Relistening to The Dark Tower audiobooks before Other Worlds Than These releases. Reading some horror novels and a novel about a woman stalked by an AI that might be her dead husband, translated from Korean Working my way through the Jimmy Buffet discography in order. I contain multitudes.

Book 20 of 2026: Devil’s Creek by @toddkeisling.com. I totally forgot this one before book 21, oops. This was such a fantastic horror story. This books lets you dwell in a small town with a terrible past. The fact that the setting isn’t too far across the border from me doesn’t hurt.

@scalzi.com trying to explain “the failure mode of clever is ‘asshole.’” to a 4 year old is difficult b/c: 1. It’s a little less effective when you not trying to teach her to swear. 2. She really thought what she said to her brother was funny. 3. She doesn’t understand that she was being mean. 1/2

"He's the best kind of fucking weirdo, and if we lived in a world entirely populated by people like him, we'd live fucking weird, great lives." - Peter Derk LINK: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV4NBP4...

Where are all these secret places GOPers go that are constantly making them show photo ID for everything, I apparently go to none of them ever, is this some sort of fetish thing, should we be worried about them

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6d ago

Rep. John McGuire on need for the SAVE America Act: "You can't go anywhere, you can't get medicine, you can't go to the Obama museum without a photo ID."

Book 21 of 2026: Wolves of the Calla by @stephenking.bsky.social. The fifth book of the Dark Tower series is always different to me. It isn’t only because I’m listening to audio and this where the narrator switches to George Guidall. I think he does fine, I even kind of prefer his voice for Roland.

I want to start looking at used book thrift stores for cheap copies of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and every time I see a little free libraries, add a copy. It’s of the formative books of my life. #HHGTTG

This is probably the most fun cocktail I’ve ever had. The food was also amazing at The Kennedy in Knoxville. #thekennedyknoxville

Knoxville has a lot of bike lanes, maybe not on all the roads, but more than I expected. I wonder how long that will last.

NPR@npr.org · 2w ago

Transportation officials have removed a growing list of safety materials that mention bike lanes from federal websites. Safety advocates warn that's undermining proven measures for reducing crashes. n.pr/4fqMx1n

1 more reason to drop everything Meta related. You don’t even need an imagination for a bedtime story, just try to remember one from your own childhood. If you truly can’t come up with something, there are libraries. If you can’t go there, try imaginationlibrary.com. Dolly will send you books.

TechCrunch@techcrunch.com · 2w ago

Meta's StoryKit app is only available in certain regions while the company tests how parents react to it.

I started reading The Hobbit to my kids (7 & 4) last night. We made it about a page and a half. I think it will be a long journey. For us and Bilbo.

Why I’m a fan of the Oxford comma.

Every day I think to myself, “how fast can I finish this book so I can get <book I just heard about on Bluesky>?”

Eugene Vinitsky 🍒@eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · last mo.

Bluesky is a wonderful website if you want more good book recommendations than you could possibly handle

Book 19 of 2026: King of Ashes by @blacktopkid.bsky.social. Not Musial genre, being a horror/scifi/fantasy reader most of the time, but then again, what I really love about my favorite writers is characterization. Cosby excels at that in this Southern Gothic novel.

Book 18 of 2026: a reread of Wizard and Glass by @stephenking.bsky.social in audio. I probably should have saved this for 19, or maybe that should have been Wolves of the Calla, but neither is the truth. And that is the truth. I digress.

Happy Birthday America! I will keep hope that one day everyone will feel safe and welcome.

Ran the Knoxville Fireball Classic 5K last night. It was hot and humid, but fun to see the lightning in the distance. Did a 2.5 mile ruck with the dog this morning. I think I’ve done enough exercise for the holiday.

There's no backwards compatibility anymore

Most of us saw this coming with the tariffs and component shortage, but it’s still hard to swallow paying hundreds of dollars more to companies with billions in profits each year.

TechCrunch@techcrunch.com · last mo.

The price increase comes amid rising components costs.

I’ve seen this before, and always forget the exact verbiage, but it always makes me smile.

Book 17 of 2026: The Time Travelers Passport by various authors. I really enjoyed these short time travel stories. Some are funny, some are tragic, some are thought provoking. Thanks @scalzi.com for being part of it so I could find some new authors. I’m also glad we chose the crocs story.

It’s like a Demon Theory footnote: you just keep falling through awnings.

Jyoti Mishra@jyotimishra.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Well, that was a fucking ride.

Book 16 of 2026: Nuclear War: a Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. This is one of the most depressing and scary books over ever read. Mostly because of how plausible it seems now. It’s scary to think the current president has that power to essentially end the world on a whim is terrifying.

Book 15 of 2026: The Waste Lands. The Dark Tower series is really starting to move here. By the end the group is whole, but for how long? This books has some amazing scenes and some fun riddles.

My 7 year old just buried a dragonfly on the beach. He made it a little shell coffin and dug a hole, then solemnly covered it up. He’d found it earlier in the pool and tried to dry it out, so it could fly away. We looked up how long they live, and he decided this one had lived its 42 days.

Have you ever thought about how much more relaxing fishing would be if you didn’t bait the hook.

Book 14 of 2026: Outlaw by Jim Butcher. This novella in the Dresden Files universe scratches the itch for more snarky Wizard and adds some complexities to the world. I enjoyed it, but I prefer either the short stories or novels. I had also expected a little more of the fallout from Twelve Months.

This could be a game changer for me and so many others. I’m not yet 50, and my hearing in noisy rooms makes me wish I weren’t there. It makes me want to stay home if there are going to be more than a few other people talking at once. Even with hearing aids, I can’t keep up with a conversation.

NPR@npr.org · 3mo ago

A hearing system that monitors brain waves could help people with hearing loss communicate in noisy environments. n.pr/48VMVkO

A couple things I’m happy about this evening: 1. I was playing music for my kids after school. Me: “This is The Who.” May 4yo: “Why?” Me: “No, no, The Who.” I was the only one who laughed. 2. My son was really into Pinball Wizard. A song my dad played me when I wasn’t much older than him.

I saw a joke that provoked a memory from creative writing class decades ago. “Why did the library only have a pair of books? It’s a 2 story building.” In this class someone said, only 2 stories can ever be written. “A stranger comes to town.” “Someone goes on a journey.”