Monthly Archives: May 2022
Spoiler-Free Thoughts On “Uncharted”
Posted on May 22, 2022 Leave a Comment
Hello, everyone! Now that we’ve gotten the long, emotional post that always comes with returning to the site out of the way, I can start doing my reviews and recommendations and whatnot! For the summer’s first review, I’ve decided to go into uncharted waters and review a video-game movie. Before I begin this review, I […]
View From a Hotel Window 5/20/22: Gaithersburg, MD
Posted on May 20, 2022 11 Comments
No parking lot, but there is an auto dealership across the street, which makes up for it, I think. I’m in Gaithersburg for the city’s book festival, and tomorrow I am being interviewed at 3:15 at the Dashiell Hammett Pavilion. I’ll be talking about The Kaiju Preservation Society and anything else I’m asked about, I […]
When Everything Goes Right
Posted on May 20, 2022 16 Comments
By the time you read this, Love Death + Robots Vol. 3 will be live on Netflix, and those of you who subscribe to the streamer will be able to dig into its nine episodes and enjoy the varied and wildly contrasting stories, styles and aesthetics of each segment. One of those episodes is one […]
Academic Purgatory
Posted on May 19, 2022 134 Comments
Back in January, I briefly returned to the site to post a piece on how I did at community college during my semester away from the blog (not well, in case you missed it). And since I am once again returning to the blog after yet another semester, I thought I’d update y’all on how […]
The Big Idea: Oliver K. Langmead
Posted on May 19, 2022 2 Comments
Punching billionaires: Can it be done? Should it be done? In this Big Idea for Glitterati, author Oliver K. Langmead offers a mechanism for it that is (probably) unlikely to get one landed in jail for it. OLIVER K. LANGMEAD: Capitalism isn’t working too well right now, and one of the most grotesque symptoms of […]
Here, Have a Full-Episode Sneak Preview of the New Season of Love Death and Robots
Posted on May 18, 2022 23 Comments
How long will this be up? Who knows! Enjoy it while you can. Also, I wrote this. Update: No longer available, sorry. But now it’s up on Netflix, if you are a subscriber (or know someone who is). — JS
“Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting,” Ten Years On
Posted on May 18, 2022 86 Comments
Ten years ago this week I thought I would write a piece to offer a useful metaphor for straight white male privilege without using the word “privilege,” because when you use the word “privilege,” straight white men freak out, like, I said then, “vampires being fed a garlic tart.” Since I play video games, I […]
And We’re Back
Posted on May 17, 2022 25 Comments
Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for the warm welcome back to the site! I am thrilled to be back (even if I don’t act that way at the staff meetings). I was excited to begin with, but all your kind comments have really made me look forward to being on the blog this […]
The Big Idea: Jeff Macfee
Posted on May 17, 2022
Life is full of choices… and not all choices will make you happy. But they might move the plot along. In today’s Big Idea for Nine Tenths, author Jeff Macfee talks about choices and protagonists and how the matters how the latter performs the former. JEFF MACFEE: Most of us live on the edges. There […]
Whatever News: The Return of Athena
Posted on May 16, 2022 44 Comments
A housekeeping note that makes me pretty happy: Athena is coming returning to the regular rotation here at Whatever, for the summer at least. You can expect more of her particular brand of writing, with reviews of products and entertainment, personal essays and various other things she’s thinking about and wants to share. You know, […]
This Cat Represents Where My Brain Is At This Friday Afternoon
Posted on May 13, 2022 13 Comments
Seriously, I could so totally take a nap right now. Maybe I will! But before I do, a reminder to people in and around Chicago that I am taking part in the American Writer’s Festival this this weekend, specifically on Sunday, where I will be interviewed by my friend and noted SF/F editor Michi Trota. […]
The Big Idea: David Towsey
Posted on May 13, 2022 5 Comments
There are times when you feel not quite yourself, and David Towsey gets what you mean. In fact, in Equinox, you could say he’s written a book in which not being quite yourself — just like everybody else — is a remarkably common occurrence. DAVID TOWSEY: Most of us have experienced moments when we’re in […]
An Observation on Audiobooks
Posted on May 12, 2022 49 Comments
Over on MetaFilter, there’s a conversation thread about this opinion piece on audiobooks in Vulture, where the author has a personal preference about how audiobooks should be performed, and wishes to suggest their preference is actually the best way, which it isn’t really (as with many things in life, the answer is not clear cut, […]
RIP, Pixelbook
Posted on May 11, 2022 28 Comments
I regret to say that after four and a quarter years, my Google Pixelbook has up and stopped working. I suspect it might have something to do with the battery, but it’s difficult to tell without cracking it open to have a look, and even if I did that I would have no idea specifically […]
53
Posted on May 10, 2022 60 Comments
Not the birthday portrait I intended to post, but thanks to American Airlines, I’m still stuck in transit instead of at home with family and pets. It’s not actually the first time I’ve spent at least part of a birthday at an airport, but those other times were not because a plane had an engine […]
I’m Trapped in Travel Hell So Here’s a New Love Death + Robots Trailer For You
Posted on May 9, 2022 12 Comments
Enjoy while I’m suffering through the incompetence of American Airlines. For those who will ask, the Three Robots episode is mine. — JS
View From a Hotel Window, 5/8/22: Berkeley
Posted on May 8, 2022 6 Comments
I’m here in town for the Bay Area Book Festival, and as always happy to be back in my original home state of California, if only for a day or two. Berkeley is lovely, and it’s a lovely day. My event, with Charlie Jane Anders and Mike Chen, will be a 2pm at the San […]
Hello From Cincinnati
Posted on May 6, 2022 20 Comments
I am here to be in conversation with author Holly Black tonight at the Joseph-Beth bookstore, which is great, because Holly Black is a genuine delight. And then tomorrow I am off to Berkeley, California, where I will be part of the Bay Area Book Festival, on a panel with Charlie Jane Anders and Mike […]
In Which I Try the Latest Coca-Cola Creations Flavor
Posted on May 5, 2022 21 Comments
It is the Byte Limited Edition Pixel Flavored Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, which you cannot get in the stores; you have to order it off the Coca-Cola Web site, where it comes in a specialty boxed package (which you can see in the background) featuring two cans, a sticker and a QR card for a video […]
The Big Idea: Liz Michalski
Posted on May 5, 2022 1 Comment
A dream about a well-loved fantasy world brings attention to what’s not being paid attention to… and from there, Liz Michalski tells a story in Darling Girl from a point of view long left underappreciated. LIZ MICHALSKI: My first draft of my book Darling Girl came from a dream, in which boys in Peter Pan-green […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying