December 15, 2023

spencergreenhalgh.com posts digest for Dec 15 2023

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Here are long-form blog posts I published this week:

• on the arbitrary nature of grades

• publication copyright and reprinting consent

Here are microblog posts that I published this week:

• Kiddo has a very non-literal father and an atheist mother, so we pay close attention to what happens during Zoom children’s ministry. It’s always a bit tricky, but this week’s combination of Elf on the Shelf stories and non-critical approaches to the Book of Daniel was probably the hardest yet.

• Remembering my sister’s BYU roommate who called ketchup and mustard “toppings” because she was deeply uncomfortable pronouncing the first two syllables of the word “condiment.”

• Cher.ère.s francophones, je n’ai rien contre vos emprunts de nos mots anglais (nous-mêmes, on a souvent emprunté des mots français). Pourtant, je ne comprendrai jamais pourquoi vous avez transformé notre “walkie talkie” en « talkie-walkie ».

• My rule is that if it’s a personal project, but I learn some regex and bookdown along the way, it still counts as professional development.

• Kiddo learned what a bulletin board is from Stardew Valley’s quest mechanic and made one out of construction paper for asking for help with things around the house.

• Kiddo’s grade is learning about how “other countries celebrate the holidays,” but I’m afraid the result will be reinforcing US Christian supremacy. Framing Hanukkah as Israeli suggests that it is foreign to the US, no? I also worry that there will be a class assigned to do Kwanzaa “from Africa.”

• I love knowing that there’s a webcomic-to-children’s-book IP pipeline out there. Gives me some hope for humanity.

• A while ago, a mental health counselor suggested I leave headphones behind while running and treat it as a mindfulness exercise, too. That’s been genuinely helpful, but it’s so darn cold this morning that if I don’t motivate myself with an actual play podcast, I won’t make it past the front door.

• I was invited this week to give a sermon in January for an online congregation from Toronto. Last time I preached there, I referenced a story from Astro City and got told in a YouTube comment that mixing comics and the Bible was bad taste. Tempted to double down in January, but that would be petty.

• I may run a one-shot for my siblings over the holidays and need to decide on system. I like the simplicity of Lasers and Feelings but also the improvisational collaboration of Ironsworn: Starforged. Wondering if I could hack them together…

Here are news articles and podcasts I commented on this week:

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk restores X account of Alex Jones : NPR'

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Apple’s Nonsensical Attack On Beeper For Making Apple’s Own Users Safer | Techdirt'

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk unbans conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from X - The Verge'

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How Africans Are Changing French — One Joke, Rap and Book at a Time - The New York Times'

• 🔗 linkblog: mes pensées sur 'Moins de chats, plus de crustacés... des scientifiques veulent davantage de biodiversité dans les emoji - rts.ch - Environnement'

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Community Notes Is Great Until It Challenges Elon, And Then It’s Being ‘Manipulated’ By State Actors | Techdirt'

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ranked choice voting: what it is and where it might be next : NPR'

• 🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on ''Shameless': Reporters Without Borders rebukes X for claiming to support it : NPR'

Here are my reviews of books and other media I consumed this week:

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Ultimate Spider-Man: Vol. 19, Death of a Goblin, by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 pour Ultimate Spider-Man: Vol. 20, And His Amazing Friends, par Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Queen & Country Definitive Edition, Volume 03, by Greg Rucka

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Ultimate Spider-Man: Vol 21, War of the Symbiotes, by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Ultimate Spider-Man: Vol. 22, Ultimatum, by Brian Michael Bendis

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Ultimate Spider-Man: Vol. 1, The World According to Peter Parker, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Lafuente

• 📺 tvblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ for Taskmaster (Series 7)

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Ultimate Spider-Man: Vol. 2, Chameleons, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Lafuente

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for The Kingdom of God is Within You, by Leo Tolstoy

• 📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ for Adventuregame Comics 2: The Beyond, by Jason Shiga

If you have thoughts about anything I've posted, feel free to comment directly on my website through Hypothesis or to reply to this email with what you have to say.

Thanks for reading!

Spencer