Looking at craft supplies on eBay, and one of my policies is that if they aren't clear about what they are selling -- that is, if they don't say IN WORDS, clearly, unambigiously, what they are selling, all the pictures in the world will not get me to buy their stuff. Because their pictures could be the equivalent of a "serving suggestion" rather than what they are actually selling.

And if their listing description has nothing but pictures, that's a fail.

And if their listing has a paragraph of content-free marketroid-speak followed by a jumble of words without any punctuation, that is also a fail.

Extract from current example:

"It has a wide of application. Adequate quantity can easily meet your daily use and replacement needs." (and so on)
and under package contents it says:
"90 x Ribbon Ends Clamps Lobster Clasps 200 x Rings Iron Tail Chains 1"

I mean, does it mean that they have 90 ribbon ends, or does it mean they have a total of 90 (ribbon-ends plus clamps plus lobster clasps)? Are there ribbon ends and clamps, or are they ribbon-ends-clamps? Does it mean that they have 200 rings? One chain? 200 chains? WHAT? -- I could GUESS, but why should I spend money on a guess? I could inquire, but if their listing is so unclear that I need to inquire, then they do not deserve my precious time spent inquiring.

#EBAY #Craft #crafts @crafters

Currently making little origami boxes to put things into. It is amazing how useful little origami boxes are! I highly recommend them.

The ones I am making right now are a half-size version of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg081nhLKPg
It uses A4 paper, which is highly unusual, most origami starts off with a square.
These particular boxes (the half-size version) fit perfectly into my frosted-plastic storage drawers.

#Origami #PaperFolding #Boxes #Storage #Crafts @crafters

I think their grasp on geometry is somewhat lacking:

#Ebay #WeirdThingsYouSeeOnEbay

Democracy is a system for preventing too much power being in the hands of one individual.

Nobody has figured out a system for preventing too much MONEY being in the hands of one individual.

And money is power.

No wonder the system is screwed up.

#AusPol #USPol #UKPol #Democracy #EatTheRich

Possibly these authors think that say, having a character acquire wings is an instant Sign Of Worthiness? Because fluffy wings are always angelic, right? Right?

What they don't seem to realise is that anything, ANYTHING, which sets someone apart can be (re)interpreted as a Sign Of Evil. Angelic wings? Sure.
"Those wings! They are an unholy union of man and beast!" Former normal-human now treated as a non-person.

There are no Signs of Worthiness.

(Personally, I think Mjolnir is a bit dodgy. What Odin might consider Worthy is probably not what the rest of us would...)

I am reminded of the bit in "The Princess and Curdie", where Curdie asks the Grandmother to give him a sign that he might recognise her by, and she refused, saying that then he would learn how to recognise the sign, rather than knowing how to recognise *her*.

It's a lot more work to evaluate a person than it is to evaluate a sign. Signs are easy. Signs separate the we from the not-we. Signs mean you don't have to *think*.

#Fiction #Writing #Fanfic #MarySue

Which brings me again to wondering... why do some writers feel that giving someone an exotic name makes the character "special"? (And why does the character have to be "special" anyway?) And all those other... appendages and attachments which are given to Mary-Sue characters, like purple hair and wings and royal descent... I mean, why?

Or maybe I'm just baffled because I live in a mostly-classless society where one's parentage is completely irrelevant compared to one's own achievements? Maybe the authors think that being born an aristocrat really is Something Special?

#MarySue #Fanfic #Fiction #Writing

Looking at fanfic just now, I've realised there are two things in summaries which are an instant "skip this fanfic":

1. MCU fanfic where the author does not know the difference between "rogue" and "rouge".

2. Harry Potter (crossover or AU) fic in which Harry is renamed to something exotic, such as "Hadrian", "Hardin", "Harina" etc. This is a sure sign of a canon!Sue. I don't object to renaming as such -- you need to rename if you're gender-changing, for example -- but choose something just as plain-and-boring as Harry, such as "Harriet".

Do y'all have instant-skip triggers for your fiction reading?

#Fiction #Fanfic #CanonSue #MarySue

Currently faffing around with my phone, trying to find a better ssh server, because the one I'm using (sshd4a) keeps on stopping; which is only a recent development. No, I don't know why. No, I don't want to spend my time debugging it.

My ancient (Android 10) tablet is running SSHelper, but that app is too old for my more modern phone (just as a more modern ssh server app won't install on my ancient tablet)

(sigh)

#Android #SSH #ssh

Reminded of a few things that make me feel like an ancient Auntie. Let's do a poll, to see how old/young y'all are... (and how Aussie-centric this poll is?)

Have you ever...

#3GoodThings @3goodthings
Three good things this day.

1. Wearing purple from neck to ankle is fun.
2. Still playing around with my Pebble watch.
3. Fruit leather. Yum.

I think the next time I encounter an anti-vaxxer (highly unlikely, but I might) I'll ask them why they haven't demanded a Royal Commission into this outrageous corruption in our medical system.

It would be interesting to see what they say.

#AntiVaxxers

Oddly enough, *local* newspapers don't seem to have gotten the memo that "good news doesn't sell", considering that they seem to have a fair number of articles about local people and local happenings that... aren't bad?

Funny, that. 🤔

The purpose of advertisements is to make us unhappy, discontent with what we have.

Advertising-funded social media wants to make us angry, outraged, unhappy, and addicted, because that generates more clicks, and more clicks means more revenue.

News outlets only tell us bad news, because "good news doesn't sell".

We are surrounded by toxic input; intrusive, loud, unremitting.

Me, I stopped watching television many years ago. I have ad-blockers that work. I don't read, watch, or listen to the news. And my social media is mainly just Mastodon nowadays (though I keep on meaning to catch up with Dreamwidth...)

This is good for my mental health.

How about yours?

#Toxic #SocialMedia #News #MentalHealth

(sigh)
I am tired of being SO ANGRY about the state of the world.

I expected better of humanity, that's why I'm so angry. Those of whom I had low expectations (such as Russia -- Russia is always invading somebody, it's hardly a surprise) do not stoke the level of rage I've been feeling since 2020 -- because this rage is fuelled by betrayal. My faith in humanity has been battered over and over again in the past six years. If it had been destroyed, I wouldn't be so angry either -- I'd just be totally cynical and bitter, and say "Bring on the Apocalypse!"

But I haven't been numbed by despair. And I'm weary.

#FaithInHumanity #Anger

It is always a red flag when someone frames things in terms of "weak versus strong" -- and places themselves in the role of "strong".

If they say "but humans are predators!" then consider this: if you prey on your fellow humans, you're a (moral) cannibal.

#Morality

Capitalism has ruled the world (with the exception of various pseudo-Communist dictatorships) for so long now, that I doubt that any of us can conceive what could replace it.

The breakdown of community has gone so far in some circles that people of goodwill (who are what is needed to hold communities together) are doubtless considered weak fools who deserve to be exploited and preyed upon, due to not behaving like predators.

#Capitalism #Billionaires #CorporateGreed #EatTheRich

O collective hive-mind, I seek the wisdom of you all.
My ancient Fitbit Charge 2 is on its last legs. Since the time which I bought it, Google bought Fitbit. Therefore, I do not wish to replace it with another Fitbit.

Indeed, I do not wish to replace it with anything which GIVES ALL YOUR DATA to large untrustworthy corporate entities. Just keep my data on my phone. But does such a watch even exist? Please, oh people, tell me! Or, if you cannot tell me, boost.

#FitnessWatch #SmartWatch #DeGoogle #AskFedi

I don't like knitting needle rolls or crochet hook rolls. They irritate me, because of the way you have to unroll and roll them up again, and the roll is always messy when it's rolled up. I know, it's just a little thing to get irritated about, but I *do*. I much prefer cases with zips.

But having my pretty handmade (very pretty, I got it from Etsy) knitting needle roll hanging up unrolled, looking pretty; that's nice.

Y'all may be interested to know, that after much experimentation, with knitting, and crochet, and loom-knitting silicone bands...

I ended up doing something completely different to solve my "I want to hang up my knitting needles" problem. A solution which was much simpler, much easier, and also prettier than what I was trying to do.

I took a beloved-but-unused knitting needle roll, and two bulldog clips with magnetic backs, clipped the clips to the unrolled roll, and attached them to the metal posts of my storage shelves.

@knitting #knitting @crochet #crochet @crafters #craft

Dolly Parton is being mentioned repeatedly on my feed. (has sinking feeling) (asks DuckDuckGo)

OH CRAP.

It is a sad day. It should rain everywhere.
(At least we had her longer than we had David Bowie.)

#Dolly #DollyParton