The Thing Is, It DOES Work... Sometimes. But The Older You Are The Less Often It Will Work.

Current knitting: a simple garter stitch scarf, using fuzzy yarn from Dollar Tree. I'm working in random colors, with two strands together. The goal is warmth and softness rather than beauty.

Current reading: "Area X" by Jeff Vandermeer. This is the omnibus edition of the Southern Reach trilogy. I finished the first book, and honestly, I'm not sure I'd keep going if the second book wasn't in the same volume. It's not bad, but it's a very different writing style than I usually read.

I've decided that I'm going to actively avoid political content here on Tumblr. I'll use it as my "the world sucks and is stressful" escapism place.

Facebook, NPR, and face-to-face give me plenty of info about what's going on in the world. I don't need Tumblr memes too.

I've made very little progress on either this scarf or this book.

The scarf I'm not bothered by. Any knitting project I'm not having fun with I'll either set aside and come back to or unravel and do something else with the yarn. No big deal.

The book though...

It's like, I want to know what happens, and the answers to the various mysteries, but I'm not actually enjoying the process of reading these novels. The writing style just doesn't fit my brain.

I'm considering just abandoning the book and reading the Wikipedia page instead. That'll answer my questions well enough.

Current knitting: a simple garter stitch scarf, using fuzzy yarn from Dollar Tree. I'm working in random colors, with two strands together. The goal is warmth and softness rather than beauty.

Current reading: "Area X" by Jeff Vandermeer. This is the omnibus edition of the Southern Reach trilogy. I finished the first book, and honestly, I'm not sure I'd keep going if the second book wasn't in the same volume. It's not bad, but it's a very different writing style than I usually read.

You know what would be cool? A story about a mideval Strong Rebellious Warrior Woman... who actually enjoys sewing and embroidery. Like, yes she dreams of riding horses through the fields and swinging a sword, but is also looking forward to returning home after a long day of fighting to finish that really cool lapel piece shes been working on all month.

Lyrical Ballad, in Saratoga Springs, NY is one of my favorite used bookstores in the world.

Twitter thread by Melissa Caruso about a labyrinthine magical bookstore in Syracuse, NY. Link to the first tweet in the thread; most pictures have image descriptions! Now here are the screenshots of that thread:

And then a hero of the labyrinthine magical bookstores of the world put all the bookstores that people listed in the replies on a map! (Google Maps link)

I walked past some lilac bushes on my way to lunch today and the smell brought me so much joy. I almost forget, from one spring to the next, how much I love it.

I'm thinking about getting some lilac scented stuff, but it needs to be as realistic as possible.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Just finished reading a Zeetha-focused AU that was simultaneously one of the best fics I've read in ages, and one of the most frustrating.

The basic change point was a good one, the changes that would follow from it were well thought out, the peeks into Zeetha's head fit with both who she is in canon and the version of her in this AU. But...

The whole thing (more than 216000 words in three stories) was riddled with the sort of grammar errors you get when you trust your spell check too much. To/too/two mixed up, "there" when it should have been "their", and so on.

I'm only a grammar purist when I'm professionally required to be, but the mistakes in this one were significant enough to be a distraction from the story. Which is a shame, because like I said, the STORY was really good.

It was like trying to walk a trail through beautiful scenery, but not being able to relax and enjoy the beauty because you keep stubbing your toe on roots and rocks sticking up in the middle of the path.

My absolute favorite outfit from the 2025 Met Gala, because of its sheer cleverness.

Janelle Monáe attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) if you want to support this blog consider donating to: ko-fi.com/fashionrunways

I get so frustrated with myself sometimes. I have THOUGHTS about a serious topic, but when I try to express them, they never make as much sense to other people as they did in my head.

Congratulations, you are now a nest