"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." Ambrose Bierce in The Devil's Dictionary

Elon Musk called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "subtle" and that's one of the funniest things about him.

There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series

yeah i separate art from the artist. i put the harry potter books in the recycling and jk rowling in the trash.

Just heard a developer speaking about AWS's AI efforts and described it as a "the perpetual motion machine of incompetence" and that's so perfect and beautiful.

"It's not [fans'] job to keep theaters open, it's our job to make things that make it worth coming out" — 'Project Hail Mary' star Ryan Gosling

This judge is so tired 😂

Parenting a teen is pissing me off today.

They could try doing some actual governing, but nooooooo... this is a much more wise use of their time and resources (sarcasm)

I'm sorry... since when are the FBI, DOJ, and DHS "election partners"? CONCERNING.

I have discovered a hack for getting Dutch doctors to immediately take action on treating the condition you're seeing them for instead of kicking the can down the road. Compare them to the United States medical system. They HAAAAATE hearing that.

Reminder that TOMORROW, JANUARY 31ST is the last day to register for the ability to nominate for the Hugo Awards! (You can still register for Worldcon after that; you just won't be able to nominate.)

Had to mend my jeans. I hope they still have some life left in them.

My library in the US is not offering Hoopla subscriptions anymore and my library in the Netherlands has a very limited English language section. I don't want to go back to Audible and LibroFM has selection and cost issues. What is everyone's favorite purveyor of audiobooks?

Social media trends for 2026 via @lacyphillips.bsky.social @janefriedman.com janefriedman.com/watch-for-th...

I picked a top 10. 5 fiction and 5 nonfiction.

Dunno why I never thought of this, but the reason why self driving car companies do their "testing" out West is because there's less weather variability! Testing on public streets with people's lives at risk shouldn't be allowed, but... here we are.

Hell, yeah! The English language Jane Austen book club discussion for Northanger Abbey sponsored by the book shop one town over from mine had a spot open up and I was able to snag it!

We are urging all authors whose books were published before August 1, 2022 to stay up to date on the Bartz V. Anthropic class action lawsuit by confidentially submitting their contact information and basic details about their books to the attorneys’ website. www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

More bad news for the book world. The AP is discontinuing its weekly book reviews. dankennedy.net/2025/08/08/t...

I have chopped chilis and now my hands burn.

Are Jaffa Cakes always disappointing, or is it only the gluten free ones?

And here I thought Regan removing Carter's solar panel was the weirdest White House roof drama I'd ever see.

Took a practice Dutch driving theory exam. Failed. Currently reviewing my errors.

When my grandpa was dying, his lungs had begun failing and he had refused supplemental oxygen. He just wanted to pass without interventions, so we instructed the medical staff to extubate him and were prepared for him to struggle to breathe and not be able to oxygenate himself.

the amoral engagement chasing executives at substack (who openly embraced white supremacist writers and have paid huge cash advances to some of the internet's biggest bigots and trolls for years) did a whoops a daisy!

Collective action!

I'm a social media manager professionally and I turned my notifications on yesterday to get updates on my husband's flight with one of our cats. Constant bleeps and bloops from the client accounts! (Yes, I'm aware I can manage the frequency of those, but 🤷‍♀️)

If anyone else geeks out over the social impact of new media, the Vine: 6 Seconds That Changed the World podcast is top tier. open.spotify.com/show/0DdmThQ...

Not very often I start and finish a book on the same day! @andreadunlop.bsky.social and Mike Weber's THE MOTHER NEXT DOOR about a handful of Munchausen by Proxy cases was morbidly fascinating. And she did so well with the narration!

I just cleared so many tasks off of my pending list! It's amazing how productive I can be when I'm procrastinating packing!

I went to go see Pride and Prejudice at the local cinema tonight and the audience was hilarious. There were so many chuckles, loud sighs at just the right moment (you know the one), yelling "KISS!" at a few key points! And the lady next to me gave me a Giradelli chocolate she brought with her!

Pinterest updated their terms of use and they're going to use all of the content you saved to train their AI. Go to options > your privacy rights > disable GenAI Please do it 🫠

So... air fryers are just convection toaster ovens, yes?

In the past few days, participating in discussions online about policies being pushed in Indiana by religious zealots that I don't agree with and JK Rowling being awful, I've been assumed to be Latina (I'm not) and trans (I'm not). Bigots don't even know what they're mad about.

I'm having an "I'm just a girl" moment. My fingernails are too long and it’s making typing difficult.

Ableism is so pervasive & normalized that we have so called leftists attacking disabled people for being unable to protest. Telling them the stakes are “too high to stay home” These same people do nothing to make protests accessible. There can’t be social justice without disability justice

We're in the "daily panic attacks" part of the cross-continental move.

“This was the spring of 2025, when reports of the disappearances first started.”

At the doctor's office yesterday and told the nurse I didn't need to schedule a follow up appointment because I was moving away to the Netherlands and she asked me why. I said, "because we don't like it here anymore." It hurt to say it out loud, but it felt so deeply true.

Big update! My Dutch visa has been approved! Now please excuse me while I give myself ulcers stressing over finding the right school for my kid, securing housing, renovations and listings for our US real estate, and PACKING!!!

First time trying to use minky yarn and... WHY? It's like crochet on hard mode!

My 12-yr-old is grounded from electronics, so he is sitting on the couch reading. He's not been reading much, just re-reading graphic novels he knows he already likes, so I'm glad to see him pick up a book with no pictures.

Every now and again I'll be going about my day and just think, "I hope Jillian Michaels stepped on a Lego, or chewed on tin foil, or something today."

Many thanks to @jennylhowe.bsky.social for coming to book club ith @fatgirlsinfiction.bsky.social tonight! What a treat!

Please clap, I actually opened up my manuscript and worked on finishing a chapter today. (I haven't been getting much drafting done since we decided to immigrate in November because I've been dealing with real estate transactions, visa paperwork, pet passports, etc)

With alt text, because this too is my hill to die on, along with (and because of) accessibility.

January reads: 📖 Drop Dead by Lily Chu 📖 Zapped: From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light by Bob Berman 📖 Because Fat Girl by Lauren Fleming 📖 Valley Verified by Kyla Xhao 📖 Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water by Amorina Kingdon 📖 Fire Weather by John Vaillant

Trying something new since I don't regularly update my blog. I thought I'd write up an account of my January reads, listens, and watches and give some recommendations. www.lacyphillips-author.com/blog/january...

Just in case somebody needs this today... #writingcommunity #writers #romancelandia sanctuaryeditorial.substack.com/p/how-to-wri...