My parents met when my then-MIT undergrad dad looked out the window of his Boston apartment to see a woman descending down the side of the building so that she could break into the apartment below his. He was intrigued and struck up a conversation. (This was after she escaped the convent) (con't)

Uncleftish Beholding by Poul Anderson Beholding of stuff and firststuff. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/uncle...

Ah, memories of the lady who adopted one of our 30 kg mutt's puppies because she wanted a medium-sized dog. The police dog that fathered the puppies was 50 kg and was the one pup from that litter that we kept we kept. Whose name I am very annoyed to discover I've forgotten. I do remember (con't)

This better have a spotlight episode for Mogo, G'Nort, and the F Sharp Bell. How am I to distinguish between the Hal Jordan jerk-ass Green Lantern and the Guy Gardner jerk-ass Green Lantern? Is it just the haircut? Or will they mention Arisia? www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmcI...

Anyone know why there was a service disruption on the Ion this afternoon?

I don't seem to be able to post to bluesky from my phone...

Bundle of Holding: Runehammer EZD6 This all-new Runehammer EZD6 Bundle presents EZD6, the tabletop roleplaying game of fast-moving mayhem from "DM Scotty" McFarland (TheDMsCraft on YouTube) and Runehammer Games (Index Card RPG). bundleofholding.com/presents/Run...

If I tried this, an ill-timed sneeze would land that hot pan on my crotch. Which reminds me (continued)

Not crazy about the ongoing Doctor Hook reunion. RIP Dennis Locorriere. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuvf...

Let’s Talk About Our Favorite Used Bookstores Here's to digging for treasure in the endless shelves of bookstores past and present… reactormag.com/lets-talk-ab...

My next Outgunned adventure touches on SEA 70,000 BP. OG simulates action movies, so probably I shouldn't overthink how to reconcile what I want to have with the archaeological record and just have everything look like Athens circa 450 BC. Because that's how an action movie would do it. (con't)

I can't help but notice the former barn cat who invited himself into my brother's house is more well marbled than when it was a barn cat. Probably left over winter insulation.

I Will Not Watch Your Poorly Lit Film or TV Show.

Non-Stop by Brian W. Aldiss Believing the Ship is the whole universe is just common sense. So believe the people in it, but they are not the orphans of the sky they believe themselves to be. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/relen...

Did Xi refrain from asking for one or more Trump kids as guarantees of good faith from Trump because he knows Trump would write off any of his kids in a second?

A Canticle for Leibowitz Terminal Boredom Stand on Zanzibar

I'm beginning to suspect what looks like an enormously streamlined way of tracking antagonists in the Outgunned family of games actually adds a cognitive load to the GM, especially in Supers. (con't)

How is it people I don't pay attention to don't seem to be doing stuff?

The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee All that stands between Isako and the satisfactory end of her career is one last job. How hard could it possibly be to accomplish one final task? jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/owe-m...

'Mazing Man as a slice-of-life comedy?

Unquenchable Fire (Unquenchable Fire, volume 1) by Rachel Pollack Chosen One Jennifer Mazdan would prefer to let destiny's call go through to voice mail. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/all-j...

How much would I regret checking to see what people in the 1970s thought was happening with humans in Insular South East Asia 70,000 years ago?

Can BlueSky hope to become mainstream when users still refuse to take a position on the 1939 Great Exclusion Act? Are they for Michelism or against it?

I have been ear-wormed with Chelsea Hotel #2....

I had a thought as I was trying to fall asleep. Poul Anderson would sometimes have a world named for less well known gods, with side comment that all the famous pantheons got used up close to the Solar System. OK, but (con't)

Bundle of Holding: The Other Side 11 character-class supplements for any old-school FRPG. bundleofholding.com/presents/Oth...

Weird and annoying: the memory on my laptop is slowly filling up and I am not sure why. I do delete temp files and such but it does not seem to be reflected in the available memory.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, volume 1 by Rifujin Na Magonote A selfless act of heroism costs a homeless NEET his life. Waking in an unfamiliar world, he resolves to do better in his next incarnation. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/secon...

From "Martians Never Die" by Lucius Daniel: "That's not much of a proposal," she smiled. "But I guess I'll have to accept you. You have Clyde's power of attorney."

Four Pillars Gaming published hundred of AI-generated profiles over the past four months and when people asked to be taken down, they doubled down, defended their process, and refused. The ramifications of hallucinatory LLM "histories" threaten to erode truth and destroy the historical record.

It turns out buying two pairs of glasses is roughly twice as expensive as buying one pair. (Distance and reading because after 15 years of progressive lenses I am tired of having no distance at which I can really focus)

What if Starmer and Poilievre quietly swapped places?

I found a lost mailbox key....

If Americans would just have more babies, they'd be assured of something to eat once the famines begin. And yet, they refuse!

Ah, memories of an argument on rec.comics.* in which someone argued that there couldn't possibly be lesbians on Themyscira because it was founded in antiquity and everyone knows the older a culture, the more conservative it is, so they wouldn't have tolerated gay people.

Dreaming about having insomnia is just as tiring as not sleeping. I had a dream I wasn't crazy about, where I discovered after moving into a new apartment with lots of room for book cases that there was an exterior door with no lock, and a strict curfew on the building...

Bones of the Earth by Michael Swanwick Human paleontologists have the professional opportunity of a lifetime... but there's a catch. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/deep-...

Apparently the number of natural science videos starring a sweary paleontologist that I will watch is not low.

This ancient ad aged well. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tijc...

Hmmm. Four or five, depending on if the Clark interregnum means PET counts as two: Dief, Pearson, PET, Clark, and PET again.

Bundle of Holding: Atomic Robo (from 2021) Nine complete .PDF graphic albums of the Atomic Robo comic series from Tesladyne LLC, plus the 2014 Atomic Robo RPG tabletop roleplaying game from Evil Hat Productions. bundleofholding.com/presents/202...

Two Plot-Friendly Approaches to Generation Ships When it comes to governing a generation ship, do you prefer the Watsonian or Doylist strategy? reactormag.com/two-plot-fri...

Apparently the app-based version of Survivor Assassin is super popular in Waterloo Region High Schools. Speaking as an open-minded person keen to celebrate human joy in all things, this fad is annoying as fuck because it means I have to keep an eye out for kids trying to play it in the theatre.

Someone appears to have vexed one of UW's skunks last night. (I did not anger the skunk. Not again, anyway)

The Death of Grass by John Christopher A crop blight offers the British a chance to apply to the UK the same pragmatic measures they used during famines in Ireland and Bengal. jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/alone

Well, add one to my list of catastrophic door failures.

I prefer the interpretation where the Piano Man is the only straight man at a gay bar and all the regulars are betting on how long it will take him to realize why Paul never had time for a wife, why the navy appeals to Davy, and why the regulars keep asking "Man, what are you doing here?"

Books Received, May 2 — May 8 Six works new to me. Three are SF, two fantasy and Fiyah is a mix. At least one of the novels is from a series. Interesting that SF is such a large fraction. Is SF making a comeback? First four covers! jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/books-r...

Does the Signet mmpb of Starship have the full text of Aldiss' Non-Stop?