Tonight! I'm playing Oaklyn Springs in Apex from 8 pm to 11 pm, stop by! events.scenethink.com/no-no-comput...

Announcing the shortlist of finalists for the 2024-2025 Manly Wade Wellman Award for North Carolina Science Fiction and Fantasy: ncsff.org/2025/06/27/a...

It's particularly cool because I get to be in conversation with @montsamu.bsky.social, who is a dear friend and all around amazing human. (Also dude I have a copy for you!)

After the Israeli Forces resumed bombing across #Gaza, hundreds have been reportedly killed, including more than 180 children. Bodies remain under the rubble, and doctors describe how “many injured people have died in front of our eyes while we couldn’t treat them.” This has to stop. #CeasefireNow

The obvious answer (to me, decidedly not an economist, etc.) is that it's obvious that if you're borrowing against your assets (such as the unrealized value of your stocks) you are *literally* capitalizing them and should then (again, obviously) pay capital gains on this now-realized value.

Thank goodness for this morsel of positive news in the midst of relentless ongoing barbarism in Gaza, where electricity, water, and aid have been cut off for weeks and Gazans are starving, and in the West Bank, where settlers continue to attack Palestinians with state sanctioned impunity

“I want this change, and I will give my life for it,” Greenberg said of his decision to serve time in prison rather than serving with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). www.cnn.com/2025/03/24/m...

"My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law."

'sold as slave labor to El Salvador' is I honestly think a fair way of describing it

And I'm hearing *rumors* of a possible event post-tour out at East Carolina University, fingers crossed, would be great to cross paths again. Anyway, congrats MRK on the book launch!

There are several topics to call here. My strategy is 1) calling during office hours for immediate emergencies 2) leaving off-hours voice mails for second-tier emergencies 3) using @resist.bot to send simultaneous emails for long-term/lower-tier topics. You gotta pace yourself against burnout.

Outstanding event at @flyleafbooks.bsky.social with @amalelmohtar.com and @crashwong.bsky.social tonight!

Hey @metricula.bsky.social I bought a new guitar (brand new, first ever brand new guitar day for me!) and wrote a new filk song. Can’t wait to share it :)

Locals! Super exciting news. I'll be at @quailridgebooks.bsky.social this June celebrating the release of the final installment of the Queens of Fate series, QUEEN OF MERCY. And in convo with the amazing @montsamu.bsky.social ! You can get tix here: www.quailridgebooks.com/event/natani...

Not a bad Friday lunch:

Finally reviewed @natania.bsky.social’s NETHERFORD HALL ahead of Book 2 tomorrow: “Your new gentlewitch obsession! OK, we've obviously got more to see in this world, but it's more like Downton Abbey meets witches than it is Bridgerton meets witches. Though yes it is a little of that, too. (1/4)

Me: kind of feel like buying nothing for an entire year (except books). Also me: been saving up for a new guitar and they’re having a sale this weekend.

Somehow I had not heard much about this game until stumbling onto it today - NC devs, there’s a prequel novel coming out, I’m definitely interested now!

The most missing audiobooks of 2024: audiobookaneers.com/2025/01/13/t...

Hey #durhamnc folks! The countdown is on for my 90s alt rock cover band band “No No Computer” joint show with punk cover band “Ruthless 919” at Yonder Bar in Hillsborough this Sunday. Also a benefit show for WNC musicians recovering from this year’s hurricanes: yonderbarnc.com/events/no-no...

This is huge. Riggs is an excellent jurist and our state needs her on the bench.

Since last Tuesday I’ve: trained and been certified on amateur radio for general HF operation, refreshed my firearms handling with a course at my local range (9mm carbines are such fun), and started canning my bumper habanero crop. And read a couple books that really brought the joy.

If you all have any recommendations for agents you think would be great fits, feel free to shout them out!

Sooooo... y’all wanted some advanced warning next time so Eryk Pruitt’s bar Yonder: Southern Cocktails & Brew is doing the unthinkable and scheduling/allowing us to play a couple hours of 90s alternative rock covers for you. Come to Hillsborough’s unofficial living room on Sunday, May 26!

I’m tilting at windmills but here’s “DevirtualizeAudible” my new plugin for Firefox/Chrome that filters out “virtual voice” AI narrations from audiobook search results so you can actually see the few titles read by actual humans: github.com/montsamu/Dev...

I hope this isn't accurate but if so... RIP. David Drake was an incredible writer, a Vietnam war veteran who wrote military fiction that, in his words, "indicated very graphically that war was a messy and utterly futile business." He was a generous mentor to aspiring SF authors and a true mensch.

So… Saltburn is… a movie.

Powerful short documentary about the power of music in public schools:

I gained 7 pounds over Thanksgiving despite playing three soccer games yesterday morning. Oof.

Reinstalling Starfield, but only because my dad is visiting and wants to check it out.

So do you pronounce the “g” in “gyre” the same way you pronounce the “g” in “GIF”? I want to make sure I have got it right. Thanks!

========== 9TH ANNUAL BULL CITY FOODRAISER FUNDRAISING THREAD ========== Friends: I need your help to spread the word about our annual Foodraiser, happening in just two weeks! 😱 ➡️ PayPal: paypal.me/TGDFoundation ➡️ Venmo: @TGregDoucette-Foundation ➡️ GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/9th-annual... 🧵

I don’t know if #FollowFriday is a thing here but follow @cmpriest.bsky.social for among many reasons “Dogs Want Walks” photos!

Evening plans

🚨ANNOUNCEMENT!🚨 This one's for the readers AND for the writers... Solaris are expanding, we're going supernova! 🌟 Welcome to Solaris Nova: our new, digital-first, imprint allowing us to bring you more books than ever before. From 2024 our list will be expanding... 1/🧵

The best thread I’ve seen on bsky so far:

At the gayest wedding ever. It’s beautiful. They’re quoting from Stephen Universe and Ancient Greek fables. Young love!

Main gripe with #Starfield atm is that I can't just put out an open contract for, say, 50 potatoes, and have it fulfilled. Like, you can't just find potatoes to buy. At any price. Something that Eve Online would just laugh at. Hundreds of star systems and not even 10 potatoes for sale.

PONDERING THE ORB reappears with readings from Lord Dunsany, my new book A DANGEROUS BREW, and then we wander the musical hills with @forhill.bsky.social and EYE OF THE ENEMY! Join the adventure into books and music by subscribing now! youtu.be/NDGEEDCkiPs?...

So glad @mightymur.bsky.social let me know that the new season of Lower Decks was already here — catching up so I can wait week to week like the rest of you.

How much watermelon is too much watermelon and does the body have any limits? In this essay I will 1/?

Drop something blue from your gallery