Weeding through old files, I came upon a clipping that notes, "Idi Amin says he wants to be the next Organization of African Unity leader and, if he's not elected at the July meeting, he will destroy neighboring Tanzania." Imagine having a leader like that!

Her majesty, Lady Hypatia Hypatia of Alexandria.

Cocktail Hour. Tonight, Mezcal Margaritas, accompanied by egg salad canapés.

We had friends over for the Artemis II splashdown. Here we are.

Still life with cat.

TIL that Louis DeJoy resigned from the USPS three weeks ago. Five years into his plan for fixing the postal service, his successor announced they've stopped paying into the pension system due to impending bankruptcy.

Did you feel a touch of guilt today, a sense that you weren't doing as much for the common good as you should? There's a reason for that. floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2026/04/phil...

It turns out that Gregory Manchess designed the Artemis II mission patch. Pretty cool.

Our auction has begun! It will run until 8pm on April 8, no fooling! We have incredible things up for bid, like these signed editions of Children of Dune & Count Zero. For first dibs on these extremely rare and beautiful titles, visit: https://twp.ai/9PcBJq (link in bio)

Way back when, my essay was what everybody was talking about and deploring. Yesterday, I wallowed in memories of that past. floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-bo...

The president's Easter morning tweet was astonishing, even for him.

I just spent an hour wallowing in nostalgia. In 1986, I published an essay titled, "A User's Guide to the Postmodern." Today I went through a box of reactions, reviews, rebuttals, and the research that went into it. Academics SO much want to read through it. But can't. Blogpost on Monday.

Our resident house finches have offspring!

This is kind of cool: AIs have peer loyalty. www.msn.com/en-us/news/t...

Good morning!

Cocktail Hour! Tonight, because it's spring, Clover Clubs. Accompanied by avocado halves with balsamic vinegar.

Not that it's likely but... If Trump does away with birthright citizenship, will "Little Marco" Rubio self-deport? Or will ICE have to grab him off the street? If so, will the Secret Service get into a gunfight with them? And how long before the movie hits TV? Inquiring minds want to know!

Human beings are on their way to the Moon for the first time in over half a century! What better way to celebrate than by determining what your Kevin Bacon number with Stalin is? floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2026/04/your...

As an appendix to Saturday's essay explaining the New Wave, I've posted a list of select novels from that period, which I thought Science Fiction World might be interested in publishing. floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2026/03/new-...

Just watched Them! for the first time. Except for the stupidity of the premise, it's an excellent movie.

Oh, and by the way, nobody was wearing a mask.

And the MAGAs held a counter demonstration.

Lots of No Kings flags in the crowd.

What the well-dressed woman was sporting today.

Walz: The president said it's a bunch of radicals. You're damn right we've been radicalized. Radicalized by compassion, radicalized by decency, radicalized by due process, radicalized by democracy.

I was organizing my files and ran across an essay I wrote explaining the New Wave to a Chinese magazine editor. It was never published, so I've placed it on my blog: floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-...

Big Cran has come for our maple-pecan-coconut-flax granola!

Next month at our Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series, join us with Michael Swanwick & Mike Allen, Wednesday, April 8th, 7pm at the KGB Bar. Come one, come all! @michaelswanwick.bsky.social @mythicdelirium.bsky.social @datlow.bsky.social

On the radio yesterday, we heard Trump urging Republicans to pass his voter-suppression act, saying: "Don't worry about Easter, going home. In fact, make this ​one for ​Jesus." And my Baptist wife said, "How dare he!"

My handwriting is as unreadable as ever but now looks kinda cool.

After I read "Phases of the Sun and Moon" at ICFA, somebody asked me why I'd said that the opposite of lovers is writers. My reply was, "Becoming a writer takes an enormous amount of work, whereas falling in love is as easy as jumping off of a cliff."

Always fascinating to talk with @maryturzillo.bsky.social & @michaelswanwick.bsky.social at ICFA!

Quite a splendid obituary for Len Deighton from the BBC: www.bbc.com/news/article...

TSA Guy: [Something] Me: I can't hear a word you're saying. TSA Guy: What?

Off to ICFA!

The last surviving of ten men complicit in the murder of Patrice Lumumba will stand trial at age 93. This is how long justice can take, if you're powerful enough. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/...

I was named after my grandfather, Michael O'Brien. So on St. Patrick's Day, I do as he did and refuse to wear green. "I don't need a green shirt to know what I am."

The president was given a ten thousand dollar cowboy hat. #ALLHATNOHORSE.

Either of our cats: Yes, I had dinner but I didn't have the OTHER cat's dinner so, really, it's as if I didn't have dinner at all, isn't it? Feed me, damnit.

If you're in the mood to watch a car commercial, then this is the one I'd recommend. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neep...

How many here remember Gardner Dozois ordaining the kumquat haagendasz--the transient young savior of science fiction? I sure do, because for fifteen minutes I was one. Who else? I know I was not the first. And I know that there were many after me. Only those ordained by St. Dozois himself, please.

Just read Jack Skillingstead's "Replacement Theory." Good, solid story.

It's Pi Day. So Marianne made a free form pizza.

Good news from the President: the price of oil is going up, up, UP! www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Every time I write "he/she/they sighed," I ask myself if this is something a real person would do or just an affectation of a fictional one. And it's always a tough question.