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In scholastic philosophy, "quiddity" was another term for the essence of an object, literally its "whatness" or "what it is." It's the quality that makes something what it is.

My partner Doug mentioned it tonight, and I had only seen it in Scrabble dictionaries. Try to lay that one over a triple word score. It's 8 letters but you can build it onto quid, id, dit, or it.

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vocabulary

Annexation Is a Promise Cities Rarely Measure

When cities expand their boundaries, they aren’t just adding land, they’re taking on decades of financial obligations that short-term metrics fail to capture.

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Tropical trees favor cooperation over competition

Step into a tropical forest, and something feels different right away. The air feels rich, the ground feels alive, and every plant seems part of a bigger system.

This sense of connection is not just your imagination. Science now shows that trees in these forests actively support one another, creating a strong and balanced ecosystem.

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Today is cloudy and warm with howling wind.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a brown-headed cowbird.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I emptied the bag of raised bed soil into the hollow by the garden shed.

I picked up the big branch in the south lot.

A third tuft of violet leaves is blooming yellow. That's three now, although this one is smaller. I'm so happy that my yellow violets are spreading. :D 3q3q3q!!!

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the orchard and moved them to the firepit.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder. I heard a bluejay screaming above the south lot but didn't see it.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit.

I saw two bluejays high in the trees above the house yard, bobbing up and down, screeching at each other. \o/

It's trying to spit rain.

EDIT 4/12/26 -- I picked up more big branches in the savanna and moved them to the firepit. We also dragged the biggest branch to the side where it won't block the mow path.

I am done for the night.

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I think the entire fucking painting job is almost done, finally. I need to do a bunch of touchups, and I'm sure I'll find more of them as I take the tape off things that've dried... ah, also I have to do the shelves I was able to remove from the bookshelves. I was saving them as something to do when Sibling was doing the floor, but that still hasn't happened, so...

But yeah, got the outside of the window panes done today - the outside of the actual window frames will have to wait until it's uh. Raining a bit less - and the bookshelves have two coats as well. Will probably need touchups, but I think I can say definitively they won't need another coat, yay!!!

But yeah, touchups and those shelves, and then everything else needs to wait for the floors to happen. And who knows when that will be! Sibling isn't even in the country right now!

Stupid class again tomorrow, so I'll be stuck in here in the cold most of the day anyway so I'll probably start touchups and also de-taping things. Not a whole lot else worth doing to fill in the time! Though I expect it will be intermittent with hiding under blankets... oh. Oh I am a dumbass, I should get out my electric blanket, this is the EXACT sort of situation it's for. Yes, good idea, I will do that.

But first, sleep! I am a sleepy and also I am cold, so yeah.

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Birthplace

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Today we went to the Small Business Fest held just outside Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University. It was several times bigger than we expected, which was awesome. It wrapped around the entire square, and one side had booths down both sides of the walkway. This was nearly the size of the old Celebration fest, with very similar offerings. They do this twice a year now, spring and fall.

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People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What would a perfect city be like?

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Man, why do I not have a They Might Be Giants icon?

They just released a new album (The World Is To Dig), their 24th album, and, yeah, okay, I know I've been listening to them since I was in high school, but I am honestly impressed and pleased that they are still out there making music and also have (unlike most of the other bands I really liked in high school) managed not to do anything massively problematic that I am aware of and are just, you know, seeming to genuinely enjoy getting to spend their lives hanging out and making music.

The r/tmbg subreddit asked people not to rehash the same argument we have every album (that we have been having since the days of Usenet, as they pointed out), which is "why isn't this album more [X] like the last album?" and while I will say that it doesn't have any songs where I'm like "this is definitely the best on this album" (like "Brontosaurus" which was clearly the best thing on Book, their last album) I think "Sleep's Older Sister" (described by someone on reddit as "what if Taylor Swift was high" lol) is going to be stuck in my head, as is "Outside Brain," and "In the Dead Mall," so it's a little weird to me how most of my faves are Flansburgh songs this album, though I do like Linnell's "Character Flaw" and "What You Get." But this seems like a very good Flans album to me.

(I think most of the fanbase would say that Their most popular songs are Linnell's -- Birdhouse, Ana Ng, and so on -- and the Ratings on the wiki bear this out, as the top ten are Linnell. You don't even get to a Flans song on this list until what is currently #17, which is "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head," which I like a lot but I think is, you know, maybe not one of Their most well-known. So I am in kind of a weird position where I generally agree with the fandom consensus but also my absolute favorite TMBG song is actually "Sleeping in the Flowers," which is a Flans song.)

Because I guess it wouldn't be a TMBG album if I didn't have to look any words up while listening, I did have to look up two words. And I don't mean "I couldn't understand the words they were singing so I had to check the lyrics," I mean "I've never heard that word before in my life." So, yeah, I had to look up "galliard" (a Renaissance courtly dance, apparently) and "Coffey still," although in my defense I don't actually know anything about how distillation works.

So, yeah, new TMBG album. At least the world contains that.

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music: they might be giants

Truckloads of food are being wasted because computers won’t approve them

Modern food systems may look stable on the surface, but they are increasingly dependent on digital systems that can quietly become a major point of failure. Today, food must be “recognized” by databases and automated platforms to be transported, sold, or even released, meaning that if systems go down, food can effectively become unusable—even when it’s physically available.

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Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- We went out to a Small Business Fest today. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there, a lot longer than expected, but it was four or five times the size I expected and really awesome. :D But now my nose is pink from the sun and my legs feel like they're about to fall off, so that limits my yardening potential for the day.

On the way into town, we saw two turkey vultures visiting the remains of a possum at the edge of the yard.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- I potted up most of the remaining flowers.

EDIT 4/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I potted up the last of the flowers.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night. *goflopnow*

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It is still cold, and I Dislike This. Bleh.

Still! Got the undercoat done on the front of the window panes, and finished the first coat on the bookshelves! Would've done more, honestly, but it was Too Cold, and I got caught under my doona and cats, and the sleep rays got me...

More tomorrow, though! Hopefully it'll be warmer!

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Birthplace

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Scientists think dark matter might come in two forms

Dark matter may come in two flavors—finally explaining why its signals appear in some galaxies but vanish in others.

A mysterious glow of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way has long hinted at dark matter, but the lack of similar signals in smaller dwarf galaxies has cast doubt on that idea. Now, researchers propose a bold twist: dark matter might not be a single particle at all, but a mix of two different types that must interact with each other to produce detectable signals.

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Did you grow up regularly playing board games (either with your family, or in other contexts)? Do you feel that this affected the prominence (or lack of prominence) of board games in your later life?

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gaming

Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

I am excited to see that the yellow violet has propagated itself, and now there are two little clumps blooming in the forest garden. :D

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I pulled weeds out of two pots so I can plant pansies and violas in them.

I've seen a male cardinal and heard a squirrel barking.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made one pot with a black viola and a black pansy, intending to add some other black plant later. I made another with a black viola, a black pansy, a purple-and-white viola, a blue-shaded viola, and a white alyssum. I watered the pots and added some sticks to discourage squirrels from digging in them.

I also tested out a trick that I saw in a video. Take a large garden staple, push the tines down into a narrow pot, squeeze together like tongs, and pull the plant out. It takes a bit of practice to make it work, but it does work better than other methods I have tried for safely extracting plants from those multipacks.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made a pot with a black viola, a black pansy, a purple-and-yellow pansy, and a white alyssum.

The weather is turning cooler and the breeze is picking up.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made 3 pots with various shades of purple, yellow, and orange pansies and violas. For now these are on the white planters alongside the big pot of mixed Johnny-jump-ups.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I made a pot with a mauve pansy, a couple different violas, and a white alyssum.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

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Cannot WAIT to be done with painting, hate being cold so much.

Anyway!

Went and met up with A today, which was really fun! If overwhelming, because wow there were SO MANY PEOPLE in town and I am extremely unused to it, ugh. A was in a similar state, at least, so it wasn't just me.

She got me an extremely cool mug in France, which I like a lot! I'm gonna have to get rid of at least one more mug to make room for it, there is uh. NOT a lot of room in the kitchen... Still, it's SUPER nice, handmade pottery with gorgeous glaze and even An Monster on it! :D :D :D

Other than that... did start painting the bookshelves today, and holy shit the extra money for the dulux paint is WORTH IT, it's noticeably thicker and it covers stuff SO much better I'm luv it. Also love the colour! It is a lot lighter than the windows etc., but it's still solidly colourful, which is great. Probably roughly the same intensity as the walls, which was what I was going for the first time! XD;;; So, yeah, glad I got this one, for sure.

Tomorrow, definitely going to undercoat the front side of the actual windows, and if the weather permits I'll see about doing the window frames, too. Top coats will also depend on weather, and how fast stuff dries! It's down under 10 degrees right now, which is low enough the paint manufacturers recommend you Don't Paint In This Weather, siiiigh. Will be warmer during the day, of course, but... Bleh.

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Birthplace

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Today's theme is Meditation.

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Prairie plants reveal a hidden defense against climate extremes

It looks peaceful – but these places are basically training grounds for weather whiplash.

A new study says prairies really do have a built-in advantage when the climate gets nasty: biodiversity helps. But it’s not as simple as the old slogan “more species = more resilience.”

The researchers found that different kinds of biodiversity matter depending on the kind of extreme – drought versus flood – and that nuance could matter a lot as heat, floods, and dry spells become more common.

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This poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

ravan. It also fills the "Exception" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by

janetmiles. It belongs to the series Monster House.

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This poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by

janetmiles. It also fills the "Request" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo.

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This poem came out of the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from

siliconshaman. It also fills the "Request" square in my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by

janetmiles. It belongs to the series One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis. It directly follows "Someone Who Was Trying to Be Sober" so read that first or this won't make much sense.

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Girls That Game

Vocabulary: Quiddity

Economics

Nature

Birdfeeding

Painting is... almost done??

Today's Adventures

Philosophical Questions: City

At least there's TMBG...

Food

Birdfeeding

Still cold, damnit.

Space Exploration

Gaming

Birdfeeding

Fuck it's fucking cold in here aaaaargh

Follow Friday 4-10-26: Meditation

Nature

Poem: "The Grabber"

Poem: "So DONE with It All"

Poem: Their Hidden Source

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