Designing for Decay

The products of growth-driven design are easy to recognize. They gleam. They dominate. They shout, “I will last forever.” From reinforced skyscrapers to single-use electronics, the ideology is the same: resist entropy at all costs.

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These are the content notes for "But an Empty Shell."

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This poem came out of the July 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "Independent Woman" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the Kraken thread of the Polychrome Heroics series and is the prequel to "Beautiful, Damn Hard, Increasingly Useful."

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Today is cloudy and warm.

I haven't fed the birds yet.

There were lots of sparrows and house finches at the red birdbath though. The honeybees drained the small metal one again.

We walked around the yard listing things that need to be cleaned up or cleared out, since a tree service left us a flyer. :D At minimum we want to get the two downed tree-sized branches removed. Hopefully we can get the parking lot cleared of brush and a path re-established to the east edge of the yard. Maybe something else. They're willing to break down the quotes for sub-projects so we can figure out what will fit into our budget.

EDIT 9/11/25 -- I fed the birds.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/11/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/11/25 -- I watered the irises, patio plants, and old picnic table garden.

EDIT 9/11/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden, septic garden, telephone pole garden, and savanna seedlings.

I picked 2 red cherry tomatoes.

EDIT 9/11/25 -- I sowed 2 pots with crabapples.

I did some work around the yard.

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

Folks have mentioned an interest in questions and conversations that make them think. So I've decided to offer more of those. This batch features hobbies.

Knitting is a fibercraft hobby of making things from yarn with a pair of pointy sticks, mostly clothes but also toys and other stuff. If you feel frustrated by planned obsolescence, artificial intelligence, and other current issues then consider knitting as a form of protest. Nothing says "Fuck off, fast fashion!" like knitting a 100% natural-fiber garment that will last for years and years.

On Dreamwidth, consider communities like crafty, everykindofcraft, dwsockclub, get_knitted, justcreate, and knittingpix.

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This flash mob put on a complex performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody."

It reminds me very much of the "musical dimension" -- the world in which people naturally, spontaneously form into teams for song and dance routines. People here are just using prosthetic technology to substitute for whatever energy phenomenon allows that in Musical Land. :D

Library Loot on chroniclesofreading 
Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
See the tag feed.

Today is mostly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, plus one tiny brownish-olive bird I couldn't identify.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I bagged up 21 Ginger Gold apple seeds with damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator.

I watered the telephone pole garden and some of the savanna seedlings.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did some work around the yard.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did more work around the yard.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I watered the old picnic table plants and the new picnic table plants.

I picked some groundcherries.  :D

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

dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Lost and Found."


Welcome to another prompt call! This month’s theme is Lost and Found. That could mean a literal box of random things left behind in a diner just off a freeway connection, a person wandering back and forth, unable to translate what they know from the map into the correct spot to wait for an upcoming bus, or the metaphorical sense of “Well, NOW what?” after being stranded by a flat tire on the way to a Very Important job interview.
[---8<---]
For each reader who offers an idea, I’ll write at least a thousand words. That’s about four pages, but let’s be honest, I tend to lean into it, so that’s truly a minimum word count. Estimate four to five minutes of reading time, which is just about perfect for a good rest with a cup of your favorite beverage and your feet up.
[---8<---]
Readers who might want to sponsor a story, thank you. Feel free to message me as soon as an interesting summary goes up. The usual request is two cents per word, or $20 per 1k words, and that’s steep for today’s pockets. It’s perfectly fine to sponsor a story other than the one for which someone prompted; that doubles the fun for the amount spent. Sponsored stories will get another typo hunt, then be posted with either an anonymous or named sponsor (let me know if you wish to be acknowledged, but I default to anonymous sponsorships). Many thanks.