Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
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booksofm.com
Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
@booksofm.com
Award-winning narrative designer, author, artist, and teacher writing about magic, mystery, mayhem. CV on https://BooksOfM.com. Support: https://ko-fi.com/A527F5H All links! https://linktr.ee/booksofm
Opinions are my own. She/her.
Just another day in the WTF 2000 timeline. I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend that brings you exactly what you need. For me? Off for adventures and adventures in deadlines. :-)

Be well.
November 22, 2025 at 1:47 PM
This Kickstarter is ending, and I hope that the designer achieves their funding and then some. It's licensed apparel for Paizo's Starfinder! www.kickstarter.com/projects/sav...
Skittering Through the Stars
Size and gender-inclusive apparel and accessories pulled from the worlds of Paizo Inc's Starfinder, designed by Savagesparrow Studios
www.kickstarter.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Thank you, everyone, so much, for your overwhelming support and donations. As requested, I made a donation link and put it in my bio, and here’s a QR code for you kids and your newfangled technology. www.paypal.com/donate/?host...
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Superman—then all of two years old—made his first appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade 85 years ago, on November 21, 1940. Here's day-after coverage in the New York Times.
November 21, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Heya, I am building my newsletter for next week and want to include some fun stuff, like the BackerKit Holiday Market, for my readers to check out. If you've got something you made that you're proud of* can you add a comment to this post? Thank you!

* Please. No genAI-created works.
a cartoon drawing of a cat with glasses
ALT: a cartoon drawing of a cat with glasses
media.tenor.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Less than 2 weeks to go until rent needs to be paid and I still need 146 new sign-ups.

You get literally 1000s of posts, over 900 recipes for £5 and more added every day.

16% off if you sign up annually!

Please just give it a try. You improve my life and can cancel anytime.
I'm a black trans woman fighting poverty and homelessness.

To support myself, I set up a patreon where you can get access to all my recipes, poetry, artwork and photography for just £5.

Something new EVERY SINGLE DAY. You won't regret it.

http://patreon.com/fightingpride93
November 18, 2025 at 11:15 PM
On that note, I hope y'all have a lovely and peaceful evening.
November 20, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
I do not want Gen AI
I do not want it on my phone
I do not want it as a loan
I do not want it on my laptop
I would not want it on a mop!
I do not want Gen AI
I do not want it on my pad
I did not want it as a lad
I would not like it in my apps
I do not want it with my maps
Turn it off and go away!
November 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
You know, some days you just have to make s'mores in the microwave. I do not regret this decision at all.
November 20, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Many people have noted that the Primary / Social / Forums / Updates tabs are missing when you do this 👀. You can recreate these manually using the "Multiple Inbox" setup in settings. Basically, tell your inbox to include emails tagged "inbox" and exclude the social / forums / updates.
November 20, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
GIVE THE GIFT OF BULLSHIT: 2026 Effin’ Birds calendars are available now in all good bookstores. Check eatf.art for some online options.
November 20, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Gmail added a Manage Subscriptions feature. It’s collapsed in the left hand menu. You can unsubscribe from things in mass from there. It won’t clean what is already there but it will help keep it cleaner.
November 20, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Here’s how to turn off Gemini AI
on an iPhone.
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Heya, thanks for sharing your tips and frustration re: Gemini. I really appreciate it. Keep on, keepin' on.
November 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
Just as an add on: if you want to turn this feature off, for any reason, you have to do it with individual email settings.

(Ex. If you have it on your phone and you have more than one Gmail signed in, you have to go to the settings for each individual email.)
November 20, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
The tabs have gone away but the categories in general stll exist on the side. This is in no way a replacement since everyhting still is in the one giant inbox, but I basically updated my email filtering rules to minimize the damage.
November 20, 2025 at 6:24 PM
According to Google:

By default, smart feature settings are off if you live in:

The European Economic Area
Japan
Switzerland
United Kingdom

><
November 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
And then re-check your settings tomorrow because mine switched Gemini back on in an "update".
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."

There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Monica Valentinelli is riding to Isengard
They should just let it degrade. If ai can’t survive without any new content then it’s not the future of technology it is supposed to be
November 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Welp. Guess I need to learn the language of emojis.

😱🤬👿
November 20, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Okay, if anyone has a GMail hack to restore categories (or some other option to return sanity to my In Box) that'd be lovely.

Otherwise, I'm going to try and not stress about the 17,000 emails my In Box has exploded to.
November 20, 2025 at 5:48 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."

There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Throwing this out there... but I'm on sub! I have a 25K spec fic novella set in a near-future world about water shortages. It ends on a profoundly hopeful note!
November 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM