The math of March Madness brackets
Mar. 19th, 2026 11:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
sciam_feedOr When can mathematicians reverse engineer basketball tournament results from your friends’ brackets?
sciam_feedSomething extremely weird is happening to our galactic neighbor. Scientists think they know why
Mar. 19th, 2026 10:30 amsciam_feedThe stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud aren’t behaving the way they should. A cataclysmic collision with another nearby galaxy may be the culprit
Babe Ruth
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:00 amquoteoftheday_feed"I have only one superstition. I touch all the bases when I hit a home run."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:00 amquoteoftheday_feed"To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state."
Jay Leno
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:00 amquoteoftheday_feed"The reason there are two senators for each state is so that one can be the designated driver."
Fritz Perls
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:00 amquoteoftheday_feed"I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine."
Community Thursdays
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...
* Posted "Tutorials" on![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
getting_started.
* Posted "Gaming" ongirlgamers.
* Posted "Ostara" ongoddessfolk.
* Posted "Tutorials" on
getting_started.* Posted "Gaming" on
girlgamers.* Posted "Ostara" on
goddessfolk.
nadir
Mar. 19th, 2026 01:00 ammerriamwebster_feedMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 19, 2026 is:
nadir • \NAY-deer\ • noun
Nadir refers to the lowest or worst point of something. When used in astronomy, nadir describes the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer.
// Only once the novel’s protagonist reaches her nadir does she arouse the reader’s empathy, and we root for her to climb back to respectability.
Examples:
“Sacrament dives right into the nadir of the 2020 health crisis, following a group of nurses who have moved into makeshift housing near a California hospital, to isolate from their families during the height of the case surge.” — James Folta, LitHub.com, 1 July 2025
Did you know?
Nadir is part of the galaxy of scientific words that have come to us from Arabic, a language that has made important contributions to the English lexicon especially in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. The source of nadir is naḍhīr, meaning “opposite”—the opposite, that is, of the zenith, the highest point of the celestial sphere which is positioned vertically above the observer. (The word zenith itself is a modification of another Arabic word that means “the way over one’s head.”) Though born of the heavens, both words are called upon to refer to earthy things too, especially a significant point or period of time, be it a high point or low one.
Benn Jordan plays the stock market [econ, tech, dataviz, music]
Mar. 19th, 2026 12:46 amsidereaJust hit play.
(All about the sound, but visuals also nice.)
2026 Mar 18: Benn Jordan [BennJordan YT]: "I'm here to disrupt the finance synthesizer scene."
(All about the sound, but visuals also nice.)
2026 Mar 18: Benn Jordan [BennJordan YT]: "I'm here to disrupt the finance synthesizer scene."
Did not make yoga
Mar. 18th, 2026 11:24 pmcornerofmadnessI was going to but I started to feel very nauseated and cold. Came home sat down to play a game, woke up an hour later. I'm feeling a little better but not great. Not going was the right call.
Got the midterm grades in. Can't wait for the crying tomorrow.
I looked up the Ohioana book festival because I know it's up and coming but there was a library staff change and the festival was canceled. I'm bummed and angry. I didn't make it last year for reasons and now I don't know if it'll ever be back.
What I Just Finished Reading:
The Snow Child - depressing
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Would have been better without the misogyny and sexual abuse (but would it be Ellison without the misogyny?)
What I am Currently Reading:
Violet Thistlewaite is not a villain any more so far, I really like this one
With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee
What I Plan to Read Next: La Grand Familia, and Luna Park history
Got the midterm grades in. Can't wait for the crying tomorrow.
I looked up the Ohioana book festival because I know it's up and coming but there was a library staff change and the festival was canceled. I'm bummed and angry. I didn't make it last year for reasons and now I don't know if it'll ever be back.
What I Just Finished Reading:
The Snow Child - depressing
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Would have been better without the misogyny and sexual abuse (but would it be Ellison without the misogyny?)
What I am Currently Reading:
Violet Thistlewaite is not a villain any more so far, I really like this one
With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee
What I Plan to Read Next: La Grand Familia, and Luna Park history
Athens, GA?
Mar. 18th, 2026 10:26 pmdays_unfoldingI just asked ChatGPT for places to retire that are affordable, college town, near water, and with mild winters. Wilmington, NC was near the top of the list, but hurricanes. Hmm. Athens, GA was at the top of the list, and Gainesville, FL was second. I have some traveling to do. Athens seems to have more condos than Champaign-Urbana does. To get to Athens, I’d need to fly to Atlanta and then hop a bus. About what I figured. It would be good to have an international airport nearby. Hmm, Gainesville is super cheap.
It’s cold (26F) and snowing. Ugh.
I asked Bella if I can pee in peace, and the answer is apparently “No”.
I woke up at 2:30 AM and couldn't fall back asleep for an hour. But I did get up on time and showered.
I received my crabapple tree for the back yard! I'll have to see if I can plant it or will need help.
I got Gracie in by grabbing her collar. Had lunch. I’m thinking that I’ll lie down after my last meeting because my stomach hurts. Slept until a little after 6.
Oliver keeps opening the door to Zara’s room to eat her food. I finally scooped him up and shut him in the bedroom. I’ve now seen how he opens Zara’s door, and he bumps it with his body. I’m going to put the gate up tonight.
I’m feeling shaky, so I’m making food. The dogs still don’t want to come in.
I have to remember to get the recycling out. Done. Go me. Submitted a grocery order. Watched The Pitt. Now I need to finish washing some clothes and go to bed.
It’s cold (26F) and snowing. Ugh.
I asked Bella if I can pee in peace, and the answer is apparently “No”.
I woke up at 2:30 AM and couldn't fall back asleep for an hour. But I did get up on time and showered.
I received my crabapple tree for the back yard! I'll have to see if I can plant it or will need help.
I got Gracie in by grabbing her collar. Had lunch. I’m thinking that I’ll lie down after my last meeting because my stomach hurts. Slept until a little after 6.
Oliver keeps opening the door to Zara’s room to eat her food. I finally scooped him up and shut him in the bedroom. I’ve now seen how he opens Zara’s door, and he bumps it with his body. I’m going to put the gate up tonight.
I’m feeling shaky, so I’m making food. The dogs still don’t want to come in.
I have to remember to get the recycling out. Done. Go me. Submitted a grocery order. Watched The Pitt. Now I need to finish washing some clothes and go to bed.
Hometown Tour (part 1 of 1, complete)
Mar. 18th, 2026 10:45 pmdialecticdreamerHometown Tour
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1181
[Morning of Saturday, 4 November of 2017]
:: Jules takes a bicycle tour to favorite stores and pocket parks, just to touch base. And, both in memory of his tourist travels and because the changes in Mercedes are easier to see, he plays up the “tourist” persona. Part of the “Lodestar” arc, set in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
After breakfast, the pair washed and dried the dishes together, bumping elbows as they worked. Bennett waved him off as soon as the last spoon went into the drawer. “Go, settle yourself back into town again. If you run across Blainn, try to get into a more private setting before you talk about specifics.”
He winked. “Do you have anything that needs to be dry cleaned? Or boots that need resoling, which is more likely? The only errand that I can honestly suggest for the house is to pick up a can of peaches for me. I want to make cheat-cobblers for dessert tonight.”
( Read more... )
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1181
[Morning of Saturday, 4 November of 2017]
:: Jules takes a bicycle tour to favorite stores and pocket parks, just to touch base. And, both in memory of his tourist travels and because the changes in Mercedes are easier to see, he plays up the “tourist” persona. Part of the “Lodestar” arc, set in the Polychrome Heroics universe. ::
After breakfast, the pair washed and dried the dishes together, bumping elbows as they worked. Bennett waved him off as soon as the last spoon went into the drawer. “Go, settle yourself back into town again. If you run across Blainn, try to get into a more private setting before you talk about specifics.”
He winked. “Do you have anything that needs to be dry cleaned? Or boots that need resoling, which is more likely? The only errand that I can honestly suggest for the house is to pick up a can of peaches for me. I want to make cheat-cobblers for dessert tonight.”
( Read more... )
陈情令 | The Untamed: Moments of Revelation by Meyari
Mar. 18th, 2026 07:10 pmranalore posting in fancakeFandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed
Pairings/Characters: Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian & Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang (background), Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji (background), Lan Xichen, Jin Zixuan, Meng Yao, Wen Zhuliu
Rating: R for Graphic Depictions of Violence and Major Character Death
Length: 133,987 words
Creator Link:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
meyari
Themes: Siblings, Time Travel Fix-It, Women Being Awesome, Trauma & Recovery
Summary: As the Jianghu collapses around Jiang Cheng's ears, his borrowed core begins to fail. Wei Wuxian has one final trick up his sleeve, though the only person who can use it is the one person who has no core of his own: Jiang Cheng. Time travel may be impossible for everyone else, but Jiang Cheng has one slender, delicate chance to save the entire world. Of course he has to take it no matter what the cost might be.
Reccer's Notes: As soon as I saw this month's theme, I thought of this story. While time travel fix-its and core reveal fix-its are both common in the fandom, this story handles both tropes in ways I haven't seen any other story do. It also features amazing original characters, including several badass women of the Meishan Yu sect, and gives Jiang Yanli one of the best storylines I've ever seen. The rating is because there's still a war, and some characters still die, but it's a far different war, and they are far different deaths.
I do feel like I have to provide a caveat that this could use a serious line edit, by which I mean there is a grammatical or spelling error in nearly every sentence. It really says something that, despite this, I couldn't put the story down, and devoured all 100K+ words of it in the space of two nights.
Fanwork Links: Moments of Revelation (please note that this is archive-locked to AO3-registered users)
Pairings/Characters: Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian & Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang (background), Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji (background), Lan Xichen, Jin Zixuan, Meng Yao, Wen Zhuliu
Rating: R for Graphic Depictions of Violence and Major Character Death
Length: 133,987 words
Creator Link:
Themes: Siblings, Time Travel Fix-It, Women Being Awesome, Trauma & Recovery
Summary: As the Jianghu collapses around Jiang Cheng's ears, his borrowed core begins to fail. Wei Wuxian has one final trick up his sleeve, though the only person who can use it is the one person who has no core of his own: Jiang Cheng. Time travel may be impossible for everyone else, but Jiang Cheng has one slender, delicate chance to save the entire world. Of course he has to take it no matter what the cost might be.
Reccer's Notes: As soon as I saw this month's theme, I thought of this story. While time travel fix-its and core reveal fix-its are both common in the fandom, this story handles both tropes in ways I haven't seen any other story do. It also features amazing original characters, including several badass women of the Meishan Yu sect, and gives Jiang Yanli one of the best storylines I've ever seen. The rating is because there's still a war, and some characters still die, but it's a far different war, and they are far different deaths.
I do feel like I have to provide a caveat that this could use a serious line edit, by which I mean there is a grammatical or spelling error in nearly every sentence. It really says something that, despite this, I couldn't put the story down, and devoured all 100K+ words of it in the space of two nights.
Fanwork Links: Moments of Revelation (please note that this is archive-locked to AO3-registered users)
(no subject)
Mar. 18th, 2026 09:47 pmashelterofpagesSo, I fell really behind on Dreamwidth things. I don't know hat all happened exactly. I think part of it was being in and out of two different houses for a while. I'm settled back in my normal living situation though, so hopefully I'll be better again.
I did get the start of my tattoo done and it went really well. I love it so much, and even though my family doesn't like it much, it still makes me happy to see that I actually did this thing I've wanted to do for so many years.
~*~
As per usual, there's been family drama going on. The problem is that this time it was involving my own living situation, which didn't feel great. I thiiiink it's all settled now (we were going to maybe have someone move in with us, but we literally have nowhere to put him and he's kind of a terrible person to live with anyway). I'm not entirely sure on that because there's a factor that could change things very quickly, but I'm hoping things are done for now.
~*~
I've been getting dental work done this month, and while I'm not having a great time with it, I'm glad it's moving along.Tomorrow I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out, which does not excite me even a little, and then at the beginning of April, I'm getting a filling put in.But thatshould be all I need done until my next cleaning, so that's exciting at least.
I also have an eye appointment on the 27th, but hopefully nothing will be exciting there. I always get nervous for eye stuff though because of my history (aka, my eyes are a disaster.).
~*~
To help myself stay sane and do some bonding with friends, I've started a playthrough of Dragon Age: Veilguard with one of my partner's other partners. We've hung out before, but never did something just the two of us, and they're a big Dragon Age fan and was really excited to get to share the game with me.
reat time and they're really good at reading everything for me, letting me make choices unless I tell them to, and giving me enough description that I can usually see what's going on in the game. I didn't know how this was going to go, but I'm having a great time, and I think they are too.
It's going really well! I'm having a g
I'm also watching The Exorcist TV show with a friend I'm going to visit in June. We're both writers and big horror fans, and have watched stuff together before. I have a running list of things we keep bringing up to stream together, and I think we're going to bounce between writing stuff and streaming stuff. It's exciting!
I have also got my best friend playing Bongo Cat with me and this is such a silly little game but I find it so fucking delightful. I also think it's helped me swing into something like a routine again, which is great!
I did get the start of my tattoo done and it went really well. I love it so much, and even though my family doesn't like it much, it still makes me happy to see that I actually did this thing I've wanted to do for so many years.
~*~
As per usual, there's been family drama going on. The problem is that this time it was involving my own living situation, which didn't feel great. I thiiiink it's all settled now (we were going to maybe have someone move in with us, but we literally have nowhere to put him and he's kind of a terrible person to live with anyway). I'm not entirely sure on that because there's a factor that could change things very quickly, but I'm hoping things are done for now.
~*~
I've been getting dental work done this month, and while I'm not having a great time with it, I'm glad it's moving along.Tomorrow I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out, which does not excite me even a little, and then at the beginning of April, I'm getting a filling put in.But thatshould be all I need done until my next cleaning, so that's exciting at least.
I also have an eye appointment on the 27th, but hopefully nothing will be exciting there. I always get nervous for eye stuff though because of my history (aka, my eyes are a disaster.).
~*~
To help myself stay sane and do some bonding with friends, I've started a playthrough of Dragon Age: Veilguard with one of my partner's other partners. We've hung out before, but never did something just the two of us, and they're a big Dragon Age fan and was really excited to get to share the game with me.
reat time and they're really good at reading everything for me, letting me make choices unless I tell them to, and giving me enough description that I can usually see what's going on in the game. I didn't know how this was going to go, but I'm having a great time, and I think they are too.
It's going really well! I'm having a g
I'm also watching The Exorcist TV show with a friend I'm going to visit in June. We're both writers and big horror fans, and have watched stuff together before. I have a running list of things we keep bringing up to stream together, and I think we're going to bounce between writing stuff and streaming stuff. It's exciting!
I have also got my best friend playing Bongo Cat with me and this is such a silly little game but I find it so fucking delightful. I also think it's helped me swing into something like a routine again, which is great!
Lake Lewisia #1371
Mar. 18th, 2026 05:11 pmscrubjayspeaks“If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride,” she sang to herself, a funny little lullaby to keep her creations soothed while she worked on the last fine details. Her deft fingers curled up wood shavings fine as paper and light as feathers, the skill needed to make lumps of wood into something capable of flight. Wishes weren’t horses, of course; they were birds, carved from the heaviest of hopes into the faintest of whispers, sent out into the world to alight where they may.
---
LL#1371
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LL#1371
wednesday reads
Mar. 18th, 2026 05:13 pmisisWhat I've recently finished reading:
Blood over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang. I'm a sucker for technology-infused magic, and I really liked the sort of computer-programming-magic here; in general the worldbuilding reminded me a bit of the TV show Arcane, which of course has its "magitech", but the main similarity is the elite vs the underclass (who they exploit), and the dark truths behind the marvels of the city. However, the characters are one-dimensional, with stereotypical views that either clearly cast them as the villains or that make it obvious the narrative will be about their realizations that change their views. I will say, though, that I was (pleasantly) surprised by the ending, as I applaud the writer for choosing the more realistic and interesting path over what you might expect from YA.
Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman, who is a law professor and co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which I've never listened to, but I have heard her on NPR and other people's podcasts. I agree with her main thesis, that the Court has gone off the rails by picking and choosing their "legal principles" by whether or not they agree (ideologically) with the outcome that will result, which frankly stinks. It's well-researched, with lots of cites and notes. However, each of the five chapters is presented using the conceit of a particular show or movie, and as I was only familiar with most of them through osmosis, this didn't really work for me and sometimes seemed overly pop-culture-cutesy. (Like, Barbie - the movie, not the toy - is used as the lens to examine overturning Roe vs. Wade; Game of Thrones tells us that Winter Is Coming For Voting Rights; Mean Girls don't want to sit with LGBTQ people.) For an old Gen-X-er like me it seems like unnecessary metaphor, but maybe it will land better with people who want more glitz and meme in their nonfiction...but in that case, maybe a relatively dense book about law is not what they will be reading? I also will gripe about the editing, which seems particularly poor in the last chapter where Litman misspelled Ronald Reagan's surname and gave the same Neil Gorsuch quote twice within a few paragraphs.
Blood over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang. I'm a sucker for technology-infused magic, and I really liked the sort of computer-programming-magic here; in general the worldbuilding reminded me a bit of the TV show Arcane, which of course has its "magitech", but the main similarity is the elite vs the underclass (who they exploit), and the dark truths behind the marvels of the city. However, the characters are one-dimensional, with stereotypical views that either clearly cast them as the villains or that make it obvious the narrative will be about their realizations that change their views. I will say, though, that I was (pleasantly) surprised by the ending, as I applaud the writer for choosing the more realistic and interesting path over what you might expect from YA.
Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman, who is a law professor and co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which I've never listened to, but I have heard her on NPR and other people's podcasts. I agree with her main thesis, that the Court has gone off the rails by picking and choosing their "legal principles" by whether or not they agree (ideologically) with the outcome that will result, which frankly stinks. It's well-researched, with lots of cites and notes. However, each of the five chapters is presented using the conceit of a particular show or movie, and as I was only familiar with most of them through osmosis, this didn't really work for me and sometimes seemed overly pop-culture-cutesy. (Like, Barbie - the movie, not the toy - is used as the lens to examine overturning Roe vs. Wade; Game of Thrones tells us that Winter Is Coming For Voting Rights; Mean Girls don't want to sit with LGBTQ people.) For an old Gen-X-er like me it seems like unnecessary metaphor, but maybe it will land better with people who want more glitz and meme in their nonfiction...but in that case, maybe a relatively dense book about law is not what they will be reading? I also will gripe about the editing, which seems particularly poor in the last chapter where Litman misspelled Ronald Reagan's surname and gave the same Neil Gorsuch quote twice within a few paragraphs.