Ed Armstrong

Interview with Matthiessen biographer Lance Richardson

"True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen" tops my TRB biography category. Because, Matthiessen.

Homework for the #writingcommunity.

#Booksky #nature #wildlife #activist #writer #ZenMaster

tinyurl.com/bdb4657n

Thank you for the endorsement! I'm going to bump it up my reading queue.

The Situation: Malevolence, Incompetence, and the Strange Case of Lindsey Halligan A study in 24 pages.

Malevolence, Incompetence, and the Strange Case of #LindseyHalligan

Benjamin Wittes parses Judge William Fitzpatrick's "startling" opinion that reveals the "misconduct and incompetence...of the president’s hand-picked prosecutor for his political foes."

#Trump #Bondi #Comey
tinyurl.com/d4we9as3

YouTube video by More Questions than Answers Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Nara, Japan, May 22, 1994)

Seen on morning run. Well, visualized. I don't, won't, use earbuds and all that. Just open my mind and see what wanders in, or out.

Was gifted with my favorite rendering of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Oh man, this is powerful. 😂 Had to share.

#running #meditation #Dylan 🏃🙏

tinyurl.com/3kxp535t

Bar graph showing blue bar with 55% of the vote and a red bar with Republicans at 41%.

#Democrats hold Double-Digit Lead on 2026 Generic Ballot

#MaristPoll conducted Nov 10-13 finds Dems leading #Republicans 55-41. Leading #Independents by a whopping 61%-28% tally...33 points!

#Trump approval at 39%.
#Midterms #Congress #Polls
via Marist tinyurl.com/m3ss2c2f

‘House of Leaves’ Author Mark Z. Danielewski on Conjuring ‘The Voice of the Mountain’ to Write His 1,200-Page Horror Western ‘Tom’s Crossing’ Cult horror writer Mark Z. Danielewski, best known for 'House of Leaves,' spins an epic western tale with 'Tom's Crossing.'

Mark Z. Danielewski on Conjuring ‘The Voice of the Mountain’ to Write Tom’s Crossing

“I was called to write that story...I was at the height of my abilities. I will never write a book as good as this. This is the best book I’ve ever written."

#writingcommunity #BookSky 📚💙
tinyurl.com/4em69puv

How West Virginia, with just five players, upset Duke in women’s basketball After six Mountaineers were ejected, West Virginia played the second half with just five players — and beat No. 15 Duke.

#WVU women's stunning win is one for the ages.

After 6 players (including 4 starters) were ejected for leaving the bench to defend a teammate. They got pissed...

...and came back to beat 15th ranked Duke with only 5 players.

So f'n proud of them!

#CountryRoads #Mountaineers
tinyurl.com/mpcw9z29

Just 29% of Americans support US military killing drug suspects

Yet another #Trump initiative deep under water in a major #poll.

In a sign of division within GOP, 27% of #Republicans in the poll opposed the killings, while 58% supported it, with the rest unsure.

tinyurl.com/2vmf5r9b

Latest read The Hearts of Horses. #Author Molly Gloss displays great command of subject and the "circle ride" used by horse breakers of the era to service clients is a perfect story-telling motif. The plot meanders a bit, but I strongly rec for #YA women.

#WritingCommunity #Booksky #horses #books

Thanks for the response. It's set in WWI-era east Oregon, fascinating time & place. The folks are adapting to tech like cars and phones and there're subplots of race & immigration running through it. Gloss really cares for her characters, including the horses--it jumps off the page.

David Szalay’s Flesh is the most deserved Booker Prize winner in years The British-Hungarian author’s novel encompasses teenage sex, infidelity, murder, death and war to tap into modern anxieties about masculinity. Finally, writes Martin Chilton, here is a worthy winner

David Szalay’s Flesh: "most deserved #BookerPrize winner in years"

"It was unanimous. We didn’t need a formal vote...
Szalay writes with terse precision...through innovative and spare narration that is deeply affecting."

Going to read this.
#WritingCommunity #Booksky #Books
tinyurl.com/2s9jmf2d

YouTube video by pattismithVEVO Patti Smith - Gloria (Official Audio)

Happy 50th Horses! Released this day 1975. I became aware of it a couple years later. "Gloria," its opening cut, had me by the balls from the first listen. Still does.

I swear it just gets better every year. Fifty and counting.

#PattiSmith #Punk #Rock #MusicSky
youtu.be/bPO0bTaWcFQ?...

YouTube video by Bianca Albrecht The White Stripes - In The Cold, Cold Night (Under Great Northern Lights)

Huge congratulations to #WhiteStripes for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction!

Here's a tribute to the reclusive Meg taking center stage with a beautifully rendered "In the Cold Cold Night."

#HallofFame #RockAndRollHallofFame #MusicSky
youtu.be/nU3aO3AcMoc?...

It's Fungi Sunday on #Bluesky!

Seen on #SundayMorning run, an eruption of Coker's Amanita mushrooms in the lawn outside nearby school. Dozens of them. Love the Autum colors. 💙
Had to share. 📷

#naturephotography #mushrooms #photography #Running #Sunday #nature 🙏

Mind captioning: Evolving descriptive text of mental content from human brain activity Nonverbal thoughts can be translated into verbal descriptions by aligning semantic representations between text and the brain.

#Orwell thought police will love this: Mind captioning

introducing an #AI generative decoding method called “mind captioning,” which generates descriptive text mirroring semantic information represented in the brain. AKA "Mind Reading."

Whadda you think?

#technology

tinyurl.com/38nsa9ms

How a 'blue collar' anti-Trump punk band 'is winning over MAGA' An American Celtic punk band from Quincy, Massachusetts that is explicitly anti-Trump and anti-MAGA is actually winning over President Donald Trump's supporters with their blue collar appraoch to hum...

How a 'blue collar' anti-Trump #Punk band 'is winning over #MAGA'

This warms my heart. 💙

Punk is in my DNA. I found it in the 1970s fleeing corporate rock & disco. My son also did so in the 1990s. Now it's running point against MAGA.

#MusicSky #Trump #Resist

www.alternet.org/dropkick-mur...

YouTube video by Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - COVER by LINDIWE SUTTLE " Somebody To Love" Live

I normally want an artist to make a song their own when I'm looking for a great cover. But Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen's "Somebody to Love" hues to the original--and blows the roof off the joint!

I 💙 it!

🎵...you better find somebody to love 🎵

#RockNRoll #MusicSky

youtu.be/PKd3U6jkTXw?...

America’s redistricting fight: how could the US congressional map shift? Republicans hold a 219-213 majority in the House, but they could lock in more seats if reapportionments go their way

Our #SundayMorning civics lesson via our friends at @theguardian.com

I hate that it's come to this.

#Redistricting #MidtermElections #Trump #Gerrymander #democracy #Congress
tinyurl.com/434urepn

How the Occult Gave Birth to Science For scientists of yore anything—from mermaids to alchemy—was on the table.

How the #Occult Gave Birth to #Science

Great #Halloween read for #Ghouls, #Geeks, and #Goths. Wherein we learn "early scientists’ fascination with the occult should remind us of other tenants of discovery: open-mindedness and curiosity."

Via @nautil.us

👻👹🧞🧹🎃⚰️
nautil.us/how-the-occu...

Thank you! 🙏

A matter so grave and again we're left to ponder the "why now" and "what for" of it. Or if it means anything at all...

"...often, what look like important pronouncements turn out to be random thoughts that have escaped the weak gravity of Trump’s attention span."

#Trump #Nukes #War

Oh my gosh! They're a fairly common around here, but nothing approaching those numbers. The most I've seen at once is a half dozen or so. Great pics!

In great company! TY
👇 🙏💙

Photo of Almanac of the Dead book on an Indian motif blanket

Finished Almanac of the Dead! Hefty read at 763 pp. Very insightful, mostly entertaining, occasionally shocking. So many key characters, my God, I had to make a chart. My heart ached for Seese and Sterling.

#writingcommunity #booksky #readingcommunity #Indian #Mexico #Arizona #HistoricalFiction

How the #WhiteHouse complex will look with new #Ballroom
Here's the before/after.

It's an abomination. #Heartbreaking #Trump

GIF via Washington Post

Spooky! Seen on Morning Run - #Halloween edition.

That's a 5-foot wingspan #Vulture staking out a neighbor's roof. Some say it's a harbinger of sickness and death. I think it's just vulture being vulture. Boo! 👻

#photography #wildlife #birds #nature #naturephotography

Meet the Best Debut Novelists of the Year In September, the Center for Fiction announced the shortlist for their annual First Novel Prize, which celebrates debut novels and seeks to support early career writers. The shortlisted authors wil…

Meet the Best Debut Novelists of the Year

Next year, your first #novel and mine will make this. #Believe it!

Great article via @literaryhub.bsky.social with #author Q&As. Looking hard at The Devil Tree Times and Ibis for my TBR.

#WritingCommunity #booksky #fiction #books 📚💙

tinyurl.com/37cv33af

Behind the Curtain: America's energy jam The data centers powering the AI boom suck up so much energy, so fast, it's increasingly jacking up prices for nearby ordinary residents.

Behind the Curtain: America's energy jam

Good explainer. An apolitical look at what will soon become a hyperpolitical issue. See the tags for why.

#AI #Datacenters #energycosts #climateemergency #internationalcompetitiveness #grid #economy #technology #techbros

www.axios.com/2025/10/23/b...

‘I am reliving the nightmare’: Federal employees get second RIF notice after agencies brought them back A federal judge has temporarily blocked most layoffs. But federal employees who have already received RIF notices say they’re afraid of what happens next.

#GovernmentWorkers' Horror Show Continues; "Taking an Unimaginable Toll"

Court filings show some workers RIFed, then called back only to receive a second RIF notice this month.

Who can condone this? Cruelty is not an HR policy.

#Trump #Shutdown #Layoffs #RIF #NoKings
tinyurl.com/3uny4uba

Shutdown could halt SNAP benefits for millions, states say Some states announced they wouldn't give November SNAP benefits on time.

#GovernmentShutdown could cause a halt #SNAP benefits for millions, states say

The nation's largest domestic food-assistance program indirectly supports #farmers, thousands of supply chain #jobs and, oh yeah, helps feed millions of kids and families.

#Shame

www.axios.com/2025/10/20/s...

A week starter for #writers and the #writingcommunity.

Quote from Virginia Woolf cited by Ursula K. Le Guin in Steering the Craft: A 21st-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story.

It's about the #rhythm writers! Work at it.

Happy writing 🙏