Uncategorized Category
I Think I’ve Finally Figured Out Why I Write About Politics Here Rather Less Than I Used To
Posted on February 13, 2023 49 Comments
I mean, besides the reason I’ve already noted several times, which is that there are only so many times you can say “The political right in the United States is unambiguously all-in on bigoted authoritarianism and white supremacy and has no interest in helping any American, just in punishing some of them” before it gets […]
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
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 […]
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 […]
Ranking My RPG Stats
Posted on January 30, 2023 40 Comments
Over on Twitter last night, Gail Simone asked: This is a fun little exercise to consider, and while I answered this briefly over on that service (because everything on Twitter still needs to be brief), I thought it would be fun to rank them out over here in more detail. I won’t be offering a […]
The Kaiju Preservation Society Wins a 2023 Alex Award
Posted on January 30, 2023 21 Comments
Last week I was asked to participate in a Zoom meeting about PR stuff, but when I signed in what was really going on was a bunch of librarians telling me The Kaiju Preservation Society had won an Alex Award this year. Which, I’m not going to lie, was a much better Zoom meeting to […]
Black & White Concert Photos Are Totally the Best
Posted on January 29, 2023 11 Comments
When I was on the JoCo Cruise last year I took my usual literally thousands of photos and intended to post a curated selection of the ones that weren’t blurry, as I usually do. But I went straight from the 2022 cruise into my Kaiju Preservation Society book tour (seriously; I had one day at […]
Winter Meander
Posted on January 28, 2023 7 Comments
I downloaded a new synth and fiddled a bit with it today, and this is what came out. As the title implies, it’s a bit of a meander rather than a proper composition, but it was still fun to put together. At some point I’m going to some actual songs, with, like, lyrics and stuff. […]
A Gentle Reminder
Posted on January 28, 2023 22 Comments
There’s a current kerfuffle in the speculative fiction space and some folks are wondering why certain authors/notables in that space haven’t chimed in (this has not been directed at me, as I’m not in that particular space, but some others I know of). This is a good time to link back to this, which I […]
Where is My Mind
Posted on January 27, 2023 4 Comments
I’ve had a ridiculously good week this week, enough so that it’s done my brain in just a bit. Some of it you know, some of it you will know soon, and some of it I won’t be able to tell you for a while. Just know I’m happy but mildly discombobulated at the moment. […]
A Mildly Disappointing Snowpocalypse
Posted on January 25, 2023 28 Comments
We were told for the last couple of days that today we could expect anywhere from four to eight inches of snow, and that we should probably all just stay in our houses and hunker down while the stuff blanketed the earth (and roads, and electrical wires, etc). So we did — I mean, I […]
The Great Leveler
Posted on January 24, 2023 12 Comments
The house that we bought on the property adjacent to our church is no more; neither is the rubble of that house when it was torn down. What’s left now is dirt, laid over the former basement space of the house by the machinery you see here, and soon to be blanketed in snow thanks […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying