Sarah Trick

Dear Adobe,

No, I don't need the AI to summarize. No, I don't need the AI to help me search. No, I don't need the AI to help me resize the margins. No, I don't need the AI to do anything.

What I need is to hit the print icon without your product crashing from all of the AI popups.

Nobody admits it but the real reason most people get cats is because they make a really good noise if you prod them while they're asleep.

on the whole, I would not recommend “the long september 11th” as an era in which to spend one’s entire adult life

Giving a guest lecture at Carleton this morning and I'm absolutely disgusted to report that doing my slide deck ahead of time, rather than scrambling the morning of to finish, the way I've done every single other slide deck in my life, enhances the quality of the presentation. I am furious.

I had no idea I wasn't following you on here! My email is sarah dot trick at gmail dot com.

If this pattern looks familiar, mute and block

They’re stealing your valuable time and they have no right to your attention

This is a fantastic point I had not considered before. The _act_ of writing is the actual practice, not the end-result. The refining of so much you do happens in the dialogue you have with the page.

No, I don't need a bloody copilot for this document, thank you.

Writing is, in no small part, a tool for thinking. If you outsource that element to a machine that cannot think, you shouldn't be surprised if, at the end of the process, neither you nor your reader are any the wiser.

Unless "AI dipshits" refers to people who don't like AI, I suppose, in which case, carry on. I can't check because I'm blocked by the creator. But the thought of being mistaken for someone who advocates for that stuff is disgusting to me.

Genuinely offended to have been put on an "AI dipshits" blocklist. I got put on others for following progressives and conservatives, I think? And fair enough. But my contempt for "gen-AI" is prob the opinion I've expressed most consistently on here!

He's more than "not funny," even; he's *anti-funny*, an actively opposing counterforce to "funny," which, when present, makes it impossible for funny to occupy nearby space lest there be large explosions and a rip in the fabric of reality

#ADHD "The study...is believed to be the first to use all-cause mortality data to estimate life expectancy in people with A.D.H.D. Previous studies have pointed to an array of risks associated with the condition, among them poverty, mental health disorders, smoking and substance abuse."
Thoughts: ⬇️

"Disaster Paladins"

also, they probably don't like all body types.

if you'd told me in 1995 that a woman singer-songwriter would believe vaccines magnetized your blood and ham cured measles, i 100% would've picked jewel

My (least) favourite way people put this is "I like all body types but health is important. You should be someone who takes care of themselves" Health! Is not! under people's control! and the people who are like this have no idea how much "taking care of ourselves" sick and/or disabled people do.

Former vaccines tsar describes ‘open warfare’ within UK government during Covid pandemic Dame Kate Bingham, who led the vaccine taskforce in 2020, said the clinically vulnerable were deprioritised and goals were not followed

"...the government was following a very clear two-tier strategy where the clinically vulnerable, immunocompromised patients were being deprioritised...". In 2020, such a policy was effectively eugenic: eliminating the weaker to save the stronger. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

the biologists made a bunch of noises.

"We don't know how to tell you this," they said. "But see, we don't know for sure."

I was like HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW

And one of them was like, "No one has really bothered to study human women."

10. I love dogs. I'd love to have one one day, if I lived somewhere a dog could be happy. No, I do not want to "upgrade" Hamilcat for a dog. First of all, there is no possible upgrade; Hamilcat is already perfect. Secondly, what is wrong with people like this? Again, a cat is not a failed dog.

9. Cats are not mean; you just can't be bothered to learn to read their body language so you get mad at them for not being dogs.

8. There are no public spaces where people have the right to not see other people who might make them uncomfortable. That is what public space means. You're thinking of private space.

7. There are too many ingredients in desserts nowadays. Not everything needs to be deep-fried salted caramel apple chocolate cheesecake with vanilla bourbon fudge sauce. Pick 2, maybe 3 flavours at most, and execute them well. More flavour is not better flavour.

6. Stop telling disabled adults who live independently of their parents that we must hate our parents/not care about our parents. What, from the bottom of my heart, is your problem? Sorry my parents...raised an adult, which was their job?

5. I would pay more money for tech without generative AI. Where are my AI-free options?

4. Special editions of books have gone too far. Books are not meant to be disposable objects. You don't need to buy or make 4 editions of the same books with different bonus epilogues or whatever.

3. Sprayed edges on books have gone too far. If you don't want to read the physical copy in case you ruin the sprayed edges, that's counterproductive.

2. Salsa belongs on the side of nachos, not on top of nachos, which ruins the texture.

Since I'm not currently employed as a journalist, I'm going to use this moment of freedom to discuss 10 of my most controversial, but sincerely-held Takes! All views are my own, muahahaha!

1. Iceberg lettuce is bad and people who like it should consider trying literally any other lettuce.

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to shout out my wonderful colleagues at TVO, particularly the ones who were also laid off. Everyone I've worked with there was talented, kind, and hard-working. I'll miss you all.

In the meantime, if you think I'd be a fit for an assignment, want to discuss working with me on a pitch, or have a position open that you think I might suit, please get in touch! Firstname dot lastname at gmail is the best way to reach me.