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Neil Serven

@neilserven.bsky.social

Fiction & essays, novel in progress. Co-owner @federalstbooks.bsky.social . Candlepin bowler. Language stuff. A lot of crank air. Used to write the dictionary. Western Massachusetts.

932 Followers  |  842 Following  |  2,399 Posts  |  Joined: 24.07.2023
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Posts by Neil Serven (@neilserven.bsky.social)

It’s very possible that there will never be a Gen X president.

04.03.2026 03:15 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I’m guessing there’s an article about a preΓ«minent teen-ager’s premiΓ¨re or something that demanded the space.

04.03.2026 01:56 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Really gone to seed since I let my subscription lapse. All that to save a little ink.

04.03.2026 01:50 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Charcoal and gray chalk pastel drawing showing fruit (pumpkin, melon, apples, pear) arranged on a wooden table against a stone wall backdrop. Two ears of corn are hanging downward in the upper right corner of the drawing.

Charcoal and gray chalk pastel drawing showing fruit (pumpkin, melon, apples, pear) arranged on a wooden table against a stone wall backdrop. Two ears of corn are hanging downward in the upper right corner of the drawing.

Drawing I made from an old Jon Gnagy instruction book. Charcoal and chalk pastel.

Trying to keep my hands busy and stay off the internet.

02.03.2026 20:17 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Cover of pulp novel CONQUEST OF EARTH by Manly Banister. Shows an illustration of a man looking up at the yellow sky against a desert-like backdrop with some spacecraft or robot-like thing next to him.

Cover of pulp novel CONQUEST OF EARTH by Manly Banister. Shows an illustration of a man looking up at the yellow sky against a desert-like backdrop with some spacecraft or robot-like thing next to him.

β€œThe railing on our stairs is too girly. Who can we call about this?

β€œI know just the person. And get thisβ€”he’s a writer, too.”

28.02.2026 21:32 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Lost in Translation came out in 2003.

28.02.2026 12:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Still from SOMEWHERE, showing a man (played by Stephen Dorff) sitting on a couch with his daughter (played by Elle Fanning) leaned on his shoulder, asleep. Dorff's character has a cast on his left arm.

Still from SOMEWHERE, showing a man (played by Stephen Dorff) sitting on a couch with his daughter (played by Elle Fanning) leaned on his shoulder, asleep. Dorff's character has a cast on his left arm.

Still from AFTERSUN, showing a man (played by Paul Mescal) sitting on a couch asleep with his arm holding his daughter (played by Frankie Courio). Mescal’s character has a cast on his right arm.

Still from AFTERSUN, showing a man (played by Paul Mescal) sitting on a couch asleep with his arm holding his daughter (played by Frankie Courio). Mescal’s character has a cast on his right arm.

Sofia Coppola’s SOMEWHERE (2010) is billed as a β€œspiritual successor” to LOST IN TRANSLATION (actor biding time in a hotel, etc.), but couldn’t help but think the father-daughter dynamic was replicated in the later (2022) film AFTERSUN, and curiously, in both films the dad has a cast on his arm.

28.02.2026 11:57 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Cover of THE CRACK-UP by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The New Directions cover shows a drawing in blue ink of Fitzgerald in a three-piece suit, seated at a table with a cocktail shaker, with a drink in his right hand and the long index finger and pinky finger of his left hand on the keyboard of a typewriter. His eyes are wide like those of a zombie.

Cover of THE CRACK-UP by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The New Directions cover shows a drawing in blue ink of Fitzgerald in a three-piece suit, seated at a table with a cocktail shaker, with a drink in his right hand and the long index finger and pinky finger of his left hand on the keyboard of a typewriter. His eyes are wide like those of a zombie.

Fitzgerald on the cover of The Crack-Up is also me, working very hard as a writer.

28.02.2026 01:10 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I have thought this too ... this and the cruise ship one are similar in their contempt but this one punches down at plain folks.

26.02.2026 22:11 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

This guy gets it.

23.02.2026 20:42 β€” πŸ‘ 23639    πŸ” 5746    πŸ’¬ 454    πŸ“Œ 804
screenshot of a tv user guide, showing two channels under Tue 8PM:

MSNOW - State of the union
TCM East- Gaslight

screenshot of a tv user guide, showing two channels under Tue 8PM: MSNOW - State of the union TCM East- Gaslight

Masterful Troll, TCM.

24.02.2026 15:19 β€” πŸ‘ 6758    πŸ” 1644    πŸ’¬ 67    πŸ“Œ 98

Reading a 90s novel where a kid is in juvie for stealing "hoodies," here meaning not sweatshirts but car hood ornaments, and now I can't remember the last time I saw a car with a hood ornament?

23.02.2026 22:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Neil is from a family name (Kneale), respelled in the way of Armstrong, Diamond, etc.

23.02.2026 13:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Steven. Nothing wrong with it. No story behind it or family member honored, my mom just liked it. But it’s two letters off from my last name, which is weird. My mother didn’t seem to notice or care about the aesthetics. A lot of cool anagrams. NEVER EVEN LISTENS. VELVETEEN SINNERS.

23.02.2026 13:14 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

The Gen X urge to believe they put a man on the moon

23.02.2026 02:54 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

This is why Matt, Ben, and that other guy made this: m.youtube.com/watch?v=jdfS...

School’s closed, kids!

23.02.2026 02:10 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Pour one out for all the national weatherpeople having to do cold reads of Massachusetts town names

22.02.2026 23:17 β€” πŸ‘ 209    πŸ” 42    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 6

Canada gives America one gay hockey show and they start winning games

22.02.2026 16:00 β€” πŸ‘ 728    πŸ” 115    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 4

Frozen breaded veal cutlet patties, baked until slightly burnt, with white minute rice, steamed vegetables, and brown gravy.

22.02.2026 16:34 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Suprematism, by Nikolai Suetin, 1920-21, πŸ“Έ by @tiltoncreative

22.02.2026 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 9955    πŸ” 2272    πŸ’¬ 65    πŸ“Œ 112

The bobsled track reminds me of a subway line.

22.02.2026 02:46 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

CC: @rejectednytwords.bsky.social

21.02.2026 15:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

police tip line: @rejectednytwords.bsky.social

21.02.2026 15:33 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Played today's Spelling Bee and it did not spare me any of the CONCOMITANT frustration I often feel when I play it.

21.02.2026 13:43 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

(John Irving’s grandson!)

21.02.2026 03:03 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Brr! Curving!

21.02.2026 03:02 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The blossoms are crashing all over the place with this one.

19.02.2026 11:59 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

My fellow dictionary nerds, POLICE, ADJECTIVE is coming to Criterion Channel next month.

(Yes, it's only loosely dictionary-adjacent but that's as close as we're gonna get so take your wins when they come.)

18.02.2026 19:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Of the Fairfield, Connecticut FOREHANDS.

18.02.2026 02:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

MAC FOREHAND is a name from a 90s video game.

18.02.2026 02:20 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0