Damn! Only a 4.8 but basically at the Claremont Hotel Felt big! earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

This was the weirdest day of parenting that I can remember. Getting the kids ready for the day (they were little then)... like... "Hey honey, want some toast?" Trying to maintain some sense of normalcy for them, so it wouldn't be apparent that the APOCALYPSE NOW sign was flashing in our heads.

I'm working on a little piece of writing and I realized that I just don't know the little San Jose spots that locals know. Take "spots" broadly ... What should be on that locals-only map?

Anyone know a great serious history of Helen Keller and her learning process? Academic, probably?

This really is the original sin of the current era of AI. They work precisely because humans react to human imitators in the same ways we evolved to respond to one another.

I want to file all memories big and small. It's part of a project I'm working on for Fort Mason to commemorate the institution's founding, which is fascinating and unexpected.

I have a very precocious 12 year old who is hooked on the podcast History for Weirdos. They want more podcasts like it: 2-3 host history podcasts that are loose and fun. Rome would be a topic of interest, but also ... kind of anything else ancient. Any ideas?

Woah! This is awesome.

If you’re in the Bay Area (and even beyond), just a heads up that the new community space we’re opening up in Oakland has opened up memberships ahead of our October open. We’ve got so much good programming on tap. Way more info here: www.thelocaleconomy.com

If you’re in the Bay Area (and even beyond), just a heads up that the new community space we’re opening up in Oakland has opened up memberships ahead of our October open. We’ve got so much good programming on tap. Way more info here: www.thelocaleconomy.com

My next book publishes in October. I hope that you’ll consider pre-ordering it: “In Poppy State, California plants serve as structural anchors in a wildly inventive work of narrative nonfiction that is part botanical criticism, part personal storytelling, and part study of place.”

Fascinating thread. I always wondered about these estuary systems.

Can testify that MacKenzie is REALLY good at this.

Do I know anyone who is really good at Shopify templates? I feel like I'm on acid every time I contemplate the UI.

In the Bay, @oaklandreviewofbooks.org is doing such a community service with its listings… which also have that alt-weekly flair www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/oakland-revi...

CORPORATE SLUDGE

MOON

Oh yes, I should also post this here! It’s the soft launch of our cute dog… errr… community space.

I love all these new publications! Just starting from much better premises than the generation of digital startups of the 2010s. (Which are almost all gone or devolved into absolute garbage…)

Navy veteran Harvey Milk, who was assassinated while in office

Now we're cooking

This story made me very sad. We have a women's shelter in our neighborhood, and it is a good thing. sanjosespotlight.com/west-valley-...

Turning the pages of some collection in the archives is the second-greatest activity in the world... right after finding/talking with people who know the history that never made it into them. People vastly overestimate how much of human experience has been recorded in written words.

This is gotta be intentional. But it’s also just weird! How many NYT readers were at protests? What % of subscribers? A substantial %! How can it not be seen as newsworthy, especially given the readership?

I’m really curious how: is there a good profile of the national No Kings organizers?

One thing that's interesting to consider: how would the NYT cover protests of this magnitude if they were right wing? Would the coverage be played differently? Why?

I mean, Oakland only has 400 thousand people!

This book will infuriate you. It focuses attention on very important and underplayed aspects of our homelessness crisis. For example, I did not realize how much the extended-stay hotels function as a kind of payday loan for housing. Just horrific stuff.

from "Classical Studies memes for Hellenistic teens" on FB

I think Threads may be the worst social media app ever created. I can’t even fathom it is so terrible. You couldn’t make something so weird and off-putting and confusing and useless if you actively tried. What happened there?

I don't know why I never thought to investigate the stagecoach era of California logistics. www.parks.ca.gov/pages/22491/... www.parks.ca.gov?page_id=25066

This guy might not be the left wing Rogan Democrats have been clamoring for… BUT he might be the left wing Jordan Petersen.

Love this. Something more than meditation or paean. A generous, fascinating thing to engage a parent in creative ferment! Terrifying, perhaps, but rich and deep. What I am saying is: how much do you want to know? Look out.

BRING BACK ALT WEEKLIES. That's the skeet. This is both ridiculous and ridiculously well reported. Like the best alt weekly stories. GODDAMN. www.sfweekly.com/dining/from-...

Very excited to talk about this book with Brian!

( upbeat music )

Bay Area! Y’all know there have been grant cuts to arts orgs, and that includes the remarkable Berkeley publisher, Transit Books. We’re hosting a little party for them this weekend in Oakland. Come! www.eventbrite.com/manage/event...

"In the last two years, the protest paper as a vehicle for dissent has returned in more earnest ways." Aaron Boehmer on the visual language of underground and alternative newspapers and how they subvert mainstream media through design. lareviewofbooks.org/article/alt-...

A kind of natural selection in action. Shame used to drive people out of politics, so a new shame-resistant class of political entities evolved and took over a whole party.

Remember the “drone” stuff in New Jersey? 🤪 reason.com/2025/05/09/w...

These Knicks fans are about to be insufferable, and I’m really happy for them.

Also apparently we have the best hurling outside Ireland… That’s a sport. And they play on Treasure Island.

what is more smug than a nasturtium leaf with a little water drop inside, I ask you

I haven’t checked in a while. Did virtual reality happen?

This was great. What a fun evening. I am stealing this picture, Marc. READ THIS BOOK!

Someone should poke around and find out what’s happened to their work on immigration issues. 🫥

Life in the digital content mines: a sketch

So weird! Do you think it’s conscious and strategic? I’m not even sure.

That was a crazy Warriors game. Steph back … this series? (GULP.)