Did a lot of non-fiction writing this week. It's all posted on my blog (remember those?) and also on LinkedIn (forgive an unemployed person, plz). A more savvy social media person than I would probably spread things out. Whatever. Here's a thread of work. Please share it if you find it useful. 1/4

Hi all! I'm available immediately. aquantityofstuff.com/ 15+ yrs exp, 4 years leading & transforming teams. Frontend expertise, full-stack understanding, proven track record helping engineers level up. Seeking EM or Senior/Staff Eng roles. US-based. Remote only. Open to contract roles.

I wrote a book of Loki stories & poems, including a tale of Sigyn & her bowl, awaiting Ragnarok. This isn't Marvel's anti-hero. It explores Norse myth as a framework for understanding change & what it means to show up even when everything goes to shit. Free sample: dub.sh/aihb-sample 1/2

I've got posts scheduled to come out tomorrow. I feel like they may sound advertise-y, but fuck if I know how to talk about my book and get people to look at it without sounding like that. I dunno. I'm out of work. Anyone buying my book won't fix that, but it will give me an emotional lift.

Hi all! I'm available immediately. aquantityofstuff.com/ 15+ yrs exp, 4 years leading & transforming teams. Frontend expertise, full-stack understanding, proven track record helping engineers level up. Seeking EM or Senior/Staff Eng roles. US-based. Remote only. Open to contract roles.

so. much. shoveling.

One of my favorite music performances probably ever. www.youtube.com/watc... #amlistening

I think I've got to pull my work down from itch.io. ​I've been waiting for a payout since August and a second one for a month. I've contacted support multiple times and got nothing except an auto-reply. I don't want to risk having more money tied up in there. 1/2

I've got over 200 tabs open. I know this could be much worse, but I think it's time to clean this up a bit before my computer revolts.

I was in a transition phase since November (not working, still paid + benefits) that ran out on Tuesday. So I've filed for unemployment benefits and all that. This is the week marked on my calendar to embrace the IC life again and apply senior/staff roles. 1/2

I've got 2 pages left on "The Pairing" by Casey McQuiston and it's been SO GOOD. I had read "The Last Stop" a few years ago and it was...fine? I liked it well enough. but Pairing has such. good. writing. It's lovely to see an author grow & really develop their craft over the course of their career.

It's Jan 1st which means that the magazine I run is starting it's SEVENTEENTH year of publication. I realized I need to start planning for the 20th anniversary if I want to pull anything significant off by then.

Been using the Apple Journal app fairly frequently. It’s kind of like having my own private little blog. I like that I can add pictures and such. It scratches that itch that used to be filled by public posting, which has become less relevant for me as we move toward the dead internet.

Other than my favorite songs list (half of which are old stuff), I'm not doing year end lists. I used to do that stuff, but instead I'm happy to have read it all. I don't need the friction of making lists on top of it all. Alan Jacobs agrees: blog.ayjay.org/whos-...

Who's got an empty email inbox and somewhere around 500 open tabs? That would be me.

I put together my top favorites of the year. It's not all new music, but it is mostly new-to-me music. open.spotify.com/pla... #amlistening

Happy Holidays from New Jersey!

No one's looking? Great, this is the perfect time to put a little zine out.

Maybe a bit of an odd thing I do: When I need to focus on a particular web-oriented thing I usually do it in a completely separate browser. I'm currently running 5 separate browsers and pondering a 6th. At least it's not as bad as how many email addresses I have.

This is what's in my headphones right now. Wow!

I got an email yesterday, the day after my book was released, that came from a "book marketer" that doesn't exist and the email felt very creepy and targeted. It was so obviously AI-generated. The weird thing was that it didn't have any call to action or signature. 1/2

I had a book marketing plan, but fuck it. It felt forced, fake. The book is lyrical, romantic and may have a bit of wisdom about resilience and reinvention. I'm really proud of it. You can find it here: jenniferlynparsons.c... #NorseMythology #Loki #Sigyn #IndieBooks #FantasyBooks 1/2

If you'd like to review my new book, "All Is Hell Bent" featuring the story of Loki and Sigyn, told as an intimate tragedy, you can request a reviewer copy here:

Between the lines of ancient myths live stories of love and courage that still speak to us. I've written a little bit about what inspired me to write "All Is Hell Bent". jenniferlynparsons.c... #NorseMythology #Loki #Sigyn #MythicFiction #FantasyBooks #IndieAuthor

The story of Loki and Sigyn, told as an intimate tragedy. My new book, "All Is Hell Bent" is available now in print and ebook. jenniferlynparsons.c... #FantasyBooks #IndieAuthor #NorseMythology #Loki #Sigyn #MythicFiction

What makes us stay when the world crumbles? When love costs everything? These are the questions that called to me as I wrote about Sigyn and her trickster god, Loki. My new book comes out tomorrow!!! #FantasyBooks #IndieAuthor #IndieBooks #AmReading #NorseMythology #Loki #Sigyn

We've been fortunate enough to be around at the right time on the right day every year we've lived here to see SANTA. He gets escorted around by our local fire department and we scramble to get shoes on so we can wave and get our little candy canes. We are not the only adults watching for him. :D

The latest in a long line of focus aids that's been getting me through the day is post-punk and dark/cold wave DJ sets on youtube. Very unlike me, I've been using a popout window so I can see the DJ. It's kinda like body doubling.

I'm not sure what newsletter or whatever I got this from recently, but this was a good read. I'm usually struggling as a manager/lead with helping determine if someone is ready for a promotion. This feels like something worth paying attention to as a measure.

My dad and grandfather built an airplane together. Because of FAA regulations, they had to stick a big EXPERIMENTAL sticker on the inside somewhere quite visible. As I'm building little utility apps and tools for myself, I'm reminded of this. I'm labeling all my repos as EXPERIMENTAL 1/2

I've put together a roundup of annual reflection tools, since it's that time of year. Did I miss your favorite? I'd love to see it. www.woolgathering.xy... My posts have no ads or sign up forms, but if you find it useful, please consider dropping me a tip ko-fi.com/pixelpaper...

Getting my next book ready to hit publish and announce all over. I think it's gonna be this week. Just a few final details and preparing announcements. I'm allowing myself to get excited.

How I ingest the news: A few summary emails followed by Mutts and then personal newsletters. Leaves things on a hopeful note despite it all. Newspaper cartoons and culture sections were in the back. Might’ve been prioritization but maybe an also subtle intention to bring balance and a bit of light.

Just a happy little bit of moss in the driveway.

I know it seems like a fool's errand at this point, but I'm feeling the itch to put some writing work out into the world. I've got a backlog of essay ideas, some techie, some creative, and I've got the infrastructure already set up. This may be a passing fancy, we'll see.

"We need to confront honestly the issue of scale. Bigness has a charm & a drama that are seductive, especially to politicians & financiers; but bigness promotes greed, indifference, & damage, & often bigness is not necessary." – Wendell Berry Sometimes small is all we need.

I don't know why I didn't realize this before, but the reason I don't use Obsidian the way so many others do (lots of plugins, tags, no folders, etc) is that I can't depend on my neurodiverse brain to remember what I named something 5 minutes later. 1/2

Oh wait. It's been like a whole week since I listened to "Walking in L.A." by Missing Persons. Let me fix that. www.youtube.com/watc... #NowPlaying

Can I just...I hear about "fractional" work and was like hmmm, maybe until I thought about it a minute. This is just people with high level titles trying to reinvent "part-time" work just like someone tried to reinvent roommates by calling it "co-living". I'm not even sure if I'm annoyed or amused.

A couple weeks ago I noticed the Juncos were back in our yard. Then earlier this week I stumbled on a Flickr (remember Flickr?) collection of pictures of these sweet little birds. www.flickr.com/group...

Been tracking the Japanese Maple in the yard this week. The first is from Tuesday and the second is from today. It's amazing how quickly it's totally lost its green.

I did my first podcast interview! Today the new episode of "Two Writers, Many Wrongs" is out! We covered some LSQ stuff (my magazine), some writing stuff, I brought some strong opinions about loving your work & mentioned squirrels one too many times. open.spotify.com/epi... www.youtube.com/watc...

I suggest keeping your resume, etc. up to date quarterly, even if you're not currently looking for a job. Having all that stuff basically done has made this search much less stressful so far. I only needed to add info from the last couple of months instead of a full rewrite.

I got all my STAR examples in order and wrote recommendations for my now-former colleagues. That's the last of my interviewing prep work for now. Search brief, resume, LinkedIn, etc are all done. Now I can breathe a little, study, and watch for opportunities.

Hot apple cider while job searching today. Dunno if anyone still uses social media for shit like this, but I feel like all I have to offer of late is mundane updates and I miss seeing this kind of thing in my feeds.

Just got laid off. :( I'm seeking EM/Senior EM roles at established, remote-friendly companies. 15+ years eng exp. People level up by working with me. So do companies. Available immediately for the right fit! Details: aquantityofstuff.com/ #OpenToWork #RemoteWork #JobSearch

I'm not really back on social media. I just felt like touching base to see how things are going, reconnecting with my networks a bit. Things are pretty dusty and unused in my corner of the internets and I think that's okay for now.

What tunes are getting you through the day lately? For me it's been a combination of youtube ADHD focus videos and Slipknot played at high volume, with a side order of Devo and Missing Persons.

Happy AWS outage day for those of you who are also celebrating.

wooooow! Image*After still exists!!!