The Stars My Destination

Speculative fiction writing workshop June 18-30

~ call for applications ~

Learn to write SF that sells. Using the short-story form, we help you master the elements that create great fiction.

hi folks! there's still room in my intensive summer SF writing workshop held in lovely Lawrence, Kansas, over the final two weeks of June

I lead the workshop, and this year's special guest instructor is experimental particle physicist and science-fiction expert Phil Baringer, who's taught university classes and other professional workshops with me before (he's awesome)

I'm an award-winning SF author, educator, and long-time center director, and I've been teaching this workshop since the 1990s. most alums end up publishing or even starting magazines and book publishing companies of their own, and the growing community of alums are super active beyond our time together

we're taking applications for a couple more weeks or until we fill the roster - if you'd like to get that boost you need to start publishing professionally (or just want to grow your skills as an author), why not join us!

thanks to SFWA and generous friends, scholarships are available

(charming spaceship and sunflower art by Kij Johnson)

full info here: X

Our summer Spec-Fic Workshop still has room for more participants - apply today!

(Chris and Kij’s “Repeat Offenders” workshops for alums have space available, too.)

~ we're taking applications through tomorrow - June 2 ~

so great to be doing in-person workshops again!

reblog this post to let the mutual you reblogged this from know that you still like them

God. The added irony of the nft craze happening at the same time when picrew was at the height of its popularity. you could pay several thousands for the prestige of owning one of many rangomly generated jpegs or you could costumize your very own little character for free on the internet with a costumizer that was made by a decent fucking artist

Picrew/Meiker/etc. > NFTs

I mean yeah, this Picrew art is cute AF

It’s Pride Month Eve, so leave out some milk for Freddie Mercury and his cats.

[ ID: brobexx tweets: "You ever sleep so little you feel like a low polygon version of yourself. Like you're just gonna be running on reduced graphics today." / ID ]

tbh i don't really get why we divide the oceans into different oceans because they're all connected it's the same ocean

no metaphor here just pure confusion...is there a line where one ocean stops and another begins? or is it like a smooth gradient of percentages of one ocean shading into another ocean?

Yes, there is a line. There are confluences you can see and touch and they are NOT subtle in the slightest.

That's the Atlantic and the Caribbean on a particularly pronounced day.

This is the Indian and the Pacific. It's not always this obvious everywhere but the dividing lines are very much there.

Oceans have their own properties as far as temperature and salinity and unless something like a storm or a current forces them to mix they won't. Mostly this applies to vertical mixing and it gives you things like thermoclines and haloclines but water is wierd and won't mix horizontally either.

The ocean basins tend to have their own currents that go in a circle and define that ocean, and those patterns mix the water within that ocean. Like a washing machine.

The Caribbean has a little loop of its own that not on this map, but that current keeps that ocean pretty internally consistent. It's got clear warm water because of the shallow bowl of limestone sand it sits in. Where it meets the Atlantic with wildly different conditions the water is traveling in opposite directions, and it acts kind of like an oncoming lane of highway traffic. Species that have adapted to a narrow band of temperatures and salinities (most fish) can't cross, while species with a stronger homeostasis hang out there on purpose, (marine mammals, turtles, sharks). Plankton, that cannot control their horizontal movement in the water column, are held in their home territories by these barriers.

This is cool as fuck

can we get a 40+ years!

@ubernegro @nerdymouse @antifaspiderman

This is counterinsurgency in action. It gets uglier from here.

from the article:

how can it be illegal for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (which bails out protesters and helps them find lawyers) to raise bail funds when actual bail-bond companies get away with doing the same thing but for a profit?

I just... what in the fascist hell is going on in Georgia?

masks and helmets that hides someone's face in such a way that they become the face themselves my beloved

these are all creatures to me

Angel of War, angular and strange, gleaming silver and gold, Angel of Wonder, pure and one-eyed, looking to stars new and old, Angel of Harvest, simple and hidden, bring nature's sweetness to all, Angel of Health, mysterious and fine, beacon when life starts to fall, Angel of the Deep, crooked and cage-like, guide us across the sea, Angel of Solace, protect us from evil, lead us to where we are free.

Edited the poem a little to have an even rhythm (apologies, ancient-debris) and used a beekeeper that I was certain was public domain (original is from a re-creation that’s been passed all over the internet and the attribution has been lost)

Edited poem + image description under cut

why you should have corded controllers 

BRB bouta buy me a corded controller and some birbs.

oh you THINK that's fun until you have three cockatiels chewing through the wire and screaming when you lift them off before they electrocute themselves

Why does tumblr have a specific button to report a blog for sexually explicit material but not a button for reporting a blog for hate speech or terrorism when those are far more pressing and dangerous things

Like if you wanna narc on somebody for porn it's got a special button and the site assures you they'll look into it right away but if someone calls you a sissy faggot and tells you to kill yourself you gotta go through seven steps including the specific link to whatever post it was and also describe it in detail just to be sure because we can't have any ambiguity here and we can't risk you misidentifying fucking hate speech. Like why can I trust you to search for the evil nasty porn like a bomb squad dog but you won't notice hate speech unless I give you the exact coordinates and a reference?? Fuck off.

Porn is harmless (well, except when it isn’t). Death threats aren’t (ever).

soooo.

fuck discord.

Turn these off NOW. If you wait they can use whatever you've said or shared with your friends on there until whenever you turn it off, even after you turn it off.

Turn them off and tell Discord to get their head out of their arse and go fuck themselves.

Whys this post making the rounds again. It's fearmongering

for folks like me who fall for this type of fearmongering relatively easily, here’s some replies with better info.

heres the article linked by the last reply

and here’s a couple excerpts from that article:

thankfully, the settings to turn off those invasions of privacy are still available! I checked mine, and they didn't change since all this happened and un-happened

New writers haven't been learning how to write or showrun because there haven't been the opportunities for them to do so. Companies have been employing mini rooms and not paying for enough writers to do the job, so most of the time, they can't bring in new writers, people that need to learn.

As I've said elsewhere, these are some of the reasons that current shows aren't always great: not enough writers, not enough training, not enough time to do their job.

What not to share with ChatGPT if you use it for work

—

...or anything, really, if you value your privacy, property, or identity

File under #WTF

“Andrews is a former senior U.S soldier and decorated intelligence officer who conducted global counterterrorism operations on behalf of the United States during a 36-year military career. Shortly after returning from an overseas mission, he began to suffer from rare, life-threatening ailments that defied medical explanation. Rather than succumbing, he instead began to experience special, inexplicable abilities such as remote viewing, and his body began to heal, baffling doctors.

As he sought more information about his health, Andrews came across a file compiled for him by his late father. It contained records from a past he did not remember, including documents indicating he was removed from school for weeks every year, from the first through 12th grades. The records also contained a shocker, that he received an honorable discharge from the U.S Air Force and worked in space intelligence communications as a minor. Andrews maintains he has no memory of having served in the U.S Air Force.

Referred to a classified White House National Security Council program, which had been delegated to the Department of Defense, Andrews then met a man who ran the highly classified program, who introduced him to a doctor. The doctor had worked for the CIA and had expertise enabling him to help Andrews start to piece together what has happened to him and others like him. Soon after connecting with the doctor, Andrews says he experienced symptoms associated with the Havana Syndrome, a phenomenon first reported by military personnel working at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, in 2016. The syndrome has generated significant media attention in top-tier outlets including 60 Minutes and The New York Times in recent years. An investigation went on to determine that Andrews had been targeted with an advanced energy weapon...”

having anxiety is like being given permanent unwanted custody of a halter arabian. like okay buddy is it panic time again. cool you probably need more exercise and an apple and then maybe you'll calm down.

taking my stupid walks for my stupid mental health with my stupid hypervigilant brain horse

thoroughly enjoying the notes on this post because it's equal parts people with anxiety going "yeah that's what it's like" and people with arabians going "yeah that's what they're like"

I feel sorry for the old man, but it was stealing.  There is no apparently about it. Water is not free, it’s not a right to have it, and people pay must pay for it.  If a government gives a thing to you like utilities, its still not free because they take it from somewhere else, like in taxes.  

my friend visiting my house: hey i’m thirsty can i get a glass of water

me:

Nestle isn’t gonna fuck you

Also water IS a human right, it’s classified as one by the UN the only country that really disagrees with this is the United States

If I buy a loaf of bread, and then decide to make a sandwich for my friend from some of it, is this STEALING? Is my friend STEALING the bread I already PAID for in full? Is the bread seller entitled to receive compensation because I, the person who PAID ALREADY the full value of the bread they sell, decided to give away a portion of it (a portion from an already PAID FOR product).

When people say that capitalism rots your brain they aren’t kidding - this is literally a disease, one of the mind and soul, and it’s contagious, and it’s deadly… Luckily there is a cure:

@debkorvelus question does Trump’s dick taste like cheetos or cheddar

@debkorvelus

question does Trump’s dick taste like

cheetos or cheddar

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

This may be the single most monumental post by Haiku Bot ever

also, like, it's not taxes that pay for water but utility bills, so I've no idea where that bootlicker lives but it's not the USA

Pay heed to Klaudia Amenábar's words! Don't let the executives weaponize fandoms. WGA Strong.

My guys it is starting to work, I've seen some people I know complaining about the writer's strike and turning against them because their favorite shows and/or movie got put on hold. Please do not be fooled like this, this is exactly what the corporations want. It can wait, I promise you will find other things to focus, but writers need this.

Reword every headline they put out. “Due to not wanting to give writers money, Marvel has shut down pre-production on…” You can end this strike any time you want to, pal.

"Marvel too cheap to pay writers, production shuts down"

"Disney too greedy to pay residuals, deletes shows/movies"

"Studios cut corners on safety, production values, writing, acting, etc. in order to make more money; won't share with anyone below CEO level"

This.

100% this.