sovay | Network

So I found myself thinking that I should read more poetry. Because my writing is at its best when I'm regularly reading poetry.

The problem is that I don't actually enjoy most poetry. In most cases I can find myself appreciating it from a technical point of view at best, but the vast majority of stuff I pick up leaves me completely cold.

But I should probably read more of it. For, like, skills reasons.

This thought came to me while I was eating some beets. My doctor has informed me that I should eat more beets for health reasons. Like, beets specifically, above all other vegetables. And so, I am dutifully eating more beets in more things, even though I don't actually want to eat them that often.

I feel like there are some parallels here.

languagelog_feed

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73009&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=language-policy-at-the-chinese-national-peoples-congress-npc

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73009

China to Enshrine Xi-Era Ethnic Policy in New Law

by Chenghao Wei, NPC Observer (3/5/26)

The following is the introductory paragraph to the prospectus for the NPC's proceedings this week (starting on the 5th and lasting for eight days):

Next week, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) is expected to adopt a Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress (Law) [民族团结进步促进法]—designed to codify General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new orthodoxy for governing China’s ethnic minorities. That doctrine, known as the “Important Thinking on Improving and Strengthening Ethnic Work,” reflects the “Second-Generation Ethnic Policies” promoted by several prominent scholars. In a nutshell, this new “assimilationist” approach aims “not just to strengthen citizens’ sense of belonging to a larger, unified Chinese nation under the Party but also to mute expression of other—in the Party’s view, competing—identities.”

Chapter II is where the plan focuses on language policy:

Chapter II (Building a Shared Spiritual Home)lays the ideological foundation for the assimilation project. It affirms the policy of fostering identification with “the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics” through patriotic education, education in official historical narratives, publicity of “the fine Zhonghua traditional culture,” and promotion of “Chinese cultural symbols and image of the Chinese nation” (arts. 11–14).

This Chapter then affords language and education particular attention. It incorporates the relevant rules of the newly revised Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language [国家通用语言文字法], but often goes beyond them. For instance, it codifies the goal of having preschoolers become proficient in Putonghua and requires that Chinese characters be displayed more prominently than minority scripts if both must be used in public (art. 15, paras. 2, 4). It also tasks the education and ethnic affairs ministries with developing textbooks on “the community of the Chinese nation,” while requiring all schools to integrate that concept into their curricula (art. 16, paras. 1–2; art. 18, para. 1). This Chapter does vow to support the standardization, digitization, and preservation of minority texts (art. 15, para. 5), but the goal of such investment is to “protect languages from being completely forgotten rather than protecting their ongoing, everyday use by living people.”

Finally, this Chapter broadly requires media, internet service providers, families, among others, to promote the Party’s ethnic policy (arts. 19–21). Parents are reminded of their duty to provide lawful family education and are prohibited from “instilling in minors ideas detrimental to ethnic unity and progress” (art. 20, para. 2).

There's not much ambiguity about where they're headed with regard to language.

Selected readings

"NPC Delegate Proposes To End Foreign Language Translation" (5/31/20) — that was six years ago; it didn't happen
"Badge of honor: Language Log is blocked in China" (12/26/19) — with an account of other major banned websites: Wikipedia (all languages), The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Hackernews, Imgur, Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other invaluable websites were already off-limits to Chinese citizens for years. The internet in China is severely decimated by the CCP government.
"The Arithmetic of Party-Speak: The 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is just around the corner — and that means the machine of political discourse is humming away at high speed" (8/28/17).
"The mind-numbing official-speak of the CCP" (8/29/17

[Thanks to June Teufel Dreyer]

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73009&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=language-policy-at-the-chinese-national-peoples-congress-npc

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73009

phys_social_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-goal-apps-backfire-goals-easy.html

It might date back to the ancient Greeks, but the concept of "everything in moderation" still holds true for today's users of goal-setting apps. In a paper in the Journal of Marketing Research, a team from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School, Deakin University and Technical University of Munich analyzed behavioral data from an Australian investment app to determine what keeps users motivated and engaged.

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-goal-apps-backfire-goals-easy.html

scrubjayspeaks

The fog muffled sounds like cotton batting, until only the hum of the electrical lines gave any sense of space or time. As people stepped out into the gray morning, they found themselves rendered mute as well, farewells to family and greetings to carpooling coworkers tapering off into nothing. Most hurried back indoors, coughing to clear the fog from their lungs, but some remained outdoors, enjoying the quiet, even and especially their own.

---

LL#1368

lettersmod posting in

unsent_letters_exchange

Assignments have been sent out!

If you have questions about your assignment or for your recipient, please contact lettersmod by DM or e-mail unsentlettersexchange @ gmail.
You can write for any request in your assignment, which does not need to be the request you matched on.
Assignments are due April 25, 11:59PM UTC (countdown), about 6.5 weeks from now.

Here are the initial pinch hits:

PH 1 - Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's x2, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Metal Fight Beyblade | Beyblade Metal Saga, ベイブレードバースト | Beyblade Burst (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime 1997-2023), ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/Audrelite

PH 2 - Minecraft: Story Mode (Video Game) x2, The Protomen x2, Bionicle (Generation 1) x2
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/bluerosekatie

PH 3 - Chalet School - Elinor M. Brent-Dyer x2, The Crater School - Chaz Brenchley, Double Act - Jacqueline Wilson, High Rollers DnD (Web Series), Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome, Wayward Children - Seanan McGuire
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/Elennare

PH 4 - Wolf Hall Series - Hilary Mantel, Wolf in White Van - John Darnielle, Beau Travail (1999)
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/fullborn

PH 5 - 違国日記 | Ikoku Nikki | Journal with Witch (Anime), Banana Fish (Anime & Manga), Limbo the King | King in Limbo (Manga), とんがり帽子のアトリエ | Tongari Boushi no Atelier | Witch Hat Atelier (Manga), 准教授・高槻彰良の推察 - 澤村御影 | Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture - Sawamura Mikage
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/jessenigma

PH 6 - Bugsnax (Video Game), Crossover Fandom (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / Keroro Gunsou), Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon), Keroro Gunsou (Anime)
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/malachiical

PH 7 - Medium (TV), NCIS: Los Angeles, Twin Peaks (TV 1990)
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/NervousAsexual

PH 8 - Dune (Movies - Villeneuve), Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson, The Worst Journey in the World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard
https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/UnsentLetters2026/user/primeideal

To claim a pinch hit, please comment on this entry (all comments are screened) or e-mail unsentlettersexchange @ gmail with your AO3 name and the pinch hit number or recipient name.

These pinch hits are also due April 25, 11:59PM UTC.

dialecticdreamer

A Flash of Temper
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1283

:: Aidan is faced with a nasty-minded stranger prying into the Teague family. He finds a creative way to apologize for failing to live down to her expectations. Part of the Teague Family/Edison’s Mirror series in Polychrome Heroics, written to answer a prompt by

alatefeline, with my thanks, as part of the March 2026 Magpie Monday. ::

Aidan stared at the cardboard box that held five large manila envelopes, all thick and surprisingly heavy. “What are these?”

Nik rolled back, motioning toward the coffee table. “Your documents came through. Let me help you with your packet, and then I’ll explain the differences in Rory’s and Mac’s paperwork.”
( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

redbird

Finished recently:

These are all parts of ongoing series, and all fantasy (in significantly different styles)

Testament of Mute Things, by Lois McMaster Bujold (a Penric novella)

Apt to be Suspicious, by Celia Lake

To Ride a Rising Storm, by Moniquill Blackgoose: this doesn't just leave room for a sequel, it ends on a cliffhanger. Strongly recommended. Definitely start with her first novel, To Shape a Dragon's Breath, for world-building and if you care about spoilers. (I think the Bujold and Lake books would both work as starting points for reading those series.)

I am currently partway through Ada Palmer's Inventing the Renaissance, which is chewy nonfiction.

We just finished our latest read-aloud book, Half Magic by Edward Eager. Adrian and Cattitude had read this before, I hadn't, we all enjoyed it.

seleneheart posting in

journalsandplanners

I meant to post this at the first of January, but because I didn't put it on my planner, it didn't get done. So here we are.

I started doing subscription boxes last year and like a gas expanding to fill its container, the addition of more notebooks in my life caused me to start using more notebooks. I put the really pretty ones aside as gifts, but I've been using the rest.

First up, the planners I have been using for years:

EC Life Planner - my work planner. I've been using this for seven years at this point.

Leuchtturm1917 A5 dot grid - my bullet journal workhorse. While I haven't used this exact notebook the whole time, I've been bullet journaling for nine years at this point. I use this for my personal life, as both a planner and a record/tracker.

Then we come to the new ones as of this year, although I started some of them before January 1.

Archer & Olive A4 dot grid - memory keeping journal. I paste ephemera in here along with stickers that suit my fancy. I write down reflections and more extended records than what is in my bujo. I draw a monthly calendar at the beginning of each month and write things down as they occur to me. There's no set schedule of entries.

Archer & Olive travelers notebook - this is a bit of a butler's book for my house. I have lists of repairs, contractors, expenses, and schedules.

Archer & Olive B6 dot grid notebook - this is my workout/physical therapy/recovery notebook. I'm using this to keep track of my recovery from breaking my leg last winter. I'm slowly getting back to where I was and this notebook gives me a track of my progress.

Archer & Olive 8x8 dot grid - home to my reading journal. I started this last year and filled it about halfway so I predict it will last me until the end of 2026. I keep track of Book Bingo, series tracker, my 'want to read' list, and a running tally of the books I've read. I also make decorative spreads for each book including a book data sheet that I created and the book cover.

There you have it!

Anyone else have a large planner stack this year?

Music: A Fine Frenzy - Come On, Come Out

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

kaberett

Via divers alarums and excursions we have established that the oven seems to trip All The Electrics... when it hits A Certain Temperature. ( Read more... )

But. BUT. Today I SAW THE BAT for the first time this year (having been doing a questionable job of actually managing to watch for it at bat o'clock over the last several weeks); and my Special Interest In Moving My Body went surprisingly well; and A curled up on the sofa and did some more Reading About Special Interest with me; and I am actually doing alright.

case posting in

fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #7005 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

[pride and prejudice]

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 10 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1000.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

nnozomi posting in

guardian_learning

部首
手 part 42
摩, to rub; 摸, to stroke; 撅, to stick out ( pinyin )
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=64

语法
3.11 着 with verbs
https://www.digmandarin.com/hsk-3-grammar

词汇
电灯, electric light; 电动车, electric car; 电梯, elevator; 电源, power supply; 充电, to charge; 充电器, charger; 闪电, lightning ( pinyin )
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-4-word-list/

Guardian:
终于可以让你毫无顾及地摸我的脸了, finally I can let you stroke my face without any concern
那你好好在床上躺着，我去看看还有什么饭菜, you lie down properly in bed, I'll go see if there's any food left
备用电源, the backup power supply?

Me:
别撅屁股了！
我正在听着呢。

sage

( books (Ghattas, Raybourn) )

yarning
Made and sent 2 catnip-silvervine hearts (to the same customer who has ordered about nine of them now). Missed yarn group due to cold, torrential rain, and DST. Made and sent 2 multicolored kickbunnies. Finished the turquoise kickbunny for kitten academy's current momcat (her kittens are 2 weeks old and adorable!), but haven't gone to the post office yet. Continued Easter carrots after messaging the customer to confirm the number and cost (so stressful!). Now they just need smiles and hanging loops.

healthcrap
I loathe springing forward. Still can't get up at a decent hour. Daytime vertigo is now coming randomly. In the night, it's mostly connected to lying in bed/rolling over/getting up to go to the bathroom. Fun times. I do feel a bit better overall. I got all my healthcare coverage renewal info uploaded and am impatiently awaiting a telephone appt. Tongue still has a hole in it, but it's shallower than it was and is slowly healing...if I can just keep from biting it. Had to start a new tube of benzocaine.

#resist
+ Check locally for anti-war protests. I'm finding Reddit and Instagram to be fairly good sources if you check often. (Last Saturday was a national protest, but I didn't know about it until just a couple of hours beforehand. Doh!)
+ March 28: #50501 No Kings Protest #3

Thanks for the kind comments on recent posts. I've been terrible at replies. I hope you're all doing well! <333

shipperslist

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

animenewsnetwork_feed

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-03-11/webtoon-seralizes-the-witcher-comics-from-dark-horse/.235130

Move expands ongoing collaboration between WEBTOON, Dark Horse.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-03-11/webtoon-seralizes-the-witcher-comics-from-dark-horse/.235130

rekishi

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

china_shop

Previous poll review
In the Being an audience poll, 41.3% of respondents have been to the cinema in the last six months, 28.3% to the theatre, and 17.4% to a live music gig. I'm curious about the 10.9% who chose "other".

In ticky-boxes, bakery treats came second to hugs, 60.9% to 73.9%, which is an excellent showing. Snow puppies came third with 47.8%. Thank you for your votes! ♥

Reading
Andrew and I finished Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold, so now I know what

minoanmiss meant by SHOPPING TRIP. *takes a moment* Anyway, it was great. I love Bujold's character work and her humour. Looking forward to the next one and getting to know Miles.

Kdramas
Still re-watching One Spring Night, lol. I made a flaily post about it a few days ago, but then realised that my "realisations" were actually explained in the next few scenes, so I don't know if I'm seeing the show differently or just remembering info I learned from the first time around. I've since privated the post, but if you've seen OSN and want to talk to me about it, please do!! I am mildly obsessed.

I also started Undercover Miss Hong on

adore's rec. I'm in the middle of episode 2, and it's great so far. It reminds me of Good Manager (AKA Chief Kim) to the point where I checked if it was the same writer (it isn't), and otoh, the lead is played by Park Shin-hye, who was the nun in the "nun undercover as her twin brother in a boyband" drama, You're Beautiful, which was my gateway drug into the world of Kdramas, so in a way it feels like coming full circle. (Here, she's undercover as a 20yo.)

Other TV
We finished the Return of the King extras (omg, so stressful!). Still watching The Pitt, of course, though I really think it works better all in a bunch, rather than one episode a week. (I won't say "binged", because the most we ever manage is three episodes a night -- that's a lot for us.)

Happened to notice that Cheers is on Neon (NZ streaming service, incl. some HBO), and randomly started watching it -- it's aged surprisingly well! Very white, and the sexism vs feminism tension is front and centre, but Sam is fine, and everyone seems to be having a good time. We'll stick with that for a while and see.

The pilot of R.J. Decker, a new PI show loosely based on a Carl Hiaasen novel. It's very network TV, case-of-the-week and easy-going. Good supporting cast. Seems fine. A few episodes of Ponies, about two CIA widows trying to be spies in cold war Russia. They don't have much trade craft yet, so it's equal parts comedic and tense. Half an episode of SurrealEstate.

My sister and I are still on Fringe season 4, in which the entire multiverse revolves around Peter; I prefer Lincoln. And we watched some Bluey, naturally. Just finished season 1 and started season 2. 🧡💙🧡

Audio entertainment
All the usual suspects. More Movie Briefs, more local politics. And the episode of A Bit Fruity recced by

sabotabby (who gives excellent podcast recs, btw). A Tech Won't Save Us episode about The Luddite Club. A bit of Ad Astra about pacing. I think I'm spending too much time listening to podcasts.

Online life
The 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange is coming soon!! We've been doing some behind-the-scenes prep for that. And wheeeee, I won a Fandom Trumps Hate auction (my first time bidding) -- so exciting!!

Writing/making things
Still bashing my head against the two things I started for Yuletide. It would be fantastic to get these off my plate before I get my 520 Day assignment and have to redecorate my brain in Guardian. *plugs away* (I feel like my intuition is offline, and I'm having to figure everything out with my inept thinking brain, why?)

In drawing, I did a practice pic of Zhao Yunlan, and wow, expressions are hard; the difference between worried and scared is, like, a millimetre here, a millimetre there...

Life/health/mental state things
The tsunami of ambient stress is making itself felt in my body. When I bought my new phone, I somehow got six months' free premium Fitbit membership again, so I tried wearing my Fitbit to sleep, to build up a data profile. And yep, an "objective" poor rating makes a subjective bad night's sleep feel so much worse. That's why I stopped doing this last time! So I've stopped again. Also, my resting pulse rate was going up and up for a while there. /o\

Had my free breast-squish day.

Goals
I did not do my goal things from last week. Ah well.

Good things
Sunshine. New (second-hand) red bag arrived this week; I don't think it's as waterproof as advertised, but it's a step up from my sponge of a handbag. Showers and kitties and going out to lunch. Biking and bike lanes. The Bingo fanart I received in

fandomtrees continues to be cheering/soothing. GUARDIAN!!

Poll #34352 Fitness trackers

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

View Respondents

Do you use a fitness tracker to monitor your activity?

View Answers

yes, regularly
4 (17.4%)

yes, sometimes
1 (4.3%)

...and an app
2 (8.7%)

I use the pedometer on my phone
6 (26.1%)

no, but I used to
4 (17.4%)

no, but I'm thinking about starting
1 (4.3%)

other no
9 (39.1%)

other
0 (0.0%)

ticky-box full of "I genuflect to the sanctity of the ticky-box"
12 (52.2%)

ticky-box full of otters building obstacle courses
14 (60.9%)

ticky-box of FANDOM SPARKLES
13 (56.5%)

ticky-box full of bears baking blueberry and salmon muffins
10 (43.5%)

ticky-box full of hugs hugs hugs
14 (60.9%)

schneefink

My mom is currently doing a no-smartphone-challenge with her students, and I decided to do the light version and set myself a goal of 1.5 hours of smartphone time per day (normal phone calls don't count.) I did well the first few days but then failed the last three, and right now I'm realizing the limit means I can't use my phone to listen to streams while doing the dishes. Boo.

Other effects: I read books on my e-book-reader on my commute instead of fics on my phone. And I really wish my radio wasn't broken but it hasn't reached the necessary annoyance level yet to get it fixed.

I'm not behind on my study plan for my next exam yet! (The upcoming exam is mostly VAT so both important and relevant and hard.) We'll see how long it lasts, but I'm in week 3 and that's pretty good especially for my standards. And that's despite me being sick one weekend and having a bad cold the next.

I told myself I'd combine it with finally starting the Hades 2 1.0 playthrough I've been planning for months, and for the first two weeks I actually managed to stick to my "one run per study session" rule but, uh, not anymore. Ahem. Good news, still having a lot of fun playing Hades 2. And thanks to playing over 130 hours in Early Access I'm so much better than when I started my first playthrough.
(I started now because the plan was DD would start the week after and then we can talk about it, but she had a schedule change and still hasn't started so that didn't work out either ^^)

But since I started playing Hades 2 I mostly stopped playing Vampire Survivors - not completely, I have done a few more runs to get some of the very last unlocks/secrets, but mostly. So have the remaining notes for now, directly continuing from last time.

( More Vampire Survivors: more bats, still no vampires. )

I should stop procrastinating and do the dishes.