Dept. of Mice
Jan. 11th, 2026 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaffy_rNow and Forever?
I certainly hope not. And yet, when I got up this morning and started to clean the kitchen, I found mouse droppings. Yay. We figure we have to pull out the stove's lower drawer to access the floor and the wall behind it, since we're pretty sure the mice are getting into our place from the outside somewhere in that area.
I'd bet Bob that we'll find no baseboards behind the stove, but it's too obviously a bad bet. We're going to keep an eye on the kitchen counters near the stove for a day or so to see how bold the little buggers are. If it's little to no action, then we'll wait. But if we spot their leavings, then it's time to do the inspection. Which, of course, I'm not looking forward to, especially since we can't really use the foam barrier spray near the stove. Oven heat could end up releasing toxic or potentially toxic fumes, and so we're going to have to buy a whole lot more steel wool. It's going to be a mess.
*wanders away, grumbling*
I certainly hope not. And yet, when I got up this morning and started to clean the kitchen, I found mouse droppings. Yay. We figure we have to pull out the stove's lower drawer to access the floor and the wall behind it, since we're pretty sure the mice are getting into our place from the outside somewhere in that area.
I'd bet Bob that we'll find no baseboards behind the stove, but it's too obviously a bad bet. We're going to keep an eye on the kitchen counters near the stove for a day or so to see how bold the little buggers are. If it's little to no action, then we'll wait. But if we spot their leavings, then it's time to do the inspection. Which, of course, I'm not looking forward to, especially since we can't really use the foam barrier spray near the stove. Oven heat could end up releasing toxic or potentially toxic fumes, and so we're going to have to buy a whole lot more steel wool. It's going to be a mess.
*wanders away, grumbling*
Best of Icons nominations
Jan. 10th, 2026 09:39 pmsheliakBest of Icons is running their main event! Maker threads close tonight; nominations in existing threads run until the 15th the 18th. You don't have to be a maker to go to the threads and nominate five icons that you like for each maker (or for one favorite maker, or anything in between). After the 18th, there'll be polls to pick each maker's best/most popular icon.
I like seeing which of mine people pick, and getting a look at other makers' styles!
ICON NOMINATIONS - JOIN IN! | MY THREAD
I like seeing which of mine people pick, and getting a look at other makers' styles!
ICON NOMINATIONS - JOIN IN! | MY THREAD
Dept. of This and That
Jan. 9th, 2026 08:15 pmkaffy_rPills and Novels
There's nothing like getting up, grabbing the handful of pills you normally scarf down, and having one of the horse pill-sized vitamins get caught in your throat. There's that initial split second of "Oh, it'll go down when I swallow again" and then panic - and pain - as the damn thing doesn't go down.
Actually, painful doesn't even begin to describe it; agony is probably a better description. I kept trying to dissolve it with water, but it wasn't working. I was literally on my knees because of the pain. I woke up BB and between crying and gagging I managed to tell him what was wrong. He got up and did the Heimlich maneuver on me. It didn't shoot the pill out of my mouth, but it did move it just enough so that, about a minute later, I was able to cough, and the cough finally sent the thing stomach-ward.
Truly, for him to roll out of bed, bleary-eyed, and immediately know to do the maneuver, just reminds me that he is by far the most level-headed man I know.
As of tonight, my throat feels as if I've come down with something flu-like. I know my struggle to get the pill down my gullet caused some bleeding, since I had that coppery taste in my mouth that's unmistakable. With any luck, it will heal relatively quickly.
I'm never again taking all my morning pills at once. 😬
On the other hand, I finally put up the 19th and final chapter of "Gleaning Musutachi," the original novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo, of blessed memory, over on![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
originalkaffy_r . It's monumentally flawed, and wouldn't make it to anyone's slush pile, much less publication, but I didn't write it to get published. I wrote it because I wanted to complete something of novel length. I'm fond of the characters I created and, despite the flaws, the world I created pleases me. I also managed to keep the plot from completely disintegrating. Yay, me.
So pill pain, and something I could put up as a completed original novel. I love Fridays.
There's nothing like getting up, grabbing the handful of pills you normally scarf down, and having one of the horse pill-sized vitamins get caught in your throat. There's that initial split second of "Oh, it'll go down when I swallow again" and then panic - and pain - as the damn thing doesn't go down.
Actually, painful doesn't even begin to describe it; agony is probably a better description. I kept trying to dissolve it with water, but it wasn't working. I was literally on my knees because of the pain. I woke up BB and between crying and gagging I managed to tell him what was wrong. He got up and did the Heimlich maneuver on me. It didn't shoot the pill out of my mouth, but it did move it just enough so that, about a minute later, I was able to cough, and the cough finally sent the thing stomach-ward.
Truly, for him to roll out of bed, bleary-eyed, and immediately know to do the maneuver, just reminds me that he is by far the most level-headed man I know.
As of tonight, my throat feels as if I've come down with something flu-like. I know my struggle to get the pill down my gullet caused some bleeding, since I had that coppery taste in my mouth that's unmistakable. With any luck, it will heal relatively quickly.
I'm never again taking all my morning pills at once. 😬
On the other hand, I finally put up the 19th and final chapter of "Gleaning Musutachi," the original novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo, of blessed memory, over on
originalkaffy_r . It's monumentally flawed, and wouldn't make it to anyone's slush pile, much less publication, but I didn't write it to get published. I wrote it because I wanted to complete something of novel length. I'm fond of the characters I created and, despite the flaws, the world I created pleases me. I also managed to keep the plot from completely disintegrating. Yay, me. So pill pain, and something I could put up as a completed original novel. I love Fridays.
Dept. of Urge to Kill
Jan. 8th, 2026 07:26 pmkaffy_rStupidity and Mice
It's not the mice that are stupid. Well, they're not very bright, I know that, poor little buggers. I like them. I just don't like them in my home, something I posted about back before Christmas. Well, we had a new mouse adventure recently, one that ended with me wishing ill fortune to the complete fucking idiots who gut rehabbed our building back in 1999 or so, a few years before we bought our condo. Yep. They're the stupid ones, not mus musculus in general.
But let me not get ahead of myself. *clears throat*
One of the two mice we saw at the very beginning of the incursion escaped from Carter and ducked, we figured, into a small space between one side of our refrigerator and the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. We shone a flashlight in there, and saw what appeared to be the spot where he/she/they probably got into our place. So we figured we'd get the fridge out of the very small alcove it's been in for the past 22 or so years, then mouse-proof that area, either with steel wool or the fast-expanding, fast-hardening foam that works very well as a barricade against mice, possibly both. Not quite easy-peasy but fairly straightforward.
It's not the mice that are stupid. Well, they're not very bright, I know that, poor little buggers. I like them. I just don't like them in my home, something I posted about back before Christmas. Well, we had a new mouse adventure recently, one that ended with me wishing ill fortune to the complete fucking idiots who gut rehabbed our building back in 1999 or so, a few years before we bought our condo. Yep. They're the stupid ones, not mus musculus in general.
But let me not get ahead of myself. *clears throat*
One of the two mice we saw at the very beginning of the incursion escaped from Carter and ducked, we figured, into a small space between one side of our refrigerator and the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. We shone a flashlight in there, and saw what appeared to be the spot where he/she/they probably got into our place. So we figured we'd get the fridge out of the very small alcove it's been in for the past 22 or so years, then mouse-proof that area, either with steel wool or the fast-expanding, fast-hardening foam that works very well as a barricade against mice, possibly both. Not quite easy-peasy but fairly straightforward.
Ha. And I repeat, ha.
Tonight, Bob and I are recovering from hauling the fridge out of that alcove in order to do the proofing. We manhandled and half-inched the fridge out and viewed what no one has seen for decades. I knew it was going to be horrid back there, and it certainly was. But you know what made me want to hunt down the "rehabbers" (yes, they're snicker quotes, why do you ask?) and harm them?
The fact that they didn't think it was necessary to put baseboards behind the fridge.
There. were. no. baseboards.
What there were, were lots of were holes and cracks in the walls down near the floor (which was also exceedingly badly laid, we discovered, so there's that as well). I told BB we were lucky that we hadn't been snowed under by mice years ago. We put down the anti-mouse foam around where there should have been baseboards, and I did as much cleanup as I could stand while the foam hardened. I cleared out some gunk that might have been interfering with an air intake section of the fridge. Then I manhandled the fridge back into place and put the kitchen back to rights.
We've probably effectively mouse-proofed the kitchen (or at least I most devoutly hope so) and I suppose we can consider that a win.
But no baseboards. No. Fucking. Baseboards. Those guys deserve to be peed on by many, many, many mice. I certainly hope our mice can be aimed at them. Idiots.
Tonight, Bob and I are recovering from hauling the fridge out of that alcove in order to do the proofing. We manhandled and half-inched the fridge out and viewed what no one has seen for decades. I knew it was going to be horrid back there, and it certainly was. But you know what made me want to hunt down the "rehabbers" (yes, they're snicker quotes, why do you ask?) and harm them?
The fact that they didn't think it was necessary to put baseboards behind the fridge.
There. were. no. baseboards.
What there were, were lots of were holes and cracks in the walls down near the floor (which was also exceedingly badly laid, we discovered, so there's that as well). I told BB we were lucky that we hadn't been snowed under by mice years ago. We put down the anti-mouse foam around where there should have been baseboards, and I did as much cleanup as I could stand while the foam hardened. I cleared out some gunk that might have been interfering with an air intake section of the fridge. Then I manhandled the fridge back into place and put the kitchen back to rights.
We've probably effectively mouse-proofed the kitchen (or at least I most devoutly hope so) and I suppose we can consider that a win.
But no baseboards. No. Fucking. Baseboards. Those guys deserve to be peed on by many, many, many mice. I certainly hope our mice can be aimed at them. Idiots.
Dear Candymaker
Jan. 7th, 2026 10:56 pmsheliak(Pardon the dust, etc. This letter will include prompts copied from my signup and some new ones; I will not add new prompts after assignments go out after this IPH is picked up.)
I'm![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Sheliak on AO3 too.
Treats are always, always welcome! For this exchange, I'm requesting fic for all fandoms.
I'm a slow commenter, so please don't take the lack of a comment early on as an indication I hate what you made me!
( Navigation )
( DNWs )
( Likes )
( Crossover Fandom (Misc) )
( Crossover Fandom (Transformers x Transformers Shattered Glass) )
( Mystic Prince )
( Revolutionary Princess Eve )
( Sun Sword )
( Transformers (Skybound 2023) )
I'm
Treats are always, always welcome! For this exchange, I'm requesting fic for all fandoms.
I'm a slow commenter, so please don't take the lack of a comment early on as an indication I hate what you made me!
( Navigation )
( DNWs )
( Likes )
( Crossover Fandom (Misc) )
( Crossover Fandom (Transformers x Transformers Shattered Glass) )
( Mystic Prince )
( Revolutionary Princess Eve )
( Sun Sword )
( Transformers (Skybound 2023) )
Dept. of Music
Jan. 6th, 2026 11:11 amkaffy_rMusic Meme, Day 17
A song that reminds you of somebody:
When I first came to Chicago in 1981, I stayed with one of the friends I'd made when I attended Suncon, the 1977 world science fiction convention, and my very first convention. His name was Ed Sunden and he was overwhelming. He was awful and generous, outrageous and brilliant, manipulative and kind, and definitely sui generis. He loved music, and he loved introducing me to New Wave music that was definitely new to me - the Police and Elvis Costello among the groups he loved.
His way of introduction? He would tell me to sit down in the tiny living room of the basement apartment he shared with Joan, the woman who became his wife. Or rather, he would order me to sit down, and then he'd put on an LP, or power up a tape he'd recorded on his music system (primitive by today's standards, but incredibly impressive back in 1981.) Sometimes he'd play the same song twice, to make sure I understood the words.
All these years later, and 25 years after he died, it's Elvis Costello's songs that immediately bring Ed and that dim little apartment singing and shouting back into my mind.
I thought of sharing "Oliver's Army" with you, because it's one of the Costello songs that really hit me when I first heard it. Unfortunately, and despite the fact that Costello wrote the song as an anti-fascist tune, it uses at least two racist slurs that I'm uncomfortable listening to these days. He wrote it after being in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, and the Oliver he sang of was Oliver Cromwell, who invaded and conquered Ireland. British fascists have taken Cromwell as one of their own, so Costello's brutal parodying of fascism and how it sucks working class kids into a losing game in this song is close to perfection in terms of the written word. Still, the racial slurs, parodies though they are, made me nix this tune.
In its place, and most definitely one that still makes me think of Ed, is "Pump It Up." Enjoy, and if you want to know my previous answers, go to Day 17, and it will give you access to all the previous songs.
A song that reminds you of somebody:
When I first came to Chicago in 1981, I stayed with one of the friends I'd made when I attended Suncon, the 1977 world science fiction convention, and my very first convention. His name was Ed Sunden and he was overwhelming. He was awful and generous, outrageous and brilliant, manipulative and kind, and definitely sui generis. He loved music, and he loved introducing me to New Wave music that was definitely new to me - the Police and Elvis Costello among the groups he loved.
His way of introduction? He would tell me to sit down in the tiny living room of the basement apartment he shared with Joan, the woman who became his wife. Or rather, he would order me to sit down, and then he'd put on an LP, or power up a tape he'd recorded on his music system (primitive by today's standards, but incredibly impressive back in 1981.) Sometimes he'd play the same song twice, to make sure I understood the words.
All these years later, and 25 years after he died, it's Elvis Costello's songs that immediately bring Ed and that dim little apartment singing and shouting back into my mind.
I thought of sharing "Oliver's Army" with you, because it's one of the Costello songs that really hit me when I first heard it. Unfortunately, and despite the fact that Costello wrote the song as an anti-fascist tune, it uses at least two racist slurs that I'm uncomfortable listening to these days. He wrote it after being in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, and the Oliver he sang of was Oliver Cromwell, who invaded and conquered Ireland. British fascists have taken Cromwell as one of their own, so Costello's brutal parodying of fascism and how it sucks working class kids into a losing game in this song is close to perfection in terms of the written word. Still, the racial slurs, parodies though they are, made me nix this tune.
In its place, and most definitely one that still makes me think of Ed, is "Pump It Up." Enjoy, and if you want to know my previous answers, go to Day 17, and it will give you access to all the previous songs.
Dept. of Fluffy Bunnies
Jan. 3rd, 2026 09:45 pmkaffy_rIn an Effort to Palate Cleanse After Today ...
... it's the return of the Music Meme ...
... and it's Day 17.
A song about being 17:
Oh, was there ever going to be any other song?
Even though I first heard the song well after I left 17 behind, Janis Ian's song spoke to me in a general sense. I understood it, even though I hadn't suffered what she undoubtedly suffered during her own school days. I'd suffered smaller heartbreaks in high school, for the crime of being weird. Besides, her writing was beautiful. So of course, I loved it. Teenagers have it tough, y'all.
Years later, I learned she was a science fiction fan, and she wrote a song about that, and put it to the music for "At Seventeen." Here it is. (I don't know if it was written for SFWA, or for the Nebula Awards; Geri, if you're out there, can you tell me? It was the title of her rewritten song, "Welcome Home," which she repeats more than once in the lyrics, that hit me harder than "At Seventeen" ever did. That's what I felt when I discovered SFF fandom; I'd found a home.
Even later, I had the chance to listen to her live when she played a gig in Evanston. Afterwards, I spoke briefly to her about how much I loved that, especially the mention of Cordwainer Smith, one of my favorite weirdly beautiful writers. It turns out that she was also a Smith fan. That was as much a gift to me as "Welcome Home" was
If you want to see any of my earlier answers, visit Day 16 The links are at the bottom.
... it's the return of the Music Meme ...
... and it's Day 17.
A song about being 17:
Oh, was there ever going to be any other song?
Even though I first heard the song well after I left 17 behind, Janis Ian's song spoke to me in a general sense. I understood it, even though I hadn't suffered what she undoubtedly suffered during her own school days. I'd suffered smaller heartbreaks in high school, for the crime of being weird. Besides, her writing was beautiful. So of course, I loved it. Teenagers have it tough, y'all.
Years later, I learned she was a science fiction fan, and she wrote a song about that, and put it to the music for "At Seventeen." Here it is. (I don't know if it was written for SFWA, or for the Nebula Awards; Geri, if you're out there, can you tell me? It was the title of her rewritten song, "Welcome Home," which she repeats more than once in the lyrics, that hit me harder than "At Seventeen" ever did. That's what I felt when I discovered SFF fandom; I'd found a home.
Even later, I had the chance to listen to her live when she played a gig in Evanston. Afterwards, I spoke briefly to her about how much I loved that, especially the mention of Cordwainer Smith, one of my favorite weirdly beautiful writers. It turns out that she was also a Smith fan. That was as much a gift to me as "Welcome Home" was
If you want to see any of my earlier answers, visit Day 16 The links are at the bottom.
Dept. of Evil Shit
Jan. 3rd, 2026 11:54 amkaffy_rJesus Christ, Venezuela?
He's saying that the U.S. is going to run Venezuela.
Christ on a cracker.
I'd suspended our effort to request permanent residency for Bob. It was easy to live in limbo because neither of us wants to move. But now? It's back to work on the application.
He's saying that the U.S. is going to run Venezuela.
Christ on a cracker.
I'd suspended our effort to request permanent residency for Bob. It was easy to live in limbo because neither of us wants to move. But now? It's back to work on the application.
Snowflake Challenge 2026, Day 1
Jan. 3rd, 2026 11:57 am22degreehaloChallenge #1
The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.
Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.
So: Hi!!!!! I try to do Snowflake Challenge every year (I fully completed it in 2024 IIRC!!!) and at this point it's pretty much the only consistent time I post to this blog :') Which is a bit of a shame, but while I used to regularly write longer-form posts to tumblr, over the last year and a half or so I've been dealing with some pretty heavy fatigue and haven't really done that anymore. Or maybe it's just that I'm channelling all that writing energy into fic right now? I got into SVSSS last year and have been absolutely bursting with inspiration ever since <333
( Anyway!! As for what I plan to get out of this event... I'm not sure!!! )
The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.
Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.
So: Hi!!!!! I try to do Snowflake Challenge every year (I fully completed it in 2024 IIRC!!!) and at this point it's pretty much the only consistent time I post to this blog :') Which is a bit of a shame, but while I used to regularly write longer-form posts to tumblr, over the last year and a half or so I've been dealing with some pretty heavy fatigue and haven't really done that anymore. Or maybe it's just that I'm channelling all that writing energy into fic right now? I got into SVSSS last year and have been absolutely bursting with inspiration ever since <333
( Anyway!! As for what I plan to get out of this event... I'm not sure!!! )
Icons — Galaxy Princess Zorana
Jan. 1st, 2026 02:19 pmsheliakIf you're here for bestof_icons, icons 1-17 are from 2025. Icons 18-25 are from 2026, starting with the glass-punching.
( 15 icons )
bestof_icons, icons 1-17 are from 2025. Icons 18-25 are from 2026, starting with the glass-punching. ( 15 icons )
Icons — Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind
Dec. 31st, 2025 02:36 pmsheliakI've done all these images before; some actually pretty similarly, I just wanted to play with them again. (I did take the liberty of moving the lamp in the first one.)
