The thing about having a more self-directed job is that I have to like... direct myself. To do my job. 😩

Today’s afternoon constitutional featured fluffy little goslings!!

I’m really glad I did reread the book so that upon seeing the show I can truly grasp the extent to which the source was completely disregarded, hoo boy!

Official diagnosis from the optometrist: “Your 40s are hitting you pretty hard, huh?” So yes, transitional lenses it is.

THAT JET LAG FINALE WAS TOO STRESSFUL but also, WHAT WAS THAT STRATEGY, you had a perfectly good strategy??? which might have worked?? why did you not...????? #jetlag

I assigned myself homework and now I'm grumpy about it and stressed about finishing on time. (I'm reading The Great Gatsby before I go see the show this weekend.)

Glee

This is a really good read: truthout.org/audio/hope-i...

👀 As always, reading this with my library's ebook catalog open in another tab (and doing a lot of hitting "suggest", hoping the library will buy it...).

I know some of my friends were revisiting Valdemar lately, so in case it's of interest, there is a MASSIVE Humble Bundle Valdemar sale right now: www.humblebundle.com/books/merced...

Hello from the cheap seats!

The newsletter, as always cross-posted to the blog, because otherwise the blog would have no content. I found a pocket dimension: www.beckyallenbooks.com/2026/05/01/i...

Soon!

I'll be sending my newsletter today! I'm trying to actually send once a month this year (so far so good), writing about, well, writing, and ceramics, and trying to find pockets of creativity in my everyday life. I'd love to pick up a few more subscribers! www.beckyallenbooks.com/newsletter/

Anyway I'm finally catching up on the stupid little health appointments I put off last year due to the stupid bigger health concerns I had, and also since I've figured out my new insurance. Eye doc next week and dentist the week after, uggggh, but also good for me I GUESS.

The last time I got my eyes checked and glasses updated, the doctor said, "Well, you don't need bifocals YET, but come back in two years." It's been a bit more than two years and I have an appointment scheduled and yeah I'm PRETTY SURE that's gonna be the outcome, sigh.

maintenenance maintanance? no, maintenance? aaugh

I went for my afternoon constitutional and decided to wander up a closed off highway exit ramp. It isn’t quite being reclaimed by nature yet, but it was really cool.

I don't look at social media or news after 8 PM so uh... quite a backread today.

Happy birthday, @jenmargretsmith.bsky.social ! May your day, and also your 40s, be great! 💖 🎂🍰

Youtube is so mad I won't give them more data about me that my default homepage is now just this error, like I'm going to be upset that I no longer get algorithmed?? Oh no, now I can only see the stuff I curated by actively subscribing to!! How terrible!!

Hey, I was on a podcast! We talked about the ethics of Project Hail Mary, especially [MASSIVE SPOILER, you know the one], and whether or not Eva Stratt is a supervillain. trustory.fm/superheroeth...

I often sign off emails with "Best, Becky" but thanks to typos it sometimes becomes "Beset, Becky" and you know what? Beset IS how I feel when I have a lot of emails to reply to.

My May newsletter is going to be about 1) how I discovered a rift in the space-time continuum, and 2) how I have fundamentally betrayed who I was as a teenager. (Is it really that dramatic? probably not! should you subscribe anyway? well, yeah. buttondown.com/allreb)

Switching insurance for the new job means dealing with my expensive specialty med, which means the whole rigamarole of getting preauthorized by said insurance (who are switching me to a generic) and then registering at a new specialty pharmacy, which is fine, so far so good. However!

My internet provider sent a poorly-worded text yesterday saying they'd be doing work and I'd lose service at some point, likely overnight, but maybe during the day, though which night/day was unclear. Fun! Will I be able to work from home or have to make an emergency office run? We just don't know!

I'm watching a(nother) Let's Play play through of Silksong and it's a relief to see people who are actually good at video games still struggle but also it's STRESSING ME OUT that this guy has never realized he has a lava protection charm that would cut his damage in half.

This is already great, but if you want to feel *really* good, think about Mamdani in the debate telling Cuomo to learn how to pronounce his name, then listen to all the little kids scream it.

Disney had not paid attention during Newsies' development process, didn't realize it was a movie about the power of unions until it was basically done. When execs realized, they intentionally did no marketing for it and pulled it from the theater after only a couple of weeks so it would tank.

Hey @akaharriet.bsky.social , we have an Onion subscription now.

Here's how we're taking over InfoWars.

Uhhh lemme check the length of my personal playground scrivener file real quick... yeah that's 280,000 words just for me in the last two years. I wouldn't mind getting paid to add another 100k to it and no one's ever gonna see it anyway 😂

Zohran Mamdani on CBS — “Socialist politics can flourish anywhere, because there is only one majority in this country, and that is the working class. It’s time we have a politics that puts them at the heart of what we’re doing, not in the appendix.” America’s Mayor can’t miss.

It is an actual perfect day out today in NYC.

My building's workers are part of this union and one reason I love my co-op is that our message board is full of "go support them!!! let's go, unions!!" messages.

let's fucking gooooo

I'm bummed about the draft2digital news because I *am* the extremely rare reader who does not buy ebooks from Amazon but does actually purchase them elsewhere when I can. Your one random sale on B&N? That was me, baby. And now I will miss out on *more* books as authors pull from d2d, SIGH.

At brunch with friends a few weeks ago: "Oh I haven't been here since before the pandemic! ... was it always so LOUD? It's so loud in restaurants these days."

Today is such a good day for birthdays! Happy birthday, @oliviacirce.bsky.social , congrats on being born during National Poetry Month, obviously that was the universe making a perfect call. 💛

I’m at my actual office today and I can see both a rainbow flag and a trans pride flag from where I’m sitting, and you know what? That rules.

god, I see what you've done for other people

I'm sure all the cool people who follow me are very attuned to phishing scams and don't ever fall for them, but hey, just in case, this one has been going around big time: www.mcafee.com/blogs/tips-t...

I’m having a real “overwhelmed by the beauty of spring in my neighborhood” kind of weekend. My pictures aren’t amazing but I like to stop and take them so I’m also taking a moment to appreciate how pretty it all is.

They can toss a tin can with people in it all the way round the moon so it lands in a predetermined spot and be waiting there for it when it comes back down but they can't tell you what your prescription insulin will cost this month when you go pick it up

Attempting to get my meds refilled for the first time since switching insurance. No idea how much they’ll cost now. Fun!

Unexpected morning phone call from an elderly relative: panic!!! But actually she was calling to send love on my mom's birthday 💙 Mom would have been 71 today. She's been gone for 13 years and it still feels like the universe made a mistake.

I’ve been thinking about this guy almost daily for ten fucking years. essentially my entire 30’s. when he finally croaks I imagine I’ll let out a sigh so deep it realigns my fucking spine

So like, is it a bad sign when the staffer at your congress person's office signs off a call with "Have a good day... I mean as much as any of us can today" ? Because yeah. 5calls.org if you haven't yet.

Oh my goshhhh I just learned that the NYPL website will tell me which of the many books I've saved are currently available for checkout 😍

Mamdani's New York!