Dan J Shapiro
@danjswrites.bsky.social
Writing YA. Reading everything. Recovering New Yorker in Barcelona. Bi 🏳️🌈 before it was a thing. he/him
Watching Prisma and it’s so good. Sweet and real and complicated. Of course it got canceled after two seasons.
August 24, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Watching Prisma and it’s so good. Sweet and real and complicated. Of course it got canceled after two seasons.
When I was growing up in Brooklyn this wasn’t that noteworthy.
(The hidden text was “…el-Box Palette”)
(The hidden text was “…el-Box Palette”)
August 18, 2025 at 7:23 AM
When I was growing up in Brooklyn this wasn’t that noteworthy.
(The hidden text was “…el-Box Palette”)
(The hidden text was “…el-Box Palette”)
Everything is better with tortoises (via my son in the Galapagos)
May 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Everything is better with tortoises (via my son in the Galapagos)
Straight to sleep
April 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Straight to sleep
My beloved 19-year-old cat has entered his final days. He doesn’t appear to be in any pain but is a shadow of the cat he was just last week. It’s hard to see and even harder to know whether or when to intervene. At the moment he still purrs when given a gentle scritch, but is that enough?
February 23, 2025 at 11:42 AM
My beloved 19-year-old cat has entered his final days. He doesn’t appear to be in any pain but is a shadow of the cat he was just last week. It’s hard to see and even harder to know whether or when to intervene. At the moment he still purrs when given a gentle scritch, but is that enough?
Dear Amazon, one of the books in the “Celebrate Black Voices” email you sent doesn’t belong. Hire a human to check these things before you send them out.
February 2, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Dear Amazon, one of the books in the “Celebrate Black Voices” email you sent doesn’t belong. Hire a human to check these things before you send them out.
Just finished my first read of 2025 and it was a good one. Telling the story of a group of teens who have spent years training for a 23-year interstellar journey to a habitable planet, this book delivers a finally calibrated exploration of the exhilaration, boredom, and terror of space travel.
January 10, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Just finished my first read of 2025 and it was a good one. Telling the story of a group of teens who have spent years training for a 23-year interstellar journey to a habitable planet, this book delivers a finally calibrated exploration of the exhilaration, boredom, and terror of space travel.
On my morning walk I was thinking about how to balance my desire to restart my writing and revising routine with my need to be realistic about what I’m likely to manage. Setting realistic expectations will hopefully avoid the cycle of failure, guilt and paralysis. Here’s to trying.
December 31, 2024 at 1:13 PM
On my morning walk I was thinking about how to balance my desire to restart my writing and revising routine with my need to be realistic about what I’m likely to manage. Setting realistic expectations will hopefully avoid the cycle of failure, guilt and paralysis. Here’s to trying.
How nice of the city to put up this reminder in case the tourists off the cruise ships forget where they are.
December 23, 2024 at 6:56 PM
How nice of the city to put up this reminder in case the tourists off the cruise ships forget where they are.
2024 was a shitty reading year for me in terms of quantity. I had a number of long periods during which I couldn’t focus enough to finish—or sometimes even start—a book no matter how great it was. But I did consume some fabulous books. Here are six that really stood out for me.
December 21, 2024 at 3:03 PM
2024 was a shitty reading year for me in terms of quantity. I had a number of long periods during which I couldn’t focus enough to finish—or sometimes even start—a book no matter how great it was. But I did consume some fabulous books. Here are six that really stood out for me.
I came of age in the 70’s and the only queer characters I came across were caricatures written and/or played by straight men. I was so excited by Another Country because Rupert Everett was not only crazy hot but the character felt like a real person—and he turned out to be a Soviet spy.
December 1, 2024 at 3:13 PM
I came of age in the 70’s and the only queer characters I came across were caricatures written and/or played by straight men. I was so excited by Another Country because Rupert Everett was not only crazy hot but the character felt like a real person—and he turned out to be a Soviet spy.
Some people freak out at the concept of genders but putting a man-faced, breasted dragon with wings on a building is just fine.
November 27, 2024 at 4:16 PM
Some people freak out at the concept of genders but putting a man-faced, breasted dragon with wings on a building is just fine.
Mine’s 19 too. He mostly sleeps (and screams a lot), but nonetheless seems to be happy.
November 13, 2024 at 11:15 AM
Mine’s 19 too. He mostly sleeps (and screams a lot), but nonetheless seems to be happy.
I remember when these were real and my phone number started with “Ulster 8”
December 20, 2023 at 3:02 PM
I remember when these were real and my phone number started with “Ulster 8”
General Franco is thankfully still dead, but 48 years later his fascist presence and deadly impact is still very much felt here in Spain.
November 20, 2023 at 6:45 AM
General Franco is thankfully still dead, but 48 years later his fascist presence and deadly impact is still very much felt here in Spain.
I’m very pleased with this drawing I made on Procreate based on my cactus photo. Procreate is like Scrivener for drawing.
November 2, 2023 at 11:17 AM
I’m very pleased with this drawing I made on Procreate based on my cactus photo. Procreate is like Scrivener for drawing.
First time I’ve ever met a deadline early
October 8, 2023 at 12:37 PM
First time I’ve ever met a deadline early
I’m only two episodes in but the new season of Sex Education has reignited its old drive. Last season was a dud but this one is going strong so far.
September 29, 2023 at 11:05 PM
I’m only two episodes in but the new season of Sex Education has reignited its old drive. Last season was a dud but this one is going strong so far.
Reskeet with an album you know every word to, fellow not young people…
September 29, 2023 at 10:59 PM
Reskeet with an album you know every word to, fellow not young people…
As a kid if I wasn’t watching TV or building with Lego I was drawing. I’ve started sketching again (on my iPad) and I can feel my 7-year-old frustration and anger boiling and roiling within me. Why doesn’t this look like I want it to??? My inner child is annoyed!
September 24, 2023 at 8:42 AM
As a kid if I wasn’t watching TV or building with Lego I was drawing. I’ve started sketching again (on my iPad) and I can feel my 7-year-old frustration and anger boiling and roiling within me. Why doesn’t this look like I want it to??? My inner child is annoyed!
Now I feel homesick
September 17, 2023 at 9:01 AM
Now I feel homesick
Karl Marx’s Das Kapital was published on this day in 1867. And the world was never the same.
September 14, 2023 at 10:16 AM
Karl Marx’s Das Kapital was published on this day in 1867. And the world was never the same.
It took my cat 17 years to really warm up to me. Then again, some people never do.
September 12, 2023 at 10:11 AM
It took my cat 17 years to really warm up to me. Then again, some people never do.
Lovely apartment, but such an unfortunate choice of tile pattern. I don’t think I could look at that daily.
September 10, 2023 at 7:22 PM
Lovely apartment, but such an unfortunate choice of tile pattern. I don’t think I could look at that daily.
The photo on the left is a tiled wall in an apartment building lobby. The photo on the right is Ikea sheets.
September 10, 2023 at 1:12 PM
The photo on the left is a tiled wall in an apartment building lobby. The photo on the right is Ikea sheets.