Ben Parzybok

Andry José Hernández Romero, in his costume, in his Venezuelan home town’s three king’s day celebration

Andry José Hernández Romero, I remember you, even if I do not know how to articulate my horror, rage, & sorrow at your treatment by my government.

No one has heard from you in 53 days.

As vigil, I’m posting a photo of you every day until you are returned from El Salvador.

Congratulations to past BTC guests Percival Everett for winning the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and Danez Smith for being a finalist in Poetry!
ICYMI, here are the conversations with each of them:
Percival: tinhouse.com/podcast/perc...
Danez: tinhouse.com/podcast/dane...
@graywolfpress.bsky.social

History always has a lesson.

A drawing of a perfect phone that only has three buttons on it, one of them says IS HE DEAD one of them says AM I BROKE and the other one says RELAXING PUZZLE GAME

I invented a new phone to help save time in the morning

MMR vaccine doesn’t just prevent measles, mumps, and rubella. It also prevents RFK Jr. from showing up at your child’s funeral to exploit your grief at your most vulnerable moment.

Portland OR Hands Off Rally

Oh wow: Portland Oregon is NOT KIDDING
#handsoff

Spectacular view of 100,000 people attending the #HandsOff march in NYC

Thousands of protesters gathered at the Japanese American Historical Plaza on Portland’s waterfront before they started marching south down Naito Parkway onto the Morrison Bridge.

#HandsOff protest live updates: www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Laura made a sign for the protests in Portland

Thank you!

Two of my books and two short stories got eaten by the AI borg.

My month in Istanbul/Turkey was incredible. Thank you Türkiye, I’m sad to go! I hope you can navigate the politics and tendencies toward fascism. I know I was taking lessons from it. This was last night at the Metropolitan Municipality Authority. #imamoglu

Benjamin Parzybok > Idle, Inc > Bourbon Penn We were having an emergency. One of the time-servers crashed, and the support line was lighting up. And since my boss was on maternity leave, every one of those calls was mine to answer.

I have a new story in the fantastic journal Bourbon Penn.

“at first it was cool i guess, 15 mins extra free time a day, like magic. nap time! But after like 900 crashes i can honestly say this is by far the worst app I have ever used in my entire life bar none”

www.bourbonpenn.com/issue/35/idl...

Thrilled to be in this issue of Bourbon Penn.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN CASE OF ICE: CONOCE TUS DERECHOS EN CASO DE ENCUENTRO CON ICE:

DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR. ICE cannot enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge. Tell the agents to show you the warrant by sliding it under the door. NO ABRAS TU PUERTA. ICE no puede entrar a tu casa sin una orden firmada por un juez. Diles a los agentes que te muestren la orden deslizándola debajo de la puerta.

ASK THEM TO LEAVE. If ICE doesn't have a warrant, tell them you do not consent for them to enter your home and ask them to leave. At work, ICE cannot enter employee-only areas without permission. 2 PÍDALES QUE SE VAYAN. Si ICE no tiene una orden judicial, diles que no das tu consentimiento para que entren a tu casa y pídeles que se vayan. En el trabajo, ICE no puede ingresar a áreas exclusivas para empleados sin permiso.

REMAIN SILENT. You have the right to remain silent. If the agents ask you questions, tell them, "I wish to remain silent." PERMANECE EN SILENCIO. Tienes derecho a permanecer en silencio. Si los agentes te hacen preguntas, diles: "Deseo permanecer en silencio".

It is perfectly legal to know your rights and to educate others about them, too.

EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.

Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)

Hey! Good to see you on here.
Yes this project is fab. Thanks for donating.

..your writing. We're talking about your writing.

Current events got you feeling inspired, for better or worse? Yeah. Us too.

We're always looking for #submissions of most any kind (especially zines!), but especially #writing about... (1/3)

I think a lot about this quote from Anaïs Nin’s diary from 1939-1944:

“America is in even greater danger because of its cult of toughness, its hatred of sensitivity, and someday it may have to pay a price for this, because atrophy of feeling creates criminals”.

And I, for one, welcome our new TikTok overlords

HEY BLUESKY PEOPLE: Are you currently fundraising for a charity or for your own needs? Here is a thread for you to tell other people about it. Please explain your thing and put in a link (Legit 503c(3) charities and/or established fundraising sites preferred). 'tis is season!

Street Books Street Books is a bicycle-powered mobile library for people living outside

Thanks John! Street Books is a free book-lending library for people living outside. streetbooks.org (note: I’m just their tech guy). Donations go to buy books, reading glasses, and to support staff, many of whom were previously house-less.

oh AI can write books now? fine but can it constantly self-promote on multiple social platforms while still feeling bad about itself?????

bird sounds

@hanvanderhart.bsky.social if you'd be interested in having this reprinted in gumballpoetry.org let me know. I love this piece. gumballpoetry.org/about

A Lighthouse for Dark Times This is the elemental speaking: It is during phase transition — when the temperature and pressure of a system go beyond what the system can withstand and matter changes from one state to anot…

“Ancient Athens made a mess — but the Antigone stands up. Renaissance Rome made a mess — but the ceiling of the Sistine got painted. Art… is the one orderly product which our muddling race has produced. It is the cry of a thousand sentinels…” EM Forster www.themarginalian.org/2024/11/06/t...

Imma need some of you to think about thriving out of spite. I had big plans for 2025 and I’m definitely not gonna pre-derail them for likes of Elin and Tromp. I’m getting more involved. Loving harder. Writing hornier. Having more fun. I’m gonna be so kind to my neighbors, bitch.

Is everybody believing in the servers? If you don't believe in the servers they don't work