Santillatron

I realised how much I lip read to process speech now my TV sound keeps getting out of sync with the picture.

Also probably explains why I can recognise people from the way their mouth moves better than their eyes…

Oh! And holding three conversations at the same time!

😆 yep random singing, inside voice breaking out, face on broadcast, this is our household too.

If anyone lost a bag of books from LRB Bookshop on the Metropolitan Line between Baker St- Watford, I handed it to a cleaner when the train terminated at Watford tube station. And if you have far more followers than me, please share this status. LRB bookshop is not cheap!

Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!

Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.

Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!

#MundaneHalloween

Painterly, Rembrandt-esque portrait of Aziraphale from Good Omens wearing a white ruff collar, set against a dark background. There is a barely-visible, gold halo around his head.

Painterly, Rembrandt-esque portrait of Crowley from Good Omens wearing a dark coat with a reddish-brown, furred collar and a large, gold chain with a snake pendant, set against a light background. The left edge of Crowley's face is lit; the rest of his face is in shadow. There is a barely-visible, dark halo around his head.

🪽🐍 lost rembrandt portraits
#GoodOmens

Had to go out in the car this evening. Lightning but no thunder, and rain so heavy I only knew where the road was thanks to the lights of the car in front and the catseyes. Crawled along and would have pulled over if I could see the side of the road enough to know I could. 0/10 do not recommend.

Not that I’ve found! 😆

I never built up a tolerance for caffeine as I’ve never really had more than a cup of tea so any can affect me if I’m already whizzy. I also found the standard adult dose of ADHD meds too much so maybe I’m just really sensitive to stimulants!

I’m the same, my brain is usually so hyped up that caffeine can have erratic effects. I’ve had jitters from having two cups of tea, but also fallen asleep before I’ve even finished the cup. I pretty much gave up caffeine as a teenager because of the mania it induces.

Delayed reaction. With sleep you’ll feel fine the day after the bad night, but the day after that is when the effects kick in.

Plus it takes three good nights to catch up on sleep. Which is why we should have three day weekends.

I think any story about Trump's autocracy should be mostly about the people and institutions who failed to stop it. This guy isn't a political genius, everything else just happens to be rotten. 'Toddler Consolidates Power In Household' is a story about incompetent parents, not shrewd maneuvering

Dunno if it would work but can you nap at the end of the working day, wake up and have your evening time, have a second sleep and get up early? Also daylight lamps are amazing for waking up but obvs not the easiest thing to get hold of where you are!

I’m not sure even morning people would manage that without complaint!

You’re either a morning person or you’re not and it’s coded into your genes so don’t fight it just enjoy the night hours.

Sometimes these are the same cat.

Calling all designers! Create your own version of a classic Discworld cover... | Terry Pratchett Penguin UK has launched its annual cover design award contest where all UK and Ireland-based designers can submit their own designs for two classic Penguin titles. This year’s focus is fantasy and the...

Are you a UK or Ireland-based designer looking to get started in the industry? Penguin UK has launched its cover design awards and this year, the focus is fantasy – and one of the two titles is Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. More details:
terrypratchett.com/news/calling...

"But when the team looked at the employees’ actual work output, they found that the developers had completed tasks 20% slower when using AI than when working without it. Researchers were stunned. “No one expected that outcome. We didn’t even really consider a slowdown as a possibility.”

🎁link

I think it’s meant to stretch muscles that you tense when nervous. My yoga teacher taught it to us so it’s a good laugh when a whole class is at it!

Maybe they’re just making it so boring that by the time you actually fly you’ll be desperate to get in the chopper and forget all about being nervous.

Also focusing on physical stuff - like pick something you can see and try and figure out how it’s been made, or how it might have been assembled by robots etc.

Trace your hand - inhale as you go up a digit, exhale down.

Also full body breathing - stomach, ribs, and clavicles in that order on inhale, then reverse it on the exhale.

Lion breathing is great alone. Inhale through nose, tongue out fully, eyes crossed, and sort of roar the exhale.

Of course it is, it’s Indian! 😆

You’ll notice that new developments in generative AI are always accompanied by new ways of depicting women without their consent—undermining their autonomy and harassing them—almost like it’s a pillar of the technology and its evolution

😆 trouble is I get used to it at home where it’s not unusual, but does get me some odd looks with others.

Using ChatGPT

That standard rules out a lot of ND folk too. Barely a day goes by in this house without one of us shouting ‘WORDS!’ mid-convo in the hope that the sentence we’re failing to articulate decides to show up.

There’s been a couple of programs in our house where a certain actor appears on screen and my husband goes ‘oh that’s why we’re watching this’ 😆

Frankenstein illustration described.

Spine of the book which reads Novels and Romances: Frankenstein, Ghost Seer

Frankenstein illustration of page 37 “the day of my departure at length arrived”

The Ghost-Seer illustration “he stretched his hand towards a new coffin. Suddenly the lid made a rattling noise and fell to the ground. The Greek lady instantly appeared.

This bound volume of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and volume I of The Ghost Seer by Friedrich Schiller is exactly what we need at this time of year! These illustrations depict iconic moments from the stories, though Schiller's tale remains unfinished…

There's a lot going on here. Not least the cameo appearance of Captain Blackadder.