Shanna Swendson
@shannaswendson.bsky.social
Novelist and nerd. Author of the Enchanted, Inc. series and a lot of other stuff. http://shannaswendson.com/
I found the missing hat and gloves on the shelf in my bedroom closet, shoved behind the fabric bin that holds all my knitted shawls. Now I can put them where they belong and stop devoting so much brain space to the problem.
December 4, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I found the missing hat and gloves on the shelf in my bedroom closet, shoved behind the fabric bin that holds all my knitted shawls. Now I can put them where they belong and stop devoting so much brain space to the problem.
And you had to walk through the smoking section to get there. The smoking section always seemed to be at the front, which was a lot of fun when I worked as a restaurant hostess. I came home reeking.
December 4, 2025 at 9:34 PM
And you had to walk through the smoking section to get there. The smoking section always seemed to be at the front, which was a lot of fun when I worked as a restaurant hostess. I came home reeking.
So far, my house is the second most decorated on the street. Someone at the end of the block has tinsel candy canes next to her mailbox and some stuff on her porch.
December 4, 2025 at 8:58 PM
So far, my house is the second most decorated on the street. Someone at the end of the block has tinsel candy canes next to her mailbox and some stuff on her porch.
I just had an insight and found my indoor gloves, both fingerless and the ones with full fingers I wear when I'm not typing. Now I just need to find the hat and gloves that are still missing. I know exactly where they were in the apartment, but no idea where they ended up in the house.
December 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I just had an insight and found my indoor gloves, both fingerless and the ones with full fingers I wear when I'm not typing. Now I just need to find the hat and gloves that are still missing. I know exactly where they were in the apartment, but no idea where they ended up in the house.
I get chillblains, like some sort of Victorian waif. That even happened in Texas, so I really need to figure something out. Even fingerless gloves won't do much good because the chillblains tend to be around my fingertips.
December 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I get chillblains, like some sort of Victorian waif. That even happened in Texas, so I really need to figure something out. Even fingerless gloves won't do much good because the chillblains tend to be around my fingertips.
I don't need to sleep in gloves, but my fingerless gloves are among the winter things I can't find, probably because I was still using them around the time I started packing up the apartment to move, so they weren't with the rest of the winter things.
December 4, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I don't need to sleep in gloves, but my fingerless gloves are among the winter things I can't find, probably because I was still using them around the time I started packing up the apartment to move, so they weren't with the rest of the winter things.
It doesn't get that bad here, but my feet get cold when it's below 50 degrees. The rest of me will be warm, but my feet and hands will be cold. I did finally find a combination of socks that worked last winter (thin thermal socks under wool socks), but I'm still optimizing.
December 4, 2025 at 7:18 PM
It doesn't get that bad here, but my feet get cold when it's below 50 degrees. The rest of me will be warm, but my feet and hands will be cold. I did finally find a combination of socks that worked last winter (thin thermal socks under wool socks), but I'm still optimizing.
I spent four years working at a medical school, doing a lot of things that involved interacting with med students, so I have to agree.
December 4, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I spent four years working at a medical school, doing a lot of things that involved interacting with med students, so I have to agree.
Oh, our local wilderness outfitter store is on their "buy local" list, so I'll have to run by there this weekend or maybe this afternoon when I'm downtown.
December 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Oh, our local wilderness outfitter store is on their "buy local" list, so I'll have to run by there this weekend or maybe this afternoon when I'm downtown.
I have wool socks, but maybe I need to get some alpaca socks. They're supposed to be warmer. Fortunately, I know someone with an alpaca farm who sells alpaca products.
December 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I have wool socks, but maybe I need to get some alpaca socks. They're supposed to be warmer. Fortunately, I know someone with an alpaca farm who sells alpaca products.
I need some lined boots that aren't snow boots, so that started some online shopping. And, wouldn't you know, there's something perfect, but it isn't available in a store near me, and I don't buy shoes online. I have to try them on because my feet are finicky.
December 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I need some lined boots that aren't snow boots, so that started some online shopping. And, wouldn't you know, there's something perfect, but it isn't available in a store near me, and I don't buy shoes online. I have to try them on because my feet are finicky.
I'm not exactly doomscrolling, more following rabbit trails. For instance, I was thinking about how it's cold today and I was wondering what to wear to walk to the library. My feet get really cold, but snow boots would be overkill, and yet my boots aren't warm enough.
December 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I'm not exactly doomscrolling, more following rabbit trails. For instance, I was thinking about how it's cold today and I was wondering what to wear to walk to the library. My feet get really cold, but snow boots would be overkill, and yet my boots aren't warm enough.
It feels like you should be on the sofa or in bed once it gets dark, so it's harder to make myself wash the pans from making dinner. It doesn't help that a lot of my stuff I brought back from Thanksgiving is still on the floor downstairs. There's a suitcase in the kitchen.
December 4, 2025 at 2:46 PM
It feels like you should be on the sofa or in bed once it gets dark, so it's harder to make myself wash the pans from making dinner. It doesn't help that a lot of my stuff I brought back from Thanksgiving is still on the floor downstairs. There's a suitcase in the kitchen.
That's what she said, that the issue wasn't dual POV, but rather the way it was being used in a lot of recent romantasy. That I had to agree with. I just had to roll my eyes at the idea that dual POV was some unusual and new thing in romance that veered away from the norm.
December 4, 2025 at 3:08 AM
That's what she said, that the issue wasn't dual POV, but rather the way it was being used in a lot of recent romantasy. That I had to agree with. I just had to roll my eyes at the idea that dual POV was some unusual and new thing in romance that veered away from the norm.
But from at least the 70s dual POV has been the standard in romance. I remember all the pearl clutching among the old-guard romance writers when chick lit came along around 2000 and had first-person POV. "Readers want to be in the hero's head! They won't like this!"
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 AM
But from at least the 70s dual POV has been the standard in romance. I remember all the pearl clutching among the old-guard romance writers when chick lit came along around 2000 and had first-person POV. "Readers want to be in the hero's head! They won't like this!"
But I found it amusing that she seemed to think dual POV was some recent development. The early Mills & Boons were heroine-only so we could be surprised when the guy who'd been a jerk for the whole book said, "You little idiot, don't you realize I love you?"
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 AM
But I found it amusing that she seemed to think dual POV was some recent development. The early Mills & Boons were heroine-only so we could be surprised when the guy who'd been a jerk for the whole book said, "You little idiot, don't you realize I love you?"
She was specifically talking about following a scene in one character's POV with a scene that essentially rehashes that scene from the other character's POV, spelling out exactly what that character was thinking and feeling. The idea was to learn subtext before trying to do dual POV.
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 AM
She was specifically talking about following a scene in one character's POV with a scene that essentially rehashes that scene from the other character's POV, spelling out exactly what that character was thinking and feeling. The idea was to learn subtext before trying to do dual POV.
If airlines weren't so terrible about the way they handle pets and didn't charge such high fees, there would be less incentive to claim pets as service animals. Have enough bathroom stalls so the handicapped stall can remain open for those who need it.
December 3, 2025 at 9:52 PM
If airlines weren't so terrible about the way they handle pets and didn't charge such high fees, there would be less incentive to claim pets as service animals. Have enough bathroom stalls so the handicapped stall can remain open for those who need it.
One thing that might help is to make things less miserable for everyone so that there's less incentive for non-disabled people to abuse the accommodations. There will always be jerks, but if lines at Disneyworld weren't so awful there would be less incentive to claim being disabled to cut in front.
December 3, 2025 at 9:52 PM
One thing that might help is to make things less miserable for everyone so that there's less incentive for non-disabled people to abuse the accommodations. There will always be jerks, but if lines at Disneyworld weren't so awful there would be less incentive to claim being disabled to cut in front.
I figured out that the reason the ceiling downstairs is so low is that they dropped the ceiling to create space for air vents. Central air/heat is good, so I guess I can deal with it. You can see where it's dropped from the basement (which is behind the downstairs room).
December 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I figured out that the reason the ceiling downstairs is so low is that they dropped the ceiling to create space for air vents. Central air/heat is good, so I guess I can deal with it. You can see where it's dropped from the basement (which is behind the downstairs room).