Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
I’ve been a sucker for a good audio drama ever since middle school, when my dad introduced me to the old classics. He’d bought some sort of anthology collection on tape, and took to playing it during long drives. I have a fond memory where we were driving through the mountains at night listening to Suspense …
Recommended Reading #6: Audio Drama EditionPost + Comments (71)
I spent a couple weeks in Montreal last month as a half-working half-vacation. I’d never been, but I’d heard such good things, and we got a very good deal on a sublet. Lovely city; I’d happily settle down there, though I’d have to learn French for real, which isn’t la fin du monde. Anyway–they seem …
Respite Open Thread: A Crack In EverythingPost + Comments (94)
Once upon a time, London was the world’s most-surveilled city. This position has since been usurped by Chongqing, a city in the Sichuan province which boasts one hundred sixty-eight cameras per one thousand people. Perhaps upset over the loss of their title, Boris Johnson has decided it’s high time that the UK began compiling records of …
I’m sure this is true in many fields, but in software engineering, you’ll often see an engineer or team become very attached to an inferior implementation of some feature. As the problems with this implementation pile up, their attempts to solve them become increasingly bizarre in their desperation to keep their darling. You can only …
The Mountain Goats (who you may remember from such posts as this one) played a free show in East River Park yesterday. This was great for me, since none of the other tour dates worked out. It was a beautiful day with lovely weather. The concert was very good, as well. Really just a perfect …
Afternoon Open Thread with More Mountain Goats ContentPost + Comments (43)
Leon Trotsky once wrote, “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect, it shapes.” I suspect that this phenomenon is more intense in works of speculative fiction* than, say, spy thrillers. These stories are well-positioned to plumb and amplify the pressing issues and paranoias of their times; more …
Open Thread: Time Travel As Cultural BarometerPost + Comments (159)
This big galoot turned five today. I had a terribly long day and just got back to the apartment. At least I’m working from home tomorrow, so I can spend some time playing Psychonauts, which I bought on sale for $2. I love Tim Schafer games but haven’t played this one before. Yay! Let’s call …
I went to the park to do some reading today. On the way there, I passed by some folks having a normal and good one, throwing us a MAGA rally across the street from Trump Tower. House left we have a sign that calls for the imprisonment of Hillary Clinton. You can’t see it, but …
Samwise will be too busy doing this to make it… …but for the rest of us, here are the details one last time! The place: Tír na Nóg, 254 W. 31st Street (across from Penn Station, just east of 8th Avenue) The time: Beginning at 6 p.m. Should you need it to find the table, …
As I am generally asocial, I’ve spent my very long weekend reading, writing, playing video games (Hollow Knight for me, FFXIV for the husband), and wandering around. I got some gorgeous shots of Central Park. It’s been a touch on the hot side, but the park is nice and cool if you stay out of …
Lovely Weekend For The Park (+NYC Meetup? pt. 2)Post + Comments (17)
It’s Pride Saturday night here. What this means for me is that I’m home alone making fussy green tea and reading Iain M. Banks. Fortunately, I’ve got the company of Nature’s Perfect Killing Machine. It’s been a smidge hot lately; that’s how much energy Samwise could muster for greeting me after brunch. We keep the AC …
Welcome back to Recommended Reading! I hope your Sunday is going well. I woke up to a short story rejection, so I lopped off 350 words and sent it in to another place. Excelsior! To some, today’s trilogy needs little introduction. Each book won the Hugo Award, three years running, the first time an author …
Recommended Reading #5: Armageddon, With Social Justice & Rock WizardsPost + Comments (166)
I just absolutely had A Day today. Fortunately, I was cheered right up by playing with Samwise using his new favorite toy. These are too good not to share. Which one are you? I am both. Open thread!
As you are no doubt aware, same-sex couples cannot conceive children the same way opposite-sex couples can. While many choose to adopt, others choose to make what my husband and I call Science Babies. For male* couples, this usually involves one partner’s sperm and a surrogate; for female* couples, one provides the egg (and often …
Pence Administration Cracks Down on Nefarious LGBT Plot to Have ChildrenPost + Comments (173)
tl;dr: scroll down to the part in bold if you just want a pro-privacy action item. Digital privacy has been in the news a lot, though you’ll be forgiven for missing it. About a year ago, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became active. You may have noticed that you received an email about updated …
