I paused, considering that I had been playing a reasonable game of chess for two weeks with a naked baby.
The Writing Life, Annie Dillard
The snow is like, the color of horrific industry, just a grotesque dark gray.
Harry Siegel on the FAQ NYC podcast
Submitted by Sam.
All have validity in the present, and to call anybody wrong for using any one of them would be to reveal oneself as bereft of general knowledge and courtesy, as well as scholarship.
The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present, Ronald Hutton
Submitted by Jillian, with the context that it occurs "early in his author's note in which he sets out at least four different definitions he has been able to identify for the term 'witch.'"
The naturally-occurring folk horror of the urban woods is an addicting thing.
"Skull Season", Christopher Brown in his newsletter Field Notes
It's AI-generated terracotta owl tiles all the way down, forever, folks.
Submitted by Matt.
The U.S. government has been described as an insurance company with an army.
"The Tax Nerd Who Bet His Life Savings Against DOGE", Richard Rubin for the Wall Street Journal
Submitted by Ed.
Going from Leadenhall to Lloyd’s feels like a particularly violent kind of time travel, as if you’re an H. G. Wells character spat into the future, except that it’s some airbrushed Seventies fantasy version of it.
"Another London", Hari Kunzru for Harper's
Whether an Eldritch horror climbing out of a bathroom mirror requires a physical renovation remains unclear at best.
"Realtor Uses AI to Soup Up Rental Listing, Accidentally Posts Photo of Demonic Figure Emerging From Mirror", Victor Tangermann for Futurism
Submitted by Angela.
By the time you read this, you could be squeezing your shampoo from the remnants of the first fiber-optic cable that crossed the Atlantic, most of which spent 38 years deeper in the sea than the Greenland shark, which is known for being centuries old and extremely sleepy.
"Say Goodbye to the Undersea Cable That Made the Global Internet Possible", Jane Ruffino for Wired
I didn't realize it at the time, but learning to speak "malevolent scheming weasel" was great training for understanding the press releases that AWS puts out semi-regularly.
"The OpenAI Polycule Moves In Together", Corey Quinn for Duckbill
Submitted by Esther.
This is a person who looks up at the wonders of the night sky and apparently sees only opportunities to fill that inky unknown with his own space junk.
"The Rise of End Times Fascism", Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor for The Guardian
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