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Buddha statue and surrounding garden.
Jul. 6th, 2025 05:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
full_metal_ox posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureTaken on 28 May 2024 at 21:00 US Eastern Daylight Time:
(Warning for flashing lights and shaky camera.)
( Cut. )
(Not included: the sound of passing sirens.)
Taken on 9 June 2024 at 07:21 US Eastern Daylight Time:
Taken on 27 June 2025 at 19:46 US Eastern Daylight Time:
Taken on 27 June 2025 at 19:47 US Eastern Daylight Time:
Taken on 2 July 2025 at 19:43 US Eastern Daylight Time:
This gradually took shape across the parking lot from a local Asian fusion restaurant over 2024; between recovering from Hurricane Ian and the COVID quarantine, changing hands, and changing formats (from the mid-century Cantonese-American the original owners had served for forty years to a pan-Asian combination of sushi, ramen, and Chinese), they’d spent the previous couple years uneasily gaining their bearings.
The garden’s proximity to the street, along with the lack of any obvious receptacle for offerings, makes it clear that this is a more ornamental than devotional site. (A Web search indicates the presence of a local Buddhist temple, but the address is a private residence, and home worship services are for who they’re for, which does not include curiosity-gawking spiritual tourists.)
My guess is that the white-flowering shrubs are Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), aka Confederate Jasmine, Chinese Star Jessamine, and Trader’s Compass, native to warm regions in South and East Asia, and widely planted in the Southeastern U.S. The flowers’ heady indolic fragrance is prized in perfumery, but I’m afraid I haven’t the right sensory range to enjoy them.
(Warning for flashing lights and shaky camera.)
( Cut. )
(Not included: the sound of passing sirens.)
Taken on 9 June 2024 at 07:21 US Eastern Daylight Time:
Taken on 27 June 2025 at 19:46 US Eastern Daylight Time:
Taken on 27 June 2025 at 19:47 US Eastern Daylight Time:
Taken on 2 July 2025 at 19:43 US Eastern Daylight Time:
This gradually took shape across the parking lot from a local Asian fusion restaurant over 2024; between recovering from Hurricane Ian and the COVID quarantine, changing hands, and changing formats (from the mid-century Cantonese-American the original owners had served for forty years to a pan-Asian combination of sushi, ramen, and Chinese), they’d spent the previous couple years uneasily gaining their bearings.
The garden’s proximity to the street, along with the lack of any obvious receptacle for offerings, makes it clear that this is a more ornamental than devotional site. (A Web search indicates the presence of a local Buddhist temple, but the address is a private residence, and home worship services are for who they’re for, which does not include curiosity-gawking spiritual tourists.)
My guess is that the white-flowering shrubs are Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), aka Confederate Jasmine, Chinese Star Jessamine, and Trader’s Compass, native to warm regions in South and East Asia, and widely planted in the Southeastern U.S. The flowers’ heady indolic fragrance is prized in perfumery, but I’m afraid I haven’t the right sensory range to enjoy them.
TV report
Jul. 5th, 2025 11:20 pmsasha_featherMy eyes are bothering me lately; anything close-focus is hard. Really challenging as most of my hobbies involve close focus. I have a lot of pain in my mouth and face so concentrating is also difficult.
TV seems to be the way to go but I feel like I've run out of shows.
Enjoying: Murderbot. Also loved The Pitt, and the Old Guard 2. Task Master and DropOut (Game changer, etc), continue to delight.
Other things I've watched:
Mr Robot. Gave up after one season. It's grim and humorless. I liked some of the actors a lot but the aesthetic was so gray on gray, and a high preference for very thin bodies and baggy eyes, like heroin-addict chic. For a thriller it's weirdly slow.
The storied life of AJ Fikry: A cromulent romance / drama on Netflix. Cute if not particularly memorable. It's about people who love reading and live on an island only accessible by ferry. Has multiple characters of color.
I watched 2 episodes of "Nobody Wants This", a rom-com with Kristen Bell. Her character falls in love with a rabbi. The characters felt really thinly drawn and so I did not care about them. There was just no there there, as they say.
The Last Breath: a drama about a survival story involving deep-sea construction workers (based on a true story). I liked this pretty well but think it would have worked better with some documentary-style explanations of what was happening.
Clean Slate: on Amazon Prime, a sitcom about a trans woman reconnecting with her father. I dropped this because I could not see what was happening! There seemed to be a gray film over everything! I might try it again later as it had some good humor and characters.
I tried season three of the Bear but it was unpleasant.
I played Dragon Age: Inquisition through twice, which was very restful for my brain actually. I think it would be a good idea to invest further in video games, which help me pass the time when I'm ill. I don't know much about gaming systems. I'd love to play Dragon Age Veilguard and some other newer games but how to decide on what kind of system to get? They are expensive. I got the Xbox 360 used and have absolutely loved having it.
What are you enjoying watching or playing?
TV seems to be the way to go but I feel like I've run out of shows.
Enjoying: Murderbot. Also loved The Pitt, and the Old Guard 2. Task Master and DropOut (Game changer, etc), continue to delight.
Other things I've watched:
Mr Robot. Gave up after one season. It's grim and humorless. I liked some of the actors a lot but the aesthetic was so gray on gray, and a high preference for very thin bodies and baggy eyes, like heroin-addict chic. For a thriller it's weirdly slow.
The storied life of AJ Fikry: A cromulent romance / drama on Netflix. Cute if not particularly memorable. It's about people who love reading and live on an island only accessible by ferry. Has multiple characters of color.
I watched 2 episodes of "Nobody Wants This", a rom-com with Kristen Bell. Her character falls in love with a rabbi. The characters felt really thinly drawn and so I did not care about them. There was just no there there, as they say.
The Last Breath: a drama about a survival story involving deep-sea construction workers (based on a true story). I liked this pretty well but think it would have worked better with some documentary-style explanations of what was happening.
Clean Slate: on Amazon Prime, a sitcom about a trans woman reconnecting with her father. I dropped this because I could not see what was happening! There seemed to be a gray film over everything! I might try it again later as it had some good humor and characters.
I tried season three of the Bear but it was unpleasant.
I played Dragon Age: Inquisition through twice, which was very restful for my brain actually. I think it would be a good idea to invest further in video games, which help me pass the time when I'm ill. I don't know much about gaming systems. I'd love to play Dragon Age Veilguard and some other newer games but how to decide on what kind of system to get? They are expensive. I got the Xbox 360 used and have absolutely loved having it.
What are you enjoying watching or playing?
Horsetail Falls
Jul. 4th, 2025 11:57 amyourlibrarian posting in common_nature
Our last stop on the Historic 30 route was Horsetail Falls. If you look at the next photo you can see people sitting on the log stretching out into the pool for scale. .( Read more... )
LARP comes to the USA!
Jun. 30th, 2025 04:32 pmdavidlevineIf you've been reading this blog, you will have seen me raving about my Live Action Role Play experiences in Europe in the past few years. Well, suddenly the European LARP experience is coming to the United States!
I'm aware of the following LARP events in the US in the next year. Many of these are being run in cooperation with a European LARP organizer. Some of them are still provisional; others are already sold out (though there is usually a waiting list). Check the websites for details and contact the organizers if you have any questions. And feel free to bookmark my public LARP spreadsheet, which I try to keep updated with every LARP I hear about that's of interest to me. (Which excludes vampire and boffer LARPs, for example.)
- Miskatonic University North America (Lovecraft) - Pennsylvania
Aug 1-3 2025
https://chaosleague.org/miskatonic-university-larp-us - Daemon (His Dark Materials) - Colorado
Run 1: Sep 26-28 2025
Run 2: Sep 29 - Oct 1 2025
https://www.mooneybinentertainment.com/daemon - Hawkins (Stranger Things) - Wisconsin
Oct 2-5 2025
http://hawkinslarp.com - Monstrosity (Erotic horror) - New Jersey
Run 1: Oct 30 - Nov 1 2025
Run 2: Nov 2-4 2025
Run 3: Nov 6-8 2025
https://www.monstrositylarp.com - Bard's Tale US (Shakespeare) - Wisconsin
Run 5: Apr 10-12 2026
https://www.westcoastinteractive.com/bardstale - Lies & Liability (Regency) - Wisconsin
Late April 2026
https://grimmoire.productions/lies-and-liability/ - Outbound Hope Mission (Galactica-ish on a decomissioned warship) - Michigan
Run 1: Apr 30 - May 3 2026
Run 2: May 7-10 2026
https://outboundhopemission.com/ - Conscience USA (Westworld) - Montana
Run 1: Jun 26-28 2026
Run 2: Jul 3-5 2026
http://mooneybinentertainment.com/conscienceusa - Hivemind (1960s spies) - USA TBD
Nov 6-7 2026
https://www.hivemindlarp.com/
Rebuilding journal search again
Jun. 30th, 2025 03:18 pmalierak posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceWe're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Oneonta Gorge
Jun. 30th, 2025 11:14 amyourlibrarian posting in common_nature
Our next stop on the trip that day was Oneonia Gorge. It has a tunnel through the rock in between the trees, though we didn't go through it. Instead, we stopped just before it to take pictures of the creek and gorge.( Read more... )
Sea Fog
Jun. 28th, 2025 01:32 pmpuddleshark posting in common_nature
I have been playing hide-and-seek with the rooks in the sea fog up on St Alhelm's Head.
( Not a glimpse of the sea )
