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  I was just tagged in a post from something calling itself MSTDNSecure, saying there has been "irregular activity" on my account and with a link to fix it. I'm assuming this is some sort of new scam and will block and report. Am I right to do so? #Scam #MSTDNSecure #Today

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  USA friends over 65: I just got a letter saying that my Medicare Part D prescription plan is being discontinued at the end of the year, and I will need to enroll in a different one. I'm looking for recommendations for what I might switch to. #Medicare #PrescriptionInsurancePlans

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  Being an American during Trump's first term was butt-squirmingly embarrassing. Being an American during Trump's second term is humiliating, terrifying, and a constant struggle against despair. If the Dems don't win the midterms, it's going to be worse. If you're a US citizen, VOTE. And protest. And be loud about it. Please.

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  Good morning! Definitely a jacket day for my early-morning walk at 48F (9C). I saw deer this morning everywhere I turned for the first time in a number of days. There was a thoroughly magnificent stag, the largest deer I've ever seen in this area, with antlers rising at least a foot over his head. I got a bad photo of him and a better one of two the younger deer. #Today I'm staying home to write. I really want to get this second draft of The Informant done and sent off to my beta read...

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  Well, #today was a pretty good day. I weeded the flowerbeds and deadheaded the plants that needed it. And then I got started on editing/revising my Gavin Rownt novel, spending several hours on it. Now I'm just going to relax and read until bedtime.

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  #WordWeavers 31 Aug: What's one thing you hope readers remember long after they finish your story? The characters. That's what will bring them back looking for another story, another mystery for Cordwainer or Rownt to investigate.

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  #ScribesAndMakers Aug 6 - Tell us about a drummer whose work you appreciate. When I was young a very long time ago, I would have said Ginger Baker. Then I started listening more to folk and folk-rock, and my favorite drummer was Dave Mattacks. Nowadays? Probably Michael Jerome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jerome

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  #3GoodThings 1. I made progress on my WIP. 2. Walking and doing my PT exercises helped my back & hip pain. 3. Theo and I got along well -- no scratches or bites today.

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  Good morning! Cool, clear but very humid morning for my walk. I went out and trudged along the paths despite the 96% humidity. The full moon was visible in the morning sky and I actually managed a photo of it with my phone camera, which was nice. Everything aches today, partly from the humidity but mostly from my overdoing it yesterday as I moved furniture and got down on hands and knees and up again, again and again, trying to get this house cleaner than it was. I'm glad I did it, but oh...

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  @Uncleharvey@universeodon.com Hurrah for sunshine and a low dew point! I hope the muggy-stickies go away and you can enjoy the rest of the summer. Yeah, I know, not very likely. But we can hope. Have a good TGIF!

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  If you love the Middle Ages and read mysteries, check out my two medieval mystery series, the Matthew Cordwainer series and the Gavin Rownt series. Available as ebooks on Amazon. #medieval #mysteries #books https://www.amazon.com/s?k=joyce+lionarons&crid=10D46F9EBUCDH&qid=1785446926&sprefix=joyce+lio%2Caps%2C133&xpid=FmwbDd1FnXApX&ref=sr_pg_1

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  Good morning! Only 57F (14C) for my early-morning walk today. Tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer, but I've really been enjoying the cooler temperatures. Today is another day of Mythcon. I heard some very good presentations on Tolkien yesterday, and I hope today's are just as good, although some of these won't be focusing so much on J.R.R. The whole thing is a nice break from writing every day. Have a good one, my friends, and keep on keeping on. #Today

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  Emily Wilson, whose translation of the Odyssey has received a lot of attention since the movie came out, has added a new contact button to her website in response to right-wing assholery. You can now contact her for "Interviews/Speaking Engagements," "General Inquiries," "Misogynistic Trolling," or "Kind Words and Praise." https://www.emilyrcwilson.com/home

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  Today I read an email from the publisher of one of my academic books asking if I wanted to opt IN to having my work used to train AI. If I did nothing, my work would automatically be kept out of the AI training. I had to respond in the affirmative to have it used. All I could think was that if anything at all was to be used to train AI, this is how it should be handled. An automatic "no" unless the author deliberately decides to agree. Considering that I rarely even look at the email...

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  Why can't I buy good coffee in a can any longer? To get coffee worth drinking I need to buy it in a packet. Where are you supposed to put used grease or cooking oil if not in a coffee can for disposal? Once upon a time I could get good dark roast coffee from Trader Joe's in cans. Now if I want a coffee can I need to buy coffee I don't want to drink, like Folgers or Maxwell House. Is there any good coffee that comes in a can? #Coffee

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  Good morning! Decent air quality in the moderate range but much too much humidity for my early-morning walk today. It felt like a sauna. We're supposed to get major thunderstorms with very high winds this afternoon. I hope that will clear out the humidity while leaving my power alone. Today I hope to spend at least several hours writing and to make some good progress on the new Gavin Rownt book. My giant hydrangea (the bush is about seven feet tall right now and will get taller as summer...

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  Good morning! At least I hope it's a good morning for you. Mine hasn't been the best. I woke up to find Theo walking around the house vomiting -- five times. Once I had it all cleaned up, he was on my desk, happily destroying anything he could find, ripping up papers and knocking small items onto the floor. Then he went into the kitchen and ate all of his breakfast. Fingers crossed it stays down. Bad, bad back and hip pain, but I went out walking anyway. And in a couple of hours I ha...

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  Good morning! We had another thunderstorm overnight, and this morning when I got up our AQI was way down in the Green-for-Good category at 25. I opened all my windows and put the ceiling fans on, then went out for my early-morning walk. Today I'll do all the errands I put off because of the smoke, then home again to write. Maybe I'll even pull some weeds from the flowerbeds if it's not too hot. Have a good one, my friends, and keep on keeping on. #Today

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  This morning I decided I need to exercise my brain a little more than I've been doing. I haven't wanted to go to academic conferences since COVID although I used to go to (and generally present at) two or three every year. So I signed up to attend two conferences virtually via zoom: Mythcon is next weekend, and VICFA (Virtual International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts) is in September. I need to look into which medieval conferences have virtual offerings. I'd like to mo...

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  Well, poo. Earlier I posted that our air quality was supposed to go back to "moderate" from "unhealthy" tomorrow, but now they've changed the forecast. Tomorrow we move up to the "very unhealthy" category, or Code Purple. This is still far better than what people farther north and west of us are suffering through -- people in the "hazardous" category and beyond -- but I'm not happy about it. I'll be fine. I can stay indoors and keep the air p...

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  For those of you in the smoky areas of the US and Canada: I just learned from another post that you should check your AC if you have a window air conditioner. It should be on "recirculate" mode, so that it is recirculating air already within your house instead of pulling air from outside. If it doesn't have a recirculate mode and it's pulling air in from outside, turn it off to keep the smoke out. Central air conditioning systems always recirculate, so if you have that, you do...

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  Good morning! A cool but still very humid early-morning walk. I stopped and chatted for a while with a neighbor who was walking her dog, then home to coffee and breakfast. Today will be another day of writing and chores, the oh-so-exciting life of a retired person who makes up stories to supplement her Social Security. I took photos of a couple of flowers from my garden rather than just ones I saw on my walk today. Have a good one, my friends, and keep on keeping on. #Today

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  Good morning! Humid, muggy, sticky early-morning walk at 97% humidity. When I passed another walker, he made swimming motions with his hands, and yes, that's exactly what it felt like. A few years ago, the NYT had an interactive article where you could put in your zip code and it would tell you what the climate in your area would be like in 20 years because of climate change. It told me that my area (Philly burbs) would be like New Orleans is now. I think we're getting there faster th...

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  Good morning! Blue sky peeking out for my early-morning walk. By the time I got home, most of the clouds were gone. Pain today is still bad, but a bit more manageable than yesterday. Maybe soon it will get back to normal, always-there-but-ignorable-in-the-mornings levels. Fingers crossed. Today I'll be waiting for news from my sister or my niece. My sister is having knee replacement surgery, something that's pretty routine these days. The complication is that she has almost no blood p...

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  #WritersCoffeeClub 7th Jul How actively do you seek out criticism or critique for a WIP or a finished work? I send my "finished" novels to my reader(s) when I've made them as good as I can by myself. Then, after reading my reader's comments, I revise again. It's not truly finished until I've had others read it and critique.

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  #ScribesAndMakers 7. What do you find compelling in a podcast? If you don't like podcasts, is there anything that could make you interested? I don't listen to podcasts. I would much rather read what a person has to say rather than listen.

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  #WordWeavers 7/7 What writing or publishing resource do you think everyone should know about? Gee, I dunno. I just write in Word.

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  Good morning! Very bad aches and pains this morning. I went out and walked anyway, although that may have been a mistake. Cool, cloudy, humid, misty morning, puddles and dripping trees. I'll post some photos from a brighter day. Today I need to hobble around the grocery store, then settle in to write. I'm making tiny bits of progress every day. Have a good one, my friends, and keep on keeping on. #Today

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  I'm not getting much done today, although I did get out and buy groceries. Too much joint and muscle pain, no comfortable position to sit in. I feel like I'm taking too many painkillers, so I'm trying to get along on a couple of Tylenol, which never do much for me. Maybe I'll be able to write tomorrow. #Today

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  Do scammers deliberately put typos in their emails just to mock the people who fall for the scams, or are they too stupid to notice the typos are there? I just got another one saying my (nonexistent) iCloud account would be susspended if I didn't pay up. Really?