http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4423


archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about

it's important to be good at it and if you have talent that can make it easier, especially at the start. hope this helps!!

← previous

January 14th, 2026

January 14th, 2026: Me and JASON LOO (!) are putting on a SPECIAL EVENT with the Hamilton Public Library where we'll be discussing COMICS and WRITING and will sign all your books too! It's on January 29th, 7pm, at the Westdale Branch - hope to see you there!

– Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4423

fred_mouse posting in

unclutter

How did the decluttering of the hobby spaces go? Did you spend time looking for things that could go, move a thing or two, or have a wildly successful week? Or did you work on a different space instead?

For the third week, we are moving on to a work space -- just the one. Unless you have all the energy and all the time, in which case don't let me hold you back. But this was meant to be a gentle challenge to get started on the year. What decluttering a work space might look like

moving the cooking equipment you never use out of the kitchen
sorting through stuff in a work from home space so you have more space for you
looking in the laundry for things that have drifted into corners and become one with the wall.
going through the cleaning rag stash and getting it down to Just! One! Bucket! worth (for whatever size of bucket you keep your rags in)
throwing out old cleaning equipment--particularly if you have replaced it with one that you use!

Alternatively: keep going with the rest and / or hobby spaces. Get things out of the house!

james_davis_nicoll

A teen subject to intermittent time-loops sets out to prevent the murder of his unlikable grandfather. This will be much harder than he expects.

The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa

jack

Smoke LARP festival in London for two days.

Game 1 about dysfunctional committee running a large LARP event. This was hilarious and cathartic for a lot of people. Everyone had a character, the auteur overcommitted to the vision, the overly emotional over verbose writer, etc, etc who are over the top. And it's so easy to run with -- whenever someone asks "We can tear the fittings down for extra costumes?" you can say "Yes, obviously!"

Game 2 about Superheros matching Nemeses speed-dating style on a reality TV show style. The characters were all hilarious.

Game 3 about the Greek Gods running a gameshow, spiralling slowly out of control. 13/10 for Binney as the overworked madcap Hades. My favourite moment was seeing Hades getting increasingly many semi-anonymous requests handed over from the GM, and as Poseidon writing out a note in the same style and handing it over. And not discovering until the end that Hades had just taken it on board and "More death! Put Hecate in charge! Don't trust Odin! MORE SQUID!!!" had blended in perfectly with all the other notes and he'd gone on to do all those things. And second favourite when hades was waving the post-it representing the necronomicon for an unspecified plan, taking it and helpfully tearing it up before handing it back.

Game 4 Canterbury Tales. Set just before the End of the Wars of the Roses when the tales had just been printed. I had to leave early, with my fate hanging on the outcome, when we'd just heard a rumour that Henry had been slain and Richard captured by Henry's forces. It turned out later that Henry's widow and a putative Edward V Prince in the Tower had both proclaimed themselves, potentially leading to turmoil. But I'm pleased they both had a good chance, and that probably removed the problems hanging over my character from the previous politics 🙂

jack

TIL more about VeggieTales. I had heard they avoided depicting Jesus as a vegetable. But apparently they specifically (a) will not show Jesus as a vegetable and (b) do not show the vegetables as having a redemptive relationship with Christ.

The show shows some vegetables living on a kitchen counter. Those characters then morph into a Christian-friendly story, either an old testament bible story, or a contemporary "someone learns an important lesson about goodness" story. So you have Larry the vegetable transplanted into a Biblical Joseph role. In the story, God exists. But the plain vegetables aren't Christian. Because the creators think that Jesus died for *humanity* and any other intelligent species was not fallen (like Angels) or not been saved (like Demons) or had its own relationship with God (like Narnia).

And even in the story, none of the characters are ever Jesus, because that would seem disrespectful. What does happen in the later series is that the characters portray nativity plays, where a unnamed non-Christian baby vegetable acts as a non-Jesus baby human character, who is pretending to be baby Jesus. Also in the early series there's a couple of nativity stories with a crib, but you only see golden light from the crib. Or sometimes a swaddled form, but not whether it contains a doll, vegetable, human and/or god :)

https://justinkuiper.substack.com/p/highlights-from-the-comments-on-the

osprey_archer

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Elizabeth Enright’s Then There Were Five. That’s right, the Melendys are back! This time, they befriend a local boy with no friends or relations except his horrible uncle, and the Melendy children take him home and ask “Can we keep him???” They gather scrap metal for the war effort, plan a festival (children in books always throw the most satisfying festivals), and put up a truly astonishing amount of tomatoes.

What I’m Reading Now

Onward and upward in Solzhenitsyn’s In the First Circle! The blurb on the front of this novel praises it as “suspenseful,” which is fascinating because that’s probably the last adjective I’d use to describe it. Absorbing, yes. Full of meticulous portraits of a dizzying array of people, yes. We meet a deeply religious prisoner, a soft-hearted prison guard, Stalin, a prisoner who still believes fanatically in Communism, a prisoner’s wife whose devotion to her husband is cracking under the strain of separation, her friend in their grad student dorm who is trying to wriggle free of being recruited as an informer…

But suspenseful? I wouldn’t call it suspenseful. We’re halfway through the book and we’ve just now meandered back to Volodin, the guy who telephoned the American embassy on Christmas Eve to warn them that the Soviets are planning to steal their atomic bomb secrets. We are not urgently searching for Volodin (well, maybe the fanatically Communist prisoner Rubin is urgently searching for Volodin), we are gently bobbing around in a pool and occasionally bobbing a bit extra hard when we come across one of the ripples caused when Volodin tossed his pebble.

What I Plan to Read Next

National Velvet!

spikedluv

I had two ultrasounds this morning so I did not leave the house at my usual time. Since I was home a little longer I finished up the chili and got it back into the fridge. Chili always tastes better the next day, which is why I like to get it started the day before. And I figure having it sit in the fridge before I heat it up again will let the flavors do what flavors do. *fingers crossed*

I hit Agway while I was downtown and picked up my aunt’s death certificates. I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. I made cornbread to go with the chili. I also browned more ground beef and made spaghetti sauce for later in the week.

I typed in ~4,100 more words on my

smallfandomfest fic to bring it to a total of ~6,600 words! I even got the fic posted! \o/ I finished this Jack Reacher book and watched a couple eps of Secrets of the Zoo.

My healthy eating fail was planning a ‘cheat’ and having it not be as good as I thought it was going to be. :( Very disappointing that I had something not healthy and I couldn’t even really enjoy it.

Temps started out at 33.1(F) and reached 45.0. It was not supposed to get this warm, so it was a nice surprise. And there might’ve been a little bit of sun, too.

Mom Update:

Mom sounded good when I talked to her. My aunt and uncle had visited in the morning, and Sister A was there when I called. Mom says she did not make herself another root beer float today. *g*

andrewducker

1. Trump v BBC - a guide to the case: (tags:usa uk bbc politics law )
2. Iranian-linked Scottish accounts fall silent again with Iran's internet blackout: (tags:iran scotland propaganda )
3. Adelaide Writers' Week cancelled amid controversy over disinvitation of author Randa Abdel-Fattah: (tags:Australia Palestine Israel writing festival )
4. New Tesla feature to automatically create explicit images of pedestrians it passes on the street: (tags:satire funny Tesla nudity )
5. Zoe Saldaña Becomes Highest-Grossing Actor of All Time With 'Avatar: Fire and Ash': (tags:movies money )
6. Government drops plans for mandatory digital ID to work in UK: (tags:IDCards Labour )
7. Warhammer Maker Games Workshop Bans Its Staff From Using AI in Its Content or Designs, Says None of Its Senior Managers Are Currently Excited About the Tech: (tags:AI GamesWorkshop Warhammer )
8. Making a natural freezer: (tags:temperature video ice )
9. A divorce lawyer on the concept of "soulmates": (tags:love relationships video )
10. The polls in Wales are, frankly, unprecedented: (tags:Wales polls )
11. Contract secured for one of world's largest offshore wind farms Berwick Bank (off the coast of Scotland): (tags:scotland electricity windpower )
12. Scientists confirm 2025 was the third hottest year on record: (tags:globalwarming doom )
13. What's the stick in *your* stream?: (tags:advice life )

machinistm

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

daily_otter_feed

Posted by Daily Otter

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/1/14/i-really-like-you-human

Via Elakha Alliance, which writes:

We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Shawn Larson to the Elakha Alliance Board of Directors! 🦦🎉 A highly respected leader in sea otter conservation, Shawn brings decades of experience, deep scientific expertise, and a lifelong commitment to protecting nearshore ecosystems.

Dr. Larson earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences and is currently the Senior Conservation Research Manager at the Seattle Aquarium. For more than 30 years, her work has focused on sea otter reproduction, population genetics, diet, nearshore ecology, and most recently, the powerful role sea otters play in mitigating climate change.

She has authored numerous scientific papers, co-edited Sea Otter Conservation and Sea Otter Conservation II: Nearshore Ecosystem Recovery, and has led the Sea Otter Conservation Workshop in Seattle since 1999. Shawn also serves as Deputy Chair and Sea Otter Species Coordinator for the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Otter Specialist Group.

We’re incredibly honored to have Shawn’s knowledge and leadership guiding our work as we continue efforts to return sea otters to Oregon’s coast.

https://dailyotter.org/posts/2026/1/14/i-really-like-you-human

beanside

It's Wednesday! Halfway through the week! I'm very tired and would like to go back to bed. Normally, I wake up to take Rybelsus and then just doze until I get up, but today I fell asleep hard and since there was only about an hour until my alarm went off, it's left me somewhat woofly.

This upper respiratory bug has really been annoying the everliving shit out of me. I'm so sick of coughing and having a hoarse voice. It's slowly improving, I think? But yesterday I had a lot of coughing and a really raw throat. Thank goodness the PA gave me codeine for bedtime. I actually slept through most of the night without waking up coughing til I gag. I have no clue what I actually had. Random virus? Covid? Flu? RSV? Not a clue. None of the tests came back positive, but according to the PA, that's not unusual for this year's flu, which is where she was placing her bets. Whatever, it sucked.

My sister is only coughing once in a while now, and Jess is back to taking their daily walk, though still coughing some, so we're all getting there.

After the deliciousness of the Dungeness crabs, I went back and ordered more. They come tomorrow, so we'll be having a big ol' crab feast this week. They're coming tomorrow, so hopefully, we can do it on Friday or Saturday. They were just so delicious. I may like Dungeness more than lobster, though I need a side by side taste test. We've told the BIL that he can join us for the crab feast, of course. He's never had Dungeness, so I hope he likes it.

I sent him a couple of links of our hotels and ship, and he is currently freaking out at how expensive my choices are. lol He went to my sister and asked if she knew how expensive the Pan Pacific is!?! I will admit, it's pricey. Which I won't lie, it is. But I chose convenience over cost in this case. It sits on top of Canada Place, which is the cruise terminal, so going to the port is as simple as taking an elevator down. They will have a porter come and get our luggage the morning of the cruise and transfer the bags directly to the ship. Plus a breakfast buffet. A choice between that and getting an Uber and getting dropped outside, then having to go to the lower level to drop of our big bags, and back up to start embarcation? This sounded much simpler, and I don't care if the price is a bit steep. Plus, I got a pretty good deal. Also, it's a five star hotel! I've never stayed in a 5 star, so this should be fun.

Presumably the one on the way back is less objectionable, as it's only a 4 star and a lot less expensive.

He, my sister and Jess are basically travel princesses. (Gender neutral princess.) They're just going to show up where I tell them to, and enjoy the ride. I've got everything in my email and we're ready to go. I just booked dinner for the first night of the trip. It's a place across from the hotel called ARC. I hope it's as good as it's menu looked.

I'm debating on dinner tonight. Do I feel up to cooking a nice fried halibut? I've had the filets hanging out for weeks, so it might be time to make a battered fish. I have no fries, but I could put in a wee order and get some. Might be tasty. We shall see.

And on that note, I'm going to hop off and get myself together. Everyone have an outstanding Wednesday!

tamaranth

2026/008: The Brightness Between Us — Eliot Schrefer

I will live in these current moments as fully as possible. Then I will be gone. Ambrose will be gone. ... It arrives. The brightness between us. [p. 387]

Sequel to The Darkness Outside Us, which I read and liked a lot last year: I have many^many books in my TBR, but needed something instantly engaging and positive to counter world news, so bought this and dived in.

Read no further if you haven't read the first book!

( Read more... )

Current Mood: calm

oursin

Happy birthday,

ljgeoff!

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Carrie S

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/01/tarot-after-dark-checking-in-with-the-shadowscapes-deck/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=164924

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun!

If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/01/tarot-after-dark-checking-in-with-the-shadowscapes-deck/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=164924

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Carrie S

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/tarot-for-the-hard-work-by-maria-minnis/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=164565

A

Tarot for the Hard Work

by Maria Minnis
January 8, 2024 · Weiser Books
Fantasy/Fairy Tale RomanceRomanceScience Fiction/Fantasy

Tarot for the Hard Work is one of the best tarot books I’ve come across in a long time! This book uses the Major Arcana (the first twenty-two cards in a tarot deck) to explore the role of tarot in helping the reader understand systemic racism and intersectional inequality and how to dismantle these oppressive systems.

As much as I love getting my books from the library, I encourage readers to buy a copy of this one so that you can make notes and do all of the exercises. Every chapter is based on a different card and includes:

Embodied Keywords
The Card [Chapter One is about The Fool, Chapter Two about The Magician, etc] in Liberation Work
Correspondences for Inspiration
How the Card Can Show Up
A customized section for each card which explores how you can use the card as a guidepost to go deeper into resistance work.
Suggested Reading and Viewing
Identifying as the Card
Magical Practices to Conjure the Card
Becoming the Card
Building a Toolkit

My favorite thing about these chapters is the section on Magical Practices. One might assume that this section would be replete with occult ritual – but instead it suggests a range of things that are very practical in nature.

For instance, here are the practices suggested to “conjure the Empress:”

Find out where your water comes from. Decolonize outdoors culture. Make sense of your dreams. Start a community refrigerator. Evaluate your culture’s beauty standards and how you uphold them. Keep track of the rhythms present in the movements you’re a part of. Offer creative coaching or outlets to under-served people. Be gentle with yourself so you can be bold. Increase and protect abortion access. Leave your prejudiced partner. Lead with soft power. Make sure organizations focus on both progress and sustainable maintenance.

Dion Fortune famously defined magic as “The art of changing consciousness at will.” I’ve also heard this as “The art of changing energy at will.” I love these definitions, because they leave room for many different kinds of practices and beliefs. I don’t practice magic as a supernatural or occult practice. But when we look at magic as the idea of changing consciousness or energy at will, we can include things ranging from meditation and grounding (I speak from experience that it’s hard to effect positive change in the middle of a panic attack) to writing letters or marching or starting a Little Free Library or community fridge.

I appreciated how this book helped me identify my own strengths and weaknesses while also offering ways to utilize my strengths and work on my weaker spots. I liked the mix of inner work and outer action. At the end of each chapter is a section called “Becoming the Card” that asks you to write down your intention and the actions that you will take along with a timeline as to when you will take them. I really appreciated the gentle but firm push to Do Actual Things instead of just reading the book and wandering off to the rest of my life (napping, mostly).

Because of the focus of the book and the depth of discussion, I recommend it for people who have already worked and played with tarot cards. If you are new to tarot, there are a lot of introductory books. Some that I suggest are Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, Kitchen Table Tarot, by Melisa Cynova, and Tarot for Yourself by Mary K. Greer.

That being said, I think that this is a great book for anyone who wants to incorporate intersectional activism into their lives and into their tarot practice. There are great reading suggestions in the book if you want to dig deeper into any particular subject. Although the number of options and topics can seem overwhelming, the book returns repeatedly to themes of self-care, prioritizing, and taking small steps. A small action is better than none! I will be using this book a lot going forward as both a tarot reader and an activist.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/tarot-for-the-hard-work-by-maria-minnis/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=164565

angrboda

Big Clean Up No 1 has started. I had not forgotten how much fun this isn't. I've been looking forward to it because it's the end of the plastering phase and the beginning of the painting phase so it marks significant progress. But it's not fun. Once more so glad I bought that shop vac. Big Blue is such a huge help in this. (I remember cleaning the utility room before we had it, dealing with the drifts(!) of dust with a broom and a dust pan.) Big Clean Up No 2 will take place tomorrow, and then we'll see how many more times after that the floor needs mopping before it no longer feels dusty to the touch. Probably a couple. I'm glad we're only doing this once. I'm also glad we're doing it one room at the time. I think cleaning the whole house post-plastering would probably make me cry. (Plus, of course, we wouldn't be able to live here during.)

Was talking with a co-worker yesterday about both of us wanting new kitchens, preferably without having to go through the actual process. We're saving the kitchen for the very last thing, so we've got a few years still before getting to that. One room a year seems to be the best pace for us.

I think I've settled on the colour. It's been WAY more difficult for this room than any of the others. At first I found I liked this particular one best. Then I became uncertain about it and eventually circled back to it. This cycle has now happened at least three times, so I'm going to take it as a sign. Besides, it's paint. If it really does turn out to be a mistake it can be repainted. That would be really annoying to have to do, but it would be possible.

Still haven't made the curtains.

Right. Back to the dust hell.

dine

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

dark_kana posting in

3_good_things_a_day

1) Despite some bad new last night - my parents had to let go of their dog - I slept surprisingly well

2) Tea

3) Listening to good music to take my mind off things

sonia

Over the weekend, I was heading out on my bike early in the morning, and saw a small kid's book in the street just off the driveway. I picked it up to toss it to the sidewalk and went on my way.

When I got back, I was pleased to see it was gone, but then saw someone had propped it up on our fence. The next time I was going out, I took it with me and put it in the nearby Little Free Library, even though it mostly has grownup books.

When I was walking home, I ran into a couple with a two year old whom I often see walking up the block, and whom I had chatted with at a recent neighborhood gathering. I saw that the kid was happily clutching the book, and said, "Oh good, you picked it up!" They said he has been obsessed with that character.

Yesterday I was biking home from an appointment, and I saw a phone lying next to a parked car in the street. I pulled over, leaned my bike against a pole, and picked it up. It had a drivers license in the case with the address of the apartment building across the street. There was no way to get in or ring a doorbell at the gated front entrance, but there was a door open around the corner.

The people inside were noisily doing something which sounded kind of like having sex, laughing, maybe just roughhousing, but ... door open? I stood there hesitantly, and a maybe 8 year old kid inside gestured to the other people and they came out (dressed, whew). I said, "I'm so sorry to bother you, but this phone was in the street. Is this (building address)?" They said yes, and they recognized the name on the license and said she's at work. I turned the phone over to them.

I only realized later that it might be unsettling for a Black family to have a white lady come stand at the door. I'm glad I approached them with softness.

So that's two things put closer to where they belong, and hopefully a bad day averted for the phone's owner. Not sure how her phone ended up on the ground next to the driver's side door of a parked car if she's at work.

aurumcalendula

Jan 13 - 'What have you read lately that has stuck with you, either for good reasons or for bad reasons?' for

serrico

( Read more... )

(there are still slots open for the January Talking Meme here)

Profile

highlyeccentric

November 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30

Page Summary

dinosaur_comics_feed - if you're looking to start out the "how to rap" course you're teaching with a comic, OH BOY, have yo
fred_mouse in unclutter - January Challenge (3 of 5)
james_davis_nicoll - The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa
jack - (no subject)
jack - VeggieTales
osprey_archer - Wednesday Reading Meme
spikedluv - The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, Jan 13)
andrewducker - Interesting Links for 14-01-2026
machinistm - "I went on PornHub and searched “gay.”"*
daily_otter_feed - I Really Like You, Human
beanside - So I got my boots on, got the right amount of leather and I'm doing me up with a black color liner
tamaranth - 2026/008: The Brightness Between Us — Eliot Schrefer
oursin - (no subject)
smartbitches_feed - Tarot After Dark: Checking in With the Shadowscapes Deck
smartbitches_feed - Tarot for the Hard Work, by Maria Minnis
angrboda - (no subject)
dine - what's the frequency, Kenneth?
dark_kana in 3_good_things_a_day - Wedesnday 14/01/2026
sonia - Found in the street
aurumcalendula - January Talking Meme - What have you read lately that has stuck with you?

Style Credit

Style: Sea and Salt for Nouveau Oleanders by branchandroot
Resources: OpenClipart and Oceanside Twilight

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jan. 20th, 2026 08:03 am

Primary Sources

Network

if you're looking to start out the "how to rap" course you're teaching with a comic, OH BOY, have yo

January Challenge (3 of 5)

The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa

(no subject)

VeggieTales

Wednesday Reading Meme

The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, Jan 13)

Interesting Links for 14-01-2026

"I went on PornHub and searched “gay.”"*

I Really Like You, Human

So I got my boots on, got the right amount of leather and I'm doing me up with a black color liner

2026/008: The Brightness Between Us — Eliot Schrefer

(no subject)

Tarot After Dark: Checking in With the Shadowscapes Deck

Tarot for the Hard Work, by Maria Minnis

A

Tarot for the Hard Work

(no subject)

what's the frequency, Kenneth?

Wedesnday 14/01/2026

Found in the street

January Talking Meme - What have you read lately that has stuck with you?

Profile

November 2025

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags