finally finished knitting these gloves

This isn't new news, Substack has been known-shitty for years. But, worth shouting for the people at the back www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

how am I, a college professor who has almost only ever ever taught adult learners, just now learning the word "andragogy"? why has all the teacher training I ever received just gone with "pedagogy"? hmmmm.

books. the best escape. (I'm also pretending I didn't google Kunstler, leaning into the death of the author, and hoping my grandma wouldn't've really agreed with the guy's delusional reactionaryness. sigh.) more importantly, Naomi Novik is super amazing plaidsicle.blogspot.com/2026/02/book...

rpg fundraising event-- starts next week! startplaying.games/adventure/cm...

"...for as the uprising of that spirit drove the tyrant from our shores in 1776, so it has ever since arisen, and still will rise to deliver our country from the perils of the hour..." (from the end of this 1903 booklet I recently narrated for Librivox librivox.org/the-tale-of-... )

what sugary fuel will best keep me focused for the next several hours of finishing up all my tenure application documents on this everso exciting Friday night?

as i watch a similarly peachy sunrise-in-progress, remembering this (more equinoxish, granted) one from a quarter of a lifetime ago. happy solstice to all plaidsicle.blogspot.com/2009/09/stud...

and now, welcome to your irregularly scheduled end-of-semester burnout breakdown

It’s here! The shortlist for the 2026 Tournament of Books, presented by @fieldnotesbrand.bsky.social (We’ll also need your vote by midnight ET on Dec. 18 for which book you think should get a second shot at the 2026 Rooster!) www.tournamentofbooks.com/the-2026-sho...

which lexicographers do we need to pester about putting "nostepinne" in the dictionary? hmm @merriam-webster.com ? #handspinning #fiberart

this looks amazing #daggerheart #ttrpg startplaying.games/adventure/cm...

time moves us ever closer to the next #tournamentofbooks and now we can be impatient for the shortlist

two fun new(?) words I've heard people say this week: -ovallian (oval shaped) -kitchenary (to do with cooking)

also been making lace lately. tatting is a tiny and addicting craft that often results in lovely snowflake ornaments!

excited to play a new #daggerheart character this evening: Brygga Darkstone, underborne dwarf ranger #ttrpg #startplayinggames app.demiplane.com/nexus/dagger...

it may be extra cynical of me, but I can't help feeling that no epstein anything will make much of a difference to anyone who supported this awful misogynistic orange monster for any of the last ten years. why would that lot care, now, after everything else?

my favorite quote from this very thoughtful student piece on AI: "Not only do we not need it, but there are so many potential risks, and harmful effects, for individuals and society."

I only use Canvas for grades and no other course content or delivery whatsoever, but Canvas being down because AWS is down still feels like a good excuse to put off looking at all the student submissions that came in over the weekend

yes! if only...

starting tomorrow! just a few more open spots in this #daggerheart campaign. tell all your rpg friends who love Princess Mononoke startplaying.games/adventure/cm...

one little pug is sweetly snuggled up at my side while we read a little before bed. the other is wandering the house testing all the squeak toys at 9pm because why not

this is gonna be pretty epic. who else wants to play? #daggerheart #ttrpg startplaying.games/adventure/cm...

scheduling emails to send during normal business hours is great but couldn't they gove us the option to specify "send at 8:12am" or 9:46am or whatnot, instead of just the even hours and halves? for realism, yknow?

learned about and played some rounds of collaborative poker this weekend. it is the best, most satisfying version of poker, seemingly custom made for my curious and terrible-at-bluffing self.

Pushing Daisies. sure it has its very weird moments but mm Lee Pace and pie! and solid VO narration that isn't just mostly pointless cringe blathering, too

am I surviving the first week of classes? I suppose so. hopeful about my chance to stoke students' curiosities this semester, despite all the rollercoasters of admin drama at this dear renowned institution

live Daggerheart info session in progress! www.twitch.tv/thedirepugst...

yes and yes and perhaps also to worldcat, for the library enthusiasts among us

with only one more week of summer break, how likely is it that I catch up on my queue of podcasts that still stretches way way way back to February?

morning weaving

one homegrown tomato diced into simple buttery noodles = delightful summer dinner

conferenced and beached and hiked and lounged around Hawaii last week

the best GM ever is running a professional online Daggerheart campaignn, starting soon! tell all you rpg friends-- startplaying.games/adventure/cm...

it's almost the weekend and almost time for the fiber festival! very looking forward to chilling for 2.5 days at Flag Wool www.flagwool.com

missing #cwcon this week to be at a most fabulous Texas wedding instead. shall wait excitedly to hear about next year's conference!

went out to see Sinners knowing little about it other than general murmurs of much praise. it was marvelously gripping and overflowing with beauty of all kinds. so worth it

well this is a fascinating overview of when why how "dude" can function as a gender-neutral term or not. can I find an excuse to mention it to my future com students? we shall see. www.tumblr.com/earlgraytay/...

way more than six times I imagine. my little sister and I could probably still quote the whole dang thing, songs included

after binging and falling in love with season 2 of The Last Archive this week, I really want this finale to be an awesomely motivating listening experience... www.thelastarchive.com/season-2/epi... but mostly it's depressing and scary with only 5 minutes left. give me some hope, Ms Lapore, please

at long long last, a work-in-progress becomes a real publication! it was so fun to write and think about this with @cjreimer.bsky.social -- thanks for lending your games-studies clout to my random curiousness and helping make this piece. :)

Five years in the making, @plaidsicle.bsky.social and my article on Twitch and User Experience Research is finally out (ch. 12) in the edited collection Collaborations and Partnerships in User Experience: wac.colostate.edu/books/tpc/ux/

Come join the Alliance for Refusing Generative AI Discord server! We have over 130 members with channels to share resources and policies, news, pedagogy questions/thoughts, memes, and human crafting/art! Accept the invite, agree to community guidlelines, and join the server ❤️ discord.gg/fPpdr2fkBp

somehow I am quite disappointed in this judgement even though I have not yet read either book and am just leaning on all the earlier tournament reviews mixed with my own prejudices. also: really hoping the final is not a repeat of a prior match. 'twould be so boring that way

love these questions: "Do you read books to pass the time pleasurably, or to stretch your consciousness and empathy as a reader? Are you seeking the specific (naturalistic social textures, ethnographic detail) or the universal (eternal human truths)? Do you want to like your books, or fear them?"

sadly, I did not bake any pies for pi day today, but I thought about it a lot plaidsicle.blogspot.com/2025/03/plan...

a friend who works with the forest service begs us all to comment on this proposed deregulation while the comment period is open (til March 27) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

my favorite match write-up of the tournament so far. I too am better at remembering and falling in love with the style and vibe of stylishly well-written books, rather than their plots www.tournamentofbooks.com/2025/colored...

have been awake for 2 hours, alternating between news and journaling and breakfast and tea and also impatiently refreshing the www.tournamentofbooks.com page every 10 minutes, like I am a restless five year old and one else is awake for Christmas yet

my musings here on the eve of March plaidsicle.blogspot.com/2025/02/anot...