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jpickell.bsky.social
@jpickell.bsky.social
86 followers 120 following 19 posts
🧭 Who: Human (Husband, Father, Wanderer, He, Him, Ally) 


🌲 What: Tech, Nature, Life
🌎 Where: Earth (for now) 


⏳ When: Very rare, lately
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted
nnedi.bsky.social
This is my 1st time in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (I just never thought to submit there, heh).

My story is called “The Apology Tour” & it’s set in the world of DEATH OF THE AUTHOR. It's about the consequences of AI. Plus, you meet Ijele for the 1st time, imagine that, 😉.
A copy of the issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction that I got from Barnes & Noble. I am holding it as I sit in my car. The Apology Tour By Nnedi Okorafor HER LEFT EYE TWITCHED AND SHE wanted to slap the side of her face. But how would that look in front of all these people? She bristled at the thought and focused on the open book sitting on the podium before her. Her book. Her memoir. She'd lost her place. Shit, she thought. Ever since updating her glasses with progressive lenses, she'd been having this problem. They were supposed to have the opposite effect. She didn't think she'd ever get used to wearing glasses. Why would she? At sixty-four, she'd never worn glasses or contacts in her entire life, until the last year. She glanced up at her audience and softly laughed. She heard them all sigh, several people grinning back at her. Adoration. Interest. Despite it all. A big profile piece on 60 Minutes called her "The Stoic Unicorn." She had this. She'd had it for the past year, since her book was released directly into fanfare and instant bestseller status. And none of it had been surprising, considering who she was and what she'd written about. She was one of the most infamous people on the planet. Standing up here before two hundred people and reading from her book should have been the easy part. Her left eye twitched again and she grasped the sides of the podium. Then both of her eyes found her place and she continued reading. "Could I forgive myself, though? I created it. Then I perfected it. I was a top-tier engineer at Intelligent Robotics. I was a rarity in too many ways to list. I knew it. I was proud of it. I was on salary. I was doing... my job. What I'd been hired to do. But this project was my baby. It was my idea; it came out of my head. I am driven, ambitious, smart. Potential is worthless until realized into being. I am a doer. So I stayed up nights, researching, compiling, researching, digesting, thinking, theorizing, researching, testing and testing. I ignored my husband, my children, my grandchildren. I dropped out of their lives for those months. Ifocused razor.. blade sharp. Because I knew." She paused Why do I always read this part? But she knew that, too. It was what everyone wanted to hear. They would read her whole book. Yes. They wanted to know her full story. Yes. They were interested in her life, how she got here, to this place in time. Yes. They would do that on their own. Yes. However, right now, in this moment, on this book tour, they wanted to hear that hitch in her throat. See that frown on her brow. That pain. That guilt. Her left eye twitched, again. They couldn't see the twitching that had been plaguing her since the start of her book tour three months ago. If they could, they would enjoy, feel unburdened and refreshed by that, too. "I knew I could... wake it up. The singularity was right in my hands. I just needed to complete the alchemy in the coding. That's how I saw it. As alchemy. As I did it, I knew what I was doing. Tunnel vision did not limit my awareness of what it meant to create awareness. I knew. And..." She sighed and looked at her audience. They were waiting for it. It's therapy, she thought, not for the first time. Then she spoke the words, letting them tumble from her lips like heavy stones, "I'm sorry." She shut the book loudly, imagining a cloud of dust puffing up from its pages as if it were some ancient tome and she were the ghost of a sacrificed creature cursed long ago to read it forever. Stuck in the role of massaging the kinks out of the world's tense back. For creating something she couldn't have resisted creating the moment the path became clear to …
January 2, 2026 at 4:02 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Over the holidays I wrote and published a new blog post about the books that I've read during 2025 on my freshly restarted, sporadically updated, very meager, old-fashioned, hand-crafted artisan blog:

2025 Reading Recap: www.jeffpickell.com/blog/20251230

#books #scifi #fantasy #fiction
Intuition & Elbow Grease™ - The personal domain of Jeff Pickell
www.jeffpickell.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:47 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
The "Worlds Longest Non-Stop River Race" is going on now through Missouri. The race goes 24-hours a day, with racers stopping at boat ramps along the way to resupply or rest, often with “Ground Crews” of family or friends that follow along the race: mr340.org
Home - The MR340
mr340.org
July 10, 2025 at 7:49 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Murderbot Season 2! www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2... #marthawells #appletv #murderbot
Apple’s acclaimed sci-fi series “Murderbot” lands season two renewal
Apple TV+ announced a season two renewal for its widely acclaimed comedic thriller “Murderbot,” starring Emmy Award winner Alexander Skarsgård.
www.apple.com
July 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
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theferocity.bsky.social
No one is coming to save us. We’ve got to be there for each other.
January 9, 2025 at 4:12 AM
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bluevilla.org
Good morning literary community! ☕️ If you could have any author (living or dead) join you for coffee today, who would it be? Let’s hear your picks!
January 8, 2025 at 3:08 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Pratchett should be taught in schools. Or out of schools. Or everywhere, really. Highly recommended! #booksky #discworld
lordarse.com Lord Arse! 🕹️ @lordarse.com · Jan 8
Terry Pratchett's "Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness". The best quote I've ever read about why being poor can be so expensive.
January 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted
tkaz99.bsky.social
Good Morning, Skeethearts ☕️
I can't decide if people who wear pajamas in public have given up on life or are living it to the fullest...
January 8, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted
imleor.bsky.social
I called up Chicago show taper Aadam Jacobs about @archive.org preserving his immense collection of live recordings with the @ajc-project.bsky.social

chicagoreader.com/music/gossip...
A private collection of 10,000 Chicago show tapes finds a public home - Chicago Reader
The Internet Archive begins posting the Aadam Jacobs Collection. Plus: Four locals heat up the dead of winter with new music.
chicagoreader.com
January 8, 2025 at 12:20 AM
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hyperhouse.bsky.social
Hey Saint Louis, don't forget to use #stlwx for your weather-related posts. You can follow the feed here bsky.app/profile/did:...
January 3, 2025 at 11:53 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Did you know you can have a library card for more than one library system? Very handy when using the #LibbyApp #booksky @libbyapp.bsky.social
juliepatchouly.bsky.social Julie Patchouly @juliepatchouly.bsky.social · Dec 31
If you don’t have a library card go get one. Even if you don’t plan on using it right away, go get one. Keep our libraries alive.
December 31, 2024 at 2:28 PM
Reposted
dbcurren.bsky.social
Wassily #Kandinsky
Delicate Tension. No. 85
1923
#art #paintings #WassilyKandinsky
December 17, 2024 at 5:40 PM
Reposted
terrypratchett.bsky.social
We are thrilled to announce that Sir Terry Pratchett’s NIGHT WATCH is set to become a Penguin Classic, publishing in April 2025.

terrypratchett.com/news/terry-p...
Sir Terry Pratchett's Night Watch to become Penguin Classic | Terry Pratchett
Sir Terry Pratchett's iconic Discworld novel Night Watch, featuring Commander Sam Vimes, to be published as a Penguin Classic.
terrypratchett.com
October 31, 2024 at 7:58 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
It's a #Bauhaus kind of day. open.spotify.com/playlist/37i...
This Is Bauhaus
Playlist · Spotify · 39 items · 29.4K saves
open.spotify.com
December 30, 2024 at 7:55 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Started out 2024 by reading "System Collapse" by Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries!) and ended the year with "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin.
System Collapse by Martha Wells Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
December 24, 2024 at 2:39 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
The timeline feature of @libbyapp.bsky.social (to get e-books from you library) is great. I read more in 2023 than in 2024. But the numbers are a bit deceiving: 23 books in 2023 and 14 in 2024. The numbers are a bit high since they also include all the books I checked out but never finished. 😱
December 24, 2024 at 2:35 PM
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amylynn.bsky.social
#Vinyl is crushing #CDs as music industry eclipses cinema, report says. The #analog sound storage is making an epic comeback #records #retro
www.techspot.com/news/105774-...
Vinyl is crushing CDs as music industry eclipses cinema, report says
These revelations come courtesy of a new report on Pivotal Economics authored by Will Page, Spotify's former chief economist who has been tracking the value of the...
www.techspot.com
December 3, 2024 at 10:16 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Going through some older photos and found this gem! Ringless Honey Mushroom, maybe...
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#mushroommonday
#fungi
#fungiphotography
#fantasticfungi
#mushroom
#mushroomphotography
#mycology
#mushroomsociety
#mycologists
#missouri_photos
#missouri
#shotoniphone
#naturephotography
Close up of potential "Ringless Honey Mushrooms" cluster
December 23, 2024 at 7:06 PM
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readerofbannedbook.bsky.social
December 17, 2024 at 2:25 PM
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atrupar.com
Netflix engineers rn
a man wearing a hat that says ' bears ' on the front
ALT: a man wearing a hat that says ' bears ' on the front
media.tenor.com
November 16, 2024 at 3:52 AM
Reposted
thegavinsheehan.bsky.social
Current streaming quality of #Netflix right now. #PaulTyson
November 16, 2024 at 3:33 AM
jpickell.bsky.social
Netflix, have you tried turning it off and back on again? #techsupport
a man is talking on a phone with the words grateful for our tech team putting up with us in #fc tech bo
ALT: a man is talking on a phone with the words grateful for our tech team putting up with us in #fc tech bo
media.tenor.com
November 16, 2024 at 3:25 AM
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jello.net
Friday - Working on my Haka dance for the next board meeting.
November 15, 2024 at 2:57 PM
jpickell.bsky.social
Yup, I'm #YATR (Yet Another Twitter Refugee) Here's some #hashtags of some of my random interests in lieu of an intro paragraph.
#twittermigrant
#technology
#tech
#infosec
#sysadmin
#linux
#music
#mycology
#mushrooms
#outdoors
#photography
#space
#hamradio
#hiking
#travel
#weather
#wx
November 13, 2024 at 11:04 PM