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People download things...
Today I got latest readership summary on my first master's thesis, on British educational policy, 1901-03. Apparently during the month of May, my thesis was download 10 times: Six times in Brazil and once each in Ecuador, Germany, the US, and Uzbekistan(?!). I wonder how many of those are going into training AI? (But like A. said "At least if they're using it for that, you know they're training the AI on something well-researched." Which is true — I spent hours sitting in the library reading Hansard's Parliamentary Debates on microform.)
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🌈Pride Fest - June 1st to 30th🌈
For the sake of max inclusion (and honestly, because I'm kind of a pride flag/identity nerd) I've made three seperate lists - one each for a broad mix of identities, one for aspec (asexual spectrum, aromantic spectrum, etc) terms, and one for general pride experiences and themes. There's a community card for each list and one mixed. Since ace and aro term defintiions tend to be the same save being applied to different types of attraction, I've paired them together. Feel free to use either or both.
If you need more info on anything, LGBTQIA+ Wiki is a great source. I'm no graphic artist, but I'll do my best to make some little banners for people who finish.
As a reminder, here's the bingo card generator, and here's the allbingo AO3 collection.
Have fun! 🏳️🌈
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You may have noticed that it's Pride Month
Now, I've said this before and I'll definitely say it again, but audiodramas are, hands-down, the gayest media I have ever consumed. So, in honor of the occasion, three lists:
The End's collection of LGBTQ+ audiodrama with at least one completed season
A search of Audiofiction.co.uk's entire catalogue for audiodrama with LGBTQ+ creators
A search of Audiofiction.co.uk's entire catalogue for audiodrama with LGBTQ+ characters
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One thing leads to another
I'm currently reading the May 2025 issue of Artforum and wanted to share with you some of the things I learned and, in the process, demonstrate how my mind connects things. One of the current exhibitions reviewed in this issue is of paintings by Alex Israel at Gagosian Beverly Hills, which was accompanied by a reproduction of Israel's 2024 painting "Gas Station."
Upon learning that this gas station actually exists, my thoughts immediately went to William Gibson's short story "The Gernsback Continuum" (published in Burning Chrome).
I then returned to the review, where the final paragraph begins with this sentence: "The works' very status as paintings—as art in a gallery—aligns them, moreover, with the long tradition of veduta painting, that of architectural scenes that don't necessarily demand forensic accuracy, edging sometimes into outright fantasy." Having never heard of veduta painting, I immediately looked it up (link here), and discovered I was familiar with this style of painting (the name comes from the Italian for "view"), just not with the word. From that page, I followed the link to capriccio, which is a form of architectural fantasy art and, again, something I was familiar with but hadn't known the name of. As it happened, one of the images illustrating the Wikipedia entry for "capriccio" was a piece by Giovanni Battista Piranesi called "Le Carceri d'Invenzione (The Prisons of Invention)."
This picture immediately caught my eye, because it reminded me of M.C. Escher's works, particularly "Relativity" and "House of Stairs".
This sort of connection-making, going from Alex Israel to William Gibson to Giovanni Battista Piranesi to M.C. Escher, bouncing back and forth over several centuries, is very much how my mind works. I'm constantly feeding in new bits of knowledge, which then bounce off of each other, make connections, and enable me to produce new things.
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Self-imposed challenge: Pride Month Bingo
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Well, I just got jumped by a squirrel in my own bathroom
We removed the cat and opened the front door very wide and absented ourselves from the area, so we think it's gone now.
( Image of the squirrel at my window )
I think it's a baby. Not just because it's so small, but because the other window squirrels will shamelessly stand up or bang on the glass if they think they can catch my eye, but when this one realized I was there it hunkered down very small and actually turned its face away a little.
I hope it's all right now that it's outside where it belongs.
( Links )
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May Monthly Post
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For May we had:
[new] Colors Bingo Fest hosted by
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Inspired by the kind of prompts in
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Posting will be from May 1-31.
For June we will have:
[new]
Pride Fest hosted by
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Celebrate ALL the orientations!
Posting will be June 1-30.
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Summer Reading Program!
When I was a kid, the library summer reading program was one of my favorite events of the year. First of all, there were the events at the library, which were not only a lot of fun but also ensured that I got taken to the library at least once a week. Secondly, being encouraged to read lots of books and keep a list of the books that I read was a great thing for a hyperlexic kid. I'm like "Yes! Please reward me for something I want to do anyway!"
I've seen a number of people on social media talking about they wished there were things like the library summer reading program and the Scholastic book fair for grown-ups, and now there is! The American Historical Association is holding a Summer Reading Challenge!
The challenge is to complete at least three tasks from this list between June 1 and Labor Day:
- Read a history of an event with a major anniversary in 2025.
- Read a history of a resistance movement.
- Read a history that uses material culture.
- Read an edited collection, journal forum, or other multi-author work.
- Read a history that's been sitting on your shelf too long.
- Read a piece of historical fiction (novel, story, poem, play)
Right now I'm mentally taking task 5 off the table, because unless I go out and buy a new book for the challenge (which I don't anticipate doing), all of the books I read will be histories that have been sitting on my shelf too long.
I got started today, starting to read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, with a goal to finish it by the end of June.
You can read more about the AHA's 2025 Summer Reading Challenge here, and if you see the hashtag "#AHAReads" around your social media, now you know what it is.
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June the First.
I just went back to check to be sure, and somewhere between the washer and the dryer, it got misplaced without leaving the laundry room, because that's where I found it. Someone had tossed it into the garbage bin - not even hanging it over the sink, but tossing it out entirely, which has me irritated on the general principle of throwing out a good hand towel being a bad idea because hey, free towel.
It's also got me relieved because I again know where my towel is. I couldn't well go hitchhiking otherwise.
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May 2025 Reads!
I hope to come back some time in the near future and talk about things and stuff. But until then, here, have some book recs.

( May 2025 )
So, what is everyone reading for Pride? So far, I'm just set to finish:
*When The Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
*Even Though I Knew the End by C.I. Polk
*Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer
*Missing Page by Cat Sebastian
*A Destiny of Dragons by TJ Klune
And then we'll see where the muse takes me. Recs, of course, always welcome. ❤️❤️
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Linkspam Is Working On Expanding Capacity
it is so important to understand that writing is a way of thinking and existing, and not just an act of doing
Kelly Hayes: From Aspiration to Action: Organizing Through Exhaustion, Grief, and Uncertainty
It’s easy to pass judgment on ourselves and each other for what we’re “already doing” or failing to do. But as an organizer, I’m concerned with what might motivate or allow people to act differently.
Sasha Chapin @ Sasha's Newsletter: How to like everything more: on the skill of enjoyment
In my experience, high-level enjoyment, like a sport, is composed of many interlocking micro-skills that must be trained individually, but which reinforce each other. This is not how enjoyment is taught—the only tip people typically receive re enjoyment is to “be mindful.” I think this is a suggestion to adopt what meditators call “one-pointed focus,” a form of concentrated, narrowed attention on a small portion of conscious experience. It’s a mediocre suggestion for a couple of reasons. First, this is hard to do well, even for seasoned meditators. Second, it is far from the only enjoyment-producing mental motion.
Liz Neeley @ Liminal: Week 19: What now & what’s next in science and higher ed
Everything is terrible, but I brought you some plums.
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A Tale in Two Headlines [pope, pols, US]
2025 May 30: AlterNet: "'Divine trolling': Pope schedules Chicago mass on the same day as Trump's military parade"
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Color Fest Banners
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Apparently the real deal
When I designed Rumkick's "Drinking Every Day" as a song of the day, silveradept asked if they were actually punk or if they were a manufactured group made to appear punk. I happened upon a couple of Rumkicks interviews yesterday, (here and here), and it appears that they are indeed actual punks!
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Fanfic, Sky High, Warren/Layla, Layla is Warren's sidekick
Author:
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Fandom: Sky High
Ship/Characters: Warren/Layla, (Layla & Will)
Rating/Category: T/Het
Prompt: Sky High, Warren/Layla, Layla is Warren's sidekick
(from
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Spoilers: the movie generally
Summary: Layla despises it, but she is already far too used to gentle concerns like this about her life and her choices . . . her oldest friend (and his honest care) can get a little bit of leeway, but she's still doubly happy to return to her partner, who has always accepted - and respected - her, no matter what.
Notes/Warnings: N/A
Wordcount: 1,775
Read on AO3
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Summer of Giles 2025 is happening!
Summer of Giles is definitely happening again this year. I've decided to go with a free-for-all format rather than booked days. The doors will be opened on 1 July until 31st 2025.
Usual rules apply about not completely spamming the community. I'm also adding a ban on the use of AI generated content. If I see it, or am alerted to it, I will delete it immediately.
Thank you to everyone who has already expressed an interest for this year. I'm looking forward to reading and seeing everything. And, fingers crossed, I might even be able to write something myself. Who knows?
Let's make this summer the best Giles summer ever!
Cap