P.O. wrote to ask for help in analyzing this phrase from season 2, episode 5 of The Crown:
They're stopping the palace evolve in keeping with the rest of the world.
The context is
I would recommend getting rid of an entire generation of courtier. The old school, stuck in the past. Ostriches with their heads buried in the sand. They're stopping the palace evolve in keeping with the rest of the world.
In this context, stopping means "not letting", and the phrasing "They're not letting the palace evolve" would have been unproblematic, even for an American like P.O.
There are other examples Out There of "stopping NP V" meaning "not letting NP V", for example:
[link] Pretty sure there was no way of stopping him leave at the time.
[link] Zay is reeling with the thought of being away from those he loves under the scrutiny from whatever, or whomever, it is that’s stopping them escape.
[link] Laugharne pushed hard in both halves, and managed to keep the Quins quiet in the second, stopping them score any more points whilst scoring 44 points.
I'll leave it to our UK readers to explain what the regional, temporal, and sociological associations of this construction are.
In May I took a great trip with friends through Oregon and we ended in California. The timing for the trip, however, was to coincide with the memorial service for my oldest friend's mother.
As she is my oldest friend, I knew her parents the best of all my friends' parents because of the stretch of time over which we saw one another (and she lived just a few doors down from me). I was not close to them but they were always kind to me, and it's interesting how it's the kindness that lingers. ( Read more... )
This is the plaque that marks where the tollhouse once stood on the Wribbenhall (eastern) end of Bewdley Bridge. It was designed by Thomas Telford, as was the bridge itself, and built in the last years of the 18th century. Modernisation works in 1960 saw it demolished, despite a fairly energetic campaign by Bewdley Civic Society; the society put up this plaque and shaped paving in 2002. The only decent photo I can find of the tollhouse before its demolition is on this Facebook page, which should be visible without an account. (I haven't got one, after all!)
Guardian: 我们办事从来都不考虑值不值, we never consider whether what we do is worth it or not 最近龙城暗潮涌动地星人一个个在我们地盘撒野, lately a lot of Dixingren have been acting out on our territory under the surface
Our solar system has eight major planets, nine if you believe that Pluto Was Wronged. It also has literally thousands of minor planets, which are also colloquially known as asteroids, many of which reside in the “asteroid belt” between Jupiter and Mars. I learned some time ago that the International Astronomical Union, through its Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature, will give some of these minor planets, usually designated by number, an actual name. What kinds of names? Sometimes of geographical locations, sometimes of observatories, sometimes of fictional characters like Spock or Sherlock Holmes, sometimes of scientists (or their family members), and sometimes, just sometimes, they’re named after science fiction authors.
This little space potato is a Main Belt Asteroid whose orbit is comfortably between Jupiter and Mars, has a diameter of about 10.7 kilometers, and has a “year” of about 5 years, 8 months and 10 days. If I start the clock on a ScalziYear today, it’ll be New ScalziYear’s Day on September 22, 2031. Plan ahead! If you want to look for Johnscalzi, the link above will tell you where it is, more or less, on any given day, but at 10km across and an absolute magnitude of 12.19 (i.e., really really really dim), don’t expect to find it in your binoculars or home telescope. Just know that it there, cruising along in space, doing its little space potato-y thing.
How do I feel about this? My dudes, dudettes and dudeites, I am so unbelievably stoked about this I can’t even tell you. It’s not an exaggeration to say this was something of a life goal, but not a goal that was in my control in any significant way. I suppose it might be possible to buy one’s way into having an asteroid named for you, but I don’t know how to do that, and I wouldn’t even if I did. How much cooler to be tapped on the shoulder by the International Astronomical Union, and to be told, here is a space potato with your name. I can die happier now than I could have a day ago. To be clear, I don’t plan to die anytime soon. But when I do, if they’re shooting remains into space that point, now they will have a place to aim me at.
These guys are not (yet?) on Bandcamp; OTOH, the runner-up (I Wish, by Battle Beast) is up there.
prompts under the cut
a song you discovered this month a song that makes you smile a song that makes you cry a song that you know all the lyrics of a song that proves that you have good taste a song title that is in all lowercase a song title that is in all uppercase an underrated song a song that has three words a song from your childhood a song that reminds you of summertime a song that you feel nostalgic to the first song that plays on shuffle a song that someone showed you a song from a movie soundtrack a song from a television soundtrack a song about being 17 a song that reminds you of somebody a song to drive to a song with a number in the title a song that you listen to at 3am in the morning a song with a long title a song with a color in the title a song that gets stuck in your head a song in a different language a song that helps you fall asleep at night a song that describes how you feel right now a song that you used to hate but love today a song that you downloaded a song that you want to share
In exciting news, I'll be speaking at a wonderful evening at the Abbey Museum of Art & Archaeology in April on Medieval Clothing: Dress Accessories, which will feature wine and charcuterie, my talk with close up images on a large screen of artifacts and research about the workmanship of dress accessories and a selection of high end reproductions and 14th century artifacts.
The artifacts and reproductions will be part of a white glove experience, where guests may carefully hold the artifacts in their own hands for a truly wonderful learning opportunity.
This week I'm gathering images and putting notes together which will form the basis of the presentation, but already I'm so excited to be sharing this! Many people have the idea that workmanship in the middle ages was rough and shoddy and I'm here to say it just isn't true!
Question: How many Democrats are pro-Maduro? Reply: Zero.
Back in my uni days, I took a class in cognitive science that was one of my favorite courses. One of the many, many things we talked about in class was the difference between abstract thinkers and concrete thinkers.
This difference appears to be architectural, a consequence of how your brain is wired, not a matter of choice or education.
Concrete thinkers see the world in strict black and white terms. They have difficulty drawing indirect connections between things, struggle to see multiple perspectives, and tend to hold an all or nothing, with-us-or-against-us mentality.
Abstract thinkers understand complex associations, can understand multiple perspectives at the same time, and can see second and third order relationships between things.
And crucially, abstract thinkers can understand concrete thought patterns, but generally speaking, concrete thinkers seem physically incapable of understanding abstract thought patterns.
So here’s the thing:
Abstract thinkers are capable of grasping multiple ideas at once. Like, “Maduro is an illegitimate totalitarian ruler with an authoritarian bent who presided over an illegitimate government” and also “a unilateral move to depose Maduro is illegal under international treaties and morally wrong.”
Concrete thinkers be all like “you’re either good or your bad, and if you’re bad you deserve anything bad that happens to you, anyone who says Maduro shouldn’t have been kidnapped must live and support Maduro.”
Abstract thinkers be like “no, you can believe a person is bad and also believe that breaking the law to kidnap that person is bad too, both of those things can be true at the same time.”
Very interesting, I wish we had classes available here on such a topic. I'm not sure how much I agree with it being a structural thing vs an education thing, I'd want to see some information on that, I'd be open to discussion.
I can certainly see where some conservative people whom I know/knew had problems with abstract thinking. I think I would hazard to say that concrete thinkers might be more easily persuaded by ideologues since they would be more likely to present their arguments and ideas in more concrete 'for or against' terms with straw man arguments that appear harder to refute.
Personally I've never had problems to easily see and argue multiple sides of an argument. When I first started working here at the university, around 20 years ago in the computer lab, we had one guy who had a degree in philosophy, and we had a security guard who was an ex-cop and a former preacher, and another who just liked discussing things in a lively fashion. And we had these informal round tables where we'd argue the issues of the day, going around and round, picking up and discarding different viewpoints. It was tremendous fun. But it only lasted about a year before I left and the group broke apart.
I know I definitely prefer to associate more with abstract thinkers, they're much more fun to talk and argue (more in a discuss way, not combative ) things with.
In yesterday's poll, third person limited was the most popular POV for writing by far - 89% of respondents like it, whereas only 32% like to write in first person and/or third person omniscient. For reading, there's much less of a gap - 79% like to read third person limited, 68% third person omniscient, and 53% first person. In both polls, second person is by far the least popular with only 16%.
Interestingly, most people have the same POV preferences for fanfic and original fic when reading (63%) or writing (53%)!
And 89% of respondents would like a story from a tickybox's POV. :D
For me, I'm not fond of second person in reading - I've come across no more than a handful of stories I actually liked, and I can't put my finger on what made those ones work for me when others didn't. So I've never tried to write it myself.
With first person, I like it much more in original fiction than in fanfic - unless it's epistolary fic or something like that, or the canon is already in first person. IMO it's already difficult to write first person well in general, to get a character's voice that consistently right in such a close way that it really feels like the character's voice telling the story. But in fanfic, to me first person makes it much more obvious when the author's view of the character's interiority differs from mine, so it often doesn't work for me for that reason.
I've written a bunch of first person stories, almost all for Sherlock Holmes and adjacent fandoms (out of 10 works, seven are in first person) - though not BBC Sherlock; as a TV canon, that's firmly in third person territory for me. *g* And I've tried omniscient POV once (The Finality Problem, Study in Emerald), which was a lot of fun. But the vast majority of what I read and write is limited third person. I really should experiment with POV more!
Tarik visits Ratthi on Preservation Station and offers compensation for room and board. Ratthi doesn't want what he's offering as payment, he only wants it freely given.
I came down with a rotten cold immediately after new year’s and spent a solid week fighting for my life and mostly just rotting in a chair. it wasn’t totally wasted, i gave myself over to the gay hockey psychosis and learned some things about myself, and that was fun. so it was okay.
but i have had absolutely no ability to focus ever since then. i keep getting stuck scrolling things, stuck sitting places that are uncomfortable and i can’t make myself get up, stuck not doing things, stuck unable to even conceive of what i need to do in order to make my life better, etc.
so that’s been incredibly annoying. dude has been fine just sort of picking up pieces and keeping life going, which is great, and we’ve been mostly eating and i’ve managed like, basic hygeine and the laundry sometimes. but i’m tired of it.
i dug through the meds i tried all last year and i’m giving vyvanse another shot. therapy broke my minimal ability to make to-do lists so i’m not eager to hop back into that, but at least i’m going to try to half-ass-pomodoro myself through some basic house tasks today, using brainrotting in the fic doc as my intermittent rewards.
so far i’ve swept the kitchen floor, done the dishes and cleaned the kitchen counters, taken out the recycling, gotten dressed, and put away some laundry, so. it’s not nothing.
but it’s not much either so. mostly, as i remember, vyvanse makes me overheated and thirsty, but i can handle that on a bleak january day.
that shitpost fic i splurted out in two days is getting lovingly crafted into a masterpiece of css by the way. i have no idea when it will be ready to be posted but @sassaffrassa is making it into art, which is an honor it perhaps doesn’t deserve. so i also have that to tide me over, i go and look at the draft in a tab on my phone whenever i feel real shitty about doing nothing. maybe i am doing nothing, but some of my delerium is funny sometimes.
It’s been a little bit since I looked at a good ol’ licensed Game Boy Advance game. I like looking at these games given how they tend to be short experiences—perfect for an otherwise uneventful afternoon.
Anyway, we have a tie-in game for the movie “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”, which gave us the cartoon series “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius” that was one of the major cartoons represented in the Nicktoons Unite game series. So how does our Jimbo fare in one of his first video game appearances?
That feeling when you’re reading a cnovel that’s actively being translated and you’ve caught up to the most recent chapter and you almost can’t bear to read it
it’s so good! and we’re only about halfway! though maybe if there are lots of extras like the first novel we’re closer to the narrative climax of at least this arc? but who knows
This is a long one, and I'm actually in a big hurry! So I'll summarize. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll try to avoid this as often as I can.
Ren, on his way home from university, stops by Liquor Warehouse where Maurice works, and waits outside. He's worried about the 'pizza date' he made with Alex. Ren suspects that Alex really likes him. He asks Maurice's advice, but Maurice only encourages Ren to ditch Alex.
Ren asks Maurice to come along, but Maurice has band rehearsal. They've made it home by now, and are walking up the stairs. Ren wonders if Cathy can come instead. "Cathy's not gonna want to hang out with some random gay kid," Maurice states, just as they reach Owen and Seth's landing. Owen comes out to greet them, with Cathy, who invites them to come in! And listen to some techno!
***
Adding LGBTQ+ development is a little bit of a balance, because these characters have to face sexuality in a variety of contexts - their own and each other's. Christine is now openly bisexual (sort of; she had to start over now that she's started med school in a new city, but that city is Boston, so she'll do well), Ella is beginning to embrace being an ACE lesbian (although it wasn't called that in 1990), Jon accepted Ella's sexuality before Ella did, and now we have the ravers to challenge my last two stick-in-the-muds. Realistically, Ren and Maurice are more likely to double down on the homophobia - it doesn't gain them much in society to be openly accepting, except for all of their friendships.
That's kind of a big thing.
So, yeah, into the sexual/gender identity melting pot they go!
Cathy has it easy. She's the only one who is intentionally progressive. She grew up in the Fine Arts community in Lyon, and she's known about LGBTQ+ pretty much all her life. She was definitely one of the earliest kids who got sat down by her parents and had explained to her, "Guillaume and Jacques are a couple. They're like a husband and wife, but instead, they are two boys. Boys can love boys and girls can love girls. Now go play."
We've reached the end of scheduled themes for the Poetry Fishbowl project. It's time to brainstorm some new themes! If you have ideas, comment under the theme call post in my blog.
Kat Spada: Today, I’m talking to Rachel Manija Brown, a writer who’s published over 30 books, and opened up Paper & Clay Bookshop in late 2024. Rachel, will you tell me about why you decided to open a bookshop?
Rachel Brown: I had never intended to open a bookshop. I always thought it was one of those idle daydreams that people who love reading and books have. I never planned to actually do it because I didn’t think it would be successful—they frequently go out of business. But after I moved to Crestline, which is a very small town in the California mountains, the little town did not have a bookshop.
It had a shop that was kind of a bookshop. I would say about ten percent of its inventory was books, but it was primarily gifts and herbs and crystals and things like that. But it had a really great atmosphere, people loved it, the people who worked there were really great. And all the kids in town used to hang out there, especially the queer and trans and otherwise kind of misfit kids. And I used to hang out there.
[When it went] out of business, I was so sad at the idea of the mountain losing its only bookshop. Especially the thought that all the queer, trans, bookish, and otherwise misfit teenagers, like I had once been, were going to lose their safe space.
I started daydreaming about opening it myself, and I thought, I love this idea so much, maybe in a couple of years when I have actual preparation, I’ll open a bookshop. Then I realized it was at was such a good location, that I would never get that good of a location again. It’s smack in the middle of the tourist district, every person who visits Crestline walks right past it.
Unfortunately, this was all while I was in Bulgaria for a month. So, I spent some time frantically trying to take over the lease, which was extremely difficult from another country. I couldn’t take possession of the shop until November 1st, and I really wanted to open it in time to get all the Christmas customers. And I have a tiny house, so I couldn’t really buy very much, because I had no place to put it. So I took possession of the shop on November 1st, and I opened on November 14th.
I've posted the rest of the edited transcript below the cut. ( Read more... )
Sens could easily have a large chunk of the fastest growing demographic in hockey fall in their lap. Just, a giant pile of money fall in their laps, and they are working hard to make sure it doesn't happen.
The Sens, on top of everything else, signed a famous homophobe this morning. As a goalie, even!
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