Sympathy From a Robot

 Random Thoughts

How the British say the word Schedule

I don't like the British way of saying the word "schedule." I can't even pronounce it that way! I honestly have no idea why I find it so grating. Some people hate the word "moist" or nails on a chalkboard, but for me, it's a British man saying "schedule." That's weird, right?

AI Bots

When I did a Microsoft Bing search the other day the ChatGPT bot (whose assistance I didn't ask for) responded with, "I'm sorry to hear that. Here's the information about..." and I thought to myself. "I don't need sympathy from a robot!"

Favorite YouTube channels - A Sampling

Lost in the Pond - Laurence is a British fellow who lives in Chicago and likes to entertain his audience with the differences and similarities between the US and UK among other observations. He does so with research making his videos both funny and insightful.

Why American English is Highly Misunderstood

DamiLee - Dami is an Architect that explores the pop culture influence on architecture, or maybe it's the other way around? Another fascinating, fun channel where I learn a lot. 

SolarPunk Cities: Our Last Hope?

PBS Terra

FirstNations, you need to see this one specifically! Maybe we should design rebel patterns to avoid assimilation!

What if Our Clothes Could Disrupt Surveillance Cameras?

Nature on PBS

Vertical gardens in London! Not gonna lie, kinda crushing on Alastair here. Nature is my love language.

Can Vertical Meadows Bring Wildlife Back to the Cities?

Listening and Watching

I love soundtracks especially by Bear McCreary and Ramini Djawadi. We don't have Starz and we were busy with a young child and other stuff so I'm just now discovering the soundtrack and show. The show ran from 2014-2018. Not the best show ever, but it's good! I'm crushing on the terribly naughty Captain Charles Vane and also a prostitute named Max (short for Maxine, who has a thing for softening up independent women for her own pleasure.)

Blue-Eyed Samurai on Netflix (NSFW Trailer)

Very good!

Read/ing

Coyote America: A Natural & Supernatural History By Dan Flores (Finished)

The war on coyotes in this country was and, in some ways, still is deplorable. A fascinating read.

Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying By Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (Halfway Through)

In the very first chapter you learn that some men were so threatened by her views and research into death and dying that they burned down her fucking house! I had no idea! It wasn't so much her views really, but the fact that she had intended to adopt children with AIDs during the 1980's AIDs epidemic in an effort to give them a good life for however long they might live it.

Whiteout: A Nick Ventner Adventure By Ashton Macaulay (Finished)

I met the author at an Independent Author's night this summer at a local bookstore. It's a classic pulp style story that includes an abominable snowman and the lost city of Shangri-La. It was a fun read and I sent it off for my stepbrother to enjoy.

I've read a bunch of other stuff too, but I've got a head full of goo and those are the only ones that rose to the surface from the head cold I'm currently suffering.

One-eyed Raccoons and Incorporeal visits

 Troubling discoveries here at Fernmire...

I've made notes of multiple injuries among my wildlife friends this year. A coyote, a doe and this raccoon which I've decided to call "Wally" for no particular reason.

The deer and coyote recovered from their injuries. For the coyote it was the front left paw. For the deer it was the back left knee. This raccoon also has a damaged left front paw and missing an eye. (Note at the end of the video that only one eye refracts from the camera's infrared light.)

The good news is that this raccoon has shown up twice on camera with a month apart of each visit and seems to be managing well enough.

It's nice that Blogger will let me upload a video for free while WordPress insists on making me upgrade to a more expensive paid account. I'll give a broader Fernmire update at my other site, but I'll have to rely on screen grabs.

I'm trying to get back into regular writing again. I've gone back to my Medieval short stories when I should be working on my career-making book. I'm currently working on the third story, The Miller's Wife.

Incorporeal visits

I keep finding myself in East Anglia, haunting mills and mill ponds along the rivers for an understanding of what a Miller's life might have been like circa 1016-ish. After the Romans, but before William the Conqueror. As interesting as I personally find the Woodbridge Tide Mill it won't work for my story. Nixes live in fresh water.

The Sculthorpe Mill in Norfolk seems like a good candidate. IDV, be a dear, and run over there and snap me some fresh pics from as many angles as you can!

The Heron Corn Mill in Beetham, Cumbria is also tempting but I feel the story needs to stay in the South It just feels right. Why are so many mills currently listed as "Corn mills" which is a New World crop, and no one was milling corn in 11th century East Anglia! Was it really that much better than the barely, wheat and rye previously milled? It's weird to think of cornfields in England. I'm trying to imagine an English version of Iowa hiding over there.

Picture from: Norfolk Mills - Sculthorpe watermill

This broader UK Mill Database is also very useful...

Mills – The Mills Archive

Do you know of any interesting information or resources about Medieval Mills or Peasant life of the time?

Finally, I watched Midsommar last night. It's supposed to be a cult/pagan horror movie, but I found it "Meh", I mean, yeah, a little weird, but not the nightmare fuel I was expecting it to be.

There's only one movie scene so far that has scarred me for life and that in the 1991 movie adaption of the book "Naked Lunch". Kiki should have never gone in that room to look at the damn birds! The bad special effects made it all the more terrifying. Kiki! Nooooooooo! 😱😭

Is there a movie that has scarred you or that you could never watch again?