Recently updated blogs

The last month has been…a month. A lot happened. I think sharing more things later, in other posts, may make for better storytelling…something more full. Because there are things I want to talk about “now” vs. things I don’t want to feel like I’m repeating later. I’ve never lost a job before. I was one of those people you hear about on the internet having a cool, obscure job. I …

March 1943. "Santa Fe Railroad conductor's work table in the caboose enroute to Gallup, New Mexico." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.

Mudhoney Every Good Boy Deserves FudgeGet It At DiscogsIn mid-1991, grunge was poised to make its entrance into the spotlight of global popular culture as Nirvana's Nevermind was being readied for release. But Mudhoney didn't know that as they began work on their second album, and they were starting to tire of the monolithic hard rock/metal side of their sound. Taking a detour back into the garage rock and early …

My drop-in time work used to be a lot of teaching basic skills. “Here’s how to click. Now here’s how to right-click.” Then for a time it was teaching people about software. “Here’s how a menu works in Microsoft Word.” Then it was more about social media, then mobile phones. Lately it’s still a bit of all of those things, but the major thing I do is something I call …

Here's an in-depth look at the UDO Super Gemini synthesizer.… Read More UDO Super Gemini Synthesizer In-Depth Review

I found out about this charming British mystery series because my Golden Age Mystery club read some Father Brown stories. I always look up media adaptations, and while I wasn’t interested in seeing more of the good padre, this 2021 spin-off did catch my interest, so I bought Season 1 on DVD. Sister Boniface Mysteries stars, unsurprisingly, Sister Boniface (Lorna Watson). Who is not only a nun but a mystery-loving …

I’m slipping in another Austin Philips story before Winter Tales season begins. “The Murder at Silchester Post Office” is a fictional reconstruction of the real-life case of George Fell, the caretaker of the Birkenhead Post Office, in Merseyside, England. Fell was brutally murdered on the job in September, 1900. The killer was never found. Philips had written extensively about the case in a previous article for The Strand, called “Crime …

We’ve had freezing weather all week, mostly dry and bright and rather beautiful. Here’s a frosty sweet pea, some frosted rose leaves and a ruby frosted rose hip: Today was forecast to thaw and turn to heavy rain but instead we woke up to heavy snow and the garden transformed again. Here’s a selection that I posted for #SixOnSaturday Including Bella’s little footprints as she padded across the snow to …

Here’s an excellent article from Christine Lemmer-Webber that takes a deeper technical look into some of the criticisms I had in my previous piece. The article is long, but very much worth a read. From the conclusion: Bluesky is built by good people who care, and it is providing something that people desperately want and need. If you are looking for a Twitter replacement, you can find it in Bluesky …

Laura Deming on understanding Interesting uses of AI The memes of the wealthy Elon dreams and bitter lessons Nabeel on Palantir Scott reviews Deep Utopia Meditation, considered harmful There is no placebo effect Dwarkesh interviews Gwern Restoring fertility with iMSC transplantation in monkeys Profile of James Fickel, a not very well known crypto backer of many impactful projects in the longevity space The King and the Golem, by Richard Ngo …

One of my fave beaches. And most of 2023 it had sand. All rocks again now but how lovely it was with the sand. I loved this photograph, so it's been a plan to cut it since I took the picture. The combination and strength of the foreground shapes makes it quite an unusual composition. I have found this my most confusing puzzle of a print so far. I got …

Sometimes, people ask me, “What’s your favorite swear word?” I don’t know why. Also, I don’t know what to say. I’m interested in profanity but not especially invested in one word over another. It’s not a competition. They all have their uses, or we wouldn’t use them. I’d have to say something like, “Well, Fuck! is best when I’m frustrated beyond words, and my favorite profane put down is probably …

Grow (1970) by Linda Brewer.Via. • The week in work-related reviews: Raymond Tyler reviewed the Bumper Book of Magic at Religious Socialism, while James Palmer did the same at Foreign Policy. Meanwhile, Rob Latham at the Los Angeles Review of Books examined the legacy of the New Wave of science fiction with reviews of New Worlds 224, and The Last Dangerous Visions, Harlan Ellison’s long-delayed story collection. • “Incline Press …

Now What? Meanwhile, the BM’s political reporters decided that inflation was Biden’s fault because of all the government spending on COVID relief, infrastructure and bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US. This was a lie. This post-election analysis resonates with me. It does feel like many of my own habits, patterns, and assumptions need to change.

In my doctoral seminar last Monday, I started class as I always do – with a “This Day in History” moment. Essentially Nicole Oster and I spend a bit of time digging through that date’s Wikipedia page finding interesting nuggets that connect with topics we are discussing in the course. Since the course is a […]