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ysabetwordsmith

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 8: Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is a skillset for peacefully sorting out disagreements between people. Individual aspects include body language, communication skills, cooperative decision-making, coping skills, emotional awareness, mediation, negotiation, and problem-solving. The goal is to find a win-win solution, or if that is not possible, at least something that everyone can live with. Sometimes you may identify a need for additional resources, reorganzing things, or other stuff that could take a while to accomplish. Conflict resolution is effective when it diffuses the tension of the moment and identifies at least one practical step toward reducing or avoiding future conflicts over the same issue. It's okay if that takes multiple rounds to fix fully. All people experience conflicts sometimes, but different cultures handle this in different ways. Dreamwidth has no conflict resolution communities per se, but you might explore

common_nature,

goals_on_dw, or

thankfulthursday for a few of its subskills.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

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

Should governments make laws to protect people from hurting themselves?

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

A Day Away Spring/Summer 2026 is now up at the Effingham Magazines page. :D 3q3q3q!!! If you live in or plan to visit central Illinois, this is the best guide to events and attractions within daytrip distance of Effingham.

Current Mood: excited

ysabetwordsmith

Here is my card for the Greek Myth Fest Bingo over in

allbingo. The fest runs from May 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.

GREEK MYTH FEST BINGO CARD

loss	journey	destruction	music	fruit
metamorphosis	underworld	quest	nature	silver
recognition	centaur	WILD CARD	escape	building
rescue	hero	gods	identity	wait
monster	minotaur	chosen	magic	family

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went to the May Day and Full Moon Walk activities at Whiteside Garden.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: happy

ysabetwordsmith

These are

thefridayfive questions for May 1...

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've heard a squirrel barking but haven't seen it.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 5/1/26 -- I did a bit of work around patio.

I took some pictures around the yard. Columbine, alliums, poppy, wood hyacinth, and others are blooming.

EDIT 5/1/26 -- I did some brush trimming around the patio.

I've seen a male cardinal and a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

I am done for the night.

EDIT 5/1/26 -- We went to a May Day event, and when we got home, my Cold Stream Farm order had arrived.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today's theme is Movies.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry.

Sculpture is a tactile art of shaping three-dimensional figures. Popular media include bone, bronze, clay, marble, and polymer clay. Soft sculpture is a fibercraft using materials like wool or cotton. Sculpture may also be mixed media using typical materials or found objects. All known human cultures make art, leading to great variety in sculpture. Here on Dreamwidth, see

crafty,

creativity,

everykindofcraft,

get_knitted,

justcreate, or

nacramamo. There are more Crafts communities too.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

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Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

I have made bingo down the G column of my 4-1-26 card for the Flower Fest Bingo. I also made 5 extra fills.

G1 (Edge of Enchantment) -- "Edge of Enchantment" (Coracle Shores)
G2 (Black Hero) -- "Any Terms You Offer" (Not Quite Kansas)
G3 (Zinnia) -- "Play Off the Energy of the Crowd" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels)
G4 (Lilac) -- "Beautiful, Tough, Shiny, Resilient" (The Blueshift Troupers)
G5 (Devil's Tongue) -- "So DONE with It All" (standalone)

B1 (Request) -- "Their Hidden Source" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis)
B3 (Escape) -- "Someone Who Was Trying to Be Sober" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis)
B5 (Exception) -- "The Grabber" (Monster House)

I4 (Moonlight Sensation) -- "An Equally Valid Way of Being" (The Moon Door)

N1 (Big Smile) -- "Eat It Happily Because It Is Good" (Polychrome Heroics: Shiv)

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

We made it to the end of April! \o/ If you have completed any of your short-term goals or subgoals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We've also gotten through the second month of spring. If you're doing seasonal goals, you may have finished the first of your spring ones and/or be looking ahead to the summer batch.

I'm continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 9
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 16
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 23
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

Themes of the last two months
1. In March especially I listened to a ton of Gallaghers as mood music for an Oasis fic I was writing. (As opposed to, you know, all the other reasons that I listen to them.) In particular I listened to Liam's most recent solo project a lot, C'mon You Know, which came out four years ago.

2. My cold early spring albums, specifically the first Mumford and Sons album and an old favorite, New Reveille, which is kind of country-adjacent but with fiddle, banjo, and cello. I love the strings, the vocals, and the angsty/dark vibe. For example, Hounds or Conway Shore. Does anyone have recs for more stuff like them? They released one album eight years ago, and it doesn't look like they exist anymore as a group.

3. Female-led country/Americana artists in general. Kacey Musgraves, Molly Tuttle, a little bit of Ashley Monroe and Kathleen Edwards.

4. Lord Huron, mostly Cosmic Selector Vol 1 in March and Strange Trails in April, as the weather has warmed up.

My top artists (by # of streams)
March:
1. Liam Gallagher
2. Oasis
3. New Candys
4. Lord Huron

April
1. Oasis
2. New Reveille
3. Molly Tuttle
4. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Favorite songs:
1. Still White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter by Lana Del Rey. It's just so weird and has like five layers of irony. The more I hear it the more I love it. Nobody does it like Lana.

2. Dry Spell by Kacey Musgraves, a serious-sounding but goofy-hearted song about how she hasn't had sex in almost a year and is SUFFERING. The music video is a hoot. This is the first single for her album that comes out tomorrow, which I'm super stoked about.

3. Suit and Tie by Soda Blonde. This reminds me a bit of London Grammar, although this gal's voice is very different. I love the moody vibe and the synths.

4. Everything Burns by Molly Tuttle. More banjo, some political rage, and a great driving sound. Between this and New Reveille (and I guess Mumford and Sons too), it's really clear that I love high-energy, moody rock songs with banjo. More of that, please!

ysabetwordsmith

This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...

* Posted "Birdfeeding" in

birdfeeding.

* Commented on "Just One Thing" in

awesomeers.

* Commented on "Check-In Post - April 29th 2026" in

get_knitted.

* Posted "April Monthly Post" in

allbingo.

* Posted "April Monthly Post" in

birdfeeding.

* Posted "New Year's Resolutions Check In" in

goals_on_dw.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny and cool.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 4/30/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/30/26 -- My live plants arrived from Select Seeds. :D I've put them outdoors with the others to get some sun.

EDIT 4/30/26 -- I planted yesterday-today-and-tomorrow petunia in the barrel garden. It blooms almost white, turns pink, then nearly purple. I planted prairie coreopsis and pink turtlehead in the wildflower garden.

The first poppy is blooming beside the driveway. :D A pink columbine is blooming in the tulip bed.

EDIT 4/30/26 -- I planted a white echinacea in the white garden.

EDIT 4/30/26 -- I planted two different kinds of wild mint in the wildflower garden.

EDIT 4/30/26 -- I planted a red-leaved penstemon and a coneflower in the wildflower garden.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting.

Poetry is a literary art that uses different techniques than fiction, relying on patterns and sounds to charm its audience. Languages use different features to indicate poetry -- sometimes rhyme, or alliteration, or other things. This creates a large range of forms as well as free verse. Here on Dreamwidth, check out

25poemsamonth,

books,

greatpoetry,

haiku_gallery,

poetry,

thefreaksclub, or

words_just_words. There are more Poetry and Writing communities too.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

I hope you have a lovely day,

casey28.

ysabetwordsmith

This month's theme was "I am SO done with this!" I wrote from 12 PM to 3:15 AM, so about 13 hours 15 minutes, accounting for breaks. I wrote 7 poems on Tuesday plus 3 later in the week.

Participation was up slightly, with 11 comments on LiveJournal and another 48 on Dreamwidth. A total of 10 people sent prompts. There were no new prompters.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Beautiful, Tough, Shiny, Resilient"
"The Grabber"
"So DONE with It All"
"Someone Who Was Trying to Be Sober"
"Their Hidden Source"

"Walnut Park" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels, March 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl)
"Filled with Things You Don't Know" (Polychrome Heroics: Kraken, February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl) (pending)

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from April 7. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include:

janetmiles,

fuzzyred, and Anthony Barrette. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There is 1 tally toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went up to Champaign-Urbana.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

This Saturday, May 2, we'll be tabling at Hampshire Pride in the Armory Street parking lot behind Thornes Marketplace, in Northampton MA! We'll be at the white booth, #29, and we're sharing the space with Bee Leake!

We'll be loaded up with all sorts of goodies. Hope to see you there! We also will be offline once we leave tomorrow morning, so if you need to reach us, call, text, or wait.

Crossposts: https://lb-lee.insanejournal.com/32144.html

ysabetwordsmith

Today is sunny and mild, a beautiful spring day. It rained again last night.

I fed the birds. I heard a bluejay screaming but didn't see it.

Current Mood: busy

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