No kings, except the album “King Sh*t and the Golden Boys” by Guided by Voices (1995)

There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university. University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.

Between quarters at UC Davis. Three short stories submitted yesterday. PowerPoint sent to next week’s conference too.

View from my parents’ kitchen window near Kansas City earlier this week.

Signal bump re: student loans and new admin protectborrowers.org/trump-vought...

Out with youngest supporting my hometown team.

Visited one of my oldest friends in Tucson this week. Sharing music recs since first grade. Causing trouble about as long.

I am amused that Mark Z. says those of us who are extricating ourselves from Meta are "virtue signaling." No, my dude. What you're seeing is a raised middle finger. That -does- signal something, but it ain't "virtue."

One week away from my band, The Labricks, playing a show at Sudwerk Brewing in Davis—Jan 18, 6-9pm.

Whaddaya think guys, time for a reboot?

If you are starting to think about your nominations, Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right is eligible for a Hugo Award in Best Related Work.

I went to KC games each season growing up. The aura was nuts before they even became a winning team.

Happy Holidays to all!

Seeking 15-minute papers for a prospective panel on franchise fiction, mass market books, and pulp at the American Literature Association conference in Boston, May 21-24, 2025. Please share. call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/12/...

School break. It’s nice not having to hustle the kids out for school this morning. Figuring out how to keep ‘em busy all day is a bit intimidating though.

Re: Black Doves. Any show with drummer Rat Scabies cameoing as an arms dealer gets a pass from me.

All finals graded, all grades calculated. Going to wait a day, just to have one more fresh glance at the numbers, before I hit submit.

Folks who teach Jesse James dime novels know…

We are 8 days from the end of quarter 2 & kids have started to ask. “What can I do get get my grade up?” My response… “Your work, as it was assigned in class.” “Can I turn it in now?” “No, that’s why we have rolling due dates.” “Is there extra credit?” “Extra implied you did the credit…”

Seeking 15-minute papers for a prospective panel on franchise fiction, mass market books, and pulp at the American Literature Association conference in Boston, May 21-24, 2025. Please share. call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/12/...

Post the LAST sentence of your last article: The draft brought to the public in the Atlantic in 2001 may not the same manuscript as the one Twain presented to Howells in 1876, but rather the culmination of a lingering frustration with Verne…

If you see this, post a knight.

For me, academic social media was always like listening in on colleagues in the break room while grabbing coffee—an office interaction only know apocryphally on many campuses. In higher ed, you fend for yourself in terms of coffee. And the break room’s been repurposed for storage.

Not sure who came up with this bit o’ wisdom… “Your real age is 70 minus the number of Coachella performers you recognize.”

It’s that time of year when I have to tell students who’ve asked me to read drafts of every paper that… no, you’ve got this, you’re smart, and you already know anything I’d tell you about this one. My job is to make you not need me.

Students in first-year steampunk seminar have me watching Arcane. It’s trope-y but throws nice narrative curveballs.

Weird sky coloring during this overcast Fall in California’s Central Valley. (Midwest boy in me recalls heading for basement on days like this.)