Chris Baty

I will cheerfully pay Apple 3 billion dollars to add a tapback that captures the emotional middle ground between ❤️ and 👍.

❤️

Thank you! I love that you did Script Frenzy too.

And yes, November is a terrible month for so many reasons. 🤣 When we were planning the second NaNo in 2000 it was the only time where all 20 folks from the first year were free.

Ah geez. Thank YOU, Sushi, for being such a big part of the community. This feels like such a needless loss, but I'm grateful for all the creative mayhem we experienced together. ❤️

You're a legend, Hillary, and you (and all MLs) deserve a lifetime of gratitude for all you did to encourage writers and shape the event.

Aw, thank you, Jess. I'm so glad it was an important part of your life (and wall decor) back then!

We can all still write together in November. (Spoiler: let’s write together in November.)

But it’s really hard not to feel a deep sense of loss at what could have been. 📚

I think a big part of NaNoWriMo's enduring appeal is that, for 30 days out of the year, it makes life feel magical.

I’m hoping the month-long magic can continue in some form, even if the organization goes away.

I left NaNo in 2012, but I still visit Young Writers Program classrooms every fall. The joy of watching kids fall in love with their stories is infectious. When you bash out your first novel as a fifth grader, it changes your relationship to books and writing forever.

NaNoWriMo also put so much into its Young Writers Program—giving thousands of elementary, middle, and high school classrooms free lesson plans, workbooks, stickers, and online support.

Volunteer-run chapters (thank you, Municipal Liaisons!) meet in cities and towns around the world, and countless writing groups and friendships started at local kick-offs, write-ins, and closing parties.

Published NaNoWriMo novels now dot the shelves of my local library and bookstore, and I spot TV and movie adaptations of NaNo books when scrolling my streamers.

That question opened the door to so many experiences I never would have had without NaNo.

And twenty five years of hard work by staff and volunteers later, it’s heartwarming to see the question is still changing lives.

For self-critical people like me, the accountability and anything-goes spirit quieted our inner editors long enough for a story to take shape.

And discovering we had these characters and worlds knocking around inside us made us wonder what else might be in there.

When I was planning the first NaNo back in 1999, there were just 21 of us doing it and I honestly didn’t think we would last out the month.

But it turned out that combining a supportive community, a shared goal, and a deeply terrifying deadline made miracles happen.

I just saw that they’re shutting down NaNoWriMo. 😭

I had a sense the new crew who took over last year were struggling. But it’s incredibly sad to have it end like this.

Ugh. So many feelings.

U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents The Texas family was on their way to an emergency medical checkup, they said, when they were detained at an immigration checkpoint.

This is heartbreaking.

Parenting advice I wish I'd followed: Shoot more videos!

Our son is 10 now, and the photos of him as a 3, 4, and 5 year old are great. But the random movies? Totally magical. I wish I'd taken so many more of them.

“The level of stupidity and negligence here is enraging.”

Perfect description of this entire administration.

Dang. So wild. Thanks!

Are you still seeing any all-in booking costs out there that are different for Bay Area browsers vs KC etc.? If so, could you screenshot an example? Starting to wonder if the VPN I chose isn’t actually working or (more likely) I’m using it incorrectly.

This was fascinating (and angering)! I live in Alameda, and it led me to buy my first VPN.

When browsing from KC, I definitely see lower per-night prices. But then final costs after taxes and fees seem to be the same?

Did you find places where the all-in costs were higher for Bay Area folks?

That makes so much sense! Thank you.

Mostly, I'm curious if anyone else out there with a VPN and too much time on their hands has found examples of total booking costs being higher for Bay Area residents.

If so, please share screenshots! I could definitely use something else to be angry about this week. 😂 😭

The business strategy here is a head-scratcher.

Showing people in Kansas City a lowish price for their rooms (and pancakes!), and then tacking on a lot of extra fees doesn't feel like a great customer experience.

But maybe it works?

The same thing happens with add-ons like in-room breakfasts: Kansas City shoppers are quoted a lower price than San Franciscans, but everyone pays the same after fees are added in.

A screenshot showing side by side comparisons of New York hotel costs on Hotwire and Expedia. For the same hotel, the per-night costs shown to someone browsing from the San Francisco Bay Area are higher than the costs shown to someone browsing from Kansas City. But the total costs of the stay, including taxes and fees, are also shown, and they are exactly the same for people regardless of where they're browsing from.

I discovered travel sites ARE showing higher per-night room prices to people they think are in SF vs. KC.

But the total costs for the booking end up being the same regardless of location. Everyone pays the same after taxes and fees are included.

Weird, right? Examples below...

Hotel booking sites caught overcharging travelers from Bay Area Popular hotel booking sites like Expedia and Hotels.com raise their prices substantially when San Franciscans use their online booking platforms.

I tried to (lazily) replicate the @sfgate.com findings that people in the Bay Area are being charged more for online hotel reservations than folks from Kansas City or Phoenix.

In my hour of distracted sleuthing, I couldn't find any examples of it. But I did find something even weirder.

Noooooooo. Hope the elbow heals soon.

330 shares of Class C stock, all in. If you sign today, my manager says he'll throw in the extended powertrain warranty for free!

A drawing of an old van parked in front of a night club. The van has the name of the beloved weather app Hello Weather painted on the side.