My Piece of the Internet

Hello!

If you're a new friend, welcome! If you're an old friend, thanks for sticking around.

If you're thinking about whether you want to follow me, here's what I like to talk about:

• Reading, what I'm reading, what I like to read, meta about what I've read... lots of that.


• I should mention that I love angst, whump, sad stories about good people in shitty situations. I specifically look for trigger warnings when I'm deciding what I want to read. So, warning for that I guess.


• Sometimes I blog about my personal life (traveling, goal setting, etc) and sometimes I talk about politics. I put political talk behind a cut if you want to skip that.

Here's a bit about me, if you're interested:

• I love to read, and do so on the regular. I have read a lot of fanfiction, but lately I've been enjoying novels a lot more. Thanks to the internet and fandom, I've refined my skill in zeroing in on the kinds of books that make me go all weak in the knees and desperate for more.


• I have dabblied in lots of hobbies, including cooking, learning Italian, political and community activism, sewing (clothing and quilting), calligraphy, papercrafts, writing, reading, board games, American and European card games, and various fitness activities.


• Some things about me: I'm an over 30yo woman from the USA. I'm married and we have a cat. (Edit 2024: and now also a toddler.)


• Some of my personal beliefs: I'm a liberal, progressive, borderline communist (I believe in the idea of a basic income for all), but I respect people who disagree with my views (libertarians, for example) as long as they are thoughtful and respectful in return. I love to discuss political philosophy, and have often had my mind changed. I'm an atheist. I'm a vegan. I try to be a minimalist, but I have the soul of a magpie and I tend to accumulate things. <-- If you disagree with any of these views, please know that I still respect you and your own life choices. I try not to be presumptuous, and I like to err on the side of assuming the best of everyone.


• I'm currently obsessed with the following tiny (non-existent) fandoms. If you like any of them, please friend me immediately and I will be SO freakin' happy:
  
  
  
  • The Rifter by Ginn Hale
  
  
  • Dragon's Winter by Elizabeth A. Lynn
  
  
  • Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman
  
  
  • Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat
  
  
  • Pirates of Wefrivain by Abigail Hilton
  
  
  • Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb (I'm actually still reading this so I'm trying to avoid spoilers but I'm looking forward to jumping into the fandom!)
  
  

I think that's the most important stuff. I'm trying to be more active on Dreamwidth, because I love this platform and I want to see fandom migrate over here a bit. I'm old enough to remember livejournal drama from waaaay back in 2007, and I don't trust corporate interests to look out for fandom. *yells at cloud*

I'm sad to hear that Pillowfort is closing down. I wasn't a user there, but it seemed like a really cool community. I hope the refugees find a cozy home here if they want to. I love the concept of blanket boxes, so I'm trying out one for the first time.

> What's a blanket box?

A blanket box is a set of prompts to help you to build your Dreamwidth! They all have a theme and this one's theme is you and Dreamwidth! To reply to the questions, copy the questions below and create your own post. Other blanket boxes are at pillowfortu_haul.

> The Rules

The first rule is that there are no rules.
You can answer as long or as short as you want, delete prompts, add your own, or not answer certain prompts at all.
Optional: link to this post so that more people can use this blanket box
Optional: tag your answers 'How I Use Dreamwidth Blanket Box'
Optional: post it at added so others can find your answers!

> The Blankets

When do you visit Dreamwidth during a day? (Do you visit every day?)
I usually check my Reading page a few times a day while I'm at work (Mon-Fri from 9am - 5pm). It's more sporadic on weekends and holidays.

What's the first thing you do?
Reading page, always! Sometimes I look for things in the Site and Journal Search if there's something going on, like Yuletide.

( This is a long post )

Side note: this is my first time trying the new Create Entry page beta! I really like it. I definitely thought I was opted in to the beta already, but I definitely wasn't

I often forget which sketches were standout to me each week, so I'm going to try to update this with links to my favorites from each episode.

( 9/26/26 - Hosted by Jalen Brunson )

( 10/3/26 - Hosted by Dakota Johnson )

( 10/10/26 - Hosted by Shane Gillis )

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. These late summer weeks start to really fly by. I'm starting back to grad school (part time, just taking 1 class per semester) next week. The weekend after that will be my 6 year wedding anniversary. We're not making any big plans this year, after having such a busy spring/summer with lots of upheaval. I think we might just go to dinner and maybe I'll get a bit tipsy. :)

I've been reading/audiobook-ing a ton this summer! I'm very motivated by how much I love Hardcover.app - it's so much fun to use. I'm also getting back into reading fic, maybe? I'm looking for recs too! Anyone know of any good, long Trigun fics? I will give any ship a shot at this point because I'm pretty new to the fandom. I just watched season 1 of Stampede and it's reinvigorated my love of my woobie baby Vash.

Wednesday Reading

Just Finished

The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD
I got some good insights and ideas from this, but for the most part I found it was unnecessarily drawn-out and repetitive.

The Anniversary by Alex Finlay
Not my usual genre (thriller) and while I have no particular gripes about this, I just didn't care much about it either. It was fine?

The Power by Naomi Alderman
I really enjoyed this and I was especially impressed by the vocal range of the audiobook narrator (Adjoa Andoh). She was incredibly talented. I have issues with the plot because I don't think that women would actually change in the way that Alderman describes in the book given physical power over men. But I love books that make me think about things like that, so I enjoyed this a lot.

Currently Reading

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Still working on this one, but I've gotten very distracted by a few other reads.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
I vowed not to continue this series, but the first book was a buddy read with a friend of mine and she very forcefully requested that I continue to talk to her about it lol. So, here we are!

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
This is my current audiobook and I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. It's a non-fiction story about a privileged young man getting himself voluntarily entangled into the London crime scene and turning up dead.

Metamorphosis by Metalomagnetic
Ok so this isn't a book, but it's grabbed ahold of my brain and heart and I'm so enraptured. I just adore Metalomagnetic's writing. Her character work is fascinating and I find myself *flying* through these long chapters. It's rare to find a fic writer in the HP fandom who writes a satisfying (to me) Dumbledore, and this is the cream of the crop.

Up Next

This Land is Your Land by Beverly Gage
This will be my next audiobook.

Lesser Evil by Metalomagnetic
Should I get back to Iron Flame before it gets returned to the library? Yes, definitely. Will I probably ignore it and read this other Dumbledore/Voldemort fic? Yeah, yeah I will.

Hi, friends! I did sort of disappear and I regret that. I want to be here. I just get overwhelmed sometimes by life. My last post, aside from my 2025 reading retrospective, was over a year ago! If you're curious, here are some big things that happened since then:

• My daughter turned 2


• I got a job offer from my old company, agonized over it because I loved my current job AND my old job (I know, talk about problems!), and finally accepted the offer


• Started my new/old job


• Took my two-year-old on a plane for the first time and had an amazing vacation in Charleston


• Casually began house hunting and found an amazing house and unexpectedly got our offer accepted (yay!) then spent the next 2-3 months focused on buying and moving into said house


• Got our old house cleaned up and listed for sale, then navigated that awful process (still ongoing)


• My daughter turned 3


• Took my three-year-old on a plane for a 5 hour flight from Pennsylvania to San Diego. The trip was awesome but took so much out of all of us


• Attended my TWENTY YEAR high school reunion

This might not seem like a lot for some people, but for me that is a ton of upheaval and I'm adjusting to it, but slowly. It's all good stuff though for the most part! Now for the books...

Wednesday Reading

Just Finished

Chenneville by Paulette Jiles
This one was a recommendation from my parents and it sounded cool, but was ultimately very dull. The plot was soooo slow and the payoff was absolutely not worth it.

The King is Dead by Naomi Libicki
This was a book that was on my "Currently Reading" for almost a year because I just couldn't work up enough interest to pick it up. I finally forced myself to get through it because there was one character I cared about and I wanted to see how it ended for his sake. There were things I did enjoy in this book, but I wanted it to be amazing and it just wasn't.

We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune
I freaking loved this book. It's short but packs a huge punch. I had so many thoughts and feelings as I was reading this and I enjoyed how each little chapter is like it's own fascinating vignette. The overall story was sad and sweet, with a side of science and philosophy. I think my favorite part about this book was the inevitability of the disaster. So often I've experienced disaster stories where the story is about how humanity solves the crisis and narrowly avoids extinction, but in this case it was very much understood by all the characters that there is no getting out of this. So where do things go from there? In a very interesting and poignant direction, that's where.

Currently Reading

Fouth Wing by Rebecca Yaros
I'm on the bandwagon! I'm buddy reading this with several work friends. I do NOT like the audiobook at all, but I'm dealing with it since I couldn't get an ebook copy. I'm on the waitlist for the ebook version of book 2.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
My classic for the year. I'm working on it pretty slowly, despite a strong start. It's definitely very readable and fun but certain sections have been dragging a bit lately.

When I Dare to Be Powerful by Audre Lorde
I picked this up as my souvenir book while in San Diego because it was super small and slim. I love it so far, Audre Lorde is a beautiful writer and every sentence could be a profound standalone quote.

Up Next

The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD
As my daughter neared her third birthday, I started to notice some behavioral concerns that I'm hoping this book might help me address. I want to help her learn to cope with disappointment and change because those seem to trigger the biggest emotional reactions (meltdowns, really).

The Anniversary by Alex Finlay
My hold is coming up soon and I'm excited because one of my nebulous reading goals this year is to read more new releases and popular books. So far I've read 2 books that were published this year and 2 that were published in 2025.

I also found a new book tracking site that I'm kind of obsessed with: Hardcover.app (referral link). It has so many cool features and the UI is really nice and intuitive. I was a diehard Goodreads addict for years until I decided not to support Bezos. I tried so hard to love Storygraph as much as I loved Goodreads, but I found the UI sooo hard to navigate and it just never clicked with me. Hardcover is *chef's kiss* perfect and I adore it. I'm so happy there.

The sewing bug bit me last week and now I'm dying to get a few projects started! I have plans/tentative starts on a few things and I wanted to catalog them to set some goals for myself:

1. Sew a pair of summer shorts for my toddler. I've downloaded and printed this pattern. It looks super easy so if these fit well I might try to make a few. I'm most interested in finishing this because I think it will be pretty easy and quick AND I truly do need shorts for my daughter. So it's this or buy some. I bought slightly less than a yard of vintage Mickey Mouse fabric that I was thinking of using, but the print is very big and widely spaced so I'm a little worried it's going to be like... half of Mickey's face on each buttcheek. XD I'll lay the pattern out on the fabric and see how it looks.

2. Sew a party dress for my toddler's birthday party (which is in a little over a month). I got the cutest vintage panel from Jelly Bean Junction that has a bodice design printed and laid out on the fabric so I just need to measure her and determine her size, cut the fabric, make a corresponding skirt, and do the sewing/construction. I bought the panel at a local fabric store, but you can see (or buy) it here if you're interested.

3. Sew a Petal Wrap Dress.

4. Make a matching Lorien Lace Up Skirt for myself. (I bought a set of king-size bed sheets that would be great for a matching set.)

5. Sew this Halter Top, probably in white linen. I bought this pattern years ago and never got around to starting it.

6. Sew some heating pads out of a few vintage pillowcases I bought. I want to try sewing some channels in them and make a kind of "seat cushion/lap cover" style of heating pad. I like to put flax seeds in mine. I read a lot about the different options for filling at some point and flax seemed like the best.

And that's it so far. At some point though I need to start thinking about a quilt for my toddler. She's still in a sleep sack so she doesn't need blankets, but time is ticking! I've made quilts for two other babies so I don't want my own kid to be the one who doesn't get one!

Challenge:

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

I'm trying to finish this before the end of Three Weeks for Dreamwidth so we're going for 5 books a day for four days.

Books eleven through fifteen:


Green/blue color group today!

Previous - Part 2
Next - Part 4

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post about the Sunshine Challenge. I got a lot of positive feedback so I decided to go forward with a revival of the concept.

I created sunshine_revival since the old community is not open for posting and the mod is inactive. I hope we can spread the word far and wide enough to get a good turnout. If you're interested in modding, but sure to request membership at sunshine_revival_mods and I'll get you in!

Read more and follow the new community!



<a href="https://sunshine-revival.dreamwidth.org/"><img src="https://images.squidge.org/images/2025/05/09/Sunshine-Revival-2025-Banner-1.png" alt="Sunshine-Revival-2025-Banner-1.png" border="0"></a>

I believe the mod of sunshine_challenge is inactive. It looks like the comm hasn't updated since 2023. Does anyone know if the challenge is still hosted elsewhere? Or, if not, would people be interested in a reboot? I loved modding the Snowflake Challenge so much, I'd consider picking up the Sunshine Challenge too!

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
Come join in for fun, memes, activities, and more ♥

It's here and I'm pumped! I want to try and post... frequently? I would love to post every day but realistically I probably can't keep up a schedule like that.

Today, since I'm a little late getting started, I'm going to kick off by briefly answering one of the questions from ysabetwordsmith's 2024 list of questions:

If you could have the attention of the world for one minute, what would you say?

Having the attention of the world for one minute is an interesting concept. I guess it means that people will listen to what you're saying for one minute, but it doesn't mean they will care or internalize it or even remember it after you've had your time. There are plenty of things I have paid attention to but disagreed with or disregarded. So I think the best strategy would be to use my one minute to pique enough interest that some subset of people might be willing to pay attention to me on a long-term basis. I'd probably say something like:

"Why are you spending your time on bullshit that doesn't matter to you? Time is your only finite resource. You can theoretically acquire anything else that exists on earth, but neither you nor anyone else can ever buy or make additional years of lifespan. When you realize that your time is precious you begin to find ways to steal it back from the systems that try to own you and your time. Less working, more living. Fewer obligations, more community."