Nearly Monthly News: February 2026
Not the cruelest, but the shortest month: full of movies, weather, and of course, the Duolingo Dystopia
February has flown by. And I can hear you saying, "Of course February flew by; it's the shortest month of the year." And while I'll grant you that, I don't have to like it.
Los Angeles has been cool and rainy, except when it’s 78 degrees and sunny. And if you're reading that with a tinge of resentment because you're still digging yourself out from the latest snow storm on the East Coast... I don't know what to tell you. The world is full of injustices and one of them is the southern California misses out on the joy of snow, at least at my altitude.
On to the news!
From my Desk
In addition to ongoing projects, new short fiction news is on the horizon! (Watch this space for updates!)
While I didn't have any new stories out in 2025, just because I'm not eligible, doesn't mean that you shouldn't be filling out your Hugo Award nomination ballots if you're a WSFS member. Deadline is March 28th. SFWA members can nominate for the Nebula Awards until March 1st at midnight Pacific Time.
What I'm Reading and Watching
As I told friends of the NMN Alasdair and Marguerite recently, "It's been a weird week at the movies." The holidays and international travel had gotten me out of the habit, so I of course decided to fix that by seeing four movies and eleven short films in 6 days. Maxing my out A-list the week of February 15th I saw : Sirat; Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die; Nirvana the Band the Show The Movie (which is not about the band Nirvana); and Wuthering Heights. This was, shall we say, an eclectic program, but it turned out more thematically unified than I would have expected. Upshot: no matter what your taste in films, you’ll probably enjoy at least one of them.
After a day off, I did a double feature of this year’s Oscar-nominated animated and live action short films. While I thought this year's nominees were particularly strong, as a Lizzie Bennet Diaries alum, "Jane Austen Period Drama," has a special place in my heart. (If you're at all an Austen fan, do yourself a favor and check it out at the link above. Even if you’re not, you’ll probably have fun.)
As for books, I’m reading a few at the moment, but I want to take a minute to highlight Playwriting with Purpose: A Guide and Workbook for Playwrights by Jaqueline Goldfinger. Jaqueline is a grad-school classmate of mine who moved back East and has writing and producing plays steadily ever since. Playwriting the Purpose is clearly written and approachable with diverse examples from classic and contemporary plays. I'm reading through the second edition now and looking forward to digging into the writing exercises once I get a few of my other projects off my plate.
From the Cutting Room Floor of the Duolingo Dystopia
I recently realized that while I always put an English translation into the alt text, I haven't been doing that reliably in the text-text. Apologies for that. Then again, no one has complained. Which is either a sign no one cares that much about the sentence, or that my readers all speak decent Spanish or French.
I guess whoever Fallstaff's neighbors are, they don't have early call times.
And That's the Nearly Monthly News!
This is the time of year that makes me wonder: How much do we pack into the last 2-3 days of a normal month that makes February feel so short? Theories? Rebuttals? Comments? Drop me a line! Otherwise, I'll see you next month!