The Frances Hodgson Burnett novel A LITTLE PRINCESS was one of my very favorite books growing up, and I reread it many times.In fact, I still vividly remember picking out the paperback copy while shopping with my parents at Pickwick Books at South Coast Plaza when I was maybe seven years old, and I own it to this day.I have to admit to avoiding the Shirley Temple film version for most of my life simply because I knew that the screenplay, by Ethel Hill and Walter Ferris, used the book as a…

Antecedently: Paging Dr. Crowbar; an absolutely delicious list of supplies and equipment; a surprise visit from the Titan submersible We now rejoin these AK-47smans advancing upon us, already in progress Dani would like to No Ticket this gentleman, physically shoving him from the connective-space between cars; to that end A CONTEST ENSUES, between a man who would like to shove and a man who would like not to be shoved; William rolls a +2, Guardsman rolls a -3 in response; alas, poor goon, off…

I still don’t really know who Torontonians are. But I do know what I keep seeing. The post People of Toronto, Occasionally Naked – Spring 2026 Edition first appeared on Correr Es Mi Destino.

📺 Widow’s Bay is the best thing I have seen on TV all year, with good comedy, moments that are genuinely scary, callouts to many horror classics and a stellar cast. Will watch again.

The nature of fatherhood is that you’re doing something that you’re unqualified to do, and then you become qualified when you do it. – John Green Remix Sunday 176 Zipped Up. (120mb zip) pw: palmsout TRMA – “Little Pieces” (Remix) Kelela – “Rewind” (Tony Quattro Bootleg) Youngstar – “Pulse X” (DJ ADHD Refix) Mez – “Woiya” (Kami-O Remix) KARAN! & Mc Mary Maii – “VAGABUNDO” (Izumo Remix) ASAP. Rocky – “Praise the Lord” (Frythm Reprise) MAV – “Drift” (BOP Remix Instrumental) Mona Matsuoka x Tim…

So anyone who has spent considerable time with me has probably learned how much I love a drive in movie theater. Crysta and I started going to them when we lived in Indiana, mostly visiting the Lakeshore Drive In in Monticello (though the now-closed MELS at the Starlight in Mechanicsburg was in our rotation too). When we moved back to Wisconsin, we started going to the Stardust Drive In in Chetek most weekends in the summer months, but it shut down and didn't open for 2025. Last year, for our…

Technology businesses are heavily influenced by waves of technology change, like the rise of the internet or AI. Knowing how to adjust strategy for these changes is one of the most important skills to develop. As technology has advanced, technology waves have become larger, more frequent, and more sudden. In just the last 30 years (less than a full career, literally less than the time between graduation and your first 401k payout) we’ve seen: The rise of the consumer internet, creating massive…

"Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep. All these with ceaseless praise his works behold Both day and night: How often from the steep Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard Celestial voices to the midnight air, Sole, or responsive each to others note, Singing their great Creator? oft in bands While they keep watch, or nightly

Dual Subways and Flushing – Flushing, New York I got off at my destination in Queens, one stop from the last stop on the Number 7 line, which is a big hint of where my wife and I are going. Have you figured out the destination? Looking east along the subway tracks, I timed a shot as two trains passed each other. The train on the tracks closer to me is heading towards a cluster of buildings that have also sprouted over the last decade. Although not as impressively tall as Long Island City,…

We spent a night in Desolation Wilderness for Luna’s first backpacking trip (and my first return since May 2020). Luna was a champ, and seemed to love the outdoors! So many people commented on her orange backpack (so she could carry her own food, snacks, and camping gear 😅) and the pup made many friends (both dogs and human) while on the trail. Since we drove from Berkeley, we rode a water taxi to the far end of Echo Lake to make our hike in a bit shorter -- and got to saw a small black bear…

Well, my day of rest yesterday, such as it was, is done and today, I got some work done in the garden. The first thing I wanted to do was plant thew carrot seed tape I’d picked up. These went into the trellis bed, next to the Rainbow Mix carrots. The boards that had been … Continue reading Our 2026 garden: planting carrots and cucumbers, trellis added, and food forest progress

A lot has been said about the apparent overload of cars flooding the LEGO® Technic theme in recent years, and I have to agree with the critics. There is one clear exception for me though: the Ultimate Car Concept Series are a staple of the theme. This is where the LEGO® Technic System aspect has the space and budget to really shine, and I am always impatiently surviving the 2 years between each edition. This year, Swedish car manufacturer Koenigsegg has the honor of providing a model for us to…

I am a father of twin boys. There is a question I often think about. It often appears as a midlife crisis where I am not sure when I became a man responsible for a family. It looked so easy for my father. It was as if he was born into it. He was a leader, a strong man, one that an entire community could rely on. When does that kick in for me? When do I become this leader? Or have I already become? That's what I was thinking when I wrote this short story about my father 10 years ago. I couldn't…

I sort of hate digital photos. They collect into these massive folders, and they sit there, and they're safe (as long as they're backed up!), and you technically can look through them ... but they're just not a good way to hold memories, not for me at least. They're too fleeting. For years, I've wanted to get in the habit of printing photos and putting them in an album to just collect memories from my life. I graduated high school in 2010, an I'm 34 now. I only have photos going back to 2017. I…

I pray to the British only that I be beheaded rather than hanged for this. Project Gutenberg has more than 75,000 books in the public domain that you can read on its website. However, the public-domain audiobooks are sometimes lacking. In March, Fish Audio released S2, which provides adequate-sounding text-to-speech. Here is a sample of King Charles’s voice reading the title of South, generated using S2. Cloning a voice is fairly simple, you just need ~30 seconds of reference speech:

AI image creation of the blog post via Opus 4.8 on Anthropic.As Friday arrived I had the day off work for Juneteenth, so had the opportunity to watch the USA World Cup game at home while yelling at the TV in celebration. Afterwards Alyson and I would attend MOSI (Museum of Science & Innovation) for an "after dark" event.The soccer game was amazing with the United States scoring multiple goals and winning again! We had 2 wins so far which which was far more successful than our previous pool play…

From a penis peek to lingering glances, Bryce and Zach are Love Island USA’s most compelling pair. Are they more than just friends, or is the fandom riled up because male intimacy is so rare on reality TV?

The other day, someone asked me if there were any specific authors that influenced the way I wrote Ornamental Women. (What, you don't have a copy of Ornamental Women, my Gothic Fantasy novel, that is available in print and ebook? Well, you can remedy that here.)These are some of the authors whose influence I see at work under the skin of Ornamental Women; they are all people whose work has inspired me, so I list them with all possible gratitude: Anna Smith Spark When I started working on…

Sad Cypress is a 336-page mystery novel written by Agatha Christie. Summary Elinor’s aunt passes away, leaving her a considerable inheritance. However, her love life and freedom are quickly threatened after a series of events that ultimately reveal her aunt was murdered. Dr. Lord takes it upon himself to find the killer with the assistance of venerable detective, Hercule Poirot. My Thoughts Not only did I fail to guess the killer,1 but the ending genuinely went in a direction I was not…

Yesterday I went for a solo hike along the Incinerator Ridge trail in the Catalina Mountains. Starting around milepost 17 on the upside of the mountain, the hike affords beautiful views of the San Pedro River Valley. I wanted to get up and back before the sun went into a UV rating in the double digits. Since I was around 6500 feet it wouldn’t be overly hot, but the sun can be brutal. I wanted to spend some time just sitting up on Leopold Point, which sits around 8000 feet. The views are…

Happy Father's Day! Father's Day is one of the best days of the year. I’m biased, for sure. We get gifts, we get to play golf, and we get to put our feet up. It’s wonderful being pampered. But obviously, it’s far more than the pampering that has me entering “Proud” and “Joyful” in my Bevel mood journal at the end of the day.Being a father is easily the most rewarding role in the world. Early on, it’s a grind — sleep, poop, eat, sleep, poop, eat… it gets to you (and is far harder on mothers, to…

When Jim Croce sang about "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," he could not have imagined what the historically maligned South Side would look like with a proper investment in public goods. The Obama Presidential Center has brought just such an investment. Yes, there is a museum, whose tickets are sold out through the fall. There is also a home for the Obama Foundation and its various leadership-training initiatives. But for many Chicago residents, the Obama Center is, first and foremost, a superb outdoor…

I can't even describe how beautiful this movie is. Every frame a painting. A Vermeer. The way they look at each other throughout is the greatest thing. This was my 5th or 6th watch and I still can't breath for the last 5 minutes. Astonishing. Crying is allowed. It's unavoidable.

Moments - A simple photo journal on your own domain. Burst - A free bubble shooter game. No ads and no purchases.

I rested. Watched TV, talked about football, ate an orange sherbet ice-cream, attended a book launch, outlined a life vision. Medo texted me saying he went to watch the game with the lads because he thought to himself: WWZD? A friend of a friend suggested we meet at a dimly-lit Earl’s. She has a laugh that makes me miss my aunt. I like that she moved here for romance. People often look surprised when they learn that I didn’t move here with or for anyone. A guy told me I’m courageous. I think it…

A steady week, sunshine makes all the difference to my mood and the variety of things we can do. Life Glorious sunshine all weekend, so managed to get a start on building a slide/swing/climbing frame for Jack. Mundane things, cutting the grass, little fixes and improvements to Vera, some walks, a lot of stretching, such was my week. And that’s ok, I enjoy the quieter routines of daily life more and more as I get older. Life is as simple as we make it. As I mentioned last week, my…

The third installment in the AAJ interview series is with Forlorn Skulk, who blogs at forlornskulk.blogspot.com/ and has an itch store at forlornskulk.itch.io. Skulk joined the jam fairly late but ended up writing a richly detailed region with over 150 hexes. I'm a really big fan of his "Moebian Directorate", which we discuss in the interview. He also contributed a large number of excellent rooms to the collaborative AXIS MUNDI dungeon at the south pole. Map of the Tiger Coast drawn by Hags…

We have three McDonald’s within a five mile radius of our house. They’re all of the late 2010s vintage: a big boring box with the typical interior of a couple of self ordering kiosks, a McCafe station that doesn’t really seem to be a thing anymore, and a counter that used to have cash registers but is now primarily used to stack up orders as they come from the kitchen. There is two cash registers left at these locations but they’re rarely used. Earlier this month a new McDonald’s was opened…

A Memphis law school graduate battles an insurance giant. What’s the difference between a hooker and a lawyer? The hooker will stop screwing you after you’re dead. To see all 15 photos, visit the article page. This article was originally published at: https://andrei.xyz/movies/the-rainmaker/

Never done this before: I’ve remotored a model train engine. Whisper-quiet, not just controllable but slow, and I just feel so good about it. I did this. It’s experiences like this I hoped for from the hobby these days. Jim... Read More ›