Today I noticed that Harvey Guillén, who plays Guillermo on What We Do In the Shadows, plays a demon hacker in The Good Place. The demon hacker who finally gets into The Judge’s mainframe, no less.
I do not often catch these things, so I am always …
Reading
How to Take Smart Notes
Sönke Ahrens
- Reading The Epic of Eden by Sandra Richter. So good.
- Writing Psalm 105 lists 8 of the 10 plagues of Egypt, but puts 9 first and swaps 3 and 4. What the heck?!
- Drinking A 2008 Barboursville Cabernet Franc. Unbelievable that this …
books
Finished reading: The Formula by Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
For a new fan, this book was a great history lesson of the business of F1 and the transformation since 2017 or so, culminating in the insanity of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.
📚
Warning: fire + touch = burn.
At Lazy Dog in Colorado Springs.
Packing up to leave Salt Lake City for the summer. It’s been an unexpectedly lovely experience, and we’re already looking forward to coming back when the snow starts falling again.
Inside the Straight to Ale brewery at the aforementioned repurposed school is a monkey hanging on a rocket.
That is all.
photos
This is the second school I’ve seen repurposed into a brewery. It’s not as cool as Idlewild in Colorado Springs, but the idea is still awesome.
I have really, really been enjoying bracket.city. What a clever and engaging game.
[Bracket City] March 15, 2025
☠️ hard mode!
Rank: 🔮 (Puppet Master) 🎹 Total Keystrokes: 105 🎯 Minimum Required: 105
Total Score: 100.0 🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪
I missed good Southern food in San Antonio, and even more so now in Salt Lake City, so since I’m recruiting this week at Auburn, I have to take what I can get.
It’s not Carolina, but it’ll do.
À la @QuilledSister,
These stories should concern all Americans because they are our family members, neighbors and friends. No American can be proud of a government that carries out change in this way. Neither can these actions be rationalized by discussion of past …
Today’s Apple News Quartiles puzzle is full of NFL teams (sort of): Ravens, Bills, Rams, Chiefs, Lions, Eagles (“birds”)—did I miss any? #superbowl
books
Finished reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
I didn’t realize until the afterword that Paolini was only 21 when Eldest was published. What a masterwork for someone so young, and yet it explains some of the inelegance of plot elements and prose. I …
travel
Time travel accomplished! I have landed in LAX seven hours prior to taking off from HND.
I know it is routine, but it amuses me every time.
books
Finished reading: 1633 by David Weber.
The addition of David Weber got us even more Mary Sue/Marty Stu characteristics, but at least there’s some serious risk in this one, with some major players stuck in England under Charles II, Amsterdam under …
books
Finished reading: 1632, Second Edition by Eric Flint
A rollicking alternate history with a thousand characters, most of whom can do no wrong. Serious divisions between heroes and villains, and an awkward writing style to boot.
But super fun if you …
Caught up on some book posts. Probably will look like I’m cheating on my 2025 goals, but most of the recent ones I did actually finish this year. I’ve spent a lot of time on planes.
books
Finished reading: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
I almost don’t want to admit I read this book. But I did. The story is fascinating.
But the writing continues to be without expertise. Yarros forgets she’s writing fantasy, or she just didn’t build a …
books
Finished reading: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
This book about a girl growing up in Nazi Germany in 1939 is hard to get into. It is absolutely worth the patience.
I don’t want to write anything else for fear I might spoil it, except it is one of …
books
Finished reading: Eragon by Christopher Paolini
After Fourth Wing I decided I should go back to an older and wiser dragon novel. And yep, it was fun! Less sex, but more more wisdom, and no hokey failures to remember the fantasy realm is not the …
books
Finished reading: Countdown 1945 by Chris Wallace.
A fascinating, if a bit too prone to run down rabbit trails, look at the 116 days between Harry Truman becoming president and the United States dropping atomic bombs on Japan.
Maybe the most …
photos
travel
Nice hike up Mount Takao, about ninety minutes’ train ride west of Tokyo Station. Beautiful views, shrines, a temple, and a waterfall!
Reclaiming my voice without losing my soul – joshuamcnall.com
Insightful thoughts on the challenge to be “in the world, not of it” in the age of 24-hour news cycles and The Algorithm. I feel this challenge quite deeply every time I sit down to write. …
photos
travel
I don’t usually eat conference food, but the opportunity to sit atop Tokyo Big Sight and eat ramen was too good to pass up.
I would like an iOS addition to Focus Modes where I could “mute the muting” for a selected event.
Example: I want to stay in Do Not Disturb, but alert me on the next text from this contact, even though they are not white listed for that focus mode. …
On the way home from Jackson Hole today, we accidentally found Grand Teton Brewing in Victor, Idaho, just over the pass from Wilson, Wyoming (where it turns out they started in 1988 as Wyoming’s first microbrewery).
As we had no schedule for the day, …