Did books written in the near future UK in the late 19teens and 20s feature an independent Ireland? I was fascinated by how many near future UK books from the last 20 years feature Indy Scotland as a sign of the future. #booksky #PictCon

Hairdressers are a sensory nightmare. Balanced by so is annoying hair. Usually Friday morning is quiet but not this week

Decided to walk to the library as the sun is out. Was a mistake. Now hiding in a cafe trying to get together energy to get bus home.

I have reached the am knackered and need to be alone part of the convention. Which is a shame because I did want to see the final panel. But if I rest now I might manage some bar later.

Argh, forgot my phone upstairs so no live posts from the cryptid panel, sorry. #PictCon

Near earth space which we continue to treat as empty is no longer actually so. In a more general sense, all areas called empty should be examined with suspicion. #PictCon

Adam Oyebanji says science fiction writers need to spot the dangers of technology because that's where plot comes from. #PictCon

Interestingly, Scotland being empty ish is useful when considering turning us from a space engineering site to a space launch site. #PictCon

'our friends in the south' positively stroke city levels of indirect addressing. (Not complaining, enjoying it.) #PictCon

"The moment you allow AI to write a sentence for you, you lose your voice." Francesca Barbini @lunapress.bsky.social nailing it in her guest of honour interview with @megintransition.bsky.social. #pictcon

Couldn't find this book yesterday. We'd lost That Loving Feeling. Whoa That Loving Feeling. We'd lost That Loving Feeling now it's back back back whoa oh-oh-oh.

'where you're fae and where you stay' A concept of Scottishness I like. I am slowly becoming more comfortable including myself in the we of Scottishness.

The Doctor is disproportionately Scottish. (Vince Doherty) #PictCon

Mention by Ricardo Pinto of Scotland as a 'wet desert' but he didn't mention my enemy the deer. Our supposed beautiful natural landscape is a product of human action. #PictCon

New Scottish euphemism dropped. 'larger adjacent countries' (Presumably on the theory that you should never name your opponent.) #PictCon

Nice to get a rare 'brother of the more famous sister' for JBS Haldane. His sister, Naomi Mitchison, wrote fiction and I guess it lasts more easily than non fiction. #PictCon

Do non Scottish folk know we claim Mary Shelley? She lived in Dundee part of 1812 and 1813. #PictCon

Love this mascot.

On my way to PictCon. I am excite. Nearly went the whole year without a skiffy con and this bijou Scottish con is new and I am looking forward to it.

It's interesting how many people heard Grace describe someone breaking into the bathroom while she was in the shower and respond 'ok, that's not great but she's still a feminist scold.' #mafsuk Humans will do almost anything to avoid admitting they misjudged someone.

Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.

For people who have been reassured they are good all their life any criticism is experienced as ego death. Whereas people who are used to feeling out of place and trying to advocate for themselves constantly doubt. #mafsuk

I try not to talk too much about the terrible reality tv programme I watch but this has me boggled. Apparently #mafsuk Stephen is saying he can't have been on a particular dating app because he was banned in 2023. You do see how that's worse, right?

I finished 11 books in October. 4 from the library, 1 an ARC from netgalley, 1 from book group, 1 nonfiction, 8 books by women, 3 by men, 2 in translation. I will not have read all Booker long listed books by the 10th but I have made a fair stab at them. #booksky

I am returning home like Levin in Anna Karenina, bemused by the ability of outside to extract money from me. In other words I bought some Boba tea.

Am dressed. Have book I need the finish. Have vague errand to do. Just need to get out.

I am winding my caffeine consumption back to zero as there is a noticeable difference in my night time sleep even with one cup of full caf coffee. But this does make it harder to motivate myself out of the house.

What watching c4 news last night and Chris Murray said 'a pull' factor was English.

Turns out voting for Catherine Connolly is a rural pursuit.

In US and UK, long drawn-out judicial processes that often turn on painstaking examinations of evidence and elaborate rules of procedure are often called… …’witch-hunts’. Which really were the opposite, if you think about it.

Instagram has decided what I really want to see is iconic Zizek nonsense and while I wouldn't have come up with that as a request, it's not wrong.

Oh great the retired colonels have gone woke now.

Okay, New York Times Spelling Bee, I'll make you a deal. Let's each put in a hundred bucks every time you don't recognize the perfectly legitimate word TONTINE, and then whichever of us lives longest gets it.

ZABRISKIE POINT is pitched to youth—that is, to the interests and values of the rebellious sons and daughters of the professional and upper middle classes—the way the old Hollywood movies used to be pitched to lower-middle-class values. (1970)

Still slowly chugging through the booker long list. I bounced off this before but it has me hooked this time. #booksky

“the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa”

When you live in a two coffee method household, multi tasking is key.

I love how saying you don't like to be told to wear a dress and you decide when your nails need done makes you an ultra feminist in some people's eyes. I mean, I have way more out there views than that. Also, I think #mafsuk is secretly a psyop to undermine the concept of marriage.

luke skywalker - - farmer - lives on a windswept island in the atlantic - emotionally damaged by religion - starts fights in pubs, big head on him - irish.

Everything I read and finished in September. Pretty good reading month. Will and Testament was a 5 star read, so good. Woodworking was funny without minimising trauma. Robin Hobb books continue to be great. Both Terraformers and We Pretty Pieces of Flesh were worth persevering with. #booksky

new scam going around where they hire you for a job but pay you less than the value your labor produced

Look what we have here then.

Cannot stress enough how it is already possible to report potholes www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

CHOTINER: So your son is 14, is that right? IKARI: It's complex, Isaac. If— CHOTINER: And the “robot” he pilots, that’s actually the child of an alien you keep crucified in the basement, which is possessed by the spirit of his dead mother? IKARI: Look, let me answer the question. CHOTINER: Sure.

Wtf was the green group in yesterday's connections? Was it some nursery rhyme or ad slogan I don't recognise?

So, are journalists specifically asking Irish TV men whether they want to ride women their own age, or are they volunteering this information out of nowhere?

Nothing says respect like a venue with a sponsored name.

Any excuse to repost this piece www.trashberg.com/p/the-quiet-...

I know money can't buy you happiness, but it evidently can buy you a chance to meet Taylor Swift and the confidence to keep pestering the weird girl in your current events class until she hangs out with you. Am enjoying Woodworking by @emilystjams.bsky.social #booksky