ride_4ever | Reading

I wanted to get this out before this journal becomes all about the Snowflake Shenanigans. It's not going to be as in-depth because I have lots of ends of year reading reflections planned already, and because I'm already two months behind, so I just can't put it off longer by stressing about reviews and whatnot.

Of course if you want to chat about any of these books, I'd love to do that with any of you. Good or bad.

First: here is November's Reads with my ratings. (Sorry to the person who recced "I Kissed Alice" it wasn't you, it was me.❤️)

And here are December's reads. Sadly, I don't have the cool graphic because Fable is too busy giving me a lot of Year in Review graphics (more on that later). Fortunately (or unfortunately depending how you measure these things) I didn't read a lot of December.

Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

And here's some more stats from Fable.

ysabetwordsmith

I love this quote. It's actually good advice.

Don't chase your dreams.

Current Mood: amused

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It was inspired by a remark from

fuzzyred. It also fills the "Deep Blue Sea" square in my 5-1-25 card for the Colors Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with

fuzzyred. It belongs to the Kraken thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

"Ruling from Beneath"

Kraken had always contained
enough scientists to understand
observation changing experiments.

They realized that ruling from beneath
would cause less ripples, less risk of
rocking the boat, than trying to be
the shadow behind the throne.

Nobody would ever look for
world leaders underneath
the deep blue sea.

Current Mood: busy

verushka70

I originally saw this reblogged on Tumblr and just had to share.

I do not have the energy generally, or even at a mitochondrial level, to chase my fanfic dreams... But recently I finally posted a few decades-old WIPs (held back by my "perfect is the enemy of good enough" tendencies, sigh), proving that it is absolutely true: apparently, for some (many!) WIP fics, years/decades was my sustainable pace to finally complete them. And I'm okay with that. 🙂 Better late than never!

ysabetwordsmith

Here is my card for the Public Domain Day Bingo over in

allbingo. The fest runs from January 1-31. (See all my 2026 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.

PUBLIC DOMAIN DAY CARD

Seas Beneath	Private	You're Driving Me Crazy	Body and Soul	The Secret of the Old Clock
Cakes and Ale	Chasing Rainbows	The Castle	Soup to Nuts	Born Reckless
The Hidden Staircase	Just Imagine	WILD CARD	Up the River	But Not for Me
The Mysterious Universe	The Door	The Green Pastures	A Cup of Coffee	Beyond the Blue Horizon
The End of the World	Grumpy	City Girl	Something to Remember You By	Fascinating Rhythm

Current Mood: busy

dine

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

goatgodschild

I was about 16 when I wrote this, in 2014. I don't remember the context of writing it, which is probably for the best.

( Read more... )

ysabetwordsmith

For those who may have overindulged (or know someone else who has) recently:

Hangover Severity and Symptom Tracker

24 of the Best Hangover Foods to Ease Your Pain

Additional resources appear in the content notes for poems dealing with overconsumption of alcohol.

"Monkey Chew Pepper" and Monkey content notes

"The Hog Knows the Tree" and Hog content notes

"The Fourth for My Enemies" and Fourth content notes

"When in a Dark Place" and Dark content notes

"Our Power to Change" and Power content notes

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This is a new post to track goals that I want to set for 2027. During January, the 2026 list will remain relatively fluid. I might add a few things to it later on. Toward the end of the year, however, I usually start thinking of goals for the following year. Previously, I started putting those at the bottom of the 2024 goals list. So I figured it was time to make a separate post for this purpose. That should make it easier to compose the goal list for 2027 when the time comes.

*

*

*

.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Friending memes, or friendzies, offer a great way to connect with new people. It occurs to me that I can list them here, with links to my entries, and have a useful reference.

This is the best time of year to run such events, because lots of people dust off their blogs in January. Also,

snowflake_challenge runs this month with challenges on odd-numbered days, and it's among the biggest events on Dreamwidth. (See my 2023 post on Friending Memes.)

Here are some resources ...

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

It is much easier to keep an accurate tally if I do it during the year rather than trying to backtrack after the fact. See my crowdfunding activities from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

I serve as a maintainer of the Crowdfunding communities on LiveJournal and on Dreamwidth.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

At the end of the year, I remove any leftover cards from two years ago, and count up my blackouts from the previous year -- I move them to the back of the stack when complete.

In 2019, I made 1 blackout.

In 2020, I made 6 blackouts.

In 2021, I made 3 blackouts.

In 2022, I made 5 blackouts: Valentines Bingo 2/1/22, National Crafting Month 3/1/22, Body Parts 7/1/22, Reel Time 8/1/22, Land of Oz 9/1/22.

In 2023, I made 3 blackouts: Public Domain Day 1/1/23, March is... Bingo 3/1/23, Pets and Animals 5/1/23.

In 2024, I made 1 blackout: National Crafting Month 3/1/24.

In 2025, I made 1 blackout: Western Bingo Card 7/1/25.

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

See my bingo fests from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

These are my bingo cards from 2025:

Public Domain Day Bingo Fest

Card 1-1-25

Valentines Bingo Fest

Card 2-1-25

Tolkien Bingo Fest

Card 3-1-25

Aesthetics Bingo Fest

Card 4-1-25

Color Fest Bingo

Card 5-1-25

Pride Fest Bingo

Card 6-2-25

Western Bingo Fest

Card 7-1-25

Crime Classics Bingo Fest

Card 8-1-25

Piracy Bingo Fest

Card 9-1-25

Fall Festival Bingo

Card 10-1-25

Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo

Card 11-1-25

December Amnesty Fest (no post or card)

These are my bingo cards from 2026:

Public Domain Day Bingo

Card 1-1-26

I also run the

allbingo community. Use this to share your accomplishments for a custom-made bingo card, for old cards from other communities, or to echo your current bingo activity.

Current Mood: creative

ysabetwordsmith

This post contains a list of things I would like to plant in the future, places I enjoy shopping, and tracking for plant orders.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Keeping track of stuff I like or want is easier if I make a place for it through the year, rather than trying to do it at the last minute. This worked great in the past, so I'm continuing the practice. See my wishlists from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

sholio

I enjoyed it! Haters to the left!

( Spoilers )

ysabetwordsmith

Each year, I think about what I have accomplished and what I want to do next. (See my goals for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.) These are some of my goals for 2026...

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

I have reviewed my goals for 2025. Out of 74 goals and one blank, I met 68 plus 6 extra fill in the blanks -- one of them the extensive terrarium exploration -- only missing 6 goals. I did quite well, better than last year. \o/

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

It's Snowflake time! :D Come one, come all, and join the fun. Do you know anyone new to Dreamwidth? Reach out and encourage them to participate in this event.