December Monthly Post
There is no Creative Jam in December. The January 2026
Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!
Happy Kalends of Decembris! Are you ready for Saturnalia?
第四年第三百二十六天
已
己, self; 已, already; 巴, noun suffix ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=49
巾 parts 1-5
巾, cloth/towel; 币, money/currency; 市, city/market; 布, cloth/to declare; 帅, handsome/cool/commander-in-chief; 帆, sail; 师, teacher; 希, to hope; 帕, handkerchief; 贴, to adhere; 帘, curtain; 帝, emperor; 带, to wear/to bring/belt; 席, seat; 帮, to help
( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=50
语法
1.9 Negatives: 不 vs 没
1.10 二 vs 两
1.11 Can: 会 vs 能
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-1-grammar
词汇
败, defeat; 打败, to defeat/to be defeated; 失败, failure
办事, to handle affairs/to work
包裹, package; 包含, to contain; 包括, to include; 红包, red packet (gift of money)
薄, thin (as opposed to thick)
宝, treasure; 宝宝,宝贝, baby; 宝贵, valuable; 宝石, precious stone
保密, secrecy/confidentiality; 保守, conservative; 担保, to assure
( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
玩玩
Lu Hu, 限时礼物; Wang Leehom and A-Lin, 最好的地方; Zhou Shen, 爱丽苏卿.
已经十二月了,怎么办。我觉得最近疲惫的人生病的扔悲伤的人比较多,好好照顾自己啊,别勉强!
A Cat of Absolute Dignity


It would be premature to say that Saja the kitten rules the roost around here, but it is true that he very quickly became extremely comfortable with his position in the house, flopping onto the floor wherever he feels like flopping and making routing around him everyone else’s problem. This lounging position very well exemplifies his attitude: Why not let it all hang out? If someone want to complain, that’s a them issue, isn’t it?
This does delight me; I like a kitten with attitude, and also I don’t mind launching him across the floorboard like a furry curling stone if he’s in my way. When I do, he usually looks up at me like, you win this round, human, and then tries eating my face at 3am. Again, I don’t hate this. A little feline attitude goes a long way with me.
— JS
November Book Log
( 73. 10-Minute Strength Training Exercises for Seniors by Ed Deboo )
( 74. False Value by Ben Aaronovitch )
( 75. Physics for Cats by Tom Gauld )
( 76. Wastelands: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams )
( 77. Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach )
( 78. Doctor Who and the War Games by Malcolm Hulke )
( 79. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan )
( 80. Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman )
Done Since 2025-11-23
Mixed. A couple of minor high points, including a very nice Thanksgiving (observed) dinner yesterday evening, but enough lows to more than compensate, plus enough problems with both my health, and my abject failure to get those across during my appointment Friday morning, to throw me into a tailspin that I still haven't fully recovered from. Oh, and Leslie Fish died yesterday. There's another bit storythere, too, but it'll wait for another day.
Three walks. One guitar practice, Friday, but after spending the day in a funk it lifted my spirits a litte, as did a little more Dutch on Duolingo. I take what I can get. The top quote of the week, from Paradox of hedonism - Wikipedia:
Happiness is like a cat, if you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come. But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap.
Apparently the same thing applies to sleep. But it's only 20:48, so I have two hours, more or less, before I have to not-try to put that into practice. If the cats will let me. But I'll stop here, incoherent as this post is, because between now and then I have to compose an email to my doctors. (Or at least their clinic. It's complicated, and a large part of Friday's trainwreck was because I didn't know how complicated it had gotten while I wasn't looking.)
Why Nature will not allow the use of generative AI in images and video So apparently Nature abhors AI.
How about ending with The Illustrated Version of “Alice’s Restaurant”?
November 2025 in Review

21 works reviewed. 11 by women (52%), 10 by men (48%), 0 by non-binary authors (0%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 8 by POC (38%).
Book by book, closer to aleph null.
November 2025 in Review
The Incredible Umbrella (Incredible Umbrella, volume 1) by Marvin Kaye

An academic's dismal prospects are transformed by a magical umbrella.
The Incredible Umbrella (Incredible Umbrella, volume 1) by Marvin Kaye
Allbingo and Crowdfunding
Further details below ...
( Read more... )
Comfort Corner
There is a scratching post and a cat tree for climbing, which are both along the wall opposite the couch. A few fluffy beds have also been put out, in varying sizes, in case any one prefers the floor. There is also a large sturdy perch and a marked off area that says "Landing Pad" in case any winged friends want to visit.
There is now a blue chaise chair in the nook as well, which has been placed near the couch and is good for both sitting and spreading out lengthwise. There are also two armchairs; one an oversized, deep gray leather chair, the other a square fabric armchair in deep blue with light purple swirls on it.
There are two baskets off to the side. One contains fuzzy blankets, a variety of fuzzy and textured pillows, and a collection of stuffed animals while the other contains a variety of art supplies, ranging from colouring pages and blank paper to crayons and coloured pencils, and more besides.
D.O.P.-T.
Stoppard.
Mr Ford took me to London (first class, yet, as he had to use up a lot of frequent flyer miles on a reorganizing airline, so we went fancy) to see Arcadia at the NT. It was stunning.
Glad we had him on the planet. He will be missed.
Still resting LIKE A POTATO but with small bits of work in between, and ASKING YOUR FAVOR
HOWEVER, what is not so good is that I'm considerably behind on getting things into the Etsy store.
Also what is not so good is that a new computer is needed. (Shopping will be done, the passive voice will be employed, and so forth.) Also, since other debts are also had, the means to pay them must be acquired.
YOUR KINDNESS is hereby requested in the form of sending people to my shop (or going yourself, yes please!) so that I may exchange the fruits of my labors for money that I can then give the computer-making people and the other-stuff-I-have-to-pay-people. If it works out right, we're all happy. (Also it will help me not freak out about money, which turns out to make resting LIKE A POTATO a little harder.)
The shop is: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LionessElise
Also also, being at the workbench is the most calming thing I know, so I'm doing a tiny bit of that, but I need to put things into the shop for people to be able to see them. Commerce does not work so well otherwise. (I am reminded of Patricia C. Wrede, who upon receiving a sheepish negative answer when she asked me if I had sent a certain story in yet, declaimed in ringing tones, "PUBLISHERS DO NOT CONDUCT HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCHES FOR PUBLISHABLE MANUSCRIPTS! SEND IT IN! YOU HAVE TO SEND IT IN!")
Anyhow, yeah, I very much need to make some moneys happen, and the most direct route for me is making shinies happen for people that want shinies, so if you can help them find my work that would be awesomely helpful.
You have my deep gratitude, and if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know.
第四年第三百二十五天
巾 part 5
带, to wear/to bring/belt; 席, seat; 帮, to help ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=50
词汇
保密, secrecy/confidentiality; 保守, conservative; 担保, to assure ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/
Guardian:
需要帮忙吗, do you need help?
我可以担保她跟这个案子没有关系, I can guarantee that she is not connected to this case
Me:
你去过旅游也没带给我个纪念品来呢?
保密非常重要。
And me? Well, I'm just the narrator
—Tom Stoppard, Arcadia (1993)