Monthly Archives: July 2022
Trying A Unique Treat: Misaky Tokyo
Posted on July 17, 2022 15 Comments
You ever seen a rock and been like, “man I wish I could eat that”? Just have the urge to take a chomp right out of a geode and all its crunchy goodness? I have had this problem my whole life, but even more so after handling so many pretty rock samples in geology class […]
Some New Music From Me, For You
Posted on July 16, 2022 12 Comments
Because I was fiddling around with my musical instruments today, that’s why, and was feeling a bit synth-y and Vince Clarke-ish. I actually played every instrument on this track, save the drums, which were your basic EDM beat out of a drum machine. It doesn’t have a name other than “7/16/22” because apparently I used […]
The Big Idea: Ryan Van Loan
Posted on July 15, 2022 1 Comment
In Ryan Van Loan’s third installment of The Fall of the Gods series, the author sheds light on an important fact: being smart doesn’t guarantee being wise. This makes a world of difference for the protagonist of The Memory in the Blood. RYAN VAN LOAN: My Big Idea for The Memory in the Blood began with a […]
The Big Idea: A. C. Wise
Posted on July 14, 2022 1 Comment
Are the bad guys inherently bad, or did they choose to be bad? Author A. C. Wise takes us into the mind of one of literature’s most famous villains in her new novel, Hooked, in order to shed some light on this question. A. C. WISE: Part of me wants to be a little bit […]
Late to the Party: Stranger Things Season One
Posted on July 13, 2022 25 Comments
I’ve been meaning to hop on the Stranger Things band-wagon for a while now, but after seeing so many people praise the newest season, I decided it was finally time I join the crowd. I did watch season one back when it originally came out, but it’s been so long I didn’t really remember much. Definitely not […]
The Big Idea: Kimberly Unger
Posted on July 13, 2022 5 Comments
Sure, we’ve all wished to visit the imaginary or virtual worlds of fiction and dreams… but when it’s time to come home, will we always find the exit? This is a question Kimberly Unger is considering in her latest novel, The Extractionist. KIMBERLY UNGER: I suspect most of us can agree that imaginary worlds have […]
Trying Out A New Recipe: Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Bread
Posted on July 12, 2022 37 Comments
Well, that’s certainly a mouthful, isn’t it? Especially if I add “with cream cheese glaze” at the end. But that’s exactly what I made last night, glaze and all! I can’t quite remember how I found this recipe, but I’m pretty sure it was through Instagram, and I decided to give it a try (as […]
Making the Call on the 2023 Worldcon
Posted on July 12, 2022 24 Comments
For various reasons, I was already leaning against physically attending the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China, but now, a little over a year out and with other organizations querying me about appearances in the same timeframe, I should more firmly note that I won’t be on the ground at the 2023 Worldcon. I will say […]
The Big Idea: Mia V. Moss
Posted on July 12, 2022 4 Comments
Futuristic stories often take their cues from the present, and this is certainly the case in Mia V. Moss’s new novel, Mai Tais For the Lost. Set in an alarmingly realistic future Earth, Moss’s story is part mystery, part sci-fi, and all underwater. MIA V. MOSS: What if the world’s wealthiest individuals, gazing from the decks […]
Sunset, 7/11/22
Posted on July 11, 2022 2 Comments
This feels in many ways like the platonic ideal of a sunset. It certainly was lovely to look at. I’m delighted to get to share it with you now. — JS
The Big Idea: Rachel Swirsky
Posted on July 11, 2022 10 Comments
For a country with an at-best-precarious social net, the idea of a Universal Basic Income can be beguiling. But how would it work in hard reality? Rachel Swirsky has decided to take a swing at giving an answer to this in her new work, January Fifteenth. And if you think this would be easy to […]
It Seems Unfathomable I Have Gotten This Far Into the Summer Without Posting a Hibiscus Picture Here, and Yet I Have Not, There is No Excuse For It, I Am So Sorry
Posted on July 10, 2022 7 Comments
Here, this should remedy the situation. And there are two blooms, so clearly I’m catching up in bulk. It’s been a lovely couple of days here. Hope they have been lovely for you as well. — JS
Walmart Parking Lot Extravaganza
Posted on July 10, 2022 9 Comments
I follow a boba tea shop on Facebook called Oh! Boba and they posted a couple days ago that they’d be serving boba tea at a “Community Extravaganza” event hosted in the parking lot of a local Walmart. I had never heard of this event before, but apparently it’s the second annual one! The event […]
Sky, Tree, Dog, Grass
Posted on July 9, 2022 10 Comments
Wherever you are in the world at the moment, I hope you can enjoy and appreciate this small moment of bucolic Midwest splendor. That’s what I have for this Saturday, but I think it’s enough. Look, a dog! And a tree! What more do you need? — JS
The Big Idea: K.B. Jensen
Posted on July 8, 2022 2 Comments
With a story collection title like Love and Other Monsters in the Dark, you might think that author K.B. Jensen has a skewed view on, well, love. But as she explains in this big idea, it may be not all that skewed, when you dig into what love really means for each of us. K.B. […]
A Brief Moment for Sunflowers
Posted on July 8, 2022 8 Comments
Athena bought them for her mother, which I though was kind of her. They certainly stand out. That’s it, that’s the post. Just thought you could use some sunflowers in your day. — JS
The Big Idea: Erin Flanagan
Posted on July 6, 2022 4 Comments
The road to recovery is often long and hard one, but for the protagonist of Erin Flanagan’s newest novel, Blackout, recovery has a mysterious added challenge — one that threatens more than just the recovery itself. ERIN FLANAGAN: When I started the novel Blackout, I asked myself two questions: what makes me mad and what […]
Universal Yums: June 2022 Review
Posted on July 5, 2022 12 Comments
Now that I’ve been back from LA for a week, I’ve had time to rest and relax and catch up on important stuff, like last month’s snack box. I finally got around to cracking open the June Universal Yums box, and found Thailand inside! Other than Thai iced tea, I can honestly say I haven’t […]
Today in “Scalzi Going Overboard With His New Photoshop Filter Plugin”
Posted on July 5, 2022 16 Comments
The application in question is called Filter Forge, which features thousands of filters, mostly created by the community which uses the program. Many of these filters are… well, not great, but some of them are pretty cool, especially when you layer them on top of each other. Thus, a selfie of me just sitting in […]
Hey Scalzi, What’s Up With the Church?
Posted on July 3, 2022 16 Comments
Funny you should ask, I was just over there to take a look. We are (hopefully) in the end game of renovation; all the major foundational things have been addressed, including a few not-exactly-welcome surprise issues — because there are always surprise issues with 80-year-old structures — and at this point everything left to do […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying