question of the day

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

What would happen to a society in which no one had to work, and everyone was provided enough food/water/shelter/healthcare for free?

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These are the location notes for "The Community Couch."

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This poem came out of the April 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman, wyld_dandelyon, and mama_kestrel. It also fills the "Bookstore Girl" square in my 4-1-25 card for the Aesthetics Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.

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Our theme this month was "Sentient and Self-Aware Machines." I wrote from 1 PM to 3:45 AM, so about 14 hours 45 minutes, accounting for breaks. I wrote 3 poems on Tuesday plus 2 later in the week.

Participation was down slightly, with 7 comments on LiveJournal and another 36 on Dreamwidth. A total of 9 people sent prompts. You have new donor gs_silva to thank for the second freebie.


Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the December 2, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Never -- Ever -- Quit"
"Protect the Inner Core"
"User Interfaces"

"Mamalokshen" (1-9-23, outside fishbowl)


Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from December 2. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include: janetmiles, gs_silva, and fuzzyred. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 2 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.


The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Today I remade the holiday potpourri bowl.  It needs to be redone every other year or so, because the potpourri and lights wear out.  This year I couldn't find any damn potpourri so I wound up deconstructing a cinnamon-scented pinecone. 

The western U.S. Tried to stop wildfires and it backfired

After a century of stopping fires, much of the West is now dangerously overdue for them.

Much of the western U.S. is overdue for wildfire, with decades of suppression allowing fuel to build up across millions of hectares. Researchers estimate that 74% of the region is in a fire deficit, meaning far more land needs to burn to restore healthy forest conditions. Catching up would require an unprecedented amount of controlled and managed fire.


I told you so.

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Today is mostly sunny and chilly.  It rained off and on all yesterday but has stopped now.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 12/19/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 12/19/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I carried 4 logs from the driveway pile to the patio rack.

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