Esperanto warning

Mar. 23rd, 2026 08:41 am
[syndicated profile] languagelog_feed

Posted by Mark Liberman

From Frederick Newmeyer: "A sign in the breakfast room of a not very classy hotel in Amsterdam:"

"The middle language is Esperanto! Who could have decided on Esperanto as the third language and who can read it? The hotel receptionists have no idea."

I don't have much to add, except that Google Ngrams suggests that Esperanto is gradually dying out:

And why the ~20 year oscillations?

Morning medical annoyance

Mar. 23rd, 2026 09:00 am
andrewducker: (Default)
[personal profile] andrewducker

It always surprises me that Boots isn't open until 9am. You would have thought that there'd be enough people wanting to pick up painkillers or similar on the way in to work.

Monday At The Movies.....

Mar. 23rd, 2026 03:50 am
disneydream06: (Disney Movies)
[personal profile] disneydream06
This Week's Movie Quote...

M. B.: Old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of.


Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1


Which Movie Does This Quote Come From?

View Answers

Citizen Kane
1 (100.0%)

A Clockwork Orange
0 (0.0%)

Rear Window
0 (0.0%)

I Don't Have A Clue...
0 (0.0%)




Last Week's Movie Quote...

Klaus: Your legs are too thin, your hair is too red, you have lips like a cat. You're no good. You give me too much trouble.
Angel: Flattery rolls right off me.

It comes from the 1952 movie, "The Greatest Show On Earth".
It was a behind the scenes look at the Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus.
It starred Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, James Stewart, Dorothy Lamour, Charlton Heston, and the famous clown Emmett Kelly...



Those Who Knew or Guessed Correctly...
[personal profile] gwendraith
[personal profile] london_calling
[profile] sidhe_uaine42
[personal profile] meathiel
[personal profile] deepseasiren
[profile] davesmusictank
[profile] christalin80
[personal profile] seaivy
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

This post is sponsored by E.V. Mitchell, author of the upcoming Savage Bonds, book two in the Shadowmist Pack series!


If yoSavage Bonds by EV Mitchell - an illustration of a wolf in gold and black against a background of blue roses gold leaves and a stone etched surface u’re craving fated mates and protective alphas, these five paranormal romance books are essential additions to your TBR. This list is a curated journey through everything I love about paranormal romance.

I chose them because they each highlight a different “flavor” of the fated bond:

  • Ali Hazelwood brings the modern, witty banter
  • Nalini Singh provides the world-building gold standard
  • N.E. Davenport delivers the gritty, feminine rage
  • Katrina Kwan offers a beautiful, mythic soulmate connection
  • Christina Warren is the pure, spicy nostalgia that reminds me why I fell in love with shifters in the first place

Together, they capture the primal, protective, and deeply emotional “us-against-the-world” energy that embodies my favourite paranormal romance reads.

Mate

Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Author: Ali Hazelwood
Released: October 7, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: ,
Series: Bride #2

A Human hybrid and an Alpha Were claw against the bonds of fate in the highly anticipated companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Bride.

Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her.

As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe.

But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…

Why I recommend it: This is the heavyweight champion of contemporary paranormal romance right now.

Set in the same universe as Bride, it follows the “forbidden” tension between a human-werewolf hybrid and a powerful North-West pack leader. I adored the will-they-won’t-they tension, and I have a thing for forced proximity and banter as foreplay.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Slave to Sensation

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Author: Nalini Singh
Released: September 5, 2006 by Berkley
Genre: ,
Series: Psy-Changeling #1

THE FIRST PSY/CHANGELING NOVEL from the New York Times bestselling author of Shards of Hope, Shield of Winter, and Heart of Obsidian…The book that Christine Feehan called “a must-read for all of my fans.”

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”–the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion–and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities–or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

Why I recommend it: Nalini Singh is my queen of paranormal romance.

This book is a staple of my bookshelf, and one of my TOP READS of all time, featuring a hero who gives ultimate alpha energy and a heroine who has been taught to feel nothing. I’m in love with the lore and world building, and if you love political plot elements, then this is for you!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Our Vicious Oaths

Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport

Author: N.E. Davenport
Released: October 28, 2025 by Harper Voyager
Genre: , ,

Enter a new world of romantic fantasy from award-winning author N.E. Davenport—a journey of powerful magic, enemies-to-lovers, and political intrigue—as a warrior-princess and a vengeful king from rival fae courts form a fierce alliance to take down a merciless despot.

Princess of the Aether Dominion, Kadeesha wants nothing to do with fae politics. She is a warrior, first and foremost, and believes her greatest strength is leading her squadron of elite winged serpent flyers to protect her homeland. But bound since infancy to be betrothed to the Hyperion High King, ruler of all Dominions, she has no choice but to do what men have chosen for her.

Repulsed by the idea, she decides to spend one last night of freedom—in the arms of a dangerous stranger who takes her to sexual heights she’s never experienced before…but who is only using Kadeesha to set a trap for the High King.

For the High King and the kings of his six Dominions were responsible for the decimation of the Apollyon Court, and its new king, Malachi, wants his pounds of flesh.

On Kadeesha’s wedding day, Malachi and his special forces attack. Her father is killed, and Malachi wounds the High King, ultimately taking Kadeesha as hostage back to his land.

But she is no true hostage. The two form a she will help lure the High King so Malachi can kill him once and for all, and he in turn will not harm Kadeesha or the Aether people. And as much as Kadeesha hates politics, she is now the Queen of her folk. Fae bonds are unbreakable…and so, perhaps, is the attraction Kadeesha and Malachi feel for each other. For even as they must publicly display their connection to provoke the High King’s jealousy, they struggle to resist the powerful allure between them in order to achieve their ultimate goals.

Why I recommend it: This book BLEW ME AWAY!

I’m a huge lover of grit and danger in my romantasy reads, and Davenport delivers. The “touch her and die” energy is pure perfection. While this one leans into high-stakes fantasy, the central romance is built on loyalty, protection, and a deep desire with spicy payoff (that throne scene, anyone??). Also, feminine rage.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Last Dragon of the East

The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan

Author: Katrina Kwan
Released: October 8, 2024 by S&S/Saga Press
Genre: , ,

Inspired by Chinese myths of ancient dragon gods and threads of fate, Katrina Kwan’s dazzling fantasy debut is a propulsive adventure perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Hannah Whitten.

At the spry young age of twenty-five, Sai has led a quiet life, keeping the family teahouse up and running—even if that means ignoring the past-due notices—and taking care of his ailing mother. But he has a not-so-secret gift that he’s parlayed into a side he was born with the ability to see the red threads of fate between soulmates, which lends itself nicely to matchmaking. Sai has thus far been content not to follow his own thread, the only one he’s ever seen that’s gray and fraying.

But Sai’s ordinary existence is about to be turned upside-down by a pair of shining dragon scales. When his mother’s doctor sells them to him, claiming them as a miracle cure, Sai is pretty sure he’s being scammed. When the medicine actually works—and the terrifying, ruthless emperor catches wind—Sai is thrust into the search for a dragon long thought extinct that will lead him into the throes of a brewing war and deep into foreign lands, facing down challenges both magical and mortal on an unexpected adventure. And for the very first time, as his own thread of fate begins to move, he may be able to solve the mystery of his Fated One at the other end of the line.

Why I recommend it: Kwan’s writing reads almost like a fairy tale, it’s so beautiful.

The way Sai, the hero, talks and thinks about his fated mate is just *chefs kiss*. I also appreciated how funny he is and found myself giggling quite often. It’s not super steamy, and while the sex scenes are open door, it’s not as graphic as other books on this list. At its heart, it’s a gorgeous love story steeped in Chinese mythology—highly recommend!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Wolf at the Door

The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara

Author: Charlie Adhara
Released: February 19, 2018 by Carina Press
Genre: , , ,
Series: Big Bad Wolf #1

A former FBI agent is partnered with the enemy in this suspenseful male/male shifter romance from debut author Charlie Adhara

Hunting for big bad wolves was never part of Agent Cooper Dayton’s plan, but a werewolf attack lands him in the carefully guarded Bureau of Special Investigations. A new case comes with a new partner: ruggedly sexy werewolf Oliver Park.

Park is an agent of The Trust, a werewolf oversight organization working to ease escalating tensions with the BSI. But as far as Cooper’s concerned, it’s failing. As they investigate a series of mysterious deaths unlike anything they’ve seen, every bone in Cooper’s body is suspicious of his new partner—even when Park proves himself as competent as he is utterly captivating.

When more people vanish, pressure to solve the case skyrockets. And though he’d resolved to keep things professional, Cooper’s friction with Park soon erupts…into a physical need that can’t be contained or controlled. But with a body count that’s rising by the day, werewolves and humans are in equal danger. If Cooper and Park don’t catch the killer soon, one—or both—of them could be the next to go.

Why I recommend it: First published on Ellora’s Cave, then republished in 2009 by St. Martin’s, this was my gateway into wolf shifter romances. It’s light-hearted, spicy, and the two main characters are entirely gone for each other. It’s trope-tastic and, for me, a deliciously nostalgic reread.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Savage Bonds

Savage Bonds by E.V. Mitchell

Author: E.V. Mitchell
Released: March 15, 2026 by Thunder Thighs Publishing
Genre: ,
Series: Shadowmist Pack #2

Never cage a wolf you can’t control…
Every captive breaks.
Every secret is revealed.
There are no rescues.
No escape. No exceptions.

Lithia is no stranger to pain.
She’s fought for her place, bled for her pack, and carved out respect as Shadowmist’s first female beta. But when betrayal lands her in an underground prison, silver-bound and isolated, it’s not pain that threatens to undo her.

It’s the silence.

Until he speaks.

In a place built to shatter her, the broken, sarcastic nomad in the next cell becomes her anchor.

To escape their prison and expose the war brewing in the shadows, Lithia must face the ghosts of her past and decide if she can trust the one wolf with the power to save her soul… or destroy it completely.

Revenge is best served bloody.

Savage Bonds is a dark monster wolf shifter romance featuring:

  • Emotional Support Glory Hole
  • Grumpy vs Grumpier
  • Fighting as Foreplay
  • Psychic Sex Connection
  • He Thinks She’s a Hallucination
  • Sarcasm as a Love Language
  • Fated Mates
  • Morally grey hero hiding dangerous secrets
  • Only One Bed
  • Forced proximity
  • Slow burn to explosive
  • “Touch her and die”
  • Charming rogue who’d burn the world for her
  • He falls first and devastatingly hard
  • Emotional vulnerability wrapped in steam
  • The Self-Appointed Prison Den Mother

Perfect for readers who love dark romantasy and paranormal romance with real stakes, morally grey heroes who’d kill without hesitation, heroines who refuse to be anyone’s prisoner, and high-stakes thrills where she saves her own damn self. Caution, this includes dark themes.

This book is also available from the author’s website.

Savage Bonds and the Shadowmist Pack series by E.V. Mitchell are available now in Kindle Unlimited, and in print on the author’s website, or in your local library – woohoo! Audiobooks are coming soon.

Which paranormal fated mates romances are your essential reads?

Would you like to sponsor a post to promote your latest, and share your favorites in a personal Hide Your Wallet? Reach out to Sarah for more info!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Songs From The Movies.....

Mar. 23rd, 2026 03:26 am
disneydream06: (Disney Music)
[personal profile] disneydream06
This week it's another great song from a movie I have never heard of. lol.......

INXS's song, "Devil Inside", was used in the 2012 movie, "Seeking A Friend At The End Of The World".


The BBC understands

Mar. 23rd, 2026 07:37 am
[syndicated profile] languagelog_feed

Posted by Mark Liberman

Sima Kotecha, "Soham murderer Ian Huntley taken off life support, BBC understands", BBC 3/6/2026:

Soham murderer Ian Huntley is close to death after being taken off life support following an attack in prison, the BBC understands.

The 52-year-old has been in hospital since 26 February after being beaten over the head with a makeshift weapon at HMP Frankland in County Durham. The high security prison houses some of the most violent inmates.

Prison sources said Huntley was found lying in a pool of blood after the attack. He suffered significant head trauma from his injuries.

A sample of other recent BBC understandings:

Iranian Missiles Fired at UK-US Base, BBC understands

The Hillsborough Law – which the government intended to pass a year ago – will be further delayed, the BBC understands.

More than 100 tenants privately renting in homes owned by one of London's biggest landlords have been given as little as two months' notice of termination of their tenancy, the BBC understands.

BBC South East understands that a further 11 people from the Canterbury area are currently in hospital and reported to be seriously ill. It is understood that most are aged between 18 and 21 and a number are students at the university.

Edwards said the most recent closures have included The Rose & Crown in Bradford city centre, Studio 48 & Groove Pad, in Shipley, and The Roebuck, in Keighley, although the BBC understands The Roebuck is set to re open under new management.

These examples aren't meant to mean that the BBC grasps the meaning of the various events and situations. Rather they seem closer to sense (5) of the Wiktionary entry:

5. (transitive) To believe or infer, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge.

I've been given to understand that you have a package for me?
At least four people are understood to have been injured.

More specifically, this seems to be a way to avoid citing a source — the BBC is presenting these things as facts, but is choosing not to give us any details about the basis of its knowledge. I haven't seen other publications using the same idiom, though no doubt it happens — rather we see things like "Trump is strategizing means to seize Iran's nuclear stockpiles, sources say". I wonder whether the different choices are formal editorial policy, or just local culture.

A similar sense of understand is used in ordinary discourse when the speaker is asserting something about the listener's actions, attitudes, or plans. From Pride and Prejudice:

Mrs. Bennet rang the bell, and Miss Elizabeth was summoned to the library.

“Come here, child,” cried her father as she appeared. “I have sent for you on an affair of importance. I understand that Mr. Collins has made you an offer of marriage. Is it true?”

Elizabeth replied that it was.

“Very well—and this offer of marriage you have refused?”

“I have, sir.”

“Very well. We now come to the point. Your mother insists upon your accepting it. Is it not so, Mrs. Bennet?”

“Yes, or I will never see her again.”

“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.

Elizabeth could not but smile at such a conclusion of such a beginning; but Mrs. Bennet, who had persuaded herself that her husband regarded the affair as she wished, was excessively disappointed.

helloliriels: (Default)
[personal profile] helloliriels posting in [community profile] holmestice
Name: helloliriels
Contact email: helloliriels@gmail.com
AO3 username: helloliriels
Treat preference: Treats are lovely

I will create:
A fanwork of the following type(s): art/edit* or possibly fic^Read more... )
siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
Boston locals! Blue Heron, an acapella early music ensemble, is throwing a three-day shindig to celebrate Guillaume de Machaut (died 1377), May 1-3, mostly involving talks about Machaut's works, talks about his lyrics, talks about the illuminations in the manuscripts his works come from, concerts of his music, and also a little ars subtilior tacked on the end just because.

More info https://www.blueheron.org/machaut-weekend/

Affordability note: They have a free ticket option as part of the "Card to Culture program" for people with EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare(!) cards*, and a discounted "low cost" option.

Of note, the "Opening Festivities: Keynote, Performance & Sing-Along" on Friday night includes (emphasis mine):
a keynote talk by one of the world’s leading scholars of 14th-century music, Anne Stone (CUNY Graduate Center), performances of pieces in several of the genres represented in Machaut’s oeuvre, and a sing-along of the Kyrie from the Messe de Nostre Dame.
Which: huh. Huh. The Kyrie, huh? Wow. Now that is certainly a choice. I commend their bravery. Were I in better health, I would consider showing up just to be in on the shenanigans.

If you're curious what the Kyrie from Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame sounds and looks like, here you go.

* There is no separate ConnectorCare card like there is for MassHealth. They mean your regular insurance card, which if it's a ConnectorCare plan should say so on it, or so the Mass Cultural Council, whose program it is, thinks.

O.M.F.g.!!!!!

Mar. 23rd, 2026 12:59 am
disneydream06: (Disney Shocked)
[personal profile] disneydream06
An even bigger Miracle of Miracles...

Saturday night when I went to work I put my name on the list to get Sunday night off.
I figured if I was really lucky, I would get half the shift off like I did a couple of weeks back.

Imagine my complete surprise when I got to the hospital tonight and found out I had gotten the whole 8 hour shift off. :o :o :o

three concerts

Mar. 22nd, 2026 10:18 pm
calimac: (Haydn)
[personal profile] calimac
Wednesday, Stanford Music Dept.
The quarterly showcase of matching the students up in chamber music groups. There were a lot of pianists this term, so the concert was full of four-hand and two-piano works by Barber and Rachmaninoff. But the first one, by Mozart, turned out to be scored for two pianos and a cell phone alarm. The scherzo from Ravel's string quartet and the slow movement from Dvořák's Op. 87 piano quartet lacked oomph, but the students get credit for trying.

Saturday, California Symphony
The common thread of the three composers on m.d. Donato Cabrera's program at Lesher in Walnut Creek is that they all came from countries being oppressed by the Russians at the time. Two were contemporary "holy minimalists": Valentin Silvestrov (Ukraine) for Stille Musik, a piece for small string orchestra, beautiful harmonies but disconcertingly off-kilter; and Arvo Pärt (Estonia) for Tabula Rasa, half an hour of two violins playing overlapping hypnotic rocking figures while the string orchestra murmurs behind them. The third was Jean Sibelius (Finland) for his Second Symphony, played as if it were the anthem for Finnish independence it was sometimes taken for. That meant with all the stops out. Even the first movement sounded as grand as the finale, and the finale went totally overboard, the sort of thing that made Virgil Thomson hate Sibelius.
Recent Cal Sym concerts have been pretty full, so it was notable that this one was more sparsely attended. The Sibelius is a crowd-pleaser, so it must have been Silvestrov and Pärt who scared the hordes away.

Sunday, Marea Ensemble
Ensemble consisting of a string quartet (four women) and a soprano (Lori Schulman), presented by the Santa Cruz Chamber Players at their usual church in the hills behind Aptos. What attracted me to this one was the theme of "a journey from despair to hope" bookended by Shostakovich's Eighth Quartet, probably the most suicidal piece in the repertoire, and the "Heiliger Dankgesang" from Beethoven's Op. 132 quartet, probably the most luminous piece in the repertoire.
In the event, the Shostakovich was solemn and deliberate, avoiding slashing vehemence, which more matched it with the equally solemn and quite graceful Beethoven than contrasted with it.
The four pieces in between were all by contemporary American composers, three of them vocal. My favorite was "And So" from Caroline Shaw's song cycle Is a Rose, for its imaginative, varied and sweet accompaniment, but then Shaw is one of my favorite living composers. A cycle by Eliza Brown employed varying styles depending on the nature of the poems, but favored shimmering chords of light dissonance. Source Code by Jessie Montgomery, the instrumental piece, consisted of fragments taken from or evoking spirituals embedded in a soup of dissonance.
Local composer Chris Pratorius Gómez, who shows up on SCCP programs a lot, set "Sonder," a purpose-written poem by local writer Kristen Nelson about shared humanity under crisis. I like patterned poetry, and this was made even more effective by the composer's choice to give some of the lines to the instrumentalists to be spoken, like this:
Singer: Here hawks still circle and screech
Quartet: For now
Singer: Here owls still hoot at night
Quartet: For now
Afterwards I was able to speak to Nelson and compliment her on the poem. A long series of patterned triplets addressed "to a photo of the kids I love / their guts intact in their bellies" included
May they never fear the sky
May they never fear the sea
May they never fear the cops
A rear gut-kicker, that one, I told her, and she said, "Oh good, you got it."

Foxfibre [text/ag]

Mar. 23rd, 2026 01:01 am
siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
The YouTube algorithm pseudorandomly served me this, thereby answering the question I'd had on a distant back burner forever, "Hey, didn't I hear something about colored cotton cultivars once upon a time? Cotton that you didn't need to dye? Like back in the 90s?"

If you are a fellow fiber freak or interested in agriculture or organic crops or the underappreciated problem of sustainable clothing production, you may find this as fascinating as I did:

2026 Mar 7: Good Yarn Bad Knits [goodyarnbadknits YT]: "The Yarn That Almost Saved The World"

Monday's Comic

Mar. 23rd, 2026 12:00 am
marycatelli: (Default)
[personal profile] marycatelli posting in [community profile] girlgenius_lair
the comic!

It strikes! Without so much as a sound effect!
[syndicated profile] neatorama_feed

Posted by Miss Cellania

The Pan-American Highway is a road that goes from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the Arctic Circle, to Ushuaia, Argentina, known as the most southern city in the world. It was going to be a railroad, but then cars were invented and that made construction easier. The United States has the most miles of the highway, but we had to cheat a bit to actually claim that. Yet a hundred years after the project was initiated, the highway is still not complete. The real problem is the Darién Gap, in southern Panama and western Colombia. So the highway gap is right where the two American continents meet.  

Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones are the Map Men (previously at Neatorama). They make jokes aplenty while explaining how the Pan-American highway was conceived and what stopped its completion. There's a sponsor message from 4:43 to 6:10, and everything after 11:06 is promotional. -via Damn Interesting 

March 2026

S M T W T F S
1 2 34567
89 1011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Mar. 23rd, 2026 09:43 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios