oasis, did you know the mangaka of Chainsaw Man also wrote a one-shot about two young female mangakas? And more importantly that the title Look Back is a direct reference to the Oasis song Don't Look Back in Anger? Yes.
- Have a silly video about the Oxford comma, among other punctuation. Really takes it up a notch in the second half.
- Trailer for Dune Part 3!! My perspective of the Villeneuve Dune movies is that the visual spectacle is incredible, but they're a little too self-serious and not weird enough. The books also take themselves very seriously, but make up for it via frequent batshittery. However, I'm definitely interested to see how Villenueve finishes things up, especially since he'd started going off the map by the end of part 2, and part 3 appears to all be taking place in the gap between the end of the first novel and beginning of the second. Here's hoping for lots of Jessica. 🙏🙏🙏
- They cast Jason Momoa's son as Paul and Chani's kid. Let the Paul/Duncan mpreg headcanons begin.
- You can now filter your AO3 bookmarks by wordcount!!
- IDK how it never occurred to me before that the bugging scene in The Matrix would spawn a whole new kink, but it absolutely did, and I stumbled across that corner of deviantart earlier this week. Bless.
- I'm not going to do a whole Oscars postmortem, but horror movies got EIGHT awards, which has got to be an all-time best, including two of the four acting awards. I'm especially happy for Michael B Jordan and Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw.
- Tough week for Buffy fans. I'm relieved that the reboot appears to be DOA; I was going to watch it, but I wasn't hopeful. Meanwhile, sucks about Nicholas Brendon. Losing him and Michelle Tractenberg a year apart, when they were both so young, is fucking rough.
Dear Worldbuilder
Mar. 21st, 2026 12:15 amermingardenThank you for writing for me! I'm very excited to see your take on any of these worlds - I love them all and can't wait to see what you have to add!
General likes and DNWs
Structurally, I’m a big fan of epistolary fic, in-universe documents (including academic pastiche and social media pastiche), and outsider POV.
DNW: explicit sex scenes, BDSM
The Windrose Chronicles
the Citadel of Wizards, wizards' apprenticeships, hasu/Church wizards
What is it like to live in the Citadel of Wizards? I'd love to see a slice of life there, or perhaps an exploration of the origin of any of the many architectural oddities that became part of the Citadel over the years.
I'm very curious about what wizards' apprenticeships tend to look like in general; I'd also love to see an exploration of any specific apprenticeship, whether that's Antryg or Daurannon studying under Salteris, Kyra learning from Rosamund, Antryg's apprenticeship to Suraklin, or anyone else!
I'm also really curious about the Church wizards! What is day-to-day life like for the hasu? What is their training like? How do they think about their role in the Church and the nature of their powers?
The Silmarillion
Vanyarin culture, Valimar, archaeology of Beleriand, manuscripts and manuscript transmission, Tol Himling after the War of Wrath
We're told that the Vanyar and the Noldor built Tirion together, but that the Vanyar later left Tirion to dwell closer to the Valar. What is it like to live among your gods on a daily basis? How does Vanyarin culture change after the death of the Trees? After the War of Wrath? We don't get too much about the Vanyar, and I'm interested in really any direction you'd like to take this!
I'm fascinated by the questions of (a) what survives the sinking of Beleriand, (b) how it survives, and (c) how the surviving material is interpreted and reinterpreted by future scholars (and laypeople!) to recreate the history of Beleriand. What are the gaps that still need to be filled in? Where is the guesswork right – and where is it wrong? Why were these things preserved and not others – was it chance? If it was deliberate, who decided what was to be preserved, and how did they make that decision? Are there questions of authenticity and suspected forgeries? What new meanings did objects and places from Beleriand take on in the Ages after the War of Wrath?
Star Wars Legends
Jedi holocrons, Centerpoint Station
I've been kind of obsessed with holocrons for a while now. How sentient really are holocrons? What role do they play in Jedi society – both in the Old Republic and in the rebuilt Jedi Order? What is it like to interact with the holographic echo of someone you knew in life?
Centerpoint Station absolutely fascinates me. What is it like to live in the hollow interior of a space station the size of a planet? Who were the first people to live in Centerpoint, and why did they choose to settle there?
General likes and DNWs
Structurally, I’m a big fan of epistolary fic, in-universe documents (including academic pastiche and social media pastiche), and outsider POV.
DNW: explicit sex scenes, BDSM
The Windrose Chronicles
the Citadel of Wizards, wizards' apprenticeships, hasu/Church wizards
What is it like to live in the Citadel of Wizards? I'd love to see a slice of life there, or perhaps an exploration of the origin of any of the many architectural oddities that became part of the Citadel over the years.
I'm very curious about what wizards' apprenticeships tend to look like in general; I'd also love to see an exploration of any specific apprenticeship, whether that's Antryg or Daurannon studying under Salteris, Kyra learning from Rosamund, Antryg's apprenticeship to Suraklin, or anyone else!
I'm also really curious about the Church wizards! What is day-to-day life like for the hasu? What is their training like? How do they think about their role in the Church and the nature of their powers?
The Silmarillion
Vanyarin culture, Valimar, archaeology of Beleriand, manuscripts and manuscript transmission, Tol Himling after the War of Wrath
We're told that the Vanyar and the Noldor built Tirion together, but that the Vanyar later left Tirion to dwell closer to the Valar. What is it like to live among your gods on a daily basis? How does Vanyarin culture change after the death of the Trees? After the War of Wrath? We don't get too much about the Vanyar, and I'm interested in really any direction you'd like to take this!
I'm fascinated by the questions of (a) what survives the sinking of Beleriand, (b) how it survives, and (c) how the surviving material is interpreted and reinterpreted by future scholars (and laypeople!) to recreate the history of Beleriand. What are the gaps that still need to be filled in? Where is the guesswork right – and where is it wrong? Why were these things preserved and not others – was it chance? If it was deliberate, who decided what was to be preserved, and how did they make that decision? Are there questions of authenticity and suspected forgeries? What new meanings did objects and places from Beleriand take on in the Ages after the War of Wrath?
Star Wars Legends
Jedi holocrons, Centerpoint Station
I've been kind of obsessed with holocrons for a while now. How sentient really are holocrons? What role do they play in Jedi society – both in the Old Republic and in the rebuilt Jedi Order? What is it like to interact with the holographic echo of someone you knew in life?
Centerpoint Station absolutely fascinates me. What is it like to live in the hollow interior of a space station the size of a planet? Who were the first people to live in Centerpoint, and why did they choose to settle there?
wtf, Cesar Chavez?
Mar. 20th, 2026 08:30 pmcalimacThe news broke locally a few days ago, and has now percolated out to the general media: charges have been made that Cesar Chavez, the revered farm labor activist, was a sexual molester. Dolores Huerta, his long-time colleague, has said that he both raped and seduced her, and was the father of some of her children. Huerta revealed this in support of two other women who report that Chavez molested them when they were in their teens and he was in his forties. And more have come out.
I didn't write about this earlier because I needed time to process this disturbing news. Chavez has been considered a secular saint at least since his death in 1993. His name is all over buildings and plazas and sidewalks and such like around California and probably elsewhere. Parades are held in his name. His home is a national monument, also with his name on it. There's a near-hagiographical bio-pic starring Michael Peña. His birthday - which is also mine, so I feel a kind of granfalloonish personal connection to him - is a state holiday in California.
Are we to erase all of that? It would be like taking Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson out of the South, wouldn't it? (Something which has not been very comprehensively done.)
Huerta has been sitting on this charge for some 60 years. She says she never said anything about it earlier because it would have harmed the farmworkers movement. Or maybe nobody would have believed her, though perhaps that block has been removed since the Harvey Weinstein case. But that was less than ten years ago, and Chavez had already been elevated to secular sainthood long before that.
The thing is, though, that it's long been known that Chavez was "no angel," as cops like to say of the people they murder on the streets. Chavez was a cruel authoritarian boss, he enforced stereotyped gender roles, he indulged in anti-semitism, he neglected his family, he was pals with Ferdinand Marcos, he was already a known adulterer. We named things for him while overlooking or ignoring these facts. As with others of this kind, he was considered a good man - or maybe a great man, which is not the same as "good" - despite his flaws.
But now it turns out ... such a shame, such a horror. Wtf, Cesar Chavez?
I didn't write about this earlier because I needed time to process this disturbing news. Chavez has been considered a secular saint at least since his death in 1993. His name is all over buildings and plazas and sidewalks and such like around California and probably elsewhere. Parades are held in his name. His home is a national monument, also with his name on it. There's a near-hagiographical bio-pic starring Michael Peña. His birthday - which is also mine, so I feel a kind of granfalloonish personal connection to him - is a state holiday in California.
Are we to erase all of that? It would be like taking Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson out of the South, wouldn't it? (Something which has not been very comprehensively done.)
Huerta has been sitting on this charge for some 60 years. She says she never said anything about it earlier because it would have harmed the farmworkers movement. Or maybe nobody would have believed her, though perhaps that block has been removed since the Harvey Weinstein case. But that was less than ten years ago, and Chavez had already been elevated to secular sainthood long before that.
The thing is, though, that it's long been known that Chavez was "no angel," as cops like to say of the people they murder on the streets. Chavez was a cruel authoritarian boss, he enforced stereotyped gender roles, he indulged in anti-semitism, he neglected his family, he was pals with Ferdinand Marcos, he was already a known adulterer. We named things for him while overlooking or ignoring these facts. As with others of this kind, he was considered a good man - or maybe a great man, which is not the same as "good" - despite his flaws.
But now it turns out ... such a shame, such a horror. Wtf, Cesar Chavez?
Daily Happiness
Mar. 20th, 2026 08:19 pmtorachan1. It is the weekend! Today was fairly hassle-free, work-wise, and I got home by like four or so, which was nice, but it's even nicer to not have work tomorrow.
2. I found a new puzzle site to order from and I really like that they mark their puzzles with a no AI guarantee. (Not all of their puzzles have this guarantee, but you can filter for it and the majority of them seem to be.) I hope other sites implement that as well, because it would definitely make me more likely to order from a site that did that.
3. Carla got a catnip chew rope the other day and all the cats have shown some interest in it, but Molly seems to especially like it. No one's that into actually chewing it, though, just rubbing and writhing lol.
2. I found a new puzzle site to order from and I really like that they mark their puzzles with a no AI guarantee. (Not all of their puzzles have this guarantee, but you can filter for it and the majority of them seem to be.) I hope other sites implement that as well, because it would definitely make me more likely to order from a site that did that.
3. Carla got a catnip chew rope the other day and all the cats have shown some interest in it, but Molly seems to especially like it. No one's that into actually chewing it, though, just rubbing and writhing lol.
Three Metro notes.
Mar. 20th, 2026 10:54 pmhannah1. Paying based on distance traveled rather than a flat fee per ride doesn’t encourage the perception of public transit as a social equalizer.
2. It’s still public transit.
3. A couple maps to orient on cardinal directions wouldn’t go amiss, though.
2. It’s still public transit.
3. A couple maps to orient on cardinal directions wouldn’t go amiss, though.
In The News.....
Mar. 20th, 2026 09:43 pmdisneydream06Another wannabe celebrity opens their mouths and spews hatred.....
Beauty in Black actor Xavier Smalls calls LGBT people an 'abomination' that 'God doesn't tolerate' in resurfaced video
The star of Tyler Perry's Netflix drama made the comments in a live broadcast on social media that reportedly occurred on Feb. 7.
By Joey Nolf
https://ew.com/beauty-in-black-xavier-smalls-calls-lgbt-people-abomination-11930506?hid=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&did=22614129-20260320&utm_campaign=ewk-dispatch_newsletter&utm_source=ewk&utm_medium=email&utm_content=032026&lctg=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&lr_input=758ad690760192cf49795c3f52223721cac5324e3e862e41c5d4db73a4d43f32&utm_term=send2
Beauty in Black actor Xavier Smalls calls LGBT people an 'abomination' that 'God doesn't tolerate' in resurfaced video
The star of Tyler Perry's Netflix drama made the comments in a live broadcast on social media that reportedly occurred on Feb. 7.
By Joey Nolf
https://ew.com/beauty-in-black-xavier-smalls-calls-lgbt-people-abomination-11930506?hid=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&did=22614129-20260320&utm_campaign=ewk-dispatch_newsletter&utm_source=ewk&utm_medium=email&utm_content=032026&lctg=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&lr_input=758ad690760192cf49795c3f52223721cac5324e3e862e41c5d4db73a4d43f32&utm_term=send2
Pretty Sith Lord Warriors theme song?
Mar. 20th, 2026 10:33 pmarchangelbethhttps://music.apple.com/us/album/iron/1553279262?i=1553279268
( lyrics )
Probably would tweak a few bits (interlude as sung, not spoken), but really. Look at this, just look at it:
You can't live without the fire
It's the heat that makes you strong
'Cause you're born to live
And fight it all the way
You can't hide what lies inside you
It's the only thing you know
You're embracing that, never walk away
Don't walk away, don't walk away
Don't walk away, don't walk away
( lyrics )
Probably would tweak a few bits (interlude as sung, not spoken), but really. Look at this, just look at it:
You can't live without the fire
It's the heat that makes you strong
'Cause you're born to live
And fight it all the way
You can't hide what lies inside you
It's the only thing you know
You're embracing that, never walk away
Don't walk away, don't walk away
Don't walk away, don't walk away
The cost of literacy [medieval hist]
Mar. 20th, 2026 10:33 pmsidereaI knew that other contemporaneous cultures than those of Europe had unfathomably higher numbers of books than Europeans did, but I didn't know about this in retrospect obvious reason why:
2026 Mar 19: Dwarkesh Patel feat. Ada Palmer [DwarkeshPatel YT]: "Why Medieval Books Cost as Much as a House" (1 min, 7 sec):
2026 Mar 19: Dwarkesh Patel feat. Ada Palmer [DwarkeshPatel YT]: "Why Medieval Books Cost as Much as a House" (1 min, 7 sec):
Without papyrus, what you're writing on is a dead sheep. And if you think of the price of a head of lettuce and the price of a leather jacket, you're understanding the difference between a sheet of papyrus and writing on a dead sheep. So every page of a medieval book is as expensive as that much of a leather jacket. And a medieval book hand written costs as much as a house.* Three hundred thousand. It's been thirteen years and I am still not remotely over that fact. Every time I encounter it anew, my SCA persona gets acrophobic trying to imagine a library that big and has to sit down and put her head between her knees so she doesn't pass out.
And so to have a library is to be not just rich but mega rich. So only the wealthiest cities contain anybody who has a library. The great library of the University of Paris, the library from Europe's perspective, has 600 books.
There's definitely more than 600 books in this room. Every kiosk at an airport selling Dan Brown novels has more than 600 books. This is nothing.
And at the same time as that, in the Middle East, sultans have libraries of over a thousand books or 5,000 books. There are libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa with thousands of books.* There are libraries in China with thousands of books. Because they in China have cheap paper and rice paper. The Middle East has papyrus.
Europe, and only Europe, is writing on a leather jacket.
Music Friday
Mar. 20th, 2026 07:28 pmmuccamukkRAYE - "Click Clack Symphony"
I didn't think I could love her new album as much as My 21st-Century Blues, but... this is looking like I might.
I didn't think I could love her new album as much as My 21st-Century Blues, but... this is looking like I might.
Massachusetts not the next? [Ω, MA/US]
Mar. 20th, 2026 09:34 pmsidereaThe previously expected ICE enforcement surge never materialized. Curious.
I wonder if this just means they're short-staffed. Or perhaps distracted.
(I also wonder if somebody made a judgment call not to try what they did in MN in MA, but have largely rejected the notion. It would not be to anybody's advantage if they did, on either side, but I'm not seeing a lot of good judgment in evidence anywhere.)
I wonder if this just means they're short-staffed. Or perhaps distracted.
(I also wonder if somebody made a judgment call not to try what they did in MN in MA, but have largely rejected the notion. It would not be to anybody's advantage if they did, on either side, but I'm not seeing a lot of good judgment in evidence anywhere.)