crialpaca's recent activity

  1. Comment on Cataloging your home library in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link Parent
    You can filter by edition type, genre, whether you've read it or not, etc. in the "owned" list. It has quite a lot of functionality.

    You can filter by edition type, genre, whether you've read it or not, etc. in the "owned" list. It has quite a lot of functionality.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Cataloging your home library in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link
    I use TheStoryGraph and mark the ones I own as "owned". I have yet to stand in front of my bookshelf and fully complete the task (I probably should), or to go through my Kindle library and mark...

    I use TheStoryGraph and mark the ones I own as "owned". I have yet to stand in front of my bookshelf and fully complete the task (I probably should), or to go through my Kindle library and mark those as owned (... nightmare), but at least I rarely have to manually enter any data. There's an "owned" tab on my profile and I can easily search or filter it for whatever I'm looking for.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on Hate-reading? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link Parent
    I read Digital Fortress in high school and enjoyed it but I do remember it being a bit... out there lol. 2010 me had questions about the likelihood of all that stuff. Deception Point is even more...

    I read Digital Fortress in high school and enjoyed it but I do remember it being a bit... out there lol. 2010 me had questions about the likelihood of all that stuff. Deception Point is even more fun.

    I let myself DNF the final book in a trilogy somewhat recently. I'm still kind of upset about it but it was just the same plot as the previous two but with elements that were ickier. Not a fan of reusing single-book plots in a short series...

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Hate-reading? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link
    I occasionally hate-read but I try not to make it a habit. It depends how invested I am. Usually, I'll put down a book if it's grating too much. But there have been a couple that I've hate-read!...

    I occasionally hate-read but I try not to make it a habit. It depends how invested I am. Usually, I'll put down a book if it's grating too much. But there have been a couple that I've hate-read!

    Recently, I knew somewhere in the first couple of paragraphs that a book would be dubious. It was set in the very small part of the country in which I grew up. This region has a very specific mix of flora, fauna, culture, etc. The author is not from here. She absolutely butchered it. I hate-read it and listed to my friends all the reasons they shouldn't read it. We had a good laugh, but I kind of feel like I took one for the team. People who aren't from here generally enjoy it. I might have enjoyed it if I wasn't from here, but we'll never know.

    Then there are other books I just keep reading despite stuff that is mildly annoying because it's about the experience instead of the glowing prose. Not really a hate-read but not the most amazing quality one, either.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link Parent
    Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a wild good time. Mecha meets Handmaid's Tale meets ancient China/ Chinese mythology meets ??? There's a lot of stuff going on. It's a bit polarizing in some...

    Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a wild good time. Mecha meets Handmaid's Tale meets ancient China/ Chinese mythology meets ??? There's a lot of stuff going on. It's a bit polarizing in some respects (treatment of feminism in the characters), but I genuinely enjoyed it, especially if I didn't look at it with too critical an eye.

  6. Comment on Tips for becoming a tea person in ~food

    crialpaca
    Link
    I like herbal teas, which you can often sweeten to enhance the flavor. My suggestion would be to see if you can get a sampler pack of a bunch of different kinds and narrow it down to a few you...

    I like herbal teas, which you can often sweeten to enhance the flavor. My suggestion would be to see if you can get a sampler pack of a bunch of different kinds and narrow it down to a few you could see yourself drinking a bunch of. Try varying preparation with sweetener or nondairy milks to see what you like most.

    Also, tea doesn't always benefit from steeping in boiling water. Different temperatures are recommended for different teas, as are different steeping lengths. Covering while steeping can also be beneficial (I just found this out in the last year or so and I'm still bad about actually doing it).

    I agree with redbearsam that oat milk is often great for tea. I also like soy milk. But not every tea needs added creaminess! I rarely add milk to tea myself, unless I'm going for a tea latte situation.

    6 votes

  7. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    crialpaca
    Link
    I went and did some running on purpose for the first time since probably 2010 today. I have a headache and my muscles hurt, but I think I feel almost uniquely better about this than I have about...

    I went and did some running on purpose for the first time since probably 2010 today. I have a headache and my muscles hurt, but I think I feel almost uniquely better about this than I have about other kinds of exercise so far. While it's higher impact than my stationary bike, it was nice to be outdoors, listening to music and being in the vicinity of others. I did intervals of running and walking and went a total of about 3 miles. I'm gonna try to keep doing this on the weekends and on the weekday I have off every other week. Unfortunately, it'll probably be kind of difficult to be consistent with daylight hours shrinking and my usual work day being 12 hours long. But I'm gonna do what I can!

    1 vote

  8. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link
    Currently reading: A Column of Fire by Ken Follett (95%, audio, please save me I'm so ready to be done). The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher. A Court of Mist and Fury by SJM (trying again after...

    Currently reading: A Column of Fire by Ken Follett (95%, audio, please save me I'm so ready to be done). The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher. A Court of Mist and Fury by SJM (trying again after rage-quitting the audiobook; reading print this time and it's going better). War by Laura Thalassa.

    Recently finished: Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild (thought this was a great time), We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (marketed as horror, in my opinion in was a little eh overall but the concept was fun. Very The Yellow Wallpaper for a bit.). The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber (why am I still reading these? ).

    Up next: Pirate King by Laurie R. King, The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on How do you survive time change? in ~life.pets

    crialpaca
    Link
    I thought mine woke me up at 6:40 this morning and was super proud of her. Joke was on me, my watch hadn't synced yet and it was actually 5:40. Her breakfast time varies between 5 am and 6 am on...

    I thought mine woke me up at 6:40 this morning and was super proud of her. Joke was on me, my watch hadn't synced yet and it was actually 5:40. Her breakfast time varies between 5 am and 6 am on weekdays and is usually later on the weekends. Dinner (4 pm always) will be the real test. She usually starts shaking and begging at 3 pm. She's already doing that and it's a quarter after 2.

    It's gonna be a little tough this time, I fear.

    4 votes

  10. Comment on Timasomo 2025: Final Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    crialpaca
    Link Parent
    Thank you!! Shimmer is my favorite which is why it's so strong here lol

    Thank you!! Shimmer is my favorite which is why it's so strong here lol

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Timasomo 2025: Final Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    crialpaca
    Link
    My Halloween nails: right hand and left hand. There are 7 polishes in use here and it was a fair amount of work! Each nail has 3 to 4 coats of color, a base coat, and a top coat. This was also my...

    My Halloween nails: right hand and left hand. There are 7 polishes in use here and it was a fair amount of work! Each nail has 3 to 4 coats of color, a base coat, and a top coat. This was also my first time working with black nail polish. Thankfully, the one I got seems pretty easy to manage.

    Every nail has 1-2 coats of OPI Black Onyx. Next, it's either OPI Sound of Vibrance (purple), OPI #virgoals (sheer bronze that turns green over black), or Sally Hansen Sundown Socialite (orange-reddish pink). A few nails have an additional layer - Sally Hansen Disco Ball (glitter in clear coat), OPI Feelin' Capricorn-y (sage with purple shimmer - appears either green or purple depending on light), or OPI Taurus-t Me (green fine glitter on left index finger).

    Because of the many layers of polish, and this being day 4 of wear, it's shrinking a bit. But this has been a fun experiment with what I've heard called "blackened jewel tones." If I were to do this again, I would do it without the toppers - the sheens of Sundown Socialite, Sound of Vibrance, and #virgoals were quite nice on their own, I just got a bit enthusiastic with all the stuff I was trying!

    5 votes

  12. Comment on Looking for movies that combine religion mythology and supernatural elements in ~movies

    crialpaca
    Link
    Me and Mr. Alpaca recently watched a movie called Sinners. It's a vampire movie that is being advertised as pretty straightforward horror, but it actually has some elements of music, religion, and...

    Me and Mr. Alpaca recently watched a movie called Sinners. It's a vampire movie that is being advertised as pretty straightforward horror, but it actually has some elements of music, religion, and historical racial tension in it. I'm a big fan of Supernatural and I think other fans of Supernatural who have matured a bit would greatly appreciate it.

    10 votes

  13. Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 3 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    crialpaca
    Link
    Just made surprise progress on my plans for my Halloween set of nail colors. I have been planning to do a combo of green, purple, and orange. The issues with that are: I don't have a green that...

    Just made surprise progress on my plans for my Halloween set of nail colors. I have been planning to do a combo of green, purple, and orange. The issues with that are: I don't have a green that gets opaque, the purple I have is more of a plum and takes 5 coats to get opaque (which sucks), and the orange I have is actually orange-to-pink. I think this last one is technically fine, but it's annoying to have no fully compatible options.

    So today, I swatched a sheer bronze polish I have that has a green shimmer, over 2 coats of plain black. Much to my surprise, the result was evergreen with only a hint of bronze tint when tilting in the light. Swatch stick. So! Now I have this option for like ALL the upcoming holidays. Excellent.

    Next, since I've had so much frustration with the purple I bought (which has reinforced my determination to mostly buy in person, though I'm not sure it would have actually helped in this case), I swatched that over 2 coats of black. Imagine my surprise when it came out the way I always wanted it to! Swatch stick. I never expected this accidental black creme purchase to be such a godsend but here we are!

    So, now that I've got these done, I can formulate my set for Halloween week. Which I think I actually need to paint tomorrow. I guess we'll see. I'm somewhat afraid of black polish and putting dark colors on my nails in general (staining can be a concern), but fingers crossed all goes well.

    4 votes

  14. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link
    Currently reading: God of the Hive by Laurie R. King, which is roughly halfway through her current Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series. I'm at about 40% and I'm confused but I'm supposed to be, so...

    Currently reading: God of the Hive by Laurie R. King, which is roughly halfway through her current Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series. I'm at about 40% and I'm confused but I'm supposed to be, so it's fine. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (book club), just started. Network Effect by Martha Wells (audiobook with Mr. Alpaca, more or less just started). And War by Laura Thalassa. I actually skipped including the first book, Famine, on my posts here, because I wasn't sure if it would be too embarrassing. Basically, the plot is "ladies who fall for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." And Famine was highly entertaining. So I guess War can go in my posts lol. Just started that, as well.

    Just finished: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo - felt like a clean ending to this trilogy, though I could have done with more. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton - I found this really slow but it might just be me. I enjoyed the nature writing aspects of it and the ending. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer - funny but basically background noise. The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young - I LOVED THIS AND I WANT IT TO BE A MOVIE. Ahem. This had a very good slow build of plot and romance and family and setting. Just the right amount of fantastical elements without making it too complicated. The Winners by Fredrik Backman - this author just knows how to punch you right in the heart.

    Up next: A Court of Mist and Fury by SJM (DNF'd it on audio, we'll see if I enjoy it more in print). The Scald-Crow by Grace Daly, Carry by Toni Jensen.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 2 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    crialpaca
    Link
    Okay I'm late BUT! Uh... I did a full set of OPI Pisces the Future because I thought it kind of matched my wedding dress colors without actually being the official nail polish color. Then my final...

    Okay I'm late BUT! Uh...
    I did a full set of OPI Pisces the Future because I thought it kind of matched my wedding dress colors without actually being the official nail polish color.

    Then my final batch of mailed polish arrived (spoiler alert, I bought 3 more physically since then even though I'm supposed to be "banned" from spending more money on it at the moment until I try a lot of them... but I was enabled!!). I did some layering experiments.

    Then, once the time came, I got down to business and put on the wedding polish. This is mooncat's Ghosts of Hecate.

    Home again now and put on a fun partial skittle. ILNP Sweet Tooth; Sally Hansen Sundown Socialite and Pomegratitude. Left hand and right hand.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Anyone else go to a No Kings rally today? in ~society

    crialpaca
    Link
    We were on the road today for about 5 hours and saw a whole two people in what I imagine was a very conservative town. Mr. Alpaca honked for them and they immediately threw their hands in the air....

    We were on the road today for about 5 hours and saw a whole two people in what I imagine was a very conservative town. Mr. Alpaca honked for them and they immediately threw their hands in the air. I hope they're safe and warm because it had started raining not too long before. Otherwise, we really didn't see anybody, which surprised me. But I imagine they were all out in the more populated areas than where we were at.

    11 votes

  17. Comment on Tildes Book Club - The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum - How is it going? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link Parent
    It was definitely very interesting! Unfortunately I was very sick around the time I listened to it and the brain fog may have killed my recollection. I already tried to discuss it with my...

    It was definitely very interesting! Unfortunately I was very sick around the time I listened to it and the brain fog may have killed my recollection. I already tried to discuss it with my coworkers and the words just wouldn't coalesce (big sad).

  18. Comment on Tildes Book Club - The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum - How is it going? in ~books

    crialpaca
    Link
    I listened to it last month and we'll see how much I retained of it for discussion...

    I listened to it last month and we'll see how much I retained of it for discussion...

    4 votes

  19. Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    crialpaca
    Link
    Okay, nail polish updates! I never get tildes's formatting right but I'm gonna try. So far, I've done a little bit of overachieving, mostly because I didn't think I would manage something...

    Okay, nail polish updates! I never get tildes's formatting right but I'm gonna try.

    So far, I've done a little bit of overachieving, mostly because I didn't think I would manage something not-wedding-related until the end of October. I managed one and a half manicures, instead!

    OPI Feelin' Capricorn-y was the first one, painted on 10/1. Blurry bus photo shimmering in the sun. This is part of my first buy from the drugstore (or maybe second - I think I went back for it) probably about 3 weeks ago. This is like a dark sage green with lilac shimmer. It took me way too long to realize they went for a "mermaid" look for this, because Capricorn is a goat fish. Go figure. I felt like this was okay but I didn't totally love it. Would still probably wear it again but likely as an accent or in spring/summer.

    Then on Monday, the whole other half of my collection arrived and I got down to the business of swatching them. I learned some things about formula - some were fine and one was questionable (we'll see how the purple one fares around Halloween).

    On 10/6, I got the next manicure going - what they call a skittle. It goes white-light blue-periwinkle-turquoise-teal, so it's a gradient, as well. I learned more things about formula and some things about opacity. After applying and maybe a day later. While executing the skittle was really frustrating (it took 8 million years two and a half hours because I messed up a lot), I'm finding the colors and finishes to be very very satisfying. I'm already starting to devise future manicures, skittle or otherwise. The colors in this one were: pinkie - Sally Hansen Reflection Pool, ring - OPI Speed of Bright (5 coats = so much opportunity to screw it up), middle - OPI Pisces the Future, index - mooncat Ghosts of Hecate, thumb - Gemini and I. I did try a top coat on this one I hadn't used before, and I'm noticing that it's causing the polish the shrink and slip back from the edges of my nails. I'm not sure yet if it's just the top coat or if it's bringing underlying polish with it. I definitely don't love that, but since it's a quick dry top coat and they're considered to be as good as gold, generally speaking, I'll probably try to troubleshoot it.

    I called the skittle above "half" a manicure because it was technically wedding-related instead of fully self-directed. I wanted to see if partner had feelings about Pisces or Gemini compared to Hecate (which is what he had said yes to so far). Hecate remains the choice, so that's what I'm wearing to the wedding. :)

    4 votes

  20. Comment on It's impossible to evaluate your sleep with only one number in ~health

    crialpaca
    Link Parent
    Garmin is great at location services. Now that I've had a Garmin watch for a year and a half, I can say anecdotally that they suck at calorie calculating (like to an embarrassing degree, depending...

    Garmin is great at location services. Now that I've had a Garmin watch for a year and a half, I can say anecdotally that they suck at calorie calculating (like to an embarrassing degree, depending on the activity), the body battery thing, and sleep tracking. It definitely can't tell if I'm awake or asleep if I'm reading near bedtime, for example.

    Garmin seems to do pretty okay with heart rate, though. I was tachycardic when I was sick recently and didn't really think about it (my resting heart rate is normally 60-70; it was 120-130 those days). I went to urgent care and they sent me to the ER to get my fever broken to slow down my heart (and get every test on planet earth). After the ordeal, I went into my Garmin's history, and it had been logging it all pretty accurately, based on what the monitors said. I was just too sick to realize.