Happy birthday to this young man, and really to us all

I wasn’t paying attention at the bus stop and the driver slowed down so I could still catch it. When people hate on cities like London I wonder if they know how many tiny acts of kindness and generosity tie us together.

I ran 8 straight hours of D&D and it was incredible but I am also tired to the point of non-verbal. A beautiful, explosive mass battle, which ended with half-victory, but with a monstrous army breaching the walls into a defenseless city. Definitely my biggest ever terrain project.

LinkedIn has decided I'm uber-wealthy and is advertising me a lot of branded luxury apartments in the middle east. The idea of Mercedes Benz apartments just reminds me of @laurenbeukes.com's Moxyland.

as far as I understand it, similar answer for Ireland. they care about artists and financially encourage artists to do art

oh frak yes

Got myself a heated throw blanket and WFH life just got hella cosy.

Dream this morning about a woman with godlike wealth and power, who built stained glass bridges between the continents, and slaughtered people in the millions. I was in an arena watching a play about her mercy. It sounds silly written, but I can’t express the existential and eldritch terror of it.

Someone captured my colleagues an I servicing the cameras during Kīlauea’s episode 42. We stopped to discuss what we were seeing, but because I talk with my hands it looks like I’m fixing to push someone in… Credit: Volcano Hideaways

The drunk uncle theory. You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there

oh this is a very important point and i am going to need to sit and think about it for a bit

May there be a special place in heaven for people who post simple how-to-fix-it videos. To the man who shared the right way to screw in Ikea hinges, bless you.

If you say the word “nets”, I assume you mean the ones used for fishing. If you say the word “fishnets” I do not.

Look it's only been 20 minutes but I might hate Fusion360 more than any other piece of software I've ever used.

11 February 1990 I was 9. My sister wasn't quite born yet. We lived in a small, conservative, white town, largely Afrikaans speakers. I got into trouble the previous year for (unknowingly) wearing a t-shirt featuring Mandela's face, probably from the famous Free Mandela concert in London.

sorry i missed the virtual meeting on discord, liz. i got hit with the id verification that happens when the app detects youre young

Eighty thousand signatures 💛🩷🩵🤍🎉 Eighty thousand trans allies. Eighty thousand voices saying clearly: Not In Our Name: Women in support of the trans+ community ✍️ Sign and share: notinourname.org.uk

it looks better this way

they should make a movie series about how it’s irresponsible to use technology to mess with the natural order of things for profit

Thinking about whoever said that by accepting a meal from people and then arresting them ICE agents broke a cultural taboo that was invented by, like, the first humans to set up a tent

I'm in the last 45 minutes of my first ever game jam and this blend of fear and fun is like nothing I have ever felt. #GlobalGameJam

Honestly feeling kinda not too bad about myself right now.

South African political commentary being peculiarly comforting right now.

I heard the Nintendo Wii crash noise in a YouTube video I watched today, and my brain, as usual, said "Hey, you want to make something silly?" #VideoEdits #YTPMV

I’ve learned a lot in this trip to Jakarta but one surprise has been that Muslim-majority countries do tasty things with beef that put pork-eaters to shame.

Any TTRPG recommendations that vibe with Heated Rivalry? (I ask this as someone who has neither read nor watched it yet, but whose friends are obsessing.)

[early modern subway takes guy]: "so what's your take?" [augustinian friar]: "this word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy" [takes guy]: "100% agree"

load bearing tweet for a settler colonial society

Completely unoriginal thought but: it's frustrating that the actual experience of living in large cosmopolitan multicultural city (London Uk in my case) is actually pretty dope, but a lot of politics is organised around this being a nightmare scenario that must be apologised for and avoided.

I am too young to remember the anti-Apartheid struggle but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Non-violent resistance, violent resistance, the assassination of Hendrik Verwoerd, the fact that before he was a universal symbol for peace, Mandela was called a terrorist. In other words, Fuck ICE.

Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step. 1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish. 2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.

wow just woke up from a nap, i guess everyone else on Air Force One realized we aren't going to the right place

I need you all to be more specific with your vague posting because I can’t tell if that “fuck” is about a missed playoff goal or like, war crimes

Imagine doing a PhD in electricity, just so you knew how to blow up nuclear power plants and heavy water-producing facilities. “I learned from them very early that what one does with Nazis is kill them... I am not a pacifist.” A profile in absolute courage.

Archaeologists find iron age battle trumpet, reluctantly agree that it has to go to the party's bard

On a little D&D break so we played @jmstar.bsky.social’s Desperation: Dead House. Whooooof it was good. Can’t wait to play it again on a weekend when we can really savour the setting and get into the teeth of dialogue. Velma, our favourite, survived, moved to the East Coast, and never looked back.

oh

Umgeni river rules. Home of the Inkanyamba.

I’ve been thinking lately that politicians and tech leaders need some modern equivalent of the slave who stands behind the emperor reminding them that they are gonna die. A few might need a more blunt reminder of that fact, but that part’s not an outside thought.

Given that this is only the start of the journey home, it concerns me that my hair has major end-of-journey energy.

Random take: Russel Brownlee's Garden of the Plagues. Because I need a prestige TV historical drama set in Cape Town, I think it would rule.

I had forgotten how much I loved the phrase “all manner of ancient, unspeakable proteins”.

Anyone have any tips for playing @helloalexroberts.bsky.social’s For the Queen with larger than recommended group?

Merry Christmas everyone, if that’s your thing! What treats are you most looking forward to today?

Contrast.

I'm trying not to be mad about AI all the time but my *god* Notion's choice to weight their buttons this way makes me mad.

Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower

SO much fun, what a rendition!

This knowledge is the treat I needed for Christmas.