Starting a new short story: a recipe for a Hand of Glory done in the style of a modern SEO recipe webpage. We'll see if it goes anywhere.

Every time I come across a Smedley Butler quote (and it happens more often then you might think if you're reading either about the Marines or the US in the '30s), I'm impressed:

I know '👀' is supposed to mean 'surprise' or 'look at this' but to me it will also be 'ghost devoured by Pac-Mac returning to the place of resurrection so it may rise again in haunted undeath to chase and consume the hunger that cannot be denied.'

It's a good one.

Finished Rick Atkinson's second book in his Revolutionary War trilogy, The Fate of the Day, and it was fantastic. Both well-written and comprehensive, with enough one-off tidbits to sink your teeth into. At this point, I think Atkinson and Ian Toll are probably are best living military historians.

A little story from my father. He was born and raised in the Territory of Hawai'i, which (apart from the unpleasantness between 1941-1945) didn't have much in the way of Jim Crow-style laws (at least in comparison with the rest of the country).

A little story from my father. He was born and raised in the Territory of Hawai'i, which (apart from the unpleasantness between 1941-1945) didn't have much in the way of Jim Crow-style laws (at least in comparison with the rest of the country).

I’ve walked my dog by this location in NE DC a hundred times before and this decaying tomb was never visible before. This is what redevelopment causes - rising ancient horrors.

Note: This is not a useful metric for analyzing potential social media accounts for Wm. Shakespeare.

There was a time when it would have been impossible for me to root against a space launch. Credit to Elon Musk - he made the impossible possible.

From Atkinson's "The Fate of the Day": "[O]f more than a thousand redcoats from the 79th Foot who would be sent to Jamaica, only eighteen survived to return home to Liverpool. Not one died in combat." Disease always wins.

It can whistle all it wants but if you leave it in there long enough it will explode.

I'm not going to say I'm not childish, but to hear Sir Richard Attenborough say 'great tits' over and over again is still amusing.

listen up graduates

Man, I don't want to see Jeff Bezos trending unless he's sold the Washington Post to responsible parents or Alexa has offed him.

I don't want AI to write anything for me. I want it to handle complex CAPTCHAs.

"Disgusting furious peacock" is so very apt these days.

So we got none of the cool stuff from the cyberpunk future, and all of the stupid stuff.

May 18, 1980 | 8:32 a.m. The ground shudders. A M5.1 quake hits beneath Mount St. Helens. Weakened critically, the north face bulge collapses outward. Within seconds, a pyroclastic density surge bursts through the disintegrating slope. The clock strikes zero.

Thank you kindly, and glad you enjoyed!

Not now, unmanned submarine mapping West Antarctica’s Dotson Ice Shelf reporting strange under-ice structures, then going silent after traveling underwater roughly ten miles towards the ice shelf’s center.

Checks, all crew were safe. Ahem. Guess they could cancel the Golden Knights synchronized paradrop!

The DC General Election, i.e. the Democratic Primary.

Finished "Ghosts of Iron Mountain" by @philtinline.bsky.social, a history of the fictional Report from Iron Mountain and how it continues to echo throughout conspiracy theory to this day. The Report was a farcical hoax about the dangers of peace written in the style of a government thinktank.

Stanley Kubrick's Dumb and Dumber.

My son, I got ninety-nine problems, but Martin Luther ain't one

Getting a lot of notifications for the new Terraforming Mars legacy game from Backerkit. From an Al who hates AI, not going to happen.

Lesson One: That first step is a doozy.

Just finished "Our Moon" by @rboyle31.bsky.social, about, well, our Moon - where it came from and what we've learned about it. I'd recommend it generally to anyone interested in that big ball in the sky, particularly the parts on very early moonwatching, i.e., pre-Ptolmey.

Man, I hope the winner saves enough money for the general election.

"At least I have a job."

Tennis cat.

Sign the dog is getting older: 900 poop bags are cheaper per bag than 300 bags, but you buy 300 because you are not sure the dog will be around to fill 900.

Ah, nothing like some pleasant reading on a quiet Friday afternoon.

Enjoying this tidbit from @vermontgmg.bsky.social The Devil Reached Toward the Sky. The early B-29 was considered so buggy and dangerous that pilots were refusing to fly her. They asked Col. Tibbets (of later Hiroshima fame/infamy) how to fix this. He trained to Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots.

It's "See Something, Say Something," @wmata.com, not "See Something, Say Something to the Uncaring Void." In a time of heightened security concerns, I'd hope WMATA police would at least respond to a text about unattended baggage on a train somewhere between Brookland and Metro Center.

Trending on BlueSky: Epstein Starfox 64 Star Fox Star Fox Direct Fox McCloud Never change.

And all of them stood to the left on the Metro escalators.

I wish I could sleep this well.

Chapter 34, Crank-Calling the Whale

Seeing it like this does raise a lot of questions about the tectonics at play around Mordor.

There have been two good shows in the entire universe of the franchise - IV and V. The original West End Game's RPG is the best thing to come out of the franchise.

2000: A Space Journey 2009: Journey One 2060: Journey Two 3000: The Penultimate Journey

WEST OF HOUSE

Is an Irish pub serving a black and tan roughly equivalent to an Indian joint that serves beef?

Proof to the contrary: Gamera and Gorgu.

Ah, the DC military flyover. Never really get used to that noise.