Voted. Could have voted a little earlier, but I like voting at the library. It’s properly symbolic.
My voting day polling place is the country club, which is differently symbolic. The opposite really.
I was looking at a recipe and saw the photo credit was “[web site] and Qi Ai”
And my knee-jerk reaction was dammit, with the AI photos! 🤬
And then I took a breath and poked around a bit. There was no direct link to the photographer’s bio on the image credit, and there is an AI company called “QI AI” but enough poking and I found this was an actual, real food photographer from Beijing whose name is “Qi Ai”
What an unfortunate time to have that name. Glad I checked. Good luck out there Qi.
A short blog post that talks about why I've kicked you all out of my office (sorry) and how much that's helping my brain.
https://grathio.com/2026/10/social_media_for_the_social_god/
It's impossible to tell if changes to the new (in testing) Mastodon 5.0 are horrible decisions or bugs.
I find this very illuminating.
The Improbable Consciousness of Being
Got topped off on my seasonal vaccinations today.
Voting is a lot like getting vaxed.
No, it's not a cure. But I'll do it anyway.
No, my one vaccination won't stop a pandemic. But I'll do it anyway.
It may not even keep me from getting the virus, but I'll do it anyway.
Because when we all do it, it works. We can eliminate diseases and save lives.
But you have to do your part. Don't let kooks tell you otherwise.
If my partner didn't work from home I would strongly consider turning the internet off during the day. Or at least throttling it down to like 300 baud.
I lived in San Francisco Gavin Newsom's entire term as mayor, so I saw the guy pretty closely. He's only gotten worse since then. He's the kind of guy you don't want to get too close too or you'll die with his bootprints on your shoulders. But the Democrats were clearly grooming him for President even then.
Also, Gavin and DJT Jr being married* to the same woman seems like some kind of revelation about someone.
*Okay, "domestic partnership".
True story: A young, ambitious Ronald Regan wanted to date my partner's great aunt, but her parents wouldn't let her date a filthy Democrat.
Don't talk to me about that grubbing Ronald Regan clone Gavin Newsom unless its about how he fell into a muddy ditch.
I'm listening to one of those Great Courses-type things because I need something I can dip in and out of, and it's by one of my former writing professors, so why not?
This guy cannot reference any literature from after 1950. Catch-22 is as modern as he gets. And while I've read everything he references (because this is what an English degree was), 100% of it is antiquated.
It's so disconnecting. He's teaching folks how to write a stuffy novel, not new, fresh fiction they can connect with.
One of the great things about USB-C is that is eliminated our ability to tell a cable's capabilities at a glance.
A different book I want is how to talk with physicians.
How to be heard by a physician.
Ideally written by a physician.
I can't expect them to change, so I'll do the work. There's so much trauma in just my family from physicians simply not hearing. I don't have the answers, but there has to be something better.
A book* I would like to read is how to evaluate imperfect produce at the store.
Like a lot of cosmetic issues are fine, or maybe impact texture but not flavor. But some things are like "Nope, that's a nest of something."
Just a little less food waste if I can know a few things.
* Or pamphlet. We really need to bring back pamphlets. Not everything needs to be stretched to a book.
Wait, that's a zine.
Tuxedo cats evolved to better hide among penguins.
All in all, it's just another brick in the teeth
The morning routine: Screaming at the dawn.
#ScribesAndMakers October 13. "Schadenfreude?"
It is not part of my better nature that I take joy from it. I fight it. There a lot of it on the internet.
That said, I am going to hit reload on the finance pages a lot today.
Sometimes I just reply to someone with an emoji because I need to say something, but I'm overwhelmed. So you get an emoji. Or sometimes just a ⭐️. And I don't mean it to be trite. It's really the opposite. I don't have words. I know that sometimes doesn't come across.
What's good for the Michigoose is good for the Michigander.