Affordable Housing

Feb. 23rd, 2026 11:00 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The Paperwork Problem Behind the Housing Shortage

In more and more places, the rules technically allow incremental housing. Backyard cottages, accessory dwelling units, and small infill homes are legal on paper; beautiful, glossy images of these homes are shared on city websites and included in planning documents. Yet these homes rarely get built—not because of public opposition or failed rezonings, but because routine procedures treat small homes like major developments.

What we have is not a failure of vision, but one of process.


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I do feel sorry for the east coast

Feb. 23rd, 2026 11:37 pm
cornerofmadness: (Default)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness
That storm is a monster. I hope all my friends there are okay.

I could use some help from everyone. I'm working on something new. God know where it is going. I am curious as how it hits as an opener (not really looking for a critique per se but if you see anything stupid, confusing etc let me know. On the other hand if something is really working, I'd love to know that too) Anyhow here it is. I'd love to hear a few opinions thanks.

content warning, murder mystery, dead bodies, mutilated ones, cults and sex workers )

Today's Adventures

Feb. 23rd, 2026 08:05 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went up to Champaign-Urbana to celebrate Black History Month by visiting black-owned establishments, along with some other stops.

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February LOVE-Fest

Feb. 23rd, 2026 09:19 pm
stonepicnicking_okapi: heart shaped tree (hearttree)
[personal profile] stonepicnicking_okapi
1-21 )

22. obsession
23. agape


24. love of animals
25. unconditional love
26. forbidden love
27. ecstasy
28. the beloved

--

Day 23: Obsession

Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Rating: Gen
Summary: Sherlock gives Mrs. Hudson a gift after a case.

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Day 24: Agape

And for Music Monday, here is a very pretty instrument song "Agape" from the film If Beale Street Could Talk

[Agape (/ɑːˈɡɑːpeɪ, ˈɑːɡəˌpeɪ, ˈæɡə-/;[1] from Ancient Greek ἀγάπη (agápē)) is "the highest form of love, charity" and "the love of God for [human beings] and of [human beings] for God".[2] This is in contrast to philia, brotherly love, or philautia, self-love, as it embraces a profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance.]

But where is my dopamine hit??

Feb. 23rd, 2026 06:35 pm
mistressofmuses: Image of nebulae in the colors of the bi pride flag: pink, purple, and blue (Default)
[personal profile] mistressofmuses
I am, tragically and frequently to my own detriment, a procrastinator. I am also a classic millenial who is afraid of the phone. So when I have phone calls I have to make, I will sometimes put them off for far longer than is reasonable.

I've been putting off a minor maintenance thing since *November.*
I needed to call and reschedule a doctor's appointment (because I forgot to ask for the day off).
I needed to call the hospital, because every time I try to pay my bill online the payment declines.

I was going to do all of that three weeks ago. Then I was going to do it two weeks ago. Then I was going to *definitely* do it on my weekend last week. Then when I didn't do it last weekend I was going to force myself to get up early and do it before work. Then when that wasn't going to happen, I was going to make myself sacrifice a lunch break to do it. Then when that still didn't happen, I told myself I really *had* to do it this weekend. I even tried to hype myself up about while at work on Sunday, like "yeah, if you make those calls on Monday, you don't have to worry about them after! You'll be done! You can do whatever you want for the rest of the weekend, guilt-free! It's going to feel like such a relief for it to be off your to-do list!" This morning, I did not want to make those calls, and tried several times to convince myself that tomorrow would be better to make them anyway for some reason (which would of course inevitably lead to putting it off again.)

BUT I MADE THE CALLS.

I called the hospital, and the payment was also declined over the phone, though it at least told the lady on the phone why: it exceeded my bank's daily spending limit.
So I called my bank. They gave me a temporary increase to the spending cap, but told me the charge would probably decline again, but that I should get an immediate call or text from them asking if it was a legit charge, and then I could try again.
So I tried the charge again. Declined. No call or text from the bank.
Fuck it. I just charged a partial amount, and will keep going in and paying it in chunks over the next few days.

I called my doctor's office, and that was at least easy. Pushed my physical out a couple weeks, which will hopefully be good. (Maybe I'll have shaken the cold by then.)

Called for the maintenance thing. They'll come by tomorrow.

...and I felt absolutely no sense of satisfaction or accomplishment, which was really frustrating. :/ Usually when I finally Do The Thing, I at least feel really relieved once it's done! Often a little embarrassed at the same time, because it's typically such a small amount of effort compared to how much I stressed over it, but at least there's some relief! This time... nothing.

Perhaps it's because today I did find out that my insurance is denying coverage of my visit to my PCP (saying I owe an additional $350) because in order to visit my PCP... they say I needed a referral from my PCP.

I am frustrated because that will require additional, probably even WORSE phone calls.

I still feel like I should be glad to have gotten those other calls done with, but if anything it made me feel worse. We went and ran errands, and then I just spent the day sitting like a lump of misery, because I'm still sick and coughing up infection-flavored gunk, and I felt worse instead of better after doing the thing I'd put off, which made it really difficult to try and do anything else.

Boooooo.

Savoring the cold.

Feb. 23rd, 2026 08:42 pm
hannah: (Winter - obsessiveicons)
[personal profile] hannah
It was beautifully quiet today. The snow helped, of course, and the snow was the cause - people staying home, cars not getting driven, taxis not cruising for passengers. Helicopters and planes staying on the ground. It took me a while to realize I wasn't hearing the usual sounds. When the snow let up and people started driving again, I honestly felt resentful that the travel ban wasn't going on longer. It'd been a nice glimpse into a quieter New York City. I feel like that's how it always is. Just a glimpse of a better world.

Or at least, a moment to resettle so I can realize just how noisy the West Side Highway really is. I went down to the park to walk a bit in the afternoon, after the snow stopped, and I don't mind noise from kids that are shouting about how happy they are or what a good time they're having when they're sledding down a big hill, or noise from people talking about an inflatable toy's weight limit before sledding down the big hill themselves. Human voices. There were a couple of shrieks right near me for some reason, and of course a very loud barking dog that its owner insisted was friendly, and overall, just nice sounds of people.

I had my headband on and my hood up, and both those things helped muffle the world. The coat itself was warm enough that when I lay back in the snow, twice, I stayed comfortable enough to settle in for a little bit. Not many minutes, but enough time to measure on a stopwatch, easily.

There were several taped-off CAUTION areas around fallen trees and threatening branches, and I found it wonderful that people had already made a single-file path underneath one of the trees in between the branches - sticking as close to the path that the tree had fallen over as best they all could. Ducking down to get under and through. A little ways away there was a bower made from bushes bent over with snow that also provided something of a roof, and some parents took pictures of their kids hanging out in there and posing at the entrance. It made for a nice echo of both adults and children doing more or less the same thing, if on different scales. The intent of play was close enough to call it the same.

There were snow men, snow women, snow people, and snow animals. There were snow structures made from hand packing it and snow structures made from using plastic bins to mold sturdy bricks. There was a moment I saw the sky start to come out and felt a pang of disappointment because it meant the day was moving on from the storm. I'd fallen back into the snow already then, and made a point to do it a second time. If I'd been more careful with my legs not getting wet, I'd have lain there a while longer. But I knew the day was going, so I might as well go, too, so I wouldn't have to see it end.

(no subject)

Feb. 23rd, 2026 01:31 pm
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[personal profile] olivermoss
* The US Women's hockey team had declined the invite to the White House and the State of the Union, which is good because there are a lot of Torrent players on that team. I did grab a ticket to the Pride game last week, hoping that the bus situation would work out. If Hillary Knight went right after I did that I'd crash out. I assume most players are more conservative than me, and also the PWHL is not the bastion of wokeness a lot of people try to sell it as, etc. There is a lot of nuance here that I'm not getting into, including reasons to think that yes, there are closeted players there, it's not lesbian nirvana. Also, fans doing instagram investigations to out them.

For the men's team, need to wait and see what happens.

"Lumos." (Harry Potter) G

Feb. 23rd, 2026 03:43 pm
lannamichaels: "What If?" over image of Ioan Gruffudd. (what if)
[personal profile] lannamichaels


Title: Lumos.
Author: [personal profile] lannamichaels
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Series: Part 1 of Leontes Granger
Pairing: Hermione Granger/Neville Longbottom
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: Leontes Granger is sorted into Gryffindor.


The boy!Hermione fic )