Aaron Emmel

THEN YOU PURCHASE THEM AND DO NOT USE THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS

Okaeri in Rockville is the Cracker Barrel of Japanese cafes and anime stores, in the most awesome possible way.

As long as people open their doors to give candy to kids dressed as ninjas and pumpkins, I will retain faith in this country.

Dark Winds was already a great show, but the cameo by George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford is an added bonus.

Aliens Probably Exist—But They’re Staying Silent For a Reason, NASA Scientist Claims The expansiveness of the universe could make interstellar communication difficult, even for the most advanced civilizations.

A proposed new solution to Fermi's paradox is that it might just be unlikely that even successful alien civilizations would develop sufficiently advanced technology to reach us.

www.popularmechanics.com/space/a69138...

I rode with a London cabbie Friday, and when he found out I work in global health, he said the new Pandemic treaty violates countries' sovereignty. He asked what I thought, so I told him what was in the treaty, and he said, "That all sounds like common sense."

All the TSA agents I encountered on my recent flights were really helpful and friendly while working (for now) without pay.

I've been trying to come up with a title for my novel for a year. Saw some bands last night in Rotterdam and halfway through High Desert Queen's first song the title seemed obvious. Don't know what I would do without music.

I'm in the Berlin airport and the guy staffing the gate is asking everyone walking by if they're the pilot. I said no, but now I'm wondering if I just missed a great opportunity.

Something that took me too long to learn is that speaking on a panel isn't the same as giving a speech or presentation. For the latter, you're speaking to the audience; for the former, it looks more natural to respond to the moderator.

But he doesn't think the U.S. will be easily replaced, and still hopes that it can reemerge as a force for good. 2/2

I'm in Berlin and just had a long conversation with a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official. Many people have told me that they view the U.S. retreat from the world, as damaging as it is, as an opportunity to create a fairer system. 1/2

One lesson/reminder of the past 10 years is that the way live isn't inevitable. With due respect to acculturation and path dependence, we have the world we choose. And our choices are defined, in so many ways, by our stories.

I don't like when my kids try to trick me, but I'm kind of glad to see them learn to work together.

The Bill of Rights was added to build support for ratification, but Madison initially opposed it because he was afraid it would lead people to believe they only had the rights that were listed.

Something worth remembering about the American form of government is that the Constitution doesn't grant us rights. All rights naturally belong to the people, and the Constitution outlines the specific prerogatives we traded to gain the benefits of a Union.

My son is making documentaries and simple robots at his (public) middle school. Last night we went to the high school open house and kids there were doing gene editing, learning neuroscience and starting businesses in the entrepreneurship program. I want to go to these schools.

Lots of great stories this weekend at Capclave from guest of honor Joe Haldeman, author of The Forever War.

Last night we caught Second City at The Birchmere in Virginia. It was a blast.

Apparently, kids at my son's school just tell the librarian what books they want to read and she buys them for the library. He's pretty happy.

This struck me because I refer to the maps in Mary Beard's books even more frequently than I do in fantasy novels.

I just learned from Mary Beard (on a David Frum podcast about Rome) that ancient Romans didn't have maps of the republic/empire. Many Romans had no way of visualizing where they were in relationship to other places.

I love Chicago.

I am a hypermasculine and extremely powerful alpha male. As such my greatest fears are seed oils, rainbows, people who don't look like me being on TV, and preventative medicine. I cannot explain any of these fears and consider that to be your fault.

My son is always coming to me with story ideas, and today he said, What about a horror story where only one person in the world is sane, but because he's the only one, everyone thinks he's insane? And I said, "I would call it '2025.'"

Philadelphia seems to have an amazing bookstore on every street. But this awesome used bookstore is Baldwin's Book Barn out in Chester County, PA.

The U.S. has one capital, so whether you claim to be Republican or Democrat, or come from Arkansas or Illinois (or, like me, a mountain town of 200 people), the fact that it’s occupied is a national humiliation.

No matter what my kids ask Alexa to play, it finds a way to play Depeche Mode.

I took my mom to DC last week and she was surprised by what a beautiful city it is, with kids playing in fountains and people eating lunch in parks.

"Why do politicians say it's dirty?" She asked. Good question, I answered.

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.