Recently updated blogs

Late last year I got back into miniature painting, something I hadn’t done since I was in college. I was living on my own in the middle of nowhere for most of 2024, and painting miniatures was a nice way to spend time, especially when I was snowed in. I even made a few YouTube videos about painting.Here’s everything I painted in 2024, along with a few notes on the …

Remember when Mistborn: House War made the uncomfortable decision to cast its players as the eugenicist oppressors of Brandon Sanderson’s much-loved fantasy series? Oh, you don’t. Well, I do, and that’s the first thing John D. Clair’s Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game has going for it. This time around, you’re an actual mistborn, a metal-guzzling, glass-dagger-stabbing, high-flying superhero in a goofy tassled cape. That’s all good stuff, but the real draw …

I think the My New Character/Chill Guy meme is the fastest I’ve turned on a meme. Indifference to loathing in days flat.

In the past week I had two people separately tell me what they thought the PSF Conduct WG did and both were wrong (and incidentally in the same way). As such, I wanted to clarify what exactly the WG does for people in case others also misunderstand what the group does.⚠️I am a member of the PSF Conduct WG (whose membership you can see by checking the charter), and have …

I just spent four days in Kansas City with a Kia EV6 rental car. It's something I've always wanted to drive and frequently considered as my next daily driver someday.Upfront, I want to state that I don't have any reflexive disgust for Kia that a lot of people I know do. They remember early Kias that hit American shores in the early 2000s and how cheaply made and unreliable they …

Last week Alice Brock of Alice’s Restaurant made her exit from Earth. I wrote a post about her long ago, but thought I’d add a bit more about her life, including more of her colorful quotations. She didn’t find running restaurants easy and made that clear in interviews and in her 1975 book My Life As a Restaurant. [photos by Jane McWhorter, from Alice’s book] In addition to opening and …

A Pioneer Thanksgiving by Barbara Greenwood, illustrated by Heather Collins, 1999. This book is part story, part history, and part craft and activity book. It tells the story of a particular pioneer family’s Thanksgiving celebration in 1841 to explain the sort of Thanksgiving celebrations that pioneer families would have at the time, and there are related activities and recipes to accompany the story. Everyone in the Robertson family helps with …

By David Tuller, DrPH A group called Canadian Guidelines for Post COVID-19 Condition (CAN-PCC) has released a new set of draft recommendations related to preventing, diagnosing and treating what is commonly called Long Covid. The current list of nine draft recommendations includes exercise and cognitive behavior therapy, which has understandably raised concerns among advocates for … Trial By Error: Canadian Group Seeks Feedback on Recommendations for Exercise and CBT for …

Morning walk, Pōneke.

The International Federation of Robotics publishes an annual report on the use of robots in manufacturing and services. The main report is expensive and restricted, but some highlights are free. The top panel shows robots per 10,000 workers in manufacturing industries for 2023. The panel below shows a similar figure with data for 2017. A few themes emerge: 1) Across the major manufacturing countries, the number of robots per 10,000 …

All Hallows by the Tower is a must-visit church for any London history fans, but something that often gets overlooked is its unique tower. It’s literally a jigsaw of London through the centuries! The first thing to mention is the name. Sometimes called All Hallows Barking (more on that connection to Barking later) the ‘Tower’ used in its name today is the Tower of London, denoting the church’s proximity to …

by Angie Smith Angie: How did you get started in your career as a photographer? Charlotte: I’ve been a photographer for the past 15 years. I studied photography here in Germany. I had chemistry and art as majors before I finished high school. We had a photography assignment and there was a small dark room that we could work in. I know it sounds so cliche, but when you are …

When Maria Callas died in 1977 at the age of 53, the New York Times obituary called her "the most exciting opera singer of her time." Director Pablo Larrain's Maria presents Callas at her height only in flashbacks when the singer recalls previous triumphs. Known for Jackie and Spencer, the Chilean-born Larrain tends to focus his biographical efforts on well-known women at low points in their lives. In this case, …

Last year, instead of putting out a typical holiday gift guide, I put together a gift giveaway. It was fun, but I think I started it too late in the season, so I’m starting it early this year. Yours truly, in a scene from last year’s selection of the gift giveaway winner This idea came about mainly because I’m just one person with specific tastes who isn’t especially attuned to …

Mia Sato talks to two women whose similar aesthetic was shaped by Amazon product options, social media algorithms, and other larger influencers #