Recently updated blogs

So we go on. Back to the unpredictable east coast, one last go for a big Bass, a creature we haven’t been able to track down with any consistency and tonight we’d opted to fish the most awkward beach we know. So we set up at the ‘cauldron’ both of us with a bass rig each baited with ragworm and a ‘big bait’ rig, squid in my case. The evening …

Today was unusually draining. I rode in through the rain, skipping breakfast to give myself more time to sleep / cycle a little slower; then didn’t feel the allure of BBQ food so skipped lunch; then got caught up in a too-long task which became overly too long because of the hunger and tiredness. I also keep seeing event notifications for ghost rides for newly slain cyclists — sometimes with …

‘Parable of the Talents, a novel by Octavia E. Butler, published in 1998, portrays a dystopian United States under the control of Christian fundamentalists. The group, known as “Christian America,” is led by President Andrew Steele Jarret, whose slogan is “Make America Great Again.”…’ — via Boing Boing

How is it late September already?! Weren’t we just getting used to it being September? Between a late summer camping trip and having two essays due for two different publications at the same time, I’m surprised I can remember what … Continue reading →

We live in a very disposable age. Every product has a lifespan, and in ones deemed disposable, this lifespan is often quite short. This is aptly illustrated in the world of appliances. There are people that still have fridges from the 1950s, and they still work – sure they can guzzle juice, but that’s not the point, after 70 years they are still keeping things cool. These days, many things …

Robin on AI. “I want real things by real people.” Yes, exactly. Anastasia Bizyayeva on how every online map of China is wrong, in the sense that the satellite images don’t line up with the street map vectors. Fascinating. Marco Giancotti suggests you don’t have time to read books that won’t change your life. A high bar, but quality clearly matters far more than quantity, and perhaps there’s something to …

I recently launched a brand new version of this blog, and in this post, I share how it’s built! We’ll examine the tech stack and see how all of the pieces fit together, as well as dig into some of the details to see how they work. Keep reading.

Book Review by Alice :This is the story of three sisters and their pastor father who relocate to the tiny, isolated rural parish of Garth in Garthsdale. ‘A handful of grey houses, old and small and humble’; note Sinclair’s typical style – the triple adjective description of scenes and settings. In many ways not much happens in The Three Sisters. It is more a forensic laying bare of the lives, …

Last year, I managed to slip up and not order the year’s new Hallmark book adaptation of A Charlie Brown Christmas… which was just a reduced-size version of giant lights-and-sounds-and-pop-ups version that Hallmark had released in 2021. I had counted on them discounting the expensive book in their usual post-Christmas cheap dumping of that year’s Christmas goods… but if they put it on sale, I missed it. Apparently, though, they …

We're thinking of making stickers to go with the February 25th, 2025 release of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching. Here are five ideas. Which do you like best?

Around one in eight children aged between two and 10 in England are obese, an NHS survey published today found. New statistics show around one in seven children (15%) aged between two and 15 were obese in 2022 – similar to 2019 (16%). Obesity rates in 2022 were 12% among those aged between two and 10, […]

This designer is looking for a cheap couch that is long enough to fit a 6’5″ frame for naps. Though I appreciated the fabulous hair and perfume of the salesperson at Value City, I did not find anything that fit the bill today.Currently Listening: Typhoon “Motion and Thought”Reply via email

Story and pic here. He had an unusual scope mount and a strange idea for an eye shade....

Despite wearing my Flo Mask Pro in airports and on planes, and a KN95 in other public spaces, I now have Covid. Recently boosted, so it’s not as bad as it could be, but I’m still so sick. Starting Paxlovid tonight. Be careful out there.

With this short story by Kathy Mirkin, we continue to highlight original fiction and poetry from writers who either published their first book at 40 or after, or who have yet to publish a book. Writers interested in submitting work should see our guidelines. John McMahon/Unsplash Ruby didn’t want to hear babies cooing or crying during her train ride home to Indiana. She didn’t want to see mothers toting sloppy …