random post of randomness

[edenfalling]

1. I cleaned the final quarter of my back porch today! \o/ I got a little slapdash when it came to the actual steps down to the yard, but hey, whatever, it's done. I've sprinkled some detergent-with-bleach over the whole thing and am now waiting for it to rain and hopefully sort of soak that into the wood. Then I will spray for squirrels, and then I will move my first batch of peppers outdoors.

I think I'll repot them tomorrow, in anticipation. :-)

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2. The Ithaca Festival started yesterday with the traditional one-mile-run and the parade, which I swear gets longer every year. I don't know if it also gets weirder every year -- new weirdness may simply replace old weirdness rather than augmenting it -- but if you ever wanted to know if Ithaca was the right community for you, my advice would be to come watch the parade and if you feel a sense of, "Yes, these are my people" rather than, "OMGWTFBBQ?!?!" you'll probably fit right in. *wry*

I kind of split the difference, I think? At any rate, I definitely count as right-wing around here, which never stops being hilarious (and a little scary, tbh).

Anyway, I decided not to march with my church's 150th anniversary ukulele union (don't ask. seriously, don't ask) and just watched from the sidelines since the route runs right through my neighborhood and I can walk there in five minutes, easy.

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3. Tomorrow is haircut day. Yes.

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4. Wednesday was my church's annual meeting. I've rarely been able to get to them, because of working closing shifts at the smoke shop, but I believe in voting and also in cheap dinners supplied by other people, so of course I went this year. :-) End result: delicious pizza in my stomach, an annual budget approved, and several people elected to the Board of Trustees, the nominating committee, and the settled ministerial search committee. (I did mention our minister quit as of last December, right? Because that's still a thing that happened.)

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5. I have four stories left to read in the Betapalooza archive, which I would like to get done before authors are revealed on Monday. This will necessarily render my own story blatantly obvious, since it will be the only one I haven't commented on, but eh, so it goes. I'd also kind of like to make a rec list, though I'm not entirely certain it's worth the effort since the archive is so small: only 31 works.

(Speaking of which, do go check out the Betapalooza fics and art! The general quality is very high!)

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6. I wrote a 15-minute ficlet except I couldn't think of a functional ending within the time limit, and now it's been about two hours and I still can't think of a functional ending, which is really annoying. I think I'll go reheat some dinner and then stare at the document yet again in hopes that this time words will magically appear in my brain.

Yeah. Sounds like a plan.

Comments

[mme_hardy]

You tempted me to go scan all the fics and see which ones you hadn't commented on, but after all reveals are Monday, hardly any time at all.

Glad you finished the porch. My to-do this weekend is to hand-water some of the roses, figure out a way to keep the consarned deer out, and rejigger the sprinkler timer so that it still waters only every other day, but runs for a little longer. The front zone isn't individually controllable, so I have no way to water just the roses but let the lawn die. Longer-term I need to figure out if the replacement sprinkler heads my district will pay for will actually work in our garden; I need to consult the gardener. (In droughty California. There are lots of things I'll let die, but not the roses and not the fruit trees.)

[edenfalling]

There are five fics as-yet ungraced by my feedback. Only one of them is mine. Are you feeling lucky? *evil laughter* But seriously, the thing about sorting the archive in reverse wordcount order (aside from my own gift) is that each successive work takes longer to read. *sigh*

*wishes you luck with your roses* California's drought sounds more terrible every time I hear about it. I'm pretty sure that if it were remotely practical, the northeast would be glad to sell our excess water to you guys... but alas, that's probably not going to happen. I think there have been some interesting developments in desalination technology lately, though, including one type of installation that simultaneously works as a wave-powered electrical generator? Perhaps your state should look into those.

(Also, I hear rock gardens can be very pretty, and they're almost certainly nicer than dead grass?)

[mme_hardy]

We're more about the native plants, which are adapted to California's true climate as opposed to its man-made climate. Sadly, they haven't been bred for generations for scent, which is what really matters to me about plants. My plan (eventually) is to run a greywater line from the laundry output, which is enough to water the backyard. But that's an eventual plan that requires running hoses.

The thing about desalinization is that it's an energy hog beyond belief. San Diego is just coming up on getting theirs online, and the rest of us are watching. The other serious environmental problem is what you do with the concentrated salt afterwards.

[edenfalling]

I choose plants mostly for ease of caretaking, because I am lazy like a lazy thing. Secondarily, I want them to look pretty. Scent's a pretty distant third... but yeah, I don't think many desert plants put a lot of their energy into long-lasting flowers and perfumes.

As for the salt, sell it to the Midwest and Northeast to spread on our roads in the winter! Trust me: we will use it. :-)

(Btw, this is the wave-powered generator that also works as a desalinator that I mentioned. There's one up and running in Australia, and California gets enough waves that the concept might work there as well.)

[mme_hardy]

I try to avoid buying things that "just need a little extra attention", but after I buy them, it's root, hog, or die. Which is why I like vintage roses: if you've made it through a hundred years, you're probably pretty damn tough.

I like that desalinator. God knows the Pacific Ocean generates enough waves. Man.

e: To summarize, everything I plant is either smelly, edible, or blue.

[branchandroot]

Congratulations on the porch! Cleaning accomplishments like that should come with some kind of adulting medal.

[edenfalling]

I have SO EARNED an adulting medal for all that work.