New year, new underwear. I should make this an annual habit, instead of every decade.

Seen on the storefront of a local medical center.

A tv screen outside a building with text reading “syntax error. Incorrect command. Syntax error. Failure reading sector and then a memory address. Press any key to continue “

Happy new year, from lasers with love.

New York City skyline through a full screen window, the reflection of a red line in it seeming to shoot from a water tower in silhouette

Media diet - December 2023

It’s the last day of December, and this is my last opportunity to ramble about what I’ve been watching, reading, and listening to. You ready? I’m not. Let’s go. 📺 TV I watched … Read more

🍿 My year in film stats, via Letterboxd. Do I stand behind all my star ratings? No. Will I revise them? Absolutely not. Most interesting takeaway? Only a quarter of the 93 movies I watched were released in 2023.

Year in books for 2023

I figured out how to post my year end book wrap up in micro.blog, evidence: this. Read more

Year in books for 2022

Yes that’s right, 2022. Using micro.blog to track my reading is great. It has a nice feature to generate a year in review post like this one. Unfortunately, it doesn’t give me 2023, only 2022. I … Read more

Took a hike up in Garrison NY with friends.

Three smiling white people, two men one women, in winter clothes with their backs to a sunset summit. The shadow of a man overlooking a golden summit, bare trees around the top, Hudson River laid out below. A dilapidated brick structure with bare trees and vines growing over it. Indescribable graffiti adorns the wall.

I tested negative this morning 😎😷

What do you call a thirsty piece of fire fighting infrastructure?

A fire dehydrant

I’ll see you all in hell.

Today I learned that “moonbat” is a pejorative inside the US government for leftists.

Chocolate covered cucumber: gross or genius?

🕹️🎨 What Are Paper Computer Games?

When I was a kid I came up with something called Paper Computer Games, which are role-playing, puzzle solving games drawn on paper that emulated point-and-click adventure games. They are meant to be … Read more

Stumbled upon a heartening/concerning story of a man who compulsively digs a tunnel. I wasn’t planning on spending a half hour digging into this but I found the whole thing oddly compelling.

Don’t Get Pantsed!, my comedic, yet surprisingly human, interactive fiction is back online. It’s short, you can play it in the browser, and I’m still proud of it. 🕹️

Tested positive for COVID this morning 😞

My symptoms are mild (so far). Isolating and resting. Stay safe everyone.

Started reading: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi 📚

Bought some year end reading material with some of Lullabot’s generous education budget.

5 book apart books stacked on each other. Sustainable web design by Tom greenwood. The new css layout by Rachel Andrew. You deserve a tech union by Ethan marcotte. Responsive design patterns and principles by Ethan marcotte. Flexible typesetting by Tim brown.

Had a lovely Christmas and Christmas Eve with friends. So much good homemade food, so much laughter. I’m very grateful.

Finished reading: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi 📚

Toms of main is over their skis.

Toms of main brand toothpaste. Their printed motto is “wake up. Brush teeth. Make change. “

Big chores day. Thought you should know.

Folks wanted to create an AI generated book cover for a Harry Potter fan-fiction. ChatGPT doesn’t allow copyrighted prompts, so I had to get “creative”.

Generate an image for a fake novel cover called Larry Porter and the Unexpected Pregnancy by Syrum Hawke, in which Larry Porter, a wizard boy wearing glasses, becomes pregnant and falls in love with Dracon Malfiz, a handsome pop star.

There’s too much to unpack here, but at least in this version the pregnaany was exxepdected.

Three hunky white young men grace the cover, two of which are harry potter. The first one stares bug eyed, the second one smolders. The third man, clearly Draco, has another smoldering look, and wears a floppy hat. Everyone wears a combination of boarding school suits and wizard robes. There are stars and birds and fantasy-looking glas bottles in the background, with two open books at each lower corner. The title reads 'Lary Porter and the Exxepdected Pregnaany, a Novline P NP E Stol Skyruim Hawke'

Another AI generated novel cover. The prompt:

Generate a fake image of a young adult fantasy novel from 2002 by Veronica Hammerschmidt called A Crow Wand in a Caldron

The cover shows a smiling crown standing on a wand, which comes straight out of a cauldron. Everything is mystical and sparkly, but dark. It's in a forest at night. There are stars and white flowers. The title reads 'A Crow Wandd in a Calron by Veronica Hammerschmidt'

It looks like Bed Bath & Beyond went Wicca.

I just figured something out at work, and exclaimed, out loud, “Zonkers!” I continue to be an unforced verbal slide Shaggy.