William Stiteler
@williamstiteler.bsky.social
Author. Mapper. Occasional pastry maker. Rep: @tinyfairyhunter.bsky.social of ASH Literary
Didn't we all agree that the live action Grinch movie was a crime against cinema? Why is it being used in ads?
December 1, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Didn't we all agree that the live action Grinch movie was a crime against cinema? Why is it being used in ads?
I got used to it taking a long time to recover from using a chainsaw, but now it's gotten to the point where I have to add in another week of recovery time just to forget what it felt like on day 2 of the recovery before I can get back to it.
November 25, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I got used to it taking a long time to recover from using a chainsaw, but now it's gotten to the point where I have to add in another week of recovery time just to forget what it felt like on day 2 of the recovery before I can get back to it.
I'm rewatching Fall of the House of Usher, and I've been reminded that the best part is @markhamillofficial.bsky.social's Pym explaining that just zooming in on a surveillance video doesn't "enhance" it.
October 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I'm rewatching Fall of the House of Usher, and I've been reminded that the best part is @markhamillofficial.bsky.social's Pym explaining that just zooming in on a surveillance video doesn't "enhance" it.
Sometimes I think I'm not getting much out of Nextdoor, but then something like this is elevated to popular post status to demonstrate its value
October 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Sometimes I think I'm not getting much out of Nextdoor, but then something like this is elevated to popular post status to demonstrate its value
Good news, everyone! I probably won't get any money in the Anthropic settlement for either the fiction or academic publications they stole from me, but I just got a notification that Anthropic are looking to hire an "Honesty Engineer", so it sounds like they have that stealing thing sorted out.
September 16, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Good news, everyone! I probably won't get any money in the Anthropic settlement for either the fiction or academic publications they stole from me, but I just got a notification that Anthropic are looking to hire an "Honesty Engineer", so it sounds like they have that stealing thing sorted out.
I've run into this same one, though they did at least post the diagram near (not in) the shower.
Oooh, a promising entry in the always-competitive category “insanely counterintuitive and user-unfriendly designs for hotel bathroom fixtures.”
If I hadn’t found the diagram— which is in the check-in materials, not posted— there is simply no way I *ever* would have found this solution.
If I hadn’t found the diagram— which is in the check-in materials, not posted— there is simply no way I *ever* would have found this solution.
September 9, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I've run into this same one, though they did at least post the diagram near (not in) the shower.
Personally, I have to restrain the urge to huck my book at the head of anyone who asks what I'm reading ion public. If they start taking pics I might not be able to resust.
this is such a shitty thing to do to people trying to read a book, jesus christ
I'm seeing a social media trend where people are sneaking pics of men reading books in public and making fun of them as "performative males"
And while I love a good dunk, I don't think you guys want men to be reading even less than they are now. Just saying
And while I love a good dunk, I don't think you guys want men to be reading even less than they are now. Just saying
September 4, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Personally, I have to restrain the urge to huck my book at the head of anyone who asks what I'm reading ion public. If they start taking pics I might not be able to resust.
There is only one person who doesn't wish they were this cool.
Damn I wish I was this cool!
great day at the @macmillanlib.bsky.social @torbooks.bsky.social @macmillanaudio.bsky.social offices YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN A MAGICAL MASKED MAN WILL SHOW UP WITH A PASTA BAR. SPAGHETTI FOR ALL
August 15, 2025 at 12:36 AM
There is only one person who doesn't wish they were this cool.
The air conditioner in this motel not only sounds like an airplane when it kicks on, but the kind of airplane that would make the hero of a movie say "You're crazy, Dutch, this crate will never make it to Kathmandu!"
August 14, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The air conditioner in this motel not only sounds like an airplane when it kicks on, but the kind of airplane that would make the hero of a movie say "You're crazy, Dutch, this crate will never make it to Kathmandu!"
Ran into an even better one, when the closed caption person interpreted "Sam Judd" as "some jerk", as in "That's some jerk's hat"
Best part about watching old episodes of "Midsommer Murders" is the range I'm quality and emphasis of the closed captioning from episode to episode. Today features someone trying to caption the theramin music (ooh ooh oh oh oh oh oh)
August 6, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Ran into an even better one, when the closed caption person interpreted "Sam Judd" as "some jerk", as in "That's some jerk's hat"
I live near several wind farms, and I once had a dog who would bark at turbines because he thought they were normal-sized people not far away who were waving at him, but he got over it eventually.
I will never not understand how a minority of people have decided that wind farms - significantly prettier than pylons, coal power plants, nuclear power plants, and almost certainly fusion power plants - are ugly. In terms of energy generation, what else are you hoping for that is better?
On holiday, I notice that there are wind turbines on the shore of Lake Garda, which very much makes me think that residents with a view of some incredibly mid Cotswold or other can put a sock in it.
July 28, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I live near several wind farms, and I once had a dog who would bark at turbines because he thought they were normal-sized people not far away who were waving at him, but he got over it eventually.
Working through edits, and taking a break to amuse myself by seeing what crazy nonsense MS Word's grammar checker suggests.
July 12, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Working through edits, and taking a break to amuse myself by seeing what crazy nonsense MS Word's grammar checker suggests.
I had a dream about making a really clever post on Bluesky and woke up all excited to make it reality, to great acclaim, but it turns out the whole thing is predicated on Indiana Jones having a daughter named "Melba", so I guess it's not going to work out.
July 2, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I had a dream about making a really clever post on Bluesky and woke up all excited to make it reality, to great acclaim, but it turns out the whole thing is predicated on Indiana Jones having a daughter named "Melba", so I guess it's not going to work out.
I feel like comics used to be better at the topical reference game. I read a lot of comics curmudgeon (thanks, @jfruh.bsky.social!), and I'm not sure you see things at this level anymore.
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller
June 18,1945
Note: In 1944, conferences at Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks created the framework for international cooperation in the postwar world.
June 18,1945
Note: In 1944, conferences at Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks created the framework for international cooperation in the postwar world.
June 19, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I feel like comics used to be better at the topical reference game. I read a lot of comics curmudgeon (thanks, @jfruh.bsky.social!), and I'm not sure you see things at this level anymore.
As I recall, when I came to Bluesky it was still mandatory to follow John Scalzi. I guess that rule has been relaxed, but whatever, I knew you from your blog (or should I say, I knew you from your blog, Whatever). So it seemed like a good idea.
Question: those of you who follow me here, what made you choose to follow me? Was it because you knew me as an author, or from some other social media, or because you saw a post from me here you liked, or some other reason? There's no wrong answer, I'm just curious how people find me here.
May 14, 2025 at 10:18 PM
As I recall, when I came to Bluesky it was still mandatory to follow John Scalzi. I guess that rule has been relaxed, but whatever, I knew you from your blog (or should I say, I knew you from your blog, Whatever). So it seemed like a good idea.
Best part about watching old episodes of "Midsommer Murders" is the range I'm quality and emphasis of the closed captioning from episode to episode. Today features someone trying to caption the theramin music (ooh ooh oh oh oh oh oh)
May 1, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Best part about watching old episodes of "Midsommer Murders" is the range I'm quality and emphasis of the closed captioning from episode to episode. Today features someone trying to caption the theramin music (ooh ooh oh oh oh oh oh)
This is something I need to get better at, which unfortunately means some really biting sarcasm will have to go to waste.
Also, there is a thing I have to do when the computer actually and finally sends you to a real representative where you’re like “okay, deep breaths, this human on the other end is NOT at fault, stand down, fight response, stand down.”
May 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM
This is something I need to get better at, which unfortunately means some really biting sarcasm will have to go to waste.
I really want to reply with the "You do not, under and circumstances, have to 'hand it to' Orville Redenbacher" formulation, but as far as I know, he didn't have any dark secrets that make him undeserving of praise. Just a nice guy who liked bow ties. You gotta hand it to him for that bow tie thing.
You’ve gotta hand it to Orville Redenbacher. The man just really liked popcorn.
April 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I really want to reply with the "You do not, under and circumstances, have to 'hand it to' Orville Redenbacher" formulation, but as far as I know, he didn't have any dark secrets that make him undeserving of praise. Just a nice guy who liked bow ties. You gotta hand it to him for that bow tie thing.
...and this is what rich people SHOULD be doing with their time.
If I was rich, I would buy this and just randomly stick it in someone's back yard.
April 5, 2025 at 7:42 PM
...and this is what rich people SHOULD be doing with their time.
Me, listening to live music: "Heh. The old folks in the room aren't going to like this banger from my college days, back in the early 90's...oh. Oh, I see."
April 3, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Me, listening to live music: "Heh. The old folks in the room aren't going to like this banger from my college days, back in the early 90's...oh. Oh, I see."
This might not be the most important part of the story, but I swear when I was in high school, the last round of disastrous tariffs were called the "Hawley-Smoot" tariff. Now everyone seems to be calling them the "Smoot-Hawley" tariff. Did historians realize that Smoot was more important to them?
April 3, 2025 at 11:17 AM
This might not be the most important part of the story, but I swear when I was in high school, the last round of disastrous tariffs were called the "Hawley-Smoot" tariff. Now everyone seems to be calling them the "Smoot-Hawley" tariff. Did historians realize that Smoot was more important to them?
That or November has gone bankrupt. But I think we can all agree that November could be better managed - maybe this will give it a chance to turn itself around.
So weird, that this was a company anyway. It's like finding out that hopscotch has gone bankrupt
Less than a year after a full-throated embrace of AI, NaNoWriMo is shutting down :
April 1, 2025 at 1:35 PM
That or November has gone bankrupt. But I think we can all agree that November could be better managed - maybe this will give it a chance to turn itself around.
Reposted by William Stiteler
Scooby Doo is a fun formulaic cartoon for small children to teach them that there's no such thing as ghosts. There's nothing else there.
The fact that Hollywood keeps trying to spin it into movies and series about how ghosts are real was one of the first warning signs of terminal content brain.
The fact that Hollywood keeps trying to spin it into movies and series about how ghosts are real was one of the first warning signs of terminal content brain.
March 27, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Scooby Doo is a fun formulaic cartoon for small children to teach them that there's no such thing as ghosts. There's nothing else there.
The fact that Hollywood keeps trying to spin it into movies and series about how ghosts are real was one of the first warning signs of terminal content brain.
The fact that Hollywood keeps trying to spin it into movies and series about how ghosts are real was one of the first warning signs of terminal content brain.
I read lizard music. I would say I've read most of the things Daniel Pinkwater wrote, but that would be a massive act of hubris considering how many books he's published. I did read Alan Mendelson, Boy from Mars about 80 times, though.
A kid is left home alone and he stumbles across lizards playing music on late night public access television. He investigates and meets the Chicken Man. Hijinks ensue.
March 24, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I read lizard music. I would say I've read most of the things Daniel Pinkwater wrote, but that would be a massive act of hubris considering how many books he's published. I did read Alan Mendelson, Boy from Mars about 80 times, though.
This isn't the important thing, of course, but does he have no one near him that's told him that the way he smiles makes him look like an alien who has only had smiling described to him, poorly?
I Trapped Two People in a Loveless Marriage for 45 Years. If they stay in it until death, I add $10 million to their estates!
March 23, 2025 at 10:29 PM
This isn't the important thing, of course, but does he have no one near him that's told him that the way he smiles makes him look like an alien who has only had smiling described to him, poorly?