brike
@brike.bsky.social
“And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.”
sometime swim coach, language practicer, paddler, lawyer. florida guy.
in treatment for CRCLM (liver mets).
sometime swim coach, language practicer, paddler, lawyer. florida guy.
in treatment for CRCLM (liver mets).
“bandage the orifices to keep in any remaining breath”
November 26, 2025 at 3:36 AM
“bandage the orifices to keep in any remaining breath”
From the No Kings protest in St Pete (Pinellas County) Florida this morning. Good energy. Large crowd along Tyrone Boulevard near 66th Street. Road traffic full of honking and thumbs-ups, including many heavy-duty trucks. That was a highlight - I did not know so many of them were on our side.
October 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM
From the No Kings protest in St Pete (Pinellas County) Florida this morning. Good energy. Large crowd along Tyrone Boulevard near 66th Street. Road traffic full of honking and thumbs-ups, including many heavy-duty trucks. That was a highlight - I did not know so many of them were on our side.
i take jay’s side on this one; i read how i like. i think samuel johnson (1709-1784, and one of the great readers of the english-speaking world) would agree, and dispute the point about algorithms.
screenshots are from boswell’s life of johnson (1791).
screenshots are from boswell’s life of johnson (1791).
October 3, 2025 at 5:50 AM
i take jay’s side on this one; i read how i like. i think samuel johnson (1709-1784, and one of the great readers of the english-speaking world) would agree, and dispute the point about algorithms.
screenshots are from boswell’s life of johnson (1791).
screenshots are from boswell’s life of johnson (1791).
some shit it makes up is funny. nabokov might have appreciated this misattribution:
September 24, 2025 at 7:01 AM
some shit it makes up is funny. nabokov might have appreciated this misattribution:
Remarkable how the tone of the New York Times has changed.
September 23, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Remarkable how the tone of the New York Times has changed.
that said, here’s a real howler from yesterday (for the nabokov and corneille fans out there):
September 22, 2025 at 6:54 AM
that said, here’s a real howler from yesterday (for the nabokov and corneille fans out there):
“The case against Homan is no stronger than the case against Epstein.“
September 20, 2025 at 11:29 PM
“The case against Homan is no stronger than the case against Epstein.“
There are things we’re not allowed to talk about.
And there are things we’re not allowed to talk about not being allowed to talk about.
And there are things we’re not allowed to talk about not being allowed to talk about.
September 18, 2025 at 8:36 PM
There are things we’re not allowed to talk about.
And there are things we’re not allowed to talk about not being allowed to talk about.
And there are things we’re not allowed to talk about not being allowed to talk about.
yes! “[o]nce the reader is conversant with the bible, homer, plato, the athenian dramatists, and virgil, the crucial work is the koran…” - harold bloom, ‘the western canon’ (1994).
September 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM
yes! “[o]nce the reader is conversant with the bible, homer, plato, the athenian dramatists, and virgil, the crucial work is the koran…” - harold bloom, ‘the western canon’ (1994).
Sponsored by Trump Tennis. The softest, thickest sole in a tennis shoe, ever. Now even bone spurs can’t stop you from winning.
September 7, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Sponsored by Trump Tennis. The softest, thickest sole in a tennis shoe, ever. Now even bone spurs can’t stop you from winning.
In honor of our friend Mr. Trump, we are proud to introduce balls named for his friend Mr. Epstein.
September 7, 2025 at 6:32 AM
In honor of our friend Mr. Trump, we are proud to introduce balls named for his friend Mr. Epstein.
maybe he meant this place? population 150, sounds pretty safe.
![wikipedia entry for republican city, nebraska. “Republican City is a village in Harlan County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 150 at the 2010 census. The town is near the Harlan County Reservoir. At its peak in the 1950s the population was about 4 times larger than it is today[citation needed].”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rs6ar753wntf6kde5hks3ro4/bafkreihbjwhcudhm26y7l3ag4jzmr4wk3ly4levzc4mgb7rj2ao3hnr6cu@jpeg)
August 15, 2025 at 4:41 PM
maybe he meant this place? population 150, sounds pretty safe.
ignore the chinese characters in those screenshots (o numerous readers). like the switch to duck duck go, they are a mini-protest against the tech giants clogging my phone with garbage. (instead of “gulf of america,” now i see 美洲湾。）
August 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM
ignore the chinese characters in those screenshots (o numerous readers). like the switch to duck duck go, they are a mini-protest against the tech giants clogging my phone with garbage. (instead of “gulf of america,” now i see 美洲湾。）
comparing search results for duck duck go vs google. ddg makes it easy to avoid ai, but didn’t find what i was looking for here. google shoves its (worse-than-useless) ai results in your face, but eventually found what i was looking for. a billy crystal joke from back in the day.
August 13, 2025 at 9:43 PM
comparing search results for duck duck go vs google. ddg makes it easy to avoid ai, but didn’t find what i was looking for here. google shoves its (worse-than-useless) ai results in your face, but eventually found what i was looking for. a billy crystal joke from back in the day.
(b) joseph torigian’s new book about xi jinping’s father (‘the party’s interests come first’). an account here recommended the bumingbai.net podcast; i listened to that and heard an interview with torigian, which made me want to read the book.
August 1, 2025 at 4:34 AM
(b) joseph torigian’s new book about xi jinping’s father (‘the party’s interests come first’). an account here recommended the bumingbai.net podcast; i listened to that and heard an interview with torigian, which made me want to read the book.
(8) two books i intend to borrow soon because of bluesky: (a) ‘we wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families’ by @pgourevitch.bsky.social. whenever the author posts here i remember this book, which i have wanted to read for years.
August 1, 2025 at 4:33 AM
(8) two books i intend to borrow soon because of bluesky: (a) ‘we wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families’ by @pgourevitch.bsky.social. whenever the author posts here i remember this book, which i have wanted to read for years.
(7) two books i read probably based on a bluesky recommendation, but i don’t recall whose: (a) liu zhenyun’s ‘the cook, the crook, and the real estate tycoon’ (i bought the audiobook from audible); (b) nathan thrall’s ‘a day in the life of abed salama’ (i borrowed the ebook).
August 1, 2025 at 4:29 AM
(7) two books i read probably based on a bluesky recommendation, but i don’t recall whose: (a) liu zhenyun’s ‘the cook, the crook, and the real estate tycoon’ (i bought the audiobook from audible); (b) nathan thrall’s ‘a day in the life of abed salama’ (i borrowed the ebook).
(6) i borrowed @anneapplebaum.bsky.social.’s ‘autocracy, inc.’ (audiobook) after being impressed by things the author posted here.
August 1, 2025 at 4:26 AM
(6) i borrowed @anneapplebaum.bsky.social.’s ‘autocracy, inc.’ (audiobook) after being impressed by things the author posted here.
(5) i bought peter hessler’s ‘other rivers’ because of @goldkorn.bsky.social‘s account here. (i saw goldkorn here, remembered the sinica podcast he used to do with kaiser kuo, found an episode of that podcast discussing the book, and bought the book based on that discussion.)
August 1, 2025 at 4:23 AM
(5) i bought peter hessler’s ‘other rivers’ because of @goldkorn.bsky.social‘s account here. (i saw goldkorn here, remembered the sinica podcast he used to do with kaiser kuo, found an episode of that podcast discussing the book, and bought the book based on that discussion.)
(4) i borrowed derf backderf’s graphic novel ‘kent state: four dead in ohio’ (ebook), also on palmer’s recommendation (or maybe his general recommendation of backderf around the anniversary of the massacre).
August 1, 2025 at 4:21 AM
(4) i borrowed derf backderf’s graphic novel ‘kent state: four dead in ohio’ (ebook), also on palmer’s recommendation (or maybe his general recommendation of backderf around the anniversary of the massacre).
(3) i borrowed the ebook of ‘the book of swindles’ (compiled by zhang yingyu), also based on a recommendation from palmer.
August 1, 2025 at 4:17 AM
(3) i borrowed the ebook of ‘the book of swindles’ (compiled by zhang yingyu), also based on a recommendation from palmer.
(2) i borrowed the audiobook of francis spufford’s ‘red plenty’ based on the recommendation of @beijingpalmer.bsky.social.
August 1, 2025 at 4:15 AM
(2) i borrowed the audiobook of francis spufford’s ‘red plenty’ based on the recommendation of @beijingpalmer.bsky.social.
(1) i borrowed, and loved, and have recommended to others, the audiobook of olga tokarczuk’s novel ‘drive your plow over the bones of the dead,’ based on the recommendation of @swordsjew.bsky.social.
August 1, 2025 at 4:14 AM
(1) i borrowed, and loved, and have recommended to others, the audiobook of olga tokarczuk’s novel ‘drive your plow over the bones of the dead,’ based on the recommendation of @swordsjew.bsky.social.
here’s a related tidbit from the great influenza by john m. barry
July 24, 2025 at 8:06 PM
here’s a related tidbit from the great influenza by john m. barry