ancamnarvienn

[ancamnarvienn]

As much as 90s interior decor is not quite my cup of tea and not all of the fixtures and colours of the original are to my taste, I agree that the renovation essentially killed that property. Did it need updating? Probably, sure. But when previously it looked fun (admittedly, almost too much fun in some places), lively and lived in by someone I'm sure I'd enjoy a conversation with, it now looks like a hotel - any moderately priced hotel anywhere in the world. Which obviously is the aesthetic you should be going for in the space you want to call home, innit. If I had my way with that space, I'd be buying jewel-toned furniture and painting accent walls in a heartbeat or I'd go spare. I'm sorry, white and shades of gray and beige are just canvas/background, not finished work.

Ever since I realized that HGTV's "Ugliest House in America" doesn't pick the ugliest house, it picks the easiest one, that also fits the renovation budget of $150K, I don't bother watching the finale. I actually loved this house as it was, but they picked it to be redone by designer Alison Victoria. Here are the befores and afters. This fairytale retro home was blue outside.

It's white now.

Granted, the quirky little cottage was colorful, and I guess it didn't fit owners Joe & Jack's taste. The round tower foyer was yellow with pink carpeting. It was nicknamed "The Barbie House." Then, why did they buy it? And, why didn't they repaint some of it?

Look at it now. Meh.

The pink living room walls matched the pink carpet. After seeing the other homes in the competition, truthfully, this one looked good.

TBH, I think that HGTV got a good chunk of their budget back, b/c they didn't do much reno with this house. This was just paint, new furniture, and wallpaper.

Luckily, she kept the round dining nook and glass block.

But, Joe & Jack did kind of embrace the quirkiness- look at the funky mannequin.

The wall was opened to accommodate the new modern kitchen. And, new built-in seating was added.

I loved these cabinets so much.

They're gone.

I don't know, I like this. It's cozy.

Don't like this.

This was original retro. Look at the cool floor and the curvy counter. I loved this house. There had to be a way to upgrade and preserve it. It's architectural history.

Reconfigured, bland, and modern. I can't believe the original retro design was destroyed in favor of this. It had personality before.

The bath had original turquoise fixtures. HGTV called it a "turquoise terror."

Reconfigured. I wouldn't have minded the rearranging, but the gray, black & white is so modern/cliche.

This room had character.

Well, it's so boring now, it would put certainly you to sleep.

They don't show the before deck, but Alison commissioned this mural for the floor. So,there you have it. The winner and its reno.

https://www.realtor.com/advice/reality-tv/ugliest-house-in-america-season-5-winner/

[ancamnarvienn]

Okay so this is a big deal

To me, and to a significant subset of Sir Terry's fans (including most of you who've found this by the tags), his writing is serious commentary on the human condition - politics, prejudice, self-control, revenge vs. justice, religion, idealism, faith in people vs. cynicism, and more - dressed up with fantasy settings and a hefty leavening of humor to make it fun to read. And it is WILDLY fun to read, actual laugh-out-loud or at least a snicker averaging about every page.

But there's this common idea among the "important literature" people that fun and funny books are not also worthwhile or important in the same way.

This is a Discworld book being released WITH ACADEMIC COMMENTARY and AS A PENGUIN CLASSIC. That's a HUGE amount of recognition.

[ancamnarvienn]

Language is universal

[ancamnarvienn]

Remember, folks - it's only a 'defenestration' if it happens within Prague's Hradčany,  Staré Město or  Nové Město - everywhere else, it's just a sparkling throwing people out the window :D.

[ancamnarvienn]

Happy Star Wars Day! I’ve decided to make my Skywalker comic into one easily rebloggable post.

[ancamnarvienn]

In honour of Speak Your Language Day, I'm posting one of my favourite choir arrangements of a beautiful song in my native Polish. Enjoy!

[ancamnarvienn]

^ What she said. Newsflash: unless that job needs to be done using a penis or labia majora (can't think of any but hey, there are more things in heaven and earth, right?), it does not have a gender. The person who is physically/mentally capable of performing the task in hand and has enough time/resources should just perform the task, end of story.

Seriously, whenever someone spews that 'hurr durr girls pink boys blue' bullcrap in my presence, my go-to reaction is "<scratches crotch> What was that? Sorry, couldn't hear a thing over the itching of my balls!" (Side note: I have a very obviously feminine hourglass shape and big boobs, for that extra contrast)

On another note: the thousands upon thousands of feminist writers, thinkers, social activists and suffragettes did not sacrifice their lives and health, suffer violence, incarceration and public ridicule/humiliation so that you could throw all those hard-won rights in favour of infantilising yourselves for male approval. It's disgraceful and disrespectful. Grow a spine, you lot.

saw this very [ben affleck depressed smoking image] comment and thought why does blue job / pink job sound like an established concept so I looked it up.....

what's next?? having a bank account is a blue job 💙🏦��️ not being legally recognised as a person in your own right is a pink job 🩷🥰💅

[ancamnarvienn]

i beat myself up for not knowing enough about my special interests a lot but then i remember the average person off the street has no idea what the carboniferous is and i feel better

[ancamnarvienn]

1925 - emigration, death, or USSR passport

2025 - emigration, death, or Russian passport

NB: The author of the tweet, who also had to leave his home after it was occupied by Russia, is now a volunteer helping others escape occupied territories and is currently speaking about the situation there.

[ancamnarvienn]

“Use your gifts and your talents to greatest possible effect while you can. Spread joy wherever possible. Laugh at jokes. Tell jokes. Make puns and bugger the embuggerances. Read books. Read my books. You might like them. You might find something else you like even more than them. Look for these things in life.

Question authority. Champion good causes. Speak out against injustice. Do not tolerate bullies or bigots or racists or anti-intellectuals or the narrow-minded. Use your education to challenge them. Broaden their perspectives. Make the world you interface with a happier place.

These are your choices. Choices you have been fortunate to have been given, so don’t waste them while you have them. Don’t look back in years to come and wish you had grasped a fleeting opportunity. Grasp it now with both hands, Live. Strive. Love.”

from A Little Advice for Life taken from ‘Terry Pratchett: from birth to death, a writer.’

—Sir Terry Pratchett; April 28, 1948 – March 12, 2015

One of the greatest compliments I've ever received is that I resemble Sam Vimes.

Mind how you go.

[ancamnarvienn]

Displayed on the Old North Church in Boston, MA on April 18, 2025, the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride.

Photo source: silencedogoodboston, the group behind this idea

[ancamnarvienn]

There was a young man from Peru

Whose limericks stopped at line two

[ancamnarvienn]

generative AI literally makes me feel like a boomer. people start talking about how it can be good to help you brainstorm ideas and i’m like oh you’re letting a computer do the hard work and thinking for you???

[ancamnarvienn]

How very depressing that Neil Gaiman had trended not even a tiny bit for demonstrating what a fucking horrific person he is.

As a reminder, he's suing Caroline Wallner, one of his accusers, for breaking her NDA. Not for libel. He's saying she shouldn't have told anyone about it, not that she lied.

He doesn't need the money. He's risking the Streisand effect. He is punishing Caroline, he's trying to intimidate other victims who have signed NDAs to scare them into continued silence.

He is no friend to women, to the LGBTQIA+ community, to anyone quite frankly unless he thinks they are of value to him.

Share the story. Put it on Facebook and bluesky and whatever else you're on. Make it clear what a horrifying person he is. Tell your friends. He's paying Edendale a fortune to try and cover this up. Make this hard for him. Make it cost him money.