We have snow! Only an inch or so, but still snow. The animals are horrified and excited. We got the semi-feral cat inside, and she is being very persistent about getting pets. If only she didn’t go to war any time she sees the other cats, we would be in business. So far the grid
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Red Flowers and Cold Days
It’s a cold morning. I’ve already ran the dishwasher, I have Hot Cinnamon tea in my cup, and my “Christmas” Amaryllis finally bloomed. Unfortunately, I also have compression gloves on my hands, as the 7th edit of Maggie did kill my hands a little bit. I don’t usually get carpal tunnel. I end up with
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Happy Holiday Week
There is no giveaway today, as Mod R should have this week off. I say should because sometimes she will sneakily work anyway. So this is just a life and everything post. It’s a warm, damp morning in Texas. We are sitting at 60 degrees, and moisture saturates the air, so dense that you half
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A Slice of Somewhere Else
Hey everyone, Mod R here. Or should I say the resident Grinch? I feel Ilona on wanting holiday cheer (ffs!), but I for one have been desperately resisting the coming of winter. Like many of you, I don’t think the Roaring Whatthefucks 2020s have shown all they can do yet, so I’m not actually in
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The Saga of SubZero
About three weeks ago, I was cooking a shepherd’s pie. I will now pause to address the concerns raised by the UK cooks every time this is mentioned. In UK, shepherd’s pie is made with minced lamb and cottage pie is made with minced beef. In US, any dish that involves layers of corn or
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Connected Experiences
Still editing Maggie. Mad respect to Stephanie, our editor, for sticking with this and seeing the potential there, because right now I’m slightly embarrassed at having turned in such crappy draft before. Onto more important matters. Microsoft snuck AI into the latest version of Word. By default Microsoft sits there and scans all of your
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The Netherrealm
Yesterday, a man pointed at my Ouija board pinafore costume and asked me whether I “worked there”. I laughed dismissively “Yeah, pal, at the Great Beyond”. Now I recognize him for what he truly was – an unsung modern age prophet. Because this post truly comes to you from the Other Side. PSA: if you
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Existential Helplessness and Hats
It’s time for that post again. It is no secret that the news cycle feeds us endless bad news. I haven’t checked mine this morning but I know what I will find: war, natural disaster, climate calamity, unemployment, retirees in poverty, a story about someone who had symptoms for a while ignored by doctors and
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The Disaster in Western North Carolina
The scale of devastation in Western North Carolina is unprecedented. When you combine mountains and heavy rain, all of the water runs downhill into valleys and rivers and the flooding can be catastrophic. All images are from the Durham Downtown Facebook page. Why didn’t people evacuate? I see this question a lot, and I can
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The Irony
On the phone with Jeaniene Frost Me: I haven’t done anything for a whole week. J: I hear you. Dragoncon was a lot. Me: I might take the next week off too. J: This is so unlike you. I’m starting the new project next week. Me: But why? J: List of reasons that make sense.
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The Time Between
We all have a routine that keeps our lives running. Get up, brush teeth, make coffee, drink a cup, get dressed, head out the door. Don’t forget phone-keys-wallet. We run our dishwashers, we sweep our kitchens, we vacuum our floors, and feed our pets. Being writers, we work from home, and our cycle of routines
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Welcome to the Spamily
About three days ago I was CC’ed on a spam email. We all know what to do with spam. We ignore it, and it gets auto deleted. The people who were also CC’ed on this spam apparently didn’t know this. Instead they responded to the spam via Reply All. That reply then went to the
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