Month: March 2018

Another day at the old salt mines working in the wizard tower. A certain someone hasn’t napped in years, but there you go. Sometimes you get tired. Knowing when to set aside all the digital delights to focus on, I don’t know, napping.

Presented without comment.

I love these illustrations by Ivan Bilibin.

A lot of good roguelike game stuff on the Temple of the Roguelike blog.

“11 Untranslatable Words from other Cultures”

Penflip “a GitHub for writers”. Looks pretty cool.

Some days don’t go according to plan. Like this one. Wheels, spinning wheels. Tears. It’s a good problem to have, having too many books to read. But it doesn’t always feel like a good problem.

“Equoid”: A great Laundry short story by Charles Stross.

“How to Dream” by Umair Haque. Sometimes you gotta read something a little inspirational.

A science fiction story about Kermit the Frog. I liked it.

“Why Sherman was Right to Burn Atlanta” for all you Civil War history buffs or just someone curious about it.

“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nahesi Coates. One of our best living writers.

There was some sun today, whee! Typing words, not really the best way for human beings to communicate. Meditation on a mustache. Riding around in style. More typing, so much typing.

Ghost Devices by Simon Bucher-Jones. I have never have been able to track down a copy of this fascinating sounding SF novel.

I really dig this blurry fantastical sci-fi art by Alexandre Diboine.

Rudy Rucker meditates on how science fiction can help you think about and illuminate possibilities in the world.

A list of seven of Jorge Luis Borges’ favorite short stories. I know I want to read them all. Just have to remember to.

Because I’m a very silly person, a few years ago I spent about a year listening to nearly all of these 1001 albums.

 

Spears are just sticks with knives stuck on the end. They seem to be a lot more fun to twirl though. A short bus ride to delight. Sometimes you’re in the captain’s chair and those VR buttons are just a little hard to reach.

A funny take on X-Men #1.

Lots of translations of the Tao Te Ching side-by-side.

It’s a picture of everything. I think this is an accurate description.

Omniglot. It’s a linguistic cornucopia!

“Cookie Monster” by Vernor Vinge. A fun little SF short story.

Desert peacocks. Also, 79 cent palm trees as tall as the sky. CDs for everyone. I woke up way too early that one time and then napped all day. Some quiet time best filled with reading.

I read this book, Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, and I only had to look up how to spell his name three times. Made for a good airplane book. Long enough, not too heavy.

Dicey Dungeons, a fun little browser-based dungeon crawl game.

“When You’re Autistic, Abuse Is Considered Love”. Worth a read.

Silence is HARD. Especially when you’re standing in front of thousands and thousands of people. Watch the whole thing.

There’s nothing else I want to link to today.

I saw Hamilton last night! It’s the best. Funny hair all day, accidentally. Good cosmic news. Less car yelling than some other times. Sometimes it’s tough getting those books back to the library on time.

This guy writes about playing D&D with his kids. I can get behind that.

Someone’s trying a little too hard to be Superman. (While I’m in-between “word books” I often read some comic books. In this case, Batman.) Oh yeah, don’t forget Gotham Girl.

I really like this Twitter account that posts 70s SF art. (They have a Tumblr too, if you’re into that kind of thing.)

A delightful little essay about lexicographers and profanity.

Dorothy Thompson “Who Goes Nazi?” Harsh but fair.

 

The sun came out and everyone’s blinking, including the cherry blossoms. Tonight: Hamilton! Last night: poetical ruminations on moon conspiracies and Grendel’s ma.

Infographics on “possible tech-induced cognitive-behavioural disorders”.

“The 5:22” by George Harrar. I loved this sweet, gentle story about commuting on a train that LeVar Burton Read.

Slow Burn. There’s so much to learn about Watergate. I had never even heard of Wright Patman.

Hamilton! Lin-Manuel Miranda’s been dropping these Hamilton-related tracks. Good stuff.

An essay on maps of unreal, fantastical places.

When the tears flow like wine, we’re all just kind of bummed out, I guess. Sometimes you can’t fix a think that’s broke, you can only hide it in the closet. A showdown over corned beef.

Delightful tiny wooden machines by Kazuaki Harada.

Pretty great interview with Michael B. Jordan.

Patrick Stuart is one of the most astoundingly creative writers around. Several months ago, he started doing a read through and report of The Faerie Queen. It’s great! Here’s the first post on that.

I’m a huge Jeff VanderMeer fan and these are the books he liked in 2017. Seems like a pretty great list!

I dig the look of this game, Songbringer. (Fun fact: My kid hates the look of these retro-style games.)

When lying in bed til 830 feels like a blissful indulgence. Harry Potter movie 6 is maybe a little too intense. How many happy hours can you fit in a day. Who knows what free will even means?

This is a pretty great short animated film. Especially if you’re into D&D. It’s very funny. Worth 10 minutes of your time.

I just finished reading The Secret Country trilogy by Pamela Dean. It’s pretty unusual, in that her fantasy world doesn’t just feel like our world ported over with some magical junk slapped on. Characters make choices for culturally alien reasons. I dug them.

Multnomah County Library put together a pretty slick site for browsing their Best Book of 2017.

About six months ago I read this book by Daniel Polansky called A City Dreaming. Excellent, excellent. Know what else’s excellent? The way he writes about the books he reads. Check it out. I’m sure you’ll find a great book to read.

Speaking of recommendations, Recomendo seems pretty intriguing.