@ergative@wandering.shop
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

ergative

@ergative@wandering.shop

SFF booknerd; calligrapher; Islamic geometric art doer; figure skating appreciater; coffee-drinking, granola-baking, tofu-eating wokeratum; psycholinguist by vocation, fretful porpentine by aspiration.

Header image: 2 repeats of an Islamic geometric tile pattern from the Alhambra Palace

Avatar: single repeat of a pattern from the Royal Alcazar of Seville

Contributer at Nerds of A Feather (http://www.nerds-feather.com/)

#nobot #nosearch

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thisismyglasgow, to glasgow
@thisismyglasgow@mastodon.scot avatar

The terminus of one of Glasgow's surprisingly large number of curved mid-nineteenth Century Classical Terraces. This one is on Queen's Crescent with the terminus on West Prince's Street. It was designed by John Bryce and was built in 1840.

#glasgow #architecture #woodlands #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #buildingphotography

ergative,
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

@thisismyglasgow Did Bryce have a fight with the window-installer?

ergative, to random
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

Look, I know it's now a millennial cringe thing to talk about , but today I've gone to the dentist, put in a warranty claim for a dehumidifier, applied for a formal position as a statistician, and emailed the electricians about fixing an electrical thing, and I need some goddammed recognition that I have been a goddamned responsible fucking adult today.

ergative, to random
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

When life gets you down, just remember that the East Lothian council stood firm in the face of chicken-deniers, and did the right thing for poultry--and, indeed, for all of us.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-67000525

#chickens

ergative, to random
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

looks around nervously

licks lips

takes deep breath

So--um, why does @bitterkarella pretend that musk is italian?

Like--I get it's a joke. But I I don't get the joke.

I've googled. Musk says Italians will become extinct because of low birth rate. Italy is willing to host the musk-zuckerberg cage match.

Is one of those the source of the joke?

Did Musk claim he was Mario or something?

I don't get it.

ergative,
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

@bitterkarella Thank you! (Love your work)

ZachWeinersmith, to random
@ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

Anyone else out there boring enough to keep a 3 ring binder of recipes? How do you organize?

ergative,
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

@ZachWeinersmith Yes! Me! Savoury in the front, sweet in the back. Lots of newspaper clippings and food-container recipes scotch-taped onto notebook paper.

ergative, to calligraphy
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

In light of a potential #calligraphy commission that has landed in my inbox, I've pulled out my pens to see if, after several years of focusing on Islamic geometric art I stil remember how to do letters.

Here's the result! It came from a 'quotes.txt' document I compiled during the Trump years; you can perhaps see the influence. Words from Seanan McGuire; lettering done with a Pilot Parallel Pen; ink is KWZ Honey.

#calligraphy #handLettering #dinosaurs #dinosaur #SeananMcGuire #FountainPens

Fraktur calligraphy block (viewd from an angle): "We're not fish waking up and saying "oh fuck, the water is wet." We're birds who fell in the river and have been telling you for YEARS that we're drowning, and have finally hit the point of desperation where we remind you that birds are DINOSAURS, and start drawing blood. -Seanan McGuire"

ergative, to random
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

Hmm. I'm considering registering myself as a very very small business to sell my art. Hmm.

, advice would be welcome. This would be extremely small-scale. Like, a commissions or two a year, plus maybe prints. I know I don't need to do tax declarations if I earn under £1000, but I could imagine going above that, so I want to do it properly.

ergative,
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

@sandralindsey Thanks, that's all reassuringly close to my impression!

Jennifer, to fantasy
@Jennifer@bookstodon.com avatar

I finished this book last night and loved it. It's set in an alternative Victorian-era world where magic is real. The world is like ours though in that women can't vote and the lowers classes have pretty crappy lives. This book is about three sisters who decide to try to use witchcraft to get the vote for women, but the story turns into way more than that. Fun magic system. It explores family dynamics, power, and is super feminist. Highly recommend. @bookstodon #Bookstodon #Fantasy #Witches

ergative,
@ergative@wandering.shop avatar

@Jennifer @bookstodon Ah, yes, I loved that so much when I read it.

Tattooed_mummy, to random
@Tattooed_mummy@wandering.shop avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @Tattooed_mummy floppy ears are the best ear type.

    Private
    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @elmyra @academicchatter Academics are subject to peer reviews if they want their work published anywhere reputable, so they're more likely to agree to do it than non-academics, who are not beholden to this exploitative af publishing ecosystem. (Also, in some institutions, peer-reviewing for journals does count towards promotion criteria. Not a lot, but a little.)

    Also, professional connections through peer review can be quite valuable!

    1/2

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @elmyra @academicchatter

    So if you recommend an academic as an alternative reviewer, you'll be doing the book author a favor (helping them get published), and you won't be asking the academic to do anything that isn't already a typical part of their job, and may help them in whatever small way peer reviewing helps reviewers.

    (To be honest, sometimes I find that the only new work I have time to read is the work I'm reviewing.)

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @elmyra @academicchatter Ah, sounds to me like you are well-placed to respond to the publisher, 'sorry, I only offer my expertise to publishers like [Good Publisher] who pay reviewers for their skilled expertise,' in a way that current academics (especially non-tenured ones) may not have the status to do.

    ergative, to random
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    'I'm happy to do that task,' says my colleague. 'How soon do you need it? When is the deadliest deadline?'

    How have I lived nearly 4 decades on this good green earth and not come across the phrase 'deadliest deadline' before? It's perfect. It's exquisite. It is--words fail me. It is so good. Mwah! chef's kiss

    ergative, to random
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    According to forensic reconstruction, Bonnie Prince Charlie was Bertie Wooster with a bit of acne.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/world/europe/bonnie-prince-charlie-outlander-jacobite.html

    RuthSachter, to random
    @RuthSachter@wandering.shop avatar

    That was unpleasant! There was a post consisting of a repeated racial slur that i just reported and blocked. First time I'd encountered such here (I'm well aware that's a privileged experience on my part.)

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @RuthSachter Yes, that was so weird! I got another one of those from a different instance through a hashtag I follow. (#FountainPens, fwiw)

    ergative, to Scotland
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    Hey, Mastodon, I have a student who needs some English speakers to do an online linguistics experiment. Can you help out? Boosts appreciated, or you can just click the link if you qualify!

    https://research.sc/participant/login/dynamic/40FE9D0B-2C90-47F9-9F47-B72F35A68CBA

    ergative, to bookstodon
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    I have dutifully reviewed my latest reading experience on Goodreads.

    The book was Chuck Tingle's 'Pounded by the Pound: Turned Gay by the Socioeconomic Implications of Britain Leaving the European Union'.

    As I've mentioned before, my mother reads my goodreads reviews. She was moved to comment on this one. Her comment read, in full,

    'Oh my'.

    @bookstodon #bookstodon #BookReview #BookReviews

    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5752110281?comment=264385033

    KelsonV, to random
    @KelsonV@wandering.shop avatar

    Review of Semiosis ★★★★★

    Sue Burke: A fascinating take on space colonization, intelligence, and language, following multiple generations of humans on a world dominated by sapient plants.

    https://hyperborea.org/reviews/books/semiosis/

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @KelsonV Yes, I loved this book so much!

    sundogplanets, to random
    @sundogplanets@mastodon.social avatar

    Some of the best academic advice I ever got was "A paper is never really done, at some point you just have to set it free."

    And yet...I find myself with a nearly-done paper that I just keep making more and more plots for! Someday I'll set it free, but not today, apparently.

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @sundogplanets An experiment is never really done. But at some point you just have to click 'deploy' and start collecting data.

    thisismyglasgow, (edited ) to glasgow
    @thisismyglasgow@mastodon.scot avatar

    Former Salvation Army Hall, Bridgeton, Glasgow. Designed by John Hamilton and built in 1927, this is a rather wonderful building with a very distinctive roof line, which reminds me of a fractal.

    As far as I can work out, it's not listed, which surprises me quite a bit, but it's currently being converted into offices for local businesses by Clyde Gateway.

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @thisismyglasgow Given how many listed buildings are left to moulder because the preservation regulations are too onerous to respect during renovation/conversion, I wonder whether its lack of listed status is why it's still being used and kept in good repair.

    ZachWeinersmith, to random
    @ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

    Do you think better AI will change the way we store files? Meaning basically, right now you make specific folders and ideally nest them so you can locate stuff. But maybe in the future everything just goes in a bin and you say "hey AI, get me that one file about the thing"

    ergative,
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    @ZachWeinersmith You're assuming the only reason we'll need AI to find files is because we want the file for our own use. I'm perpetually writing scripts that read in data and munge data or spit out data, and I need to point those scripts to a file location. If I don't use my directory structure appropriately, there's nothing AI can do that will make those scripts work.

    ergative, to fantasy
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    Hallo, shop! Yesterday I didn't much care for 'The Cartographers', but today you can read about why I LOVED Starling House, by Alix E Harrow, on Nerds of a Feather!

    Look, just do what the nice sentient house wants, all right?

    http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/07/review-starling-house-by-alix-e-harrow.html

    @bookstodon

    ergative, to fountainpens
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    Hello, bookfriends! Up on Nerds of a Feather today I share my thoughts about The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd, which could have been a lot better than it was, alas. (Fanciers of may well enjoy the footnote.)

    http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/07/review-cartographers-by-peng-shepherd.html

    @bookstodon

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