Welcome to the life of every teacher.

Blerg. I'm sitting on some good news to share, but I don't want to announce it until everything is finalized. Lawd, grant me patience.

Jokes on you; I *am* a college professor.

Didn't a judge order all the "emergency" tariffs to be struck down on the 14th? Why are people acting like any gum flapping about new tariffs will have any weight? I get that news media is broken, but did I miss that order getting overturned or something?

The only correct take on a fundamentally anti-human technology.

As a PhD candidate teaching a class of 50 undergrads, I got a rude, huffy email from a disgraced scholar at what appeared to be 4:30 am local time for them, trying to berate me into assigning my students their new book that explained "their side" of the conspiratorial "hit job" they suffered.

This is only 12 miles from where my family lives. When you use AI in any form, people are affected directly

Dammit. I was looking forward to this movie. But it is super important to send messages with our wallets, so now I'm gonna have to skip it. Way to screw it up, Disney.

Kame-chan's favorite color is orange, and Lizzy found him a tiny pumpkin at the store. Immediately after this photo was taken, he tried to bite at it.

I mean, I get that they're targeting low-level speakers who can recognize and string these words together to create a positive emotional response that gets them in the door. But c'mon, AEON, I gave you two years of my life and I know your higher level students are judging you for this.

RIP Patricia Routledge one of the best ever to do it.

This unlocked a core memory for me. This game and Fury³.

Time and again I hear from people who don't mask that they choose not to because they don't want to be the "weird" one, or the outcast. The more of us who do it the easier it becomes for others to do it. There is no downside.

This should also be how universities reply to the AI thing btw

Spooky season has arrived 🎃👻🦈 #art #halloween #sharks

Rowling and Emma Watson's argument is painful to watch😢 Good-hearted transgender people never intend to hurt anyone else. They just want to love who they want to love and live according to their soul's direction. Chiitan stands by the hearts of good-hearted transgender people. I love everyone

I made caramelized onions to go on our pork chops last night. Today I'm going to surprise Lizzy with some gruyere and onion grilled cheese using the leftovers.

Ahhhhh, bullocks. Our AAS panel on cats in Japanese literature didn't make the cut. That's a shame, but I'll still be finding my way to Vancouver just to catch up with people and visit my old digs. Probably good that that paper is off my plate. I'll have... other things to keep me occupied, heehee.

Check this out! JapanLab at UT Austin to "re-imagine Japanese Studies for the 21st century" And they have games!!! www.utjapanlab.com/games

Gotta admit, I've had moments of wondering, "Magats are so easy to scam; could I make some easy money off them to help me pay rent?" But I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I defrauded people like that. Right wing grifters are missing a piece of their soul.

The tragedy of Icarus in four images. #turtle

Went down to Baltimore this week to visit my sister. It's a decently nice city. The national aquarium has a very pleasing ratio of exhibits with turtles in them, but I couldn't spot the Kemp's Ridley turtle they had in their big tank!

Thirty-two years ago today, Myst was released. Happy Birthday, little guy! 🎂

How might Japanese pickles help us critically reflect on modern antibiotic relations? Please join the Harvard S&T in Asia online seminar series for this talk by Aya Kimura! 📅 Tue, Sep 30 🕥 10:30–11:45 am EST Registration: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia #histstm #sts #histsci #envhum 🧪

Made a fun little button for spooky season with watercolors. #kpopDemonHunters #sussie

Made a fun little button for spooky season with watercolors. #kpopDemonHunters #sussie

Whipped up some dough last night because I felt like making baguettes for breakfast.

New book review just dropped in Monumenta Nipponica. Available through Project Muse. #kidlit

I feel like part of the problem is that in the modern era, especially in the United States, people think that in order to count, they have to post about their activism or what they're doing. But here's the thing: you don't. 99% of what I do is stuff I never mention on social media.

I just got some very good news. I'm going to wait until the details are finalized to make a full announcement, but it is very good news, indeed.

they don't have the capacity to compel obedience by the process of law. they don't have the capacity to compel obedience by violence. the only lever by which they can obtain obedience is fear. do not offer it to them.

YOU CAN POST THE DAICON IV OPENING ON BLUESKY NOW

Chiitan loves all transgender people. I've received a lot of criticism for expressing my support, but what's more important is that all transgender people live happy lives. Blue Sky cannot display long posts, so please read this post if you'd like. love you all 🤍 ↓ www.instagram.com/reel/C9qppva...

relevant life lesson from comics on this one

I took some time today to reseason some cast iron, including a rusty pan from our neighbor. I didn't take a before picture, but I'd say the results speak for themselves. The lower left is a thrift store salvage, and it looks much better than it did, trust me.

Our turtle when he's walking on the floor minding his own business and smells the sushi takeout that we just opened: (Like, literally, this man climbed vertically up Lizzy's shirt and tried to take it from her mouth. She wouldn't let me post the video I took instead of helping her.)

bring back internet forums, computer send post

If you need a little hope this morning - the current tween trend involves decorating clothespins with affirming messages, then clipping them on friends' backpacks when they're not looking. Here are a few that my 11-year-old decorated this weekend ❤️

LRS: ah, now I see the origin of this theory fest. My favorite part of Huizinga and Caillois is that they go right up to, but stop short of, calling Christianity play by steering into colonialism and only describing "other" religious practices. Also, I'm convinced recreational drugs count as ilinx.

EVEN MORE THEORY

I got yer timeline cleanse right here, folks. A whole clutch of teeny tiny snapping turtle behbehs emerged one at a time from their underground nest and crossed the gravel road while I and a couple other humans watched and made sure they were safe from anyone else coming along.

Look who came to cuddle with us in bed this morning. It's so funny because even when we put him right next to me, he will beeline to Lizzy to try and climb on her face.

Tortoise timeline cleanse

This is a Melissa Hortman appreciation account for the next 24 hours.

Look who came to cuddle with us in bed this morning. It's so funny because even when we put him right next to me, he will beeline to Lizzy to try and climb on her face.

I'm waiting for a very specific email, and so every time an email comes in and it's not that one, my heart skips a beat. That will probably just be what my week is like.

The recordings from the @h-net-humanities.bsky.social teaching conference are up! You can view my talk on my Gamified Grading scheme at the link below. The entire panel has great papers on experiential learning, and my talk starts at about the 30:00 mark. networks.h-net.org/panel-food-s...

Something I see often in defenders of "AI" in the classroom (especially those who discuss "responsible" uses) is that, in using LLMs and then "critiquing" its output, we can then teach students to become more AI literate. This irks me to no end. 1/

Had a sudden idea for a set of zodiac buttons, so I busted out the watercolors. I'm not that into astrology, but I'm sure they'll find a good home somewhere.