Eric Wagoner
banner
kestrelsnest.social
Eric Wagoner
@kestrelsnest.social
Amateur costumer and tabletop enthusiast. Developer at Infinity Interactive. Creator of Locallygrown.net. Former astrophysicist. Nerdy father to nerdy offspring. he/him ericwagoner.com has links to all my many online places and things.
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
February 14, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
we live in the ruins of a greater civilization
February 13, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
You're fired.
February 12, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
"Some have balls; some don't."
A -masterpiece- of alt-text.
February 7, 2026 at 7:31 PM
It feels like seven weeks have passed since last week, and I've got a fresh set of weeknotes that records that ancient history should I ever need it again.

blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2026-0...
Weeknotes: January 24–30, 2026
One day you're watching fire dancers in a hotel ballroom transformed into a Polynesian paradise. Three days later you're on back-to-back video calls while ice encases everything outside your window.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
February 4, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.

(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
January 31, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Last week started with chlorine and ended with rum. In between, international grocery exploration, storm anxiety, and a fire-eating mermaid who made me want to do more with my life.

New weeknotes up! blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2026-0...
Weeknotes: January 17–23, 2026
The week started with chlorine and ended with rum. In between, international grocery exploration, storm anxiety, and a fire-eating mermaid who made me want to do more with my life.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 28, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
Okay I think I've mapped out ICE politics as of Monday night
January 27, 2026 at 2:47 AM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
I'll go see "Melania" at the midnight movies in the 2030s where it will be mocked by hipsters in post-fascist USA.
January 26, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
Jack Zipes, who knows better than nearly everyone about folktales and fairy tales and how they are used and misused, and who misuses them and why, has something to say about what's going on:
January 26, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
The absolute accuracy of this.
January 18, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Spent the whole day at a giant high school swim meet, but still managed to get my weeknotes done.

It'll be more challenging next Saturday, when at any given time I'll probably be holding three tiki drinks at Inuhele.

blog.kestrelsnest.social/post...
Weeknotes: January 11–17, 2026
Everything around me seems to be in motion this week. Kids moving through milestones, colleagues moving on to new things, seasons shifting. Even the birds are starting to come back.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 18, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
January 17, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Woke up to my computer, my source of income, not able to boot. Went to make coffee and the coffee machine was broken. Used my French press and it broke. My backup ancient laptop took an hour just to boot up and is unusable.

So that's been my day.

Coffee stuff all works again so round 2 tomorrow.
January 14, 2026 at 2:11 AM
I picked a hell of a time to start writing weeknotes but I think it’ll be important for my mental health to be able to look back and have proof that even while the world burned, we still managed to keep going. This week needed pictures to add some color.

blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2026-0...
Weeknotes: January 4–10, 2026
The chair arrived. Buddhist monks walked through town. Fried chicken achieved maximum cronch.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 10, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
Watch this. It's awesome, and so NYC.
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
January 9, 2026 at 10:35 PM
I wrote about how I use AI tools, and the ethical lines I've drawn for myself. The short version: front-load the thinking, hand off the transcription. The tool doesn't get to decide what I haven't already decided.

blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2026-0...
AI as Tool, Not Creator: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Front-Load the Thinking
The craft is in the decisions. The tool just handles the transcription.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 9, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
THREAD. Every year, I tell the story of Ezell Gilbert. It's the story of one of the most remarkable cases in U.S. history, and you’ve probably never heard of it. The story of what the U.S. government did to him is vital for understanding the current moment we are in.
January 2, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
Sherrilyn Ifill is an important voice. Bluesky is privileged to have her here.
I’m glad to see Bill say this. But when after a century of just the type of abuse we saw today - relentless and cruel, ensnaring our children and intimidating our communities - young Black people said in frustration, anger, and demand for change “defund the police” - so many of you denounced them.
January 8, 2026 at 3:07 AM
New post: I automated standup prep and learned something about my neurodivergent brain and context-switching I’d been masking even from myself.

blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2025-12-20-i-thought-i-had-fifteen-minutes/
I Thought I Had 15 Minutes
I automated the five minutes before standup, and accidentally learned something about how my brain works.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 6, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Current status: Hanging out with my kid outside an elementary school in rural Georgia waiting for a group of Buddhist monks to walk by on their way to Washington, D.C. along with a few hundred other folks.
January 4, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Two weeks in a row I've been able to publish some weeknotes to my blog. I'm feeling good about this new routine!

blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2026-0...
Weeknotes: December 28, 2025–January 3, 2026
Our time-shifted Christmas week was really peaceful. A couple more days before going back to work on Monday, and I’m trying to make the most of it. Shipped Took most of the week off for the …
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 4, 2026 at 5:42 AM
My kids asked for a Yule log cake with two days notice. I'd never made one. The cake split into pieces when I unrolled it. I made it hold together anyway.

New blog post!

blog.kestrelsnest.social/posts/2026-0...
Either Way, There'll Be Cake
A gluten-free Yule log for second Christmas, held together by willpower and ganache.
blog.kestrelsnest.social
January 1, 2026 at 7:41 PM
It’s 9pm on (time-shifted) Christmas Eve. Seems like a great time to try and make a gluten free Bûche De Noël!
December 31, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Reposted by Eric Wagoner
I haven't been writing enough lately so I am bringing back a practice I call doomscrawling. Whenever I reach for my phone to doomscroll, I must first open one of my WIPs in Google Docs and write one (1) sentence.
December 29, 2025 at 3:59 AM