magid

The ornaments my mom sent home with me had more than doubled my total ornaments here, and we already had more here than we could or wanted to hang. So this year, I did a Big Sort, splitting them up between the ones we definitely wanted to hang (now on the tree) and ones we could pack away in long-term storage and not even get out next year. (There also ended up being a third category that we weren't hanging this year but that we weren't quite ready to exile.) Both kids double-checked a couple of times that I absolutely wasn't going to get rid of anything, just keep them safely somewhere where we wouldn't have to dig through them looking for the ones we wanted. So it's not really disadventure, but at least I won't have to deal with them every year.

(I genuinely do not mind keeping all my kids' less-loved ornaments indefinitely, even the Harry Potter ones, or the cheap Olaf who is turning yellow. That's their childhood, who knows where their nostalgia will vest. When we divided things up last year my mom was pretty upset by the idea that I didn't want every single one of *my* childhood ornaments, including ones I couldn't personally remember ever seeing before, or some ugly cheap plastic things I wouldn't mind never seeing again. So there's one whole box of the long-term storage that I will ~~someday accidentally lose in a move~~ someday open, double-check for late-forming nostalgia, and then ask the kids for permission to cull, I guess?)

stonepicnicking_okapi

I am having a bit of relapse. Maybe I got a bit too energetic yesterday when I was feeling good. Please send all the positive vibes for me tomorrow to make it through my special shift tomorrow. I have a new blouse and new shoes and stuff for my hair and EYELASHES! ha, ha, ha. I'm unstoppable!

I was worried my brain was scrambled today so I did a micro puzzle. It is 150 pieces and 4 x 6 inches total. I was able to do it in one sitting so I think my brain is safe.

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/merlins-tomb

Merlin's Tomb in the forest of Brocéliande

The enchanted forest of Brocéliande is recurrently featured in numerous medieval texts of Arthurian legends, although its location is uncertain. Today, Paimpont Forest in Brittany, France, is considered the most probable contender for it, commonly referred to in French as Forêt de Brocéliande (Brocéliande Forest).

The tradition of this association goes all the way back to the 13th century, around which time the locals called the forest Brocélien or Brec'Helean. Since the 19th century, it has been a tourist site among followers of Neo-Druidism and fans of Arthurian legend.

In the myths, the forest of Brocéliande was a mysterious place full of fairies and magic. Deep within these woods is the Vale of No Return, domain of the notorious sorceress Morgan le Fay where she entrapped a myriad knights until they were rescued by Sir Lancelot. Here it is also said that Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, tricked Merlin into a magical, deathlike sleep that lasts to this day. There are many different versions of the legend of Merlin's end, but one of the most prominent ones is that Viviane trapped Merlin in a grave to hold him for all eternity.

Research conducted in the late 1800s identified the northeastern part of the Brocéliande Forest as the site of Merlin's demise. When researchers came upon a neolithic gallery grave in this area of the forest, they claimed it as the place where Merlin is trapped. The site consists of three large stone slabs placed together, with a circle of stones surrounding it, and has been there for thousands of years. Whether or not the mythical wizard is really trapped underneath the stones, the history and folklore of the place give Merlin's Tomb a magical feel. Today, visitors often leave notes to Merlin in between the stones, hoping that he will grant the wishes written upon them.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/merlins-tomb

musesfool

So I may have been a little...over ambitious in purchasing eggs and butter and expecting it all to fit into my tiny apartment-size fridge. I did get all of it in there, but there was literally no room to let orange rolls rise overnight so I knocked that off the list. Maybe I will do them for New Year's morning instead.

I also had an unfortunate start to the fig cookies. I made the filling yesterday and I might have put too much cocoa in as I thought it was the bottom of the container so I just dumped it in and well, there was more than I expected in there. *hands* It's fine. Then when I made the dough earlier, it smelled weird. I think maybe the Crisco had gone off? Idk, but I threw out what I'd made and did it again with the newly opened can of Crisco and it smelled correct, so I didn't really get to make cookies this afternoon as planned, but I might make some after dinner, which is how we did it when I was a kid - every night for the 2 weeks before Christmas we were in the kitchen making fig cookies.

I did marinate the pork country ribs last night and they are now in the oven roasting, so that at least is on track.

I also watched Wake Up Dead Man yesterday, and I liked but didn't love it? I'm not sure why? ( spoilers )

This is a long essay about the movie (spoilers, obvs) that goes much deeper into it: Entirely Too Many Thoughts About Wake Up Dead Man by Leah Schnelbach.

Oh, the timer just went off so I have to take the ribs out of the oven, so I guess I'll just hit post!

***

( 6-day plan, day 2 )

***

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Eagles vs Commanders on tv

swaldman

I'm on holiday! In Madeira. It's not technically my first time here, but the first time was more than twenty years ago off a cruise ship. So functionally it is. I get occasional flashes of familiarity that tell me when I visited a place back then, but really it's all new.

Yesterday I did lots of walking and visited a 500-year-old convent, with a lot of impressive tiles and beautiful ceilings.
Today I took two cable cars to visit two different gardens on two different mountains. And also did a lot of walking, much of which was Up.

The gardens were a touch disappointing, and at this time of year mostly felt like tourist traps. Things might be different in summer, and it is certainly unfair to judge a garden by how it looks in December. But I didn't mind, because I was enjoying being out and about at altitude, with views and nice air. I also love travelling by cable car. It's not necessary nowadays - all of the places I went have road access - but it's smooth and calm and quiet, and by looking down you get a fascinating insight into bits of the town you'd never normally see.

One thing that struck me is that Madeira's roads are a marvel of engineering and, I suspect, EU money, thanks to the challenging topography... but beyond this, the infrastructure is incredibly three-dimensional. Dual carriageways will zip across the city, passing over valley roads to enter tunnels only a few metres under somebody's house. I'm almost sure there are roads in tunnels that pass over each other. One of the cable cars I took today passed under a power line. I admire the intricacy and the 3D thinking, and I am in awe at its construction.

I'm here to wind down and not feel pressured to do anything. That's nice, but of course it's going to need a lot more than a few days of that to make more than a short term difference.

Current Location: Funchal

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-farm-at-prophetstown

Farm equipment

After walking the beautiful grounds at The Farm, you will see what life was like on a 1920s farm. Amazingly, there were no televisions, recliners, computers, electric washing machines, gas lawn mowers, microwaves, rechargeable battery-operated weed whackers, or Internet. Why, there wasn’t even an air fryer! How those folks survived is a mystery.

A visit to The Farm inside Prophetstown State Park offers a glimpse into what farm life was like in the 1920s on these exceptional grounds. Among the many highlights are:

The I. Floyd Garrott Tenant House — an original “Hampton”, 1920's model kit home from Sears & Roebuck that was moved to The Farm in 2004. A tenant house was where a farm tenant might have lived with an agreement to work the land for the farm owner.
The Gibson House — a replica of a 1920's “Hillrose” Sears model kit home that was built in 2000. The “Hillrose” featured three floors, including a basement. The house at The Farm has been updated to include an elevator for accessibility.
1920s-era livestock, including horses, various chicken breeds, turkeys, cattle, sheep, hogs, and many others.
Farm-to-table five-course dinners, offered several times a year. These take place in the Gibson House and are served on antique china.
Farm buildings such as a machine shed, barn, windmill, milk house, corn crib and blacksmith shop.

On this working farm, all of these buildings and areas are available to explore as part of a self-guided tour. A visit here is a wonderful trip back in time that can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace or as a school outing.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-farm-at-prophetstown

andrewducker

Someone set up a bot to process a year's worth of Hacker News submissions/comments and generate an amusing summary, complete with a personalised XKCD. And, frankly, it did a great job.

"The Legacy Defender General"

A seasoned architect who spends their days patrolling the wall between actual engineering and unsustainable AI hype while desperately trying to keep their Windows 10 box alive until the heat death of the universe.
You are the only person on the internet who still remembers what a build script does and why we shouldn't let LLMs touch them without adult supervision.

Roasts

🔥 You have the energy of a man who would rather spend four hours debugging a custom Git hook than thirty seconds clicking a button in a GUI.

🔥 Your posting history is just a very long, very polite scream into the void about how AI is basically just Accenture in a trench coat.

🔥 I haven't seen someone this committed to public transport and vertical taskbars since the last time a Linux kernel developer got stuck in an elevator.

Predictions 2026

🔮 The Great Migration - You will finally buy a Steam Cube after your Windows 10 machine starts emitting a high-pitched whistle every time you open a browser tab.

🔮 AI Realization - You'll post a 4,000-word manifesto titled 'I Told You So' after an LLM successfully deletes a production database using a build script it 'hallucinated' was optimized.

🔮 Local Hero - You will be appointed the unofficial 'Minister of Trams' for Edinburgh after submitting your 100th link about geoblocking and public transport network maps.

🔮 Rust Awakening - You will successfully convince a junior developer that Rust is 'woke' but only because it respects the personal space of memory addresses.

(If you're on HN, and the site hasn't been melted down from demand yet, you can get your own here.)

yomikoma

Catching DW up on my watercolor adventures - see https://suberic.net/~dmm/graphics/watercolor/watercolor.html and https://suberic.net/~dmm/graphics/unotarot/unotarot.html for more details.

( Cut for size: a street scene and an uno/tarot card. )

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/darcy-ribeiro-memorial-beijodromo-the-kissing-hall

An aerial shot of the Kissing Hall

Starting with its architecture full of symbolism, the Beijódromo stands out for its striking circular design resembling a flying saucer; an expression of Darcy Ribeiro’s wish for a space that united memory, social life, and culture. Darcy, a renowned Brazilian anthropologist, envisioned what became known as the Darcy Ribeiro Memorial, affectionately nicknamed the Beijódromo.

The building’s external form features circular, axial lines—almost like a “disc” or “UFO” in appearance, with a central raised dome that allows zenithal light to flood the space. It is surrounded by a reflecting pool filled with Victoria amazonica water lilies, shallow waters and aquatic plants that reinforce the atmosphere of contemplation and give the impression that the structure floats above the surface.

Its design also emphasizes natural ventilation. At its core lies a spacious hall illuminated by a skylight, where narrow upper slits filter soft, indirect light. The space includes a large social area, a restaurant, several classrooms, an auditorium, and a library. Its flowing architecture invites movement, dialogue, and coexistence.

The name Beijódromo (“Kissing Hall”) was coined by Darcy Ribeiro himself to evoke romance, social encounters, and musical serenades. Sadly, he passed away before the Beijódromo was completed.

A beautiful spot for photography, cultural visits, lunch, or simply for wandering aimlessly through the green expanses of the University of Brasília.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/darcy-ribeiro-memorial-beijodromo-the-kissing-hall

thistleingrey

Previously: 2014, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. This has really become a few fragments, and oh yeah, I could post about video games a bit---the full version of the meme doesn't suit me.

1. What did you do in 2025 that you'd never done before?
( Read more... )

snickfic

This is the year-end category where I'm least likely to want to change my answers in the next week and a half, lol, so here we go.

Favorite new songs/albums of the year
- Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 by Lord Huron. Great vibes, a great progression, only one skip (“Digging Up the Past”). Dreamy and sad, suffused with existential horror, just weird enough both lyrically and musically. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from the new album, but this was exactly it. “Who Laughs Last” is probably my song of the year.

- Mayhem by Lady Gaga. When you're sixteen years into your career and can make a banger album like that this fits right in with your classics!!! The first six or seven songs in particular are an amazing run. “Perfect Celebrity” is probably my favorite, but it’s hard to choose.

- All the live tracks from the Oasis tour. I think this is the first officially released live version of Bring It On Down ever, and Wonderwall is the best live version since… idk, the one from Knebworth 1996 maybe? Or maybe ever? And this live version of Slide Away has finally brought me around on that song. Incredible stuff. (Full live tour album when???)

- "Van Horn" by Saint Motel. One of those songs I didn't really appreciate until I heard it live. Great fun. Also a couple of songs off their new album from the spring (as opposed to their new album for the fall).

- New Candys, which I stumbled across on Bandcamp. I got hooked on their single "Regicide", and the accompanying album The Uncanny Extravaganza is ideal "drowning out external noise" work music.

- All That We Imagine Is the Light, the new Garbage album. Some of the writing is a little dodgy, honestly, but the vibe is great. No Gods No Masters is still my favorite, though.

Disappointments
- I wish I liked Miley's new album more than I do. The tracks I like best are mostly her doing Lady Gaga, and that's not really what I go to Miley for.

- I discovered Dorothy Martin of the band Dorothy has gone full born-again Christian and is now giving interviews about spiritual warfare and the like. Bummer. We'll always have ROCKISDEAD, I guess.

Favorite new-to-me songs/albums
- This year I got really into the Monnow Valley and Sawmills versions of Definitely Maybe, which were released for the 30th anniversary last year. In some ways I like them better than the official album, or at least they've made me appreciate the official album more. Sad Song with young Liam on vocals is incredible, and I’m sad the official version left out that great electric guitar (bass?) hook.

- At the beginning of the year I had a month or so of listening almost exclusively to Doechii (mostly Alligator Bites Never Heal) and GloRilla (mostly Glorious and Anyways, Life's Great). Good times. TGIF is an all-timer.

Stuff I was really into for a hot minute and/or that I want to explore further
- Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo through their collab album In the Earth Again. I love the contrast of the menacing electric guitars and Pedigo's contemplative, melancholy acoustic.

- Ethel Cain, maybe? Or maybe I just like “Tempest” a lot.

- The singles from Charli XCX’s upcoming Wuthering Heights-themed album. Brat didn’t do anything for me, but these are very much my jam. I love when a pop artist goes weird, like she does on “House.” My most anticipated release of 2026.

- That new Rosalia album. I think I need to spend more time with it to fully appreciate it. “Berghain” is a hell of a track, though.

- Jonah Kagen, mostly that single “God Needs the Devil,” which is exactly the kind of rootsy bitterness I like sometimes. However, his full album later in the year gave me bad politics vibes, always a hazard with Americana and country artists, so I don’t know that I’ll explore him further.

Some other favorite tracks from this year
“Problems” by Yonaka. That last bit leading into the chorus for the first time!! Gives me shivers.
“The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift. This song is NONSENSE but it’s so catchy.
“Lucky” by Renee Rapp from the Now You See Me 3 soundtrack. A classic bop. Apparently it didn’t even chart, which surprises me, but the charts were wacky this year.
“Song for Henry” by Loren Kramer from the soundtrack for On Swift Horses. You know, the angsty heartbreaker song playing over Julius and Henry’s first sex scene.

Old Favorites - stuff I already loved and continued to listen to a bunch in 2025.
Kendrick Lamar! His Super Bowl show reignited all my enthusiasm. I watched that thing so many times. This coincided with my Doechii/Glorilla phase at the beginning of th eyear.

Miley Cyrus's older stuff, especially her 2023 album Endless Summer Vacation. I’d have said Plastic Hearts was the one I really loved, and yet at this point I think I’ve actually listened to ESV more times. I guess maybe it’s the right mood for more situations than Plastic Hearts. It kind of wears down towards the end, and I find the last two songs unlistenable, but until that point it’s a basically flawless execution of the thing it’s choosing to be.

Oasis, lol. They were my top artist of the year yet again. Mostly the Definitely Maybe anniversary release and the live tracks, as mentioned above, but also according to Tidal I listened to the Knebworth 1996 live album a lot. I don’t even remember this.

Best lines - New or old, on their own or combined with the music:
- I got a burning feeling deep inside of me / And don’t know where to put it (“Who Laughs Last” by Lord Huron)

- You said you really don’t dream anymore (“Life is Strange” by Lord Huron)

…I probably just need to do a whole post about this album, huh. Does anyone else here listen to them?

rocky41_7 posting in

booknook

Title: Solo Dance
Author: Kotomi Li
Genre: Fiction

Last night I wrapped up Solo Dance by Kotomi Li, translated from Japanese by Arthur Morris. This short book is about a young gay Taiwanese woman who struggles with both internal and external homophobia, and eventually moves to Japan looking for understanding.

Queer stories from other countries are always interesting to me and it’s a good reminder that progress has not been even all over the world. Much of the book is pretty depressing, because the protagonist struggled with fitting in even before she realized she was gay, and she has some real struggles. She is battling severe depression for much of the book and at several points, suicidality.

The book is touching in that the protagonist’s struggles feel real and she’s someone who is so close to having positive experience that could change her life for the better, but her luck keeps dropping on the other side each time.

I don’t want to spoil too much about the end, but while I was grateful for the overall tone of the it, it is contrived and not very believable. But I did enjoy the protagonist’s travels leading up to that point. It’s not at all subtle, and it packs a lot more plot into the final handful of chapters than the rest of the book, but it was still sweet to see the protagonist’s perspective shift a little through her engagements with other people.

I’m not sure if it’s the translation or the original prose, but the language is stilted and very emotionally distant. The reader is kept at arm’s length from the protagonist virtually the whole novel, and while we’re often told she’s feeling these intense feelings, I never felt it. It was like reading a clinical report of her feelings, which was disappointing.

This is Li’s first novel, and it reads that way. There’s a lot of heart in it, and I appreciate it for that, but it lacks a lot in technical skill. I would be interested to see more of Li’s future work, when she’s had more time to polish her ability, but I don’t regret taking the time with this one.

philomytha

I have been putting up my Christmas decorations, and amongst them are my amazing wonderful Biggles Christmas decorations, generously made and given to me by

debriswoman. I shared a photo of them on discord, and inevitably this led to taking them as a fic prompt, and so now we have the very informal Mistletoe Challenge. The rules are, the fics must be inspired by these decorations, and less than 1000 words because it's a busy time of year. I have made a little AO3 collection for any resulting fics,

silversmith has already written a fic, and having accidentally started something, I had to write a ficlet myself!

The Mistletoe Challenge collection, if anyone else wants to write a ficlet.

( a photo of the decorations, and my drabble sequence about them )

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/quartier-exentric

45-53-57-63 Rue Martin Luther King

Situated only 13km from the Belgian border, Dunkerque is the northernmost city in France. The region is best known for its red brick houses. However, on the outskirts of the city, one neighbourhood stands out for its colourful, unusual houses: the 'Quartier Excentric' (Eccentric district).

The history of these thirty or so houses is as unique as their architecture. This district was not supposed to exist at the beginning of the 20th century. Although it was located in the neighbouring municipality of Rosendael, it was situated in front of the city of Dunkirk's fortifications. Only wooden structures, which could easily be dismantled, were permitted there. In 1926, François Reynaert, an interior designer, purchased a plot of land there. He built his own house – l'Escargot, No. 147 Rue Carnot – without having studied architecture, instead improvising as an architect.

The permit was logically refused by the military authorities. But that didn't matter. He built his house in 1927. He received a fine and paid it. However, this legal mishap did not stop him: he did the same thing for the neighbouring house — Les Roses, No. 143 Rue Carnot — and, unsurprisingly, the authorities fined him a second time.

This time, he set the machine in motion: he sold the plots of land he had created behind his house, on the condition that he would design the houses that would be built on them. For each house, he created a unique design that was tailored to the tastes and financial means of the future owner.

Each house had a name that generally influenced its appearance. The result was a wide variety of shapes, colours, and materials. The last building added to this complex was the 'Excentric Moulin' dance hall. After World War II, only qualified architects were permitted to construct buildings. In total, Reynaert built 35 houses in the district.

Seven houses were listed as Historic Monuments in 1988, followed by an eighth in 2016. These classifications recognise the importance of this unique and colourful complex. A century after they were built, the quality and originality of the complex are finally being recognised, and this is a source of pride for the neighbourhood's residents.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/quartier-exentric

oursin

And the reporting on the acquisition of the Cerne Giant by the National Trust was very very muted and mostly in the local press. Mention of the sale as part of the Cerne and Melcombe Horsey Estates in 1919 in the Bournemouth Times and Director. The Western Daily Press in June 1921 mentions it as having been presented to the National Trust by Mr Pitt-Rivers; and the Weymouth Telegram's account of a meeting of the Dorset Field Club mentioned that the 'valuable relic of antiquity... had been placed in the custody of the National Trust'. There was also a mention in the report of a lecture on 'Wessex Wanderings' in the Southern Times and Dorset County Herald in 1921. No mention of the Giant's gigantic manhood, though references to his club.

Other rather different antique relics (heritage is being a theme this week....): The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are getting a glow up (gosh, writer is in love with his style, isn't he?)

psocoptera

Last year's divvying up of the family ornaments took an unexpected turn when the entire tree fell down, ~~raising the temperature three steps and removing eight plants~~. No, sorry, that's Deimos Down. My mom has always loved big Christmas trees and if this was maybe going to be the last time she was hosting the whole family she wanted a really big tree, so it was like eight feet tall and unbelievably packed with what was still only a mere fraction of the ornament hoard. Most of which were (naturally) on the front facing the room and not on the back facing the wall. I think the stand just couldn't handle it. My sister and I were sitting across the room and had just enough time to make horrified faces at each other as it suddenly swayed forward and fell. Happy Christmas Eve!

We cleaned up the water and broken glass and took all the ornaments off and stood it up again and wired it to the wall and redecorated with only non-breakable ornaments, Christmas was saved, yay. (I thought maybe we should get rid of it before it could strike again but this was unpopular.)

And at the same time, we conducted a confusing and occasionally fraught process of "ornament shopping" in which first my sister and I and then my kids were to pick out all the ornaments we might possibly want, even from among those back on the tree already, even favorites of my moms, and set them aside, and then my mom would pick *back* out the ones she didn't want to give up yet but note down which we wanted, and then we would pack up what we were taking.

I don't think this would have worked at all if my sister and I were inclined to drama - we would have had to do pick one at a time, or do something like the bit in Cryptonomicon with the furniture in the parking lot. But she's the chill one, and I'll fight about plenty of things but not ornaments. There were definitely some I wanted to see *one* of us keep, but might as well be her as me. Maybe five I really, truly cared about: the cloth star that hung between my parents' stockings the Christmas my mom was pregnant with me, the cloth pegasus that hung over my bassinet, the cornhusk doll my mom made when I was a baby of a woman holding a baby, the goofy mylar ball from the drugstore that in my memories is the first ornament I ever picked out for myself when I was like five, although my mom says that's not true, and - I don't know, something else. None of those were at all in contention because they've always been understood to be mine. We had maybe one real moment of conflict where my sister was like "and I'm taking this" and I was like "I think J likes that" and my sister was like "I've liked it for FORTY YEARS" and I was like yup right carry on.

Between me and the kids, we ended up with like five or six shoeboxes of ornaments to bring home. More stuff for me, but less for my mom. She was also supposed to then get rid of the ornaments nobody particularly wanted but as of a year later she has not, and apparently ended up packing a lot of them back away with the good ones she wanted to keep. Two steps forward one step back, I guess.

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wesley-memorial-monument

Directly across the street from the entrance to the Fort Frederica National Monument which is maintained by the National Park Service, is the Wesley Church at Frederica. The church, along with the Episcopal Church, Christ Church Frederica, which is located down the street, was donated 20 acres of land, divided equally, by Alfred W. Jones, Jr., in 1984.

The two churches created the Wesley Memorial Garden where the Wesley Memorial Monument is located. The monument was erected in honor of John and Charles Wesley who served as clergymen at Fort Frederica for 2 years.

John Wesley, who is said to have coined the phrase, "Agree to disagree," is best known as the creator of Methodism. His brother, Charles Wesley, is the writer of hymns still sung today, including the Christmas song, "Hark! The Harold Angels Sing."

The memorial is a Celtic cross that is 18 feet high, weighs 15 tons, and was built with granite from Georgia.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wesley-memorial-monument

goodbyebird

+ Been doing a poor job of lighting my Christmas incense, but I remembered today and the place smells cozy.

+ Know what you need right now? Funny animal pictures. Know where to find a whole gallery of them? Right here! Delighted to find there's an annual Comedy Wildlife Photo contest.

+ Humble Bundle is running a package with Vegas Pro 22, Sound Forge Pro 17, Music Maker 2024, and movie Studio 2024 Suite. The minimum is €48.56, and it supports the World Central Kitchen. Annoyingly, I cannot for the life of me find whether or not I can avoid the fuck out of Vegas' AI features (preferably deleting them entirely), but I've been missing a video editor for ages now. I know I never finish my vids, but definitely not if I'm missing the software.

+ Speaking of bundles: there's a Wholesome Snacks games bundle! And I know we could all use a wholesome snack or two. So I'll do a tiny giveaway, just comment which game you'd like and I'll do a random draw.

On Your Tail - You are Diana, a young detective who is obsessed with uncovering the small town's secrets. By day, you enjoy the cozy life, by night, you use stealth, observation, and deduction mechanics to secretly follow suspects and gather clues to crack the case!

NAIAD - An ethereal and meditative river journey game! You embody Naiad, a curious water spirit who awakens in a remote spring and embarks on a long, winding journey down a mysterious river to the sea.

Spirittea - After accidentally drinking mystical tea, you gain the ability to see and interact with mischievous spirits. Your job is to restore and manage an old spirit bathhouse, serving the quirky spirits, gathering resources, and building relationships with the fully voiced townsfolk, all while trying to solve the local town mystery.

Little Known Galaxy - A colorful cozy space adventure and life simulation game where you manage a spaceship and explore the galaxy. You take on the role of a new captain and work with your crew to improve your ship, explore new planets, and solve the mystery of an ancient relic.

SUMMERHOUSE - A small-scale, extremely zen building game and a love letter to lost summer afternoons. There is no management, no goals, no combat, and no failure states. You are invited to simply sit back and doodle whimsical castles, cozy cottages, and romantic ruins in tiny diorama settings.

+ I've just re-downloaded Disney Dreamlight Valley to see what the holiday decor is like. I am going to Christmas to the max dammit (says the one not bothering to decorate her own damn apartment). Also picked up a DLC for Rimworld and CK3 now that the holiday steam sales started.

+ My brother invited me out to help decorate their tree yesterday though! And both the cats vocally and physically greeted me. They live in constant Stranger Danger, making it extra heartening whenever they don't run for the hills.

+ It's not pouring rain outside hallelujah, this is a sign I should go buy butter chicken, isn't it? And find some holiday costumed Pokemon on the way, you say?

purplecat

A drawing of the Sixth Doctor stepped out of the Tardis into a landscape of muted greens and greys. A large lizard can be seen watching him from behind a rock under bare tree branches.

From the 1985 Doctor Who Annual

atlas_obscura_places_feed

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/catene-de-containers

Arriving by sea into the Port of Le Havre, it is easy to see why it has earned a reputation as one of France's most drab and architecturally modern cities. Standing out among all its white and beige facades, however, are two oddly rainbow-colored arches, one situated inside the other. Upon closer inspection, the arches are apparently constructed of the same standardized shipping containers found throughout the port.

Catène de Containers ("Chain of Containers") was commissioned from artist Vincent Ganivet in honor of Le Havre's 500th anniversary in 2017. Ganivet is known for his series of catenary-shaped arch sculptures, inspired by the work of architect Antoni Gaudí.

This sculpture appropriately commemorates the city's heritage, which has always been tied to the sea and shipping. The stainless steel containers' bright colors, besides contrasting against the arches' surroundings, also reflect the identifying colors painted by different shipping companies.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/catene-de-containers

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psocoptera - The Ornaments, part III
stonepicnicking_okapi - Puzzle: Micro puzzle: Coffee time!
atlas_obscura_places_feed - Merlin's Tomb in Paimpont, France
musesfool - let's see what approach they take here
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philomytha - Mistletoe Challenge and fic
atlas_obscura_places_feed - Quartier Exentric in Dunkerque, France
oursin - I did run to find out
psocoptera - The Ornaments, part II
atlas_obscura_places_feed - Wesley Memorial Monument in St. Simons Island, Georgia
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The Ornaments, part III

Puzzle: Micro puzzle: Coffee time!

Merlin's Tomb in Paimpont, France

let's see what approach they take here

Funchal, Madeira

The Farm at Prophetstown in West Lafayette, Indiana

What does AI think of my Hacker News profile?

Predictions 2026

More watercolors

Darcy Ribeiro Memorial (Beijódromo) in Brasília, Brazil

2025 memed

2025 in review: music

Book review: Solo Dance

Mistletoe Challenge and fic

Quartier Exentric in Dunkerque, France

I did run to find out

The Ornaments, part II

Wesley Memorial Monument in St. Simons Island, Georgia

As a treat.

Random Doctor Who Picture

Catène de Containers in Le Havre, France

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December 2025

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