Eid Ka Chand - The Crescent Moon

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Today's Cooking
Artificial Intelligence
Bingo
History
Birdfeeding
Dreamwidth Points
New Year's Resolutions Check In
News
Moment of Silence: Leslie Fish
Science
Shop for Good Sunday
Wildlife
Vocabulary: Xenoparity
Space Exploration
Safety
Birdfeeding
Wildlife
Philosophical Questions: Wants
Poetry Fishbowl Report for November 4, 2025
Unsold Poems for the November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl
Early Humans
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 11-28-25: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Fall 2025 A-I
Recipe: "Crockpot Smoked Turkey Leg with Beans"
Communities
Climate Change
Holiday Love Meme
Birdfeeding
Today's Cooking
Food
Birdfeeding
Poem: "No Worthless Herbs"
Wildlife
Hard Things

Trauma has 45 comments. Affordable Housing has 74 comments. Robotics has 101 comments.


Today is Cyber Monday. See previous holidays:
Small Business Saturday (Alas, our plans were snowed out!)
Shop for Good Sunday
Buy Nothing Day (with links to activities)

Winterfaire 2025 is now open! List a Booth for anything you sell that would make good holiday gifts, or comment with what you're shopping for to crowdsource ideas. There are links to two similar shopping events online. if you know others, please pass the word.


"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $191 to be complete. Maiara and Arthur discuss taking notes.


The weather has been cold and snowy here. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, two female and three male cardinals, a dark-eyed junco, and a mourning dove.  I also saw the great horned owl flying out of the ritual meadow.

Sunday night I made Sunny Honey Cookies.  These are soft, pillowy cookies almost like a muffin, full of minced candied ginger and sunflower seeds.  :D 

I have made bingo down the N column of my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo. I also made 8 extra fills.


N1 (The deeds of ordinary folks keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.) -- "The Universal Assent to the World" (Polychrome Heroics: Officer Pink)
N2 (elves) -- "Revealing Itself at Its Most Brilliant" (Polychrome Heroics: Eric the Elven King)
N3 (WILD CARD: brownie) -- "Better Than Living Alone" (Monster House)
N4 (shadow) -- "Unicornis Memento Mori" (The Freaks Club)
N5 (Once Upon a Time) -- "Better Than a Million Dollars" (Alien Romance)

B4 (Fairy Ring) -- "Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic" (Doctor Who)

I1 (The Nightingale) -- "The Impermanence of Light and Life" (The Freaks Club)
I3 (Very little worth knowing is taught by fear.) -- "To the Rational Mind" (Doctor Who)
I4 (solitude) -- "Company in Solitude" (The Freaks Club)

G1 (vision) -- "A Vision That Visits Us" (The Freaks Club)
G2 (journey) -- "The Coracle in the Forest" (standalone)
G5 (I didn't want power. All I wanted was control. Over my life.) -- "A Clear Path of Freedom" (standalone)

O3 (fairies) -- "The Heart to Change the World" (Polychrome Heroics: The Big One)

Today is cloudy and cold.  Yesterday it snowed copiously, which wiped out our plans for Small Business Saturday.  :(  It was pretty for a while though.  Then it rained.  Then it froze again.  O_O  Now the snow looks a week old and there is plate ice over the road and parts of the patio.

I fed the birds.  I hung up a peanut suet cake.  I've seen one female and three male cardinals plus a dark-eyed junco.  :D  This is the first I've seen of my little snowbirds this year; the juncos are cold-weather birds here and don't appear in summer.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen two female cardinals and the three boys again.

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

We made it to the end of November! \o/ If you have completed some of your yearly goals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We are now well into autumn. If you're doing seasonal goals, share what you're working on for this winter.

This year I'm trying something new, continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them. The main drawback is that this update becomes more of a chore each month.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 4
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 10
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 17
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 24
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In April 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In May 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In June 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In July 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In August 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In September 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In October 31


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Famous filker Leslie Fish has passed away. She wrote many of the greatest filk songs.

So, screw the moment of silence because we all know the Great Con in the Sky is bellowing "Banned from Argo." I got to hear her sing that one once, and it was glorious. But I think "Hope Eyrie" is more apt. Another timely one is "Freedom of the Snow," which I used to belt out when walking across campus after an evening class. Frat rats crossed the street to get away from me. \o/

Here's a good description of Leslie's impact on filk.

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Today is Shop for Good Sunday. This holiday highlights businesses whose goods and services support values, not just making money and shuffling junk around.

If you know what your friends and family value -- whether that's fair trade or sustainability or women-owned businesses -- then you can buy treats they might not ordinarily get because the good, responsible stuff tends to cost more. Pay attention to packaging: some companies just slap on a seal or few and call it good, but others really highlight the values aspect of their goodies with text or illustrations so your recipient will definitely notice it. The same goes for cards or gift wrapping in companies that offer that service.




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Xenoparity happens when an organism gives birth to members of a different species.

Scientists recently discovered that Iberian harvester ant queens (Messor ibericus) mate with males of another species, the builder harvester ant (Messor structor). When they do, the M. ibericus queens store the M. structor male’s sperm, then use it to fertilize some of the eggs they lay. Researchers think the M. ibericus queens remove their own genetic material from the eggs’ nuclei, so that when those eggs hatch, they effectively turn out to be M. structor male clones.


This has a lot of potential for science fiction. :D

US-19 Exposes the Failure of Federal Investment in Transportation Infrastructure

US-19 in Pasco County, Florida, is one of the clearest examples of how federal transportation policy creates dangerous, expensive, and economically destructive outcomes.

Federal transportation policy lacks clarity and direction. What are we trying to accomplish with national infrastructure spending? Are we focused on efficiently moving goods across the country? Supporting commuters? Stimulating economic development for big-box retailers? Fostering local entrepreneurship? Creating construction jobs? Addressing climate change and environmental degradation? Promoting equity and social justice?

The current answer seems to be "yes" to all of it. Federal transportation policy is attempting to solve every national issue through a single policy mechanism. This ambition, while politically convenient, creates incoherence in practice.


This is a great opportunity for local councils. They have a lot of influence over development, thus can impede or block outright projects which are dangerous and/or unprofitable. As a citizen, you can point out flaws in projects like this -- especially if you excel at math well enough to show how low-density high-infrastructure hemorrhages money.  Ideally, do a revenue/expense map of your locale.  Once you have shown that the low-density development loses money, then you can lobby for whatever project(s) you fancy in the area that actually makes money.  Lots of place already have revitalization projects for downtown and poor neighborhoods (where the money is) so you can usually find some to promote if you look.

The Winterfaire spreads out as far as the eye can see. Some booths show streamers of red and green, while others sport blue and silver. All of them offer treasure after shining treasure. Music fills the air with lyrics of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yule. From the Wordsmith's Forge comes the bright chiming of words being hammered into literature. Delicious scents of hot chocolate, spiced cider, peppermint, baking cookies, and gingerbread tantalize the appetite. Smiling, laughing shoppers amble from booth to booth with lists in hand. Vendors grin back, calling out, "Come try, come buy...!"

I know a lot of artists, writers, musicians, crafters, and other talented folks who make some of their living from their creative endeavors. I don't always have the money to support them as much as I'd like, but what I can do is set up a virtual faire where vendors can offer their wares to an audience that likes crafts, literature, and small businesses. For those of you doing your holiday shopping, here's an opportunity to buy or barter or find something made with love, something unusual or unique, in a way that helps make it possible for creative people to go on creating wonders. And there will be no traffic jams, stampedes, or gunfights at the Winterfaire!





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