watervole | Network

From the weigh in at the doctor's last week, I evidently lost 20 pounds since the last appointment. The lab numbers are decent, though looks like there's more work to go. A1c went from 7.1 (diabetic) back down to 6.1 (pre-diabetic). For some reason, Labcorp forgot to run the lipid panel so I have a new script and will get re-stabbed for that on Monday morning.

I do seem to be struggling with the 7.5mg dosage since I have the same side effects this week as last week - nausea, headache, fatigue and this week I also have a mild ache in a spot in my abdomen. Thankfully the latter is slowly going away but better not be the pancreas. That would suck to have to go down or discontinue when it's helping.

Anyway, I've picked up a shopping habit lately which I need to get under control. Mainly press on nails (did at least discover how to get them for FAR cheaper than mainstream brands), purses, beads/beaded bracelets and dresses. Thankfully I've discovered thrifting so the amount spent is far less than it could be. Certainly less than Emily's Lego habit lol

I have sent a few items of clothing in to ThredUp which five items have already sold. It's not as lucrative as someplace like Depop/Mercari/Poshmark but I haven't dipped a toe into reselling there. Yet. That's one thing I'm pondering is online selling. Part of what I'm going to try out during the townwide garage sale this year is making curated mystery boxes to sell. One will have a "self care" theme (face masks, some of the fun press on nails, hand cream, etc.) and the other a "Bookish without a book" theme (beaded pens, small journals, bookmarks, etc.). Those things are HUGE on social media right now so I thought why not. If they don't sell in real life or even if they do, I may try etsy. I figure along with the YouTube channel, I should come up with more side gigs that when I could potentially retire from Rutgers late next year, I can either do side gigs full time or get a non-Rutgers admin job and do those to keep the income flowing.

Today we went to Container Store since I need something better to store my earrings than the plastic bins I've been using for years. Since they're merging with the former Bed, Bath and Beyond, right now they're reducing inventory with discounts. The discounts aren't huge yet so I stuck with my original intended purchase and that's what I'll be sorting through this evening.

I knew the store didn't open until 10am and it was only 9:40 when we were getting into the area so we detoured to a Goodwill Store that was on the way. I'm not a big thrifter but for my fake boutique roleplay for the YT channel, it's been paying off to have an engaging looking background. So we have been putting fake flowers and such and I needed some bigger vases. The sign in the front said that yellow price tags made things 50% off so we kept an eye out for those. We found two nice size vases, a pair of fabulous sparkly heels which will look amazing in the background of the fake "shop" and also a JCrew suit dress in near perfect condition.

The entire haul totaled $12. Nice. The reason for purchasing a size 2 dress is I'm going to send it in the bag with my other stack of clothing to be thrifted to ThredUp. I'm curious to see if the name brand makes me more than I paid for it which was $3.50.

If online thrifting becomes a thing, we'll follow the sales at Goodwill and other good thrift stores and Emily will have to come along because she knows ALL the good fashion brands. I only really know the big names. Oh and once I've filmed with the sparkly heels (on the shelf, I'd break an ankle), I'll either try to sell them at the garage sale or will sell online.

poorlydrawnlines_feed

Posted by Reza

https://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/hurry/

https://poorlydrawnlines.com/?p=258131

https://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/hurry/

https://poorlydrawnlines.com/?p=258131

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/funeral-five-children-killed-mapleton-township-saturday-9.7241774?cmp=rss

The five children killed June 12 in a two-vehicle collision in Ontario's Mapleton Township will be honoured Saturday at their funeral. Three other members of the Doerksen family and a couple were also injured.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/funeral-five-children-killed-mapleton-township-saturday-9.7241774?cmp=rss

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tay-keith-dead-at-29-9.7241823?cmp=rss

A smiling man in a black hoodie and black baseball cap wearing a large silver chain with the letters D.O.A. hanging from it.

Police in Nashville say 29-year-old Tay Keith was found dead in his Nashville apartment Thursday by officers performing a welfare check. A cause of death has not been identified, but foul play is not suspected, and an autopsy will be conducted.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tay-keith-dead-at-29-9.7241823?cmp=rss

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/jonathan-toews-retire-nhl-9.7241559?cmp=rss

A hocley player smiles and put his hand to his heart as he looks up to the crowd.

Winnipeg's Jonathan Toews, who played for his hometown team last season, announced his retirement Friday after 16 seasons.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/jonathan-toews-retire-nhl-9.7241559?cmp=rss

robohub_feed

Posted by Sabine Hauert

https://robohub.org/aura-foresight-reaches-global-xprize-wildfire-finals-in-alaska/

https://robohub.org/?p=220225

One of only four teams remaining from more than 130 competitors worldwide, our team AURA Foresight is developing autonomous technology to stop wildfires before they grow out of control.

AURA Foresight has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious XPRIZE Wildfire Autonomous Wildfire Response competition, emerging as one of just four teams remaining from more than 130 teams from around the world.

XPRIZE Wildfire is a four-year, US$11 million global competition designed to accelerate breakthrough technologies capable of ending destructive wildfires. The Autonomous Wildfire Response track, worth US$5 million, challenges teams to autonomously detect, verify and respond to wildfire ignitions across a 1,000 km² landscape within just ten minutes. The finals will take place in Nenana, Alaska, where teams will demonstrate their technologies in realistic wildfire response scenarios.

Being selected as a finalist places AURA Foresight among a small group of innovators developing the next generation of tools to help communities, land managers and firefighters respond to wildfires faster and more effectively.

As wildfires become more frequent and severe worldwide, AURA Foresight is developing technology that helps stop fires before they become disasters. The team’s autonomous wildfire intelligence and intervention system is designed to detect ignitions within minutes and coordinate a rapid response while fires are still small and manageable.

Detect Early. Verify Quickly. Intervene Immediately.

AURA Foresight combines fixed sensors, artificial intelligence and swarms of autonomous flying robots into a seamless detect–verify–act capability.

Rather than fighting large wildfires after they have taken hold, the system is designed to identify potential ignitions, verify threats and intervene at the earliest possible stage, when a small spark can still be safely contained before becoming a major incident.

The platform continuously monitors landscapes using optical and thermal sensors, automatically identifies potential ignitions using AI, dispatches flying robots to verify threats, and coordinates rapid intervention before small fires can grow into destructive wildfires.

Unlike many wildfire technologies that rely on specialised infrastructure or proprietary hardware, AURA Foresight has been designed from the outset to be practical, affordable and easy to deploy.

Key advantages include:

Out-of-the-box deployment with minimal setup requirements.
Adaptability to any environment, from forests and remote wilderness to critical infrastructure corridors.
Scalability from a handful to dozens of flying robots, depending on operational needs.
Compatibility with different aircraft and robot platforms, avoiding vendor lock-in.
Built on commercially available technologies, making advanced wildfire protection accessible and achievable for organisations of all sizes.

The result is a system that can help agencies move from passive monitoring and delayed response to proactive, automated intervention.

Developed With Firefighters, For Firefighters

AURA Foresight’s approach is shaped by close collaboration with firefighters and emergency response professionals. The consortium works directly with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in the United Kingdom and with wildfire response experts in Canada and Australia to ensure the technology addresses real operational challenges and integrates effectively into existing emergency response workflows.

This combination of frontline expertise and advanced robotics helps ensure that the technology remains focused on supporting firefighters and enhancing their capabilities in the field.

“It’s amazing what can be achieved when great people come together around a shared purpose,” said Dr Georgios Tzoumas, Team Co-Lead of AURA Foresight and Research Fellow at the University of Bristol.

“Our team has been working on autonomous wildfire detection and intervention technologies for more than six years. Reaching the XPRIZE finals is an exciting milestone because it feels like the solution is finally within reach. By combining AI, swarm robotics and close collaboration with firefighters, we’re showing that it’s possible to tackle wildfires while they’re still small, before they grow out of control. We can’t wait to demonstrate our technology in the field in Alaska.”

A Global Consortium Combining Expertise from the UK and Australia

AURA Foresight is a unique international collaboration bringing together AURA in the United Kingdom and Fire Foresight in Australia.

The consortium includes the University of Bristol, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the University of Sheffield, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Fire Foresight, SkyFly Drones, Southern Denmark University, Manchester University, Indicium Dynamics, Robotic Cats, Taz Drone Solutions and Little Place Labs.

Fire Foresight CEO Rob Vernon commented, “Our approach with the XPRIZE competition has been to bring all the pieces of the wildfire jigsaw puzzle together, and that capability only truly scales when it’s done with partners from around the world and on the ground. In Australia, we have been building the largest network of bushfire detection capabilities and the partnerships that we’ve formed, and continue to form, through this competition allow us to focus our attention on the autonomous mitigation and suppression capabilities, so desperately need to address the challenges faced by wildfire and climate change”.

Together, these partners combine world-leading expertise in swarm robotics, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, computer vision, aerial robotics, wildfire operations and field deployment.

By bringing together researchers, engineers, firefighters and technology innovators from across two continents, AURA Foresight is demonstrating how international collaboration can accelerate solutions to one of the world’s most pressing climate challenges.

As destructive wildfires continue to increase in frequency and severity around the world, AURA Foresight’s progression to the XPRIZE Wildfire finals highlights a new approach to wildfire management: tackling fires in their earliest moments, before they can grow out of control and threaten communities, ecosystems and critical infrastructure.

Our motto is – “Detect early. Verify quickly. Intervene immediately. Stop wildfires before they become disasters.” Fingers crossed for a good performance in our finals this weekend!

https://robohub.org/aura-foresight-reaches-global-xprize-wildfire-finals-in-alaska/

https://robohub.org/?p=220225

phys_breaking_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hormones-mammals-view-cytokinins-purely.html

In biology, cytokinins were long considered regulators exclusive to the plant kingdom, where they control, among other things, growth and responses to stress. Until now, little research has been conducted into whether these substances might also play a significant role in the human body.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hormones-mammals-view-cytokinins-purely.html

phys_breaking_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-microbial-partners-maize-sorghum-higher.html

New research suggests the microbiome near the surface of a plant's roots, known as the rhizosphere microbiome, may play a role in helping crops respond to heat stress.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-microbial-partners-maize-sorghum-higher.html

castiron

For all of these, I'm definining "waste of time" as something that's unnecessary and annoying. It's not a waste of time to clean the bathroom, even if I find it tedious. It's not a waste of time to play a few rounds of solitaire when I want to do something enjoyable and mindless, even though it's an unproductive activity.

1. What is your biggest waste of time in your home? Stuff-shifting. We have so much clutter that I always have to move things before I can clean, and I often have to move piles of stuff to get at a bookshelf or drawer. When it's my stuff in the way, I can get rid of it or find a better place to keep it; when it's Spouse's, there's more negotiation.

2. When at work, what is the activity that you find wastes the most time? My workplace is actually pretty good about this; I don't feel like I'm assigned much in the way of pointless timewasting tasks. Once in a while I'm asked to pull a report that doesn't end up used, or that I have to rerun because the requestor didn't give me all the fields they needed, but overall either the task I did is useful to the company, or it didn't turn out useful to the company but helped me learn something.

3. When getting busy with a date or significant other, what ritual could you do without? This is a very weird question, and not applicable to my life at this time.

4. What is the biggest waste of time on the Internet? For me, there's not any individual site that's inherently a waste of time; it only becomes one when I'm mindlessly spending time there without stopping first to think whether there's something else I'd rather be doing.

5. What do you do at a restaurant to waste time when waiting for your meal? I don't. Either I have a companion with whom I can have a pleasant conversation, or I have a book that I can enjoy reading before and during my meal.

thesleepingbeauty posting in

your_favourites

The Acolyte x4

( links )

sanguinity

I'm behind on my book-logging, so you get this hot on the heels of the previous one.

Rose Lerner, Sailor's Delight (2022)

Gay romance set in 1813 Portsmouth between a Jewish naval agent and a Royal Navy sailing master.

Novella-length, so a straightforward plot and a quick read, narrating when the High Holy Days intersected with Elie's client/friend/crush object's shore leave -- oh, and Elie really must finish his prize accounting, so that said crush object can get married on the proceeds.

I loved all the immersive textural details of Elie's family and faith and job, and his deeply felt (but presumed hopeless) thirst for his friend and client. For a little while it looked like the novella was setting up Augie's fiancée as a controlling and vindictive obstacle to the main romance, but that thread was resolved reasonably well, with Sarah and Elie establishing an amicable business relationship at the same time that Augie and Elie advanced to a romance. Augie's penchant for going about in breeches and no shirt jarred me (my understanding is that clothing didn't work that way in 1813), but I can forgive it, given how much I enjoyed the rest.

Fahrad J. Dadyburjor, The Other Man (2021)

Gay romance set in Mumbai on the eve of the decriminalization of homosexuality. Ved is crushed by parental expectations: his father's expectation that he take over the family business and his mother's expectation that he get married. Meanwhile, he's not over his first-last-only relationship: a man he saw secretly on weekends, who himself decided to get married in deference to parental expectations. (He wanted to keep seeing Ved on the side after his marriage; Ved, insulted, broke it off.)

To placate his mother, Ved agrees to a date with a Parson's graduate, and gets on with her so well that he ends up drifting into an engagement with her. After all, he and Disha are good friends, are they not? He likes her. Surely this could work out? Simultaneously, Ved's Grindr flirtation with a Brazilian man visiting India becomes a fling, then becomes a whirlwind romance. Ved knows he has to come clean with everyone -- Disha, Carlos, his parents -- but a paralyzing combination of denial and fear keeps him from doing it.

I personally liked how sympathetically Disha (the fiancée) was portrayed, and that she and Ved walked out of the mutual wreckage of their engagement still friends. I also liked that the resolution was 1000% dependent on Ved getting his shit together across the board, and not on any big romantic declarations. I'm a little squirrelly about how persistently Ved kept texting Carlos after their break-up, but I presume Carlos could have blocked Ved's number if he felt strongly about it. And I'm a lot squirrelly about Ved's choice of midlife crisis career change:

spoiler

a middle-aged businessman who has been out for two hot minutes doesn't seem the best choice for a counselor for queer youth.

Quick, enjoyable read, but obviously a non-starter for people who can't deal with cheating storylines, or characters who get stuck in a spiral of bad decisions.

Randall Munroe, What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, 10th Anniversary Edition (2014, 2024)

In fact, these are silly answers to silly questions, typically answered with back-of-the-envelope precision, but it was an amusing read, and I learned some sciencey-engineery facts along the way. For the 10th Anniversary Edition, Munroe added annotations for where the march of time had (or sometimes hadn't) changed an answer, plus additionally answered what would happen if we increased everything by a factor of ten.

From the author of XKCD, and with illustrations and humour in the style thereof. I understand there's a sequel; I may check it out at some point.

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/06/19/win-an-signed-personalized-arc-of-monsters-of-ohio/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=61196

Tor Books sent me a stack of Monsters of Ohio ARCs, and you — yes you! — can win one, and I will even sign/personalize it for you if you like. Here’s all you have to do to enter:

I am thinking of a mammal native to Ohio. Guess which one it is.

(Don’t know which mammals are native to Ohio? Here’s a pdf guide to get you started. Spoiler: the mammal in question is in fact in the guide!)

I have already told Krissy and Athena which mammal it is, so I’m not just going to make one up at the end of the contest, promise.

And now: The rules!

1. One guess per person, one post per person. If you post more than one guess, your first guess is the guess I will use. If you post more than one post, I will use only the first post. Don’t use the comments to post anything other than a guess; any other comments will be deleted. Be specific toward the mammal; don’t say “dog” when “Beagle” is the correct answer (which it is not, by the way, either of those). Again, the mammal in question is in the guide linked above, so that will help narrow it down a bit.

2. Place the guess in the comments for this post, they will not count otherwise. This will require you to enter login information if you have not already done so. When you fill in the information, leave an email address that you actually check, this is how I will contact you. Put that information in the login dialogue boxes, not in the body of your comment. If you don’t leave an email, I can’t contact you and will move on to the next person who guessed correctly. The information will be used for nothing else, because I respect your privacy and also I’m lazy and can’t be bothered to do anything with them.

3. Speaking of which: In the (likely) event that more than one person correctly guesses the mammal, I will have the computer generate a number between one and [number of correct guesses] and will pick the person whose chronological entry matches the number – so if the number is “three,” than the third person who posted the correct guess will win.

4. In the event no one picks the correct mammal, I will have the computer randomly pick a number between one and [total number of entries] and give the person who chronologically corresponds to that number the book. This is an enormous pain in my ass, so I hope at least one of you picks the correct mammal.

5. The contest runs for 48 hours from the moment I post this (probably close to 1pm Eastern on June 19, 2026), because that’s when the site automatically closes comments. I’ll email the winner after that and will post the results after that, probably on Monday. When I email you, you will have five days to respond, and after that I re-roll for a new recipient. So be looking at your email, please.

6. Contest is open to everyone everywhere on the planet that I can currently ship a book to, so apologies to anyone in Cuba, Iran, North Korea or the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. Everyone else, if you win, I’ll ship it to you.

7. I will sign the ARC but if you want it personalized in any way, let me know when I email you about it.

Those are the rules, so go ahead and guess! Good luck!

— JS

(PS: If you don’t want to play the odds here, remember that you can pre-order the book from your favorite local or online bookstore for when it comes out in November. Also, Subterranean Press will be happy to send a you a signed copy, which I will also personalize if you like, and SubPress also ships everywhere in the world, so that’s helpful.)

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/06/19/win-an-signed-personalized-arc-of-monsters-of-ohio/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=61196

heleninwales

It's been over a week since I travelled down to Cardiff and I've still not written about it. I must rectify that now.

The journey down was fine. In fact all the trains both going and returning were on time and I got a seat without difficulty. I actually prefer travelling alone to travelling with G. Partly because I can do my own thing, but also because it's far easier to get a single seat on a busy train than two seats together. I did have a slight feeling of deja vu as I drove to Machynlleth. It was raining hard and the last time I went to South Wales on the train, it rained so hard that the flooding damaged the track. However, this time the rain eased as I headed south and everything was fine.

Our daughter had meetings until 3 p.m., so when I arrived in Cardiff I had a sandwich and cup of tea in the Pret a Manger opposite the station. I then made my way to John Lewis to buy a new Android tablet. I was quite pleased that I remembered where the store was. I used to visit Cardiff a lot and would wander round exploring while G was in meetings. However, I haven't been in the city centre for a couple of years now. Anyway, I found my way to John Lewis and they had the tablet I'd seen online. After that, it was now almost time to meet our daughter, so I made my to the museum where it was easier for her to pick me up. It was still raining, but more a heavy drizzle than a downpour.

The following day our daughter drove us into the city centre again to see the exhibition of Gwen John's paintings. (I'll do a separate post about that.) After seeing the exhibition, we had a cup of tea and very nice vegan brownie in the Scaredy Cats cafe. We then had a look in the indoor market and finished up with a little walk in Sophia gardens. Finally we drove to Port Talbot where I checked in at the Premier Inn before going to find our son.

Some pictures...

Shopping arcades. Cardiff has quite a few. The shops, cafes and bars seem to be doing OK.

( More photos here... )

siria

Launder My Karma
ER | Carter, Gen | ~1400 words | Episode coda for 8.11. Thanks to

sheafrotherdon for betaing.

(Also on AO3)

( 'Lewis discharged Sobriki, and his wife asked me to give you this.' Carter deals with Samantha Sobriki's letter. )

oursin

Moar and moar on performative reading, sigh: Booksmaxxing: how reading became sexy (haven't we been here before?)

***

I haven't actually read the whole of this yet, but on reading and the sexxy, it goes the full academic: Romantasy and the quest for cliteracy. Abstract:

Romantasy – a hybrid genre of romance and fantasy – is well known for its explicit ‘spicy’ content. Like romance fiction, female desire and pleasure are central to the narrative. Drawing on textual analysis from three popular romantasy series, this article examines the genre’s potential to foster cultural cliteracy: or the recognition and understanding of the clitoris as a central site of sexual pleasure. It explores how depictions of clitoral stimulation, female sexual response and orgasm function as a form of public pedagogy on female sexual embodiment. Through detailed sensory description, romantasy offers rich narratives of female pleasure that contrast the often disembodied and risk-focused approaches that pervade school-based sexuality education. While the genre is not without its limitations, it is argued that romantasy provides readers imaginative, safe spaces to engage with the embodied, erotic and emotional dimensions of sex, gender and relationships. In doing so, it offers valuable counternarratives to patriarchal and phallocentric discourses that continue to constrain how female sexuality is understood and expressed.

***

People have been going WO WO SYMBOLICKAL METAPHOR about this: ‘Most famous tree in the world’: Sherwood Forest’s 1,000-year-old Major oak dies. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has a different take (bless 'em):

Although this marks the end of the Major Oak as a living tree, it does not mark the end of its story. The iconic oak tree remains a powerful presence in the landscape and an enduring part of our cultural heritage. The tree and soil beneath it will continue to be a vital refuge for wildlife and the knowledge we have gained by looking after the Major Oak will help preserve other ancient oaks across the country. Its legacy will live on through its saplings and the legends associated with it, with plans being drawn up with our partners, and the tree will continue to be a vital refuge for wildlife.

***

Honestly, this secret org sounds like a cross between the school playground and Versailles of the Sun King with who rates and why. I guess the 'got sand kicked in his face' is an aged trope (it was in ads for some body-building thing) but we feel some such back-stories must be in play.

***

'Here they come building their big fancy Stonehenges, two wooden posts was good enough for us....': Archaeologists believe they have discovered an earlier, much simpler version of Stonehenge about 3 miles (5km) away from the prehistoric monument.

***

A different kind of heritage: Glassy Junction, Southall: the definitive history of ‘London’s first Indian pub’

***

Today in London history [last Tuesday]: RSPCA founded in West End coffeehouse, 1824.

dolorosa_12

Friday open threads are back for now, and this week's one is inspired by a great Shetland fanfic I read recently. It's wonderful for many, many reasons, but one thing that I particularly enjoyed was its incredible specificity of place: having been to Shetland myself, it was like walking around Lerwick again. The crowning glory: it even managed to work in a reference to a specific waterfront cafe which (in my opinion) has the best coffee in town.

( Link to the fic behind the cut if you want to read it )

So, here is this week's prompt: what is your favourite tiny real-world detail in a work of fiction (original or transformative) that makes it clear the author has genuine experience of the place being depicted?

cooltools_feed

Posted by prestadojeffrey

https://kk.org/cooltools/book-freak-214-thoughts-without-a-thinker/

https://kk.org/cooltools/?p=46324

Get Thoughts Without a Thinker

Mark Epstein is a psychiatrist who also meditates, and in Thoughts Without a Thinker he uses both practices to make the point that the solid, permanent self we work so hard to build and protect is the same self that keeps us anxious. If you loosen your grip on it, a lot of everyday suffering will decrease.

Core Principles

The Self Is a Construction

We spend enormous energy projecting an image of being complete and self-sufficient. Epstein argues that the feeling of a solid, unchanging “me” behind all of this is something we assemble, not something we find. He describes the self as stitched together out of the gaps in our emotional experience, the raw spots we rush to cover up instead of looking at. Seeing how the assembly works is the first step toward holding it more lightly.

We Suffer When We Avoid Direct Experience

Much of our pain, Epstein writes, comes from being afraid to experience ourselves directly. Feelings are fleeting and constantly shifting, but we treat them as fixed, solid facts about who we are. A passing wave of anger becomes “I am an angry person.” A moment of doubt becomes “something is wrong with me.” When we let experiences stay as fast as they actually are, they have far less power over us.

Bare Attention as Medicine

The central tool Epstein draws from Buddhism is “bare attention”: noticing exactly what is happening, moment by moment, before you pile your reactions on top of it. There is the cold of the air, and then there is your story about the cold. Bare attention watches the raw event and the reaction as two separate things. The goal of this practice is not to feel calm or blissful. It is to watch the sense of a fixed self loosen as you observe it.

Don’t Build a Better Self, See Through It

Epstein calls the Buddha a kind of original psychoanalyst, using a method of self-inquiry centuries before Freud. But he points out a key difference. Much of Western therapy hunts for a “true self” hidden under our defenses, waiting to be set free. The Buddhist view says there is no such self underneath, only layers of constructions to see through. The work is to stop polishing a better self-image and start noticing how the image gets made.

Try It Now

Set a timer for five minutes and sit quietly with your eyes closed. Each time you notice a thought, silently label it “thinking” and bring your attention back to your breath. You are practicing watching thoughts instead of being carried off by them.
The next time a strong emotion hits, find where you feel it in your body. Is it tightness in the chest, heat in the face, a knot in the stomach? Don’t try to fix it or explain it. Just describe its texture and location for thirty seconds.
In the middle of a worried thought, ask: “Who is aware of this thought?” Look for the thinker behind it. Notice that you find more thoughts and sensations, but no solid, separate “me” doing the thinking.

Quote

“We do not want to admit our lack of substance to ourselves and, instead, strive to project an image of completeness, or self-sufficiency. The fabric of self is stitched together out of just these holes in our emotional experience.”

Book Freak is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run Recomendo, the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel and podcast, and other newsletters, including Recomendo Deals, Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper, and Book Freak.

https://kk.org/cooltools/book-freak-214-thoughts-without-a-thinker/

https://kk.org/cooltools/?p=46324

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/public-inquiry-racism-premier-quebec-9.7241360?cmp=rss

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/public-inquiry-racism-premier-quebec-9.7241360?cmp=rss

rebeccmeister

Oh my goodness, it was so wonderful to be on vacation for a few days there.

Oh my goodness, the world didn't stop while I was on vacation, there are problems to solve, deadlines to meet, more plans to plan.

Certain overambitious plans probably need to be triaged now, but I can't give you any specifics on that yet because I'm still trying to remember which way is up.

But - worth it? WORTH IT.

prettygoodword

hypothecate (hai-POTH-i-kayt) - v., to pledge (property) as security or collateral without delivery of title or possession, mortgage.

Contrast with pawn, in which possession is transferred for the duration of the loan, and also car loans. There's additional financial definitions used in the UK and Australia, related to revenue dedicated by special taxes. Also sometimes incorrectly used as a synonym of hypothesize (usage experts almost universally disapprove). Taken around 1680 from Medieval Latin hypothēcāre, from Latin hypothēca, pledge/deposit, from Ancient Greek hupothēkē, from hupotithenai, to give as a pledge as well as to suppose -- which means at the root, it was the same word as hypothesize as well as to pawn. Wild.

---L.

fatalfae posting in

su_herald

BUFFY: Poor Will. Still getting those headaches?
WILLOW: Fewer and further between, but... yep, they're still exercising their visitation rights.
TARA: Honey, in case you didn't hear me the first six thousand times, no more teleportation spells.
WILLOW: Well, it's just we have squat in the way of Glory-fighting arsenal, and... another run-in with her and my headaches and nosebleeds are gonna be the least of our problems.

~~Crush~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for a new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Rise Up (Spike/Buffy, Xander/Anya, T) by darcygall1985
Wait a Minute! (Spike/Buffy, Xander/Anya, T) by darcygall1985
Effulgent (Multifandom, Spike, T) by LonesomeOctober2
Dance of the Flowers (Angel/Buffy, T) by angelsummers

Snippet: Snippet from my Accidental Marriage WIP “Lawfully Wedded” (Spike/Buffy, T) by violettathepiratequeen

[Chaptered Fiction]

Love Bites (A Spike x Reader), Ch 1 (Spike/Reader, M) by spikeisrandy
The Problem with Angelus, Ch 8 (Angelus & Xander, Spike, Drusilla, T) by Desiree_2026
Something Borrowed, Ch 35 (Spike/Buffy, M) by Geliot99
Murphy’s Law, Ch 6 (Spike/Buffy, Giles, E) by Joan963z
Stand Beside Me, Ch 7 (Complete, Spike/Buffy, T) by darcygall1985
A New Big Bad, Ch 1 (Tara/Willow, T) by tinfoil_paint
The Wedding Date, Ch 3 (Giles/Buffy, E) by Mudblood88
You Make Slaying Fun, Ch 42 (Spike/Buffy, E) by cosplayermadness

Restructuring Reality [Series Part 3], Ch 26 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Ragini
Tabula Reviso, Ch 2 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Over The Rainbows
Something Borrowed, Ch 35 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99
Her, Ch 2 (Buffy/Spike, Dawn, G) by onlyone87
Borrowed skin, Ch 1 (Buffy/Spike, Giles, G) by Sorilkad
Wrong, Ch 14 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Kazfox
Murphy’s Law, Ch 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Joan963z
Lodestar, Ch 16 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only) by Pesseyer
Wild Thing, Ch 5 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen
The Dream, Ch 1 (Buffy/Spike, Adut Only) by Sparkles666

Something Borrowed, Ch 35 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99
Girl's Girl, Ch 15 (Complete, Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by LadyInQuest

[Images, Audio & Video]

Moodboard: Asexual Lorne Moodboard (Lorne, SFW [G]) by Kittenwritings
Art: gethan: plotbunnies, Ch 3 (Gethan, Jenny, SFW, [G]) by mohich

Art: ... she just went to get some more penis, Ch 2 (Spike, SFW [Rated R overall]) by flootzavut

Art: All We've Ever Done, Ch 1 (Complete, Spuffy, Xander, SFW [G]) by LadyInQuest
Art: ... she just went to get some more penis, Ch 2 (Spike, SFW [Rated R overall]) by flootzavut

GIFSet: BEST OF BTVS: Riley & Spike (SFW) by clarkgriffon
Fan Edit: Spike Edit (SFW) by likemmcookies
Art: Happy freak fhursday (Fuffy, SFW) by n1-adora-fan
Art: Spike’s just a nerd cosplaying as a bad boy. (SFW) by scxrlet64
GIFSet: ♫ What can’t we face if we’re together? ♫ BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997–2003) (Giles, Buffy, Tara, SFW) by aenslem

(Game) Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episode 7 - Mausoleum by Grazer The Autistic Gamer
Hellmouth Con 2026 Trip Vlog by Tyko
HellmouthCon - SFX Makeup BUFFY Panel Convention: Emma Caulfield, Doug Jones, James Leary | Torrance by Television of Nomads

[Reviews & Recaps]

EPISODE 5: NEVER KILL A BOY ON THE FIRST DATE by Boink Studios
(Audio) S3E2: Dead Man's Party — You Can't Just Bury Stuff by Alan O.W. Barnes
(Audio) 337 - Buffy Season 2 & "Becoming Part II" (Audio Commentary) by SCREAM with Ryan C. Showers
Buffy Season One Is A Loveable Mess - An Idiot's Retrospective by An Idiot Box
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reaction | S4 E20 | The Yoko Factor by Wacky Uncle Reacts

[Fandom Discussions]

I’m not over Anya’s weddding dress. by curiouslymyown
Wild West Fuffy AU by fictiongods
it makes zero sense to me that vampires in btvs always want to end the world. by prophecygirly
Anyway, I might be wrong but I think it’s at least plausible we have David Fury to thank for the mentions of Kendra’s old stake Mr Pointy after Season 2. by coraniaid
s4 finale of buffy is deadass the single greatest episode of television ever made. by manofmoth
I read a Buffy essay that details that since Cordelia is the girl and the past/childhood/girlhood Buffy yearns for but cannot return to and by s3 by themonstrousother
the meme “making breakfast for my beautiful wife / who tf is burning down my kitchen” by spiikesummers
And another thing about Buffy’s guilt over her relationship. by ohlioness
It still surprises me that soon after realising she’s invisible Buffy goes and has sex with Spike. by curiouslymyown

what are some things you would have loved to seen on the show? by TrickyRequirement619
If "Normal Again" was the finale, would you have liked it? by Temporary_Lychee9829
🧛🏻‍♀️ BTVS 606. All The Way 🧛🏻‍♀️ by tmcarlee
Buffy's looks from season four by milk_bunny_
charity shop find by honeyjarrss
Season 3 by Remarkable_Ad4518
this will forever be one of the best scenes in history! by moonwalkinglitter
What is your favorite episode? And if you could do a crossover, who would it be with? by HaughtyDiabolicalSal
This should have been the new ‘Buffy’ - this movie by Impressive-Candle-49
"Just another Tuesday night" by TheLazyPencil

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phys_breaking_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nasa-biocontainment-facility-moon-earth.html

A biocontainment facility designed to protect Earth from potentially hazardous biotic contaminants from space should be part of a planned NASA base on the moon, a policy paper maintains.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nasa-biocontainment-facility-moon-earth.html

adore

Moontime began today around 1 p.m. Perhaps this is the first time I'm posting twice on the same day?

I watched Freaky Friday for the first time and snacked on gorgon nuts.

So far it's a light bleed! That's a new precedent. Let's see, I'm hoping it stays that way.

Something I realised recently is that I can't talk or listen to conversation while eating, since if I'm distracted or not paying attention to my chewing I end up chewing the inside of my mouth 😭

Current Mood: chipper

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-strike-boat-pacific-9.7241346?cmp=rss

A cleanshaven blonde haired man in a suit and tie gestures while speaking at a long table, with another cleanshaven, darkhaired man beside him looking on.

The U.S. military attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing three people, as Donald Trump's administration wages its ongoing campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America, which has now killed well over 200 people.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-strike-boat-pacific-9.7241346?cmp=rss

phys_breaking_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-unhatched-eggs-chicken-gender-reveals.html

Scientists have demonstrated a noninvasive technique that uses light to reveal the hidden contents of chicken eggs, potentially helping to curb the meat industry's practice of killing billions of male chicks at birth. The study, published in Newton, found that when light enters an intact bird eggshell, it bounces back and forth many times, with photons traveling as far as 2 meters (6.6 feet) within a chicken egg's tiny, 4-centimeter (1.6-inch) interior.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-unhatched-eggs-chicken-gender-reveals.html

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

alicevangeline

I wanted to tell you guys some of the plot of Deltarune because it is so interesting - and there are different 'routes.' The 'weird route' is also known as Snowgrave. My kids have played this part but I haven't so I'm looking up the plot here

"You manipulate a frightened Noelle Holiday, forcing her to freeze enemies and isolating her from friends until she becomes powerful enough to cast the fatal Snowgrave spell. You relentlessly pressure Noelle to buy a deadly Freeze Ring. As the city darkens, she loses her sense of reality while being deeply terrified."

A lot of the time Noelle asks you, "are you sure?" and one of your dialogue options is PROCEED. You get other choices but to stay on the snowgrave route, you choose that.
Vendor doesn't want to sell you a ring (or you don't want to buy it) so you just say "GET IT" over and over
When you put on the Freeze Ring, I think it hurts, and you say PROCEED.

And when she has the option to freeze someone fatally, you say PROCEED.

-----

All this because a) it's interesting plot, and b) in my house, 'proceed' is a reference that is a LITTLE spooky, but in a jokey, Redrum sort of way.

So I find myself looking at the to-do list today and mumbling PROCEED at myself.

abyss_valkyrie posting in

perioddrama_ic

Welcome to challenge Ninety One. Make icons of characters that are blond(e).
Below are some examples to inspire you.

sietepecados

moriturism

aurora_amethyst mysteryof

magicrubbish

thesleepingbeauty

narnialover7

abyss_valkyrie

littlemissnovella

word_never_said

dindjarism on tumblr thepastelpinkdemon on tumblr

Deadline: 3rd July, 2026

Create up to 5 icons.
When posting, tag it with challenge 91: blond(e) & your username. Ask for a username tag if you don't have one.
Post the URLs of your icons.
Fandoms can include drama, movies, animation, historical, fantasy etc. that can be considered as a period piece.
Characters in modern shows dressed up in period clothing do not count unless they have time travelled to the past or are under any similar circumstances.
Icons submitted must be NEW and never posted before.
Icons MUST be 100px by 100px. Animation will only be allowed when included in a challenge.
Each fortnight a challenge post WILL be put up with a theme.
Participants will have TWO WEEKS to make and submit their icons.
Got any questions? Ask them below.

Don't forget to vote for Challenge Ninety: Masquerade here.

mildred_of_midgard

When I saw the stopwatch today, it was 10:03...but I hadn't pulled out my phone until I was finished running, and it also took me unusually long to fumble it out--it got caught on the edge of my pocket. So I'm going to say I was a bit faster than my previous 10:00, so maybe about 7.65 minutes/mile.

This is not so much my cardio getting better as my pep talks, aka my ability to torture myself. I pushed the pace so hard that when I was done, I didn't even go into a cooldown run--I looked around, saw a patch of grass, and collapsed on it. The fact that it was wet grass from the light drizzle seemed like a perfectly fine alternative to remaining upright one minute longer.

I lay there for about 6 minutes, then I got up and did my cooldown run for 1.3 miles. Which was interestingly close to my distance pace. I timed it at 9.5 minutes, but then I remembered I hadn't started the lap until a block or two later. So probably about 10-10.5 minutes/mile. And it felt incredibly slow and like a run/walk. Maybe I would be better at distance running now if I had the time!

Instead, I think I shall have to keep up the daily short runs. I have too many academic projects!

I'm honestly trying to decide whether I should go to Alaska for a long weekend in July, as I broached to my roommate, or stay home and work on my projects. Decisions, decisions.

ETA: Oh, knee was fine. Maybe a little sore before I started running, but loosened right up. Hamstring and lower glute were somewhat better; upper glutes on that side were tiiiight. I did some stretching last night that loosened the part that's been bothering me for over a year, and it had the opposite effect on the adjacent muscles. Oh, well!

phys_breaking_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-bullet-cluster-reopen-dark-debate.html

The Bullet Cluster has so far been considered evidence of the existence of dark matter. An international team of researchers has now analyzed new data and current images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). According to the team, the observations are also consistent with an alternative explanation that does not involve dark matter. If the latter is, in fact, present, it is likely to be in smaller quantities than postulated so far.

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-bullet-cluster-reopen-dark-debate.html

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Tales From the Riverbank

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