I’m now a Post-Captain in the Royal Navy hunting down an American frigate preying on our whalers in the South Pacific. Oh, the joy of the sea - nothing finer than a slanting deck and hum of the backstays! Now, where is that mumping villain Killick with my toasted cheese?

Tree is decorated, presents are scattered under and between its boughs, coffee cake is out of the oven, and Hans Gruber has fallen from Nakatomi Plaza. Everyone cheer for Christmas is here! Happy Winter Solstice Holiday to all who celebrate, in any way you celebrate!

In keeping with annual tradition, today I brought in a guest lecturer for my Genetics class. My students were very excited to welcome Princess Ariel to come talk about RNA modification and intron splicing today.

I'm just the guy to make a pithy joke about Dunning-Kruger and Imposter Syndrome being 2 sides of the same coin, but then who am I to think I'm qualified to be that funny?

It’s almost August, so that means it’s time to talk about one of my favorite foods: Fruit Salad! I did a whole huge thread on fruit salad back on the dead bird site a few years ago, and a follow-up the next year with photos. But this time, we’re starting over from scratch! 1/

If you were going to make a playlist of Cheesy 80s Romance songs, what else would you add? So far, I've got: Almost Paradise by Ann Wilson and Mike Reno Never Gonna Let You Go, by Sergio Mendes Up Where We Belong, by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes Thoughts? Additions?

I’m in need of good covers of Lou Reed or Velvet Underground songs. Not recs on what’s good by LR or VU, but good covers. I’ve got Candy Says by Blind Melon and Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies. But I’ve heard 2 dozen others and nothing moves me. Any recommendations? #covers #velvetunderground

I found a cool mnemonic for this - I always say out loud in my head (that's a thing, right?) when I'm writing that kind of sentence: The whole comprises the parts. So, basically, "comprise"="is composed of" but !="composes" At least, I think that's right.

I adore Theodore’s Books in Oyster Bay. It’s tiny, welcoming, and the staff have all be delightful every time I’ve gone.

I need to defrag my BlueSky feed. It's a problem of my own making. On the dead bird app, I had 2 accounts. 1 for my writer life, and 1 for my scientist life. When I got here, I stupidly followed everyone from both in 1 joint account. But now, reading my feed gives me whiplash between 2 worlds. Oye.

I'm telling you, it's really hard to decide between #7 and #8.

Name a TV show you’re positive no one remembers but you.

Hi, I'm Matt Shean. You may remember me from such social media or message boards as the bird place, Codex, or the original Deep Magic (ca 2006). I've been mostly quiet other than retweeting political stuff on the bird site. But thats out of my system now. I'm here now. Feel free to say "hi!"

Secretary of Interior Decorating