Second wasp sting in less than a month, this one while I was walking down the sidewalk. The first was in the woods, running on a trail. Wasn't messing with y'all either time, so, why, wasps, why?

Twentieth straight year of Dances With Dirt relay in and around Hell, MI complete, and I have the hardware — these are the only race medals I always keep — and the scratched up legs as proof. (Photo taken after washing off the blood and grime. You’re welcome.)

Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.

The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.

Back from the Upper Peninsula and a week of outdoors. Started in the Les Cheneaux islands and closed out the trip with a summer triathlon: hiking, kayaking, and wedding.

Closing in on it…still have to mortise out the spots for the pulls and assemble everything (base not shown) and apply finish, but the end is within sight!

I’ve never encountered so many people I’d never want to meet or hang out with as I did when reading the latest issue of @wired.com. Well-reported as always, so I’m glad to have learned stuff, but many of the so-called futurists featured? Yuck.

Just think: the Michelson-Morley experiment was 138 years ago. 🧪

13 (more) reasons I’ll never do cabinetry at home. Each of those clamps is $50-75! 1/2

Today’s harvest. About to become puttanesca sauce thanks to K.

It's International Moon Day! Since the 1950s, humans have been sending missions to the Moon. This rich archaeological record is under threat from proposed mining and settlement activities. #InternationalMoonDay 🧪 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology

Today’s triathlon: biking, running, and sharpening hand tools. Almost everything I have I got used, and finally got around to building a stand for the bench grinder (bought used, I’d course) so I finally got all the nicks out and put a consistent bevel on just about everything.

Sharpening setup with chisels and plane blades

After 18yrs and 130k miles, the 2007 Civic hybrid has transmogrified into a 2023 Niro PHEV. I did the math and 1/2 to 2/3 of days when we drive will be 100% electric. We wanted to go full EV but Michigan’s Upper Peninsula doesn’t have the infrastructure yet. Next car…if there is one!

Dinner guest excusing itself after jumping off my arm and using my napkin. Not radioactive, did not bite me. Alas.

Diamond Comics Distributors is still soliciting new books from me, and presumably many others. I’m surprised and bemused and glad I no longer depend on them.

You’ve squeezed all the miles you can out of a pair of shoes when your back starts to hurt…and you’re almost to the insole. (Best guess: ~400 miles running and more than 500 miles walking.)

Am I risking his deportation by pointing out my dad is (technically? literally?) a Dreamer: his mother was undocumented when he was born here. That was 90 years ago and he's a white, veteran Navy officer who never committed a crime, etc. etc. But who knows what "the law" means these days?

“Whaddaya mean, I ‘got too hot’ earlier and ‘was grumpy all day’ and ‘didn’t want to go for a walk’? That’s all in the past and the past is an illusion! All that matters is the eternal now. And squeaky pig toys.”

Thanks @multcolib.bsky.social! (You’re one of my fave library systems, and not just because my brother is a patron and a cherished friend has worked there for years… but that helps! 😀)

It appears these trees did in fact need to get cut down. We’ve now lost four 75+ year old red oaks. We’ve planted a swamp oak, two birches, a hop hornbeam, a dogwood, and a linden (my favorite).

A few years ago, while we were in Glacier National Park, we attended a talk by a Native American who told an anecdote that I can only paraphrase -- his telling was much better. Anyway, he talked about a treaty the Federal government offered that promised perpetual peace or something like that. 1/

Today I used USPS for four letters and it was 50% death and 50% taxes. I’m still a fan of our postal service, though.

Get the 20 item bundle for some of the best comics in the world. (I’ve read all of it, and have almost all of it in print. Yeah, I’m a fan, and yeah, I guess I’m old!)

Small walnut bench based on the traditional Moravian stool, but live-edged in the battens and seat. (Okay, had to simulate “live” in spots so it would feel good and look nicer…to me.) Hand tools only… If/when I try this again I’ll for sure increase the splay of the legs, and maybe the rake too.

I’m in good Michigander (Kostova!) company in this Little Free Library and I hope my book finds a happy new home! (Big fan of LFLs…I’ve read 2/3 of Michael Connelly’s Bosch books out of our local circuit.)

This cover is nigh unto unbelievable, but seeing is believing, eh what? Also, I’m in there, and have the NIL agreement w/DC to back it up. Guess I’m gonna buy a second copy of this delightful book now… Congrats and thanks to @stevelieberart.bsky.social!

Not pictured: the goose family, the duck family, a few humans, and Bella (impatiently) at my side. But a heron and 14 turtles is enough, yeah?

Not a great photo (the dog was pulling me toward Potential! Bunnies! Or! Maybe! Frogs! [TM]), but seeing an oriole around here is noteworthy, at least for me.

Perhaps you would like some good space news? science.nasa.gov/blogs/dragon...

This was written just after the 2024 elections: donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-happe... So far the predictions are accurate, to the detriment of our country and world. 1/2

Pope Francis continues to tempt me to unlapse. (Relapse?) (Definitely not prolapse.) Anyway, glad to hear about the reported JDV snub.

Today in science: sequencing my cat's DNA to add to the Darwin's Ark database. In case you've lived with cats and have conjured up a horrifying image of trying to get a cheek swab (or are worrying that I'm suicidal) it's done via a fur sample… darwinsark.org

Interested in doing art or education work in the Arctic/Antarctic? Applications for Polar STEAM are open!

Sad to see this go, but we made it last since pre-Pandemia. That’s about 23.5 proof per year. The good news is they now make this as a standard finish to there also excellent original rye, but this early barrel select version from our Local Liquor Castle was a cut above.

Keep the pressure on! Rep. Dingell closed with “We are using every tool to stop this. Period.”

In 40+ years of doing it, I don't think I've ever felt less good about filing my taxes than I do today. But I want national parks and NASA and Medicare and Medicaid and a bunch of other things that cost money and benefit us all as a society, so…

You know I don’t read Italian, right? The new edition smells good, though…I guess.

The view from the moon a week ago tonight: a solar eclipse, courtesy of Firefly Aerospace. flic.kr/p/2qRVJkp

Alas, time passes…

If the sky is clear where you are, get outside and look up and see the ecliptic parade. Venus, Jupiter, and Mars are all easy to view with just your eyes, and even better with binoculars or a telescope. And as always, our Moon is quite beautiful, of course! 🔭 🌙 ✨

This was (still is…it's here on my shelf!) a great book!

Just got the official (as in, mailed) notice of Diamond's bankruptcy, in which you can find lots of stuff of prurient interest in the list of creditors and what they're owed. But it's mostly a giant bummer. In other words, very on-brand for 2025.

You can see the cattle dog markings on her belly and paws and the old age markings on my neck but you can’t really see the Best Toy Ever (aka the giant squeaky chicken) but you can trust Bella that it’s bee-you-tee-ful and smelly and squeaky.

A streamlined invitation on the doors into the Fisher Theater in Detroit, where we saw the wonderful “Come From Away”.

We all need some innocence and joy today. Here’s my —and I hope your — respite from awful people doing awful things.

Reading NASA mission proposals from grade 5-8 kids today. I want to go on all of them, with all of them. science.nasa.gov/solar-system...

Permanent Food Gatherers badge! Feeling like a real boy now. www.foodgatherers.org (Apparently I’m the only regular volunteer named “Jim”. Anecdotally it seems to be a name that’s gone out of fashion in recent years.)

"I promise, America will soon be the Cybertruck of countries—uglier than you could have imagined, built for rich chuds, borderline inoperable, and on fire."

Started the day by disposing of the rabbit Bella (our dog) killed last night. It can only get better from here, right? (No pictures. You're welcome.)