Mae Flowers
@craftlibrarian.bsky.social
"Like if MacGyver was cottagecore."
Pinned
Two decades of my journals. I started journaling in college, but I really developed a habit in 2016. After the election, I felt compelled to record things like senate confirmations and executive orders and daily headlines. My mantra was "I am AWAKE." I needed to pay attention.
Reposted by Mae Flowers
You can test new tech ideas using the Seinfeld Test
Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)
Good tech.
Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)
Bad tech.
Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)
Good tech.
Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)
Bad tech.
January 31, 2026 at 6:57 AM
You can test new tech ideas using the Seinfeld Test
Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)
Good tech.
Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)
Bad tech.
Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)
Good tech.
Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)
Bad tech.
Reposted by Mae Flowers
Today, on the 125th anniversary of his birth, I'm reminded that Langston Hughes wrote what for me is the most compelling response to the false dichotomy of patriotism vs the brutality of our national history.
Let America Be America Again
(America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed— Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor…
www.poetryfoundation.org
February 1, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Today, on the 125th anniversary of his birth, I'm reminded that Langston Hughes wrote what for me is the most compelling response to the false dichotomy of patriotism vs the brutality of our national history.
Letting moderates claim they were always against this blurs history. It hides the many ways we got here, which is in part due to the fascists themselves — but in larger part due to the centrists who conceded to fascist rhetoric. We could have prevented all of this. We need to remember how we didn't.
I mean it's great that the "elite consensus" is once again shifting ever so slowly to be anti-Trump, but we can't let these people rewrite history to pretend they were always against this otherwise ALL OF THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
January 26, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Letting moderates claim they were always against this blurs history. It hides the many ways we got here, which is in part due to the fascists themselves — but in larger part due to the centrists who conceded to fascist rhetoric. We could have prevented all of this. We need to remember how we didn't.
Reposted by Mae Flowers
A truth that should be more universally acknowledged: once you accept that *some people* deserve to be killed in broad daylight, you accept that *anyone* deserves that fate.
January 25, 2026 at 10:30 AM
A truth that should be more universally acknowledged: once you accept that *some people* deserve to be killed in broad daylight, you accept that *anyone* deserves that fate.
"Kelly Clarkson was the first person we as a country actually elected democratically, so she should be president."
January 22, 2026 at 8:53 PM
"Kelly Clarkson was the first person we as a country actually elected democratically, so she should be president."
We keep making Gestapo comparisons with regard to ICE, but the darker truth is that the Nazis were inspired by Jim Crow laws in the U.S.
January 19, 2026 at 5:34 PM
We keep making Gestapo comparisons with regard to ICE, but the darker truth is that the Nazis were inspired by Jim Crow laws in the U.S.
One reason I need a job is so I can pay for redesigning our house to look like Sophie's Tacky Little Hatter (aka Howl's Moving Castle).
January 2, 2026 at 11:10 PM
One reason I need a job is so I can pay for redesigning our house to look like Sophie's Tacky Little Hatter (aka Howl's Moving Castle).
Reposted by Mae Flowers
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
I had five fascinating conversations for this RPS piece, gathering perspectives on genAI chatbots in games, as seen in Where Winds Meet. Thanks to @meghna.bsky.social, @pyrofoux.bsky.social, @maxkreminski.bsky.social, and @chrisgardiner.bsky.social www.rockpapershotgun.com/horrible-bor...
"Horrible", "boring", and "cheap": Experts pan new chatbot NPCs, but some leave room for optimism
We speak to a collection of developers and AI experts about the potential impact of LLM-powered NPCs in videogames.
www.rockpapershotgun.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
The MurderBot books are my Sanctuary Moon.
Should I watch the TV adaptation, or nah?
Should I watch the TV adaptation, or nah?
December 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The MurderBot books are my Sanctuary Moon.
Should I watch the TV adaptation, or nah?
Should I watch the TV adaptation, or nah?
WHAT IS TIME
[I made this several years ago, depending on which one you choose, I guess.]
Feel free to make your own.
[I made this several years ago, depending on which one you choose, I guess.]
Feel free to make your own.
December 19, 2025 at 3:16 PM
WHAT IS TIME
[I made this several years ago, depending on which one you choose, I guess.]
Feel free to make your own.
[I made this several years ago, depending on which one you choose, I guess.]
Feel free to make your own.
The starlings say, "Thanks for listening."
December 4, 2025 at 5:25 PM
The starlings say, "Thanks for listening."
Reposted by Mae Flowers
Now that I live in the Netherlands, I occasionally come across these Stolpersteine ("stumbling block") memorials installed on sidewalks outside of the homes of people who were victims of the Holocaust.
Every time I see one, I think of what's happening back home.
Every time I see one, I think of what's happening back home.
November 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Now that I live in the Netherlands, I occasionally come across these Stolpersteine ("stumbling block") memorials installed on sidewalks outside of the homes of people who were victims of the Holocaust.
Every time I see one, I think of what's happening back home.
Every time I see one, I think of what's happening back home.
Reposted by Mae Flowers
misogynists are both too afraid of women and not afraid enough of women, in different respects
November 13, 2025 at 3:12 PM
misogynists are both too afraid of women and not afraid enough of women, in different respects
The Heritage Foundation strikes again, removing a memorial to the men who built this cemetery.
The African American 960th Quartermaster Corps used picks and shovels to dig graves in muddy and frozen ground. They couldn't have sat with the men they buried, but they could lay them to rest.
The African American 960th Quartermaster Corps used picks and shovels to dig graves in muddy and frozen ground. They couldn't have sat with the men they buried, but they could lay them to rest.
Limburg demands answers over U.S. whitewashing of Black history at WWII cemetery
The province of Limburg has asked the American ambassador to the Netherlands to replace the information panels about Black soldiers in the visitors center of the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margr...
nltimes.nl
November 12, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The Heritage Foundation strikes again, removing a memorial to the men who built this cemetery.
The African American 960th Quartermaster Corps used picks and shovels to dig graves in muddy and frozen ground. They couldn't have sat with the men they buried, but they could lay them to rest.
The African American 960th Quartermaster Corps used picks and shovels to dig graves in muddy and frozen ground. They couldn't have sat with the men they buried, but they could lay them to rest.
Review of "Love & Lightning: A Collection of Queer and Feminist Manifestos": On the way home from the book launch event, I was so immersed in reading that I missed the announcement that my train was being rerouted and I started heading the wrong direction. @valizbooks.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Review of "Love & Lightning: A Collection of Queer and Feminist Manifestos": On the way home from the book launch event, I was so immersed in reading that I missed the announcement that my train was being rerouted and I started heading the wrong direction. @valizbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Mae Flowers
working a double shift at the unemployment factory
November 12, 2025 at 9:56 AM
working a double shift at the unemployment factory
And I'm eating chicken nuggets with the GOOD discontinued bbq sauce.
November 10, 2025 at 9:33 AM
And I'm eating chicken nuggets with the GOOD discontinued bbq sauce.
Marietta Ronchetti was "The World's Most Beautiful Waitress" in 1940.
November 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Marietta Ronchetti was "The World's Most Beautiful Waitress" in 1940.
I went to an exhibit opening and talk on book spine design (!).
This is the printed handout that accompanied the show.
[Little Miss and Mr. Men books were in the exhibit because the newer editions would form a design on the spines when shelved together. Most of mine are older editions, tho.]
This is the printed handout that accompanied the show.
[Little Miss and Mr. Men books were in the exhibit because the newer editions would form a design on the spines when shelved together. Most of mine are older editions, tho.]
November 9, 2025 at 10:28 AM
I went to an exhibit opening and talk on book spine design (!).
This is the printed handout that accompanied the show.
[Little Miss and Mr. Men books were in the exhibit because the newer editions would form a design on the spines when shelved together. Most of mine are older editions, tho.]
This is the printed handout that accompanied the show.
[Little Miss and Mr. Men books were in the exhibit because the newer editions would form a design on the spines when shelved together. Most of mine are older editions, tho.]
Are any of y'all on the Foto app? I'm looking for friends. My username is msteele 💕
November 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Are any of y'all on the Foto app? I'm looking for friends. My username is msteele 💕
Seven month update: Yes, yes, no, with great difficulty, bubble wrap, no, no, not very.
Current concerns: will my hot trans wife's existence become illegal, are we going to flee, do I bother changing that lightbulb, how do I take four pets across the Atlantic, what about family heirlooms, will i get meet my new niece, will anyone hire me, how fast can i learn a new language?
October 26, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Seven month update: Yes, yes, no, with great difficulty, bubble wrap, no, no, not very.
I made this collage for a tiktok and nobody liked it but me, but I like it so much that I don't care. 😄
October 1, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I made this collage for a tiktok and nobody liked it but me, but I like it so much that I don't care. 😄
I drew this for you.
September 30, 2025 at 9:16 AM
I drew this for you.
I am tired of starting over.
September 28, 2025 at 5:51 PM
I am tired of starting over.