Cat--of the Shadow-y variety--was scooting himself across the carpet yesterday afternoon. M took him to the vee ee tee this morning for the expected diagnosis:
( Cut for Ick )
I've just noticed that my tags include the polite names of many gentleman cats (Mssrs Big, Oswald, Socks, Shadow) and one other similarly named non-cat: Mr Spock.

Current Mood: it's not all about meeee

We have a leaky roof, just beside the chimney stack that runs down the corner of the master bedroom. There's plaster been patched there before. We don't know if it's through the thatch or the small area of tiles or the mortar in the chimney stack.

Fortunately, LL heard the dripping.

The perils of old houses...

Current Location: home, the old one

The thatchers came at 7.40 to fettle the roof where the mice had been nibbling. Apart from one bit that's inaccessible without scaffoldong, it's all tidied up--and looks a lot better.

One wasp nest located. I'm rather pleased about this, as the paucity of wasps the summer has been distressing. It's on the outside rather than in the loft, so it can stay.

Current Location: home, the old one

August 2024

Read:

Fiction:

The Inner Darkness by Jørn Lier Horst (K)
A Question of Guilt by Jørn Lier Horst (K)
The Night Man by Jørn Lier Horst (K)

Non-fiction:

The cybersecurity QA trifecta of fail that may burn down the world by Rupert Goodwins (https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/05/opinion_ml_social_media_cybersecurity/)
Two Boxers Walk Into the Ring… by joannechocolat (https://www.tumblr.com/joannechocolat/757699826923208704/two-boxers-walk-into-the-ring?source=share)

Visited:

Denny Abbey
Ickworth Estate

July 2024

Read:

Fiction:

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley (K)
Snow Fall by Jørn Lier Horst (K)

Shorts:

In the Moon’s House by MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL (https://reactormag.com/in-the-moons-house-mary-robinette-kowal/)

Non-fiction:

Painting and Sculpture: a Speculative Cultural History by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/painting-and-sculpture-a-speculative-cultural-history-b8cb8258bd7c)
‘It comes for your very soul’: how Alzheimer’s undid my dazzling, creative wife in her 40s by Michael Aylwin (https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/jul/09/how-alzheimers-undid-my-dazzling-creative-wife-in-her-40s)
Revolution in the air: how laughing gas changed the world by Mark Miodownik (https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/04/revolution-in-the-air-how-laughing-gas-changed-the-world)
The Dead-Eyed Rich by George Monbiot (https://www.monbiot.com/2024/07/25/the-dead-eyed-rich/)
My family and other Nazis by Martin Pollack (https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/23/my-family-and-other-nazis)
Simple Weave: Weave without a large loom by Kerstin Neumuller
Agile Manifesto co-author blasts failure rates report, talks up 'reimagining' project by Richard Speed (https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/16/jon_kern/)

Poetry:

“Fixed Shadow, Moving Water by Carl Phillips” (https://readalittlepoetry.com/2024/07/05/fixed-shadow-moving-water-by-carl-phillips/)
“Against Entropy” by John M. Ford (https://reactormag.com/sonnet-against-entropy/) reread of a favourite

Visited:

Addenbrookes (chemo 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Audley End

June 2024
Read:
Fiction:
- Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (K)
- The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham (K)
- Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham (K)
- The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason (K)

Shorts:
- Median by KELLY ROBSON (https://reactormag.com/median-kelly-robson/)

Non-fiction:
- Stealing everything you’ve ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC is now possible with two lines of code — inside the Copilot+ Recall disaster. by Kevin Beaumont (https://doublepulsar.com/recall-stealing-everything-youve-ever-typed-or-viewed-on-your-own-windows-pc-is-now-possible-da3e12e9465e)
- Pervigilium Finneganis by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/pervigilium-finneganis-44eb75623c9e)
- Physicists decode mechanics of knitted materials for engineering applications by Catherine Barzler (https://phys.org/news/2024-06-physicists-decode-mechanics-materials-applications.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rasa_io&utm_campaign=newsletter)
- How one physicist is unraveling the mathematics of knitting by Lakshmi Chandrasekaran (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-one-physicist-unraveling-mathematics-knitting)
- Knotty Knits are Tangles in Tori by Shashank G Markande and Elisabetta Matsumoto (https://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2020/bridges2020-103.html#gsc.tab=0)
- Heathens, we have a Nazi problem by John Farrell (https://www.spiralnature.com/culture/heathens-nazi-problem/)
- ‘If I lost this flute, it would be pretty tragic’: Shabaka, Corinne Bailey Rae and Nilüfer Yanya on their favourite instruments (https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/02/instrument-love-most-by-musicians-shabaka-corinne-bailey-rae-nilufer-yanya)
- Rooted in the future: A cultural ecology of the Sycamore Gap tree by Dr Emily Hanscam and Professor Cornelius Holtorf (https://the-past.com/feature/rooted-in-the-future-a-cultural-ecology-of-the-sycamore-gap-tree/)
- How gamification took over the world by Bryan Gardiner (https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/13/1093375/gamification-behaviorism-npcs-video-games/)
- CAHOKIA JAZZ BY FRANCIS SPUFFORD reviewed by DAN HARTLAND (http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/cahokia-jazz-by-francis-spufford/)
- LINDA TIRADO THE INJUSTICE OF SUING THE POLICE by LINDA RODRIGUEZ MCROBBIE (https://rubberbullets.longlead.com/chapter/minneapolis-police-shooting-journalist-linda-tirado)
- I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again (https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/)
- 40 Years Of Summer Solstice At Stonehenge: From Anarchy To State Repression To ‘Managed Open Access’ by Andy Worthington (https://www.eurasiareview.com/22062024-40-years-of-tsummer-solstice-at-stonehenge-from-anarchy-to-state-repression-to-managed-open-access-oped/)

Poetry:
- “Not my Best Side” by U. A. Fanthorpe (https://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/uccello.html)

Visited:
- Addenbrookes (chemo 1 & 2)
- Angelesey Abbey
- Wimpole Hall

Second haul of alpine strawbs:

May 2024

Read:

Fiction:

Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham (K)
Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham (K)
Traitor’s Purse by Margery Allingham (K)
Coroner’s Pidgin by Margery Allingham (K)

Shorts:

A SKELETON OUT OF THE CLOSET BY J.B.POLK (https://everydayfiction.com/a-skeleton-out-of-the-closet-by-jbpolk/)
Alone Alarm by Jonathan Carroll (https://jonathancarroll.com/alone-alarm-d9d2d6408c67)
Smartening Up by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton (https://granta.com/smartening-up/)
We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read by CAROLINE M. YOACHIM (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/we-will-teach-you-how-to-read-we-will-teach-you-how-to-read/)
Honeysuckle Cottgae by P G Wodehouse

Non-fiction:

“Dune” and the Delicate Art of Making Fictional Languages by Manvir Singh (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/dune-and-the-delicate-art-of-making-fictional-languages)
Scalzi on Film: The Aesthetics of Spectacle: A Look at Dune in 1984 and 2024 BY JOHN SCALZI (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/scalzi-on-film-the-aesthetics-of-spectacle-a-look-at-dune-in-1984-and-2024/)
Lucy Clifford, ‘The New Mother’ (1882) by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/lucy-clifford-the-new-mother-1882-cd2b8771129d)
Revealed: face of 75,000-year-old female Neanderthal from cave where species buried their dead (https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/shanidar-z-face-revealed)
The radical, ravishing rebirth of Tracey Emin: ‘I didn’t want to die as some mediocre YBA’ by Simon Hattenstone (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/may/29/the-radical-ravishing-rebirth-of-tracey-emin-i-didnt-want-to-die-as-some-mediocre-yba)
How it feels to get an AI email from a friend by Neven Mrgan (https://mrgan.com/ai-email-from-a-friend/)
Something Strange Happens to Wolves Infected by an Infamous Mind-Altering Parasite by MICHELLE STARR (https://www.sciencealert.com/something-strange-happens-to-wolves-infected-by-an-infamous-mind-altering-parasite)
Yo, Rapunzel! by Kyle Kirrin (https://podcastle.org/2020/01/28/podcastle-611-yo-rapunzel/)
The North Pole Workshops by MARI NESS (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-north-pole-workshops/)

Poetry:

The Night Hunt by Thomas MacDonagh (https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/06/poem-of-the-week-the-night-hunt-by-thomas-macdonagh)

(with apologies to Henry Reed for nicking his title)

When I announced to one lot of doctors doing their rounds that my stoma was called Stanley (as indeed, it is), someone commented that they were always given men's names. (I found it absolutely lovely that the naming of your stoma was a thing that folk just did and was unsurprising to the assembled healthcare folk.)

This got me wondering:

Do all modifications and prostheses get men's names? (See for instance MP Craig Mackinlay's Albert (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/21/tory-mp-craig-mackinlay-reveals-his-arms-and-legs-have-been-amputated-due-to-sepsis)) Is it just stomas? And what does this mean?
Why do we name some prostheses and not others? (Or is it just me that's failed to give spectacles names all these years?)

Also, some facts about Stanley:

The name, in full Stanley McGurrigle, came completely unbidden. There was no conscious decision or thought on my part to give the stoma a name or what that name would be
Yes, it's silly. It almost always raises a laugh. This is good, I think
Stanley is the whole caboodle of stoma and attached stoma pouch. The naked stoma is something entirely different to that (and probaly the subject of another post when I've formed the words around my feelings about it)

[ETA: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/26/in-a-world-derailed-do-we-dare-to-have-hope, Boris Thyroid]

Current Mood: curious

Painting the wood cladding of the barn last year meant the overgrown bushes in the flowebed got cut back and thinned. Not with any great skill or planning, and there're still weeds and unsupported climbing roses and honeysuckles. But the light got through to the soil. Cue a prodigous growth of alpine strawberry plants I hadn't known we'd got. They are now halfway across the drive and taking over the bed.
More importantly, I picked a dozen plump berries this morning and scarfed the lot down. A wee bit underripe and tart. But not bad for May.
(There are no pictures, as I was too keen to eat them!)

Current Mood: greedy
Current Location: home, the one with the slightly nibbled roof

The garden office that replaced the rather tumbledown summerhouse at the beginning of the year, as well as suiting me just fine, has proved a popular place to visit.

Benji the cat from across the road nipped in and out after I unlocked it earlier on in the week. I've had a variety of insects (two different honeybee colorations, bumblebess, wasps...).

Today I had a damselfly (or it may have been a young dragonfly).

Makes for a busy time as they all (except Benji, who has brains and no wings) insist on flying in through the open glass door and then bouncing against the inside of the closed glass door until I open it to let them out.

Current Location: the new summer house in the garden

Read:

Fiction:

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham (K)
Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire (K)

Shorts:

Excerpts from a Scientist’s Notebook: Ancestral Memory in Europan Pseudocephalopods by DAVID DEGRAFF (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/excerpts-from-a-scientists-notebook-ancestral-memory-in-europan-pseudocephalopods/)
A Review: The Reunion of the Survivors of Sigrún 7 by LARS AHN (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-review-the-reunion-of-the-survivors-of-sigrun-7/)
Companion Animals in Mahō Shōjo Kira Kira Sunlight by STEWART C BAKER (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/companion-animals-in-maho-shojo-kira-kira-sunlight/)
Some Assembly Required by ANNE E.G. NYDAM (https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/fiction/some-assembly-required/)
Search History for Elspeth Adair, Age 11 by Aimee Picchi (https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/magic-and-wizardry/aimee-picchi/search-history-for-elspeth-adair-age-11)
Rising Star by STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/rising-star/)
IN THE CITY OF FAILING KNIVES BY TARA CAMPBELL (https://archiveoftheodd.com/2022/01/08/between-the-shelves-in-the-city-of-failing-knives/)
50 Things Every AI Working with Humans Should Know by KEN LIU (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/50-things-every-ai-working-with-humans-should-know/)
A Tale of Two Tarōs by Marie Brennan (https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/dreamforge/stories/show/a-tale-of-two-taros-marie-brennan)
Four Words Written on My Skin by JENN REESE (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/four-words-written-on-my-skin/)
Please Stop Murdering Grandma by Christine Amsden (https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/clones/christine-amsden/please-stop-murdering-grandma)
Marginalia by MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/marginalia/)

Non-fiction:

ChatGPT “contamination”: estimating the prevalence of LLMs in the scholarly literature by Andrew Gray (https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.16887)
Marking the Web’s 35th Birthday: An Open Letter by Tim Berners-Lee (https://medium.com/@timberners_lee/marking-the-webs-35th-birthday-an-open-letter-ebb410cc7d42)
On the matter of the British Library cyber incident by Ciaran Martin (https://ciaranmartin.substack.com/p/on-the-matter-of-the-british-library)
The new science of death: ‘There’s something happening in the brain that makes no sense’ by Alex Blasdel (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/02/new-science-of-death-brain-activity-consciousness-near-death-experience)
Bryan Talbot: The comics legend lurking in a Sunderland basement (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wear-68712698)
So, Amazon’s ‘AI-powered’ cashier-free shops use a lot of … humans. Here’s why that shouldn’t surprise you by James Bridle (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/10/amazon-ai-cashier-less-shops-humans-technology?CMP=fb_cif)
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF DISORIENTING MAPS? by NICK DANFORTH (https://warontherocks.com/2024/04/do-androids-dream-of-disorienting-maps/)
Who is qualified to make a world? In search of the magic of maps by Robert Purchese (https://www.eurogamer.net/who-is-qualified-to-make-a-world-in-search-of-the-magic-of-maps)
A Series of Emails From Your Kid’s Elementary School in 2024 by Liz Lydic (https://medium.com/frazzled/a-series-of-emails-from-your-kids-elementary-school-in-2024-58820528b9cc)
Tantalus Key by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/tantalus-key-a308f5c2c97d)

Poetry:

Ars Poetica, XI by Mary Jean Chan (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/22/poem-of-the-week-ars-poetica-xi-by-mary-jean-chan)

Visited:

Addenbrookes

"You are number 8 in the queue.
Please continue to hold until an oporator can take your call."
"You are number 4 in the queue.
Please continue to hold until an oporator can take your call."
"You are number 2 in the queue.
Please continue to hold until an oporator can take your call."
"You are number 1 in the queue.
Please continue to hold until an oporator can take your call."
"You are number 0.5 in the queue.
Please continue to hold until an oporator can take your call."
"You are number 0.25 in the queue.
Please continue to hold until an oporator can take your call."
"You are number 0.125 in the queue....

- brought to you by yet another failure to drag test results out of the health service

Current Mood: frustrated

March 2024

Read:

Fiction:

The Missing Mummies by Lisa Tuttle (K)
Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis (K)

Shorts:

“Amoxicillin” by Liz Kerin (https://reactormag.com/amoxicillin-by-liz-kerin/)
Also, the Cat by RACHEL SWIRSKY (https://reactormag.com/also-the-cat-rachel-swirsky/)
The Year Without Sunshine by NAOMI KRITZER (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-year-without-sunshine/)
Enmity by K. Tempest Bradford (https://ktempestbradford.com/bibliography/enmity-by-k-tempest-bradford/)

Non-fiction:

Poor Things and Buffy Feminism by Robert K Starr (https://medium.com/@robert.k.starr/poor-things-and-buffy-feminism-6a38e5048bb7)
Behind F1's Velvet Curtain by KATE WAGNER (https://web.archive.org/web/20240301170542/https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a46975496/behind-f1-velvet-curtain/)
WHAT THE BIRTH OF THE SPREADSHEET TEACHES US ABOUT GENERATIVE AI by tim_harford_feed (https://timharford.com/2024/03/what-the-birth-of-the-spreadsheet-teaches-us-about-generative-ai/)
Chengdu Revisited by Cheryl Morgan (https://www.salonfutura.net/2024/02/chengdu-revisited/)
Pluralistic: How I got scammed (05 Feb 2024) by Cory Doctorow (https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security)
Yes, we should care about Julian Assange by Jeremy Wagstaff (https://loosewire.medium.com/yes-we-should-care-about-julian-assange-b2315d8d074c)
Imaginary Review: Muntcrow’s “Ooegenesis” by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/imaginary-review-muntcrows-ooegenesis-2fe73bb8c698)
Lucifer Antevolat by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/lucifer-antevolat-49e0ebef54c4)
Ofsted try to 'do' literature and end up with pap by Michael Rosen (https://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/ofsted-try-to-do-literatureand-end-up.html?spref=tw)
What Is Fantasy Anyway? by Cheryl Morgan (https://www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/what-is-fantasy-anyway)
In the dog house: why are so many of Britain’s dogs behaving badly? by Gaby Hinsliff (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/nov/25/in-the-dog-house-why-are-so-many-of-britains-dogs-behaving-badly)
Are We OK? by Eva Wiseman (https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a46390035/are-we-ok-covid-pandemic/)
Are We Watching The Internet Die? by EDWARD ZITRON (https://www.wheresyoured.at/are-we-watching-the-internet-die/)
‘There’s joy I haven’t felt for years!’ How I got hooked on the piano craze by Simon Usborne (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/mar/14/theres-joy-i-havent-felt-for-years-how-i-got-hooked-on-the-piano-craze)
A glorious lineage, or an expensive disaster? Paris is at war over 300 wild rabbits by Agnès Poirier (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/08/paris-wild-rabbits-animals-rodin-les-invalides)
THE LAST DAYS OF JULIAN ASSANGE IN THE UNITED STATES by MATT KENNARD (https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-last-days-of-julian-assange-in-the-united-states/)
Under Mirk Wood by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/under-mirk-wood-25eff4b0e3a1)
‘I know someone who played noughts and crosses on one’: meet the top surgeon who burnt his initials on a patient’s liver by Jenny Kleeman (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/16/surgeon-who-signed-patients-livers)
When the Dust Settles by Lucy Easthope (K)
A Folklorist Looks at Ice Cream Vans by Owen Davies (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015587X.2023.2282808)
The Thing About The Thing (1982) by The Tax Collector Man (https://thetaxcollectorman.medium.com/the-thing-about-the-thing-1982-4022a159598b)
Cambridge academic escapes toilet using eyeliner and cotton by Harriet Heywood (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68446843)
‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’: Earl Spencer on the pain of boarding-school abuse by Tim Adam (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/17/earl-charles-spencer-a-very-private-school-interview)
Some Thoughts on Kramnick’s ‘Criticism & Truth’ (2023) by Adam Roberts (https://medium.com/adams-notebook/some-thoughts-on-kramnicks-criticism-and-truth-2023-c1b5beea129a)
Britain’s bitter bread battle: what a £5 sourdough loaf tells us about health, wealth and class by Rachel Dixon (https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/mar/20/britains-bitter-bread-battle-what-a-5-sourdough-loaf-tells-us-about-health-wealth-and-class)
Tanya Bentham: A modern twist on medieval embroidery (https://www.textileartist.org/tanya-bentham-a-modern-twist-on-medieval-embroidery/)

Poetry

The Book of Taliesin, Rowan Williams and Gwyneth Lewis (K)

Attended

Levitation (virtually)
Addenbrookes (CAT scan)

Current Mood: calm

1. As I was climbing onto the table just prior to my CT scan, I was asked for my weight. I remembered it vaguely from being checked up on a week and a bit ago. But...

Why (oh why, oh why) does the table not have a built-in sensor to track the mass of the patient lying on it? These machines cost thousands and I assume adding sensors and some additional wiring and software wouldn't add a whole lot in comparison. It'd be much better than relying on potentially inaccurate patient memories.

2. Looking round the waiting room, there were more than half-a-dozen couples. In all but two of these, the woman was the patient and the man the "hanger-on". Of the other two, one was one father and teenaged son. There were three men who had come alone. I was the only unaccompanied woman.

Not sure what this means, if anything:
- Are men more independant? Or are there more men who don't have anyone to ask to come and support them?
- Are women more likely to ask to have some company?

Since I was that end of town, I went on a mini pilgrimage to Nine Wells before my appointment. Very pretty, and amazingly quiet for a spot a field away from the railway lone and a field away from Hospital City.

ETA: for fixing spellings and to note that the scanner was a Siemans. Boo! Hiss! I worked on Philips (aeons ago).

Current Mood: curious
Current Location: home, the one with the slightly nibbled roof

But having gone from a single mysteriously-acquired hairline crack on the screen to many cracks after less-mysteriously dropping it on the kitchen floor (tiled!), I really didn't have much choice. Couldn't find replacement screens (it's four years old and not a well-known brand) so I got a bottom-of-the-range Samsung. Setup, data copying, all went really well. I'm impressed. And for a low-spec phone, it's mostly zippier than the damaged one. (I'd happily buy another Doogee, if I wanted the extras--night-vision cameras for example--they offer. But a straight replacement for a phone I bought mainly for its battery size didn't seem to be on offer--and would have been more costly.)

Current Mood: satisfied

February 2024

Read:

Shorts:

CROSSWORDS by ETHAN J. STONE (https://everydayfiction.com/crosswords-by-ethan-j-stone/)
EXCISION by MICHAEL GARDNER (https://everydayfiction.com/excision-by-michael-gardner/)
RE: Thesis defense issue by kalirush (https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299630)
GHOST WALKERS by CATHERINE GRIFFIN (https://everydayfiction.com/ghost-walkers-by-catherine-griffin/)
Guidelines for First Contact in Simplified Technical English by JETSE DE VRIES (https://jetse.substack.com/p/guidelines-for-first-contact-in-simplified)
The Pandemonium Waltz by JEFFREY FORD (https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-pandemonium-waltz/)
Howard and the Golem by Lisa Goldstein (https://interzone.digital/howard-and-the-golem/)
Windwalkers by K. Thompson (https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/108931782/posts/5131944457)

Non-fiction:

Mapped: The deadly geography of Mount Everest by Frank Jacobs (https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/everest-deaths/)
The Tyranny of the Marginal User by IVAN VENDROV (https://nothinghuman.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-marginal-user)
Palimpsestual Profanity by Michael Admas (https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/26929184/posts/5113664839)
‘God forbid that a dog should die’: when Goodreads reviews go bad by Lauren Oyler (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/17/god-forbid-that-a-dog-should-die-when-goodreads-reviews-go-bad)
Take My Life, Please: The Media's Will They/Won't They Love Affair with American Fascism Prepares For Its Terrible Wedding Night by Catherynne M. Valente (https://www.patreon.com/posts/98670371)
Fake: It’s only a matter of time until disinformation leads to calamity by Tim Harford (https://timharford.com/2024/02/fake-its-only-a-matter-of-time-until-disinformation-leads-to-calamity/)
I Stopped Using Passwords. It’s Great—and a Total Mess by Matt Burgess (https://www.wired.com/story/stopped-using-passwords-passkeys/)
“The Roaring Twenties” Rudy & John Walker on LLM and the New AI by Rudy Rucker (https://medium.com/@rudyrucker/the-roaring-twenties-rudy-john-walker-on-llm-and-the-new-ai-cd309703c1cf)
‘This might be the last thing I ever write’: Paul Auster on cancer, connection and the fallacy of closure by Nicholas Wroe (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/18/paul-auster-on-cancer-connection-and-the-fallacy-of-closure)
Folklore in Penelope Lively’s The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Francis Young (https://drfrancisyoung.com/2023/11/24/folklore-in-penelope-livelys-the-wild-hunt-of-hagworthy/)
Wilson’s Iliad and Le Guin’s Battle Between Good and Evil, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sword BY KRISTEN PATTERSON (https://reactormag.com/wilsons-iliad-and-le-guins-battle-between-good-and-evil-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-sword/)

Attended:

Vanya (NTLive) with Andrew Scott
Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh @ The Fulbourn Centre
Endangered Alphabets Bookclub

But, jackdaws would have been much worse!

Ah, the joys of living under a haystack.

Current Mood: thankful
Current Location: home, the one with the slightly nibbled roof

Today we lost a cat. We didn't know we'd lost the cat, until M, from his office across the yard, heard the caterwauling of a black cat who'd got out the back door and was asking to be let in again 'cos he didn't like the rain. There's more coming and going with both of us working from home on a Wednesday. Someone took advantage.

Current Mood: relieved

January 2024
Read:
Fiction:

- The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch Melinda Taub (K)

Shorts:

- A Saint between the Teeth by SLOANE LEONG (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-saint-between-the-teeth/)

Non-fiction:

- I Miscarried in Texas. My Doctors Put Abortion Law First by Erin A. Snider (https://www.newsweek.com/i-miscarried-texas-doctors-abortion-law-1861677)

Attended:

- One Man Conference: Understanding Ancient Buildings w/ Dr James Wright (online)
- World Endangered Writing Day (https://wewday.webflow.io) (online)
- The Secrets of Ancient Fireplaces w/ Dr James Wright (online)

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