Finished reading My Stupid Intentions by Bernardo Zannoni today. An existentialist fable from the perspective of a beech marten. What does it mean to be animal? Are we better off not knowing? A unique novel, beautiful and cruel, strongly recommend! #booksky

OpenAI's products are utterly unnecessary and run off of stolen human-made content. Students don't need them. Teachers don't need them. None of us need this regurgitated AI slop that didn't even exist four years ago.

Have developed a habit of reading and napping in the woods this summer and it is genuinely the best thing ever.

On it

I hate this piece. It is very good.

Retreating into the woods with @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social, searching for some sanity in this mad, mad world.

What I wouldn’t give to have a root around in this collection! www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Tore through both of these this week. Fascinating, hilarious… boy, does North America ever get dealing with death wrong.

I would like to get off this dystopian ride now. arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/a...

#WorldAlbatrossDay is celebrated annually on June 19 to raise awareness about the conservation crisis facing albatrosses and other seabirds. This Snowy Albatross (Diomedea exulans, Status: vulnerable) is from Joseph F Green's "Ocean Birds" (1887). www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13380127 #ILoveBHL

Contemplating my next walk. Anyone done the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way?

This is a hell of a thing to read.

People think LLM stands for Large Language Model, but it's actually "Lots and Lots of Monkeys". This in an homage to the technology's origins where a million monkeys were chained to typewriters until one accidentally produced something resembling useful text. This model was deemed unsustainable.

A sliver of hope amongst the AI slop. "AI is so good at producing the expected that it's accidentally creating a market for the genuinely unexpected. Which means the future belongs to people willing to be professionally weird." www.linkedin.com/pulse/eviden...

My plans for a major retail emporium are being threatend by wholesalers who won't let me steal the stock.

A big benefit to visiting local bookstores is that all the books we will recommend actually exist. www.npr.org/2025/05/20/n...

How cruel to have to spend the day in front of a computer screen when mornings with coffee and books like this exist.

⚡️EELS⚡️

My sweet little bookshop @walbatrossbookshop.bsky.social turned one this weekend, and @pictongazette.bsky.social published this lovely piece today! pictongazette.ca/post/the-wan...

🤌🏽

When @sinblache.bsky.social and I wrote PROPHET I worried we were writing our billionaire tech villains too cartoonish we weren't

I love the beauty and especially the sound of the ice, but very grateful to have power restored after 15 hours! What luxury to have the heat on and the kettle boiling. Not a bad thing to get a reminder of how lucky that is once in a while.

Been thinking a lot about this gravestone I spotted in St. Andrews, Scotland a few years ago.

Is it that women face additional barriers to using ChatGPT, or is it just that men are more easily impressed by the magical bullshit machine? www.psypost.org/new-research...

Utterly terrifying.

A 25% book tariff will be catastrophic for Canadian indie bookshops like mine. Please read @kingsbookstore.bsky.social's thread about this complicated, horrible situation and make your voice heard - the government is taking feedback until April 2. forms-formulaires.alpha.canada.ca/en/id/cm7upm...

Is it really only Tuesday?

Reopening my little bookshop this weekend! Excited to be back, definitely overwhelmed by the to-do list, but mostly just looking forward to being in my cozy space and talking about books again. #bookshoplife #indiebookseller

Remember folks. The only truly safe investment is training yourself to find joy in art, literature, music, history, philosophy, conversation and so on.

Like many Canadians, I wasn’t born in Canada, and my identity has felt complicated at times. But right now, I’ve never felt more Canadian. Simmering rage is an understatement.

It has been a day! But, if you have sorrows to drown, The Old Grainstore in Westport, Ireland is a great place to do it.

Favourite thing I overheard in a pub in Westport, Ireland today: “ we’ve 150 rubber ducks in our house and no bath” 🐥

Last day in Adeje, Spain. My third time here, I think it’s becoming a habit... I’ll miss this being my morning commute. Next stop, Ireland for a few days, then back home to Canada next Friday.

I can think of a few.

I finished reading this today and I am left utterly destroyed. A masterpiece. Thank you to Steve at @fredsbookshop.bsky.social for the wonderful recommendation! #booksky

Well-timed.

This one hurts. Marianne Faithfull had such an impact on me in my younger years, I will never forget listening to my Broken English record (yes, record) for the first time. Grateful that I had the good fortune to see her live twice. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Probably the best piece of writing advice I’ve ever seen.

Finished the Two Saints Way! I walked 150 km from Lichfield to Chester Cathedral, following the path of medieval pilgrims to St. Werburgh’s shrine. Climbed hills, crossed muddy fields, stayed in pubs, a vicar’s shed & a castle - hardest thing I’ve ever done & so worth it. #walking #pilgrimage

Ahh, how quickly I went from luxury castle accommodation to being trapped under a canal bridge in the pouring rain! Last day of my pilgrimage, honestly surprised it’s the first real rain I’ve had to deal with in 10 days walking.

My humble accommodations for the evening. Not even joking, it was the closest place to where I was going and a great last minute bargain. 2 hours ago I was exhausted in a mucky field, now I’m in a luxurious castle - for the same price as the pub I stayed at last night. Can’t believe my luck!

A timely story from one of the greats.

A suggestion that the mother of Jesus and her child favour MARIA needles when playing music on their phonogram. It could be any mother and child but then again it's designed to make you think 'this ensures the holiest and purest sound available for a human ear to buy'

Had this enchanted forest all to myself today. Saw such diverse landscapes in just 15 km today. This one was magical. #staffordshire

Today’s HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY thread is about one of the coolest, smallest maps I’ve ever handled: the Psalter map, c. 1265. SO MANY MONSTERS! All on a map not much larger than my hand. 🧵 1/7 💙📚 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #HAHM

I feel like it might’ve been easier to make a gate?

The duck who lives here must be absolutely f***ing massive.