The good news, I have a new job, starting next week. Community sector.

Happenstance and laziness led to today being a games/pizza/Greek mythology day with the junior offspring. Pretty good day.

Really enjoyed Esoteric Ebb - "What if Disco Elysium but D&D?" is weird but gosh they've pulled it off. Turns out what I really want from my games is a stat that goes up when I advocate socialism.

"What's the band called?" "'Pastor of muppets.'" #rpgquotes

The lack of process here was genuinely baffling. Like, if everyone who knows *anything* about the subject says this is dumb, what are you proving by doing it anyway? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I'm talking about my unemployment experience because it's thoroughly weird and isolating, and utterly invisible if you're not going through it. Unemployment is hard, and it's hard for a whole bunch of social and psychological and systemic reasons. I want to work. I really want to work.

Today I have that classic mygov experience: "You have an urgent message in your mygov inbox" plus "You cannot log on due to technical difficulties." I've lost several hours this week to the systems that are supposed to support me.

"Thank you for contacting Workforce Australia. Firstly, have you tried contacting Beyond Blue or Lifeline?" This is such a vile system.

Last day of term for dog training. It was a lovely class, and they gave me lovely feedback. "No, seriously, Stu. The whole vibe was wonderful, I've not seen anything like it." I shall take their word, I think.

You would get so many more amazing books if you had Universal Basic Income. Not even the most dream-scenario AI could compete with the creativity of a world of authors no longer afraid of affording rent.

Human artists, use only one piece to convince people to follow you.

Centrelink: "Dear Consumer. We have received your complaint 'none of the website functions actually work as described'. We propose the following remedy: Use the described website functions. Thank you for your commitment to process improvement. Have an iced ay."

'CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.' - Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

Today is International Day of Mathematics. Make it count.

Ooh.

Every couple months a news article will go ‘isn’t it sus that in the last couple decades after a small change to diagnostic approach, autism rates have risen at a rate where it will eventually be double what it was?’ and every time they never mention that the change was realising women get it too

On Starfleet Academy: I did the assigned reading, and I am glad of it. Our Town is tight, clever and philosophical, things I always like in a play. Also, according to my copy Holly Hunter played the Stage Manager in a production once.

I've enjoyed Starfleet Academy a lot, and I am going to express that enjoyment in the time-honoured manner of my people: by complaining about it.

I ran AGON yesterday - a Greek myth TTRPG about a voyage through mist-shrouded islands in a mythic sea. It's tremendously evocative. Conflicts are short, punchy and declarative, as heroes stand forth to test their mettle against foes of legend.

Mildly spooky experience: the light at my back door doesn't work. A light bulb broke in the socket, and I've not been able to get it out. Two nights ago the light was on. It went off and on again when I flipped the switch. Now, it's not working again.

I keep getting a popup saying my copilot licence has expired and I must renew my subscription. It should be annoying, but honestly it makes me smile every time I close the box.

Broadcast strange signals, take twisted calls, and question how much longer you can stay alive in Midnight in Jubilation; a solo urban horror journalling game. Follow now to be notified on launch, and get the free preview on Itch! t.ly/5yW8X

Starfleet Academy just set a text for the audience.

Looks like the original has been swept away by the sands of time.

The Scholar The Priest The King The Drummer

16 years ago I did a single-page story called "The Process," and only much later that I realized I was just describing the ADHD thought process... 😅 dresdencodak.com/2010/02/09/t...

Wow. Workforce Australia is Not Good. Broken links, timeouts, misleading instructions, and an overall air of bland compulsion. "Mutual obligation" only goes one way, it seems.

"...but I get the feeling we don't care!"

These folk did Antigone last year and it was amazing. greektheatrenow.com.au/2026/02/10/t...

hi can I interest you in a blessed paradise whose hunger only sacrifice can appease? a desperate community insisting on ancient tradition & terrible necessity? a game played without dice or a GM, driven by a bloody oracle deck & a biting token economy? anyway if you like the wicker man play HARVEST

New games from @wildwoodsgames.bsky.social . Luke's games are among my favourites, with lush, deeply evocative writing and resonant themes.

I have been enjoying Starfleet Academy, but "these people are cruel and immoral and bloodthirsty because they are in constant pain!" is not a thing that has been Thought Through.

I have a weakness for weird fun short films, and you don't see enough of them these days. Milky Subway - The Galactic Limited Express is a weird fun short film in twelve three minute episodes. Recommended.

I'm game.

This looks like a game with incredible thematics and style and impact, and gameplay I'm going to hate. (It's a fiddly platformer.) ... ...will still buy it, I think.

Hadn't seen Grosse Pointe Blank before. It was fun.

Have to feel for Tegan in these old Doctor Who episodes. Her introduction to the TARDIS is deeply traumatic, with the death of her aunt and her accidental kidnapping. The Doctor is the only persona who can help her, but from her pov he's erratic, incoherent and highly unreliable.

My people are good people. My former colleagues are good people. My friends are good people. My kids are good people. My siblings and niblings are good people. My people are good people.

My favourite Star Trek is always the Star Trek that's on. And I do not mind that being Starfleet Academy right now.

Some terrifically titled papers from a discovered collection of NASA research documents found in a skip (with thanks to @juliarez.placid.horse)

My youngest recommended Lore Olympus, a graphic novel that tells (and somewhat reimagines) Greek myths, starting with Persephone and Hades. And it is just lovely, and elegant, and beautiful, and sweeping, and dramatic. Exquisitely framed and designed and written. I pass on the recommendation.

A thread of glory and wonder.

Applying for government jobs is marginally easier than it was last time I was doing it, which was ~10 years ago.

Jobhunting: "Application closing date: 17 August 2026." It appears correct, or at least it's the same in several places. Government work, obvs.

First principles. xkcd.com/3200/

Weird stuff in the job hunt. DFAT is looking for an EL1 Locksmith: www.apsjobs.gov.au/s/job-detail...

Guardian headline: 'use of ADHD meds has more than tripled!! 😱😭🚨' Article details: barely anyone who might need the meds has access to them 🤷🏻‍♀️

I am feeling weighed down by weltschmerz (and a bit of personal schmerz). What's good for the soul, entertainment-wise?

A thing this world has largely lost: paperbacks what fit in your pocket. (Braidwood book fair.)