Her Doing

RE: @clew@pnw.zone

#Seattle Peeps! This looks *amazing*! 🤩

Jazz! Swing! Zydeco! Blues! Salsa! Honky-tonk! #Music ! #Dance ! All #FREE !

Let aaaalllll the children boogie! 💃

(Seriously, this looks like SO much fun!

At least go for the music, to watch, and to cheer others on - but if you are at all inclined to participate, no experience is needed, no partner is needed, instruction is provided, and masks are not mandatory but encouraged - all you need is the willingness to show up! 😊

Running until August 30th)

It may not be quite up to 'believing six impossible things before breakfast' - but

• some exercise on a beautiful morning,
• some budding friendship,
• some very much wanted & needed goods & money exchanging hands between neighbours,
• some peace of mind that having things in order will bring for me and the groceries the twenty will buy for her,
• some new wriggly life coming, and
• the less trash out of the landfill that new life will make happen ...

I'd say the day has had a smashing start. 😊

May your days be as good, my friends! 💛

2/ fin

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

C (1914 – 1944) was a British agent in France in the Second World War who served in the Special Operations Executive.

She became the first female #wireless operator to be sent from the UK into occupied France to aid the French #Resistance during #WW2.

From the BBC history archives:

She was born in Moscow to an Indian father & American mother and was a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century Muslim ruler of Mysore. Khan's father was a musician and Sufi teacher who moved his family first to London, then to Paris, where Khan was educated and later worked writing childrens' stories.

She escaped to England after the fall of France. In November 1940, she joined the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and in late 1942, she was recruited to join SOE as a radio operator.

Sounds like quite the life!

#CelebratingWomen #Nora_Baker #Noor_Inayat_Khan #FrenchResistance #French_Resistance

RE: @lia_pas@vis.social

Lovely Peeps, if (like me) you weren't able to attend the sold-out premiere and Q&A last night, at least the performance is now up for everyone to see and it is *gorgeous*. It is five minutes of grace and so much more. 🤩

Unbound: Illness is not the end of the dance ...

https://youtu.be/mxK6UKtWuLc

Film by Sara Nesson, music by Colby Savary & Mark Orton

I was so disappointed to have not been able to register for the Q&A; I would have loved to 'meet' the participants & hear how they became part of this, but apparently future Q&As are planned and I hope I hear about them!

At least do read @lia_pas@vis.social 's blog post of her participation, link in the quote-tweet below

#CFS #ME #LongCovid #Dance

Dear Lovely Peeps,

It all does feel rather full-on at the moment!

All good things - but full-on, and the small necessities of basic housework - and homework! 😬 - and the small joys of returning emails are completely getting missed, and along with not nearly enough sleep, I am feeling the pressure.

But ... this will pass. Things will get sorted. I will find my rhythm again. * I *will* get some sleep, again, some day. * 🙏 🙄

In the meantime, I am grateful for whatever good is coming my way and trying to ride the wave as best I can. 😊

May you have waves of small good things coming your way too! 💛

Dear Lovely Peeps,

THIS. This is me right now. It has been *quite* the weekend, and I am still trying to process everything, but it feels life has exploded, in a good way.

I have so much hope right now. It's been quietly growing these past few months, but now a switch has been flipped.

Don't get me wrong, it is going to be SO. MUCH. WORK. 😵 SO much blood, sweat, and especially tears. (I know this because having a wonky brain when trying to study hard concepts & you can't even *see* will do that. 🙄)

But also, so, so, SO much joy. ✨

This by #GrantSnider feels written for me right now. 🥰

#Water #Grant_Snider #Possibilities

Hello Lovely Peeps!

I hope you all had a good weekend, and will have a good week to come!

I might not be here much the next few days. It was an emotional weekend (mostly okay, but some not so much), and there is a lot to process - plus the next few days are going to be full.

I do feel ... okay. That things are starting to come together. A bit like cleaning house and halfway through the day everything is worse than when you started, but by the end of the day, you are in awe of what you accomplished and how good you feel. 😊

It's a lot of little things, but they all give me hope. ✨ I just need time and space to process.

For those interested, my worms are part of it! 🪱 Maybe I can tell you about them soon. 😊

(I fed them this morning & they seem to be fine. Apparently still sorting themselves as to who gets the best bedroom & drawing up a shower schedule, but fine. 😄)

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Maddalena Casulana (1544–1590) was an Italian #composer, lutenist, and singer.

In #Venice, her book of madrigals for four voices, "Il primo libro di madrigali", was the first printed and published work by a woman in Western #music #history.

Personal note: much of her work has been lost or is incomplete, but several pieces have been found, restored, & were performed for the first time in 400 years in 2022, on BBC Radio 3 for #InternationalWomensDay

#CelebratingWomen #Italy #Maddalena_Casulana #IWD #Artemisia_Gentileschi #Madrigals

Lovely Peeps, I have ZERO KNOWLEDGE of this video game, but it seems something Mastodon #gaming folk might like.

Hear the caution & proceed at your own risk! 😄

Described as a slow-paced, deeply-engrossing #mystery #game, in which you play the proprietor of a local plant store, and help customers with their sometimes ... unusual ... needs..

'Find and identify new plants, pet your cat, speak to a coven, or join a cult.' (Wow, that escalated quickly!) 'Use your collection of powerful plants to influence the story and unravel Undermere’s dark mysteries' ... that go back centuries ...

Again, I know *nothing* about the game, but I thought if anyone would love it, it would be the folks here. 😊

https://www.strangehorticulture.com/

#Horticulture #PlantID #PlantIdentification #Bloomscrolling #Games #BadVikingGames

'To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.'

~ #RalphWaldoEmerson

#Persistence 💪

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited #writing advice, no. 7:

Much as a pianist benefits from practising scales before trying a Bach variation, it helps for a writer to try several versions of something small before going large.

Try this: How many ways can you write a scene in which one character learns that the other is sad?

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 7825:

Even if you're hoping for publication, not everything you write has to be for others.

Practice writing for yourself: it takes off the pressure, and may lead to unexpected discoveries ...

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris

Hello Lovely Peeps - am just here for a moment; I'm busy cleaning before the housekeeper arrives. 😄

Just kidding - kind of. I do have a friend who has said she is willing to come over and help me put the place to rights, although I am not sure if that will happen today.

(She has spoon issues too & I know she had plans this morning & tonight, so ... she may need the afternoon to herself.)

But in anticipation, I *am* getting a lot done. Some of it looks big & obvious, but is actually just a matter of shunting things to another room to be dealt with later. 😄

However, it still makes the place look better overall, so definitely a win! 🎉

Some of it is small & invisible stuff. 👀

Finding a tray to hold small items so they don't tilt / fall over on the wire racks they are on. Pouring the small amount of contents of a big bottle into one more appropriately-sized.

The big stuff is important! But so are all the small things that annoy you every day & would take five minutes to fix. 💪 😊

I should keep going. May you be having a lovely day, whatever you are doing. 💛

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited #writing advice, no 1.

Whatever other reasons you may have to write, never lose sight of your joy. #Joy is enough of an end in itself.

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris

Good morning, Lovely Peeps! 🌞

Heading into week two of 'probably not able to be here much' but should end soon.

Things have been set in motion, things are now in motion, and hopefully by the end of next week, things will have stopped their motion.

(*New* things will then start, but by then, I should be back on track. 🙏)

May it be a good Monday & a good week for you all.

And to those of you for whom today is a holiday, may it be a good one, with extra rest, recovery, and hope built in. 💛

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

#Benerib (c. 3050 BC) was a queen consort of ancient #Egypt from First Dynasty.

She was a wife of #pharaoh Hor-Aha, but it is unclear which one ("Benerib" means "sweetheart.")

Either way, she was loved. 🥰

(Image below is a fragment of an ivory box with the names of Hor-Aha and Benerib, found at #Abydos.)

Personal note: In researching this, I came across a different ivory panel described as 'serekh of Hor-Aha in the centre, and Benerib's name is only partially visible at the bottom'.

#TIL from Wiki a 'serekh' is a rectangular enclosure representing the niched or gated façade of a palace surmounted by (usually) the Horus falcon, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name.

The serekh was the earliest convention used to set apart the royal name in ancient Egyptian iconography, predating the later and better known #cartouche by four dynasties and five to seven hundred years.

(And 'cartouche' is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the feature did not come into common use until the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu.)

#CelebratingWomen #HorAha #Hor_Aha #Hieroglyphs

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 26:

A well-constructed plot needs all of the following:

a beginning, which lays out the journey;

a development, with properly-managed, escalating tension spikes and suitable moments of repose; and

a payoff worthy of the ride.

Sounds simple?

(Spoiler: it's not.)

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a musical box, playing a half-forgotten tune ...

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 34:

If you feel stale, try including a restriction to your writing schedule.

If you usually write for three hours, limit yourself to one. If you use a PC, work longhand. If you work indoors, go out. Limit your word count.

Creativity comes from challenge, not ease.

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a knotted rope, leading up into the clouds …

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a dovecote, filled with the murmur of feathers …

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a rice paper fish, swimming under the rice paper stars …

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a postage stamp, bearing the image of the greatest sheds in history …

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited #writing advice, no. 763:

Having a tough time? Good.
Got a rejection? Good.
Got a bad review? Good.
Had to abandon a project because it wasn't working? Good.

These things all teach you resilience, patience and determination; the things you need most as a writer.

Trust me: the most unhappy writers I know are the ones who had all the opportunities, every door open from the start, who had the right schools, the right friends, the right connections.

Because when you've never had to push back, the first taste of failure hits hard.

Some never recover.

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a belvedere, overlooking a canyon …

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

And this morning the Shed is a watermark on the page of an old book, a ghost in print …

#ShedTweetsByJoanneHarris

From @joannechocolat@mastodon.online

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 32:

When someone asks what your book is about, don't give them a list of themes, or a genre, or a series of ideas: instead, tell them story.

#UnsolicitedWritingAdviceByJoanneHarris