Reverse Benchmarking

Jun. 16th, 2025 12:42 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This video describes an instance of reverse benchmarking in restaurants.  Instead of trying to mimic what other people do well, identify what they do badly and do that  well. 


I routinely use this in my writing.  I look for things that other people do badly or not at all, then I write those things.  Also I never have the patience to wait around for 20 years while other folks work through the whole identity literature process.  New trait?  Trait-having hero!  Done.  This is how I wind up with things like An Army of One (neurodiverse characters making their own culture), The Bear Tunnels (Native American time travelers), The Moon Door (women with disabilities who become werewolves), The Ocracies (everything but monarchy), The Origami Mage and Path of the Paladins (ace heras), P.I.E. (a hera who doesn't fall for a jerk), Polychrome Heroics (superpowers that involve more than crime and crimefighting), and The Steamsmith (a black, genderqueer, British, steampunk engineer).  

Go ahead, throw me prompts for things that nobody is doing well, or doing at all, in any relevant prompt call.  We can fill that gap together.

Worldbuilding

Jun. 15th, 2025 11:32 pm
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How to Color Your Map Using SCIENCE!

Sketching out a map for a setting can be a lot of fun. Drawing a map gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world, a way to spatially organize plot arcs, and can be a great piece of artwork in its own right. But like most works of fiction, the creator should remember to keep it as believable as possible. This might be less important or less possible for unrecognizably alien worlds. Maps of Earth-like settings, however, can benefit from following some basic rules. Forests, tundras, deserts and plains don’t appear arbitrarily. These biomes are located where they are on Earth due to the way air and water circulate in the atmosphere – and any Earth-like world should follow the same basic rules for its atmosphere that Earth does.

But who wants to spend time researching atmospheric science just to know which parts of their map to color green, brown, or beige? Well, I do, so let me save you some trouble by relaying what I’ve learned
.

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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tonight we made grilled cheese with the pretzel bread that we bought recently at the Marshall Farmer's Market.  It turned out really well.  :D

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Today's Smoothie

Jun. 15th, 2025 11:09 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
about 1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh seedless watermelon chunks
about 2/3 cup frozen strawberries
1 teaspoon lime juice

The result is bright pink and on the thin side, with a notable watermelon flavor.  I think next time I'll add a frozen banana. 

Listen to "The Singing, Ringing Tree"

Jun. 15th, 2025 10:41 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This sculpture is made of pipes that sing when the wind blows over them.  It's weird to see one made out of metal.  I'm used to live ones that open their holes as a means of summoning their pollinators.

Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Late 2025

Jun. 15th, 2025 09:18 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Based on an audience poll, these are the Poetry Fishbowl themes for late 2025:

July 1 -- Weaponized Incompetence and Malicious Compliance
August 5 -- Books and Learning
September 2 -- Communication Styles
October 7 -- Witches and Wizards
November 4 -- Fairies and Fey
December 2 -- Sentient and Self-Aware Machines

Please mark your calendars, and I hope to see you then!

elyusion: (nerd)
[personal profile] elyusion
Four days ago I started a really long post reviewing (badly, because I am a bad reviewer and critic) things I've finished in the past few months because I felt like I should. The post started like this:
I really need to learn to just make posts as soon as the idea is in my head rather than hold on to them, so that I won't have to make posts like this and push other post ideas back. Procrastinating these long things that only get longer as I hold out sucks a little. I'm using a template for most of these because otherwise I won't write anything that makes sense or reads well, lol.
You see, because I procrastinated writing review posts I now had to write 8 in one. Except... no I didn't. I realized late last night I can make and post them a few at a time. I've already finished 6/8, but some of them are really long, and some were even truncated for the sake of not having a miles long post. If I separate them I can talk more. So here goes!
Legend of the Galactic Heroes )
Gokicha!! Cockroach Girls )
Grandia )

Read "Time Off"

Jun. 15th, 2025 05:56 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
"Time Off" by [personal profile] badly_knitted
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Summary: SG-1 have been given two days off, and Daniel doesn’t know what to do with himself.
A/N: Double drabble.


I have had exactly that kind of conversation. Also ones like:

Friend: "I just want to KILL something!"

Me: "I have a functionally endless supply of weeds. You are welcome to come massacre them."

Poem: "Fatherhood Is Support"

Jun. 15th, 2025 04:38 pm
ysabetwordsmith: (gift)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "support" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.  This is the last of that batch.  Check the Poem tag to see the others; it's a batch of 6 total, all with that red gift icon.  \o/


"Fatherhood Is Support"


Fatherhood is
more than just DNA,
more than just being
married to a mother.

Fatherhood is
about support.

It's a treetrunk leg
for a baby to cling to,
strong arms tossing
a toddler into the air.

It's a hand on the back
of the bicycle right after
the training wheels come off --
and knowing when to let go.

It's clapping at recitals,
at school plays, at all
of the sporting events
or other performances.

It's a calm voice from
the passenger seat
while learning to drive.

It's paying for college
and going to graduation.

It's the everyday words
that become an inner voice,
heard and remembered,
absorbed and echoed:

I knew you could do it.

Poem: "Born and Found and Made"

Jun. 15th, 2025 03:24 pm
ysabetwordsmith: (gift)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "found family" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.

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Poem: "The Way a River Is Made"

Jun. 15th, 2025 03:19 pm
ysabetwordsmith: (gift)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written as part of fishbowl week in July 2024, based on a conversation with [personal profile] a_natural_beauty. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.

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Read "A Change in a New World"

Jun. 15th, 2025 02:56 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Theme Prompt: #262 - Soulmates
Title: A Change In A New World
Fandom: Original (based on 'Trucks' by Stephen King)
Rating/Warnings: PG | Mechanophilia
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 699
Summary: Can man and machine be friends ?

Given the story and the header, I'm not sure what orientation to call this. Maybe queerplatonic or quasiromantic. In any case, it's not the usual sex/romance between two humans, and it is a very sweet relationship across species.

Birdfeeding

Jun. 15th, 2025 02:45 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny, mild, and humid.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- I finished building the chimney for the core of the new bonfire.

I heard a squirrel chattering in the trees but didn't see it.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- Out of 6 yellow wild indigo pots, 4 sprouted, 3 of them with 2 seedlings.  I planted these in the house yard under the contorta willow, apricot tree, golden rain tree, and barrel garden.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- Out of 6 blue wild indigo pots, 4 sprouted, some may have had 2 seedlings but it's hard to tell.  I planted these in the house yard under the maple tree, purple-and-white garden, and two ends of the log garden.  I've gotten plenty of seedlings from this species, but so far nothing has bloomed so I don't know if any actually survived in the ground.

The snowball bush is opening its pannicles.  :D  There are three heads.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the newly planted things.

Clover is already sprouting on the bare patch beside the garden shed.  Some of the chocolate cherry tomatoes have green fruit.

I've seen a skunk on the patio.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- I gathered a trolley of sticks and dumped it in the firepit.

I've seen a catbird and a mourning dove.

EDIT 6/15/25 -- I gathered a trolley of sticks and dumped it in the firepit.

Fireflies are coming out.  :D

EDIT 6/15/25 -- I gathered a trolley of sticks and dumped it in the firepit.

Lots more fireflies are showing up.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Happy Pride Month

Jun. 15th, 2025 01:21 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Pride Month Banner 
douqi: (zhongshan yao)
[personal profile] douqi posting in [community profile] baihe_media
I got this Taiwanese baihe space fantasy because I was already ordering a load of books from Taiwan anyway and thought I might as well take full advantage of having to pay the shipping fee. According to the cover copy and author's foreword, this is the first in a planned series of novels set in the same universe, and possibly involving the same characters.

In the Starsriver (月祈, pinyin: yue qi. The literal title translation is 'moon prayer'; In the Starsriver is the English title chosen by the author) is fundamentally a space fantasy f/f YA novel. The plotline is almost painfully simple: it's the story of space princess Cynthia, her space knight Leona, her space arranged marriage fiancée Flora (also a space princess, but the butch kind), and their joint coming-of-age. And there's not really a whole lot more to it than that.

very vague, almost homeopathic spoilers )

I read the print edition of the novel from Must Muster Publisher, a Taiwanese outfit that seems to specialise in lesbian literature.

Poem: "Strange Angels"

Jun. 15th, 2025 03:35 am
ysabetwordsmith: (gift)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "cape(d)" square in my 5-1-24 card for the Superhero Bingo fest. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.

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Poem: "Meant to Get Dirty"

Jun. 15th, 2025 03:14 am
ysabetwordsmith: (gift)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "lavender" square in my 2-1-24 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.

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Poem: "Where We All Meet"

Jun. 15th, 2025 03:01 am
ysabetwordsmith: (gift)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the Earth Day square in my 3-1-23 card for the March Is... fest. It is posted as a gift to Anthony Barrette for Father's Day.

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Yesterday we found patty pan squash, which I've been wanting to try. So today we made this. :D It turned out delicious.

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(吐血)

“It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.”

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