How to Restart When You've Fallen Off Your Goals
Jan. 22nd, 2026 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
goals_on_dwHOW TO RESTART WHEN YOU’VE FALLEN OFF YOUR GOALS
If you’ve fallen off your goals, welcome to being a real person.
It happens to everyone, including the women who look like they have it all together. The difference is not that they “never fall off.” The difference is that they restart faster.
If you’ve fallen off your goals, welcome to being a real person.
It happens to everyone, including the women who look like they have it all together. The difference is not that they “never fall off.” The difference is that they restart faster.
Occasional Poem by Jacqueline Woodson
Jan. 27th, 2026 01:03 amconulyMs. Marcus says that an occasional poem is a poem
written about something
important
or special
that's gonna happen
or already did.
Think of a specific occasion, she says—and write about it.
Like what?! Lamont asks.
He's all slouched down in his seat.
I don't feel like writing about no occasion.
How about your birthday? Ms. Marcus says.
What about it? Just a birthday. Comes in June and it ain't
June, Lamont says. As a matter of fact,
he says, it's January and it's snowing.
Then his voice gets real low and he says
And when it's January and all cold like this
feels like June's a long, long ways away.
The whole class looks at Ms. Marcus.
Some of the kids are nodding.
Outside the sky looks like it's made out of metal
and the cold, cold air is rattling the windowpanes
and coming underneath them too.
I seen Lamont's coat.
It's gray and the sleeves are too short.
It's down but it looks like a lot of the feathers fell out
a long time ago.
Ms. Marcus got a nice coat.
It's down too but real puffy so
maybe when she's inside it
she can't even tell January from June.
Then write about January, Ms. Marcus says, that's
an occasion.
But she looks a little bit sad when she says it
Like she's sorry she ever brought the whole
occasional poem thing up.
I was gonna write about Mama's funeral
but Lamont and Ms. Marcus going back and forth
zapped all the ideas from my head.
I guess them arguing
on a Tuesday in January's an occasion
So I guess this is an occasional poem.
*************
Link
written about something
important
or special
that's gonna happen
or already did.
Think of a specific occasion, she says—and write about it.
Like what?! Lamont asks.
He's all slouched down in his seat.
I don't feel like writing about no occasion.
How about your birthday? Ms. Marcus says.
What about it? Just a birthday. Comes in June and it ain't
June, Lamont says. As a matter of fact,
he says, it's January and it's snowing.
Then his voice gets real low and he says
And when it's January and all cold like this
feels like June's a long, long ways away.
The whole class looks at Ms. Marcus.
Some of the kids are nodding.
Outside the sky looks like it's made out of metal
and the cold, cold air is rattling the windowpanes
and coming underneath them too.
I seen Lamont's coat.
It's gray and the sleeves are too short.
It's down but it looks like a lot of the feathers fell out
a long time ago.
Ms. Marcus got a nice coat.
It's down too but real puffy so
maybe when she's inside it
she can't even tell January from June.
Then write about January, Ms. Marcus says, that's
an occasion.
But she looks a little bit sad when she says it
Like she's sorry she ever brought the whole
occasional poem thing up.
I was gonna write about Mama's funeral
but Lamont and Ms. Marcus going back and forth
zapped all the ideas from my head.
I guess them arguing
on a Tuesday in January's an occasion
So I guess this is an occasional poem.
Link
I wonder if, despite my best efforts, I've managed to come down with a mild cold
Jan. 26th, 2026 06:00 pmconulyNo real symptoms, but I'm a little stuffy and super sleepy.
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3 Sentence Ficathon fill: Miami Vice
Jan. 21st, 2026 09:58 pmmxcatmoonHere is one of the fills I wrote for threesentenceficathon. It got such a lovely response, I decided to share it here first, although I'll be posting more later.
For the prompt: any, any, "Strange, the way it felt like home – to wander through the dark, alone."
DARK AND LIGHT
The night was a familiar companion, dark and comforting, like the only home he’d ever known, but at the same time empty and cold now that he’d let the only light in his life walk away.
Sleep was elusive as always, fractured by nightmares of the worst times and taunting visions of what might have been, still, the 3:00 am knock at the door was as startling as a gunshot… especially since he felt who was on the other side with every fiber of his being.
When Sonny opened the door, Rico stood there with a bag slung over one shoulder and a sheepish but hopeful expression on his face; underneath that, though, was the echo of the same desperation, loneliness, and love that had swamped Sonny ever since they’d said goodbye… he let the light in.
end
threesentenceficathon. It got such a lovely response, I decided to share it here first, although I'll be posting more later. For the prompt: any, any, "Strange, the way it felt like home – to wander through the dark, alone."
DARK AND LIGHT
The night was a familiar companion, dark and comforting, like the only home he’d ever known, but at the same time empty and cold now that he’d let the only light in his life walk away.
Sleep was elusive as always, fractured by nightmares of the worst times and taunting visions of what might have been, still, the 3:00 am knock at the door was as startling as a gunshot… especially since he felt who was on the other side with every fiber of his being.
When Sonny opened the door, Rico stood there with a bag slung over one shoulder and a sheepish but hopeful expression on his face; underneath that, though, was the echo of the same desperation, loneliness, and love that had swamped Sonny ever since they’d said goodbye… he let the light in.
end
Always Quicksave Before Important Dialog
Jan. 21st, 2026 10:01 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
questionable_content_feed
Cute hanners :3
(no subject)
Jan. 21st, 2026 05:52 pmgreghousesgfHad some Downton Abbey estate blend tea. Went to Berkeley Bowl to buy more tea, coconut Pu-erh in this case. I was going to get some of Berkeley Bowl's deli takeout Chinese food for lunch but they don't do that anymore so I got some Mexican food in the next block and then went home.
Yes, Trump said, 'Sometimes you need a dictator'
Jan. 22nd, 2026 12:39 amsnopes_feedThe U.S. president made the remark during a reception of business leaders at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 21, 2026.
Examining Sascha Riley's audio recordings alleging abuse by Epstein, Trump
Jan. 21st, 2026 11:59 pmsnopes_feedNo credible evidence supported the allegations regarding Epstein, the president and other prominent men.
snopes_feedAccording to the claim, the alleged move was a response to U.S. President Donald Trump saying he would impose tariffs on several EU member states.
The Hippodrome. No horses in sight, boo
Jan. 21st, 2026 11:46 pmloganberrybunnyPublic
355/365: Birmingham Hippodrome
Click for a larger, sharper image
I was in Birmingham today. I didn't have much time to myself, but I was able to have coffee in the Dragon, which was nice as it's the pub a group of us had our post-UK PonyCon meal in last year. A lot quieter at 10:30am today, though! Here's a photo of the Hippodrome, Birmingham's largest theatre (capacity 1,935 seats), taken with a wide-angle setting hence the odd angles. The pavement decoration is because this area is right on the edge of the city's Gay Village. And the theatre district, obviously. And Chinatown (hence the name of the Dragon). And just down from New Street station. And only a few hundred yards from the UK PonyCon 2025 venue. And rather wet this morning!
355/365: Birmingham Hippodrome
Click for a larger, sharper image
I was in Birmingham today. I didn't have much time to myself, but I was able to have coffee in the Dragon, which was nice as it's the pub a group of us had our post-UK PonyCon meal in last year. A lot quieter at 10:30am today, though! Here's a photo of the Hippodrome, Birmingham's largest theatre (capacity 1,935 seats), taken with a wide-angle setting hence the odd angles. The pavement decoration is because this area is right on the edge of the city's Gay Village. And the theatre district, obviously. And Chinatown (hence the name of the Dragon). And just down from New Street station. And only a few hundred yards from the UK PonyCon 2025 venue. And rather wet this morning!
[food] parsnip risotto, redux
Jan. 21st, 2026 11:11 pmkaberettBack in November I made a ridiculously overengineered parsnip risotto, as a way of dipping a toe into my next cookbook project. I said at the time that it was very tasty, and also I was unlikely to ever make it again.
Brr! "14F, feels like 7"
Jan. 25th, 2026 08:16 pmconulyThat is not a sentence I want to read at any time in the morning.
(In celsius terms, it's -10 and feels like death.)
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( Read more... )
(In celsius terms, it's -10 and feels like death.)
( Read more... )
The Music Studio 2.0
Jan. 21st, 2026 10:05 pmscalziwhatever_feed
Some of you will remember that as a pandemic project I went and made a music studio in my basement. It was a lot of fun, and very cool — but too cool, as our basement is endemically cold, even in the summer, and spending more than a half hour in there is liable to set one’s teeth a-chatter. It ended up limiting the amount I used my studio area; for the last in year in particular I was more likely to record something at my kitchen’s center island than I was in my studio space in my basement.
Fast forward to today, and now I have a new set-up, in the room that was previously Athena’s bedroom. She doesn’t need the room anymore — she has a whole house now — and the room is nicely heated (and in the summer, cooled) and also literally ten feet from my current home office. I’ve done an initial setup, which you can see above. There’s more to be done, including bringing up some more musical equipment from the basement, most notably the drumset, but the setup here is good enough to start recording.
That is, once I get the current novel done. First things first. I consider this a bit of motivation.
— JS