tony

For no explicable reason, I had the Ramones "Pet Sematary" song stuck in my head all of last week.

Tom Paine’s Bridge - Commonplace We do not often think of Paine as a revolutionary inventor. But in a very real sense, that is what he believed himself to be.

Thomas Paine’s prototype in a field:

commonplace.online/article/tom-...

you'll know they are growing up, the technology maturing, when the toaster and the kettle ask you for relationship advice

Wings of Perspire

The promise of AI was that it would cure cancer and do the routine work so we would be free to pursue more creative endeavors.
Instead they trade the environment for novels no one needs (there’s certainly no shortage).
This is not the cyberpunk dystopia I asked for.

Does this mean that you are a replicant?

This sort of courtly opulence could never have developed naturally in, say, Texas ... the very idea of wearing velvets and petticoats outside in August gives one the vapours.

This is Horus. He got a lot of attention on a recent flight in Mexico. Clearly the other passengers have never flown with someone so handsome. 14/10 we're told he was very well behaved (TT: denniabuendagalvn, paulinagtza_, cheetahbash, cristianjbetancourt)

The problem is far bigger than Jeffrey Epstein | Rebecca Solnit Treating the scandal as an aberration misunderstands the global epidemic of violence against women

"One of the reasons the epidemic of violence against women is so unacknowledged is because cases like these are talked about individually, and often treated as though they are shocking aberrations rather than part of a pervasive pattern that operates at all levels of society."

Softly steps a snow-footed warrior
Tall pale-skinned birch yield their bark
Wrap his legs in their armor
Transform him, name him Birkebeiner

A huldra watches warily, swishes her tail
Protectress, perhaps, but of him
Perhaps not, she ponders, tastes his smell
He's a quiet animal, she watches him go

Isn't this the plot to the Wrinkle in Time series?

The Cure – Where the Birds Always Sing Robert Smith has said “Where the Birds Always Sing” shares a theme with part of the book The Crow Road by Iain Banks, and was inspired by what he feels is an inevitable cynicism

Am reminded of The Cure's Where the Birds Always Sing

genius.com/The-cure-whe...

commapress.co.uk/books/kurdis... @commapress.bsky.social

Jack White says he likes playing on a beat up pawn shop guitar because then it's on him to get a good sound out of it - the craftsman coaxing their tool to produce a better result.

The Molotov Cocktail The Anniversary by Anthony Nichols Rabbit waits by the window. All the chores are done. They don’t take long. Not anymore. Dusting takes the longest. It gets everywhere and if left unchecked drifts…

I once wrote a flash fiction piece about a little robot still waiting for its people to come back when, well, that's not going to happen ... themolotovcocktail.com/about/archiv...

Yes, they have kept up writing and review sessions and a bit of social chat and support but I have stepped back from writing and therefore this group because, well, ... life. But I cheer them on quietly from the side of the pitch.

I did the Granta Memoir course and am such a fan of my cohort - so many great writers.
Look forward to all of them publishing brilliant insightful essays and books that break your heart.

Oh, this reminds me that Angélique Kidjo has a great album of Talking Heads covers. Recommend.

Each morning, with a coffee
I swallow my dose of regret
A small black pill, bitter and sweet

I don't consume it to hide it
This is medicine, memory as chemo

Small doses of past ... indiscretions
On slow release, prevent all my futures
From developing contagious toxicities

Caution: habit forming

a man is sitting in the back seat of a car and making a funny face . ALT: a man is sitting in the back seat of a car and making a funny face .

Too high!
The void is for screaming into, not sitting at the side of.
I would freeze, pass out, and then lay quivering on the terrace if I were forced outside at that altitude.

This reminds me of how much fun Stephen Greenblat’s account of 15th C. book hunting is in The Swerve.
#BookSky #Books

While I have soured on Murakami's novels, his Lederhosen short story is really good. writingatlas.com/story/1766/h...

a man in a leather jacket says " i say we take off and make the entire site from orbit " ALT: a man in a leather jacket says " i say we take off and make the entire site from orbit "

Yes, please. Although neither truth nor logical consistency seem to be a primary function of modern LLMs so you may need an altogether different tactic.

I am busily tapping my fingers and refreshing the internet waiting for @nataliehaynes.bsky.social No Friend to This House 🐏 to come out on audiobook. Two more months! 😭

true story: when my friend's father was working on his thesis in the early 70s, he emerged, bleary-eyed, from an all-nighter to a dawn like this and genuinely stood there for a minute thinking it was the end of the world and the force of the blast would surely reach him soon

In gilded age of
Silver screen stars
Tin-boxed reels rode steerage
O'er deep dark seas to
Distant fans, awaiting Penelope's

In the dystopian now
Reels fly faster than thought
Bringing spoilers to our shore
Of mysteries embargoed,
Cinema for other regions

Stories woven in fiber
To the globe release

What I really want to understand is why, after 40,000 years of making footwear, we still cannot make a pair of dress/business shoes that doesn't rub and blister ...
Even Doc Martens casual shoes make it a point of pride with special "break in" socks and videos and instructions.
Must we suffer?

Was just reading that a US judge has allowed Meta and Anthropic to use copyrighted material for training data as legitimate "fair-use" ... doesn't bode well for creative work, I think, but need to learn more.

I'm a firm believer that when two people who value the Oxford comma find one another, it's an undeniable sign that their relationship will be fulfilling, beautiful, and everlasting.