Writer, Dabbler In Things
Open Borders is a bold case for opening all borders to immigration, told in a graphic novel-style format. Written by economist Bryan Caplan, it builds upon fact after fact to promote the benefits of, and counters all common arguments against, letting more people from more countries live and work wherever they want to. Everything from … Read more
My daughter has been expressing interest in playing the Pokémon TCG (Trading Card Game) off and on for years. Mostly on when I can’t play and mostly off when I’m ready to try it out, or when we’ve brought it with us on a road trip to stay somewhere, or have watched videos on how … Read more
It was an unexpectedly bountiful month for reading. Here’s how it broke down: Read:The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy – Rick RiordanHoot – Carl HiaasenThe Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze – Rick RiordanSandman Slim – Richard KadreyMucho Mojo – Joe R. Lansdale Started and stopped:Akata Witch – Nnedi OkoraforNoir – Christopher MooreFatemarked – … Read more
This morning I read with some happiness that various film publications are refusing to review Disney’s ‘New Mutants’ until they can do so safely. It seems that Disney hasn’t sent out the common “screener” links for critics to watch the movie at home (a tactic sometimes used when production companies don’t anticipate great reviews), which … Read more
I’ve been keeping you posted on the progress of entries for the NYC Midnight Microfiction contest, and the results for the final round came in today. Of the top 10 finalists and the top 10 honorable mentions, I… wasn’t listed. It wasn’t a particularly surprising outcome, given that my last entry felt like the weakest … Read more
Hmm? What’s that you say?“Congratulations”? Oh… oh, I see… thanks, but no, this isn’t a good thing. I haven’t won the lottery, or any such happy event. No, I’ve breached (whale terminology not accidental) the limit I set for myself for weight gain. Like many of us in these Covid times, I’ve put on some … Read more
Like everyone else, my family has been in isolation mode for (he cites off the top of his head because he just happens to be keeping track of it and just happened to see what today’s number was) 161 days. That’s a lot of time to be jammed right close together for anyone. To those … Read more
My wife decided to try out her time lapse video option on a couple of monarch emergences today. It’s cool to watch it happen anyway, but in the time lapse you get a better view of watching the wings–super compressed and wrinkled at first–gradually straighten out to full size, pumped up (we think) from the … Read more
I don’t often get photos of the sun(set) or moon that I’m ever happy with–they never look as gorgeous as what I’m seeing, and in the case of the moon usually just end up looking like bright blobs–but this one from yesterday worked out really well. I’ve added the full size of it to my … Read more
Somewhere between about 8-15 days, the monarch chrysalis goes from green to blue to finally clear, like in the photo here. That stage means they’re going to emerge as full-on butterflies within a few hours. So cool.