First run with the snowblower this year. Got our driveway cleared and sidewalk for the block at least partially cleared. Some rental properties didn’t clear the small snow we had Wednesday, making things harder.

Reporting a murder in the Como neighborhood: 20+ crows foraging in the yard kitty-corner from my house, in the street intersection (water pooled where leaves have blocked the storm sewer), and among the trees.

New TV delivery was a bust. Wednesday, truck pulled up waited a bit, drove off. Only then do I notice the “unknown number” call on my phone. Rescheduled to today, guys come to the door, begin unpacking. Notice a big dent in top of screen. So now we wait for replacement.

Until Dec 1st my small business has some romantasy TTRPG and fiction offerings at the BackerKit Holiday Market and you can find a bunch of gaming gifts from other folks there as well. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/g...

Finished up dinner of a lovely creamy lemon-dill chicken soup. Brownies in the oven. Nice quiet holiday, all snug at home.

Alice’s Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant. That’s just the name of the song. And that’s why I call the song Alice’s Restaurant.

Ars Magica PDF bundles: atlas-games.com/news/post?s=...

The Chain Story Project has just released a brand new story: Bryan Young's Ice Hawk's Aerie. This is the first of many stories about Pip Strongpaw, the last of the Great Catriders. www.chainstorycore.com/blog/free-fi...

Cleared the walks this morning. Not enough snow to justify breaking out the snowblower. Perfect timing for the new TV delivery this afternoon. 🙄

I've been busy signing signature pages for the Kickstarter book (250 down! 750 to go!) and helping my son deal with his problems with the gas company and I forgot to post the phone-friendly version until last night: tinyview.com/this-modern-...

It appears to be bird and mammal “stock up before the storm” time in my neighborhood. Juncos, sparrows, chickadees, flicker, jay, and a decent-sized crow mob all hanging about, scrounging up what they can. Squirrels have upped their “get that nest ready” activity too.

Picked up gas for the snow blower today. Chance of snow tomorrow rising asymptotically.

Bumped into @buttonlass.bsky.social at the liquor store, like you do. 🤣 We were getting ginger beer and wine, she was stocking up for Thanksgiving. Having just left the Wicked movie, we exchanged film thoughts on the parking lot.

And all the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him slip away Out of kindness, I suppose

Occurred to me today that I’m friends with some hard-core survivors. Trans folks, disabled folks, gay folks, cancer survivors, widows and widowers. There’s a lot out there trying to kill them (and sometimes it does). Those that are still here: you are some tough fuckers, I tell you what.

Was wondering if I should do a bit of pruning of the native clematis I planted around my new pergola. The squirrels that occupy the hollow tree trunk in my back yard have apparently decided that what they need to make their nest warm and secure is bits of the clematis vine. Problem solved.

We are taking part in BackerKit's Holiday Market, offering great deals on Blue Rose game books, fiction, and dice until Dec 1. The Holiday Market sells items that have been crowdfunded in the past, so it's different than most campaigns. Time to get festive! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/g...

One week and change into retirement and I’m being a semi-regular at the Y. Need to up my cardio and build some core strength to make traveling easier as I age.

Weird Little Elf Holiday Market is Open NOW! #WeirdLittleElf #HolidayMarket

new toon in tricorder-friendly format tinyview.com/this-modern-...

Nice enough to have some coffee out on the back deck this morning. Only came in when the sounds of chainsaws and lawn mowers overcame the bird songs.

NEW: I wrote about attacks on federal oversight of special ed and what it means for families like mine. I went into this thinking maybe MN kids would be ok, but "As I spoke to experts in federal disability education policy, I began to see the cracks."

Sat through a big chunk of the meeting of the Business, Housing & Zoning Committee of the City Council today. Got to see a bit of how the city government sausage is made. Overall, it looked like things were done fairly reasonably.

Final day at work before retirement was last Friday. Received my final paycheck today. Will be getting that assigned to the budget and then working on plans for shifting from saving to spending in retirement!

Current status at our house is low-grade panic. Mary removes her wedding band when crocheting as it snags the yarn. We dashed out to see the aurora last night and, on returning, could not find the ring. Further investigation this morning has been fruitless. We know it can’t get far on foot…

and as always, here it is in ye olde phone friendly format tinyview.com/this-modern-...

Not sure if my broken-down office chair (no longer needed in retirement) counts as “wood or upholstered furniture” and so can go out as a “large item” with garbage collection this week or has to wait for recycling next week. Will put it out and see. Perhaps a desperate college student will want it.

I just released my "Brief Guide to Writing Short Fiction." It's a solid guide to writing short stories and more; and has a special focus on Sword and Sorcery stories. It costs $10, which, as a set of instructions to write stories you can sell, is rather inexpensive. Like and share. That helps!

I am not going to let Schumer and 8 center-right Democrats bring me down. We won on Tuesday. We're gonna keep winning. Just keep telling the stories of what the Trump administration is doing and how it's making lives so much harder, about the corruption, the incompetence, the violence.

Democrats need to realize that they are being tested now. Will they have the political will to instigate something like the Nuremberg trials if they can’t muster the courage to save what little remains of our republic? Signs point to “no.”

sign up on this site to help us push the DFL towards actually supporting and standing up for trans people!

The rumor that Democrats Senators will vote to end the gov’t shutdown in return for a “promise” of a vote to extend ACA credits reminds me less of Lucy and a football and more of a terrorist figuring out which team member they can threaten to kill to get the leader to talk.

This cup plant bloomed late and now droops and fades in the early November cold snap.

I’m not saying it snowed *because* @lollardfish.bsky.social prepped his snow blower yesterday, I’m sure it’s just an interesting coincidence.

Early morning thoughts: as I age, I've become more committed to the radical idea that we are rich enough to ensure that no one goes hungry, everyone gets decent health care with or without a job, and there is housing for everybody. Billionaires are proof this is possible and attainable. Just do it.

And if you're having a problem with the clunky Kickstarter interface please reach out directly to @glennf.com .

Finding it a bit odd that I’m picking up a few followers and big chunk of likes for announcing that I’m retired. Hey, maybe we can all get together for coffee or a beer or something. I’ve got a lot of free time.

I’m officially retired. Ended my work day at 3pm. Packed up my laptop, charging cord, and badge. Took them to the nearest FedEx Office site and used the provided RMA to have them shipped back to my former employer. Had a lovely dinner. Have turned off all my wake-up alarms.

new comic in phone-friendly format, as the founding fathers intended tinyview.com/this-modern-...

💪 And also followed the specific directions to a) not hurt myself and b) not break the window.

I find it interesting and not at all surprising that since announcing my retirement from work, my average time asleep each night has increased by about 30 minutes. Last day is a week away.

Election 2025: Sample Ballot/Index of Posts naomikritzer.com/2025/10/31/e...

It's all hands on deck. I am shamelessly asking, one more time, for reposts and signal boost as this bird glides toward a landing in a few hours. It's gonna be a beautiful book, and there aren't going to be very many available afterwards! www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...

Exciting news! I've been working all year on a vertigo arts project in collaboration with others in academia, physical therapy, puppetry, and dance. Now the first part is out: I'm running a creative writing workshop for people who are directly or indirectly affected by vertigo. >

That’s kind of telling: picked up today’s mail and had one Davis for (Mpls) Mayor card and *four* different cards pumping Frey for re-election. (Having voted early these are all wasted on me.) #DontRankFrey

New toon in phone-friendly format: tinyview.com/this-modern-...

I rarely do this, but I wanted to plug this book of mine because it's probably the best I ever wrote. (And it was a romantasy before romantasy was romantasy.) Please like and share. This is me at my best. amzn.to/4ocz530

oh hey wow have I mentioned that I have a Kickstarter this month? it ends Thursday around noon, so don't delay! www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...

@badger2305.bsky.social Opinion on radical political thought I had today: Native communities are literally sovereign nations with which the US has treaties. So that makes them independent … states. Take to the extreme: every reservation is made a state, gets rep, senators & 3 (min) electoral votes.

I didn't think I needed an "always repost the Nazi bar story" but it feels like it bears repeating far too often.