Air quality. I grew up in the Los Angeles basin in the 70s and 80s and remember having to stay inside because the smog was so bad - Stage 2 smog alerts, they were called. Apparently they haven't had one of those since 1988. Haven't had a stage one smog alert since 2003.

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 15h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

My mom died of colon cancer. For pete's sake, (as she would have said) get your fucking regular colonoscopy. If you're lucky and your mom didn't die of colon cancer it's only once every ten years. It could save your life.

Jessica Luther@jessicawluther.com · 16h ago

Well, I am of colonoscopy age now and I got my first-ever one yesterday. The prep wasn't fun but not as awful as I'd imagined. My appt was at 6am on Monday, I was home just after 7am. There's no recovery except catching up on the sleep you missed. So, if you need a nudge to get yours, this is it!

Any cis women who are disgusted by the Burnham government's transphobic policy of segregation can sign the @nionwomen.bsky.social petition, which is now closing in on 110,000 signatures. notinourname.org.uk

Home - Not in our name

Not In our Name: Women in support of the trans+community

notinourname.org.uk

Folks have covered food, medical treatments, airline safety, etc. I'm going to go with automobile safety. Anti-lock brakes, collision detection, airbags, better seatbelts, crumple zones... all of which has made car crashes a hell of a lot more survivable.

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 15h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

Because it apparently needs to be said: I have never fucking used the AI/LLM/chatbot/plagiarism machine and I never fucking will. If you use it, I think you're a bad person.

Forty years ago, in 1986, NYC suffered over 1,600 homicides. Homicides would peak at over 2,200 a few years later. There were 305 in 2025.

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 15h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

Hahahahahaha I wanted to type something here but I'm laughing too hard "could you still get through an entire workday" what the fuck, man, you just sharpied "I am incompetent" on your forehead.

Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 7h ago

My answer is LOL ROFL (dickbrain) The terminally AI-pilled can't even *imagine* some people have *never* asked stochastic parrots to cheat at their job for them.

Thank you, Michigan. I love you from the bottom of my heart!

Congrats to all the World Fantasy finalists!!

We drive darkening, ghosted roads. In these last minutes of solar alchemy, every turn is towards folklore. We become one with the land's long memory. One with a hodology where every traveller is another time's temporal shade. We become high strangeness. – #DAKilroy, 1982

Emely Suaza and her dad have been released from the Dilley Trailer Prison! I am glad that she is back with her mom, little brothers, and the rest of her family. When ICE detained Emely on her way to church, they asked her dad to come pick her up. When he showed up, they locked him up too.

Per the St. Louis County Board of Elections, fewer than one in four voters has voted as of 1PM today in St. Louis County! We've got some important ballot measures on the ballot today (especially NO on 4 and 5) and every vote really counts in low-turnout primary elections like this!

Sandstone@quartzen.bsky.social · 2d ago

Missouri friends: tomorrow is Election Day and I'm sure you already know to vote NO on amendments 4 and 5 to preserve our citizen-led ballot measure process and prevent a huge statewide sales tax hike, but please also vote YES on 1 to preserve an existing tax for parks and conservation too!

New story! "Judar of the Island: A Story Told in Four Feasts" by Rida Altaf! buff.ly/deZ56tT

Hugely proud to be part of this project. Gorgeous line art by @joshadams.bsky.social, colors by @nickfil.bsky.social & Matthew Wilson, letters by @longtalljodie.com, and story by Jim & Allie Bourdy. In the ISLANDS IN THE SKY anthology in comic shops this Wednesday!

Appalachia Comics Project@appalachiacomics.bsky.social · 21h ago

It was just rain. Until it wasn’t. Check out this sneak preview of “Just Rain” by Jim & Allie Bourdy in ‘Islands In The Sky: A People’s History of Hurricane Helene’ Written By: Jim & Allie Bourdy And Greg Pak Art By Josh Adams Colors By Nick Filardi & Matthew Wilson Letters By Jodie Troutman

What an amazing lineup! I can't believe Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology is one of the finalists in the Best Anthology category! locusmag.com/2026/08/2026...

2026 World Fantasy Awards Finalists

The World Fantasy Awards ballot for works published in 2025 has been announced. The awards will be presented during the 2026 World Fantasy Convention, scheduled for October 22-25, 2026 in Oakland C…

locusmag.com

In Texas, you can still register to vote in the November election up until October 5: www.votetexas.gov/register-to-... Also, you can check your registration at the "Am I Registered?" link in the third paragraph on this page:

Done and done, voted early. If you're a MO voter and you haven't voted yet, VOTE TODAY

Sandstone@quartzen.bsky.social · 2d ago

Missouri friends: tomorrow is Election Day and I'm sure you already know to vote NO on amendments 4 and 5 to preserve our citizen-led ballot measure process and prevent a huge statewide sales tax hike, but please also vote YES on 1 to preserve an existing tax for parks and conservation too!

Anna Smith Spark's magnificent Bronze Age fantasy, A Woman of the Sword, is part of this year's Best of British Storybundle. Being a legendary warrior is hard. Being a legendary warrior with kids in tow... storybundle.com/bestof

SEASON OF THE SERPENT is the final novel in The Nameless Republic trilogy (2021-2026). It's the punchiest, twistiest, riskiest, most gut-punching, wide-ranging, experimental--& therefore the most "Suyi Book"--of the 3 so far. Out next month (Aug 18), with notes on events & book swag coming soon.

Nino Cipri@ninocipri.bsky.social · 4w ago

authors you should absolutely quote post this with your fall releases, I am finding out about so many cool titles that I hadn't heard about

Today is the day on which Ray Bradbury's “There Will Come Soft Rains” (pub'd 1950) takes place. It’s a short elegaic story about a smart home slowly dying after its owners are wiped out in a nuclear extinction event. Re-reading it now, I’m feeling softly sucker-punched by what it has to offer us.

We are delighted to share the STUNNING cover for Play Role Play by @inchurlyo.bsky.social! This contemporary fantasy about grief, family, and TTRPGs arrives November 10th from Castle Bridge Media ⚔️

Revealing Play Role Play by In Churl Yo - Reactor

A novel about grief, gaming, and family — arriving November 2026

reactormag.com

hey remember when lindsey graham died?

They're probably hoping you won't hear about this. But tomorrow in TX, Tarrant County officials meet to vote on a GOP plan to cut almost HALF of Election Day voting locations, plus 8 early voting locations, some of them on campuses. Not hard to guess why. fortworthreport.org/2026/07/30/t...

Tarrant County considers cutting 140 Election Day polling sites for November

County commissioners vote Aug. 4 on proposed reductions to the number of early voting and day-of sites for the midterms.

fortworthreport.org

So excited about this! #booksky

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Melina Matsoukas to direct Octavia E. Butler’s classic “Parable of the Sower” for Warner Bros

I am sure you will agree that Ben Baldwin has given us another magnificent cover for Dan Mackmain’s latest adventure. Dan and Fin are off to Ireland – a trip I know many readers have been keen to see. The Green Man’s Debt will be published by Wizard’s Tower Press on 10th September 2026. #BookSky

Tananarive. Outstanding writer. Outstanding person.

Brian Keene@briankeene.bsky.social · yesterday

Good morning. It is day 94 of Women In Horror Year, and we turn our attention to @tananarivedue.bsky.social's The Reformatory, and examine why this book is still going to hit readers right between the eyes thirty years from now. www.briankeene.com/algorithmzer...

A reminder that this User Voice is up asking Twitch to make all AI features opt-out by default, and give us the chance to say no. VOTE and leave a comment. twitch.uservoice.com/forums/92338...

Missouri friends: tomorrow is Election Day and I'm sure you already know to vote NO on amendments 4 and 5 to preserve our citizen-led ballot measure process and prevent a huge statewide sales tax hike, but please also vote YES on 1 to preserve an existing tax for parks and conservation too!

The annual Worldbuilder’s Book Club hosted by @quartzen.bsky.social on StoryGraph is fantastic for finding deep dives on this stuff. app.thestorygraph.com/reading_chal... (Textiles. It should be textiles.)

David J Prokopetz@prokopetz.bsky.social · last wk.

To write in the classic high fantasy mould, you need not be hung up on food specifically, but there must be SOME very mundane thing you're sincerely interested in and prepared to describe in excruciating detail every time it comes up. Clothing. Furniture. Architecture. It doesn't work without it.

Y'all! trade reviews are starting to come in and THE FIST OF MEMORY got a STARRED review in Publishers Weekly calling it an "expertly executed epic". As a writer its one thing to craft something you think is special and unique, another for others to agree. 🙏🏾⭐ www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7564-1...