Randomness

Adult Artists Webring

1) I'm really happy for adult artists (NSFW) to find a place they won't get kicked out of.

2) I'm also delighted to see webrings in general coming back.  Search engines are so bad nowadays, we really need alternatives ways to find things.
 

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Is it more or less difficult to be successful in the modern world than it was in the past (10, 50, 100, or 1,000 years ago)?

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A friend asked, "How do you choose the starting point of your fic/story?" Here are some thoughts...

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Today is cloudy and cool.  Last night it rained with high winds.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

What I thought was a branch blown down in the house yard is actually the contorta willow sapling that died.  I may see if I can make something from it.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I took a few pictures around the yard.

I raked another quadrant around the firepit.

EDIT 1/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Dogs Build Their Vocabularies Like Toddlers

Basket the Border collie seems to have a way with words. The 7-year-old dog, who resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, knows the names of at least 150 toys — “froggy,” “crayon box” and “Pop-Tart,” among them — and can retrieve them on command.

The number is average. Most dogs can learn 100-200 words, typically 150-160. However, a majority of those are verbs like "sit" and "fetch." Nouns are less common, but most dogs learn a bunch of things like "food" and "leash." Having a vocabulary that is mostly nouns is uncommon.

Why a collie? Because people used to teach them the names of the sheep. "All in" is useful, but "Cut Molly" (out of the herd) is even more so.

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This poem came out of the October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman and chanter1944. It also fills the "Black / Orange" square in my 10-1-25 card for the Fall Festival Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Practical Magics.

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Thanks to a donation from fuzzyred, there are 10 new verses in "An Inkling of Things to Come."  What if it rained diamonds for a week?  

Today is cloudy, chilly, breezy, and wet. It rained earlier, and has been spitting rain occasionally.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen any though.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/8/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 1/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Now dozens of sparrows are suddenly mobbing the hopper feeder.

EDIT 1/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen some sparrows, and a larger dark-colored bird that may have been a starling or a grackle. The light was too low to tell exactly, even though it was on the metal tray feeder.

It's been spitting rain off and on. Heavier rain is forecast for tonight.

I am done for the night.