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Mar. 18th, 2026 09:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicoll
I lead an active life so I am sure I have the physique of a 64 year and 11 month-old.
The Proposal by Myung-Hoon Bae
Mar. 18th, 2026 08:51 amjames_davis_nicoll
Nobody is sure who the enemy is, where they come from, or what their goals are. Still, they are the enemy and it’s up to the United Earth Surface and the Allied Orbital Forces Command to show the enemy what’s what.
The Proposal by Myung-Hoon Bae
He tried to run away, well, she hit him with a hammer
Mar. 17th, 2026 03:13 pmsovayFor Saint Patrick's Day, I had a foreign body removed from my eye and was immunologically shot in the shoulder. Who needs booze?
Bleh, voting.
Mar. 17th, 2026 09:00 amajI got lazy researching my ballot, so I have to go vote tonight after work. BLEH! I mean, it's fine, it's on the way home. But still.
Glad I did do a modicum of research as it clarified a couple options for me. I am only voting for one chaos gremlin, but I'm excited to vote for our Lt. Governor as the option for Senate. I've loved Stratton as Lt. Governor (she hath Got Shit Done) and would love to see her in the Senate. I've had my issues w/Durbin, but he's been a huge boon to the state over his run. And he's gotten stuck with 20+ years of absolute batshittery when it comes to governance and does actually deserve to retire and not talk to anyone again.
Honestly, the real hot situation is the race for the Second Board Review seat. Property tax assessment in Cook County is a damn gladiator race and one of the 3-person board seats are up. It's a weirdly contested one because one candidate seems to have legit tripped over themself and fallen down the metaphorical stairs, hitting every one on the way down. And some of the stuff honestly is more of a side-eye of a deal than a big one (hilariously, the ethics violations because a few of those were stupid and on behalf of the public and transparency), but the biggest thing against her (for me) is that she was an elected official in Indiana. Please stay out of my state. (Mostly kidding, there's more.)
Anyway. Making vegan chili for the potluck on Thursday. Mostly to use up the cans of tomatoes I can't eat and legumes I won't. Pray for my coworkers.
Glad I did do a modicum of research as it clarified a couple options for me. I am only voting for one chaos gremlin, but I'm excited to vote for our Lt. Governor as the option for Senate. I've loved Stratton as Lt. Governor (she hath Got Shit Done) and would love to see her in the Senate. I've had my issues w/Durbin, but he's been a huge boon to the state over his run. And he's gotten stuck with 20+ years of absolute batshittery when it comes to governance and does actually deserve to retire and not talk to anyone again.
Honestly, the real hot situation is the race for the Second Board Review seat. Property tax assessment in Cook County is a damn gladiator race and one of the 3-person board seats are up. It's a weirdly contested one because one candidate seems to have legit tripped over themself and fallen down the metaphorical stairs, hitting every one on the way down. And some of the stuff honestly is more of a side-eye of a deal than a big one (hilariously, the ethics violations because a few of those were stupid and on behalf of the public and transparency), but the biggest thing against her (for me) is that she was an elected official in Indiana. Please stay out of my state. (Mostly kidding, there's more.)
Anyway. Making vegan chili for the potluck on Thursday. Mostly to use up the cans of tomatoes I can't eat and legumes I won't. Pray for my coworkers.
Bundle of Holding: Trail of Cthulhu MEGA
Mar. 16th, 2026 01:58 pmjames_davis_nicoll
A monstrously large horde of rulebooks, supplements, and sourcebooks for Trail of Cthulhu, the tabletop roleplaying game of eldritch Cthulhu Mythos investigations using the GUMSHOE System from Pelgrane Press.
Bundle of Holding: Trail of Cthulhu MEGA
portrait of the artist, 1918 ...
Mar. 15th, 2026 11:40 pmnineweaving... in a garden in Oxford.
The year was actually 1988, but finding it gave me the strangest sense of timeslip.
Nine
The year was actually 1988, but finding it gave me the strangest sense of timeslip.
Nine
Paul R. Ehrlich is dead
Mar. 15th, 2026 10:31 pmjames_davis_nicollFinally.
Interestingly, although he died a couple of days ago, I couldn't find a news article to which I felt comfortable linking.
Interestingly, although he died a couple of days ago, I couldn't find a news article to which I felt comfortable linking.
There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
Mar. 15th, 2026 04:27 pmsovayThe wall-to-wall crowd of the memorial from which I have just returned testifies to the love poured out and returned by the guest of honor, but I would still rather have been in the worldline where they were present to be celebrated in more than memory.
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore
Mar. 15th, 2026 08:50 amjames_davis_nicoll
Hodge would like nothing better than to study American history. Be careful what you wish for.
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore
Performing some traffic maintenance today
Mar. 14th, 2026 01:04 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
mark posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceHappy Saturday!
I'm going to be doing a little maintenance today. It will likely cause a tiny interruption of service (specifically for www.dreamwidth.org) on the order of 2-3 minutes while some settings propagate. If you're on a journal page, that should still work throughout!
If it doesn't work, the rollback plan is pretty quick, I'm just toggling a setting on how traffic gets to the site. I'll update this post if something goes wrong, but don't anticipate any interruption to be longer than 10 minutes even in a rollback situation.
Books Received, March 7 — March 13
Mar. 14th, 2026 12:21 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Seven books new to me: four fantasies, one science fantasy, one science fiction, and I am not sure how to categorize the Shepard. At least three are series books.
Books Received, March 7 — March 13
Poll #34364 Books Received, March 7 — March 13
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
The Lion and the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent (July 2026)
5 (11.9%)
Teach Me to Prey by Jenni Howell (December 2026)
0 (0.0%)
Heart of Thieves by Jessica S. Olson (September 2026)
0 (0.0%)
The Dagger in Vichy by Alastair Reynolds (October 2025)
17 (40.5%)
Crows and Silences by Lucius Shepard (December 2024)
16 (38.1%)
Engines of Reason by Adrian Tchaikovsky (September 2026)
23 (54.8%)
The Heart of the Reproach by Adrian Tchaikovsky (July 2025)
17 (40.5%)
Some other option (see comments)
1 (2.4%)
Cats!
26 (61.9%)
One More Reason the Aliens Might Be Avoiding Us
Mar. 13th, 2026 10:06 amjames_davis_nicoll
Is the current location of our Solar System the reason no one's coming to visit?
One More Reason the Aliens Might Be Avoiding Us
The Language of Liars by S L Huang
Mar. 13th, 2026 09:08 amjames_davis_nicoll
A linguist goes undercover to unravel a xenological puzzle whose answer is in plain view.
The Language of Liars by S L Huang