Kate Schaefer

I rarely see the Bewick's wrens, but I love hearing them and knowing what I'm hearing, thanks to Merlin.

Hell yeah, brother

Drawing of the Great Telescope at Birr Castle. Between two stone walls, perhaps four stories tall, the black cylinder of the telescope, nearly 2 meters in diameter, and nearly 17 meters in length. The walls hold an elaborate arrangements of stairs and walkways that allow an observer to reach the eyepiece of the telescope no matter what angle it is raised to. The drawing is rendered in shades of light and dark brown, because the artist, Mike Gale, uses Guiness Stout instead of ink to draw Irish scenes. Copyright 2019 by Mike Gale.

An opportunity for a Shameless Plug!

Anyone in Chicagoland curious?

The Chicago Astronomical Society has invited me to speak Sat, 28 Feb, 6 PM, at the Cernan Earth & Space Center, 2000 5th Ave, River Grove IL.

"The Great Telescope of Birr Castle:
How a 19th-Century Irish Family Changed Astronomy"

If President Trump tries to take control of the midterm elections by executive order, he'll be defying the Constitution in an attempt to trample the authority of Congress and the states and the rights of voters. The time to draw a line is now, says @walterolson.bsky.social.

buff.ly/ok13K53

I made this point in class the other day. Until Congress changes the name, it's the Department of Defense. It's not hard.

Pete Hegseth can call it whatever he wants. Uncle Drunky's Funtown or the He-Man Warfighters Secret Clubhouse or whatever. No one else should feel the need to follow him.

At a closed Tim Hortons, 5 miles from his home, without his cane. Yes, this is murder. Yes, it is deliberate. Yes, it is deeply, deeply shameful.

I had a dream about that only a few weeks ago. The phone in my dream was a newfangled princess model, not attached directly to the wall.

I know you say you don't choose any of the music, @kairyssdal.bsky.social, but I was really expecting "MacArthur Park" after that recipe metaphor today.

Let the storytelling commence! Tananarive Due, Toastmaster for our 61st Nebula Awards Ceremony in Chicago this June 3-7.

Please join us in celebrating @tananarivedue.bsky.social: an accomplished worldbuilder, dream-spinner, and now...

✨️ Toastmaster for SFWA's 61st Annual Nebula Awards Ceremony! ✨️

Learn more about our spectacular ceremony storyteller and sign up for the Nebulas today. 👇️ www.sfwa.org/2026/02/26/2...

I can tell that the person who made that diagram isn't old or disabled. I want a grab bar by the toilet. I use that grab bar every day.

Toilet risers are useful for tall people, but can be hellaciously bad for short people; there we are, feet dangling a few inches above the floor.

This stunt where ICE releases people far from home with no proper clothing and no way home should be treated as attempted homicide. In this case, actual homicide. These cases are not accidental or based on misunderstandings. They are deliberate attempts to inflict bodily harm.

And considerably safer than it was in my youth, when even so, it was safer than pregnancy.

That's what we're all anticipating.

a woman sitting at a desk with a sign that says bondi on it ALT: a woman sitting at a desk with a sign that says bondi on it

The market ≠ the economy. And presidents don't control either. But since stock markets are Trump's preferred metric for judging his successes as president, this context seems useful.

Yeah, I don't know either.

The Ford Pinto wasn't just infamous for catching fire and killing people during a crash; it was infamous for the leaked memo where Ford said the $50million to pay off survivors was less than the $121million to recall and retool, so the deaths were an acceptable business issue.

The Cybertruck is...

It's Official: the Cybertruck is More Explosive than the Ford Pinto - FuelArc News We now have a full year of data for the Cybertruck, and a strange preponderance of headlines about Cybertrucks exploding into flames, including several fatalities. That’s more than enough data to comp...

The Ford Pinto had a death rate of 85 people for 10 million cars sold. The Cybertruck hasn't sold 10 million, but the fatality rate so far maths out to 1,452 people killed per 10 million sold.

The Cybertruck may be the deadliest road car, for the occupants, ever sold.

fuelarc.com/evs/its-offi...

Want an alternative to tomorrow's Shamelessness of the Union speech? Our beloved @nicolaz.bsky.social is booked right up against it: citylights.com/events/nicol... Chatting with me about her latest, SHE IS HERE, as I was the editor astute enough to ease the book out of her.

Thanks!

Questions I face in these weird days: Is this tool I consider using (full of [Nazis/TERFs/billionaires/AI], ripping off its [contributors/users/citizens], evil in some unspecified way)?

If the answer is yes (and it almost certainly is), how do I choose between the various evils?

I keep reading it as year of the fire hose and thinking, weren't we already in that year?

Also, their patterns and colors are amusing as all get out.

WIll, I have watched this trailer twice, and it is completely up my alley, but Japanese is not one of my languages. What's the movie's title? Thanks.

I still don't understand how this isn't the headline everywhere. If Biden or Obama said the words, "I'm allowed to destroy the country" Fox News would be giving tips on where to buy pitchforks and torches.

Trump: "I can do anything I want to do to them ... I'm allowed to destroy the country."

5 authors I've read at least 5 books by:

Nisi Shawl
Ann Leckie
N. K. Jemisin
Kameron Hurley
Daryl Gregory

2025 Planetside Reader Survey - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association Help us celebrate the writers for Planetside articles in 2025, and give us guidance with respect to how to keep growing this publication.

Help us celebrate nonfiction writers from 2025! In our first-ever Planetside Reader Survey, which runs until Feb 28 at 11:59 PM PST, we are asking readers to highlight the articles they most loved.

Thank you to all the volunteers who make this teaching tool for professionalizing writers possible!

Always fun when a graduate of Clarion West comes back to town to talk about her books and career.

Third Place is a great, great bookstore. A great set of local bookstores, actually. And Stephanie is a lovely person and a fine writer, so it's a win all around.