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Slowly getting the gears moving

Meta

I have two stories out for submission. That’s more than I’ve had in a while.

I’m also writing poetry again. I’m going to try to write 50 poems over the next 100 days. I might write more, I might write less. As soon as I get my patreon up I’ll be posting them over there.

Here’s a sample — the first poem — for your kind consideration.

you know what?



this is today’s poem.

because it’s one in the morning
and I don’t want to drag my brain through the mud.
it’s muddy enough as it is.

this is today’s poem.
no rhyme, rhythm, barely any words.


but it’s mine.


and I’ll bite your hand if you go anywhere near it.

I’m planning a free newsletter tier for people who want to know how my writing is going, and then the poetry will be up a level, and probably videos of me reading poetry out of an old anthology, but really angry, will be a little above that because those are a lot more work.

Planning is still underway, is the simplest way to put it.

But writing is also underway, and that makes me very happy.

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Immune by Philipp Dettmer

Impressions

Not quite reviews, I talk about books I read and enjoyed.

I just finished reading Immune by Philipp Dettmer.

I’m a Kurzgasagt fan so I had some idea what I was in for — the website’s videos on the immune system have always been fascinating and a little baffling.

That’s a good way to describe the book, too. Fascinating, but also a bit baffling. Much like trying to truly understand all aspects of a historical war, there are too many characters, doing too many things, most of them simultaneously, and some of them for reasons we don’t understand.

Dettmer does an excellent job of not only trying to describe the frantic actions of our cells but also of warning us when something inscrutable or not yet understood is coming up, glossing over the things that would require two more books to describe, and generally making the immune system something less of a mystery.

That said, I totally expect I’ll need to read it again to get a better understanding of it. Much like organic chemistry or transformational grammar, this isn’t a “class” one expects to pass on the first try, no matter how excellent the instructor.

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Sesame Street has a new home!

Militant Decency

Netflix announced it has picked up Sesame Street after HBO recently dropped it. That’s good news. Even better news: when new episodes come out, they’ll be released to public television at the same time that they’re released on Netflix. Over the years they’ve had to change up their format a bit, but that’s both in response to the changing competition and in response to learning more about how kids learn than we knew in the 1970s.

Sesame Street still needs our support. Netflix is providing a basis for their funding but not everything. Plus, the current administration has cut federal support, so there are still financial gaps to fill.