Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.

“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —

altermag.com/articles/the...

The fact that there are no karaoke tracks of Numberblocks songs is a disgrace. What if I want to pretend I am a mathematical concept given life and corporeality, discovering the wonder and beauty of physical existence for the first time???

The Muppets Dr. Manhattan (1986)

Wrote a Halloween crossword, which was mostly an excuse to have fun with the grid mycrossword.co.uk/cryptic/2795

Just noticed a bizarre printing error on this Cheers boxset, where for some reason the name of the show is missing. Lends it a real air of menace.
"The bar where everybody knows your name, b̫ͯủ̗t̞̄ ̪ͫn͉̋o͖̓b̪͗ȏ̠d͂ͅẏ̲ m̯͕̐̈́̕͢u̻̻ͩ̀͜͞s̶̢̯̲̈̇t̢̡͙͔̽̿ ̴ͣ͒҉̥͈e̵̻̝̐̌͝v̴̸̞͉̏ͦě̵̥̙ͤ̀r̆́͏̸͇̮ ̡̲͙̃̿͝ k̽ͭ̾͏̥͉̙́͝n̴̡̫̫̘͋̈́̓͘o̢̻̗̲ͨͨͬ́͡wͪ͌͒͏̛̝̣̖͞ ̛ͣ̈́̂͏͕̠͜ͅî̶͓̟̜̓̐͝͝t̳̩͓̆́̚͜͠͝s̨̡̛̝̭͉̽̃ͧ ̢̧ͫ̊̏͏̟͇̗N̸̷̊̏̌͂ͭ͆́҉̯͎͎͈̰͈͝͞Ä́͑ͦ̆̑͗͜͏̸̛̯͚̺͓̘̩͘͠M̶̸̲͕̞̠͖̹̈́̇ͦ̑̉ͧ͢͟͜͡E̸̴̢͛͂͒ͬ͋͗͠͏͇͕̣̥̭̜͟"

I tried to google “are most people named Gordon Canadian” but I dropped my phone in the middle and I’m fully hysterical

I was going to post that poem with a self-deprecating introduction, as is my wont, but it wouldn't fit in the character count. Well played, Bluesky.

MOTN Feed

The cosmos dreams - until a cry
Sends spangling shards of waking thoughts
To pick up mass and roll up weight.
Then, into sticky orbits caught,

They roil and bloom chaotic life,
And through the great primordial night
Speed up, evolve. First contact made:
A hand against the bedside light.

Looking up the word "hove" to see if it's just a past participle of "heave" or its own verb, and came across these singularly depressing examples. Thanks, really helpful.

Happy Sunday, have some doggerel I wrote about baby hands.

Contact Nap

Undersea things a
nemone fingers,
fists like fronds

that curl uncurl in
imaginary swirl of
tides beyond.

Half in doze they
tenderly close in
abstract quest

while untrimmed nails leave
jellyfish trails a
cross my chest.

My beloved infant son, if you don't want to get sprayed in the face with milk, then stop yelling at my breasts. They are currently voice-activated, as you are well aware!

I'm sorry, I read this story and now have a lot of feelings about it that no one asked for.

i don't want to hear your most boomer complaint. what's your most millennial complaint?

I think being "allowed" to draw random little pictures and spend time and effort on them for no reason other than my son demanded them is maybe one of my favourite parenting bonuses. Lately he's discovered Homura Ham's hamster adventure videos.

Are people who like OK GO for their songs the musical equivalent of people who say they read Playboy for the articles?

Oldest son has commissioned his first piece of Danny Go fanart. My commissions are open, toddlers!

I got to road test this, and he's right - it is fun.

Great Things About Newborns
- Poop faces
- The deflating sound they make when you move them as they sleep
- When they start monkey-clinging to you, the most casual expression of unconditional trust
- The covetous little No-Face-from-Spirited-Away sounds they make when they root

When morning comes too early once again
And no sun lifts the fog that webs thy brain,
Can there be any sweeter sound than this:
Through baby monitor, a kettle's hiss?
Can there be any sweeter man than he
Who wrangles toddlers and brings the tea?

Today's reminder that we live in history: seeing electricity meters printed with "Made in Yugoslavia".

Idk if it's the pregnancy hormones or the slow erosion of sanity that comes with toddler-demanded repetition but the Dragon Boneyard level in Super Mario Wonder has such a melancholy to it.

I've been so spoilt by well-run niche ID subreddits (moth, bug, plant, rock ones are great) that whenever I end up in a generic one where the top answers are the same hackneyed lines and tired jokes, and it's just like, yeah, intelligent input darling, why don't you just have another beer then.

You know what, if Amazon can't parley its absurd monopoly into "fuck you we're making the greatest Wheel of Time adaptation we can just because we want to and damn the numbers," then maybe it isn't a very well-run company.

THERE, I SAID IT.

Thought Finland was singing into a golf club for a sec there

Iceland performing live from GRR Martin's website.