i think it is good and fulfilling to sometimes do difficult, challenging, frustrating things with the goal of making something worthy, or bettering yourself. some people, it seems, believe that we should strive for a future where nothing is ever hard for anyone they consider people.

In my profession (I'm a therapist), so many of my colleagues have started using AI to write at least a draft of their clinical notes for them, which is broadly agreed to be the most boring part of our job, the grunt work, the part that drags, etc., and I don't *disagree* with any of those labels --

I am making a very big and important business step today and I wanted to share that!! Wish me luck!!

Boy oh boy it’s fascinating (read: frustrating) to see the way people tell on themselves with AI usage “I use it to help me with brainstorming/when I get stuck! Am I a bad person?” “Well technically all tools authors use include AI so really all authors are using AI in some part”

Fuck's sake. Given the depth and diversity of the field, in *2026*, for all anchor authors in a new anthology project to be white people over 50? That's you being bad at your job. I'm tired. I don't feel like being kind about this.

I have been informed that I am Not Allowed to kill the magical messenger bird that my WIP characters have as a pet/plot device

Hey Canadians! If this is a topic close to your heart, please take a moment to sign the online government petition.

Is there a word for when you cancel on some group plans and it turns out EVERYONE ELSE also cancelled on the group plans and so the organizer is just kind of in the lurch, besides feeling like a bit of an asshole?

Alex is trying to convince me we should invite Rachel Reid to @canconsffh.bsky.social and keeps making arguments that Heated Rivalry is, in fact, speculative: “Ottawa and Toronto actually have good teams” “The post-game interviews are actually coherent” “There are out gay NHL players”

Hey pals, It is the LAST WEEK to donate to the Little Ghosts workshop fundraiser to help us build out our space to host even more marketplaces, workshops, and reading events for our community. If 300 people got a commemorative wall plaque, we would reach our goal! Thanks so much for the support!🤍

To whoever had their bean bag chair (?) explode in the washing machine and then did not tell anyone or otherwise mark the issue: IT’S ON SIGHT

Not to be a millennial about it but I've spent my day catching up on admin tasks, speaking to a lawyer, calling to make a doctor's appointment, and I think I deserve a sticker for adulting so good today

Ahhhh a client just asked me what my pronouns are, genuinely love getting clocked as "probably not cis"

Me: he’s my poor little meow meow Alex: he’s not a meow meow, he’s a murderer Me: 😕

And now an NSF charge off an unexpected transaction. I am so very tired of 2026. My overdue rent's grace period is up in 3 days, and with this latest banking ridiculousness I'm shy $600 (CAD) across a couple fronts. Anyone able to help? I've got editing slots open: mathesonfreelancing.com

I have a great many thoughts on this and I think part of this is that there is a fundamental idea that individuals can proactively prevent harm to themselves if only they Judged Gooder Enough. This also means we actively want evidence that We Are Gooder Judges And Are Safe From Baddies.

Welp I’ve just seen the argument “autistic people aren’t sophisticated enough to be sexual predators therefore Neil Gaiman is innocent” which is a fun combo of ableism and apologia I don’t need to tell people that that’s fundamentally wrong, right?

Chuck has good things to say about IRON LUNG I also saw it on the weekend and thought it was a really fun little horror movie. All the best parts of a bottle episode + so much fake blood. And while there's a hefty dose of "wtf am I watching" (pos) the beats all still really landed for me!

Anyway

Welp facebook memories are reminding me that 4 years ago we were in the early days of the convoy bullshit here in Ottawa I feel like some folks have forgotten, or maybe never knew, but those weeks were terrifying for those of us living downtown. Those people were everywhere, & they were aggressive.

Sure, fine, new Rocky Horror revival on Broadway, whatever -- -- wait sorry, Amber Gray as Riff Raff?? Harvey Guillén as Eddie/Dr. Scott??? ....okay!!!!!!

we recognize that amazon is NOT AN IDEAL TOOL for this moment, so for those who don't want to give them money (fair!!!) please visit standwithminnesota.com and pick someone from the MANY OPTIONS. There are so many folks who need help! 💓

Welp I just logged into a work meeting over zoom with my name still displaying as my Trandoshan bounty hunter from @gianttourtiere.bsky.social’s Star Wars game, that was the fastest I’ve ever changed my settings

Still fundraising for my roommate's winter boots! We're at 103/300 (the 300 is in CAD) and no matter what else I raise today it'll all be going to her -- we can probably find cheaper boots but it'd be nice to get decent ones that'll last. (Vimes Boots Theory, yo.) ko-fi.com/fiversdream

Unrelated to previous post: I love going to the endo because there’s always attractive trans people here and seeing them is good for the soul

God so I do some contract work therapy for the Government of Canada and, as you can perhaps imagine, all the calls I’m getting today pertaining to the WFA Only to also find out the call centre are passing people on while waiting on their own WFA letters!!!

petition to protect gender affirming care in canada. go fuckin sign it www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...

ko-fi.com/fiversdream My ko-fi is here - obviously Minneapolis is the priority but at the same time like, this girl is low-key my responsibility at the moment and I want to at least manage this. In the name of spite and "oh come the fuck on".

"The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy." Whew. And also: yikes. And also: thank god.

I’ve seen several posts of folks sharing the transcript from someone’s Substack. That is a platform that financially supports Nazis. So here is a link to the transcript from a source that isn’t a Nazi bar. It’s a major speech worth reading, unlike any speech from the orange guy

Crowdfunding - if you’ve ever been to Ottawa you know good boots are an essential item

Okay writer friends, I'm kinda new to planning and I am ENJOYING it but also, I find that the plan keeps shifting as I realize new things about the story/characters/etc. Is that normal, something I'll get better at, or am I just BAD at planning?

Mutual aid works! Here is a much larger, vetted list of ways to help Minnesota. Please share it widely! www.standwithminnesota.com

People please stop knee-jerking about the Wikipedia AI thing. Please read @molly.wiki’s explanation for what the agreement actually does. I hate LLM bullshit too, this isn’t what you think it is. Ffs actually read about something before losing your shit

been thinking a lot about James Baldwin recently - from a 1970 documentary

Every dentist visit I’m reminded. Dental health is health. It should be covered at all levels. People shouldn’t have to choose the cheapest option to *restore their ability to chew*. Nor suffer in pain until it reaches a threshold their coverage deems "necessary." I will not be taking questions.

My contributor copy of @bafflingmag.bsky.social Year Four came in the mail! Still really proud of this piece and excited to see my name alongside so many cool people. Thank you Baffling! Also link to the issue this story appears in if anyone is curious: www.bafflingmag.com/issue-fourteen

Repeating a "we're fucked" narrative is the fastest way to learned helplessness. I know this intimately, having sat in the cage myself for two years. But while we don't have control over our stressors, we have control over our *reactions* to the stressors. Our thoughts, emotions, THAT,we can control

Bills being taken out simultaneously may have screwed up my rent payment, and looking for a bit of help (about 200) to fix it. Anything helps thank you!! ko-fi.com/weredawgz

7. Do they use isolation, charged words, guilt trips, and “we’re all family here” language? Do they try to recruit young, marginalized, and/or debut authors by isolating them from their community? Do they recruit young/new authors as free labour at conventions?

God I just finished reading Dark Heir by @cspacat.bsky.social and now I’m supposed to just what?? Exist??? Be normal and not think about Will Kempen constantly????

Yes hello Rob Golfi, glad to be home I suppose

Trying to get some writing done on the train but I am stymied by being a nosy person and therefore convinced everyone else is also looking at my screen, too

Oh dang I’m on the via train today and they did a land acknowledgement in the little intro statement, that’s neat

Unrelated to earlier, I have regrets about making a scenario with a very specific ticking clock and also two mostly-divergent POVs Tracking pacing across the two POVs while also not losing track of said ticking clock or nudging things so much that it collapses is...more complicated than I expected

Signed, and I encourage all Canadians to join me. We need the federal government to know that we won't stand for bigoted provincial governments abusing Notwithstanding to play culture war with trans peoples' lives. Not in Canada.

Folks arguing that the new SFWA rule against using LLMs should exclude everyone using spellcheck and Google for research are not, I think, arguing in good faith. The spellcheck we’ve always used is obviously different. And you are not, hopefully, copy/pasting Google searches into your book.

Not to jump on discourse, and I know I am but a lowly peon when it comes to the swath of authors in the industry, but maybe if you hate writing something, it shouldn't be in your book? This is obviously an extremely BROAD generalization but why would people enjoy reading it if you hated writing it