Monthly Archives: February 2023
A Lazy Sunday
Posted on February 12, 2023 17 Comments
Smudge has the right idea. I am aware there is the Super Bowl today, mind you. But I suspect I’ll end up following Smudge’s example. — JS
New Books and ARCs, 2/10/23
Posted on February 10, 2023 26 Comments
This week’s stack of new books and ARCs is actually two stacks, heavy on reissues and limited editions. What here would you like to give to your valentine — or keep for yourself? Share in the comments. — JS
Stationery Haul Courtesy Of An Internet Pal!
Posted on February 9, 2023 16 Comments
An internet friend sent me an amazing package full of goodies, and I wanted to come on here and share a few of them with y’all. We actually did a sticker trade, which was good for me because it prompted me to organize my sticker collection a bit and put things in my sticker binder […]
Krissy’s Office at the Old Church
Posted on February 9, 2023 15 Comments
Slowly but surely things are moving along in the church renovations. Krissy has gotten herself a pretty fantastic desk set, and it’s been installed, and now she’s doing work in her new office space. She’s not entirely done decorating — that chair she’s in is temporary, and there are area rugs to come — but […]
Oh, Hey, A New Depeche Mode Song
Posted on February 9, 2023 7 Comments
“Ghosts Again,” ahead of their upcoming album Memento Mori, their first after the passing of fellow DM member Andy Fletcher. So, in terms of song and album, all too appropriate. Also, pretty decent song, in the late-era Depeche Mode style. The band had been about, in one iteration or another, for 42 years now. I […]
I Have No Brain and I Must Veg: The Virtue of How It’s Made
Posted on February 8, 2023 68 Comments
There are times when your brain turns to cheese, and is not good for anything useful, and yet you are not tired enough to sleep. For times like this, I turn to How It’s Made, the TV show where, to bland-yet-weirdly-compelling background music, the creation process of every day objects is documented and explained. Are […]
Housekeeping Note For Big Idea Pieces, re: Bookshop.org
Posted on February 7, 2023 5 Comments
This is a small thing but worth noting: Inasmuch as Bookshop.org is taking over sales for Indiebound.org starting March 1, I’m going ahead and making Bookshop.org one of the default bookseller links for the Big Idea pieces, along with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powell’s. Existing Indiebound links will stay in place (because I am […]
The Big Idea: Bruce Schneier
Posted on February 7, 2023 6 Comments
The world has systems. Systems have rules. Or are they more like guidelines? In today’s Big Idea for A Hacker’s Mind, security expert Bruce Schneier takes a look at systems, how they are vulnerable, and what that fact means for all of us. BRUCE SCHNEIER: Hacking isn’t limited to computer systems, or even technology. Any […]
I Was Going to Write a Piece Today But Then I Got a Secret Rush Assignment, So Here’s a Cat Instead
Posted on February 6, 2023 8 Comments
What was the assignment? I can’t tell you, it’s secret! But it was fun and enjoyable and it was kind of neat to parachute into it at just about the last minute. And also, a picture of cats and toe beans is a win for everyone. Hope you had a fabulous Monday, folks. — JS
She’s a Little Bit Rebel Senator, He’s a Little Bit Moisture Farmer
Posted on February 5, 2023 55 Comments
Me: Hey, you wanna know what’s the weirdest thing in the world? Krissy: (sighs) What’s the weirdest thing in the world? Me: Why did you just sigh there? Krissy: I didn’t sigh, I just exhaled heavily. Me: That’s actually the definition of a sigh. Krissy: You were telling me about the weirdest thing in the […]
Everything Pop Punk
Posted on February 3, 2023 11 Comments
I’m traveling today to DJ a friend’s birthday party this evening (yes! You can hire me as a DJ! For weddings, birthday parties and bar/bat mitzvahs!), and aside from what I usually play, this friend also requested a sprinkling of mashups and/or reinterpretations of popular songs into other musical subgenres. Well, as you may know, […]
State of Personal Social Media, February 2023
Posted on February 2, 2023 25 Comments
Aside from being here, of course. 1. I’m still mostly on Twitter, because aside from the “fun” of watching it slowly break down, and Elon Musk and his crew fumbling about trying to understand this thing he now owns and must make debt service on, it’s still the place where I have the most followers […]
The Big Idea: S.B. Divya
Posted on February 2, 2023 3 Comments
Today — finally! — we tackle the actual meaning of life! No one has ever done this before in the history of the world! Or, perhaps, no one has done it quite like S.B. Divya is doing here, in this Big Idea for her novel Meru. S.B. DIVYA: What if consciousness is a fundamental property […]
A Crumbl Cookies Location Opened Up 45 Minutes Away From Me So Obviously I Had To Go Get Some
Posted on February 1, 2023 15 Comments
Hello, everyone, and welcome to my second post over Crumbl Cookies! You may remember my post from October where I tried them for the first time while in Minneapolis. I hadn’t gotten the chance to try them again until recently, because a new location popped up not too far away from me. It is far […]
The Big Idea: Dan Rice
Posted on February 1, 2023
It’s been said that fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Author Dan Rice is exploring the topic of unwanted notoriety in his newest novel, and the second installment in his Allison Lee Chronicles, The Blood of Faeries. DAN RICE: Allison Lee, the eponymous protagonist of The Allison Lee Chronicles, has her first brush with […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying