Sally's Journal

We Were Here: The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe:

In his groundbreaking documentary, We Were Here, Kuwornu shares the diverse African presence in Renaissance Europe that he found: princes, ambassadors, saints, artists, scholars, and knights—all revealed through art from the period.

This is an older piece but I don't think I've posted it before: Taking Photos of the First Women’s Liberation Conference

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Q&A: Bidding farewell to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust:

The Shropshire site, which comprises 10 museums and 35 listed heritage buildings, is transferring to the custodianship of the National Trust on 2 March after a challenging period that saw it grapple with severe flooding and falling visitor numbers.
Supported by a £9m government investment, it is hoped the takeover will secure the site’s long-term future and enable it to benefit from the National Trust’s high profile and visitor expertise.

Ultraprocessed food: whaddya know, It's All More Complicated.... People want to avoid ultra-processed foods. But experts struggle to define them - not all are junk foods.

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Sixty years on, a Star Trek writer is still creating strange new worlds: Diane Duane’s early days writing fan fiction have led to a remarkable career as a novelist, comic writer and screen writer.

The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly by Samantha Murray* - Complicated story about infertility, and parenthood, and bigotry. 4 stars

Arbitrium By Anjali Scahdeva - this one has quite the summary, which I think I found detracted from the story. I also found the story very clunky, with a lot of world-building passages that I didn't find particularly engaging. The main character is quite reserved, and it is very much relevant to the story, but it means that I needed some other way for the story to grab me, and it didn't. 3 stars

India World by Amit Gupta - there was a formatting glitch here, by which one is suddenly in a different scene with no transition, which threw me out of the story repeatedly. Slow moving coming of age about what love of home means when one is part of a diaspora. I really liked the ending, which is more a pause in the progression of scenes that the reader is invited into. 4 stars.

Grow by Carrie Vaughn (from 2022) - DNF I found I did not care to learn about the origin story of a teenage 'ace' (wildcard, one presumes, given that it is part of the Wild Cards universe, which I've bounced off each time I've gone near it)

Porgee’s Boar - Jonathan Carroll (from 2022) - quite chilling story at multiple levels, about art, and the power of art to show people what is inside their own head. 4.5 stars

D.I.Y. by John Wiswell (from 2022) - this is a reread, but I already had it open and I had fond memories (although I vaguely recall it making me angry about politics and bureaucracy) so thought it worth revisiting. This is a very USian dystopia of corporate greed and lone wolf scientists magic users. I don't like either of those tropes a lot, but it is well done. 4 stars.

* Not sure if I was actually at uni with Sam, or if I met them through people I was at uni with. I know them well enough that I read much of the story in their voice, which very much affected my experience of the story. Often I find that soothing; here I found it distracting.

Hey everyone,

**It is with great pride that I announce WATSFIC's 50ᵗʰ Anniversary!** On January 13th, 1976, we were officially recognized by the Federation of Students as a student club. For 50-years since then we have been nerding out to all facets of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. From the original release of Star Wars and the animated Lord of the Rings films, to Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Wargaming.

To celebrate our first half-century as a club at UW, **we are hosting our 50ᵗʰ Anniversary Event on March 7ᵗʰ. Join us from 11 AM to 11 PM in MC 4041 and 4042** as we take a walk down memory lane. With stops along Ravenloft and the White Plume Mountain, glimpses of the wonders and horrors of space with Mothership and Warhammer, casual pitstops with Board Games and Magic: The Gathering, and some nice R&R complete with classic films and painting.

**Please Sign-Up using this form :**
Walk-Ins are welcome, however, we cannot guarantee space for everyone at every activity.

**We'd like to thank everyone** for helping keep this club going strong for 50 years, **and invite you all, first-year to alumni, to join us in this once in a 50-year celebration** of nerdom at the University of Waterloo!

( Read more... )

 ... had me competing in the Olympics.

Dream-brain seemed somewhat hazy on whether this was summer or winter games, and normie or paras.

I'm not sure of the event either, possibly the Biathlon? Though skis seemed an afterthought and I don't recall any rifle showing up.

However in a firm nod to real life I was late for my race by way of being unable to negotiate athlete registration.

https://xkcd.com/3213/

https://xkcd.com/3213/