Puzzles Puzzles Everywhere
Oct. 9th, 2025 01:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiraliciousOne of my goals is to use my phone less. To that end, one of the things I'm doing is trying to transition my daily puzzles from online to IRL.
On my phone, I was doing 13 puzzles a day:
( Read more... )
Now I'm averaging about 3 puzzles/activity book pages a day. The irl/analog puzzles just take longer, so doing more most days isn't reasonable. While I have other puzzle/activity books, these are the ones I'm currently working through:
Fall Seasonal Scratch Art: it's a set of six scratch art pages. Three are illustrated with camping scenes and three are blank. It came with a scratching stick and an on theme stencil. I am a little disappointed that under the scratch off stuff on the blank pages, it's metallic not rainbow.
The Golden Girls Search & Color book (by dreamtivity): The odd numbered pages are word searches themed on characters and episodes of the show. The even numbered pages are coloring pages, which are either stills from the show or quotes.
Deadpool & Wolverine Variety Puzzles volume 1 of 2 (by Kappa Books/Braintainment): I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It includes multiple types of mazes, spot the difference, word searches, sudoku, finish the picture, crossword, mad libs, Deadpool vs Wolverine quiz, fill-a-pix, & cryptograms. Yes, I also have volume 2.
Word Search Puzzle Book Volume 1 (by Bendon): It's a very basic word search book, but the puzzles are very large.
Kawaii Sticker Fun Halloween Activity Book: To be fair, this book is meant for ages 5+. It's Halloween scenes that you finish and give faces to the characters with the stickers it comes with. It was from Dollar Tree.
National Parks Advanced Coloring Book (by Bendon): I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. Each page is an illustrated poster for a national park. Instead of the usual white page with lines drawn you fill in, it's detailed pictures in grayscale you color over. The pages are nice and thick, so you can use wet medium like markers or paint.
On my phone, I was doing 13 puzzles a day:
( Read more... )
Now I'm averaging about 3 puzzles/activity book pages a day. The irl/analog puzzles just take longer, so doing more most days isn't reasonable. While I have other puzzle/activity books, these are the ones I'm currently working through:
Fall Seasonal Scratch Art: it's a set of six scratch art pages. Three are illustrated with camping scenes and three are blank. It came with a scratching stick and an on theme stencil. I am a little disappointed that under the scratch off stuff on the blank pages, it's metallic not rainbow.
The Golden Girls Search & Color book (by dreamtivity): The odd numbered pages are word searches themed on characters and episodes of the show. The even numbered pages are coloring pages, which are either stills from the show or quotes.
Deadpool & Wolverine Variety Puzzles volume 1 of 2 (by Kappa Books/Braintainment): I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It includes multiple types of mazes, spot the difference, word searches, sudoku, finish the picture, crossword, mad libs, Deadpool vs Wolverine quiz, fill-a-pix, & cryptograms. Yes, I also have volume 2.
Word Search Puzzle Book Volume 1 (by Bendon): It's a very basic word search book, but the puzzles are very large.
Kawaii Sticker Fun Halloween Activity Book: To be fair, this book is meant for ages 5+. It's Halloween scenes that you finish and give faces to the characters with the stickers it comes with. It was from Dollar Tree.
National Parks Advanced Coloring Book (by Bendon): I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. Each page is an illustrated poster for a national park. Instead of the usual white page with lines drawn you fill in, it's detailed pictures in grayscale you color over. The pages are nice and thick, so you can use wet medium like markers or paint.
*
so the drama
Oct. 9th, 2025 07:46 ammarcicatThis week's office days included UNEXPECTED WORKPLACE DRAMA, which was about what I expect from the in-office experience of 'overhearing lots of random bits of conversation.' (Honestly, the most unexpected thing is probably that it took five weeks to happen.)
ANYWAY, there's one employee who's currently "on leave," and we got a bunch of emails about it (maybe three?), very vague on the details, but clearly a planned thing, and with some level of contingencies in place to cover for this. Not dramatic. (I mean, maybe for the employee? As I said, very vague on the details. Could be anything, really. Probably not a new baby; those get different announcements.)
BUT, now there is suddenly ANOTHER employee who is "on leave," with ZERO emails and ZERO details. The words "on leave" are being said in such a way that indicates there is A Story to this situation. I do not think these two "on leave" situations are connected (although wouldn't THAT be a drama for sure!). But there aren't a lot of great reasons for an employee to suddenly not be coming to work, and not be able to be contacted.
ANYWAY, there's one employee who's currently "on leave," and we got a bunch of emails about it (maybe three?), very vague on the details, but clearly a planned thing, and with some level of contingencies in place to cover for this. Not dramatic. (I mean, maybe for the employee? As I said, very vague on the details. Could be anything, really. Probably not a new baby; those get different announcements.)
BUT, now there is suddenly ANOTHER employee who is "on leave," with ZERO emails and ZERO details. The words "on leave" are being said in such a way that indicates there is A Story to this situation. I do not think these two "on leave" situations are connected (although wouldn't THAT be a drama for sure!). But there aren't a lot of great reasons for an employee to suddenly not be coming to work, and not be able to be contacted.
F-FW Challenge 493 - Somewhere that's green
Oct. 9th, 2025 06:25 pmm_findlowTitle: Somewhere that’s green
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 2,097 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 493 - Garden at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fan_flashworks
Summary: Jack has a proposition for Ianto that includes something he’s never had before.
Somewhere that’s green
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 2,097 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 493 - Garden at
fan_flashworks Summary: Jack has a proposition for Ianto that includes something he’s never had before.
Somewhere that’s green
Knock on the Door for Fic or Treat!
Oct. 8th, 2025 09:42 pmimpala_chick
ficortreatImpala-Chick's Door
DW username:
impala_chickLight is on for: Anyone wandering by!
What's in the Bowl? Short fic, Short fanmix (4-5 songs), Set of 2 icons, or you can just say trick or treat and I'll surprise you with Halloween lore!
Let Me Know: Your gift will have some kind of Halloween theme unless you say otherwise :) Please specify if you'd rather have something spooky or something fluffy. Prompts are very much appreciated.
Fandoms and Characters I'll Make Gifts For:
-Marvel Cinematic Universe (Sam/Bucky, Bucky/Natasha, Steve/Tony)
-Doctor Odyssey (Tristan/Avery/Max)
-Band of Brothers (Webster/Liebgott)
-Generation Kill (Brad/Nate)
-Watcher Entertainment RPF (Ryan/Shane, Andrew/Steven)
-Roswell New Mexico (Rosa/Isobel, Liz/Max/Kyle)
-Challengers (Patrick/Art/Tashi)
-Masters of the Air (Curt/Bucky, Buck/Bucky, Curt/Buck/Bucky, Rosie/Harry)
-Jujutsu Kaisen (any)
-The Conjuring Universe (any)
-The Raven Cycle (any)
-Merlin (Merlin/Gwaine)
-Any horror movie
I like making ship-specific things, but you can also just request a specific character from the above.
Other info: I don't want to write non-con or body horror, but all other spooky tropes are on the table if you'd like to request one. Happy Halloween :D
tea review: darjeeling
Oct. 8th, 2025 09:47 pmspiraliciousTea Month 2025:Tea 8
Tea Review
Name: Darjeeling
Brand: TAZO
Type: black
Tea bag
Notes:
In the tea's defense, I did over brew it a bit. To me, it tasted like your basic black tea, but a bit softer and maybe a slightly nutty aftertaste.
Rate
Appearance: 9
Aroma: 6
Flavor: 7 1/2
Overall Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Tea Review
Name: Darjeeling
Brand: TAZO
Type: black
Tea bag
Notes:
In the tea's defense, I did over brew it a bit. To me, it tasted like your basic black tea, but a bit softer and maybe a slightly nutty aftertaste.
Rate
Appearance: 9
Aroma: 6
Flavor: 7 1/2
Overall Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Last 3 Things Part II
Oct. 8th, 2025 09:19 pmimpala_chickLast 3 TV shows I watched:
•9-1-1 Lone Star Series Finale: Finally, a lovely happy ending! This last season was not my favorite, but I liked how they tied everything together at the end. Except for Grace & Judd, I was sad we didn't at least get to see her again.
•Doctor Odyssey Finale: Boo! How could they break up my OT3 like that! After all of the really fun and really progressive relationship explorations this season, I thought they did Tristan dirty at the end :( But at least they ended with the three of them on the pool deck together.
•Surreal Estate 2.02: Hilarious and fun and spooky too. The season 2 premiere didn't grab me but this episode had a bunch of heart and I'm re-invested :D
Next 3 TV shows I want to (re)watch:
•Surreal Estate Season 2
•Umbrella Academy final season
•A rewatch for a fic exchange
Last 3 albums I listened to:
• Greetings from Your Hometown by Jonas Brothers ♥ Many new bangers that I love. Backwards is my current favorite.
• Man's Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter. The sarcasm about men being shit but still expecting the sexiest girls - such scathing and deserved commentary. Especially the track Tears!. No one is really doing it like her. Although I think I like the previous album better.
• Gold Star Baby by The Aces. A disco album! A lot of the lyrics make me laugh, too. Favorite track is Spending the Night.
Next 3 albums I want to listen to:
• Demi Lovato's new album It's Not That Deep comes out October 24!
• 5 Seconds of Summer's new album Everyone's a Star! comes out November 14!
• Conan Gray?? I loved his performance of Vodka Cranberry so I should listen to his other stuff.
current fandom comms/events
Oct. 8th, 2025 12:02 pmsvgurlmcu100 is a a bi-weekly MCU themed community challenge where you join a team and write as many 100 worded drabbles to earn points for your teamallbingo is hosting Fall Fest through the month of October. There are both pre-made bingo cards or you can create your own with the available prompts. ficortreat is open for another round. You can create a "door" (instructions at link) and offer what you're willing to create and then go around other people's "doors" and see what they're offering too. booknook is still accepting sign-ups for October Review-a-Thon 2025, where you pick a book and sign up for a date to post your review.cap_ironman, a Steve/Tony community, is running 2025 Holiday Exchange and Community Gifts. Sign-ups for the exchange close on October 9th, 10PM EDT.koreanfandomsex, a multifandom exchange for Korean fandoms, is open for sign-ups until October 12th, 11:59PM Pacific. be_compromised, a Clint/Natasha community, is running Secret Santa 2025. Sign-ups are open until October 13th, 4PM GMT. julybreakbingopresents is running for Halloween Horror Bingo. Sign-ups are open until October 13th, 11:59PM Eastern.amperslashexchange, a fic and art exchange for ambiguous relationships that are hard to definitively classify as either platonic (&) or romantic/sexual (/), is open for sign-ups until October 14th, 11:59PM UTC.holmestice, a gift exchange for all Sherlock Holmes fandoms, has opened signups for Winter 2025 until October 14th. Rainbow Connection Flash Exchange is a multifandom flash exchanged hosted on AO3, dedicated to rainbow or colour themed fics. Both nominations and sign-ups are open until October 16th, 3PM EDT.
seasonsofdrabbles is accepting nominations for their Fall Round. Nomination will remain open even once sign-ups open and will close on October 19th, 11:59PM Eastern.smallfandombang, a Big Bang challenge for small fandoms (less than 2000 works), is open for author sign-ups until October 31st.elasticella is running Hotties Haunting the Narrative: a festive femslash ficathon until November 1st. fancake's theme of the month is: uncommon settings. Click on the banner below to learn more. 
workaday Wednesday
Oct. 8th, 2025 06:29 ammarcicatIt's raining! Great news, except for the 'have to drive to work in it' aspect. And, you know, it is what it is. (aka: it's still more fun than job hunting)
May the gods of work smile upon us all today!
May the gods of work smile upon us all today!
101 ☆
Oct. 8th, 2025 12:23 amtinkatonA fic meme yoinked from sushiflop!
Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.
( all this shows is that I single-handedly was keeping the pepperhony tag afloat )
Here's the meme if anyone wants to do it:
sushiflop!Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.
( all this shows is that I single-handedly was keeping the pepperhony tag afloat )
Here's the meme if anyone wants to do it: