No spoilers, word to your mother.

ICYMI, the 40th Anniversary of the Alien movie is coming up (25 May 1979, according to IMDB, was when we learned true terror). I dig these movies, a lot. I have this framed in my writing study: Some whacko had the idea of doing a bunch of short movies to celebrate: In celebration of the upcoming 40th anniversary, @20thcenturyfox is inviting fans through the @tongal community to create their own #ALIEN short films. Learn more at https://t.co/ETyR8EcKSG pic.twitter.com/6xutfB6Q2z — Alien (@AlienAnthology) June 27, 2018 Unnamed hero, I salute you. I terrified myself with the shorts this morning, because that’s what you do on Easter Sunday, amirite? Catch yourself up:  

A recent oped hit the NYT on why the cool kids are playing D&D. D&D isn’t only about inventing a more badass version of myself, writes @annaleen. I was also drawn to the idea of building a social group whose baseline assumption was that we’d see each other regularly. https://t.co/VmIZ5Of0nH — NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) April 7, 2019 (The author is Annalee Newitz). As a kid I was into RPGs. I played D&D Basic, AD&D, and so on through the ranks to 3e, 4e, and … I haven’t hit 5e yet, because all my friends are dead*. It wasn’t just D&D, but Cyberpunk (2012, then 2020), Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Runescape… you get the drift. The games were a fantastic glue for social interaction, and we’d game at lunchtimes at school, or in the weekends, and so on. There’s a sad, historic Read More …

We had a blast this weekend at 24/7 Electrical’s piglet races. They host a gig for the company + customers (of which we are one: shout-out to them for being like the only company who could fix our DSL problems). Owners Jamie and Elise have a farm where they raise (amongst other things) kunekune pigs. They host an annual racing event for the litter. Kids get very excited, can pet the piglets, and eat a lot of cake. Hyperactivity is high. I hope you dig these photos. Piglets are super cute, and this is why I don’t eat pork.  

There are three things I make sure I have: A fitness plan (e.g. gym membership); Health insurance; and A library card. This last seems surprising, right? But when you think about libraries as a great societal equalizer, providing free knowledge to everyone, it makes sense to pack this in your life’s arsenal. Many people don’t know libraries have gone digital, or that you can get newspaper, audiobooks, ebooks, magazines, and online training courses without paying a cent. This is important: people write to me, claiming they can’t afford books (despite paying significant coin for a digital reader to read ’em). They only want free books, or use Kindle Unlimited. I’m here to tell you you’re missing out. Let’s meet Libby. Libby In a recent conversation with a friend, we talked about the differences between traditional and independent publishing. On the Read More …

You might have heard what happened in Christchurch yesterday. If you’re unaware, here’s our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, speaking for us. I popped a brief note on Twitter yesterday: Racism needs to be stamped out. Terrorism has no place in my home. @TaikaWaititi called NZ racist as fuck, and he wasn't wrong. If you share the video and give these motherfuckers a platform, it's not free speech. You're a nazi and should die in hellfire. https://t.co/omHPDKrQkx — Richard Parry 👾 (@ParryForte) March 15, 2019 I wanted to pen a longer note here as quite a few of you dropped me a line about this. Thank you for your thoughts, and your empathy for what we’re going through. Yes, we’re alive. No, we’re not “good.” Rae and I live in Wellington, which is only an hour from Christchurch by plane (…pretty Read More …

This rain-slicked creature came in about twenty minutes ago, attacked my hand, the dog, my toes, and then fell asleep. She doesn’t object to the current writing studio, because the normal office is cold, and her basket isn’t as good at drying her off as, say, me.