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The Friday FIve for 19 December 2025

1. What is one thing about you that you hate?

2. What is one thing about you that you love?

3. If you had to change one thing about you what would it be and why?

4. What is one word that you would use to define yourself?

5. Imagine what you would look like in a perfect world...what do you look like?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

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just one thing

Just One Thing (18 December 2025)

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

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Cloud Carpets

Last week while taking out the trash, I noticed that the clouds were low in the sky and really thick and ropey, like a plush carpet. Hurried home to grab the camera as sunset was coming soon and I wanted to be sure I caught the look.

( Read more... )

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just one thing

Just One Thing (17 December 2025)

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just one thing

Just one thing: 16 December 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

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just one thing

Just one thing: 15 December 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

The Emperor's Caretaker 01

The Emperor's Caretaker 01 by Haruki Yoshimura

The first in a series, mostly set-up apparently.

( Read more... )

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Nihotupu dam, early summer

I drove out to my local reservoir to charge my car battery and check the water levels after the unusually hot spring we've had (global warming and La Niña). It wasn't too bad as despite the heat we've also had bouts of heavy rain. The Watercare site says the local dams are at 85% of usual levels.

( pics here )

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Product Review: Sweet Loren's Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough

I found Sweet Loren's Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough in the dairy section at my local Kroger analogue, and after my recent success with Trader Joe's Super Chocolatey Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough, I was excited to branch out in the world of preproportioned cookie doughs.

Like TJ's, you get 12 pucks of cookie dough in a package and can bake on demand. It also says you can freeze the dough. I baked them straight out of the refrigerator for about 18 minutes, and got thin cookies about two inches across, with crispy edges and a chewy middle.

I found these odd. The cookie bit is weirdly grainy, like it has cornmeal in it. Maybe it's oat chunks. It also has a hearty flavor, probably again due to the oats and maybe the molasses. Kind of a homestyle vibe. The chocolate is very nice and kind of softens the cookie experience, but there isn't enough chocolate to make up for its grittyness or its unusual flavor.

These are vegan and soy free, though! And Sweet Loren's has more than a dozen different kinds of cookie doughs, though I think my store only had one or two.

Update: These are a lot different after they've cooled. My initial review was based on cookies that were about ten minutes out of the oven. Two days later, cookies from that same batch aren't as gritty and their flavor is less...bold.

Current Ingredients: Flour Blend (oat, tapioca, potato starch), Sugar, Palm Oil, Chocolate Chunks (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, vanilla, salt), Filtered Water, Molasses, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Baking Soda.

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just one thing

Just one thing: 14 December 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

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just one thing

Just One Thing (13 December 2025)

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just one thing

Just One Thing (12 December 2025)

The Friday Five for 12 December 2025

1. Did you get an allowance as a kid, and if so, how much was it?

2. How old were you when you had your first job, and what was it?

3. Which do you do better: save money or spend money?

4. Are people more likely to borrow money from you, or are you more likely to borrow from them?

5. What's the most expensive thing you've ever bought?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just One Thing (11 December 2025)

Milk Run

Milk Run by Nathan Lowell

Adventures in space!

( Read more... )

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December Sky

In the middle of the night the moon was so bright it was lighting up the sky.

( Read more... )

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just one thing

Just One Thing (10 December 2025)

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Product Review: Trader Joe's Super Chocolatey Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough

Super Chocolatey Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough is found in the deli refrigerators at Trader Joe's. You take it home, store it in your refrigerator, and bake on demand. The dough comes in twelve pucks, and I bake six at a time for 20 minutes. Then I let them cool on the sheet for about 10 minutes to firm up before eating.

These are thick cookies with chewy edges and gooey centers. They taste slightly of marshmallow, which I'm not against, but they're also a bit sweeter than I like my chocolate chip cookies. This would easily be remedied by only eating one per serving, but I have yet to fully unlock the secret of how to do this.

Bottom line: Super convenient, dairy free, great hot, and still good the next day.

Current Ingredients: semisweet chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin [emulsifier]), palm oil, brown sugar, potato starch, sugar, tapioca starch, water, rice flour, invert sugar syrup, contains 2% or less of egg, natural flavor, sea salt, baking soda, guar gum, xanthan gum.

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just one thing

Just one thing: 09 December 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

Entry tags:

just one thing

Just one thing: 08 December 2025

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!