tip for parent management: my parents were asking me about chatGPT, and have some friends who love it, and none of my attempts to caution them were as successful as just sending them the Wikipedia page for AI hallucinations

Excuse me while I weep brokenly in a corner

Well 2026 got to being 2026 in a big damn hurry didn't it

I think about quitting this degree every day. Every day. I feel paralyzed.

Uhhhhh, wtf Google. The only way you could make this worse is by using a crochet hook and calling the resulting fabric knitting. Fiber crafters WILL burn the world over shit like this.

I’m listening to my spouse and spawn screaming at each other about how they’re going to play Catan, and also the youngest trying to be defiant about being denied permission to stay up tonight. It’s 7:02 pm, and it’s so on-brand for 2025 that I think I’m gonna cut my losses and go to bed.

Nyooooooooooooom!!

It could be one more weird anomaly in this unending cycle of what the fuck.

No woman I know in academia would be surprised by this, but its good to see it documented like this, I guess.

@earis.bsky.social I know this is Roman but I need someone to appreciate it with me

Well, shit.

I keep telling brilliant students not to get PhDs not because they aren't capable, but because if I show them the job boards for the last couple of years and the graphs, not even the fabled hubris of an undergrad who wants to be a professor can get through. There are no jobs.

I've been talking about both doctoral study (with academic jobs as the goal) AND tenure for YEARS in terms of RISK MANAGEMENT. It is a very calculated, and increasingly speculative, risk. You have to treat it that way. Faculty hate it when I do this. Especially about tenure.

Chat, what is the correct number of lightning chargers and outlet adapters needed such that one is able to keep at least one (1) functional six foot charger next to the bed so you can doomscroll without your phone dying?

Another excellent nerd joke.

For fuck’s sake.

Sometimes I wonder what the point of it all is.

My brain at 3am lately:

10/10 nerd joke, no notes.

Motion to banish "looping in XYZ" from all emails forever.

At last, the final publication in 'Cognitive Technologies and their Histories': the editorial introduction to the issue in TopiCS, by myself and @helenamiton.bsky.social. 4.5 years since our initial @cogscisociety.bsky.social panel. Free access! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Having grown up in the southwest, I wish I had thought about looking for a charity like this before now. I am sharing, because maybe you wish you had known about one like it, too.

@lanniesins.bsky.social middle kid wants me to get call of cthulu. I am v.sure it is too old/scary for him. Did your niblings get into horror/scifi by age 10? I am trying to figure out how to honor what he's asking for (I am desperately trying to get all 3 kids to love reading) but avoid nightmares.

If the only thing that can help you is a placebo, I hope you find an inexpensive, easy, and harmless placebo and ride it for all it is worth.

how to stop being angry all the time

One of my committee members got me unstuck from dithering in circles on proposal. But now I feel like I'm having to re-teach myself how to write, because in pulling all of that info out to make a clean picture of what I want to talk about, I feel like it's lacking too much context. :(

just learned we won an award for our blog post about Tom Holland and stormwater management. remember, when you see an article about stormwater management, you repost it. i don’t make the rules.

My ten year old wants to read Lovecraft and while I applaud the general idea I think it needs to wait a few years.

Well, shit. I do make mistakes (I keep a running tally in a special file) and it looked like I had made a big one.

Extremely sad part of having to be a brain in a body instead of a mind in a jar: friend has fostered kitten in need of home. Kitten loves my youngest, youngest loves kitten. I am Very Allergic (despite eight years of shots) and can't have a cat in the house, even though I love cats.

@pennyvixen.bsky.social Is there any chance more of your Kyle Murchison Booth works might make it onto audio? I listen to the Tombs of Amalo on endless repeat and find new things in them every time; I would love to have more ways to 'read' while doing my obligatory parental driving.

I think maybe that's enough internet for now.

A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women 🧵

Truly, we live in a fallen world.

Depressing dissertation research of the day: when you search "outstanding professors higher education" in google scholar, the vast, VAST majority of hits are articles talking about teaching skills. But that's never going to get you tenure in a university in America. IDK about elsewhere.

The nerds calculating damage and possible alterations for the purposes of TTRPGing are giving me life today.

Went to the office pumpkin decorating lunch. Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!

Because people think you're a bitch if you don't. See also: add emoticons, softening qualifiers, and any other happy-go-lucky, no-worries-if-not! flair.

I am Not Great at sewing but found this linen dress thrifting for $8. A size too small in the bust, but the perfect collar/color. Opened both side seams. Got some wide cotton lace. A lot of profanity later, it fits! I am stealing this hashtag from @longpig.bsky.social #wedonotsew

From combed top to singles to yarn to final project. Corriedale top by Grittyknits, bought by friend for me to spin; spun to preserve the color gradient and the braids were plied together. Friend ran out of yarn and finished with the stripes on one end. #handspunyarn #handspinning #spinningwool

I am by nature long-winded when I write things. I use semicolons, em-dashes, and the Oxford comma a LOT. since apparently these are AI use-indicators, I am tempted to go find old papers, etc. and print them off as proof to wave at people if they ask if I use AI rather than my brain in my work.

Updating my LEGO White House

Dear god.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

This is on sale and comes with a recommendation from someone with excellent taste.

It’s a really bad pain day, so I’m comfort re-reading “Swordheart” by T. Kingfisher. Along with laughing myself stupid at various conversations between Halla and Zale, and was struck by a description of human bodies as “complicated meat.” Yes. Yes, exactly. (Would that mine were less complicated.)

I don’t really have much investment in sportsball but I am SO fascinated with the way that drones have changed the cinematographical presentation of the game.

I am thrilled that we're hiring a tenure-track archaeologist in my department, focused on Great Lakes / Midwest US archaeology. My department is amazing and we'd love to have you as a colleague. I'm not on the search committee but would be happy to answer questions. Share widely!

Bleppin’

“I am the lizard queen!”