Year-end miscellany
Jan. 2nd, 2026 11:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kathleen_dailey- I'm happy for (and, LBH, envious of) all my pals who've been suddenly and passionately swept up in Heated Rivalry fandom. I'd give a lot to see this kind of fannish squee, which leads to reading and writing such high-quality meta and fic, in my principal fandom. Sadly, there seems to be zero chance of that happening any time soon.
- In 2025, when I was accompanying the spouse to many medical appointments at Mt. Sinai and Princess Margaret, I spent a lot of time hanging out in Mt. Sinai's food court, where I drank an RRSP's worth of chai lattes, both iced and hot, at Aroma. I finally got smart enough to look at the container whence the chai came, and identified the source as Say When Chai. A bit of googling showed that not only is the product Canadian, all three varieties are available for delivery from Beanwise. (My favourite, Organic Grizzly, is sold out at the moment, probably in part thanks to me ordering containers by the dozen.) Bonus: Beanwise also carries a large selection of Monin syrups (including almond, which means that I can finally make orzatas at home). Next on my syrup list are lavender, violet, matcha, and ube, with only about 19 pages of flavours left to choose from after that. Just have to remember to lay in a case or three of bubbly mineral water for mixing.
- I both can and cannot recommend undertaking a life review by going through boxes and boxes of letters, photos, and documents preparatory to shredding them. It's a good thing because it reminds one of all the exciting and happy events and people that went before; it's a bad thing because ditto.
- If I ever get back to retroactively tagging these DW posts, I might add a "clichés, solecisms, and oopsies" tag. Last week, for example, in three separate fics in two separate fandoms, authors informed me that characters "let out breaths [they] didn't know [they were] holding." In still another fic, the tag assured me that "no abuse or assault is perpetuated [sic] by any established character." (Although I suppose that in some rare instances "perpetuated" might not actually be an oopsie for "perpetrated.")
- Pantone 2026, Cloud Dancer: "The color of the humming sound that an overhead fluorescent light makes in a disillusioning job. The color of the familial obligation that pushes you to begrudgingly accept a call. The color of ChatGPT’s blood if ChatGPT could bleed, if ChatGPT could be slashed with a sashimi knife and if milky fluid could come gushing out of its jugular."
- In 2025, when I was accompanying the spouse to many medical appointments at Mt. Sinai and Princess Margaret, I spent a lot of time hanging out in Mt. Sinai's food court, where I drank an RRSP's worth of chai lattes, both iced and hot, at Aroma. I finally got smart enough to look at the container whence the chai came, and identified the source as Say When Chai. A bit of googling showed that not only is the product Canadian, all three varieties are available for delivery from Beanwise. (My favourite, Organic Grizzly, is sold out at the moment, probably in part thanks to me ordering containers by the dozen.) Bonus: Beanwise also carries a large selection of Monin syrups (including almond, which means that I can finally make orzatas at home). Next on my syrup list are lavender, violet, matcha, and ube, with only about 19 pages of flavours left to choose from after that. Just have to remember to lay in a case or three of bubbly mineral water for mixing.
- I both can and cannot recommend undertaking a life review by going through boxes and boxes of letters, photos, and documents preparatory to shredding them. It's a good thing because it reminds one of all the exciting and happy events and people that went before; it's a bad thing because ditto.
- If I ever get back to retroactively tagging these DW posts, I might add a "clichés, solecisms, and oopsies" tag. Last week, for example, in three separate fics in two separate fandoms, authors informed me that characters "let out breaths [they] didn't know [they were] holding." In still another fic, the tag assured me that "no abuse or assault is perpetuated [sic] by any established character." (Although I suppose that in some rare instances "perpetuated" might not actually be an oopsie for "perpetrated.")
- Pantone 2026, Cloud Dancer: "The color of the humming sound that an overhead fluorescent light makes in a disillusioning job. The color of the familial obligation that pushes you to begrudgingly accept a call. The color of ChatGPT’s blood if ChatGPT could bleed, if ChatGPT could be slashed with a sashimi knife and if milky fluid could come gushing out of its jugular."
