The Wordsmith's Forge

methylethyl has written a brilliant and detailed analysis of the trades (e.g. plumbing, construction) vs. a 4-year liberal arts degree, with attention to various things that are wrong with the American economy and lifestyle. Let's take a look ...

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Growing and sharing seeds can boost mental health

Storing and sharing seeds has clear environmental benefits. But new findings suggest they can bring about wellbeing wins too.
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Author Kathy Slack, whose new memoir Rough Patch explores how growing vegetables helped her recover from burnout and depression, was unsurprised by the connection. “Sowing a seed is an act of hope,” she says.“Not to be overly dramatic about it, but when you’re wondering whether it’s worth even bothering to stick around any more, planting a seed is like a promise to your future self.”


Projects like a community garden where people can just come in and grow things, a seed library, a seed / plant swap, etc. can have great benefits for individual and community wellbeing.

Substance abuse often follows homelessness, not precedes it — new study finds

According to a recent poll from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 57% of Americans believe that alcoholism and drug addiction directly lead to people losing their housing.

It is true that substance misuse -- and problematic use of substances as prescribed -- can lead to homelessness, because it impairs ability to hold a job and perform other social behaviors that America demands of people. Anyone who can't keep up is abandoned.


In fact, 42% of unhoused Californians reported that they began to use regularly only after they experienced homelessness for the first time.

It's hardly a surprise that people in a miserable condition will seek to relieve their suffering by any means available.

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Today we went out running errands.


We stopped at Ace Hardware for an air filter and I found a few new things to plant: a bag of 25 Dutch irises, a bag of 2 horseradish roots, a packet of Johnny jump-up seeds, and a packet of passionflower seeds. I hadn't seen passionflower seed before, only plants, so I bought them on a lark.

We picked up lunch at Arby's, then went grocery shopping.

I had great luck at the Charleston Food Forest. I took plenty of pictures. The first fruit trees are blooming! :D I gathered some moss for terrariums, the hardneck garlic that I was aiming for, and while I was down there digging garlic out of the pathway, I saw that strawberries had spread into it also, so I took some of them too. I may go back for more strawberries another day. Most modern ones are kind of fussy, delicate things but these are growing all over the place, so I think they're tough enough to experiment with. I nibbled on the French sorrel too.

We tried to check out the new thrift store, but it's closed on Mondays. :( Half Moon is only open 9-12 on Mondays.

We finished reading The Geeky Chef Cookbook.  Some of the recipes sounded wretched, but others seem quite promising.  

Still, I got a good haul at the food forest, so it's been a productive day.

Here are the character notes for "The Philosophy of the Sandwich" Part 2 Gables.

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This poem is spillover from the September 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from readera, jake67jake, and wyld_dandelyon. It also fill the "Neurodiversity" square in my 9-1-24 card for the People with Disabilities Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred, siliconshaman, and wyld_dandelyon. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem includes descriptions of delicious sandwiches that you might not be able to find or make (or supposed to eat).

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This poem is spillover from the September 3, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from see_also_friend. It also fills the "Addiction" square in my 9-1-24 card for the People with Disabilities Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "Not Until We Are Lost" and "Come to a New Point of View" so read those first, or this won't make much sense.

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I finally finished organzing all the stuff I picked up yesterday, but by then it was too late to post, so this is a followup to the Today's Adventures.

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See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Winter 2024-2025 . They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers J-Z.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

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