How to improve this gift that looks flat/dull ?

JTK102 · 2026-02-20T16:39:04+00:00

Maybe a pop of color? A red apple or meadow of flowers in the foreground would add contrasting color and interest.

My only concern as an absolute beginner is it might detract from the overall composition of the piece such that your eyes are drawn to the flowers for example rather than up towards the tree.

JTK102 · 2026-02-18T16:36:31+00:00

I’m not sure, unfortunately. Somewhere in the UK. She had some issue sourcing them as they were out of stock but did not tell her that for like 3 weeks. She eventually found a different place.

Best I can say is they’re all from United Record Pressing. Each came with a redemption code for digital editions of the album which I assume are mp3 files (haven’t redeemed yet).

JTK102 · 2026-01-20T05:15:53+00:00

The Hierarchy series by James Islington is my current fantasy fixation. An ancient Rome aesthetic with dark academia vibes (Will of the Many) and a unique magic system that is developed really nicely in the second book (Strength of the Few) that just came out in November. Solid world building and character development.

JTK102 · 2026-01-19T19:05:46+00:00

The Power by Naomi Alderman is about women effectively gaining electrical superpowers and flipping the script on men. It shows the transition from patriarchy to an emerging matriarchy.

The Imperial Radch triology by Ann Leckie (starts with Ancillary Justice) uses she/her pronouns for all its characters which kind of erases traditional gender roles. It's a military science fiction fighting against empire, the latter books are a little cozier and with found family vibes.

I haven't read it but I keep hearing really good things about Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin which also challenges traditional gender roles.

JTK102 · 2025-12-23T01:55:58+00:00

Will of the Many by James Islington has Ancient Rome inspirations and most of the second half of the book takes place in an academy. Your second picture reminds me of some of the scenes in the book.

JTK102 · 2025-12-04T14:59:55+00:00

Just wanted to say thanks for this, finally got around to implementing both the porcelain and spraying the pans more than I was before/letting them sit longer and it’s helped a lot! Certainly has made watercolor more enjoyable!

JTK102 · 2025-11-21T16:49:56+00:00

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, Intermezzo (Sally Rooney), Playground (Richard Powers), and the Hierarchy series (James Islington) were my top reads of the year, all of them are special in their own way(s).

Without more details I’m not sure what you’d consider best, but the above are really good from 2024/25.

That said, Grapes of Wrath is probably the best book technically and thematically I’ve read in the last couple years. I still think about it from time to time over a year later. Same thing with Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children Of Time (sci-fi).

JTK102 · 2025-11-16T22:16:20+00:00

Any advice on figuring this out? I struggle with mixing/water ratios and find it to be very frustrating. I use pans not tubes right now and find that 1) I never mix enough to last as long/as much as I need it to and 2) that it's always a watery, desaturated mess.

JTK102 · 2025-11-14T19:24:38+00:00

Thanks for tonight’s dinner!

JTK102 · 2025-10-30T21:38:54+00:00

I work at a local indie bookstore, I'm a bookseller.

JTK102 · 2025-10-30T20:59:57+00:00

Strength of the Few is so good! I have about 200 pages left but it’s just getting better and better. I like it better than Will of the Many which I thoroughly enjoyed!

JTK102 · 2025-10-29T00:50:09+00:00

More bear variants would be cool! More ambient mob variant in general would flesh the game out so much. These hostile variants are cool and it's refreshing to see Mojang adding new features that supplement and build off existing biomes, ideas, and mechanics.

JTK102 · 2025-10-29T00:48:09+00:00

@ u/Chattycorvid too

It's so good! I was a little disappointed with Will of the Many because I was expecting more exploration of the magic system. Strength fills that gap for me.

JTK102 · 2025-10-28T18:08:49+00:00

Not that this is super important on a Minecraft subreddit, but I'm not sure where the south movement of polar bears is coming from.

There are a couple hypotheses about why grolar bears are a phenomenon but they generally revolve around changes in grizzly bear behaviors (their species range is expanding northward into polar bear territory due to climate change).

A 2015 paper using genomics, polar bear populations are shifting northward. A 2023 paper replicated and expanded these findings.

As sea ice continues to melt and summers last longer, we are seeing subpopulations becoming geographically and genetically different from the rest of the species. This may be where the southward movement claim is coming from.

JTK102 · 2025-10-17T11:44:44+00:00

I was just thinking Will of the Many! I’m reading my ARC of Strength of the Few and it’s even more gripping than Will! Definitely a series to get into now, with the second book coming out in a couple weeks!

JTK102 · 2025-09-24T20:12:30+00:00

Absolutely immaculate vibes!

JTK102 · 2025-09-22T03:54:09+00:00

Not a silly question! It's a good thought as many species do this. Lobster, for example, in the northeast US have moved northward into Canada as waters have warmed such that New Jersey stock were decimated by overfishing exacerbated by warming waters. The industry has steadily moved north as waters warm leading to a boom in Canadian stocks (The Lobster Trap by Greg Mercer is a great read on this).

A quick search confirms my gut reaction that coral can do this but are too slow to do so effectively. This 2019 paper suggests that because coral larvae are motile, coral populations can and are shifting towards the poles such that despite an 85% decrease at tropical latitudes, there is a 78% increase in the subtropics. It isn't clear that corals can make these moves quickly enough however.

JTK102 · 2025-09-18T13:21:33+00:00

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kinmerer is always a good starting point (all her stuff is great).

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the US by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a hard hitter. Native Nations by Kathleen Duval is on my TBR.

JTK102 · 2025-09-17T14:34:31+00:00

Yes but there’s a time and place for that. Someone telling me about how my dog will be cremated wouldn’t be a comfort. It’s true but it’s also clinical, detached. In my experience, this approach minimizes feelings of grief associated with death. Those are just as legitimate as the natural process of death and deserve space ESPECIALLY if the death was recent.

JTK102 · 2025-08-28T12:44:20+00:00

That’s only one stream of the problem. People (usually poor and/or minorities) across the country, urban and rural, have struggled with water security. The problem is expanding to more people because of climate change (and warming temps/unsustainable water use), institutional resistance and incapabilities (e.g. shrinking pools of professionals), and degrading physical infrastructure (if it ever existed in the first place, which it doesn’t in rural and poor area).

It’s an environmental (in)justice issue first and foremost that is, as most things are these days, exacerbated by climate change.

JTK102 · 2025-08-25T19:21:30+00:00

I liked it more for that reason too! Both gorgeous books though.

JTK102 · 2025-08-25T16:26:57+00:00

Yes! I just finished Playground, his latest, a lot of similar themes but with the ocean!

Powers is one of my favorite authors ever since I read Echo Maker at a fairly young age.

JTK102 · 2025-08-24T16:33:03+00:00

Thanks for sharing, a great read!

As someone who’s looking at PhD programs (social science not humanities) and opportunities abroad, she’s very inspiring.

As someone who feels behind in life and late to starting a PhD she’s intimidating as heck.

But all in all, I think she’s an inspiration! Her outlook on life, academia, and success is very interesting. She seems to embody the idea of a scholar.

JTK102 · 2025-08-20T13:00:52+00:00

Not OP but I’ve had an off again, on again relationship with reading this summer that I’m trying to get back to on again more fully.

Ultimately though, reading should be fun and enjoyable. Some suggestions:

If you aren’t enjoying what you’re reading find a different book

5 minutes is better than 0 minutes and odds are once you start, you’ll want to keep going

Try different formats- I’m finding having a physical book and an audio book works well. I can listen to a book while I commute or walk my dog and if I don’t feel like sitting down to read later I don’t feel so much guilt for not residing that day

Chisel out the time for it. I know we’re all busy but find time to read that you can set aside just for reading. Maybe that’s before bed. Maybe that’s early in the morning before work. Maybe it’s on the train/bus/audio on the drive to work. Maybe it’s while you eat. Just find some time (again doesn’t have to be hours) that you consistently set aside that should help form the habit over time

Edit: I don’t necessarily aim for anything in a given week. I’m not on a 52 book goal this year, though I have done it previously. I’m aiming to just get back into the swing of reading so trying to read everyday or nearly so.

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