Reading

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Snowflake Challenge 11: Granting Wishes

Snowflake Challenge 11: Granting Wishes

This challenge is a follow up to Challenge #5. You've made your own wishlist, now it's time to grant someone else's wish from theirs! This can be as simple as answering a question to creating something from scratch, one wish or many wishes. Let your inspiration run wild!

In your own space, grant someone's wish from Challenge #5. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your own post with the wishes you granted if you feel comfortable doing so.

Be sure to check out other people's creations, whether they're granting your wish or someone else's. If you post any granted wishes elsewhere, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

A gold snowflake ornament is nestled amidst pine boughs

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Science

Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis

Scientists have found a way to regrow aging cartilage, raising hopes for arthritis treatments that could make joint replacements obsolete.

Scientists at Stanford Medicine have discovered a treatment that can reverse cartilage loss in aging joints and even prevent arthritis after knee injuries. By blocking a protein linked to aging, the therapy restored healthy, shock-absorbing cartilage in old mice and injured joints, dramatically improving movement and joint function. Human cartilage samples from knee replacement surgeries also began regenerating when exposed to the treatment.

Well, that would be super useful ... if it's not blocked by megacorps making the current arthritis treatments. Then again, most politicians are old and would probably like to have this option, so maybe they'll tell the megacorps to fuck off for once.

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recurring posts

Good News

Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?

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Poem: "A Hurricane of Butterflies"

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, inspired by a discussion with

a_natural_beauty. It also fills the "WILD CARD: Denial" square in my 2-1-25 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred.

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Website Updates

Thanks to a lot of work by

fuzzyred, you can now read A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows on its own landing page. :D This series of linguistic poetry uses novel words presented in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

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Website Updates

Thanks to a lot of work by

fuzzyred, you can now read A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows on its own landing page. :D This series of linguistic poetry uses novel words presented in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

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news,
science

Animal Intelligence

Cow are the latest animals observed using tools, reopening the debate about animal intelligence

Researchers report the first documented case of tool use in cattle, based on a Swiss Brown cow named Veronika who doesn’t just grab an object and rub it against herself.

She chooses the “right” part of a tool for the job, changes her technique depending on where she’s scratching, and repeats those choices in a way that looks consistent and intentional.

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Birdfeeding

Today is sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/20/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/20/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen at least one starling.

EDIT 1/20/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

We brought in more firewood to stack beside the stove.

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

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Linguistics

Here's an interesting observation:

Hey ding-dongs, let’s have a chit-chat about Ablaut reduplication.

If you have three words, the order usually goes 'I-A-O.'
-tic-tac-toe

If there are only two words, ‘I’ is the first and the second is either ‘A’ or ‘O.’
-click-clack
-King-Kong

I can think of a few exceptions, like "bone-dry," and more rhymes like "helter-skelter." Some like "merry-go-round" seem to follow a similar high to low pattern.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: I'm A Bug - Piemations

(no subject)

We've had a couple of nights this week in the 20s, so when spring comes around, we ought to avoid The Bugpocalypse. You know it's cold when I actually sleep with my window closed. But between my weighted blanket and my bedroom being like a meat locker, I've been getting pretty good sleep.

I don't know what else to post because nothing much has been happening. I haven't gone much of anywhere because I've lost most of my desire to go do anything outside of my weekly errands. I've been cleaning up in my office and boxed a lot of books to donate to the Friends of the Library sale, thrown things out, etc. My new desk pad came in, so I'm enjoying that - I have one for the drawing tablet, and now one for the other desk for typing and mouse use.

I can see frost on the deck railing.

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Unsold Poems for the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl

The following poems from the January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."

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Content notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"

These are the content notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion."

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food,
recipe

Today's Cooking

Today I made Crockpot Xawaash Chicken Stew. I added some chopped cherry tomatoes. They worked pretty well, but didn't cook very evenly.

I also made Sour Cream Biscuits. We had sour cream left over from a previous recipe. Honestly, I thought these were a failure because they didn't fluff up at all. The texture is more like a dumpling than a biscuit. But they have a great sour cream flavor, and they worked quite well with the stew. If you have spare sour cream, it's worth a try.

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Snowflake Challenge 10: Moodboard

Challenge #10: Big Mood (Board)

CHOOSE SOMETHING YOU LOVE AND CREATE A MINI MOOD COLLECTION OF THREE (or more) ITEMS THAT EVOKE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT IT. You don’t have to limit yourself to visual media, or collect the items into a special format like a square (though you can if you’d like).

I’ve seen other people put together visual moodboards – assembling colors, stock photos, character stills, and other images that go together and evoke the feeling of that fandom (or story, or character). I’m not that good with visuals, so I’ll often put together playlists, or song quotes, or some mix of all of the above.

I love freeform challenges that let you choose how you want to respond, so I hope you’ll like this one! (And if you’d like a bit more direction, I have some suggestions later in this post.)

Snowflake Challenge: A mug of coffee or hot chocolate with a snowflake shaped gingerbread cookie perched on the rim sits nestled amidst a softly bunched blanket. A few dried orange slices sit next to it.

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Safety

Scientists trace fertilizer microplastics from fields to beaches

Tiny plastic coatings from farm fertilizers are quietly reshaping the mystery of “missing plastics” in the ocean.

Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct drainage from fields to the sea sends far more plastic back onto shore. Once there, waves and tides briefly trap the particles on beaches before many vanish again. This helps explain why so much plastic pollution seems to disappear after reaching the ocean.

That sounds like another problem that could be reduced with a ban on using plastic to make microbeads.

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Birdfeeding

Today is partly sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a lady cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen two starlings and a male cardinal.

EDIT 1/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night. 5:20 and I can still see light in the west. :D

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blogging,
personal

Monday Update 1-19-26

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Communities
OPN Seed Order
Website Updates
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Poem: The Flavors of Our Days
Poetry Fishbowl Themes for Early 2026
Creative Jam
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Democracy
Greenland Defense Front
2025 Photos
Photos: Three for the Memories from 2025
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Birdfeeding
Poem: "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"
Follow Friday 1-16-26: Leverage
Poem: "There's an Art to It"
Read "Hordes of the Khan"
Wildlife
Neighborhood Poetry
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Birdfeeding
Poem: "The Most Dangerous Animal in the Zoo"
Cuddle Party

Animal Communication has 30 comments. Food has 53 comments. Trauma has 51 comments. Affordable Housing has 84 comments. Robotics has 125 comments.

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Location notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion"

Here are the location notes for "People of Every Ethnic Persuasion."

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Communities

Radical Neighbouring: The Farm Where Nothing is for Sale

This video asks a compelling question: What does a human look like who isn't a consumer?

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OPN Seed Order

Today we ordered seeds from OPN Seed. This completes my goal of making at least 2 catalog orders by the end of February. I still have more catalogs to go through, but I got two of the most important done. \o/

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