Christmas #caturday

Honored to be in conversation with such an incredible group of scholars

I know everyone is celebrating a certain author’s 250th birthday but it’s also MY 41st so let’s focus on the living, shall we?

Well, England, it’s been fun, but I gotta get back to California: land of sunshine, big cars, not pronouncing the Ls in “tortilla,” and functional tumble dryers.

I’m running for Congress because we need leaders who will fight, not fold. I recognize this moment, and I’m ready to meet it. #FightDontFold #LanderForNYC #LanderForCongress

The best semester @cecs-york.bsky.social in York, can’t believe it’s almost over

Wasn’t planning to write today (other than LORs), then saw this and set aside 45 minutes. 343 words! #acadecawriteathon

What Seth said

My first talk to come with a souvenir

Oh, I’ve missed you

Oh, this hurts. What a light to go out. The final words of Alice’s farewell message: “Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”

Our message to Andrew Cuomo was loud & clear in June. It’s louder & clearer tonight.

Part 2!

Deadline extended to Dec. 1!

Today is the second anniversary of Ady's death. Carl said, "I can't believe it's been two years. So much has happened, but it feels like just a year." We miss him every day. While we're in York for the fall, Ady's caregiver Izamar set up this beautiful ofrenda for him at our house in Santa Barbara.

*Highly* recommend a tour of the Palace of Knossos narrated entirely by a Greek-mythology-obsessed 9-year-old. We got way more detail than the other tour groups.

OMG (yes that’s the Acropolis)

Pilgrimage to see the Difference Engine at the London Science Museum (9-year-old mostly unimpressed)

WSECS proposals due Nov. 1! Come spend Presidents' Day weekend in sunny Santa Maria, CA, or present remotely. This year's theme is "Eighteenth-Century Collaborations." www.wsecs.org/upcoming-eve...

Looking forward to this!

Great! While we’re it, let’s go back to state funding of the UC that would make tuition free.

[clears throat]...I have another book coming out in the near future if you'd like to read a bit about LYRIC LOGIC, there are some very generous blurbs over at @columbiaup.bsky.social (my thanks to Marjorie Levinson, Oren Izenberg, Theo Davis, Nan Z. Da, and also @philipleventhal.bsky.social)

'Ilaheva Tuaone and I are still seeking panelists for our ASECS roundtable, "The Unwritten Word: Alternative Texts, Epistemologies, and Ontologies." Full description here: asecs.org/sessions2026/ Please get in touch with any questions!

Such an honor to work on this one, on so many levels-- it's a special project, and going to be a beautiful, incredibly thoughtful book.

I'm so happy to finally share this news. This book is about how the past 9 years changed my ideas about family, community, and care, and how those ideas fit into a long history. Huge thanks to my agent @carolineeisenmann.bsky.social, who held my hand through much angst, and to my editor Abby Mohr.

Lander does this shit when he's not even running for anything. The realest possible one

I just spoke to NYC Comptroller Brad Lander as he left police custody following his arrest at immigration court. Here’s what he said:

I’ll never forget Jimmy Kimmel tearing up while talking with Ady about how they both hoped their children would remember them. Horrible that he has been silenced. www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20...

Excited to have a new thematic review in the SEL omnibus!

I did it. I just sent the revised manuscript of The Book of Improvement to the press. This was such a productive (still painful) revision process: the reader reports were so engaged and incisive. Reader 2 gave me a run for my money but we worked it out. TOC and first paragraph below!

Does your library have a Pacific View Room? It should.

Today in the 90s are back: children learning the Macarena at camp

Personally, I consume 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine a day because I’m addicted to caffeine.

Progress on book revisions measured in the number of half-drunk cans of Le Croix scattered around the house

I really appreciate that my publisher requires alt text for all images. But I'll appreciate it a bit more once I have finished writing the alt text for 50+ figures and tables.

Someday I will stop writing about Austen's defense of the novel in Northanger Abbey, but today is not that day.

Me: I don’t want my new headshots to be too girly. I am a Serious Academic. Also me: PINK WALL

We loved recording this episode with Brad Lander! We talked everything from the media attacks on Zohran Mamdani, how ranked choice voting created an opportunity for the progressives and left to defeat Andrew Cuomo, and how shocked he was to get arrested by ICE agents. youtu.be/cSIJBednlpU?...

Canadian Rockies 😍

Just finished my epilogue (like this minute) and it's pure free-association. Topics covered, in order: my college years, my tattoo, the form of the chapter, the prosperity gospel, quantification, the Apple Watch, wellness, Poog, journaling, novel reading, men not reading novels, bibliotherapy 1/2

9-year-old made his bed (unprompted) like this before leaving for camp and 🥹

Happy publication day to @rosecasey.bsky.social!!!!

Get you an archive buddy who will go straight from the NYPL to the Grand Central Oyster Bar

Last NYC mayoral post (pretending I still live in NYC is my favorite hobby). Zohran’s win is huge but part of the reason it feels so transformative is this partnership. The love for Brad at Zohran’s party last night was palpable. Can’t wait to see them building a better New York together.

Holy fucking shit

Realizing how much 2020 ptsd I still have from how happy it makes me to see these two out there working together today

I miss @adybarkan.bsky.social every day. This last week especially, his call on all of us to do what we each can to @beaheroaction.bsky.social has been ringing louder than ever in my ears. Grateful to spend a bit of e-day with @rscar.bsky.social & @ Sarah Johnson.

It’s one million degrees in New York and I am so happy to be here today, and so proud of this campaign.

Genuinely moved by the solidarity at the Working Families Party GOTV rally tonight. All of these candidates want a better world for all New Yorkers and they’re working together to keep a power-hungry abuser out of City Hall.

Frederick Douglass’s sunglasses, comb, and pocket watch.