My Dad has apparently become fascinated with Mazda and the Wankel engine. I'm not sure why, or why he felt the need to explain it to me over the phone just now. I'm like, "Well, that's certainly a thing that exists. And now I am aware of it. OK." Anyway. Dear hypothetical future surveillance […]

I used to say I couldn't wear shawls well, and then a couple years back I knit myself a shawl, and then it came out a few weeks ago for a formal occasion when my BCRD hoodie Just Wouldn't Do, and since then it's lived on the back of my writing chair whence it inspired the following realization […]

Good grief and Gaia on a gondolier, what is this fresh hell is this-- Just saw an ad pop up during my clicky-game relaxation time, catching my eye with the phrases "Articles of Confederation" and "Teach your kids the foundation of liberty" in close conjunction And that's how I found out about […]

Did someone say '80s and shoulder pads? I entered my teens in the late '80s and I _hated_ shoulder pads. Hate hate hated them. Nothing with shoulder pads felt like it fit right. Just really, really uncomfortable. Why did I wear them? BECAUSE MOM BOUGHT MY CLOTHES. And she insisted they were […]

#visualearworms "Suzanne", Leonard Cohen

Nunca creí que los leopardos comerían MI cara

There has NEVER BEEN AN IMMIGRATION PROBLEM IN THIS COUNTRY. There has been a racist, nationalist fear-mongering problem in this country. There has been an immigrant worker exploitation problem. But there has never been an "immigration problem."

So about 10 years ago I learned that the weird thing that sometimes happens to my fingers and toes in the winter is called Raynauds. Today I discovered that the OTHER weird thing that happens to my toes sometimes in the winter is called chilblains. I had heard of chilblains. I just had no idea […]

RE: https://wandering.shop/@NicoleJLeBoeuf/115930781313425526 So I checked, and all of this brand's soup dumplings in the grocery freezer case were like that today: One big lump instead of 10 individual dumplings. Did not buy. I'm not 100% certain the blame falls on MìLà, though; it could just […]

If you have a couple of bucks to spare, please participate in the Mastodon for Minneapolis fundraiser, to benefit the Immigrant Rapid Response fund serving metro Minneapolis. https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/doWhZ3Z/Mastodon-for-Minneapolis More information in my pinned post. 9/9

Call your representative: DEFUND ICE. This is up for a vote in the House TOMORROW. It sounds scary and nervous-making, but 5calls.org makes it easy! https://5calls.org/issue/dhs-budget-ice-defund/

'Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned that AI will lose public support unless it's used to "do something useful that changes the outcomes of people and communities and countries and industries."' As my Mom used to say: NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. '"The demand side of this is a little bit like, every firm […]

RE: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/115934193639959783 On Fridays, I usually 1. run my Boulder Food Rescue courier shift 2. get groceries for the household at a locally-owned store. This Friday, I will also... Visit https://5calls.org/ and CALL MY REPRESENTATIVES. Likewise, visit […]

When buying a bag of frozen soup dumplings at the grocery store, if the contents feel like one big lump rather than many individual dumplings, do not assume it will get better by a. thwacking it against the counter or b. a brief run under cold water. Just DO NOT BUY. ...is the advice I wish I […]

Through a series of links and associations that would be tedious to recount here, I have been reminded of the existence of the blog of Andrew Rilstone. And after reading this: http://www.andrewrilstone.com/2025/12/the-wonderful-things-about-triggers.html I have been reminded how much I used […]

RE: https://mastodon.social/@hennavirkkunen/115888721732640894 Dear #mastodon this is the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy of the European Commission. Great to have someone from the commission here 🙌 🇪🇺 ✌️

Apropos of nothing (ha! I kid! it's actually apropos of something!)... ...when you realize you're seeing a consistent pattern of 1. finding out about online arguments via 2. someone you follow boosting the _asshole_ sides of those arguments... ...maybe it's time to unfollow that person […]

## what’s permuting itself around in my head, part one: I never got a chance to write an article about how much worse 2026 is going to be than 2025; it all got going with Trump’s invasion of Venezuela literally _as_ I was getting to write it all out. But before I could, well, here we were […]

This article should've led with this paragraph instead of burying it: “Over the years, Adams had disputed the death toll of the Holocaust, said ISIS supported Hillary Clinton for president, celebrated those who resisted getting the COVID-19 vaccine, reasoned that society looks upon women in the […]

Today seems like an appropriate day for a reread of A. R. Moxon's "The Case for Shunning". https://armoxon.substack.com/p/the-case-for-shunning

#amcooking I have outdone myself. STEP 1: 2 cups Peruvian white beans in the pressure cooker with 4 mirlitons (chayotes) and 3 frozen chicken drumsticks. 20 minutes HIGH, natural release. STEP 2: Use tongs to remove mirlitons, chicken to cool. Sauté about half a huge onion, two big ribs […]

Please to enjoy these two videos by Wolf Alice, both from their latest album THE CLEARING, both utterly _perfect_ in very distinct ways "Bloom Baby Bloom" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lBGcloF8LIY "The Sofa" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UXOgzXmd5Zo

Why so many meetup groups gotta use Instagram as their sole "when and where we meet" bulletin board? THAT'S NOT WHAT INSTAGRAM IS MEANT FOR THAT IS WHAT A BASIC BROCHURE-STYLE WEB PAGE IS FOR Or even effin' Facebook, if you gotta go with a Meta projcet But why you gotta put all your info […]

I got tired of 1. burning myself using oven mitts whose stuffing had degraded over the years 2. forgetting to pick up a new pain of oven mitts so I MADE MY OWN Mainly following these instructions: https://icansewthis.com/oven-mitts-pattern/ Only NO I am not […] [Original post on wandering.shop]

I'm going to sing the praises of the browser extension "Library Extension" for a bit here... https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libraryextension/ ...because it makes Amazon links actually useful to me, someone who resolutely refuses to shop at Amazon. I follow those links, and […]

Madonna: Open your heart to me, darling, I hold the lock and you hold the key Me: Wait, but isn't that backwards? The song: IS RUINED FOREVER

Up at 6:00. Writing practice between 6 and 8. Then, breakfast: Soft boiled eggs on toast with shaved onion, salt and pepper. I seem to be returning to my college morning routine. I'm not very fond of the person I was between 19 and 23, but that person had a pretty decent morning routine […]

Not that many people here will need it, but as an indicator it's interesting: In case you're looking for an alternative New Year resolution, Denmark has a new people's movement: Danmark skifter, Denmark switches, which aims to help people regain focus, change their social media habits and get […]

If you're reading this, that means our 1965 Dodge Dart time machine has arrived and we're parked outside of Skibo Hall at Carnegie Tech on Dec. 31, 1965! Are you listening? WRCT 88.3FM or streaming online at http://www.wrct.org Here on the Tech campus, it's 900 […] [Original post on union.place]

Beth Kempton's WINTER WRITING SANCTUARY inspired me, same as last year, to go to bed early tonight so I can wake in time to literally watch the New Year dawn. https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/course/wws2025/ (don't wanna see or hear any fireworks anyway, dammit, do you want another Marshall […]

Date night! A game of Sea Salt & Paper over dinner at a local Indian restaurant, followed by a viewing of Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas back home. The BEST date night!

🎵🎶 I don't want anybody else. When I think about you I ask the staff for assistance 🎶🎵

For those of y'all within a reasonable commute (your definition of "reasonable") of Longmont, Colorado, who just might be interested in learning how to #rollerderby - hit me up! I'm the head of recruiting for Boulder County Roller Derby's adult league and I'm hosting an event Sunday at 300 Suns […]

Signal boost for the holidays! My friend and colleague, author Alma Alexander, could use some aid this winter. The season has not been kind to her in terms of everything suddenly needing repairs all at once. For the crowning blow, the retaining wall on which her home depends has starting to […]

I'm not Kenyan, but parts of this I feel with all my heart and soul. I USE THE EM-DASH AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME I HAD IT FIRST CHATGPT JUST STOLE IT https://marcusolang.substack.com/p/im-kenyan-i-dont-write-like-chatgpt

It's December 25. You know what that means. Advent is over; the 12 days of Christmas have begun. Which means STOP with the "O Come O Come Emmanuel" already, he already done came! Switch the track to "Adeste Fideles" already!!! And if you haven't already done _went_ to adore Him by January 6 […]

It's not my holiday, but there's at least one tradition I dearly miss: @tnh 's annual "texts" post ant Making Light: the first few verses of Luke chapter 2 through to the angels and the shepherds and Mary. Here's 2023: https://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016661.html Coincidentally […]

current status of dinner - #waymo drove off with 3 bags of ingredients in the trunk before I could hit the open trunk button. Turns out they can’t drive car back, they can at best return car to depot so now driving across San Francisco to retrieve groceries […] [Original post on sfba.social]

The Monday Muse is a bit late this week. So many things are late. Last week was a lot, OK? I tell the tale here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/146561279 (unlocked post) Also, of course, there is a writing prompt. Enjoy!

The recent mini-kerfuffle at the intersection of the Nebula Awards and LLMs (ably summarized by @jasonsanford here https://www.patreon.com/posts/146290490 ) got me thinking: Will Scrivener ever integrate "AI" tools? Will I have to refuse to upgrade past a certain version, like with calibre? […]

#amcooking IT'S GUMBO NIGHT that is all

Hi hi Fedi! I'm gonna move from Firefox to Ironfox on my Galaxy A15 - what's the process for migrating my profile? On the Windows 11 laptop I just copy over the directory contents in AppData. Can something similar be done on Android? Or is there a profile-import function? #ironfox @celenity

Therapists push back as the anti-trans group Therapy First has slipped its way into providing continuing education to medical professionals. @veraeikon.bsky.social provides original reporting for this story exclusively on Assigned Media.

I would like to report that, during the Solstice all-nighter, I did indeed knit! Maybe got about 3 more rounds on the socks, which I'm doing 2-at-a-time, so I guess 6 rounds really; including fixing the bit where in my previous sitting I'd done the doofus thing I always say I'm not likely to do […]

Woot, broadband has gone out again, yayyyy. Is it the wind storm or is it the work crew cleaning our gutters? WHO KNOWS? (Probably the wind - historically we haven't had problem with careless roof crews.) Xfinity's outage map says they are working to resolve the issue by approx. 5:35 PM […]

The power came back sometime while we were camping out in the Tinkermill conference room charging devices and enjoying wifi. Yule log was lit at sunset, 4:38 PM. Had a good handful of guests between then and about 11:30 PM. We had chips and cheese and guacamole and the Tomato Orange Soup from […]

All right, so, I put on my S1 Visor helmet* and I took a little walk, and yes, I can now say that I have laid eyes on a VERY GOOD REASON for "Kalmia Ave closed west of 28th." Just north of Kalmia on the east side of 28th there is a powerline pole. And it is crooked. I don't mean that it's […]

Hello from the second PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) this week in wind-thrashed Boulder! We've having a mostly analog day, and not planning on going anywhere in search of power/wifi because HAVE YOU SEEN THESE DRIVING CONDITIONS? It's not great. If you can, Stay off the road, stay indoors […]

Can't help but feel like certain Xmas songs, which are supposed to feel like spontaneous expressions of joy and celebrations, are actually more like relentless and desperate attempts to persuade. e.g. It's the most! won-der-ful tiiiiiiime! of the year - don't you agree? Don't you think so? […]