veryroundbird | Reading

Low-Earth orbit is just 2.8 days from disaster

Low-Earth orbit is more crowded—and fragile—than it looks. Satellites constantly weave past each other, burning fuel and making dozens of evasive maneuvers every year just to stay safe. A major solar storm could disable navigation and communications, turning that careful dance into chaos. According to new calculations, it may take just days—not decades—for a catastrophic chain reaction to begin, potentially choking off humanity’s access to space for generations.

Solar storms can have various effects and follow an 11-year cycle. We are currently around the maximum, hence the aurora displays over the last year or two.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The

crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Not Giving Up." Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration!

What I Have Written:

From My Prompts:

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Why have many societies begun to place such a high value on emotions and being emotional?

Everyone has feelings. Feelings can be intense. That makes it a good way to distract people from actions.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today I picked out what I wanted from Pinetree Garden Seeds.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ruby6661 posting in

baihe_media

Things I Didn't Know is the third novel I've read by Ning Yuan; I chose it because I wanted to go for a lesser-known one, after I've already read two of her most popular novels (The Creator's Grace and At Her Mercy). Things I Didn't Know seemed like a good choice, since I've never really seen any discussion about it and it was written right before At Her Mercy. It was also locked on JJWXC, which added to my curiosity.

The novel is an urban fantasy centered on You Xinnian, a hotel empire heiress, and her quest to find out who killed her. On her 24th birthday, her house was set on fire, leading to the death of both herself and her parents. You Xinnian kicks up a fuss in the underworld, demanding to go back and fulfill her last wish. A civil servant of the underworld ends up agreeing to let her go back (for reasons she isn't disclosing), but warns her that she only has two years and if their actions are discovered, both of them will be harshly punished. But due to a mishap, when You Xinnian wakes up in the body of a recently deceased woman, she can't remember the events leading up to her death, or what her last wish was. So, she has a change of plans: she decides to investigate her death so she can avenge herself and her parents. The suspects? Her two-faced friends, her younger twin siblings, and her seemingly loving and devoted girlfriend.

This mystery is the core of the novel, as You Xinnian tries to use her new identity to get close to the people she knew from her past life and find out if they had any involvement in her death. But she soon realizes that her death might not just be a normal murder, as she gets entangled with the powerful exorcist*, Fu Yuanyi.

*Exorcist might not be the best word for Fu Yuanyi, but I'm using it because a significant part of her clientele are people getting harassed by ghosts who need her help to get rid of them.

( Spoilers )

ysabetwordsmith

Our theme this month was "Books and Literacy." I wrote from 1 PM to 12 AM, so about 1 hours, accounting for breaks. I wrote 1 poem on Tuesday plus 10 later in the week.

Participation was up, with 10 comments on LiveJournal and another 29 on Dreamwidth. A total of 15 people sent prompts. You have new prompters

gs_silva,

ionelv, and Laura G to thank for the second freebie.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Books That Bite Back"
"The Evolution of Self-Publishing"
"Libraries from the Ashes"
"A Never Failing Spring"
"No Friend as Loyal"

"The Tranquility and Beauty of the Winter Landscape" (Polychrome Heroics: Rutledge, March 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl)

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from February 3. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include:

janetmiles,

fuzzyred, and Anthony Barrette. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 3 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The following poems from the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

A dinkus is a row of symbols, often asterisks, used as a section break in text.

Current Mood: busy

yourlibrarian posting in

common_nature

Spotted something last week with a sunset, it looked like a beam of light was coming up from the ground. Tried to zoom in on it to make it a little clearer but I think it was more noticeable in person.

( Read more... )

caffeinatedotter

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

enchantedsleeper posting in

small_fandoms

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: productive

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
手 part 20
拼, to put together/to spell; 拽, to drag; 拿, to take ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64

词汇
促进, to promote; 促使, to urge; 促销, (sales) promotion ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
虽然我没拿到资料，但是我拿到了那个东西, I didn't get the documents, but I got the thing
那里的气候条件与他们产生了奇妙的化学反应促使了这些地星人的基因同样产生了变异重组, the climatic conditions and the odd chemical reaction they produced promoted the similarly produced mutation in the Dixingren's genes

Me:
你喜欢拼图吗？
我不太相信促销的话。

ysabetwordsmith

Here are the location and content notes for "An Inkling of Things to Come."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

These are the character notes for "An Inkling of Things to Come."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Copied from LiveJournal.

This poem is spillover from the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

fuzzyred. It also fills the "someone from the past" square in my 8-1-25 card for the Crime Classics fest. This poem belongs to the College Arc of the Shiv thread in the Polychrome Heroics series.

This microfunded poem is being posted one verse at a time, as donations come in to cover them. The rate is $0.50/line, so $5 will reveal 10 new lines, and so forth. There is a permanent donation button on my profile page, or you can contact me for other arrangements. You can also ask me about the number of lines per verse, if you want to fund a certain number of verses.
So far sponsors include:

fuzzyred,

janetmiles.

FULLY FUNDED
628 lines, Buy It Now = $314
Amount donated = $263
Verses posted = 155 of 187
Amount remaining to fund fully = $52
Amount needed to fund next verse = $0.50
Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $3

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

sockshuppet posting in

fandomcalendar

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

ysabetwordsmith

Climate change in the US impacts each state differently

Their point is that climate change doesn’t just “shift” temperatures upward evenly. Sometimes the hottest days are getting hotter while the cold end barely moves.

In other places, winters are warming quickly, while summer extremes change less. And if you only watch the average, you can miss those differences.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith posting in

birdfeeding

Today is partly sunny and chilly.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/13/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/13/26 -- I spread a bucket of mulch where the contorta willow tree used to grow.

EDIT 2/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a flock of sparrows, a mourning dove, and a male cardinal.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Current Mood: busy

brumeier posting in

small_fandoms

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

smallhobbit posting in

small_fandoms

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

le_gaosaure posting in

small_fandoms

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

lassarina

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

scifirenegade posting in

small_fandoms

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

nanila posting in

awesomeers

It'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!

🌸

35/F, Chicago, writer/programmer/artist/rpg enthusiast/known gay/bird fan. she/they

sagitta luminis

Reading

Space Exploration

Creative Jam

Philosophical Questions: Emotions

Pinetree Garden Seeds Order

Things I Didn't Know (我不知道的事) by Ning Yuan (宁远): Review

Poetry Fishbowl Report for February 3, 2026

Unsold Poems for the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl

Vocabulary: Dinkus

Ice Fishing? + Sunset

Monologues: Henchfemme (IV)

Drabblethon: Regrets (I've Had a Few) (We Are Lady Parts)

第五年第三十四天

Location and content notes for "An Inkling of Things to Come"

Character notes for "An Inkling of Things to Come"

Poem: "An Inkling of Things to Come"

Pokémon: Perished Pidove Exchange 2026

Climate Change

Birdfeeding

Birdfeeding

Drabblethon: Making A (Haunted) House A Home, 2.13

Drabblethon: The Midnight Bell in Summer - Ernest Ralph Gorse

Drabblethon: Night comes. And comes. And comes. (Knock-Knock – Ice-Pick Lodge)

Final Fantasy Kiss Battle 2026!

Drabblethon: for no one is born wise (A Woman's Face)

Just One Thing (13 February 2025)

🌸

Links