Books I am reading and/or just finished. All are good, though the Portis was a bit annoying (iykyk); the Aickman is great (The Hospice is one of the best stories ever); and the Yeager is as bleak as you’d imagine. A terrific trio of tales.

ICE is claiming that the officer feared that Renee Good was about to seriously injure or kill him at this moment.

"Sounds like: Baroness, or for people who like both sludge metal and Bruce Springsteen." Hell. Yes. Just heard about these guys. And from Asheville, too. basknc.bandcamp.com/album/the-tu...

If you're gonna engage in extracurricular activities DO NOT POST ABOUT IT.

Walz needs to step back up to the plate and withdraw his statement of resignation.

Here’s the poem of Renee Nicole Good’s — murdered in broad daylight yesterday by a masked thug — that won the 2020 Academy of Poets Prize. poets.org/2020-on-lear...

NEW: Woman shot dead by ICE agent in Minneapolis identified as Renee Good, 37. According to her mom, Renee had 3 children and was not part of any ICE protest groups

So ICE executed a woman today. No self defense, no real reason. Killed her. WE NEED CONSEQUENCES FOR THESE ASSHOLES. #justice

I’m in that romantic pre-“handing over the new book manuscript to the editors” phase. Which means I’m still in the “you mean people are gonna pay to read this crap I came up with after too many rum and cokes and now I have to somehow fix it and make it my next magnum opus?” phase. #booksky

If the playing field weren’t tilted, they’d never win a thing. Money’s all they got, because they sure ain’t got the people. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

It’s too late, homies. We ain’t never going back. See you in town, on the job, in the grocery store and wherever else humans congregate. Eat shit, boys. Deal with it. #trans open.substack.com/pub/transiti...

Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse (2011) is apocalypse without divinity, a Nietzschean fable backdrop expanded to a Godless and windswept End of the World. A father and daughter slowly and quietly, empty and exhausted, starve to death as the six days of Creation are reversed into a countdown to darkness.

Them: "Trans women are evil! They'll corrupt your children and destroy the moral fabric of society!" Most trans women: *just cuddling and yapping about Magic or DnD or Amtrak or dinosaurs or games or comfort movies or some shit*

Bela Tarr, one of the greatest filmmakers in the world, has died. His films are slow, dreamy, cerebral, magical. His work is unique in the film canon. If you’ve never seen one of his films, I suggest starting with the Werckmeister Harmonies. It’s his most accessible. RIP sir, and thank you.

If you’re right, you’re right.

It's a huuuuge mistake for Tim Walz to not run for reelection. He's essentially giving into the bullies, and you never give in to bullies. But today the bullies won. Which only encourages them to keep it up. Fight the bullies. Never surrender.

Hikin’. It feels good in the sun. #coonhounds #avl

“You had trouble believing that so many Gen-Xers could have voted for Trump until you remembered all those pop-collared douchebros and shoulder-padded mean girls you and your punk crowd in college avoided.” Right to the heart, McSweeney’s.

I am disgusted by the sheer amount of AI being used in place of actual talent and individuality in art and communication. Make no mistake, it is very much a tool of supremacy. Drowning out the voices of marginalized people and replacing them.

The Trump admin is what happens when you run the Bush admin through AI.

“It’s 2003. The US Republicans launch an illegal war for oil.” “It’s 2025. The US Republicans launch an illegal war for oil.” “It’s 2047. The US Republicans launch … “

By retreating only to "kitchen table issues" to avoid being labeled "woke," Democratic leaders have left an open goal for the GOP. When you treat the harassment of vulnerable communities as a "distraction" rather than a crisis, you're not avoiding a fight: you're just forfeiting it.

Rewatching Scarface after not seeing it for many years. I’m reminded what an incredible ice-queen Michelle Pfeiffer played, just a brilliantly complex character drawn in a few bold strokes. The writing, casting, acting and directing all came perfectly together. DePalma’s best film (tied w/ Carrie).

A terrific interview by @davidforbes.bsky.social with an ex-NYT editor outlining the history and consequences of the paper’s anti-trans agenda, which the right used to bolster their biased policies. It was never just trans folk kvetching—it’s real. #ditchthenyt transnews.network/p/a-directiv...

Happy New Year to all the weirdos and the ones who don’t fit. You’re in good company. Let’s have a great 2026!

If it’s a veggie cookbook and there’s not a chili recipe, I’m tossing it. Vegetarians don’t need recipes for “Chocolate-Pear Strudel With Squash-Blossom Sauce and Mint.” We need stick to your ribs fare—bean dishes and taco dishes and cornbreads and curries. We’re not fancy folk, just hardy. Feed us.

Over 275 authors, editors, critics and diehard readers came together over the last month to vote on their favorite transfeminine books of the year. It's my honor to present the 2025 TFR Reader's Choice Awards! Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who voted 🩷

All this stuff just happening totally in the open.

Coming up January 24, I'll be reading with a bunch of other cool HWA/WNC writers in Marshall, NC, which was nailed pretty hard by Hurricane Helene. I love Marshall, and it'll be so good to see my peeps!! Nathan Ballingrud Jake Bible Andrew K. Clark Robert Creekmore Polly Schattel David Allen Voyles

The writing crew, keeping me on track and focused and helping me slay my goals for ‘26.

Do I have this right? A Wall Street financier is shaping opinions for a newspaper owned by hedge funds to manufacture consent for technology built on intellectual theft to consolidate wealth and power into the hands of narcissistic billionaires while pouring gasoline on a climate crisis? 🤔

I have some family who do this. They “don’t pay attention to the news” and “don’t follow everything everybody says,” but somehow they make sure to get their ignorant asses down to the voting booth and pull the lever for whichever Christian grifter is currently running for president. Predictable.

They overthrew the Soviet Union to install a global capitalist autocracy. This is working exactly as intended. Ronald Reagan got what he want: America is for sale.

No one is coming to save us. We have to be the resistance we need. So be a badass like this guy. www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/12/buda...

Okay, I have to fess up. Something strange is happening. I’m starting to miss the 80’s.

I do not want AI in my house. I do not want AI to generate a blouse. I do not want it in my games I do not want it to win fame. I do not want it, to be fair, Because I do not want it anywhere

Revisionaries, start your engines! Here's a bunch of stuff that'll enter the public domain in 2026. copyrightlately.com/public-domai...

The Great Male Renunciation. When men “abandoned their claim to be considered beautiful" and "henceforth aimed at being only useful.” Out went the wigs and the high heels, in came the minimalist, utilitarian suits. And it’s stayed that way for centuries. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_M...

From “Badlands” to “Brilliant Disguise”, Bruce Springsteen’s great post-superstardom theme is the profound terror of waking up one day as a person you no longer recognize. His diligence in building his mythic status was always matched by his desperate determination disassemble it. A central paradox.

I want to tell a story here of what happens when a society, dominated by cruelty, desperation & contempt -- both indigenous as well as colonial -- begins to marginalize its most vulnerable -- in this case intersex people or hejras, as they're called in South Asia Thread

Just a coupla lads on their way to the pub. Where is that confounded bridge?

The Race of the Two-Faced Men Against the Sun, Carl Dobsky, 2021

Private property.

"A Very Brief History on Trans and non-binary people, from Ancient India, Colonial India to Current day."

The weird thing about real-life transphobes--the ones who quietly stop calling on the phone, or the ones who quietly unfriend or unfollow you--is that they always keep it in the realm of plausible deniability. As if they too are ashamed of their actions, but don't want to admit it. "Who? Me? No!"

Sent from an anonymous source in Leeds