Just what we need: the world's biggest asshole with all the world's assets.

This is a damn good piece (and IMO *dead on*) and you should read it.

Jason Eck just made an announcement in the floor of The Pit during the basketball home opener, and I have never seen a Lobo football coach get that much applause on the floor of the basketball court. This town loves Coach Eck.

So, I reported the MeetUp account that's scamming writers -- by asking them to participate in their gigantic book clubs, then charging them $100 for promotion and other stuff -- and you'll be glad to know that MeetUp is totally cool with the scammers continuing to operate on their platform.

Irony is dead.

In the 'heavy sigh' department: at the polls yesterday, I worked alongside two GOP women, both in their 60s, who worked hard and seemed lovely. And then, around 8 pm, as news from NYC began to roll in, began sharing (and showing me) what they considered hilarious Islamophobic memes about Mamdani.

MAGA yesterday, cackling; “With the power of Trump’s endorsements, it’s gonna be a RED WAVE! CRY MORE, LIBS!” MAGA today, sniffling: “This wasn’t about Trump! He wasn’t even on the ballot.”

On a lunch break, and wanted to note that we’re seeing a HUGE turnout here at our polling station—we had people voting right as we opened at 7 am—and there’s nothing terribly big on the ballot. It really seems like people just wanted to get out and vote.

Heading out the door to go work as a Democratic Floor Judge for today's election here in Albuquerque. Come out and vote, Burquenos! #vote #The505 #NewMexicoTrue

HUGE IF TRUE: Doc Hopper has endorsed Andrew Cuomo for Mayor of New York City.

Good grief, I think this is the most emotional season of The Great British Baking Show ever.

I can’t wait until this guy wins and the @nytimes.com spends the next four years wringing its hands, trying to gin up outrage over whether he spells it “catsup” or “ketchup” and what that might mean for New Yorkers.

My 82 year old kills mom kills me. She makes peas with her meal, and then spends the rest of the evening cracking herself up saying, “There’s pea on the floor! Hey! Someone pea’d on my plate!” She rules.

Shot……and chaser.

Ready to read the untold stories of the politicking and backstabbing that went into the design and construction of the Capitol? Wanna hear more about the bombings, gas explosions, fistfights, gunfights, and botched assassinations that occurred within its walls? It's coming your way June 2, 2026.

Just had my first batch of trick’r’treaters at 6:35 p.m. A brother and a sister, about 8 and 10, who were very appreciative when I told them to just “dig in” to my bowl, and wished me “a really nice evening” as they walked away.

This is all I can think of when I read the name "Kevin Roberts" in the news and CAN A BITCH GET A DONUT?

Anyone else get this alert from the NYT -- saying that "Trump Calls on Republicans to End Filibuster in Shutdown Fight" (and therefore admitting that Republicans own the shutdown -- only to click on it and find there is NO STORY? Even at the NYT homepage, there's no sign of it.

I love this Halloween display: it’s the mascots of the schools who defected from the Mountain West Conference, ready to be roasted.

Halloween means it's time to revisit one of the first Great American Horror Stories, Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," a story so familiar to us that most can summarize the story even if they've never read it. Or can they? There's more to it than you might remember. Take a look:

I *still* can’t read AI as anything but “AL”.

I stepped outside and someone in my neighborhood is clearly burning pinon wood in their fireplace. Delicious.

Countdown to... #Halloween🎃

Mayor, city council, soil and water district, and a bunch of bond issues on the ballot in Albuquerque. No issue is too small for your attention and your vote.

Here's a lovely piece about a town that's still very special to me--Sleepy Hollow--and how they've leaned into All Things Halloween with warmth rather than kitsch. (And if you ever have a chance to attend their Pumpkin Blaze, by all means DO SO.)

My reliable Goodreads Greatest Hits: - this biography/history had too many facts in it 2/5 - I didn't like that the person died at the end 1/5 - the author didn't spend as much time as I wanted discussing [project that is personal favorite] 2/5 - this book needed a good editor 1/5

I'm never quite sure how I feel about these "rediscovered" manuscripts. Dr. Seuss put materials in what he called his "bone pile" for a reason, and it was usually because he had abandoned a project because he decided it wasn't working.

New Mexicans have the most interesting and unusual verbal tics—some of which I picked up growing up here—but the one that always makes my brain itch a bit is the tendency to pronounce “important” as “imPOR-ent”, just absolutely erasing that first T, but also slightly pausing where it should be.

You tell 'em, Steve-Dave.

A colleague of mine just responded to a relative’s online ranting about stocking up on food and toiletries and staying indoors (“especially women and children!”) once SNAP benefits expire, by posting a list of local food pantries and the items they need the most.

THE LENNON PROPHECY, which tries to argue--with an absolutely straight face--that the Beatles' success was due to John Lennon selling his soul in 1960 . . . and then (in a "Paul Is Dead" double-reverse) hiding clues to his deal in Beatles songs and album covers. It's . . . really something.

Okay, clearly a scam operation, targeting the lucrative Book Club market (and, more nastily, preying on writers trying/hoping to get eyes on their books). Thanks to everyone who responded, and I've sent screenshots over to @victoriastrauss.com, the diligent and hardworking keeper of Writer Beware.

Just got the ODDEST invitation to address a book group reading Jim Henson. I was asked if I would like to participate in their group discussion for 2 hours on a Thursday night. I said sure, and the follow up was: great! Now we need a $100 "onboarding contribution." Anyone else run into this?

43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.

I’m not at all surprised to read that Coppola’s broke—he’s always been famously bad with money. Heck, the main reason he took the job directing THE GODFATHER (and largely with a push from George Lucas) is that he’d gambled it all and lost on setting up his American Zoetrope production company.

Dang, man! I forgot that TIGER EYES is even *set* in Los Alamos!

Reading the Judy Blume biography and, wow, I had no idea she had spent a couple of years living in Los Alamos and Santa Fe.

Breathlessly.

Very, very nice. A win over the coach that left us after one season, and it wasn’t even close. Jason Eck’s Lobos are feeling like the real deal.🐺

The Very Serious Thinker David Brooks wants you to know that Democrats have shut down the government because they hate democracy.

If you want to learn more about the Muppet performers, check out Frank Oz's documentary MUPPET GUYS TALKING, which is an intimate conversation between Oz, Dave Goelz, Fran Brill, Jerry Nelson, & Bill Barretta (muppetguystalking.com). Here's Jim Henson talking about Frank in OF MUPPETS & MEN...

God, not you, too, @vanityfair.com. Stop with this faux oblivious head-scratching. We all know what the "unspecified brown sludge" was. Use your words.

This is all gonna work out REALLY well for Cuomo.

This makes me just absolutely blind with rage.

Hey, Chris Carter, PLEASE no more ChatGPT-generated themes and playlists for Breakfast with the Beatles, okay? All else aside, they’re just embarrassingly bad.

Let's hear your reasoning behind voting for this, @heinrich.senate.gov. Hugs and kisses, from a constituent in Albuquerque who ain't happy with this.

I’m very excited to have been asked to read and blurb this. Also slightly envious, as this is a subject I would’ve LOVED to have written about!

For one thing, it just *feels* completely different from the care they took during the "Truman Renovation" of the White House from 1948 to 1952, when they treated the project more like an archaeological dig than a brute force demolition.

In the last known image of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, you can see the structural fatigue where she had started sagging in the middle. Freaky!

Not that the media is even bothering to talk about it at this point, but watch any Republican who’s asked about this tell you they “haven’t seen it yet,” or if they have, they “can’t possibly comment on everything the president posts on social media.”