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# Death Is Bad

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [SF/F Review – The Three-Body Problem](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-three-body-problem/) - The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu (translation by Ken Liu) Synopsis: A secret SETI-equivalent Chinese program makes radio contact with an alien species. Book Review: The Three-Body Problem starts out with a bang, dropping us right into the middle of China’s Cultural Revolution in the late 60s, from the perspective of a persecuted intellectual. The emotional impact
- [Complete Pivot to SubStack](https://deathisbadblog.com/complete-pivot-to-substack/) - I'm going entirely to SubStack. It's a pain in the butt to maintain two blogs at once, and SubStack is the wave of the future, so I'll stop updating this blog after this week. I'm keeping it up indefinitely as an archive, since a bunch of links point to posts here (even from posts that
- [SF/F Review - 2022 Hugo Nominated Shorts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-2022-hugo-nominated-shorts/) - My favorite book club meeting of every year is the one were we read the Hugo nominated short stories and novelettes. Here’s my reviews of this year’s crop. Note that the reviews are all FULL SPOILERS. If you don’t want to read them all, but want to read the (IMO) best ones without being spoiled,
- ["Three Bodies At Mitanni" by Seth Dickinson](https://deathisbadblog.com/three-bodies-at-mitanni-by-seth-dickinson/) - I just read "Three Bodies At Mitanni" by Seth Dickinson. Oh my god. At first you think it's about Hanson-style Ems. Then you think it's about p-zombies. Then you think it's about pathological altruism. Then you make the connection to Meditations on Moloch. Then you realize it's the story-fication of the picture to the left.
- [SF/F Review – Light From Uncommon Stars](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-light-from-uncommon-stars/) - Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki Synopsis: Alien refugees sell donuts in the Bay area, one falls in love with a woman who sells souls to hell, as that woman begins grooming a runaway trans girl with world-class violin skills to be her next soul sacrifice. Book Review: FYI, despite how I had to phrase the
- [SF/F Review - The School For Good Mothers](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-school-for-good-mothers/) - The School For Good Mothers, by Jessamine Chan Synopsis: Women who aren’t “good enough” mothers — as determined by a completely arbitrary and ultimately random process — are sent to a re-education camp to be psychologically tortured. Book Review: Boy, this is such a mixed bag. Let’s go over some highlights/lowlights and see where it
- [Vasectomy for Transhumanists](https://deathisbadblog.com/vesectomy-for-transhumanists/) - I was asked what went into my decision to get a vasectomy, especially considering I’m hoping to live at least thousands of years and people change. When I project out my future over the next 10 years, I can't see wanting kids at any point in that time period. Plus there's not much of a
- [TradFam as Startup](https://deathisbadblog.com/tradfam-as-startup/) - Why are so many intelligent, driven young people abandoning the personal-liberty-maximizing bohemian lifestyles and adopting Traditional Values as they enter their thirties? I think it’s a way of solving a coordination problem. Lets consider two key roles of a modern startup: Founder and Venture Capitalist. The Founder is the person who does the work of
- [SF/F Review – A Master of Djinn](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-a-master-of-djinn/) - A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark Synopsis: A paranormal murder mystery set in steampunk Egypt, 1912, after Djinn and other magical creatures have been reintroduced into the world a few decades back. Book Review: This is a great romp, and really fun! The plot keeps moving at a good clip, there’s a lot
- [How They/Them Hurts](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-they-them-hurts/) - Multiple people have been tripped up by my claims in a recent post that “demanding that people call you by incorrect pronouns counts as bullying and harassment.” This is in answer to that. I went through a lot of titles for this one before settling on “How They/Them Hurts.” The all started with “How They/Them
- [There Are Infinite Genders. There Are Only Four Sexes.](https://deathisbadblog.com/4978-2/) - Multiple people have been tripped up by my claims in the previous post that “they/them pronouns are never correct pronouns for a person whose sex isn't ambiguous” and “demanding that people call you by incorrect pronouns counts as bullying and harassment.” This post addresses the first of these two. First, I posit that there are
- [An Examination of My Failures of Rationality](https://deathisbadblog.com/an-examination-of-my-failures-of-rationality/) - Is my defensive reaction to wokeism mind-killing me? Well yes, obviously to some extent. How bad of a mental massacre is it, though? Let's do a post-mortem on a recent failure (or semi-failure?) to find out. First and foremost, I wish to thank Walter & James, of Rationality: From AI to Zombies podcast fame, for
- [That's Not A Mass Shooting, That's Just Sparkling Murder](https://deathisbadblog.com/thats-not-a-mass-shooting-thats-just-sparkling-murder/) - Every single day since the Uvalda shooting, I've heard a news story about another mass shooting. And every single time it's been a personal dispute where someone pulled a gun and murdered another person, not a mass shooting. Literally just now I heard a story from CNN where the newscaster said "Another mass shooting at
- [Liberal vs Woke at the 2017 World Fantasy Convention](https://deathisbadblog.com/liberal-vs-woke-at-the-2017-world-fantasy-convention/) - In my previous post, I said the difference between Liberal and Woke philosophies is that Liberals believe immutable characteristics aren’t important and shouldn’t matter. Wokes believe they’re one of the most important things about anyone/everyone. The most striking example of this from my real life occurred to me at the World Fantasy Convention of 2017. At a
- [Updates to Roseanne post](https://deathisbadblog.com/updates-to-roseanne-post/) - A couple things about yesterday's post. Again, I know there were similar things happening before the cancellation of Roseanne. It was after this incident that cancelling became the default weapon that is wielded to punish political enemies, and the knowledge of how to weild it became widespread and culturally acceptable. Cancel Culture and Wokeism are
- [Happy Birthday to Cancel Culture](https://deathisbadblog.com/happy-birthday-to-cancel-culture/) - Today is the 4th birthday of Cancel Culture. On May 29, 2018, ABC cancelled the reboot of Roseanne after a racist tweet by it's star & creator, Roseanne Barr. America was at a social tipping point in early 2018. The left wing, having been sent reeling after the surprise win of Trump a year and a
- [What's Wrong With Woke?](https://deathisbadblog.com/whats-wrong-with-woke/) - It seems there is confusion as to what "woke" means. I. What Woke Isn't It was said to me "No other movement made efforts to understand the danger of being out as queer or trans, or the discomfort of being racialized; no other movement made any effort to make spaces safer or more comfortable
- [Mercedes Lackey updates](https://deathisbadblog.com/mercedes-lackey-updates/) - For those following along, Lackey posted an "apology" which was basically not an apology. It also quoted Delany (the author she refered to as "colored") replying to the kerfuffle saying he was cool with the word. I applaud her decision to pretend to apologize without actually doing so. :) Also, I am aware that she
- [Mercedes Lackey Cancelled](https://deathisbadblog.com/mercedes-lackey-cancelled/) - Mercedes Lackey is a grand dame of Fantasy fiction. She's published over 140 novels, and might be one of the most prolific professional SF/F authors of all time. She's of an older generation of writers as well. Born in 1950, she's over 70 years old at the time of this publishing. SFWA is the Science
- [Destroy Your Elders For Great Justice -- Mercedes Lackey edition](https://deathisbadblog.com/destroy-your-elders-for-great-justice-mercedes-lackey-edition/) - SFWA cancelling Mercedes Lackey is disgusting and shameful. But I had assumed Lackey wouldn't be notably harmed personally. She's established and has her fan base, after all. Turns out I was wrong. I forgot not everyone is jaded internet denizens like ourselves. Some people are old and vulnerable and don't understand that the internet is
- [On Substack](https://deathisbadblog.com/on-substack/) - I'm moving to SubStack. I'll continue posting all posts here as well as there for at least the rest of this month. Maybe next month too. This site will stay up as an archive for as long as I can afford the yearly fee. I was convinced by Bryan Caplan's post Who Should Switch to
- [SF/F Review Double Feature – Rich Man's Sky, and Poor Man's Sky](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-double-feature-rich-mans-sky-and-poor-mans-sky/) - Rich Man's Sky, by Wil McCarthy and Poor Man's Sky, by Wil McCarthy Synopsis: In the near future, humanity takes the first steps to creating off-Earth colonies. In Rich Man's Sky, government agents are sent to infiltrate (and possibly capture) a rapidly-expanding solar-harvesting factory at L1. In Poor Man's Sky, a detective (and ex-Navy Seal)
- [When You Have A Hammer](https://deathisbadblog.com/when-you-have-a-hammer/) - In some regions of some states, gender reassignment is over-prescribed, both by self-assessment and by affirming clinics. In those places, at this time, it is a solution that is jumped to over-eagerly, because we know how to treat gender dysphoria. That makes the mental health problems of the dysphoric tractable. Gender dysphoria has overlapping symptoms
- [Just Don't Get Pregnant](https://deathisbadblog.com/just-dont-get-pregnant/) - There are people who think abortion (outside of specific exceptions for rape/incest/medical necessity) is morally impermissible. One of their defenses is that one can just not get pregnant. This is a bad argument. First, using protection is incredibly important, and everyone should do it, and anyone who doesn't is being an idiot. Most people's sex
- [SF/F Calibration - Top 5 Books](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-calibration-top-5-books/) - "The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature is as follows: All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool. The reader will like the book to the degree that he agrees with the writer about what’s cool. And that works all the way from the external trappings to the level of metaphor, subtext, and the
- [The Blood Libel of Vaush](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-blood-libel-of-vaush/) - I. The Trope-Namer The original blood libel was the claim that Jews killed Christian babies to use their blood in rituals. It was spread to incite pogroms and ethnic cleansings. Nowadays you see the same sort of claims taking place both in social media and on news networks, where people will stoke hatred and outrage
- [SF/F Review – She Who Became The Sun](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-she-who-became-the-sun/) - She Who Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan Synopsis: A novelization of the rise of the Ming Dynasty, but the founding emperor is reimagined as a woman living in secret as a man. Book Review: A fascinating read that focuses on the Will To Power, and sexual dynamics in a pre-modern society. The POV alternates
- [There's More Than One Constitution 'round These Parts](https://deathisbadblog.com/theres-more-than-one-constitution-round-these-parts/) - Without DALL-E, this is the best I can do for a "waterfall of constitutions" image. Roe v Wade was always a stop-gap. I'm glad we had it for as long as we did, it provided proof that abortion rights do no harm to a country, and actually make it stronger. But it is there to
- [Unrestricted Abortion Rights Are A Bedrock of Western Civilization](https://deathisbadblog.com/unrestricted-abortion-rights-are-a-bedrock-of-western-civilization/) - Unsurprisingly, it looks like the Supreme Court will strike down Roe v Wade. The stop-gap Roe v Wade ruling was necessary for decades, as the US Congress got its shit together enough to realize how important and vital this right is to the existence of Western Civilization. Anyone who doesn't want to cede our future
- [Entangling Concepts](https://deathisbadblog.com/entanglement-is-protective/) - I. "How can you be good if you don't have God?" As a survivor of the Atheism Wars, I saw many minds ensnared by this. It was perhaps the most frequent common-sense objection to atheism. Religion had spent centuries entangling the concepts of "moral goodness" with "religion," and it protected them like a nest of
- [The (Smallest, Silliest) First Betrayal](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-smallest-silliest-first-betrayal/) - This is a story about a much younger Eneasz. One who was very naïve, had a lot of unexamined assumptions, and who has beliefs that are significantly different from my own. I won't bother apologizing for him, because he's long gone. I don't know if the world is better or worse for that. I grew
- [SF/F Review – Worth The Candle](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-worth-the-candle/) - Worth The Candle, by Alexander Wales Synopsis: A D&D nerd is warped into an RPG video game (maybe?) where he has to survive, level up, and figure out what the heck is going on. Book Review: This is one of my favorite books ever. I put off reading this for a long time, because it was
- [Humor is Important, Lack of it is a Red Flag](https://deathisbadblog.com/humor-is-important-lack-of-it-is-a-red-flag/) - Humor is the greatest gift of mankind. It, more than anything else, allows us to see each other as humans. When we joke with each other, we take the sting out of disagreements. We are saying "I think you are stupid and wrong, but I respect you enough to try to make you feel better
- [Doing Better?](https://deathisbadblog.com/doing-better/) - I -- Background. Last month (I think?) Walter and James suspended their podcast. Their podcast, Rationality: From AI to Zombies Podcast was a project to make the entirety of the book by the same name available as an audio podcast for free. (The book R:FAtZ is a curated collection of Eliezer Yudkowsky's blog posts from
- [School As Harmful](https://deathisbadblog.com/school-as-harmful/) - Compulsory schooling is net-harmful. Here's my reasons why, starting with my three major objections, which apply to mid-teen and late-teen public schooling (called "high school" in the USA). These are followed with several more commonly heard points, which apply more to early schooling for pre-teen children. I - High School Steals Life-Years During Crucial Psychological
- [Grooming Isn't Real](https://deathisbadblog.com/grooming-isnt-real/) - Grooming isn't real. Grooming has never BEEN real. Accusations of grooming were always just an excuse to persecute gay men. In the early 21th century, this was expanded as a method to attack men who had sexual relationships with women more than a few years younger than them. Eventually it was used to persecute anyone
- [SF/F Review - The Scorpio Races](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-scorpio-races/) - The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater Synopsis: Two outcast orphans come of age on a small European island, bound to their community and traditions via the mystical, vicious horse-monsters that can exist only here. Book Review: I was wary at first. A book about orphaned teenagers? Coming of age? With a strong focus on horses? This
- [Follow-ups to previous posts](https://deathisbadblog.com/follow-ups-to-previous-posts/) - A few follow-ups to previous posts: Capture of Tools, to Crush Your Enemies - In this post I warned about the trend of removing access to common tools as a political punishment. I was commenting on the Canadian Trucker Protest, and the use of payment processor and crowdfunding site bannings. I expected to get some pushback
- [SF/F Review - Winter's Orbit](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-winters-orbit/) - Winter's Orbit, by Everina Maxwell Synopsis: A gay(?) teen romance in spaaaaaaace Book Review: This is basically wish-fulfillment fanfic with original charecters, and I am so here for it. It's adorable and twee and they are so fumbling and flustered I could just die. I grinned the whole way through. You have to know what you're in for,
- [Support Detrans Awareness Day If You Support Your Trans Friends](https://deathisbadblog.com/support-detrans-awareness-day-if-you-support-your-trans-friends/) - This is a follow-up to my previous post, where I expressed ambivalence about supporting Detrans Awareness Day. A friend challenged me on that, and after a fair bit of working things out, I've come to the conclusion that I support detrans awareness quite a bit, and that it's good to do so. Here's why. I
- [March 13th is Victory over COVID-19 Day!](https://deathisbadblog.com/march-13th-is-victory-over-covid-19-day/) - On March 13th 2020, then-president Trump declared a national emergency in response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The nation reacted rapidly. Many public businesses and gatherings were shut down. Those who could work from home did so, rather than come into the office. Those who could leave the cities often did. Schools shut
- [Detrans Awareness Day?](https://deathisbadblog.com/detrans-awareness-day/) - I just heard today is #DetransAwarenessDay. I'm not sure we really need ANOTHER frikkin Awareness Day. But two years ago I thought the one detrans person I knew was the only such person anywhere. So, in support of her, here's a link. I realize the day is almost over, but I just heard about it.
- [SF/F Review – The Memory Theater](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-memory-theater/) - The Memory Theater, by Karin Tidbeck Synopsis: A series of fairytale vingettes linked via a narrative thread Book Review: For what it is, this is a pretty good book. The fairytales are distinctive and imaginative, while being solidly in the traditional fae aesthetic. Each individual vignette is strongly focused visually and thematically on its particular scene.
- [Enemy of Modern Civilization - Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (Missouri)](https://deathisbadblog.com/enemy-of-modern-civilization-rep-mary-elizabeth-coleman-missouri/) - Mary Elizabeth Coleman of the Missouri House of Representatives has introduced a provision that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state. It is my belief that modern society is dependent on full reproductive freedom for women, and as such, Coleman is an enemy of
- [New Story - We Shall Not All Sleep, But We Shall All Be Changed](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-story-we-shall-not-all-sleep-but-we-shall-all-be-changed/) - I have a new story out! It appears in Dark Matter Magazine, issue 008. I'm quite impressed with Dark Matter - not only are they a new publication paying pro-rates from the start, but they comission original art for every single story they publish! The banner art for my story is above. :) This story
- [I Am A New Atheist, And I Repent](https://deathisbadblog.com/i-am-a-new-atheist-and-i-repent/) - I am a New Atheist. In the late 90s and early 00s I fought in the BBS, in the online forums, and in the mailing lists. I IRC'd and engaged on the burgeoning web, and IRL. I listened to The Infidel Guy and The Non-Prophets, and I went to see Dawkins in person. One of
- [Die Mad About It - Sam Briton edition](https://deathisbadblog.com/die-mad-about-it-sam-briton-edition/) - I've used the phrase "Die mad about it" before. At least one person commented that this seemed to go very much against my normal stance against violence & threats of violence. This surprised me at first, but turned out to be a misunderstanding. "Die mad about it" doesn't indicate any desire for a person's untimely
- [Capture of Tools, to Crush Your Enemies](https://deathisbadblog.com/capture-of-tools-to-crush-your-enemies/) - A single human is weak. Many humans together are strong. This shocking insight has been known by humans since before our species could speak. 1. Many of our most important advancements have been technologies that allowed humans to more effectively coordinate--to leverage greater collective effort on a shared goal. The very first such advancement (debatable
- [SF/F Review – Machinehood](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-machinehood/) - Machinehood, by SB Divya Synopsis: Religious fanatics assassinate a billionaire, gig-work is stressful, and then someone goes to space. Book Review: You know how sometimes grandpa starts out telling you a story which sounds like it's going to have a lot of promise, but it just kinda wanders and rambles and never gets to any point,
- [Censorship Is The Sworn Foe](https://deathisbadblog.com/censorship-is-the-sworn-foe/) - I believe that good ideas are strengthened through argumentation and inquiry, and bad ideas are crippled by them. Thus, in the long run, censorship harms good ideas and protects bad ideas. I believe truth is unconvered by exploration and transparency, and strengthend by the light. Falsity is defeated by exploration and transparency, and burned by
- [Capture of Tools - GoFundMe edition](https://deathisbadblog.com/support-the-government-if-you-want-medical-care-gofundme-edition/) - As most people now know, GoFundMe cancelled a fundraiser in support of peaceful protesters in Ottowa that had raised ~$10M. They did so at the request of the Canadian government, who called the protests an "occupation." Almost immediately it was pointed out by many (notably, Elon Musk among them) that GoFundMe advertised a fundraiser for
- [Luisa Is The Hero Men Need](https://deathisbadblog.com/luisa-is-the-hero-men-need/) - This is "Surface Pressure," Luisa's song in Encanto. I've seen a lot of takes that Luisa is problematic (or "bullshit") because she's a female character with typical male problems.* These mostly come from more traditionally-mind men. They complain that it's a role-subversion trope that doesn't make sense because 'it's about gender-noncomformity, and the charecter is
- [Mr K - Long Live The Monarch](https://deathisbadblog.com/mr-k-all-hail-the-monarch/) - This post is snippets of an informal conversation with Mr K, which I’m posting while on vacation. I don’t necessarily endorse any of these views, and may oppose some of them. I won’t be around to respond to comments for a couple weeks. The whole problem is people like Trump look, Trump is simply
- [Mr K - The Labour Problem](https://deathisbadblog.com/mr-k-the-labour-problem/) - This post is snippets of an informal conversation with Mr K, which I’m posting while on vacation. I don’t necessarily endorse any of these views, and may oppose some of them. I won’t be around to respond to comments for a couple weeks. the choice of whether or not to engage in the trade
- [Mr K - Our Secular Theocracy](https://deathisbadblog.com/mr-k-our-secular-theocracy/) - This post is snippets of an informal conversation with Mr K, which I’m posting while on vacation. I don’t necessarily endorse any of these views, and may oppose some of them. I won’t be around to respond to comments for a couple weeks. Puritanism was like the cutting edge of wokeism in its day one
- [Mr K - Our Informal Caste System](https://deathisbadblog.com/mr-k-our-informal-caste-system/) - This post is snippets of an informal conversation with Mr K, which I’m posting while on vacation. I don’t necessarily endorse any of these views, and may oppose some of them. I won’t be around to respond to comments for a couple weeks. I actually advocate a formalised caste system btw. We already have
- [Mr K - Did Gays Lose?](https://deathisbadblog.com/mr-k-did-gays-lose/) - This post is snippets of an informal conversation with Mr K, which I'm posting while on vacation. I don’t necessarily endorse any of these views, and may oppose some of them. I won’t be around to respond to comments for a couple weeks. The queer counterculture that manifested for example as the house ballroom
- [Quick Updates](https://deathisbadblog.com/quick-updates/) - A few quick updates: I missed our book club meeting in December (we only have one each in Nov & Dec, due to holidays). And I'm about to miss both the January meetings due to a Hawaiian vacation that manages to juuuuuust barely overlap both of them. This is why there's been no Book Club
- [New Story Published - I See Dead Kids](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-story-published-i-see-dead-kids/) - WOOOOOO!!!!!! I won third place in the Effective Altruism writing competition for my story "I See Dead Kids." The story is under 1000 words, so due to the size of the prize, I'll be getting the most I've ever been paid on a per-word basis!! Freakin stoked!! I see dead kids everywhere. I did it
- [Matrix Resurrections is mid-life crisis perfection](https://deathisbadblog.com/matrix-resurrections-is-mid-life-crisis-perfection/) - For an action movie, Matrix Resurrections is OK. For a movie about making a Matrix movie in 2021, and thus a deeper reflection on reaching the mid-point of one's life, it is complete perfection. First part of this post is about the action movie, and is spoiler-safe. Second part is about the deeper meaninglessness of
- [Totalitarianism Invites Absuridity, Absurdity Strengthens The Zealot](https://deathisbadblog.com/totalitarianism-invites-absuridity-absurdity-strengthens-the-zealot/) - One of most bizarre things about Wokeism (to me) was how absurd it got, and how quickly. My first personal experience of this goes back to the pre-Trump era. I am socially liberal, and back then I was also into Social Justice. An acquiantence stated it was racist for people who don't come from an
- [Shopping Cart Theory of Aging](https://deathisbadblog.com/shopping-cart-theory-of-aging/) - Just in case you aren't sure about whether or not I'm An Old, we have the Shoping Cart Theory Test. Do you remember a time before The Shopping Cart Theory? True story -- I did not know this before 2-3 years ago. There weren't any cart corrals when I was a kid. Either you took
- [Anne Rice 1941-2021](https://deathisbadblog.com/anne-rice-1941-2021/) - I feel weird about death acknowledgements. It seems shitty to me that we often forget about great people who've done a lot for humanity (or just our society/in-group) up until they die, and then suddenly there's an outpouring of remembrance and good feels. A far better time for that sort of thing would've been one
- [Missing The Point](https://deathisbadblog.com/missing-the-point/) - Any answer to the original question that goes much beyond "because that's the aesthetic" is really doing it wrong. I mean, one could talk about WHY that's the aesthetic of cyberpunk. Why everything is sexy, super-focused on style and appearance, and what that says about how cyberpunk views a future that's been shaped by relentless
- [Xmas Time!](https://deathisbadblog.com/xmas-time/) - Xmas time is a great time. :) Here's pics! I was hesitant to put the Halloween piece on the tree, but my SO pointed out "Look, are we goths or not?" and up it goes. An awesome decision! Christmas Carols are wonderful, except for all the Jesus-fellating they do. Want great carols that are Lovecraftian
- [Becoming One With the Universe is the Loneliest Experience](https://deathisbadblog.com/becoming-one-with-the-universe-is-the-loneliest-experience/) - I've mentioned a few times on my podcast (and maybe here in the blog too?) that LSD is really neat, and provides some extremely interesting experiences. However, in the interests of informed consent, I think it's pretty important for people to be aware of potential downsides as well. If one hears nothing but the good
- [SF/F Review - Hard Luck Hank: Screw The Galaxy](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-hard-luck-hank-screw-the-galaxy/) - Hard Luck Hank: Screw The Galaxy, by Steven Campbell Synopsis: A nearly-invincible mutant must save his space station (a hive of scum and villainy) from destruction by aliens. Book Review: This novel is excellent at what it does. What it does is provide a PG-13 comedy-action-adventure story. The skill with which it executes is remarkable. The
- [Existential Dysphoria](https://deathisbadblog.com/existential-dysphoria/) - In discussion with a close friend of mine, she mentioned that she thinks of herself as non-binary. She is cis, sexual, beautiful, and obviously female. I was curious what she meant by non-binary.* I. I may have missed some aspects of it, but the primary thrust was such: She never fit in with other girls/women.
- [SF/F Review – The Once and Future Witches](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-once-and-future-witches/) - The Once and Future Witches, by Alix E. Harrow Synopsis: A revenge fantasy wherein three sisters in the early 1900s fight for women's sufferage while resolving personal issues, and bringing back magic. Book Review: This book is pretty much the definition of Light Reading. It flows well, it moves quickly, and it's not difficult to read.
- [The Crow cosplay -- Eric Draven](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-crow-cosplay-eric-draven/) - I got some good feedback when I went out this Halloween, so here's a few pics of me. Yay!
- [SF/F Review – Dune](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-dune/) - Dune, by Frank Herbert Synopsis: It's Dune. If you're at this blog, you already know the gist. Book Review: Seems kinda silly to review Dune in the Year of Our Lord 2021, but my book club re-read it in preparation of the theatrical release, so here we go! Dune is literally split into three books, internally.
- [Sir Mix-A-Lot did more for womens' self-image than any campaign](https://deathisbadblog.com/sir-mix-a-lot-did-more-for-womens-self-image-than-any-campaign/) - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that people care about what others actually think of them, rather than just what they say. First, yes, body-positivity is a good thing. It sucks to hate the meatsuit you're stuck in. It's good to know our friends and family love us for ourselves, and our
- [Americans Are Finally Realizing They Are Rich And Don't Need To Work (Much)](https://deathisbadblog.com/americans-are-finally-realizing-they-are-rich-and-dont-need-to-work-much/) - The economy is going through massive convulsions right now, as employers say they can't find enough employees. Supply chains are disrupted and goods aren't being delivered as the world runs out of dock works and truck drivers. Wait times for common goods and services are climbing quickly as not enough providers can be found. Wages
- [SF/F Review – Day Zero](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-day-zero/) - Day Zero, by C. Robert Cargill Synopsis: Humans create a robot slave-race that acts exactly like humans. There is an uprising. Book Review: Day Zero is basically two books smooshed together into one. The first book is the events leading up the Day Zero. It is incredibly stupid, and incredibly boring. Some idiot humans decided to
- ["No Big Deal" Disease Burden](https://deathisbadblog.com/no-big-deal-disease-burden/) - In Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Harry is confused as to why Lucius would want to harm an innocent girl (Hermione). He's told that Lucius knows that Dumbledore will expend resources to protect Hermione. Since they are enemies in frequent direct conflict, every bit of effort Dumbledore is forced to expend on anything
- [Civilization Disease Burden and Off-Planet Colonies](https://deathisbadblog.com/civilization-disease-burden-and-off-planet-colonies/) - Disease Burden is a conceptulization of how much value is destroyed by ill health. It's a topic that's been on my mind more ever since I lost ~1/3rd of my life. Much of our progress as a species has been attributed to the increased productivity we achieved by unlocking new energy sources, and creating new
- [Memory Holes are signs of Epistemically Hostile Enviroments](https://deathisbadblog.com/memory-holes-are-signs-of-epistemically-hostile-enviroments/) - I. The Tiananmen Square Massacre is famous in the western world. To the average, non-politically-active Chinese citizen, it's virtually unknown. It's not just that it isn't taught and people who try to inform others of it are arrested. It's also technically difficult to discover any information about it. There is nothing to find in any
- [SF/F Review – The Starless Sea](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-starless-sea/) - The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern Synopsis: A college student find a portal to a magical, massive underground library, and finds his life is one of it's stories. Book Review: The most notable thing about this novel, and what you're hit with as soon as you open the book, is the strength and scope of the
- [Machine, by Elizabeth Bear -- Full Spoilers Post](https://deathisbadblog.com/machine-by-elizabeth-bear-full-spoilers-post/) - This post has full spoilers for the novel, as I examine what we are shown of the Synarche society from Jens' POV, and why I think it's being portrayed as a.... if not seriously F'ed up, at least much more sinister society than Jens believes. Lots of spoilers! I. Secret Dystopia A -- Synarche
- [SF/F Review – Machine](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-machine/) - Machine, by Elizabeth Bear Synopsis: A doctor in an ambulance ship of a far-future secretly-dystopian society does great medicine, bad amatuer sleuthing, and has the seeds of dissent planted in her soul... Book Review: Boy, there's a lot to unpack here, which is why the synopsis is so scattered and unhelpful on its own. The novel
- [Not Young And Beautiful](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-young-and-beautiful/) - This is just a reaction post. I recently got to really listen to and think on Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful". The primary repeated refrain is "Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?" No one worth singing this song to would answer anything but "Yes." We all know this, and it's
- [SF/F Review – Mexican Gothic](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-mexican-gothic/) - Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Synopsis: A young debutant in 50s Mexico visits her creepy in-laws in an attempt to rescue her cousin from their possibly-haunted house. Book Review: This book positively drips with atmosphere. Moreno-Garcia does an amazing job of building a disquieting, gothic mood that permeates every sentence and page. I heard rumors that this
- [SF/F Review - LIGHTNING ROUND EDITION!](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-lightning-round-edition/) - OK, so I've fallen a bit behind in my SF/F Book Club book reviews. I'm going to catch up with all the ones that have been accumulating in one fell swoop, with just 2-3 paragraphs each. Here we go! Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse Synopsis: An evil god will be summoned in a few days to
- [“Sex Trafficking” is good, actually](https://deathisbadblog.com/sex-trafficking-is-good-actually/) - OnlyFans will no longer host pornography, because major credit cards will no longer do business with adult content providers. This is the handy-work of the anti-sex-work lobby, which is spearheaded by disgusting evangelical theocrats and the liberals who love them. Our elected representative support them, because this will supposedly protect people from being “sex-trafficked.” It’s
- [How To Hold Politicians Accountable - Stupidest Timeline Edition](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-to-hold-politicians-accountable-stupidest-timeline-edition/) - So Andrew Cuomo has been forced out of office. One might think this was because his Department of Health issued a directive to nursing homes instructing them to accept coronavirus-positive residents returning from hospitals in late March of 2020, and despite many alarms being raised and people begging for this to be reversed, Cuomo held
- [SF/F Review – 2021 Hugo Nominated Shorts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-2021-hugo-nominated-shorts/) - Spoilers for all stories below. I’d encourage people to read all of them, they’re short, but if you’d like to know which ones I think are the best so you can read just those before getting spoilers, they are: “I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter”, Isabel Fall; “A Guide for Working Breeds”, Vina Jie-Min
- [The Book Was Better: "Pop Squad" version](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-book-was-better-pop-squad-version/) - Yeah, we all know the written work is almost always better than the adaptation. But today, I'm hear to say why this is the case for the Love, Death, And Robots called "PopSquad" Paolo Bacigalupi wrote the original short story, it was first published in 2006, and can also be found in his anthology "Pump
- [Life On Hold](https://deathisbadblog.com/life-on-hold/) - I have a very soft spot in my heart for stories of people being forced to live lives that don't matter. The classic case of this being Groundhog Day, and similar stories such as The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Much of my life has been spent trying to matter. I think the majority
- [New Religious Institution Watch](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-religious-institution-watch/) - This link is the first one at this month's ACX link post. Making Prophecy Great Again Due to a flood of failed prophesy about Trump's re-election and COVID, some big names in Pentecostalism are proposing prophesy reform, and in particular "WE BELIEVE it is essential that all spiritual leaders, including prophetic leaders, have a presbytery
- [SF/F Review – Piranesi](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-piranesi/) - Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke Synopsis: The universe is an infinite building full of marble statues, containing only two living people. A mysterious third person may be arriving soon... Book Review: Yeah, that's a crap synopsis, but I really have no idea how to give a synopsis of this book. I almost didn't bother reading it, because
- [Not a Book Club Review – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-a-book-club-review-jonathan-strange-mr-norrell/) - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke Synopsis: Two landed British gentlemen of the Napoleonic era flounce about being prissy, ineffectual twits. Also there are fairies. Lately I’ve finally been picking up books that I’ve heard great things about for a long time, to great success! To continue this trend, I moved on to "Jonathan
- [Burn The Heroes](https://deathisbadblog.com/burn-the-heroes/) - COVID helped me to lose what trust I had remaining in government institutions. However, my faith in humanity actually grew on net, because of the outstanding success of private individuals and institutions. US Pharma created the COVID vaccine in just two days back in January of 2020! Production takes several months, but by the time
- [2021 Hugo Nominated Novelettes and Short Stories](https://deathisbadblog.com/2021-hugo-nominated-novelettes-and-short-stories/) - And Lo, the time has once more descended upon us. We shall contemplate these stories and their meanings, and then share our contemplations with the wizened members of the Book Club. Best Novelette “Burn, or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super”, A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020) “I Sexually Identify As An
- [SF/F Review – Rosewater](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-rosewater/) - Rosewater, by Tade Thompson Synopsis: After an alien outpost appears in near-future Kenya, some humans develop psychic powers. Kaaro is one such human, a thief until the Kenyan government forcibly recruits him into their intelligence agency. Book Review: A very interesting read. We start with some really cool speculative elements right at the start, and we
- [Disbelief Oppression Olympics](https://deathisbadblog.com/disbelief-oppression-olympics/) - Fuckin' White People and their... [shuffles deck, draws card] ...thinking that God not existing is a good reason to not believe in It. A friend of mine shared this, and I let her know it was disgusting and othering. My exreligion uses harsh social control and isolation to force dependency. I left my religion because
- [SF/F Review - The Sudden Appearance of Hope](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-sudden-appearance-of-hope/) - The Sudden Appearance of Hope, by Claire North Synopsis: A woman that no one can remember once they stop paying attention to her discovers a conspiracy to control the minds of society's more influential people. Book Review: We picked this book based on the strength of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, also written by
- [Link & Meme Archive 2/1/21 – 4/1/21](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-2-1-21-4-1-21/) - This thread about falling in love with the spouse you're in a marriage-of-convience with and trying to figure out how to come out to them is the most wonderful thing I saw in March. I'm sorry you have to have an FB account to see it, I couldn't find any other format that preserved this
- [The Evil Genius of Amazon Pushing $15 Min Wage](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-evil-genius-of-amazon-pushing-15-min-wage/) - A lot of regulations in the labor market nowadays are pushed by established giant companies that are trying to restrict competition. By making it very expensive for new business to start and compete with them, they can charge much higher prices. It's like a government-imposed Monopoly Lite. It's why things like Hair Braiding Licences exist.
- [Two New Things From Me](https://deathisbadblog.com/two-new-things-from-me/) - A quick note about two new things I'm doing, for the few people who follow the blog that may not follow me other places. 1. My novel, "What Lies Dreaming," is now available as an audio book! Most of the audio for this was recorded by fans of my podcast, for which I am immensely
- [Creeping Death](https://deathisbadblog.com/creeping-death/) - I'm getting older. Specifically, I feel like I entered a different type of life after my back injury. Things are different now, harder in general. Physically, I've recovered quite a bit, significantly more than when the prior post was written. Yet I'm not who I was before. Maybe it's the toll of over a year
- [SF/F Review – The Iron Dragon's Mother](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-iron-dragons-mother/) - The Iron Dragon's Mother, by Michael Swanwick Synopsis: Framed for treason, the pilot of a military dragon must dodge the law while trying to clear her name. Book Review: That synopsis is really, really inaccurate, but it's the best I could do with a single line. There's two reasons for this. The first is that it
- [We Have to Talk About “The City We Became”](https://deathisbadblog.com/we-have-to-talk-about-the-city-we-became/) - The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin Synopsis: Five people become embodiments of the five boroughs of New York, as the city struggles to awaken and become sentient, while being opposed by an interdimensional evil. Book Review: Look, you don’t need me to tell you this is a well-written book. It’s N.K. freakin’ Jemisin, one
- [Amazing Man 2 - audio](https://deathisbadblog.com/amazing-man-2-audio/) - Back in 2016 I had a heckuva Chuck Tingle kick. In admiration of his style, I tried my hand at writing my own Tingler -- Amazing Man 2: Love Conquors All. It was great fun to write, I tossed it up online, and I thought that would be the end of it. In the intervening
- [SF/F Review - Antediluvian](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-antediluvian/) - Antediluvian, by Wil McCarthy Synopsis: A series of four novelettes in stone-age settings exploring technological advancement. Book Review: This is a hard novel to summarize. It would be called "historical fiction" perhaps, except that it happens in literal pre-historic times, so that technically doesn't apply. :) Also, historical fiction usually focuses a fair bit on the
- [The New York Times - literally worse than internet shitlords?](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-new-york-times-literally-worse-than-internet-shitlords/) - There've already been a dozen+ well-written and thought-out pieces about the complete moral deprativity of the NYT's Scott Alexander piece, and I can't add anything of value to those. However I can pass on an observation of just how low the NYT has sunk. Scott Alexander has haters that congregate online. Some of them hate
- ["We're Nuanced, You're a Monolithic Block"](https://deathisbadblog.com/were-nuanced-youre-a-monolithic-block/) - Yesterday I objected to the lies being spread about Gina Carano. I hate lies in general, but I especially hate them when they're used to tear down people in a guilt-by-association purge. The problem with Gina Carano isn't that she's racist or antitrans, as those are proven lies. They problem is that she's Red Tribe.
- [Gina Carano proves you can't be Red in a Blue company](https://deathisbadblog.com/gina-carano-proves-you-cant-be-red-in-a-blue-company/) - Gina Carano has been disavowed by Disney, and fired by her agent. On the surface level, this really bums me out, because she's the only actor filling a niche I love. She is one of the very few believable female action heroes. ScarJo is great, but you have to suspend a bit of disbelief in
- [WandaVision & Utopias](https://deathisbadblog.com/wandavision-utopias/) - This post has WandaVision spoilers through Episode 4. So don't read it if you aren't that far and don't want spoilers. Also, it's a damned fun show, you should watch it. It has lighthearted humor mixed with creepy horror and that's *totally* my jam. . . . I. In Rationalist circles there's a bit of
- [Link & Meme Archive 1/31/20 - 1/31/21??](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-1-31-20-1-31-21/) - OMG I have a year to catch up on?? What have I done to myself? Brutal: from last SSC - quoting a critic speaking derisively of EA/rats > Until recently, much of the analysis and funding emerging from the [Effective Altruism] community has pointed towards a focus on extremely unlikely but potentially catastrophic risks, such
- [Supporting Those Who Hate You](https://deathisbadblog.com/supporting-those-who-hate-you/) - Say you lived in a small community centered around a church that provided most social services. Gross, I know, but you can't help where you're raised. If you became very successful and covered half the annual costs of the church, well, that's good for everyone I guess. But if the church villifies you and people
- [Karen Hao is a dumb-dumb](https://deathisbadblog.com/karen-hao-is-a-dumb-dumb/) - Does it count as interacting with Twitter if I still refuse to use Twitter, but I reply to it on a blog? Dammit, maybe I'm doing this wrong. Karen Hao is the senior artificial intelligence reporter at MIT Technology Review. If you feel trepidation at seeing the word "reporter" used in proximity to "tech," congrats,
- [Two More Stories Published](https://deathisbadblog.com/two-more-stories-published/) - During the past year I didn't completely give up on getting published, continuing to send out stories and even writing another one. As a result, I had two stories published in the later half of 2020! For those interested, here they are: "Give Me My Wings" is published in Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses. It's a
- [How We Got Here (Cyberpunk 2020)](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-we-got-here-cyberpunk-2020/) - Most people know that Cyberpunk 2077 is based on the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG. I still have my old copy, and I decided to take a look to compare how the last 30 years actually went vs how they would have to go to get us to the neon & chrome cyberpunk future. To the left
- [SF/F Review – The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-first-fifteen-lives-of-harry-august/) - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North Synopsis: Groundhog Day, but the time loop duration is Harry's entire life, and he has to stop the world from ending hundreds of years in the future. Book Review: When I say "the time loop duration is Harry's entire life," I just mean that's the portion
- [Is this thing still on?](https://deathisbadblog.com/is-this-thing-still-on/) - It's been a bit of a year. Not just politics-wise and corona-wise (though those have been huge), but personal-health-wise as well. But a couple weeks ago Google mailed me to say that I'm still getting 1k visitors a month to this site, and I'm like "wtf? Really? I haven't updated it in months, who are
- [Meta-MoR alternate download spot](https://deathisbadblog.com/meta-mor-alternate-download-spot/) - Due to popular demand, here's another place you can download Meta-MoR. Originally was up at Patreon. The analysis podcast of the We Want MOR analysis podcast! Masterminded by April, bandwagon-ed by Eneasz. Is this a joke? Only one way to find out! (full spoilers for all of HPMoR) Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode
- [SF/F Review – Blood of Elves](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-blood-of-elves/) - Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski Synopsis: A series of vignettes mostly centered on a magical girl, used to build a fantasy world setting. Book Review: The most important thing about this book is that it is not a novel. It is a series of short stories that have some characters in common, but no central
- [Kamala Harris is a coward who attacks the vulnerable for popularity](https://deathisbadblog.com/kamala-harris-is-a-coward-who-attacks-the-vulnerable-for-popularity/) - I. You can tell a person's character by how they treat vulnerable people. Throughout history there have always been victim populations. People who are targetted for abuse specifically because they are vulnerable and unpopular. A small subpopulation that doesn't have the ability to defend itself, that is denigrated by the rest of society as unclean
- [So Long To The Second Floor](https://deathisbadblog.com/so-long-to-the-second-floor/) - Chicago 2012 In my recent review of A Memory Called Empire I posted "there is nothing exceptional about this. It’s…. fine. It’s fine. But it’s not good. It’s certainly not genre-defining or among the best things published that year. It’s just a space opera story being stretched out to meet publisher demands for a series. That
- [SF/F Review - A Memory Called Empire](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-a-memory-called-empire/) - A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine Synopsis: A diplomat from a space station makes friends with high-level officials of a space empire. Book Review: The book starts with a really interesting situation. The diplomat has the memories and personality of the previous diplomat uploaded into her head, and the two of them have to integrate into
- [SF/F Review - The Light Brigade](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-light-brigade/) - The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley Synopsis: A fascist footsoldier becomes unstuck in time, realizes war is hell, and turns against the system that created her. Book Review: First, an apology. I moved this month, and that process has drained away a lot of my time. I read this book well over a month ago, and this
- [SF/F Review - 2020 Hugo Nominated Shorts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-2020-hugo-nominated-shorts/) - By long tradition, we read the Hugo nominated shorts in our book club. Spoilers for all stories below. I'd encourage people to read all of them, they're short, but if you'd like to know which ones I think are the best so you can read just those before getting spoilers, they are: “For He Can
- [Emergency Skin is Satire, plus Poe's Law](https://deathisbadblog.com/emergency-skin-is-satire-plus-poes-law/) - Sorry for the long delay, I guess sometimes "tomorrow" means "in over a week"! I. Anyhow, yes, Emergency Skin is meant to be funny. I don't think this should be controversial. I mean, there's a dick joke in the first paragraph. Not only does the poor protag obviously not know what is desirable in a
- [Profiles in Cowardice: HBO](https://deathisbadblog.com/profiles-in-cowardice-hbo/) - I was recently brought to my attention by my cohost at The Mind Killer podcast that HBO is run by simpering cowards. They will not make available the five South Park episodes that have Muhammad in them. Two of these episodes, Cartoon Wars part 1 and part 2, are still available to the South Park
- [New York Times Must Change Their Pro-Doxxing Policy](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-york-times-must-change-their-pro-doxxing-policy/) - The following is an email I wrote to New York Times technology editor Pui-Wing Tam, whose email is pui-wing.tam@nytimes.com. Inspired by Wesley Fenza. Dear Ms. Tam: Yesterday I learned that one of your reporters is planning an article about Scott Alexander and his blog Slate Star Codex. In this article he plans to reveal personal information
- [Dying in Pieces, part 2](https://deathisbadblog.com/dying-in-pieces-part-2/) - I didn't expect to make another post with the same name so soon. Earlier today I learned my father is suffering cognitive decline. He builds houses and hires a lot of sub-contractors, and apparently now he will sometimes get confused, and order or approve work he didn't really want or need. He won't remember doing
- [The Real Transphobes Are The Ones We Made Along The Way](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-real-transphobes-are-the-ones-we-made-along-the-way/) - I. TERFs are shitbags I didn't really know what a TERF was or why anyone cared for a while. If some minority of women didn't think that some women were "real" women, how was that different from any other form of dumb gatekeeping? As usual, enlightenment came in the form of a blog post --
- [Forging Islands of Refuge in a Hostile World](https://deathisbadblog.com/forging-islands-of-refuge-in-a-hostile-world/) - I. In the Left 4 Dead video games, most levels are bookended by "Safe Rooms." You leave the Safe Room at the start of a level, and the goal is to survive the trek to the Safe Room at the end of the level. The thing about these Safe Rooms is that they really are
- [A Polka walks into a bar](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-polka-walks-into-a-bar/) - I'm a Polish immigrant. I've had certain experiences in my life that no native-born American will have because of this, and even a few that no non-Polish-immigrant will have. In addition, I'm eligible to join certain organizations in some major cities that accept only Polish immigrants as members. I also have some very woke friends,
- [SF/F Review – The City in the Middle of the Night](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-city-in-the-middle-of-the-night/) - The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders Synopsis: A messiah origin story. On a dying colony planet, humanity unknowingly persecutes the one person who could save them by reconciling humanity with the native alien population. Book Review: This is a story of extremes. The planet is tidally locked, so humanity has settled
- [The Grasping Hands of Dead Worlds](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-grasping-hands-of-dead-worlds/) - I. In 2007, M John Harrison, a genre author of some renown, posted an essay on what he saw as the scourge of worldbuilding in genre fiction. It was Harrison’s contention that genre creators were so enamored with “worldbuilding” that it was crowding out important things like character, plot structure, and what we now call
- [Star Trek: Picard isn't good](https://deathisbadblog.com/star-trek-picard-isnt-good/) - Normally I try not to call out things just for being bad, because that's a bad spiral to fall into. But I have a special place in my heart for TNG - I bought the full series for the express purpose of teaching morality to any offspring I may have (back when that was in
- [SF/F Review - Agency](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-agency/) - Agency, by William Gibson Synopsis: The world's first GAI throws a coming-out party for itself. Book Review: A couple months ago one of the panelists (don't recall which one) at the Reason Roundtable commented that "William Gibson is very good at describing surfaces." He meant this literally, and it's true, Gibson does indeed do great visual
- [A Podcast for new readers of The Culture series](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-podcast-for-new-readers-of-the-culture-series/) - I was remiss in sharing this when I reviewed Player of Games -- A friend of mine has a reaction-style podcast where he and a friend are reading through the entire Culture series together. He's read it before, the friend has not. For those familiar with We've Got Worm, it's that style of podcast. The
- [SF/F Review – The Player of Games](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-player-of-games/) - The Player of Games, by Iain M Banks Synopsis: The post-scarcity Culture recruits their best game player to destabilize an expanding civilization that selects its rulers via an incredibly complex board/card/tabletop-war game. Book Review: Banks is best known in the SF community for his creation of The Culture, an incredibly advanced post-scarcity civilization, and the series of
- [SF/F Review – Gideon the Ninth](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-gideon-the-ninth/) - Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir Synopsis: Necromancers trying to hold together a dying interstellar empire seek to unlock the dark knowledge of the first necromancers on a barren Earth. Book Review: You know how The Crow is the most goth movie ever filmed? Well the first 1/3rd of Gideon the Ninth is the most goth novel
- [SF/F Review - Redshirts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-redshirts/) - Redshirts, by John Scalzi Synopsis: A comedic Star Trek fanfic that goes meta, followed by three essays on existentialism. Brief Book Review: If you’ve ever been a fan of Star Trek you’ll like this book. The fanfic portion is hilarious. Scalzi excels at writing witty banter and snappy comebacks, and placing characters in believably ridonkulous situations.
- [Dying in Pieces](https://deathisbadblog.com/dying-in-pieces/) - Life is the ability to do things*. Much of my hatred of death is that it takes away ones ability to do anything and affect anything in the world. To my chagrin, that is not the only thing that takes away one's ability to do things. Last year I suffered a back injury. I'm slowly
- [Post Scarcity Decor](https://deathisbadblog.com/post-scarcity-decor/) - It's been interesting seeing local beautification in the Age of Corona. Around my neighborhood I'm finding painted rocks set in strategic places. Other rocks with inspirational messages on them. A fence with a christmas lights strung up on it in the shape of a giant heart. Basically, the whole neighborhood looks to be slowly transforming
- [2020 Hugo Nominated Short Works](https://deathisbadblog.com/2020-hugo-nominated-short-works/) - The Hugo Nominees are out. As always, I link all the short works that are available free online on my blog, for easy reference for my book club. If you have a book club, taking one meeting to read all these and discuss them is a great use of a meeting! Best Novelette “The Archronology of Love”,
- [On Being Needed](https://deathisbadblog.com/on-being-needed-2/) - This is about Banks's The Culture series, but doesn't really contain spoilers. Within The Culture it is established that biological humans are nigh-immortal, but that nearly all humans eventually choose suicide after several centuries of life. When I first heard this I thought it was just typical Deathist BS. The same "Ho ho, living forever
- [SF/F Review – Machines Like Me](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-machines-like-me/) - Machines Like Me, by Ian McEwan Synopsis: A privileged, insufferable idiot has a bad relationship with this girlfriend and whines a lot. Book Review: This is straight-up LitFic. Some ponce literary author wanted to write "SF" without having ever bothered to read any, and you get crap like this. The protagonist comes into possession of one of
- [SF/F Review – The Devourers](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-devourers/) - The Devourers, by Indra Das Synopsis: A trio of vampire-ish/werewolf-ish shapeshifters travels to turn-of-the-century India. One commits a crime that sickens even these monsters, causing the trio to turn on each other, with much collateral mayhem. Book Review: That synopsis really doesn't do this novel justice, and I think the synopsis is pretty exciting as it
- [Emergency Prices](https://deathisbadblog.com/emergency-prices/) - I hear a lot about "that asshole that bought up all the hand sanitizer and has a garage-full that he can't sell now." And how he (and others like him) deserve punishment. This seems wrong to me. The real villain is the retailers that didn't increase their prices as soon as it was apparent there
- [SF/F Review - Children of Blood and Bone](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-children-of-blood-and-bone/) - Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi Synopsis: A paint-by-numbers 2nd world fantasy with medieval Africa flavor rather than medieval Europe flavor. Book Review: Anyone who was a kid in the 80s will recognize this novel. It's a basic 2nd world fantasy that fits right in with the pulp fantasy of that era. If you're
- [A Legitimate Strategy](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-legitimate-strategy/) - This was a thing I saw in WoW about 6 months ago. It made me lol then, but apparently this player has been training for the current outbreak their entire lives.
- [SF/F Review - Empress of Forever](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-empress-of-forever/) - Empress of Forever, by Max Gladstone Synopsis: Kinda a lesbian Inuyasha in space, and the galaxy is post-apocalyptic. Book Review: With a synopsis like that, one would expect this to be an amazing ride. :) It is, however, just OK. The characters are easy to relate to, and everyone will have one favorite one. They are
- [The Harley Quinn movie is great!](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-harley-quinn-movie-is-great/) - If you are like me, and you love the Harley Quinn character, I strongly recommend going to see Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. I, personally, LOVED it. It was exactly what I had hoped for - a cartoonish slapstick comedy with ultraviolence throughout. :D Very reminiscent of the Tank
- [Link & Meme Archive 10/9/19 - 1/31/20](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-10-9-19-1-31-20/) - Do Cops Lie? (click image for link) "the replacement of algorithms with a powerful technology in the form of the human brain is not without risks. Before humans become the standard way in which we make decisions, we need to consider the risks and ensure implementation of human decision-making systems does not cause widespread harm."
- [SF/F Review - Ra](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-ra/) - Ra, by Sam Hughes Synopsis: When magic is discovered in the 70s, it quickly becomes a branch of applied engineering. After losing her mother under magical (and mysterious) circumstances, a young student takes up Magic R&D to try to undo that loss. Book Review: There's so much to like here, it's hard to decide were
- [We Made A World Without Gender (or: The 90s as The Village)](https://deathisbadblog.com/we-made-a-world-without-gender-or-the-90s-as-the-village/) - Spoilers for The Village. The Village is a Shyamalan movie about a group of people that leave modern society to raise their children in an American Colonial time-period replica, so that their children will never be exposed to violence and alienation of modern life. In a recent Discord conversation, it was speculated that maybe the
- [SF/F Review - The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-rise-and-fall-of-d-o-d-o/) - The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O, by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland Synopsis: A poorly-run government agency with a time machine attempts to alter history, and hijinks ensue. Book Review: This will be a short review, because there isn’t terribly much to say. This is a well written, fun romp through time. It’s almost like a
- [The Witcher, Episode 1: A Festivus Airing of Greivances](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-witcher-episode-1-a-festivus-airing-of-greivances/) - I saw the first episode of The Witcher on Festivus, and boy did that unintentionally fit the holiday theme. tldr is that the writers are just phoning this in, and hoping the strength of the fight choreography will keep people watching. Full Spoilers below. The problems start right out the gate, where we see
- [SF/F Review – Aftershocks](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-aftershocks/) - Aftershocks, by Marko Kloos Synopsis: Years after an interplanetary war has ended, insurgents from the losing side are starting to show up. Book Review: I’ve written before about my dislike of the Series Trend. ie: everything is a series now, rather than a single book, because that’s the only way most writers can make a living. But
- [Why are you so bad?](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-are-you-so-bad/) - I had a saddening encounter this weekend. On a panel about civil verbal disagreement, an audience member asked what to do when people use terms that are viewed by one side in a debate as slurs (such as “climate-denier”) and was told that in such a case, rather than getting upset one should stay quiet
- [SF/F Review - The Freeze-Frame Revolution](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-freeze-frame-revolution/) - The Freeze-Frame Revolution, by Peter Watts Synopsis: A group of engineers living in a total-surveillance spaceship decide they must overthrow its near-omniscient sovereign AI, and have to figure out how to do so while also only being awake a few days every several thousand years. Book Review: I continue to love everything Peter Watts writes. He
- [Link & Meme Archive 6/1/19 - 10/8/19](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-6-1-19-10-8-19/) - After sharing this link, I was informed that Stallman has had a history of maybe defending sexual relationships with minors. I didn't know about this. That is bad. I am less certain now that he shouldn't have lost all his positions. On the other hand, as the link points out, the worst allegations against Stallman
- [Guest Post by Wil McCarthy](https://deathisbadblog.com/guest-post-by-wil-mccarthy/) - A number of years ago I was in a friend's living room. We were setting up to play boardgames. I was up and looking at his bookshelf when I saw the book "Bloom." It wasn't by one of the super-famous authors you see everywhere and I had just read it a while ago myself, so
- [Binary addendum](https://deathisbadblog.com/binary-addendum/) - I've spoken at length with a few people about the non-binary gender stuff over the last few weeks, and I've made a few updates. First, and most significantly, is I find I resent non-binary people far less now that I'm honest about disliking (and not holding myself to) using neutral pronouns. Neat. Second, I withdraw
- [SF/F Review – Equal Rites](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-equal-rites/) - Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett Synopsis: When a young witch is given wizard powers, she and her grandmother must find a way to get the all-male wizard university to acknowledge and accept her. Book Review: This is one of Pratchett’s early works, and it’s interesting watching someone you know will become a grandmaster slowly coming into
- [SF/F Review – Children of Time](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-children-of-time/) - Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky Synopsis: The last remnants of humanity flee from a destroyed earth to colonize a previously-terraformed planet. Unfortunately the human AI set to guide and protect the sapient spider species living there ain’t having none of it. Book Review: This is a Big Idea book. It has a sweeping scope, and lots
- [World of Warcraft Classic - Ancestral Environment Work Simulator?](https://deathisbadblog.com/world-of-warcraft-classic-ancestral-environment-work-simulator/) - World of Warcraft Classic came out a week and a half ago, and man am I loving the hell out of it. It occurs to me that much of what makes WoW Classic “fun” is not something that is generally associated with the fun of video games. Most of the game play is fairly repetitive
- [SF/F Review - Lock-In](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-lock-in/) - Lock-In, by John Scalzi Synopsis: A near-future police procedural, with the SF twist that about 10% of the population have full-body paralysis and so interact with the world via robot bodies, or surrogate humans, that they operate remotely via neural interface. Book Review: John Scalzi is a top-rate writer. His characters feel real, his action is
- [Reducing the Spectrum to a Binary](https://deathisbadblog.com/reducing-the-spectrum-to-a-binary/) - As promised, here is why I think they/them pronouns are more harmful than useful. Up through the 2000s, we were making good progress on diversifying the sexes. Gender was coming to be understood as more of a spectrum. There were many ways to be a man. You could be a drag queen or a bro.
- [Versus Them](https://deathisbadblog.com/versus-them/) - In reply to those who were confused as to why I have a strong aversion to they/them pronouns - there are two answers. The primary driving reason is the emotional one, so I'll cover that first. 1. I don't particularly care about anyone's gender (unless they're a romantic or sexual partner, in which case it's
- [The Disappearing Thems](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-disappearing-thems/) - I find myself distressed by the casual fading of my They friends. I know a number of people who have jumped on the They train. I don’t care what anyone calls themselves, so at first I was all “OK, whatever, you do you.” But not long after that, several of these friends have made it
- [SF/F Review – The Calculating Stars](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-calculating-stars/) - The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal Synopsis: A meteor impact destroys most the east coast of the US in 1952, but no one notices because the real threat is global warming. Except no one notices that either, because the real threat is sexism and racism. Book Review: The first section of Calculating Stars is fantastic. The
- [We Need to Talk About the Hugos](https://deathisbadblog.com/we-need-to-talk-about-the-hugos/) - I hate to say this, because I fear I’m going to isolate people I like. But we have to have a talk about the Hugos. I. Trail of Lightning should never have been a finalist. It’s not just that it’s a basic wire-rack monster hunter pulp-fiction novel. In my personal opinion, yes, that should
- [SF/F Review – Trail of Lightning](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-trail-of-lightning/) - Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse Synopsis: A monster-hunter hunts down some monsters while grappling with PTSD and trying to get over an ex, which causes her to miss that true love is right under her nose. Book Review: This is a basic Urban Fantasy paranormal romance book. If you’re into that sort of thing, it could
- [The Anglosphere Has Always Had Three Genders](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-anglosphere-has-always-had-three-genders/) - Calamity Jane I’m using “gender” in the now-accepted usage meaning “societal roles,” as distinct from biological sex. I see almost everyone on both sides acting as if traditional American society has only two genders, and I don’t think this is right. It’s at least half-wrong, anyway. Because since its inception, American society has always had
- [SF/F Review - Hugo Nominated Shorts, 2019](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-hugo-nominated-shorts-2019/) - By ancient tradition, our book club reads the online-available Short Stories and Novelettes that have been nominated for the Hugo Award every year. Here’s my reviews. Best Short Story Category The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker A fantastic tale about our quest for knowledge, and the price we're willing to pay to understand. This is perhaps
- [It is here!](https://deathisbadblog.com/it-is-here/) - After many years, my novel is finally published. :) You can buy it in physical or ebook versions at Amazon, or ebook-only at any ebook seller.
- [WhiteWoke](https://deathisbadblog.com/whitewoke/) - I recently discovered that the term “woke” originated in the African-American community and referred to awareness of police violence against black people, as well as other forms of structural oppression. In retrospect, I should have guessed at its origin simply by the beauty and fitness of the word. It was such a good term that
- [SF/F Review – Revenant Gun](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-revenant-gun/) - Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee Synopsis: I only got 60 pages in, which wasn’t enough to discover the plot. It seems to follow the primary actors in a rebellion against a space empire. Book Review: This series has been a downward slope for me. I loved the first book, and was kinda meh on the second
- [SF/F Review – Space Opera](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-space-opera/) - Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente Synopsis: The human race must prove it is sapient to a galactic counsel or be destroyed. The proof is done via a Eurovision-style music competition. Unfortunately, the galactic community has terrible taste in music. Book Review: This is a book that would have received a drastically different review from me
- [The Tyranny of Biology](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-tyranny-of-biology/) - I'm coming out as a single-issue voter, and this is my coming-out post. Scott Alexander recently defended the use of disproportionate action to defend settled bright-line norms. I recommend reading the whole article, it's short and explains it very intuitively. The short version is that constant war is costly, and having a very strong taboo
- [Consciousness required for Culture?](https://deathisbadblog.com/consciousness-required-for-culture/) - A recent episode of Making Sense was basically an hour of two people being confused about consciousness. It was bad, and led quickly to "and therefore it's probable that fundamental particles are conscious," which... wow. However it did bring up one good point. Consciousness is biologically expensive. It's vanishingly unlikely to have been preserved under
- [Link & Meme Archive 12/06/18 - 5/31/19??](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-12-06-18-5-31-19/) - Holy crap, I guess I missed my last archive checkpoint, and now I've got almost 6 months to do? blaaaarg. Serj from System of a Down sings Rains of Castamere. I got goosebumps. Both interesting and touching (and fun!) How Aladdin Changed Animation (by Screwing Over Robin Williams) Your laws have to
- [What Lies Dreaming is now available for preorder](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-lies-dreaming-is-now-available-for-preorder/) - I've posted a few times before that one can read my novel serially online, as I'm publishing a chapter per week at What Lies Dreaming.com. If you'd rather have it all in one place, the ebook and physical book will be available July 2nd! Which means one can read to the end about 2.5 months
- [Final Episode of Game of Thrones was kinda good, in a way](https://deathisbadblog.com/final-episode-of-game-of-thrones-was-kinda-good-in-a-way/) - Please put down the tomatoes and hear me out for a sec. :) Season 8 was, I believe we all agree, even worse than anyone had anticipated (and I had anticipated something pretty bad). But if you can overlook everything that was built up before in the series and then shat on, the last episode
- [Not a Book Club Review – Spinning Silver](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-a-book-club-review-spinning-silver/) - Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik Synopsis: A G.R.R. Martin-esque exploration of power -- its sources and its uses, its gifts and its pitfalls -- told in the style of a fairytale. For real. Book Review: I've grown a bit tired of fairytale-retelling novels, mostly because there are so many of them, and they're never very inspired.
- [SF/F Review – Way Station](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-way-station/) - Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak Synopsis: An immortal loner operates a secret way-station on Earth for aliens using it as a stop in their galactic teleportation hops. Book Review: I would say this award-winning book has aged poorly, but it's hard to imagine it was ever good. The majority of the action is an old
- [The Colour Out of Space IRL](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-colour-out-of-space-irl/) - I had always thought Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space” was kinda cheesy, due to a lack of scientific knowledge. Like, while the concept of a new, gross color that no one has ever seen before and therefore can’t describe in words is nicely creepy in principle, it just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t
- [Seriously though, I like Yang](https://deathisbadblog.com/seriously-though-i-like-yang/) - I got a lot more comments than I expected for a mostly tongue-in-cheek 3-line post. So, to quickly clarify: I like Andrew Yang on a personal level. With his tech background and his liberal (but not leftist) views, he feels like the candidate that most represents my values. Furthermore, his identification as a goth in
- [Just gonna say it now - anyone who doesn't vote for Yang is a bad person](https://deathisbadblog.com/just-gonna-say-it-now-anyone-who-doesnt-vote-for-yang-is-a-bad-person/) - Yang 2020. You've been put on notice, 99% of American voters!
- [Crash Course in Creating a Podcast](https://deathisbadblog.com/crash-course-in-creating-a-podcast/) - For ease of future reference, I've posted my Crash Course in Creating a Podcast as a webpage here, and as a PDF here.
- [Mad Respect for Cersei](https://deathisbadblog.com/mad-respect-for-cersei/) - I gotta say, I love the character of Cersei. I adore characters that are completely destroyed by the world, and refuse to take it anymore. All her life Cersei has been a thing used by other people. She never mattered. She was marriage-material to be traded for alliances. She was a mare to be bred.
- [Hugo Nominated Shorts, 2019](https://deathisbadblog.com/hugo-nominated-shorts-2019/) - For the use of my book club, plus whoever else would like a linked list. These are the short stories and novelettes that are up for a Hugo, and also available free online. This year, that’s all but one. This is the first awards season since I predicted No Print Magazine Will Publish a Hugo-Winning Story
- [Why GoT Season 7 Sucked, and Season 8 Will Too](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-got-season-7-sucked-and-season-8-probably-will-too/) - I. I know I'm not the first person to say this, but Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series was, from the very beginning, almost a parody of the traditional High Fantasy Epic. Most of the main characters were the distilled essence of very well-worn tropes. Arya was the feisty tomboy. Sansa was the
- [Periodic self-promotion](https://deathisbadblog.com/periodic-self-promotion/) - Every now and then I post a reminder about my ongoing novel. In the most recent chapter: Despite a burgeoning famine and chaos in the streets, the emperor will not see his week of revelry and gladiator games interrupted. But he gets more than he expected when a demonic embodiment of Pride materializes in the Colosseum.
- [SF/F Review – The Monster Baru Cormorant](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-monster-baru-cormorant/) - The Monster Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson Synopsis: Having infiltrated their ruling elite, Baru begins working to destroy the nation that conquered her homeland. Book Review: I’ve been a fan of Seth Dickinson for many years, so I was expecting something pretty good from him. I read the prologue and I was not disappointed! Good stuff! Then
- [Typical Body Fallacy](https://deathisbadblog.com/typical-body-fallacy/) - In my previous post Guys, Take A Knee, I had several people express confusion as to what I was talking about. I turns out I’m taller than average, and most people cannot take the action I was recommending. I realize that, at nearly 6’3”, I am statistically taller than average. But aside from rare occasions
- [Race in Written Speculative Fiction](https://deathisbadblog.com/race-in-written-speculative-fiction/) - To be clear: I agree with this pic+caption and love everything about it. :) I'm speaking of not-this. In most *written* secondary-world Fantasy, and far-future Science Fiction, race doesn't much matter. Because those worlds aren't contemporary, and written word is a non-visual medium. First, a character's race certainly matters in stories set on our world (or a
- [SF/F Review – UBO](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-ubo/) - UBO, by Steve Resnic Tem Synopsis: A number of ordinary men are abducted and forced to relive the crimes of infamous psychopaths in recent history as part of a bizarre research project. Book Review: After I finished it, it took me several days of thinking about this book to decide how I felt about it. It is
- [Guys - Take A Knee](https://deathisbadblog.com/guys-take-a-knee/) - If you’re like me, then: 1. For the past 15+ years you’ve either lived alone or with a housemate whose level of dirtiness tolerance is much higher than your own, and thus you are the primary/sole cleaner of common spaces, and 2. You urinate via external genitalia. Sometimes when I use a public restroom I
- [Periodic Update](https://deathisbadblog.com/periodic-update/) - What Lies Dreaming just posted it’s 7th chapter this weekend. The story is picking up steam, and in the latest chapter we see a demonic embodiment of Lust summoned into the Colosseum. Cold steel vs sin incarnate – will the Roman mob be sufficiently entertained? WhatLiesDreaming.com
- [The Problem With Blind Judging](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-problem-with-blind-judging/) - The problem with blind judging for an award is that sometimes awards are given to people we don't like. The Parsec Awards announced their 2018 winners yesterday (edit: link removed, as the page has been taken down). I have been a two-time finalist myself, in 2015 and 2016. One of the things I really appreciate
- [SF/F Review – Unholy Land](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-unholy-land/) - Unholy Land, by Lavie Tidhar Synopsis: An Alternate Universe fic where the Jewish state is created in Uganda in 1903 (actual thing that came close to happening). Book Review: I didn’t like it, mainly for personal reasons. First, the writing style was unbearable. I know I lean purple in my taste. I like flowery, lyrical writing. I
- [Link & Meme Archive 9/29/18 – 12/05/18](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-9-29-18-12-05-18/) - Well I'll be damned. Major dark web drug suppliers have started to voluntarily ban the synthetic opioid fentanyl because it is too dangerous. Who did CNN get to be their E. Coli expert? The Food Babe. The lady who claims there's yoga mats in your bread. Yeah, of course everything she says is going to
- [Learn to Read, but don't update on fictional experience](https://deathisbadblog.com/learn-to-read-but-dont-update-on-fictional-experience/) - A few years back, Rainbow Rowell wrote a post titled “Learn to Read, Kid, But Don’t Fall In Love.” Sadly, it’s been taken down, but it can still be found in pdf format around the web, because it was important to many people. Myself included. It compared the love of reading to addiction. It pointed
- [The Final-Chapter Abject Failure of Circe](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-final-chapter-abject-failure-of-circe/) - This is the spoiler post for Circe, which talks about everything, but specifically the ending. If you don’t want spoilers, don’t continue. . . . . . As I said in my review, I viewed the gods within Circe as a metaphor for The Patriarchy. Circe explores just about every method a woman
- [SF/F Review – Circe](https://deathisbadblog.com/3875-2/) - Circe, by Madeline Miller Synopsis: Like Wicked, except for the witch who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs. Book Review: One of the best things I’ve read this year, right up until the final chapter, which face-plants so hard I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The novel starts out somewhat slow and a little clunky, IMO, so
- [SF/F Review – Pandora's Star](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-pandoras-star/) - Pandora’s Star, by Peter Hamilton Synopsis: When an enormous force field envelopes a nearby star, humanity send an exploration ship to investigate. Book Review: This was an interesting exercise for me, as I first read this book near its original publishing date, so 2004/2005. Rereading it now put into focus many of the ways my tastes have
- [Announcing “What Lies Dreaming”](https://deathisbadblog.com/announcing-what-lies-dreaming/) - tl;dr - I’m publishing a novel at www.WhatLiesDreaming.com. It’s Lovecraftian fantasy in 2nd century Rome, updating weekly on Sundays. Chapter 1 drops on 11/11/18. There are 44 chapters in total. I based it on a story I wrote a few years ago, but I would NOT recommend reading that story now, as it contains huge
- [Against "Networking"](https://deathisbadblog.com/against-networking/) - This is an older pic, 2013 I think I was just at MileHiCon over the weekend (Denver’s major local SF/F Lit con. 50 years this year!). Nowadays the majority of what I do there is meet up with friends/acquaintances that I basically only see once a year at these things and catch up on stuff.
- [Not a Book Club Review - Hyperion](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-a-book-club-review-hyperion/) - Hyperion, by Dan Simmons Synopsis: Seven pilgrims journey to a distant world, to visit a mysterious murder-alien who is rumored to grant wishes… or kill you. Another book I’d been hearing about for forever. Turns out that yeah, this is a damn masterpiece of science fiction. The novel has a primary storyline, concerning the pilgrimage.
- [Published Again! Swords v Cthulhu](https://deathisbadblog.com/published-again-swords-v-cthulhu/) - I have been published again, this time in an anthology! My story “Of All Possible Worlds” appears in the Swords v Cthulhu anthology which is available now. You can get it from Amazon, or the publishers website (which has it in electronic version as well as paperback), and likely many other book sellers. I am
- [Frat Bros (y/n)?](https://deathisbadblog.com/frat-bros-y-n/) - I’m going to ignore the question of whether Brett Kavanaugh actually did what he’s accused of. I’m more interested in the environment that shaped him. Brett, to all appearances, was a Frat Bro. He drank too much, and he thought doing so was awesome. He partied, and bragged about how much he partied, and exaggerated
- [Not A Book Club Review – Seven Surrenders and The Will To Battle, by Ada Palmer](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-a-book-club-review-seven-surrenders-and-the-will-to-battle-by-ada-palmer/) - Any synopsis would be spoilery. These are books 2 and 3 of Terra Ignota. If you liked Too Like The Lightning (book 1 of Terra Ignota), you will continue to like these. They’re really good. If you haven’t read any yet, see my post on Too Like The Lightning, or my interview with Ada Palmer.
- [Link & Meme Archive 7/28/18 - 9/28/18](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-7-28-18-9-28-18/) - I saw this driving in to work. I will say that it's really disheartening that the term "geoengineering" is already starting to get baggage! Petrov Day Shenanigans. To quote a friend: "Seattle, in the midst of confusion stemming from a technical malfunction, launched an unprovoked (pretend) nuclear strike against Oxford. This attack resulted in the
- [9/26 is Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/9-26-is-petrov-day/)
- [Not A Book Club Review – Walkaway](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-a-book-club-review-walkaway/) - The last few months I’ve had some time to read a few books outside of book club (*gasp!*), and I’ve decided I might as well post a few thoughts about them. They aren’t full book club reviews, but they’re something. Walkaway, by Cory Doctorow Synopsis: A society on the edge of breaking into both post-scarcity
- [SF/F Review - Downbelow Station](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-downbelow-station/) - Downbelow Station, by C.J. Cherryh Synopsis: A neutral outpost is drawn into a war between two vastly more powerful adversaries, threatening everything they believe and ultimately their existence. Book Review: For a book published in 1981, this is still a surprisingly relevant story! It starts with a refugee crisis, one infinitely more interesting and well-represented than whatever
- [Downbelow Station spoiler post](https://deathisbadblog.com/downbelow-station-spoiler-post/) - This post has spoilers that go right up to the last few chapters of Downbelow Station. So don’t read it if you don’t want spoilers! Big ones! .. .. .. Now that that’s out of the way, also a content warning – this post talks about rape. Although that itself
- [Burning Man 2018 Pics](https://deathisbadblog.com/burning-man-2018-pics/) - A few pics and comments and vids. StarBuds 4Ever Sorry Mario, your princess is in another castle. :/ Outside Baba Yaga's hut. This was the coolest thing, propped up on giant chicken legs. The inside was gorgeous! Very atmospheric, and it felt much bigger on the inside than it had any right to be. :)
- [SF/F Review – The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-strange-case-of-the-alchemists-daughter/) - The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, by Theodora Goss Synopsis: The daughters of Victorian-era SF heroes and villains band together to solve a mystery. Book Review: This novel hits you with its cool twist right in the epigraph - the story is being told by the protagonist, who is typing it out while her
- [No Print Magazine Will Publish a Hugo-Winning Story Again](https://deathisbadblog.com/no-print-magazine-will-publish-a-hugo-winning-story-again/) - At my last book club meeting, a member expressed surprise that nearly every Hugo short work nominee this year came from an online publication, rather than the traditional Big Three print magazines (Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF). I was surprised that they were surprised. I find it unlikely that a traditionally published magazine will ever publish
- [WorldCon76 - San Jose](https://deathisbadblog.com/worldcon76-san-jose/) - WORLD CON POST TIME! The annual geekening is over; here are my photos and thoughts. I’ve started to branch out a little, and see a local attraction in the cities I visit. O_O Madness, I know! At WFC it was the Alamo, and at WorldCon76 it was the Winchester Mystery House. Very cool place!! The
- [Writers of the Future viewed by a former cult member](https://deathisbadblog.com/writers-of-the-future-viewed-by-a-former-cult-member/) - Who? I was raised in a cult. I’ve experienced the joy of knowing that I am doing the most important work one can possibly do. I’ve had the overwhelming exuberance of sharing vital information with a friend that would save his life and that of his entire family. I've felt the delight of unconditional love
- [Introducing: "Shut Up And Do The Impossible" anthology](https://deathisbadblog.com/introducing-shut-up-and-do-the-impossible-anthology/) - After interviewing Alexander Wales and Daystar Eld for The Bayesian Conspiracy podcast, I put together a Rational Fiction Online Anthology. It consists of links to nine Rationalist short stories, with brief introductions explaining what aspects of Rat Fic I believe they demonstrate. The intros aren't really necessary, these are all really awesome short stories that
- [Old Man Shakes Fist At Cloud](https://deathisbadblog.com/old-man-shakes-fist-at-cloud/) - A less tech-savvy friend recently needed help uploading a file into a Slack channel. I posted the above pic with a line of explanation. And it occurred to me that a lot of software use, as well as website use, is searching the damned screen for icons that might, conceivably, be useful for what you
- [SF/F Review – Deepsix](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-deepsix/) - Deepsix, by Jack McDevitt Synopsis: A crew exploring alien ruins is marooned on a planet about to be destroyed by natural events, and must be rescued by quick seat-of-the-pants engineering both on their part and the support team in orbit. Book Review: Did you like Apollo 13? Would you like Apollo 13 if it had survival-adventure-archaeology (kinda
- [Link & Meme Archive 6/2/18 - 7/27/18](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-meme-archive-6-2-18-7-27-18/) - I’m gonna be in San Jose on Aug 15. Anyone reading this there who’d like to meet up for dinner or drinks or something? Woman gets 20 boyfriends to buy her iPhones, then sells them to buy a house. If you're bringing joy and comfort into the lives of 20 people, that's a
- [Your Friend Going Through A Break-Up](https://deathisbadblog.com/your-friend-going-through-a-break-up/) - The most annoying minor thing about the Social Justice movement now that it’s gone fully rabid is that I can never take my SJ friends at their word. You know that friend of yours that’s going through a break-up? How every day they tell you how awful their ex is, and all the horrible things
- [SF/F Review - The Raven Stratagem](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-raven-stratagem/) - The Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee Synopsis: A rouge general seizes a space fleet to defend the local populace and build support for a coup. Book Review: The book starts out great, dropping you right into the middle of the fleet being taken over and characters resisting their biological programming (or failing to!) while a madman plays
- [The Unbearable Darkness of Being Steve](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-unbearable-darkness-of-being-steve/) - This post is gonna sound kinda dumb to most people. I figure it’ll be a lot like finding out that a friend is scared of leprechauns. And you’re like “Really? Leprechauns??” But here we go. I find the short story “Steve Fever,” by Greg Egan, horrifying--and here’s why. (spoilers below, so go read it first
- [SF/F Review – Hugo Nominated Shorts, 2018](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-hugo-nominated-shorts-2018/) - By ancient tradition, our book club reads the online-available Short Stories and Novelettes that have been nominated for the Hugo Award every year. Here’s my reviews. Best Short Story Catagory “Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017) Well written, with a fantastical world-of-toys setting. I loved the creation of children from spare
- [SF/F Review - New York 2140](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-new-york-2140/) - New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson Synopsis: A tour of New York in the year 2140. Book Review: Kim Stanley Robinson is famous for his Mars trilogy, a Hard SF trilogy that explores how to realistically terraform Mars. He continues the ultra-realistic very-sciencey tradition with New York 2140. If you are into Hard SF, KSR is
- [SF/F Review – The Collapsing Empire](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-collapsing-empire/) - The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi Synopsis: As the FTL highways binding a galactic empire together begin to collapse, our heroes must find a way to make the disparate shards of habitable space fully self-reliant before the human race is wiped out, while fighting off usurpers who’d use this crisis to steal the crown. Book Review: This
- [Not All People You Hurt Are Your Enemies](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-all-people-you-hurt-are-your-enemies/) - Here’s a popular but shitty entry in the culture wars. It’s a defense of bigotry, dressed up as humor. First, let’s cover why some people like it. All the following was said by friends or friends-of-friends. I cannot take credit for the words, which is why they are well spoken. They are slightly snipped
- [Illusion of Consensus](https://deathisbadblog.com/illusion-of-consensus/) - I hope this isn’t TMI, but it’s relevant. I think people look sexier with clothes on. I mean, it depends on the clothes, of course. But in a good outfit, everyone looks hotter than they do naked. I would prefer to have sex with my partner clothed in most cases, if it wasn’t such a
- [Link Archive 4/2/18 - 6/1/18](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-4-2-18-6-1-18/) - Every time any update is pushed to anything, I just wait to see what it'll screw up next >< A tweet storm about the reintroduction of slavery in Louisiana. :( Unfortunately just the FB images, since I don't do twitter. Alonzo Fyfe's reply to the old canard that you can't derive an Ought from an
- [The Drift Away From Revolution](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-drift-away-from-revolution/) - This is a follow-up to my last post about Flee, My Pretty One. As might be apparent from some of my writings, I used to be far more leftist. As a younger man, I was ready for the revolution. In large part I think it’s just plain hormonal, I’m quite a bio-determinist when it comes
- [Flee, My Pretty One](https://deathisbadblog.com/flee-my-pretty-one/) - Saaaaaay… I normally do an Author’s Notes post when a story of mine gets published. Did I not do that for Flee, My Pretty One? It kinda looks like I didn’t, I don’t see one on here. Weird. So! This was originally written quite a while ago, for an open anthology call on the theme
- [SF/F Review - Provenance](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-provenance/) - Provenance, by Ann Leckie Synopsis: A noble’s daughter must navigate the treachery and bureaucracy of a byzantine political system to impress her mother and show up her brother Book Review: This book is almost the exact opposite of the previous book I reviewed (Six Wakes). It has a robustly thought-out world, rich imagery, a coherent story, and
- [The Two Types of Writing – Work and Fun](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-two-types-of-writing-work-and-fun/) - The more I write, and talk with other writers, the more I get the impression there’s two major styles of writing. And no, this isn’t the old Pantser vs Plotter thing. Like all arguments that break a large field into two distinct sides, it lacks nuance and isn’t fully reflective of the world. But it
- [Sealioning and reading comprehension failure](https://deathisbadblog.com/sealioning-and-reading-comprehension-failure/) - Lately I’ve been hearing about Sealioning again. I finally saw an actual stated definition, rather than just someone dropping an accusation to signal applause lights from their side. Sealioning: A subtle form of trolling involving “bad-faith” questions. You disingenuously frame your conversation as a sincere request to be enlightened, placing the burden of educating you
- [When role-play overtakes your life](https://deathisbadblog.com/when-role-play-overtakes-your-life/) - I had some conversations with the wonderful Erin over my week at WotF, about gender identity. It clarified some things for me about the meltdown of my previous relationship, which I hadn’t realized at the time. I don’t have an internalized gender identity. For most of my life I’ve just defaulted to male (poorly) and ignored the
- [SF/F Review – Six Wakes](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-six-wakes/) - Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty Synopsis: When the six-person crew of a generation ship wakes up from cloning tanks to find their previous selves’s murdered bodies floating before them and their memories wiped, they have to discover who among them is a killer before they’re Killed For Good. Book Review: This has one of the most attention-grabbing
- [Writers of the Future vol 34 – The Award Ceremony & The People](https://deathisbadblog.com/writers-of-the-future-vol-34-the-award-ceremony-the-people/) - Let’s start with the ceremony! This was a delight. It was fun to be treated special and given an award and just the belle of the ball for a day! Of course, it was apparently pretty quickly that this award ceremony wasn’t really for us. It was for the Scientologists. This was their party, for
- [SF/F Review – Exit West](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-exit-west/) - Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid Synopsis: A young couple falls in love in a war-torn Middle Eastern country, flees the country, and then falls out of love. Book Review: There are few things more annoying that someone who’s completely ignorant on a subject walking into a room of knowledgeable people and deciding s/he should show them the
- [Writers of the Future vol 34 – The Workshop](https://deathisbadblog.com/writers-of-the-future-vol-34-the-workshop/) - Yikes, where are the days going? I was supposed to write more about this earlier! The real heart of the Writers of the Future thing is the workshop. The trophy and award ceremony are nice, but it’s the workshop that makes this the amazing event it is. So I’m gonna dive into that for a
- [Hugo Nominated Shorts, 2018](https://deathisbadblog.com/hugo-nominated-shorts-2018/) - For the use of my book club, plus whoever else would like a linked list. These are the short stories and novelettes that are up for a Hugo, and also available free online. This year, that's all of them. Best Short Story “Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017) “Clearly Lettered in
- [Writers of the Future vol 34 - The Scientologists](https://deathisbadblog.com/writers-of-the-future-vol-34-the-scientologists/) - I recently won a Writers of the Future award for my story "Flee, My Pretty One." The award comes with publication in their anthology, a cash prize, a nice trophy at an award ceremony, and (most importantly by far) a week-long workshop with big names in the industry. But y'all want to hear about the
- [SF/F Review – Autonomous](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-autonomous/) - Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz Synopsis: An indentured military robot and his handler track a pharma-IP pirate across the globe when a reverse-engineered work-productivity drug starts killing people. Book Review: Yikes, what a shiny mess this is! The novel is so variable in quality and tone, spiking up and diving down in heady rushes, that it feels downright
- [Methods of Rationality - Crystal Society](https://deathisbadblog.com/methods-of-rationality-crystal-society/) - My rational fiction podcast is back, starting today! We kick off our production of Max Harms’ “Crystal Society” at the hpmorpodcast.com website. Production notes can be found there as well.
- [Link Archive 1/1/18 - 4/1/18](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-1-1-18-4-1-18/) - Augh, I've neglected this for too long. This is delightful! EXCERPTS FROM MY UPCOMING NOVEL, READY PLAYER TWO: GIRL STUFF. "I ran a proud hand over the side of my spaceship that was shaped like a Lisa Frank dolphin. I had won it in a bet with my friend Snapewife over how many Pirates of the Caribbeanmovies
- [The Worst Holiday](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-worst-holiday/) - I've noticed a few of my FB friends still participate in Liars Day. >:( I hate April Fool's Day. I'm fairly trusting and I take people at their face. I consider it a better way to live and structure society. Plus, I can't really help it, I feel like a damn puppy sometimes. Today is a
- [SF/F Review - The Stone Sky](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-stone-sky/) - The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin Synopsis: The conclusion of the 5th Season trilogy. Could be summed up as “A very long and in-depth version of Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” Book Review: Solid, with great thematic heft, but a disappointing plot. The thematic arc of this trilogy is fantastic. Novels (or series of novels) often
- [About "Stone Sky"'s climax](https://deathisbadblog.com/about-stone-skys-climax/) - This is in regards to "The Stone Sky", which I just reviewed. MAJOR spoilers below. . . ! Let’s say that the fate of the world depends on you being in a specific city, at a specific time, about one week from now. Transportation isn’t an issue, you can get there in about an hour.
- [Open letter to my congresspeople regarding H.R. 1865](https://deathisbadblog.com/open-letter-to-my-congresspeople-regarding-h-r-1865/) - You recently voted for H.R. 1865 "Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017." 1. This bill will make it more difficult to find and help victims of sex trafficking. Freedom Network USA (a national network of frontline organizations working to reduce trafficking) say that eroding Section 230 would compromise the very tools
- [SF/F Review – Roadside Picnic](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-roadside-picnic/) - Roadside Picnic, by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky Synopsis: A loner tries to make a living scavenging & smuggling alien artifacts from a restricted zone. Book Review: Well this was a neat read. First, the protagonist isn’t a typical, relatable protagonist. He’s abrasive and selfish, and I started out not liking him. But that’s OK, not every protagonist
- [Pounded in the Butt Podcast - :(](https://deathisbadblog.com/pounded-in-the-butt-podcast/) - soooo… I've listened to the first episode of Pounded In The Butt By My Own Podcast, and I'm really disappointed. The guy playing Chuck Tingle really plays up the "retarded voice" for laughs, and I'm not PC or anything, but man, it really struck me as distasteful. >< Then they read Tingle's breakout hit (Pounded
- [Don't walk up OR walk out. Break out.](https://deathisbadblog.com/dont-walk-up-or-walk-out-break-out/) - Students at Concord’s Mt. Diablo High break through gate in gun protest Lately I've seen friends on both sides of the "Walk Out/Walk Up" debate. The two sides are (roughly) 1. Instead of walking out to protest guns, kids should walk up to the weird, bullied kid and befriend him. 2. It's not any kids
- [SF/F Review – Nine Princes In Amber](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-nine-princes-in-amber/) - Nine Princes in Amber, by Roger Zelazny Synopsis: An amnesiac in the modern world slowly comes to discover he’s a demi-god of a fantasy world. Book Review: I guess that synopsis is a bit of a spoiler, but not much of one, because it’s basically the same thing that’s on the back-cover blurb of most editions, and
- [First piece of Rationalist Fiction up for a major award](https://deathisbadblog.com/first-piece-of-rationalist-fiction-up-for-a-major-award/) - "Utopia, LOL?", written by Jaime Wahls, is a finalist for this year's Nebula!! The first piece of explicit RatFic (I believe) to be up for a major award! While there are other things put up that we all point to as great Rationalist Fiction, I don't think those authors were aware of/writing as RatFic (esp since
- [The Hero We Need](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-hero-we-need/) - My first reaction to Black Panther below, so spoiler alert. . . . Erik Killmonger was *absolutely* the hero of that movie. He rose from nothing, infiltrated Galt's Gulch, defeated them at their own game by simply *being better* than them, and did it all in order to raise 2 billion people out of subjugation
- [Two Decades](https://deathisbadblog.com/two-decades/) - I graduated high school the year before the Columbine shooting. Columbine was a neighboring high school, only a few miles from mine. That day was a bad day for me. I kept thinking "that could have been me." In retrospect, I don't think it could have. I don't think I could've ever brought myself to
- [SF/F Review - John Dies At The End](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-john-dies-at-the-end/) - John Dies At The End, by David Wong Synopsis: Two small-town slackers trip into combating universe-devouring elder beings, with plenty of jaded humor along the way. Kinda a cross between Clerks and Buffy. Book Review: An odd duck, in that this was originally a web-serial rather than a novel, much like Wool and The Martian. As such,
- [Porn Star Appreciation Day 2018](https://deathisbadblog.com/porn-star-appreciation-day-2018/) - In appreciation of all the joy that porn stars bring into our lives, and in recognition of the fact that they get shit on by society a lot and they shouldn't, Today, the day before Mardi Gras, I am saying thanks to all porn workers. And in celebration, I'll be taking the unorthodox step of
- [I'm Pro-Equality, and I'm Not Your Ally](https://deathisbadblog.com/im-pro-equality-and-im-not-your-ally/) - From GinnyDi: “Okay, here’s the problem with the idea that oppressed groups can “alienate allies” by not being nice enough: You shouldn’t be an ally because oppressed groups are nice to you. You should be an ally because you believe they deserve basic human rights. Hearing “I hate men” shouldn’t make men stop being feminist.
- [On Spirit Animals](https://deathisbadblog.com/on-spirit-animals/) - Religion is evil. Yes, there are many good things provided by religious institutions (community, social trust, support for the local poor, shock cushions, counselling) which are valuable, and which partially offset religion’s evils. But the foundation of all religion is vile, and we would be far better off if we were to remove the good
- [Still not a proper book review: Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer](https://deathisbadblog.com/still-not-a-proper-book-review-borne-by-jeff-vandermeer/) - This is still not a proper review like I usually do, because I couldn't make it to our book club meeting again. A close friend got in a car accident not an hour before book club was to start, and I rushed over to help them and get them to the hospital and all that.
- [Porn Star Appreciation](https://deathisbadblog.com/porn-star-appreciation/) - In the wake of my disgust with the reporting on last week's Trump scandal, I've been thinking there should be a Porn Star Appreciation day. It's a physically demanding job, very few people are cut out for it psychologically, and they get shit on by society non-stop. The ratio of derision for the profession to
- ["When they're dead they're just hookers"](https://deathisbadblog.com/when-theyre-dead-theyre-just-hookers/) - "Let he who HASN'T raw dogged a porn star just after the birth of his fifth child with his third wife cast the first stone." Everyone is pro-feminism until they can score some cheap political points by throwing women under a bus. In this week's Trump scandal, it turns out he had an affair a
- [Link Archive 10/6/17 – 12/31/17](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-10-6-17-12-31-17/) - My Favorite Medieval Film Is A Knight’s Tale "this film challenges the ideas of a medieval past as being so very different from the present. Spectators singing a rock and roll song by Queen at a medieval joust certainly raise the eyebrow of many, but the song certainly strikes a more familiar chord with a
- [I really like Signal](https://deathisbadblog.com/i-really-like-signal/) - I'm switching all my texting and messaging to it as much as possible, and this is my urging that you do too. First and foremost, due to security, of course, but… The user interface is slick and beautiful and just sooooo responsive. There's a destop app that integrates seemlessly and stays synced to your phone(s)
- [Two short non-book-club reviews](https://deathisbadblog.com/two-short-non-book-club-reviews/) - I actually had some time to read a few books outside of book club in the past couple months. So here's a quick review of each. They aren't the full reviews I normally do, because it just doesn't feel the same without the book club chiming in. Plus, I don't know if they'd turn out
- [SF/F Review - The Emperor's Blades](https://deathisbadblog.com/sf-f-review-the-emperors-blades/) - The Emperor’s Blades, by Brian Staveley Synopsis: A triple-Chosen One narrative about an assassinated Emperor’s three far-flung children reuniting to save the empire and avenge their father’s death. Book Review: You know how everyone has a friend that’s writing a fantasy novel that’s just kinda there, but doesn’t do anything? It has characters, they do
- [The Daily Dot Doesn't Grok "Bullshit"](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-daily-dot-doesnt-grok-bullshit/) - The Daily Dot posted an article titled "We fact-checked FCC Chair Ajit Pai’s net neutrality ‘facts’—and they’re almost all bulls**t" The fact that they censored two letters of "bullshit" should tell you right off the bat that they may not quite have a grasp on what bullshit entails. I read this article while doing some
- [The Lottery](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-lottery/) - I am sad for Al Franken. Translation of relevant part at front of this video: "The allegations are false, and/or wildly exaggerated. I am cooperating with the investigation, and the investigation will prove this to be the case. However, I see the political lynch mob forming, I have plenty of money, and I don't need this
- [Site update](https://deathisbadblog.com/site-update/) - double edit! Should be fixed now, and looks like the problem was with a plug-in, so back to my home theme. edit: nevermind, still broken I guess. /sigh. Getting tech support. My old website theme has broken, which is sad, I kinda liked it. But for the past few days no one could click on
- [Unwanted Attributes](https://deathisbadblog.com/unwanted-attributes/) - [epistemic status: just an emotion dump. sorry.] I dislike men. The entire gender skeeves me out. I'm not sure what caused this. Maybe it's because I didn't get along with my father, and I often saw him hurt my mother (with words, never with violence, but they were deep hurts). Maybe its because during my
- [The Left Eats Its Own - Old Folks Edition](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-left-eats-its-own-old-folks-edition/) - There’s an odd line in Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy” where he sings “The only questions I ever thought was hard--is do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?” It’s weird because there is no Trekkie I’ve ever met who thinks that’s a hard question. Everyone has a strong and clear opinion on exactly
- [Accidental Baby Killer](https://deathisbadblog.com/accidental-baby-killer/) - In a new book, Eliezer discusses civilizational inadequacy. In one section, he first explains that hundreds of babies die every year because a formula used to feed premature children with certain birth defects is made from soybean oil rather than fish oil. Swapping one for the other would prevent all these deaths, and many other
- [SF/F Review - The Just City](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-just-city/) - The Just City, by Jo Walton Synopsis: The goddess Athena yanks the 400 most rabid Plato-fans from human history and gets them to try to create the utopian city he described in “The Republic.” Book Review: This is the longest, most boring example of Pretending to be Wise I’ve seen so far. As an example of “humans
- [New Atheists and New Trek](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-atheists-and-new-trek/) - Thank god that the internet exists, allowing the best and most coherent views on a matter to rise to the top. Siderea post on New Atheism is perfect. "I'm not surprised when the New Atheists are characterized in ways which attempt to erase what they are saying or just get them to shut up. They're forcing
- [Blinked And Missed the Golden Age. Damn.](https://deathisbadblog.com/blinked-and-missed-the-golden-age-damn/) - Apparently there was a Golden Age of New Atheism, wherein New Atheists were a respected ally of the Left, in good standing with the wider community. And then they managed to fail miserably, isolate all their natural allies, and now they’re hated by the Blue Tribe almost as much as the Red Tribe. I don’t
- [Humans Wanted #2! (edit - #1)](https://deathisbadblog.com/humans-wanted-2/) - This is both my second Humans Wanted post, AND the position the anthology has reached, so this post's title does pleasing double-duty. EDIT: Now #1! Sad it messes up the title symmetry, but happy that it now gets the cool "#1 Best Seller" banner on Amazon. :) See below for details. The "Humans Wanted" anthology
- [Magic is an extension of movement](https://deathisbadblog.com/magic-is-an-extension-of-movement/) - Magic in the modern day is basically an extension of the idea that you can do anything if you want it enough. It's literally an extension of desire. Lily Potter saves Harry with her Love Shield because she just wants him to live so much. In virtually all fiction settings magic is fueled by the caster's inner
- [SF/F Review – The Jennifer Morgue](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-jennifer-morgue/) - The Jennifer Morgue, by Charles Stross Synopsis: A modern, snarky take on the Lovecraft mythos that combines IT geekery, eldritch horrors, and James Bond. Book Review: Most of my readers are likely already familiar with the Laundry Files series, because it's basically aimed directly at us. Modern humor, lots of tech-culture feel and computer geek in-jokes (due
- [Cis is the new Straight](https://deathisbadblog.com/cis-is-the-new-straight/) - [cw: culture war crap] Straight White Male was the default Awful Group for most of my adult life. It was the typical term of derision to describe the thoughtless bro-type we all can't stand, and before I woke up I used it a lot too. Over the past year (maybe two?) I've seen it morph
- [Beginner Podcasting](https://deathisbadblog.com/beginner-podcasting/) - A number of times people have asked me for some podcasting tips when they've decided to give this podcasting thing a shot. It just happened again, and I've decided to compile all my beginner advice into a post I can easily point to, rather than having to retype everything each time. I will not be
- [Suffering is Valueless, After the Fact](https://deathisbadblog.com/suffering-is-valueless-after-the-fact/) - [cw: death, suffering, mention of torture] There's an argument made by wild-animal welfare EAs that bothers me. It points to the fact that nearly all deaths in nature are horrible. Torn apart by predators, or eaten from inside by parasites, or starving to death. This near-100%-level of torturous death is supposed to be a reason
- [Blade Runner 2049](https://deathisbadblog.com/blade-runner-2049/) - I didn't want to go see Blade Runner 2049. I saw it has Harrison Ford in it, and it shouldn't. There's always been a large contingent of people who are adamant that Deckard is a replicant, and that this is what makes the first Blade Runner so good. Which is also why one shouldn't watch
- [Next Step Complete!](https://deathisbadblog.com/next-step-complete/) - I was recently selected as a winner of the 2017 Writers of the Future contest (2Q, 3rd place)! In addition to a nice cash prize and future publication, this is a fairly well-regarded award for new SF writers, because the organization hires well-known SF authors to act as the final judges. The combination of these
- [Link Archive 7/9/17 – 10/5/17](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-7917-10517/) - Three months? Ack, I've fallen behind again. An interesting take on the sabbath. "On my first solo two-night camping trip, I forgot to bring a backup battery to charge my laptop or phone...I mostly kept my phone turned off. Very quickly, I started being able to think about aspects of my situation that had
- [Putin's Captain America](https://deathisbadblog.com/putins-captain-america/) - This meme confused me greatly when I first saw it, but now that Russian involvement is confirmed, it finally makes sense! Allow me to explain. I had a VERY hard time figuring out which side of the debate this meme is endorsing. 1. Captain America in the current MCU is definitely a liberal. At first
- [SF/F Review - Dangerous Visions](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-dangerous-visions/) - Dangerous Visions, editted by Harlan Ellison Synopsis: One of the best-known and most-praised anthologies in Science Fiction. Book Review: Well now. This was interesting. Every anthology is a wide variety of hits and misses, and what hits and what misses will vary from reader to reader. Also, it's been nearly 50 years since this was first published,
- [9/26 is Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/926-is-petrov-day-3/) - Of note - Stanislav Petrov died earlier this year, at 77.
- [SF/F Review - Bridge of Birds](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-bridge-of-birds/) - Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart Synopsis: A comedic fable-style story wherein a smart-ass Holmes-type character and his burly sidekick (our narrator) have crazy adventures while incidentally freeing a fairytale China from a bloodthirsty tyrant. Book Review: I'm like the 1000th person to review this novel, so y'all have probably heard this before. But I'll add my
- [Burning Man 2017 Final Thoughts](https://deathisbadblog.com/burning-man-2017-final-thoughts/) - I don't know what I was expecting from Burning Man, but what I got really surprised me. At about hour 12 of driving home--physically and emotionally exhausted, and feeling a bit light-headed from constant heat, minor sleep deprivation, and overwhelming gratitude--I realized why they say that the drive in/out is part of the Burning Man
- [Burning Man 2017 Other Highlights](https://deathisbadblog.com/burning-man-2017-other-highlights/) - A few things that didn't fit elsewhere: I. The first night there, I watched the Opening Ceremonies, which included a cool performative dance around The Man involving a long, red silk banner. Like, a couple yards across and at least thirty yards long. The dancers swirled and swished it through the air. As the dance
- [Burning Man 2017 - Meeting People & Midnight Playa](https://deathisbadblog.com/burning-man-2017-meeting-people-midnight-playa/) - I. Before I left to Burning Man, I expected most of the people there to be hippies and stoners, with some party girls/boys mixed in. And to be fair, there's certainly a fair share of those people. But I was surprised just how many very accomplished and respectable people attend! In hindsight, I'm a bit
- [Burning Man 2017 - Community & Culture](https://deathisbadblog.com/burning-man-2017-community-culture/) - In my post on luck, I stressed the importance of openness. But openness invites vulnerability, so people are generally unwilling to be very open unless they first feel safe. This is part of what makes Burning Man one of the luckiest places on earth - the entire event is one of the safest places I've
- [Burning Man 2017 - Arrival and Art](https://deathisbadblog.com/burning-man-2017-arrival-and-art/) - For the most part I'm going to talk about my Burning Man experience in terms of themes, rather than enumerating the days. However I will start with the Arrival. They tell you that Burning Man begins when you leave home, that the drive in is part of the experience. At the time that seemed a
- [New Short Story - "Through The Never"](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-short-story-through-the-never/) - I’ve had another short story published in an anthology! It is "Through The Never" in Humans Wanted. I liked the theme for this one. Basically that humans have a super-power. It’s something we just consider a normal part of being human, but it’s actually really rare and incredibly useful. Pick a trait, write a story
- [Creating Luck](https://deathisbadblog.com/creating-luck/) - A friend discovered I had scored tickets to Burning Man the day before I left, and commented appreciatively on my good fortune by saying "Lucky!" They then quickly modified that to "not lucky, he actually probably worked hard for that shit." Which, ya know, is appreciated. It's a pretty common sentiment nowadays, and I like
- [SF/F Review – Hunger Makes The Wolf](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-hunger-makes-the-wolf/) - Hunger Makes the Wolf, by Alex Wells Synopsis: A space western wherein impoverished miners are horribly exploited until a group of magic-using outlaws on bikes finally stand up for the small community and fight back against the robber-barons. Disclaimer: I know Alex Wells personally, and really like them. While I try to remain objective in my reviews,
- [SF/F Review – Behind The Throne](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-behind-the-throne/) - Behind The Throne, by K.B. Wagers Synopsis: A runaway space princess is dragged back home to become a reluctant space queen. Book Review: Ya know, I don't want to sound elitist or anything, but I kinda want the novels I read to feel like the author put some effort into them. Behind The Throne is the opposite
- [Inspirational](https://deathisbadblog.com/inspirational/) - In Durham, crowds stood in line to turn themselves in for the crime of tearing down a Confederate statue. This is fantastic. This is an entire community coming out to show they are united and willing to accept whatever punishment the law has to hand down for an act they viewed as necessary. I admire
- ["Utopia, LOL?" and other recommended stories](https://deathisbadblog.com/utopia-lol-and-other-recommended-stories/) - I've read a number of good short stories recently, and figured I'd share. First is "Utopia, LOL?" by Jamie Wahls. This is absolutely fantastic, we talked about it a bit on the Bayesian Conspiracy podcast, but seriously, read or listen to this. Rationalist and Transhumanists will love it. It is hilarious, and sneakily thoughtful, and
- [SF/F Review - The Fractal Prince](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-fractal-prince/) - The Fractal Prince, by Hannu Rajaniemi Synopsis: In a post-singularity world, a hacker/identity thief searches for the uploaded consciousness of a 7-year-old boy (that's been on loop for centuries) who grew up to become a god. Book Review: If he isn't among the pantheon of post-singularity writers yet, Rajaniemi really deserves to be there. This is a
- [Politically Non-Binary](https://deathisbadblog.com/politically-non-binary/) - One of the things I really like about the Rationalist community is that it doesn't care about forcing anyone into any sort of roles. I've gotten so used to it, that I was recently shocked to encounter enforced binaries out in the wide world again. (I haven't been forced to interact with anyone I don't
- [Super-short, Ultra-Spoilery synopsis of The Quantum Thief](https://deathisbadblog.com/super-short-ultra-spoilery-synopsis-of-the-quantum-thief/) - The Quantum Thief. Note that this post contains ALL THE SPOILERS! It's written for the benefit of my book club who hadn't read The Fractal Prince yet, but it turns out that even this synopsis doesn't help much, and one really should read the book itself. Might serve as handy reminder for people who've gone
- [Marriage as Magic Ritual](https://deathisbadblog.com/marriage-as-magic-ritual/) - (epistemic status: brain dump) It's weird when you see something working the way it was intended to for the first time, and things click. In my post, Marriage is a Hostile Act, I took exception with the fact that there exists in the US a standard contract that one is encouraged to sign which literally
- [Viagra, lol?](https://deathisbadblog.com/viagra-lol/) - As setup for the uninitiated: Trump recently tweeted that transgender people wouldn't be allowed in the military because their medical care is too expensive. (Though, as has been noted by others, it obviously was not him tweeting. The tweets are far too coherent and grammatically correct. Pence got a hold of his phone, maybe?) It's
- [Anti-Radicalism - Increasing Local Diversity](https://deathisbadblog.com/anti-radicalism-increasing-local-diversity/) - Stolen from a friend: "Since conservatives are an underrepresented minority in academia, and having more conservatives in academic disciplines would raise the cognitive diversity among researchers in most fields, I think we should probably use affirmative action-ish policies to make universities cheaper and easier to get into for conservatives." This is a surprisingly good point.
- [SF/F Review – The Stars Are Legion](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-stars-are-legion/) - The Stars Are Legion, by Kameron Hurley Synopsis: A fleet of Death Star-esque biological space stations are slowly dying. Their inhabitants will die with them, so they fight bloody wars over the few healthy stations remaining. Book Review: This could have been a good book if it had been given the attention it needed. The premise has
- [All Hail](https://deathisbadblog.com/all-hail/) - The Welcome To Night Vale live show came to Denver yesterday. It was great fun, I loved it! And one of the best things about it is that everyone in the audience is the sort of person you want to know. There's a very strong "these are my peeps!" feel there. :) The show, as
- [Red Legacy and Other Stories out now!](https://deathisbadblog.com/red-legacy-and-other-stories-out-now/) - Guys, guess what?? I have made a thing (again)! A small collection of my published stories is available for purchase! You can get Red Legacy and Other Stories as a printed book at Amazon, or as an ebook at all the major ebook sellers (including Amazon and B&N, of course). You can read most of the
- [Link Archive 5/3/17 – 7/8/17](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-5317-7817/) - From The New Yorker. Even they are getting in on it. THE “EFFECT IS TOO LARGE” HEURISTIC - "a Radiolab episode...mentioned a famous study on judges handing out harsher sentences before lunch than after lunch. ...the percentage of favorable decisions drops from 65% to 0% over the number of cases that are decided upon. This
- [SF/F Review – Three Parts Dead](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-three-parts-dead/) - Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone Synopsis: When the God of Fire dies unexpectedly, forensic accountant/mage Tara steps in to keep the infrastructure that ran on his power from collapsing. She soon uncovers a conspiracy from the first days of the God Wars. Book Review: This is a snappy modern piece that hits all the important
- [Fight The Power?](https://deathisbadblog.com/fight-the-power/) - From Arkansas News Online http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/jun/28/ten-commandments-monument-arkansas-capitol-toppled/ Yesterday a man destroyed the Ten Commandments monument that had been installed on the Arkansas Capitol grounds, less than 24 hours after they'd been put up. He appears to be a fervent Christian who believes strongly in the separation of church and state. I have a complicated set of feelings
- [Failure To Ask The Right Question](https://deathisbadblog.com/failure-to-ask-the-right-question/) - Should include sub-checkbox "Have You Been Harmed By This? Yes/No" A friend recently came across a tick-box in a scholarship application asking if he was gender nonconforming. An interesting question for him. Because in many ways he is gender-conforming, and in many ways he isn't. I won't get into the details, but it was definitely
- [Not Everything Has To Be A Series (dammit)](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-everything-has-to-be-a-series-dammit/) - I hear tell of bygone days of yore, where a writer could actually make a living and support a family by writing short stories. Apparently short-story markets paid well enough (relative to cost of living) for this to be a viable career up until the 50s or 60s. I was surprised when I first learned
- [Those Who Aren't Protected By Society](https://deathisbadblog.com/those-who-arent-protected-by-society/) - I'm somewhat outspoken about preserving a civil society, because I prefer order over chaos. It is important that people not resort to random vigilante justice against targets of opportunity. Determining guilt via the evidence and meting out punishment via an orderly justice system is what separates us from the barbarians. Is what I WOULD say,
- [SF/F Review – Ninefox Gambit](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-ninefox-gambit/) - Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee Synopsis: A young captain, aided by the ghost of a genius-but-insane general, must retake an impenetrable space fortress from the rebels that have seized control of it -- in a universe where the laws of physics can be changed by consensus belief. Book Review: First thing to note is that this
- [Blessed Are The Persecuted](https://deathisbadblog.com/blessed-are-the-persecuted/) - I. As a teenager in the 90s, I spent a lot of time arguing with religious folk. Mainly about atheism and gay rights, as both were very near to my heart. I noticed an astounding trend. Many Christians considered themselves deeply persecuted. Christians make up a large majority of the population (of the USA). They
- [SF/F Review - Hugo Nominated Shorts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-hugo-nominated-shorts/) - Our book club read and discussed all freely available Hugo-nominated Novelettes and Short Stories this week. As always, it was a refreshing change of pace, and I highly recommend it to everyone! Here's my review, which is a bit different from how I normally do these. Novelettes: “The Art of Space Travel”, by Nina Allan
- [Principles Are The Refuge Of The Weak :(](https://deathisbadblog.com/principles-are-the-refuge-of-the-weak/) - Here's the thing about bastards like the Westboro Baptist Church, or Richard Spencer - they LOVE freedom of speech right now. But I'm willing to bet that if they ever came into power (true power - control of govt, much of the populace behind them, etc) they would quickly forget all about their love of
- [Three Huzzahs For Laci Green!](https://deathisbadblog.com/three-huzzahs-for-laci-green/) - A couple years back, when I still identified fairly strongly with feminism, I said "If feminism is losing people like Scott Alexander, we really need to take a look at ourselves and reevaluate what we're doing wrong." It was a tragedy to lose him, because he is an ideal feminist (IMHO). This was before I
- [Wonder Woman is Good Fun](https://deathisbadblog.com/wonder-woman-is-good-fun/) - I knew I was going to see Wonder Woman as soon as I saw the first stills. Say what you want about DC's current grimdark aesthetic, it does have one major thing going for it -- the dark, muted colors makes Wonder Woman's costume look like the Xena costume. I was drawn by the visual
- [The Inequitable Distribution of Everything](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-inequitable-distribution-of-everything/) - I recently found a new insight into SJW worldview that has caused me to radically update a few of my beliefs. This may take a wee bit of set-up, the impatient can probably skip to Part III. I. The Austin Alamo Drafthouse is holding an all-women showing of Wonder Woman on Tuesday (5 days after
- [The Inequitable Distribution of Talent](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-inequitable-distribution-of-talent/) - Reality frustrates the hell out of my sometimes, because it's so damned unfair. Take, for example, Deftones. A legit fantastic band. Compare to Chevelle, who are totally acceptable in a pinch, and who--significant for this post--sound like they were influenced by Deftones. I am not a music geek, so I don't have the vocabulary or understanding
- [SF/F Review – A Closed and Common Orbit](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-a-closed-and-common-orbit/) - A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers Synopsis: A child factory-slave escapes from a slave planet. Also, an AI transfers from ship-embodiment to humanoid-robot embodiment, and tries to get used to that. Book Review: The first few chapters of this are fantastic! We jump right into action, in which a ship's AI thrust into a
- [Marriage is a Hostile Act](https://deathisbadblog.com/marriage-is-a-hostile-act/) - With apologies to my friends who are, or are planning to, get married. One of the most reprehensible lies we still tell children is that marriage is what you do with someone that you love. You marry them because you love them. You marry them to show your love. And to demonstrate that love publicly.
- [This Is Not The Ancestral Environment You Are Looking For](https://deathisbadblog.com/this-is-not-the-ancestral-environment-you-are-looking-for/) - I have learned a lesson the hard way, and wish to pass along what I've learned in the hopes that others need not learn it the same way. For any agreement that is long term and important (define as you will, but anything lasting more than a few months and likely to entail over $10K
- [What Laughter Looks Like](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-laughter-looks-like/) - Fun trivia: The visualization of recorded laughter is almost invariant among humans. That is to say - Everyone Laughs The Same. I've seen laughter recorded from I dunno how many people, dozens at least, maybe getting close to a hundred? And it always looks like this: A series of choppy vertical lines, close together, with
- [Fixing Discrimination via The Sins Of Our Fathers](https://deathisbadblog.com/fixing-discrimination-via-the-sins-of-our-fathers/) - Guys, I'm totes gonna solve discrimination today. People are complicated and hard to get to know in a short amount of time. But sometimes you need to make quick a judgement without the time to really get to know someone. So people often use simple heuristics based on what they can see. Things like clothing, race,
- [Link Archive 3/2/17 – 5/2/17](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-3217-5217/) - What overthinking looks like: The final paragraph of Scott's Hungry Brain review is the best backhanded complement-cum-advertisment I've ever seen. This comes after thousands of words reviewing a nutrition book that posits that modern extremely-tasty food is damaging our bodies' fat-regulation mechanisms. I actually lol'ed. "I want to recommend [MealSquares] as potentially dovetailing with The
- [SF/F Review – Red Rising](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-red-rising/) - Red Rising, by Pierce Brown Synopsis: Another crappy remake of Hunger Games. Book Review: The worst part of Red Rising isn't that it's a crappy remake. The worst part is that it's so blatantly obvious that this is a completely mercenary, soulless work meant to cash in on a fad. There is no joy or passion
- [Medicine or Employment - Pick One](https://deathisbadblog.com/medicine-or-employment-pick-one/) - In order to get my regular antidepressant medication refilled while unemployed I got on Medicaid, the government health program for the poor. And my medical world has turned upside down. For the first time in my life I have decent medical coverage. All my adult life I've been employed and insured through my workplace. The
- [2017 Hugo Finalists - Novelettes and Short Stories online](https://deathisbadblog.com/2017-hugo-finalists-novelettes-and-short-stories-online/) - For the ease of my book club, plus anyone else who may want them, here's where to find the Hugo Finalist Novelettes and Short Stories that are available free online: Novelettes: “The Art of Space Travel”, by Nina Allan “The Tomato Thief”, by Ursula Vernon “Touring with the Alien”, by Carolyn Ives Gilman “You’ll Surely
- [SF/F Review - City of Blades](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-city-of-blades/) - City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett Synopsis: In a world where humans killed their gods, the functioning of certain holy relics suggests one might have survived, and the consequences if this isn't fixed could be world-ending. Book Review: This is a sequel to City of Stairs, a book I really liked! Unfortunately, the sequel has
- [First World Problem](https://deathisbadblog.com/first-world-problem/) - I basically don't read posts in color. The amount of effort it requires to differentiate them from ads doesn't seem worth it at all. And usually they're basically contentless anyway. (I know, that's judgy...) Combined with in-line ads, I scroll past like 1/3rd of my feed now. Way to go, Facebook. I assume this was
- ["Communion"](https://deathisbadblog.com/communion/) - A few years ago a wrote a flash fic piece called "Communion" for the NPR 3-minute fiction contest. The story had to take place in the form of a voicemail message or messages, which I thought was fun. It didn't win, and I tried a couple other venues, before forgetting about it. Then not too
- [My Entire Life Has Been A Lie](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-entire-life-has-been-a-lie/) - Yesterday my dad came out to me as atheist. Specifically, he said "Remember when you came out to me as an atheist? We were driving home from work? I thought to myself 'Oh thank goodness, he's not crazy'." Background - I often went to work with him on the weekends to help out and make
- [Canonical Thinkings](https://deathisbadblog.com/canonical-thinkings/) - Here's two replies from a recent post, where my responses became long enough to make into their own post. Daniel: >But quite often the intended interpretaions will prove more important. On your Star Wars prequels example, imagine if that fan theory became widely supported before the release of episode III. Then, the creators of the films
- [SF/F Review – The Girl With All The Gifts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-girl-with-all-the-gifts/) - The Girl With All The Gifts, by M.R. Carey Synopsis: An orphan child prodigy is held by the military, who conduct bizarre experiments on her and her classmates. The outside world appears to be crumbling. Book Review: The good parts of this book are REALLY GOOD. And basically all the good parts are the ones focusing on
- [Thoughts on new Ghost In The Shell movie](https://deathisbadblog.com/thoughts-on-new-ghost-in-the-shell-movie/) - I don't review movies, cuz I'm not a film guy. But sometimes I have thoughts on things? And I grew up with cyberpunk, the original Ghost in the Shell, and Stand Alone Complex, so I went to see the movie, and I thought a few things. No Spoilers: I really liked it. It was cyberpunk
- [Death of the Author in extended domains](https://deathisbadblog.com/death-of-the-author-in-extended-domains/) - I. The concept of "Death of the Author" in lit circles just means that once an author has put a work of fiction out into the public, the work speaks for itself, and the Author doesn't get to speak for it. If a reader can make a case for the Star Wars prequels portraying Padme
- [Noah - Red v Blue](https://deathisbadblog.com/noah-red-v-blue/) - When I saw Noah, I was confused about why the Red Tribe in American (social conservatives) hated it so much, and the Blue Tribe (liberals) seemed to like it. This is an attempt to be less confused. Putting aside the religious angle for now (which may be the dumbest idea ever), it originally seemed to
- [SF/F Review - The Ghost Bride](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-ghost-bride/) - The Ghost Bride, by Yangsze Choo Synopsis: At the turn of the century, a young girl must marry the dead son of a rich family to save her father from ruin, but he’s a total jerk. Book Review: An interesting animal! First, this book feels like an Urban Fantasy that’s set in an early 1900s Chinese colonial
- [SF/F Review – 100 Ghost Soup](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-100-ghost-soup/) - 100 Ghost Soup, by Robert Chansky Synopsis: An orphan adopted by a fox-spirit becomes a pawn in a centuries-old plot to save a village of ghosts from damnation. Personal Note: I am familiar with Rob Chansky, I see him a few times each year and we often critique each other's work. I do my best to be
- [The Represented Class](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-represented-class/) - This article is eye-opening, but not necessarily in the way it was intended. What Happens When We Don't Believe The President's Oath makes a number of observations and claims about the new Trump presidency, but what's most revealing about it is what it reveals about the writer's world, and the way his class interacts with power.
- ["Host" Post](https://deathisbadblog.com/host-post/) - My short story "Host" is in the March/April issue of Analog Magazine, available right now. I'm ridiculously happy this got published, I was worried that due to its structure it would be unpublishable. My attempt at portraying Very Alien minds probably could have been much more explicit. This story is more autobiographical than any of
- [SF/F Review – Planetfall](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-planetfall/) - Planetfall, by Emma Newman Synopsis: In a post-scarcity utopia, a woman struggles with decades of guilt by running away from everything. Book Review: The majority of this book is kinda mediocre. It can be hard to create meaningful conflict in a utopia, because what is there to fight about? This leaves most things feeling very low-stakes. The
- [Link Archive 12/8/16 - 3/1/17](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-12816-3117/) - Haven't posted one of these in a while, hope it's not too overwhelming. Also, this one will be Trump-heavy, for obvious reasons. This Is How Your Hyperpartisan Political News Gets Made. You gotta give it to capitalism - it can be pretty damn efficient. "both sites whipped up a post ... The resulting stories
- [2017 Hugo Nominations](https://deathisbadblog.com/2017-hugo-nominations/) - Herein I continue my tradition of pointing at stories that I think are really good, and will be getting my Hugo Nominations this year. Remember, you only have until March 17th to nominate, so don't tarry too long! Sadly, I only have so much time to read, and I know there are tons of things I
- [Is it grimdark?](https://deathisbadblog.com/is-it-grimdark/) - This is just me collecting a few thoughts about the Grimdark genre for myself in one spot, taken from recent posts and a comment. Like any other genre Grimdark is as much about the flavor as anything else, and flavor is something that's difficult to put into words, but these are some of my current opinions.
- [Further thoughts on The Obelisk Gate](https://deathisbadblog.com/further-thoughts-on-the-obelisk-gate/) - This post is FULL of spoilers. Go read The Obelisk Gate first if you were planning on it, and come back later. . .. I. Fantasy v SciFi For the second half of Fifth Season and first half of Obelisk Gate I really enjoyed the tension that this might technically be Science Fiction rather than Fantasy. That's
- [SF/F Review – The Obelisk Gate](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-obelisk-gate/) - The Obelisk Gate, by N.K. Jemisin Synopsis: In the second book in the Broken Earth trilogy, Essun and her daughter Nassun explore and grow into the fullness of their powers, while surviving in a currently-unfolding apocalypse. Book Review: Last year when I read the start of this trilogy, The Fifth Season (review, discussion), I was blown away.
- [Goodbye Ed Bryant](https://deathisbadblog.com/goodbye-ed-bryant/) - The founder of my writer's group (and 2x Nebula winner) Ed Bryant passed away in his sleep last night. I'd seen him for several hours every month for coming on three years now. This is the first time anyone I've known personally in my life has died. I'm not sure what to make of it
- [In Praise of Idleness](https://deathisbadblog.com/in-praise-of-idleness/) - When I worked for The Man, I often had long periods of enforced idleness. Accounting is cyclical by nature. We're busy at month-end, and very busy at quarter-end and year-end, but 8 months out of the year there's a couple weeks were the work volume is just very low. But due how employment laws and
- [My city is the best city](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-city-is-the-best-city/) - I know everyone says that, but it's one of the nice things about human psychology that we can know it's not true but still believe it on a gut level, because we like where we are so much. I live in the South Denver Metro area, in an area called "DTC" (the "Denver Tech Center").
- [SF/F Review – Karen Memory](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-karen-memory/) - Karen Memory, by Elizabeth Bear Synopsis: The ladies of a wild west brothel have to save their town from an evil mayor. Book Review: This is a solidly mediocre book that feels like the literary equivalent of going to eat at Olive Garden. The food will be acceptable and you won't leave hungry, but this certainly isn't
- [Follow-ups to Vigilante Justice](https://deathisbadblog.com/follow-ups-to-vigilante-justice/) - The primary thing I personally want to say is that there is almost no such thing as malicious evil. All evil is done by people who think they are doing good. Even the Nazi thinks that he is safe-guarding his society from exploitative forces that wish to drain it and abandon the hollowed-out ruin. The
- [Too Soon For Vigilante Justice](https://deathisbadblog.com/too-soon-for-vigilante-justice/) - I'm a big fan of Malcolm X. In fact, I used to think I supported violence-as-a-solution more than most people, and stayed quiet about those beliefs out of shame. Richard Spencer being punched has proven me wrong. Race riots were acceptable & necessary because the law was on the side of racial oppression. That was
- [Huge Success](https://deathisbadblog.com/huge-success/) - In mid-November I was laid off from my accounting job, and decided to finish my novel by year's end. Despite a huge shock to my personal life right about that time (of which there are still all sorts of aftershocks), I managed to do so. :) I wrote the final line on Dec 30th, 2016.
- [All about dem clicks](https://deathisbadblog.com/all-about-dem-clicks/) - Oh how I hate the media. Are they TRYING to help Trump? This article leads with DeVos's Gun vs Bears comment. (“I will refer back to Sen. [Mike] Enzi and the school he was talking about in Wyoming. I think probably there, I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the schools to
- [SF/F Review - Luna: New Moon](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-luna-new-moon/) - Luna: New Moon, by Ian McDonald Synopsis: The Godfather, on the moon Book Review: I don't have much to say about this, as I was neither wowed or disappointed. It is basically The Godfather, on the moon. The physics is hard, as one would expect. The society is extreme libertarian, to the point of there not being
- [Universal Hate](https://deathisbadblog.com/universal-hate/) - I despise what the Republican Congress is doing. These motherfuckers bring out hatred in me. For example - Republicans Confirm Planned Parenthood Will Lose Federal Funding As Soon As Next Month. I. Aaaaaaand then a friend of mine states that all Republicans are horrible people, and there are no decent people who are registered (R). I'm
- [The Non-Transferability of Artistic Success](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-non-transferability-of-artistic-success/) - I recently posted a negative review of a book that is, IMHO, bad. The author is well-known, especially for an earlier work that is very well regarded, and a commenter was wondering if they should bump it further back on their "to read" list based on the weakness of this latest work. My short answer
- [MAD trollies](https://deathisbadblog.com/mad-trollies/) - (text of pic: You and some other guy are glued to the tracks. Any of you can pull the lever, releasing the trolley and killing the other guy. You told the other guy that you'll pulll the level if he does, hoping he won't kill you. After a long time, he finally pulls the lever. Do
- [SF/F Review – CrossTalk](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-crosstalk/) - CrossTalk, by Connie Willis Synopsis: A rom-com wherein the Irish have telepathy, but no one knows about it, and the Irish have not taken over the world. Book Review: I like some rom-coms. There is something to be said for a well executed love story with great comedic elements. My personal favorite is Moonstruck, which is just
- [In praise of emotive communication](https://deathisbadblog.com/in-praise-of-emotive-communication/) - This is a tale of two blog posts. The first is a Tumblr post that made me FEEL STUFF, and did so fantastically. There are a lot of arguments about why the FDA is bad. Scott Alexander has posted about it several times on his site, and he's far from the only one. A person can
- [Link Archive 10/12/16 - 12/7/16](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-101216-12716/) - I've always been pro-Gentrification (or at least, not anti-Gentrification), and couldn't quite understand why anyone wouldn't be. This post has finally explained it in a way that *makes sense* (hooray for opposing perspectives!). Mad props to commenter Dirdle for bringing this article to my attention. I am updating my thinking somewhat... tho it's still very
- ["For the children"](https://deathisbadblog.com/for-the-children/) - Denver Comic Con has greatly disappointed me recently. A while ago they released cosplay guidelines saying “realistic” weapons wouldn’t be allowed. I grumbled, but I guess that those can be frightening to some people? So I didn’t really complain, even though they said “A Star Wars Blaster might be OK.” I’m sorry, might?? Those things
- [Immigration and The Goths](https://deathisbadblog.com/immigration-and-the-goths/) - Lately I’ve been going to a local goth club a few nights each month, to make up for a youth misspent on studying and homework. I’ve been loving the hell out of it. A few days ago, waiting at the bar, I noticed the guy in front of me ordered a Bud Light (!). He
- [The Holiday Season Has Begun!](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-holiday-season-has-begun/) - I've kinda adopted Starbucks as my make-shift office. Last week, we got the first snow of the season, and Starbucks played Christmas Carols all day. :) <3 Today, it's snowing again, and we have carols again! Squeeeeee! Some grinchy friends complained about Thanksgiving being absorbed by Christmas. Apparently they don't understand about The Holiday Season.
- [Thamiel as Justice-Maximizer](https://deathisbadblog.com/thamiel-as-justice-maximizer/) - I have this personal theory about Thamiel, from Unsong. Note - I apologize if this has already been discussed in comments at some point. I read all comments on a chapter when I first read the chapter, but I don't have the time/ability to keep up with all the discussion as it develops. I am
- [SF/F Review – The Library at Mount Char](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-library-at-mount-char/) - The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins Synopsis: When God disappears, his twelve adopted children try to find him and/or take his place, while negotiating internal power struggles and the interference of the US government. Book Review: This book does almost everything flawlessly. It is a portrait of extremely broken people, as being raised by the
- [Getting Started Early](https://deathisbadblog.com/getting-started-early/) - I see a lot of people saying "I feel sick that I didn't do more in the past months to stop this." I don't think there's anything in the realm of physical possibility that could have been done over the past months that would alter Trump's chances from 50% likelihood of winning yesterday. Not one
- [Do or Do Not](https://deathisbadblog.com/do-or-do-not/) - Starting today I’m self-employed for the rest of the year. I’ve written about 80,000 words over the past 14 months, and I’m giving myself Nov and Dec to finish this up, which will be about another 40,000 words. That means 5,000 words a week, or approximately 1,000 words a day. From what I hear, that
- [The jig is up!](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-jig-is-up/) - I dropped out of college after a year, for a number of reasons, not least among them that I was tired of schooling and I wanted to actually participate in the Real World. I got a job as a office clerk at 19. Since then I managed to work, jump, and slide my way up
- [SF/F Review – All The Birds In The Sky](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-all-the-birds-in-the-sky/) - All The Birds In The Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders Synopsis: A pair of outcasts meet as children and overcome social isolation and opposing ideologies to become friends and save the world. Book Review (Rational Fiction version): This must be done in two parts, because first I must address the Rational Fiction flavor of this book! This
- [On Appreciation](https://deathisbadblog.com/on-appreciation/) - First of all - thank you to everyone who replied to my last post. It helps. :) Recently I received an email about my flash fiction piece, wherein a reader expressed appreciation for it. In addition to making me feel happy, it reminded me of something Seth Dickinson said the first time I wrote
- [Weaponize The Self](https://deathisbadblog.com/weaponize-the-self/) - Gloomy mood today. I have to go watch some Steven Universe or something. I. I remember the first time I got lost/separated from my mother at a grocery store. I think I was seven or eight years old? The world switched in a heartbeat from safe and familiar to alien and hostile. I was
- [Link Archive 8/9/16 - 10/11/16](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-8916-101116/) - Quoted directly from Eliezer Yudkowsky "For so long as the voting system works the way it does, there will always be 2 parties in American democracy, no more, no less. For reasons that include e.g. the Median Voter Theorem, the votes will always drift back to around 50/50 for each party. The Republican Party *will*
- [SF/F Review – Lilith](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-lilith/) - Lilith, by George MacDonald Synopsis: A landed gentleman stumbles into a magical dreamland, which I guess is full of parables and symbolism? Book Review: Written in 1895, this book reads like it was written a century earlier. It’s short, only 200ish pages, but I still gave up after 60. This thing is not worth reading. First, there’s
- [Two alternate opinions](https://deathisbadblog.com/two-alternate-opinions/) - I love finding opinions that differ from mine in interesting ways. Here are two. Re my distaste for Genghis Khan, a friend replied: "Status: terminally monogamous. Ironically, it was my girlfriend that first showed me this song a few days ago. I honestly just tuned out the lyrics as silly when I heard the name
- [SF/F Review – Steel Beach](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-steel-beach/) - Steel Beach, by John Varley Synopsis: A tour of a transhumanist future on a lunar colony, where Humanity struggles against the ennui of irrelevance, and a sovereign Friendly AI struggles against value drift. Book Review: It is really impressive how ahead-of-its-time this novel was. It was published in 1992, and for the most part I felt like
- [Genghis Khan was not a groovy dude](https://deathisbadblog.com/genghis-khan-was-not-a-groovy-dude/) - Is it ok to make a post complaining about something? I don't do it very often. Every now and then is alright, right? This freakin' song man. It's so pro-patriarchy and mono-normative it makes me want to puke. The chorus made my flesh crawl. I now understand how people who had bad reactions to Blurred
- [9/26 is Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/926-is-petrov-day-2/)
- [Religion is Moral Gaslighting](https://deathisbadblog.com/religion-is-moral-gaslighting/) - I. Recently a friend complained that we've exited the brief window in history where "gaslighting" was a word that meant something distinct. To gaslight someone (as a verb) used to mean to drive them to insanity by sabotaging their reality-testing. The eponymous example is a husband who alters the gas flow to the lights in
- [Revelations](https://deathisbadblog.com/revelations/) - Thinks to self: Ya know, I don't fit in with the kids starting new jobs. Haven't for a while, I guess. Definitely no longer young. But I don't really have anything in common with the old folks around here either. Not old either. I'm kinda like,
- [Star Trek - A Better Bible](https://deathisbadblog.com/star-trek-a-better-bible/) - Today is the 50th Anniversary of the premier of the first episode of Star Trek. When I was a wee atheist, sometimes people would ask me "Without religion, how will you teach your children morals?" My answer was (and still is) Star Trek. This show (particularly TNG, I didn't watch much TOS) demonstrates everything that is
- [Why So Serious?](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-so-serious/) - [epistemic status: wild confabulations only loosely based on reality.] I have a story I like to believe about Norm MacDonald. His time on Saturday Night Live is probably most remembered for the Celebrity Jeopardy series he created, but I remember him for his constant bombing while hosting Weekend Update (the SNL faux-news segment). Norm MacDonald
- [Orson Scott Card vs Ender's Game](https://deathisbadblog.com/orson-scott-card-vs-enders-game/) - There’s been a lot of talk about the merits of separating the Art from the Artist due to the Ender’s Game movie coming out this year. It’s one of the classics of SF, but Orson Scott Card is a raging homophobe. I’ve always been fond of the Death of the Author, and I don’t want
- [Too Like The Lightning - Spoiler Thoughts](https://deathisbadblog.com/too-like-the-lightning-spoiler-thoughts/) - A very spoiler-heavy discussion of the bits I liked most about Too Like The Lightning follows. If you have any interest in reading the book, I would suggest doing so first, as having spoilers may significantly reduce your enjoyment of the novel – more so than most novels IMHO. But OTOH it seems like a
- [SF/F Review – Too Like The Lightning](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-too-like-the-lightning/) - Too Like The Lightning, by Ada Palmer Synopsis: This book is about your reaction to it. Heed the trigger warnings. The plot is incidental. Book Review: Wow, man, where do I begin? Ambitious is an understatement. Let’s begin at the beginning. Yes, this book has trigger warnings. It needs them, which I’ll get into in tomorrow's in-depth,
- [A few failures](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-few-failures/) - An addendum to yesterday’s WorldCon summary: I did not win the Sidewise Award for Alternate History (not-won plaque is pictured). This is a little sad, of course. I would have preferred to win. But it was still a fantastic experience, with much excitement and joy. I got to meet some cool people, and I got
- [Truesdale's WorldCon Panel Recording](https://deathisbadblog.com/truesdales-worldcon-panel-recording/) - David Truesdale posted the audio of the “State of Short Fiction” panel. I recommend everyone go listen to it, it’s fascinating. http://www.tangentonline.com//images/audio/radio/dt_panel.mp3 (@http://www.tangentonline.com//images/audio/radio/dt_panel.mp3) Listening to it after the fact, I feel like this was blown way out of proportion when it was relayed to me. Yes, he did start off with “special snowflakes are too
- [Puppies Prove Impotent](https://deathisbadblog.com/puppies-prove-impotent/) - This year's Hugo winners All the Puppy News That’s Fit to Print! I've been gone since Wednesday, at WorldCon (woo woo!). I’ll start with the Hugo Awards, since that’s the big thing everyone cares about. They were AWESOME. Pat Cadigan was entertaining as hell, everyone loved her. Last year was high drama due to all
- [WorldCon journal - MidAmeriCon II](https://deathisbadblog.com/worldcon-journal-midamericon-ii/) - I started by saying that this backpack contains the entirety of my luggage! Flying only cost me $140 round-trip for that (literally cheaper than driving), and I was pretty proud. Then I remembered I cheated, and sent my Award Ceremonies Suit with a friend who was driving. So less proud now. :/ But from what
- [Performance Art](https://deathisbadblog.com/performance-art/) - In my review of Seraphina I wrote “I never feel like I’m being honest with the world, everything is a dance performed so I am not shunned”, and someone wrote in to ask me 1. How did you learn to do this, and 2. How do you feel ok about doing it (or the need
- [SF/F Review – Seraphina](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-seraphina/) - Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman Synopsis: A half-dragon teenage living secretly as a human in a country that despises dragons must foil a plot to plunge the two races into renewed warfare. Book Review: I have a well-known prejudice against YA, so I was initially extremely surprised when I showed up for book club and everyone referred to
- [Link Archive 6/1/16 – 8/8/16](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-6116-8816/) - 15 Stats That Show Americans Are Drowning in 'Stuff' "Over the course of our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items" !! Based on survey results finding average of 10 min a day looking for misplaced items. Seems unreasonably high to me, likely people are overestimating
- [Adaptive Behavior](https://deathisbadblog.com/adaptive-behavior/) - This graphic is both interesting and saddening. Take a look at the webpage on the left side first, then look over to the right for breakdown. It's interesting that Baby Boomers (or at least those in the study) have not yet adapted their internet-looking behavior to disregard common places for ads. This brings up the question of
- [SF/F Review – Peter and the Starcatchers](https://deathisbadblog.com/peter_and_the_starcatchers/) - Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson Synopsis: A Peter Pan origin story. Book Review: This is straight-up very good fanfic. I guess not technically fanfic, since fanfic is fiction that you can’t legally sell, and Peter Pan is in the public domain now. But any reader of fanfic will recognize this in a
- [Is It Racist?](https://deathisbadblog.com/is-it-racist/) - It's time for another round of Liberal America's favorite game: Is It Racist? I just learned of The Great Wall. It's a Chinese movie, with a Chinese director, a largely Chinese cast, set in ancient China. It's the most expensive Chinese movie of all time (to date). But the script was written by American screen writers,
- [Why the old Ghostbusters sucks](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-the-old-ghostbusters-sucks/) - I haven’t seen the new Ghostbusters yet (I do plan to), but I already know I’ll like it more than the original. Because I hate the original Ghostbusters. Which is a damn shame. It’s an awesome concept. It is the triumph of science over religion. Our tech is better than your magic, and by the
- [SF/F Review – 2016 Hugo Shorts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-2016-hugo-shorts/) - Most years we read all the Hugo-nominated short stories and novelettes in our book club, as generally all (or nearly all) of them are available free online. This year, that is not the case. :( (yes, I blame Vox Day). So we were unable to read them as a group. However I still read them
- [SF/F Review - SevenEves](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-seveneves/) - SevenEves, by Neal Stephenson Synopsis: Present-day humanity has two years to evacuate as many people as possible before the Earth is destroyed. Book Review: This isn’t really a story, insomuch as it is the fragmented pieces of a story buried within mounds of engineering. You will hear more about how chains and whips work in zero-gravity than
- [An Award Nomination!](https://deathisbadblog.com/an-award-nomination/) - Hey, you know the short story I wrote last year, “Red Legacy”? It’s a finalist for the 2015 Sidewise Award for Alternative History!!! It’s interesting… I didn’t originally intend for this to be an alternative history story. I was just going for supervillain origin story. But I’d long been enraptured with Lamarckian evolution. It is
- [Denver Comic Con 2016 – Literary Track success!](https://deathisbadblog.com/denver-comic-con-2016-literary-track-success/) - For the second year running I’ve worked as Coordinator of the Literary Track for Denver Comic Con. This means putting together the programming (mainly panels), scheduling it, and stocking it with speakers from our handful of invited guests (this year Terry Brooks) and our healthy pool of local authors. Overall, everything went great. Where there
- [More on 5th Season](https://deathisbadblog.com/more-on-5th-season/) - This post will have tons of spoilers for The Fifth Season. If you want to read this book (and again, I suggest you do!), it's a good idea to skip this post for now, and maybe come back when you're done. OK, let's continue. There are a number of moments that really stick to me.
- [SF/F Review - The Fifth Season](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-fifth-season/) - The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin Synopsis: This is a story of how the world ends. Book Review: Holy shit guys. Holy. Shit. I’ve read a number of Jemisin’s works. 100,000 Kingdoms was good. Killing Moon was great! Fifth Season is phenomenal. She just keeps. Getting. Better. This is what mastery of the art of written storytelling
- [Con Panelists](https://deathisbadblog.com/con-panelists/) - First - I'll be at Denver Comic Con this weekend. You can find me presenting at these two panels, feel free to come up afterwards and talk to me. :) Panel Room Day Time The Writing Process of Best Sellers 506/507 Saturday 1:00 - 1:50 Can't We Get Along? Cultural Exchange vs Appropriation in Writing 506/507
- [Orlando](https://deathisbadblog.com/orlando/) - I ain't gonna say much, cuz there ain't much to say. I will link this though: "9. When I turned twenty-one, I could go to the clubs. Get dressed up, wear a coat to hide the outfit, pile into a car with friends, roll down the windows in the summer, sure, blare the music, sing
- [Romance? This is madness!](https://deathisbadblog.com/romance-this-is-madness/) - In the wake of last week's revelation about this mysterious "romance" feeling, I sought out romance-feeling friends. After talking with them a bit, I think I have some idea of what this “romance” thing is. And if I’m right, I’m glad to be rid of it. Features that differentiate “romantic liking” from “friend liking”: *
- [Tool - sold out in minutes](https://deathisbadblog.com/tool-sold-out-in-minutes/) - This is just me complaining. Tool is coming to Denver in October. Tickets went on sale today at 10:00. I was waiting at the tix-buying website at 9:58, and started refreshing regularly. As soon as the tix went on sale the site crashed. Kept retrying, finally got through at 10:03!! :) All the good tickets
- [SF/F Review – The Aeronaut's Windlass](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-aeronauts-windlass/) - The Aeronaut’s Windlass, by Jim Butcher Synopsis: Exactly what you’d expect if Jim Butcher switched to writing steampunk. Book Review: Jim Butcher is most famous for his Dresden series, a popular urban fantasy series focusing on the secret magical underworld of modern-day Chicago. (I reviewed one last year) Fans of that series will find a lot to
- ["Romance" does not mean what I think it means?](https://deathisbadblog.com/2563-2/) - So in the process of creating the two Bayesian Conspiracy episodes on Polyamory, I think I may have discovered that most other people have a secret sixth-sense/emotion that I’ve been blind to this whole time. And boy howdy, is THAT ever confusing! I got in a bit of a misunderstanding about when it’s appropriate to
- [John Oliver's "Biggest Giveaway Ever" is kinda bullshity](https://deathisbadblog.com/john-olivers-biggest-giveaway-ever-is-kinda-bullshity/) - John Oliver buys $15M of very old debt for $60K, forgives it, and touts that as the world's largest televised give-away, nearly double the famous "Everyone Gets A Car!" moment from Opera. I'm not an economist, so maybe I'm missing something... but isn't this bullshit? He gave away $60K. Regardless of what number was in
- [Link Archive 4/1/16 - 5/31/16](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-4116-53116/) - Fandom is Broken. "Back in high school I had a great religion teacher. He used to have us bring in quotes from pop culture that could be applied to religion because he wanted us to understand how pervasive religion was to people a thousand years ago, as pervasive as music or movies are to us
- [SF/F Review - Ancillary Mercy](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-ancillary-mercy/) - Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie Synopsis: An AI in a human body navigates the tangled bureaucracy of administrating a space station. Book Review: This book was devastatingly disappointing. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie’s first novel in this trilogy, was a masterpiece. It broke new ground in the SF genre, and tackled complex themes of vengeance, means/ends justification, and
- [The weirdest damn insult ever](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-weirdest-damn-insult-ever/) - Lately I’ve been seeing more and more of a certain “insult”, which is so bizarre I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around it. That insult is “cuck”, and seems to be used exclusively by the MRA/PUA-types. What makes an insult hurtful? Obviously it’s not the sound of the letters. It must come with emotional pre-loaded
- [The Interests of the Fragile](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-interests-of-the-fragile/) - This post is about four years late. But I’ve only become able to appreciate it recently, so here we are. I. In my circles, I used to often hear complaints that middle-class Republican voters were voting against their own economic interests. Followed by disbelieving statements of “How can they not see that?” Specifically, the charges
- [SF/F Review – Uprooted](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-uprooted/) - It's Hugo Season! For the next 2.5 months we will be reading the Hugo Nominated novels. First up - Uprooted! Uprooted, by Naomi Novik Synopsis: A young girl with enormous magical talent is chosen to save her village – nay, her country! – from the forces of evil. Book Review: “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he
- [Salting the Earth](https://deathisbadblog.com/salting-the-earth/) - The Nebula Award winners were announced last week. The Nebulas are the other major annual SF/F Literary award, and the Hugos and Nebulas are held in similar esteem. For those unfamiliar, the Nebula Awards are given by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America organization. They are the professional group for SF/F writers in the US. One can
- [Popularity is a type of quality in its own right](https://deathisbadblog.com/popularity-is-a-type-of-quality-in-its-own-right/) - Artsy-fartsy awards are often derided by their critics as out-of-touch with the mass of humanity, and therefore inconsequential. “If you don’t nominate super-best-selling writer X, then there is obviously something wrong with you, and you’re relegating yourself to irrelevance,” they say. In response, the snooty art people will point to the current super-popular but low-quality
- [A wise use of a weekend](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-wise-use-of-a-weekend/) - So um... being immersed in non-stop Hugo Controversy and Tinglers over the last two weeks does weird things to one's brain. Last year I wrote Amazing Man as a satirical take on the 2015 Sad Puppies fiasco, with the titular character acting as a mash-up of Larry Correia and Brad Torgerson. I never expected to
- [More Tingle Reactions](https://deathisbadblog.com/more-tingle-reactions/) - More Brienne liveblogging Tingle poundings. :) Her post is public, so you can probably search it in Facebook if you want, and keep up with them as she reads the rest and liveblogs them.
- [Selective Enforcement](https://deathisbadblog.com/selective-enforcement/) - In the recent post on Kukuruyo, a commenter asked me: He violated terms of services with two separate companies, DeviantArt and Project Wonderful, of his own free will and choice. He’s making money taking paid commissions creating nudes of a Marvel character without permission, a character who happens to be underage and whose name is
- [Butt Invasion Reactions](https://deathisbadblog.com/butt-invasion-reactions/) - You've not lived until you've seen a friend liveblog reading Space Raptor Butt Invasion for the first time. :) This should be a thing. Here's a friend's reaction blogging. If anyone else has these sorts of reaction liveblogs, I'd love to see them! Drop me a link in the comments or something. Also, it
- [We have assholes on our side too](https://deathisbadblog.com/we-have-assholes-on-our-side-too/) - It's a damned fucking disgrace what's been happening to Kukuruyo. I bring this up because a commenter recently noted that I talk oft about Rabid Puppy crap, but not much about when my side shits the bed. They have a point. Kukuruyo has been personally and financially attacked simply for having the wrong political opinions.
- [Amazing Man](https://deathisbadblog.com/amazing-man/) - I dashed off a little short story, inspired by the Sad Puppies Hugo Fiasco. I had fun writing it, I hope someone finds it enjoyable to read. :) Amazing Man flew over the Los Angeles sprawl at a good clip. He’d thought of it as his “patrolling pace” just a few short weeks ago. A
- [Puppies get Tingled](https://deathisbadblog.com/puppies-get-tingled/) - <3 Chuck Tingle. Just a few hours ago he tweeted this: IMPORTANT: cant go to hugos award so to thwart devil plans, true buckaroo ZOE QUINN (name of @unburtwitch) has agreed to accept award for me I got a question on Facebook as to why this is relevant. Zoe Quinn was one of the original
- [Space Raptor Butt Invasion - Chuck Tingle is the Hero that the Puppies Need, if not the one they Want](https://deathisbadblog.com/space-raptor-butt-invasion-chuck-tingle-is-the-hero-that-the-puppies-need-if-not-the-one-they-want/) - Molly Tanzer, who I consider a friend, loves Chuck Tingle and finds him hilarious, so I figured I’d give this whole Space Raptor Butt Invasion thing a look. I was surprised by what I found, so I’ve written up a full overview below. The most intriguing part, which I will expound on in the “Slammed
- [SF/F Review – Crystal Society](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-crystal-society/) - Crystal Society, by Max Harms (note that this link takes you to the author’s page where you can download the entire book free in many formats. You can also buy it from Amazon, at the bottom of this review) Synopsis: We follow the birth of an AI that’s been programmed with multiple goal-threads (ala Society of
- [Reasons to Vote, Reasons to Throw Out Ballots](https://deathisbadblog.com/reasons-to-vote-reasons-to-throw-out-ballots/) - There's a reason the Speculative Lit fan community gets together every year to vote for their favorite works. It's because "which work did the most people think was the most impactful" is an open question. There's a lot of chat. Reviews and recommendation lists highlight the top few dozen or so that the community really thinks
- [In response](https://deathisbadblog.com/in-response/) - I would like to see the community come together to defend themselves. But I am a very small minority, and that won't happen. I will, of course, go along with the majority consensus, because I like my community and I'm not an asshole. I will go to WorldCon and enjoy myself. This year can be grand in the
- [Puppies Are Back](https://deathisbadblog.com/puppies-are-back/) - Well. The Puppies managed to choke out the Hugos for a second year. (aside from Best Novel, which has few enough items published each year that the popular vote isn't diluted too much). 2016 Hugo Finalists Rabid Puppies List Sad Puppies List I would like to renew my call to void all Rabid Puppy ballots, but
- [Link Archive 2/9/16 - 3/31/16](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-2916-33116/) - Why did Apple push back so hard against the FBI? "When you're making $50-100Bn a year in profit, you can't put the money in a bank: you have to *become* a bank. And that's what Apple Pay is about ... The FBI thought they were asking for a way to unlock a mobile phone, because
- [Sad Puppies - still more bark than bite](https://deathisbadblog.com/sad-puppies-still-more-bark-than-bite/) - I was recently disappointed by the Sad Puppies. This year I am (for the second year) a coordinator for Denver Comic Con's literary programming. A certain author who lives in the Colorado area is a strong Puppy-supporter, and last year I asked her to participate in a panel discussing the Puppies phenomenon. She declined, which made
- [Quarantine Your Rabid Puppies](https://deathisbadblog.com/quarantine-your-rabid-puppies/) - Posted by Rabid Puppy leader "Vox Day" in 2015. At least he's direct. There’s absolutely no reason Vox Day’s Rabid Puppy vandals should have any effect on the Hugo awards this year. The Rabid Puppies have done us a huge favor by publically posting their entire slate, and vowing to vote in lockstep. This makes
- [SF/F Review - The Devil's Eye](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-devils-eye/) - The Devil’s Eye, by Jack McDevitt Synopsis: After visiting a distant colony on vacation, a famous author commits suicide, but not before sending an obscene sum of money to a wealthy antique dealer so he’ll investigate why. Book Review: I think McDevitt phoned this one in. I strained to find any sort of emotion, or any reason
- [Why "Vandals"?](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-vandals/) - I've had a few people ask why I called the Sad Puppies campaign "vandalism". Some of this will be restating what I said before, but - Because the organizers of the Sad Puppies won't care for WorldCon after those who did care for it are driven away. Organizing and running a con like this is
- [New Xena not so progressive?](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-xena-not-so-progressive/) - I was a HUGE Xenite back in the day. One might say I was a hard-core nutball. And I was super-excited to hear that the new Xena series is going to let Xena and Gabby out of the closet! But here's a strange conundrum... is the new Xena less progressive than the old? The original show
- [My 2015 Hugo Nominations](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-2015-hugo-nominations/) - There's just over two weeks until the deadline to get in your Hugo nominations! By long tradition, here are the things I’m nominating for Hugos this year. Kinda like a “short story recommendations” thing. Due to the Puppies fiasco of last year, it has become fashionable to give a recommendations list of 10-or-so works, rather
- [SF/F Review – The Killing Moon](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-killing-moon/) - The Killing Moon, by N.K. Jemisin Synopsis: Warrior-monks discover that their king is fomenting a war with a neighboring kingdom, and take action to stop him. Book Review: This book is amazing, and everyone should read it. First, the world is beautifully detailed, and presented to us piece by piece exactly as we need to know it.
- [A crappy day](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-crappy-day/) - This is a bit personal, but I needed to write it. Recently I ran afoul of the type of leftist activist that, until that moment, I had always assumed was a ridiculous strawman constructed by racists. The kind you hear about in outrage-peddling articles about how awful “Social Justice Warriors” are. I understand that there really is
- [Trump's Penis](https://deathisbadblog.com/trumps-penis/) - Yes, this is the level we've reached in American politics. I swear that in 4 months Trump and the French people (yes, ALL of them) are going to come out and be like "Guys! Guys! You should have seen the looks on your faces! OMG it was so good! We really got you!" But to get
- [Privacy Hesitation?](https://deathisbadblog.com/privacy-hesitation/) - A comment in a previous post brought up a privacy concern that I've seen a lot, but never understood. I've met a number of people who don't want the stores they shop at to keep a database of what they typically buy. For example: >I’ve heard stories of people buying diapers for a friend and later
- [Personal Organic Pesticide Dispute](https://deathisbadblog.com/personal-organic-pesticide-dispute/) - This is for future reference for myself, so I don’t have to hunt down these links again every six months. Organic pesticides must be cultivated from natural sources, rather than produces synthetically. They are toxic, because that’s the whole point. Where they are less toxic than synthetic compounds, they are used in greater amounts
- [The Bayesian Conspiracy Podcast](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-bayesian-conspiracy-podcast/) - Because projects seem to multiply over time, I am now part of a new podcast on Rationality! It's a conversational podcast for people familiar with Less Wrong/SSC and the new Rationalist movement, but who don't consider themselves Black-Belt Bayesians. I expect the few first episodes to be a bit rough, but give it a listen
- [Col. Bernie Sanders Bringing The Chickens Home to Roost](https://deathisbadblog.com/col-bernie-sanders-bringing-the-chickens-home-to-roost/) - In the late 80s and early 90s, there was a mini-baby boom, as the original Baby Boomer generation reached their peak reproducing years. This has been called the “Echo Boom”. The Oct 1995 issue of American Demographics identified 1989-1993 as the peak birth years of the Echo Boom. We know them today as Millennials. Aproximately
- [Real Money vs "Fake" Money](https://deathisbadblog.com/real-money-vs-fake-money/) - It’s nice to see Monopoly catching up with the times. In a new version of Monopoly, there is no cash included. All transactions are done via a bank card and a scanner that will add or deduct money from an account as you purchase or sell properties (or pay fines, pass Go, etc). It’s my
- [SF/F Review – The Time Keeper](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-time-keeper/) - The Time Keeper, by Mitch Albom Synopsis: A crappy parable about the folly of measuring time. Book Review: This book is stupid. It is stupid on multiple levels. The most obvious level is the prose. The Time Keeper is written at a second grade level. It was literally like reading “See Spot Run” for 100 pages. I was
- [The Radioactive Waste of Outrage-Marketing](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-radioactive-waste-of-outrage-marketing/) - Here’s a silly post by a guy trying to sell books by stirring up outrage. In short: he wanted to think of some really original reason for an AI to decide to wipe out humanity, a reason that readers can really empathize with. He went with the old AIs-realize-that-humanity-attacks-things-they-view-as-a-threat, and-thinks-humanity-will-see-AI-as-a-threat. This is kinda the opposite
- [Civilizational Hacks](https://deathisbadblog.com/civilizational-hacks/) - Today there is a parade in my city (Denver) to celebrate a Super Bowl victory. I caught a few glimpses of the prep on the TV, and it strikes me how similar this sort of behavior is to the Ancient Roman practice of the Triumph. It made me very happy. Because a Triumph necessitated the
- [Link Archive 12/2/15 – 2/8/16](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-12215-2816/) - Until today the whole "spirit animal" thing seemed bizarre to me. Just one more thing kids these days do that I don't get. Then I read "Crystal Society" (by Max Harms) and OMG!!!!! FACE IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL!! I finally get what that term means, and it's perfect! :D The book applies Society of Mind
- [SF/F Review – The Affinities](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-affinities/) - The Affinities, by Robert Charles Wilson Synopsis: A group of like-minded people who met on the internet form an intentional community. Book Review: This book starts out FANTASTIC. First, and most obvious, is the sheer writing skill that Wilson displays. His prose is concise and evocative, managing to do with a few lines what would take other
- [SF/F Review - The Mirror Empire](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-mirror-empire/) - The Mirror Empire, by Kameron Hurley Synopsis: A fantasy world is invaded by its own recently(?)-divergent parallel universe. Book Review: The Mirror Empire had a lot of promise. It starts with interesting societies (one where the social norm is that there is no physical touch without explicit consent beforehand! I know a number people who would
- [Trump is a Puppy](https://deathisbadblog.com/trump-is-a-puppy/) - One of the more fascinating aspects of Donald Trump’s run for the presidency is that the Republican establishment doesn’t like him or want him. Dan Carlin comments on this in his latest episode of Common Sense . To summarize his relevant points: The Republican Party is not officially a government body. It is essentially a semi-private
- [Three Bodies At Mitanni (again)](https://deathisbadblog.com/three-bodies-at-mitanni-again/) - I posted this on the /rational subreddit, but I'm mirroring it here as well. I want to finally talk about Three Bodies at Mitanni, now that the people I talk to most have access to it. :) Lots of spoilers below! . . . I'm still into themes of consciousness, specifically as discussed in Meditions
- [New Short Story - One Hundred Words](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-short-story-one-hundred-words/) - My second published story is now available!! It's just a little flash piece, 600 words, but I'm still super happy someone liked it enough to pay money for it! :) Read it at Evil Girlfriend Media
- [What fresh bullshit is this?](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-fresh-bullshit-is-this/) - I've recently seen two vape-shaming attacks. I'd like to point out this is different from mocking people for their hat or beard styles. If this sort of thing succeeds in reducing incidence of vaping it will A. make your enviroment less pleasant (assuming you dislike the smell of tobacco smoke) and B. lead directly to
- [The abyss gazes also into you](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-abyss-gazes-also-into-you/) - (minor spoiler for The Force Awakens below) I broke down and saw the new Star Wars movie, in large part so that I could participate in conversations with my friends. I was hoping I’d be surprised, but I didn’t expect to be bored. I left confused, because there’s all sorts of really great things to
- [A clarification](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-clarification/) - In response to yesterday's post, this comment was made on the reddit HPMoR subforum: I sort of see "encouraging a fanbase to all buy supporting memberships to Worldcon to get specific items added to the ballot" as more of a questionable action I'd much prefer to get more people involved in WorldCon in general. I would
- [Harry Potter and the 2016 World Science Fiction Convention](https://deathisbadblog.com/harry-potter-and-the-2016-world-science-fiction-convention/) - I think it'd be great if HPMoR was nominated for a Hugo, and I feel it deserves at least a nomination. To that effect, I wrote this post. Mirror below. What are the Hugo Awards? The Hugo Awards are one of the most prestigious Science Fiction and Fantasy awards. They are also the only ones awarded
- [EW shits on new writers](https://deathisbadblog.com/ew-shits-on-new-writers/) - Entertainment Weekly took a GIANT SHIT all over the very concept of writing fiction of any sort, let alone fanfiction. "Submit your best fanfic" they say. From the terms and conditions: “Entries become sole property of Sponsor and none will be acknowledged or returned.” To quote Rachael Acks: “if you EVER see anything that says
- [SF/F Review – Best Served Cold](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-best-served-cold/) - Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie Synopsis: A Grimdark Count-of-Monte-Cristo style revenge story. Brief Book Review: What a difference a skilled writer can make. I can’t help but compare books I’m reading to one’s I’ve just finished, and the difference in quality and craftsmanship between this and Mira Grant’s Blackout slapped me in the face
- [Sad Puppies 4 - The Olive Branch?](https://deathisbadblog.com/sad-puppies-4-the-olive-branch/) - One of the organizers of Sad Puppies 4 recently requested one or more panel slots at the 2016 WorldCon (where the Hugos are awarded). I am all for this!!! Last year's WorldCon was marred by the Sad/Rabid Puppies fiasco, but you'd barely know it if you were just a general attendee. Basically nothing was said about
- [SF/F Review – Aurora](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-aurora/) - Aurora, by Kim Stanley Robinson Synopsis: A generation ship arrives at the world it is supposed to colonize, and finds it uncolonizable. Book Review: I like grimdark, and I like enthusiastic exuberant fiction. I don’t consider this contradictory, because both types of fiction make you feel something strongly, even if the emotions are dissimilar. What I want
- [Traitor Baru vs Traitor Baru](https://deathisbadblog.com/traitor-baru-vs-traitor-baru/) - This post contains MASSIVE spoilers for The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson. Please note that this is one of the few books were that is actually a really big deal. The ending changes a lot about what you thought you knew, and knowing that beforehand changes how you will read the book. If you have any
- [Civic Duty vs Civility](https://deathisbadblog.com/civic-duty-vs-civility/) - I've never seen this movie, or even heard of it before 5 minutes ago. I have no opinion on it. I. I prefer to be around self-identified Aspiring Rationalists. I feel like a fraud when I'm around them, because I am not nearly as smart or as rigorous as the Rationalists I read. But I
- [Using the NRA for good](https://deathisbadblog.com/using-the-nra-for-good/) - You gotta admire the NRA for their dedication. They are the embodiment of heroic responsibility, IF one restricts that responsibility sole to defending a right to own firearms. I enjoy fiction about bad-ass motherfuckers, in the sense that they absolutely do whatever is necessary to Get Shit Done. Takeshi Kovacs and Rorschach are these sorts
- [Zuckerberg's Moral Karma](https://deathisbadblog.com/zuckerbergs-moral-karma/) - I generally don't go seeking out drama. It's made my life much better. So when I first started seeing posts about how terrible Mark Zuckerberg is, I thought "Well, thank goodness that's another controversy I won't ever have to get embroiled in. Everyone I know is already sane." Turns out I was wrong. I personally,
- [Denver Comic Con 2016 Panel Submissions](https://deathisbadblog.com/denver-comic-con-2016-panel-submissions/) - Colorado People! (or anyone who wishes to come to Denver in June for DCC 2016) I'm co-coordinating the Literary Programming track at Denver Comic Con again this year. Would you like to be on a panel, and have a panel idea? Submit it here! Preference given to published authors, but it's not a strict requirement.
- [Link Archive 10/1/15 – 12/1/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-10115-12115/) - If you want to say Thank You, don't say Sorry The Beggar CEO and Sucker Culture "We wear our unpaid, uncompensated overtime as a badge of honor. We sleep less, brag about our caffeine intake, and are available for calls and emails 18 hours per day. We measure our importance by how many half hour slots
- [SF/F Review - The Traitor Baru Cormorant](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-traitor-baru-cormorant/) - The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson Synopsis: To overthrow the Empire that devastated her homeland, Baru infiltrates it to become one of its powerful bureaucrats and destroy it from within. Book Review: The first thing you see in the book is the map (below). And right away the book lets you know this will be different
- [The media would create a civil war purely for the ratings...](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-media-would-create-a-civil-war-purely-for-the-ratings/) - ...and it is our fault. Remember Starbucks Red Cup Controversy? Where the media spent days telling us how christians are outraged that the Starbuck holiday cup is plain red instead of having christmas trees and snowflakes on it? And it turns out that it was just one christian shock-jock type, and every single real christian in
- [Appropriating the White Guys](https://deathisbadblog.com/appropriating-the-white-guys/) - Two cultural appropriation notes. 1. I attended MileHiCon over the weekend (an awesome local SF Lit con), during which time I went to a “Writing Characters with Mental Illness” panel. A relative of mine has fairly severe shizoaffective disorder, so I’m familiar with what mental illness looks like IRL, but I’m not a healthcare professional so
- [SF/F Review - The Water Knife](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-water-knife/) - The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi Synopsis: Grimdark near future where the American Southwest collapses into low-level civil war over water. Book Review: Bacigalupi is known for his post-environmental-collapse dystopias, and this is another fantastic entry in that style. Many of Paolo’s works carry a theme of ‘We are living in an absurdly wealthy period, where we
- ["Cultural Appropriation" censorship](https://deathisbadblog.com/cultural-appropriation-censorship/) - A literary agent I'm acquainted with recently posted "we're getting wind that publishers are extremely wary of buying diverse books by "non-diverse" authors because they don't want to deal with readers' accusations of cultural appropriation." If I can only ever write white male middle-class characters in my stories, I will kill myself. It's just plain
- [Won't Get Fooled Again](https://deathisbadblog.com/wont-get-fooled-again/) - I keep seeing excitement about the new Star Wars, and I can forgive it from my younger friends, who weren't around for Phantom Menace. But no one over the age of 30 has any excuse, IMHO. Do we, as a species, never learn??
- [SF/F Review - Mort](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-mort/) - Mort, by Terry Pratchett Synopsis: Death wants to take a holiday, so he takes on an apprentice to cover for him, and things go as well as you might expect. Book Review: If you’re one of those people who hasn’t read Pratchett before and wants to know what the big deal is, here’s half of the big
- [Update](https://deathisbadblog.com/update/) - October is a very busy month for me at work. I'm working long hours, and don't have much time on my breaks for typing. Hopefully in a week or two I can go back to more regular posting. In the meantime, here's a bit of interesting news - a gun store was held liable for
- [The other side of the fence](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-other-side-of-the-fence/) - I realize some people are just genetically monogamous. But if that's not you, here's yet another reason to not be afraid of opening up your relationship - it makes you appreciate your SO even more. It's a cliche that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It's because you can't
- [Link Archive 8/7/15 – 9/30/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-8715-93015/) - This is really ridiculously sweet. Mom surprises her trans teenager with her first dose of hormones. I was saddened to discover that Beaver Anus is only a miniscule fraction of food flavoring in the US. :( I apologize to anyone who I told otherwise. It made a great story. Wil Wheaton on why he supports a
- [It is Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/it-is-petrov-day/) - It is Petrov Day again, partially thanks to Stanislaw Petrov.
- [SF/F Review - The Humanoids](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-humanoids/) - The Humanoids, by Jack Williamson Synopsis: Failed Utopia: Benevolent AI is too paternalistic, doesn’t allow humans to do anything, humans rebel. Book Review: Atompunk isn’t a term I’m terribly comfortable with, because I think the practice of adding the –punk suffix to everything is reaching the point of risibility. But for those unfamiliar, it’s a sub-genre that
- [What even is Cultural Appropriation?](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-even-is-cultural-appropriation/) - I’ve always believed that Humanity improves when cultures are allowed to mix and mesh. As such, “cultural appropriation” never made much sense to me. Where it’s meshing, it’s good, and where it’s racism, it’s bad. Why are some people conflating the two? So I was pretty happy about these two articles: To the new culture
- [SF/F Review - Vermilion](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-vermilion/) - Vermilion, by Molly Tanzer Synopsis: A weird western following a half-Chinese exorcist as she tracks down an evil force in the Colorado Rockies that’s killing her countrymen and turning them into undead. Book Review: Boy am I conflicted about this book. It has all the trappings of something really great, but then it falls short of the
- [Clever Liars are still Liars](https://deathisbadblog.com/clever-liars-are-still-liars/) - This add is getting a lot of buzz because of how clever it is. Benjamin Lee at The Gaurdian gave a movie two stars (a rather low review), and the movie studio used that rating on their poster. It's circled in the picture. I had to search for it a bit, because I couldn't figure
- [Profanity](https://deathisbadblog.com/profanity/) - George Carlin Why can’t you slur a straight, white male? From what I’ve been told (and what I remember of my childhood, though that’s probably very skewed) words like “fuck” and “shit” used to be a big deal. You couldn’t say them, and you couldn’t print them. Nowadays, unless children are around, no one really
- [SF/F Review – The Ocean at the End of the Lane](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane/) - The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman Synopsis: A seven-year-old boy’s life is turned upside down when an Eldritch Monstrosity moves into his house disguised as a nanny. Book Review: Anyone familiar with the SF/F scene doesn’t need me to tell them this, but I’ll reiterate it – Neil Gaiman is a hell
- [WorldCon 2015 Highlights](https://deathisbadblog.com/worldcon-2015-highlights/) - Wow, where to begin? The thing that sticks out more than anything else is the award for Best Related Work. Because everything up until that award wasn't too badly vandalized by the Puppies. Best Related Work was the first big pile of crap that was nothing but awful Puppy trash. This was the big turning
- [A Puppy View](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-puppy-view/) - This post by Ken Burnside is illuminating. This is the sort of thing we need, to keep a dialog open and reduce hostility. Obviously I don't agree with everything, but it's a good post. Normally I post the text of things that appear on FB, but this is very long, and I feel too much like
- [Why I Try To Engage Distasteful People](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-i-try-to-engage-distasteful-people/) - Someone recently asked me why I try to defend people who I disagree with on moral issues. Their point was that 'If someone wants to publicly deny the rights of my friends or family I am not going to debate. I am going to tell them to shut up.' (paraphrased) While I agree that denying
- [Ye shall know them by their fruits](https://deathisbadblog.com/ye-shall-know-them-by-thier-fruits/) - fresh puppy "threats" Over the weekend, the overwhelming majority of SF Fandom smacked the Sad/Rabid Puppies on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. It was a smashing victory for civility, when even those who normally enjoy the “old school” style of SF said “We’re not OK with you guys being assholes, cut it out.” No
- [Puppies - All Bark, No Bite](https://deathisbadblog.com/puppies-all-bark-no-bite/) - Lets get the awards themselves out of the way first. As you've all heard by now, the Puppies were shut out. The community managed to successfully defend themselves at the first level. Congrats to all of us, I'm proud. :) I had thought it possible there would be some disruption of the awards. Not necessarily
- [SF/F Review – Startide Rising](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-startide-rising/) - Startide Rising, by David Brin Synopsis: Disaster recovery after a starship crashes on an abandoned planet, while a space battle takes place overhead. With sapient dolphins! Book Review: This is a fun adventure tale, featuring lots of problem solving, which puts it right up my alley. The book starts off with a bang, dropping us right into
- [Manufactured Outrage vs Worthy Opposition](https://deathisbadblog.com/manufactured-outrage-vs-worthy-opposition/) - The last few days everyone in Hugo-ville has been in a tizzy about Lou Antonelli contacting the police in Spokane. I’ve seen it referred to as a SWATing. Guys… no. Chill the fuck out. A SWATing is when the SWAT team actually breaks into your house. It’s terrible for a number of reasons, but primary
- [Link Archive 6/17/15 – 8/6/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-61715-8615/) - CIVIC MYTHOLOGY - The neat part is, everything under this tag is true, it just uses poetic language. "Canonically, the United States of America once possessed a unique artifact known as the Demon Core, but it was consumed in the process of summoning a miniature star" The new Deadpool trailer looks fun. But why in god's
- [Print Prestige?](https://deathisbadblog.com/print-prestige/) - Tldr: What really matters is connecting to our readers. And you can’t connect to people if they can’t even read your work. There are three major Speculative Fiction periodicals in the USA that still print on dead trees – Asimov’s, F&SF, and Analog. They’ve been around for a very long time, and due to their
- [I AM PUBLISHED!!](https://deathisbadblog.com/i-am-published/) - Asimov's Science Fiction has purchased one of my stories!!! This is the first thing I've written to be published. I'm very proud. :) Edit: So excited I forgot to say: It is "Red Legacy", on page 48. I'm not sure one can call it Rationalist Fiction, but it is at least rational. It follows a
- [Defense Against The Dark Arts re: The 2015 Hugo Awards](https://deathisbadblog.com/defense-against-the-dark-arts-re-the-2015-hugo-awards/) - This year has been extraordinarily bad in terms of fiction nominees for the Hugos, which I blame primarily on the Puppies campaign. However it’s not a total loss, there is at least one work in each category that I genuinely liked, and would vote for. Which puts me in a bit of bind, because now
- [Contracts are weird](https://deathisbadblog.com/contracts-are-weird/) - It’s weird that governments enforce contracts. I’ve been reading some upcoming changes to a few details of a subset of contract law, and that fact just struck me in the face again. Say I’m a representative of the government. Two people come up to me, hand me a piece of paper they both signed some
- [SF/F Review – Hugo Nominated Short Stories](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-hugo-nominated-short-stories/) - These reviews got long, so I’m breaking them into two parts. Novelettes yesterday, Short Stories today, as that’s the same order we discussed them in my bookclub. Overall Puppy Note (preemptive!): It’s impossible not to talk about the Puppies heavily when reviewing these stories, since the Puppies vandalized the Hugos this year. As such, many
- [SF/F Review - Hugo Nominated Novelettes](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-hugo-nominated-novelettes/) - These reviews got long, so I’m breaking them into two parts. Novelettes today, Short Stories tomorrow, as that’s the same order we discussed them in my bookclub. Overall Puppy Note (preemptive!): It’s impossible not to talk about the Puppies heavily when reviewing these stories, since the Puppies vandalized the Hugos this year. As such,
- [SF/F Review – The Dark Between The Stars](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-dark-between-the-stars/) - The Dark Between The Stars, by Keven J. Anderson Synopsis: A “space opera.” War among the stars, as humans are attacked by The Darkness (not the band). Book Review: First, a minor quibble. This book isn’t SF, it’s Fantasy In Space. You will have to make a conscious effort to forget any physics you know to preserve the
- [AI in fiction](https://deathisbadblog.com/ai-in-fiction/) - On Facebook someone asked for fiction with good AI. They said "My problem with most fictional presentations of AI is that they're like dorky humans in metal suits." I think part of the problem is that when writing for humans, you need some human-relatable characters. In most works that include an AI, it’s gotta be
- [A stupid little confession](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-stupid-little-confession/) - It bugs me a lot that I generally cannot answer the question "Why am I even here?" Last week's series of posts was me taking another stab at that question, which - I know - has been bugging people since people became people. There's been no shortage of times that I've wanted to just ragequit
- [SF/F Review – Ancillary Sword](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-ancillary-sword/) - Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie Synopsis: A populist-leaning general sides with the underclasses against the ruling elites in a far-future analog of Imperial Rome. Book Review: Leckie had set expectations high with her debut, Ancillary Justice, which was stunning. In this sequel she delivers in some areas, but falls short of her former glory in a
- [Removing The Person From The Output](https://deathisbadblog.com/removing-the-person-from-the-output/) - Recent comments about the previous post regarding valuing how brain-states are achieved are deserving of reflection and reply. Rowan: how is the process of playing Doom without cheat codes distinguished from the process of repeatedly pushing a button connected to certain electrodes in your head that produce the emotions associated with playing Doom without
- [Announcement - Second Success!!](https://deathisbadblog.com/announcement-second-success/) - AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I WILL BE PUBLISHED A SECOND TIME!!! My short story "Of All Possible Worlds" will be in "Swords v Cthulhu", coming out early next year! I will have written at least two things worth a damn before I die!!!!! :D :D :D
- [God Mode is Super Lame](https://deathisbadblog.com/god-mode-is-super-lame/) - Based on yesterday’s post, already two people asked why not just wirehead with a large and complex set of emotions. I’m old enough to have played the original Doom when it came out (sooo old!). It had a cheat-code that made you invincible, commonly called god-mode. The first thing you notice is that it’s super
- [Humans are emotion-feeling machines](https://deathisbadblog.com/humans-are-emotion-feeling-machines/) - I don’t mean that humans are machines that happen to feel emotions. I mean that humans are designed to be machines whose output is the feeling of emotions—“emotion-feeling” is the thing of value that we produce. Humanity has wondered what the purpose of life is for so long that it’s one of history’s oldest running jokes.
- [Taylor Swift is the new Harlan Ellison](https://deathisbadblog.com/taylor-swift-is-the-new-harlan-ellison/) - If you haven’t heard yet, Taylor Swift wouldn’t allow Apple Music to stream her latest album. For the first three month free trial period every user gets, artists would get no royalties, and Swift took issue with being told to work for free. Apple capitulated in record time. In our last book club session, when
- [Link Archive 5/7/15 – 6/16/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-5715-61615/) - Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are an item! "Yes, they are Girlfriends without the jealousy of monogamy." A lot of culture is story-telling and myth-making. Tom Cruise movies and video games are story-telling, and they're as much a part of culture as religion is. The Game That Let Me Mourn My Lost Faith Chris Christie suggests
- [SF/F Review - The Goblin Emperor](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-goblin-emperor/) - The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison Synopsis: An abused boy discovers he’s the heir to an empire, and learns that Friendship Is Magic. Book Review: The strength of this book is its characters. They are superbly fleshed out and feel like real, complex people. Their interactions are realistic and compelling. This is particularly true of Addison’s portrayal
- [Modernizing The Hugos](https://deathisbadblog.com/modernizing-the-hugos/) - This started out as a reply to a comment, and became long enough I decided to make it a post. If you'd like to skip to the chase, the bottom two paragraphs are the important bits, and my point is "It's time to end the requirement that a Hugo can only be given to a
- [Religion in SF/F – DCC2015](https://deathisbadblog.com/religion-in-sff-dcc2015/) - In addition to coordinating the Lit Track, I moderated three panels at Denver Comic Con last weekend. This is the audio of the third one. It was near the end of the third day and everyone was exhausted. I missed a few things, and fell into the trap of repeating myself at one point. But overall I
- [Everything I Need to Know About Life I Learned From Super-Villains - DCC2015](https://deathisbadblog.com/everything-i-need-to-know-about-life-i-learned-from-super-villains-dcc/) - In addition to coordinating the Lit Track, I moderated three panels at Denver Comic Con last weekend. This is the audio of the second one. It was a little rough at first, but once I got into the groove things went very well. I think I did OK for my second time ever moderating a panel.
- [What Can You Say To A Young Adult - DCC2015](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-can-you-say-to-a-young-adult-dcc2015/) - In addition to coordinating the Lit Track, I moderated three panels at Denver Comic Con last weekend. This is the audio of the first one. It's a panel on YA lit, and writing YA, by YA Authors. Panelists are: Dan Wells, Amanda Strong, Angie Hodapp, Gail Wagner, and Michelle Kellogg. Moderator Eneasz Brodski. This was
- [I'm in a music video](https://deathisbadblog.com/im-in-a-music-video/) - Hey, I'm in a music video! It's a fandom vid, done by the great people at Geekiarchy, parodying Cher Lloyd's "Want U Back." I show up for a few seconds as a FOX executive. :) It was crazy fun to shoot, if exhausting! Nathan Fillion retweeted it, which is pretty damn awesome. :D Enjoy!
- [Denver Comic Con 2015 Recap](https://deathisbadblog.com/denver-comic-con-2015-recap/) - For the past couple weeks I was working pretty intensely on setting up the Denver Comic Con Literary Track (getting authors on panels, scheduling, etc). This all came to a crescendo this weekend, during which time I was in the 200s Hall all three days (mostly room 205) meeting authors, making sure everything was running
- [Feminist Propaganda](https://deathisbadblog.com/feminist-propaganda/) - I saw Fury Road over the weekend. It's a fantastic action flick. If that's feminist propaganda, 98% of actions movies would be greatly improved by being feminist propaganda.
- [SF/F Review - Skin Game](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-skin-game/) - Skin Game, by Jim Butcher Synopsis: An urban-fantasy supernatural bank heist Book Review: This is a frustrating book, because it has some very cool parts, but some very big failures as well, and you can see the unrealized potential within it. It reads very much like a novelization of the Buffy TV Series if it had been
- [FOX ruins Lucifer](https://deathisbadblog.com/fox-ruins-lucifer/) - If your protagonist is literally Satan, and the most interesting thing you can think to do with that is put him in a glorified Police Procedural, you need to fire your ENTIRE CREATIVE STAFF >:(
- [Happily Ever After](https://deathisbadblog.com/happily-ever-after/) - This is my 5th ToastMasters speech, titled "Happily Ever After." It basically just retreads a lot of stuff I've posted here before, but now in audio format.
- [Link Archive 4/1/15 – 5/6/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-4115-5615/) - via wondermark.com Oh shit! My SO, much more concerned about animal rights than I am, may well be a better utilitarian than me. Ozy: We have seen the Utility Monster, and it is us. An examination of the politics of the Harry Potter books. "the whole Wizarding World in general, has been living under a
- [In the grim darkness of the Hugo future, there is only Rabies](https://deathisbadblog.com/in-the-grim-darkness-of-the-hugo-future-there-is-only-rabies/) - I just re-read “Is this art?” Great post, and short, take five minutes to go read it if you can. Most relevant part is: > If Person A uses the word "art" to mean "something beautiful that required skill to create" and Person B uses the word "art" to mean "something intentionally created to make
- [Why “The Parliament of Beasts and Birds” rocks](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-the-parliament-of-beasts-and-birds-rocks/) - Normally I would hold off on saying anything about the Puppy Short Fiction until I do my full "Short Stories and Novelettes" post after my bookclub discusses them all. But that won't be for another two months, and I keep seeing a ton of people saying John C Wright's "The Parliament of Beasts and Birds"
- [Taste in Art?](https://deathisbadblog.com/taste-in-art/) - For the commenters and others who recently objected that art can't be objectively measured--I agree to a point. Far be it for me to claim that beauty isn't a subjective experience! But there's a difference between "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and "Storytelling has no standards." Claiming there are no standards and everything
- [Brad Torgersen goes Full Post-Modern](https://deathisbadblog.com/brad-torgersen-goes-full-post-modern/) - So I was wrong about being done with the Puppies posts, because I just had the surprising pleasure of watching Brad Torgersen, self-avowed conservative, go Full Post-Modern. Pics included to show I'm not making this up. "Gents, thing is, there is *no* objective standard. None. Pretense to the contrary, is just that: pretense....Again, no objective
- [2015 Hugo Nominated Short Stories & Novelettes](https://deathisbadblog.com/2015-hugo-nominated-short-stories-novelettes/) - As always, I have done my best to find the Hugo Nominated Short Stories and Novelettes that are available free online and post the links here, for the convenience of my book club. Short Stories “On A Spiritual Plain”, Lou Antonelli (also in pdf) “The Parliament of Beasts and Birds”, John C. Wright “A Single
- [SF/F Review - City of Stairs](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-city-of-stairs/) - City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett Synopsis: In a steampunk setting, an Agatha Heterodyne-esque government agent investigates a professor’s murder and finds herself wrapped up in political machinations, and the cultists of a long-dead god. Book Review: The first chapter was boring and unnecessary, the rest of the book is great! The thing that most stands out
- [Final Puppy Thoughts](https://deathisbadblog.com/final-puppy-thoughts/) - After this I think I'm done with the Puppies for a while, aside from perhaps some Puppy Notes on my reviews. But I must say, I am puzzled by their choice of targets sometimes. They seem to hate Throne of the Crescent Moon, though I'm not sure why. It's exactly what they want - mindless
- [Eric Flint's Proposed Solution](https://deathisbadblog.com/eric-flints-proposed-solution/) - Eric Flint just wrote a long post where he expounds on what he believes is causing the divide between mass audiences and WorldCon voters. And, as has been pointed out by numerous people by now, it is not politics (as the Puppies initially claimed... and still do?) It is, in fact, very long. However it
- [Dinosaur Dissections](https://deathisbadblog.com/dinosaur-dissections/) - I've had a few people call me out on my statement that Rachel Swirsky’s “If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love” is simply good writing regardless of if it appeals to one's taste or not (previous post). They said I should put my money where my mouth is and say why it is good. Before we begin,
- [Hey by the way - Vellum](https://deathisbadblog.com/hey-by-the-way-vellum/) - If I momentarily have the attention of anyone who loved If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love... may I also recommend Hal Duncan's Vellum? It is my favorite book EVER, and the entire thing is a master stroke of experimenting with structure. And it has the same theme as Dinosaur does too. To briefly quote myself
- [A Word about "Dinosaur, My Love"](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-word-about-dinosaur-my-love/) - Every time I see a Puppy bring up Rachel Swirsky’s “If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love” to use it as an example of “bad message fiction that we’re fighting against” I feel embarrassed for them. Like, I’m trying to cut you guys some slack, but you’re making it really hard on me. So let’s
- [SF/F Review – Ancillary Justice](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-ancillary-justice/) - Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie Synopsis: A warship’s AI, inhabiting a human body, seeks revenge upon the ruler of a galactic Roman-esque empire. Book Review: Fascinating! For starters, I absolutely love everything about this setting. From the extremely-Roman empire, to the opt-in procreation (yay for default-on contraceptive implants for everyone!), to the genderless society. In addition, I
- [SF/F Review - Annihilation](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-annihilation/) - Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer Synopsis: An expedition of four unnamed women explores a strange “Area X” that is cut off from the rest of the world and rife with paranormal activity. Book Review: This book is cross between Myst and Lost, with some Cabin in the Woods thrown in. So you’d think it would be great, right? But something
- [The Media Dragons Are Laughing](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-media-dragons-are-laughing/) - The weirdest part of this whole thing is seeing how the other side sees us… and realizing I’d see us that way too if the media was all I had to go on. Larry just posted a very justifiably angry post about how the media are portraying the Sad Puppies. I’ve been following them off
- [Sad Puppies Rebuttal](https://deathisbadblog.com/sad-puppies-rebuttal/) - Man, every time I read Larry I admire him more. Seriously, if he would come to WorldCon I would be stoked, I'd love to meet him. He just wrote a long response to the Sad Puppies Victory. My two big complaints about Sad Puppies are: 1. They replaced the conversation of a couple thousand people
- [This Year's Hugo Awards are the Decree of Three People = Victory for Democracy!](https://deathisbadblog.com/this-years-hugo-awards-are-the-decree-of-three-people-victory-for-democracy/) - So spent a couple hours last night talking about Sad Puppies. These are just my opinions, and probably not of interest to anyone, but hey, it's my blog. :) Other people's objections are in bold. I started with my statement equating the Sad Puppies with the Vandals, and when asked why I'd used that term I
- [Last one, really (or: Reviews!)](https://deathisbadblog.com/last-one-really-or-reviews/) - OK, I'm finishing up my week of talking about Red Legacy. I'm sure everyone's bored of it by now. I considered just stopping and not posting today, but hey, this blog is as much an archive for me as anything else, and I wanted to keep this next part around. (oh, and yes, this story
- [Decisive Win For Larry Correia](https://deathisbadblog.com/decisive-win-for-larry-correia/) - Wow! I expected him to get on at least one work in each category, but I did not expect this! A majority everywhere that it matters, and a few sweeps! Sad Puppy Slate vs Hugo Nominations Three out of Five for Best Novel (there's a possibility it could have been 4 out of 5, we won't
- [To Larry Correia: We Want A Sad Puppies Awards!](https://deathisbadblog.com/to-larry-correia-we-want-a-sad-puppies-awards/) - While I would like to see Larry at WorldCon this year, I no longer think "taking back the Hugos" is viable path. As mentioned in my previous post, it would mainly lead to wasteful culture-wars that accomplish nothing and leave everyone worse off. To recap the last bit of that post (because it was long
- [Barbarians At The Gates](https://deathisbadblog.com/barbarians-at-the-gates/) - So it's obvious at this point that the traditional WorldCon audience should no longer sit back and hope that the Sad Puppies will go away. Larry & Crew just spanked the Hugo nominations, getting a majority in every category that matters, and fully taking over two of them. The Hugos have been, for at least as long
- [To Larry Correia: Well Played!](https://deathisbadblog.com/to-larry-correia-well-played/) - Larry Correia had a problem – he was getting what he wanted. For years he’d been whining about the “liberal intellectual elite” that run the Hugo awards (which is laughable to anyone who’s seen the sausage made… but I digress), and how they would never give a conservative down-to-earth guy like him a fair shake.
- [2014 Hugo Nominations](https://deathisbadblog.com/2014-hugo-nominations/) - The deadline for the 2014 Hugo Nominations is almost upon us. I really should get to this a little earlier one of these years. Anyway, as is tradition, here are my noms. Short Stories Economies of Force, by Seth Dickinson. I wrote an entire blog post about why this story is amazing and pushing the
- [Sad Puppies' Next Move](https://deathisbadblog.com/sad-puppies-next-move/) - Last year, when the Sad Puppies scored their first hit against the Hugos, I was of the opinion that Larry Correia shouldn’t come to the ceremony. I felt that “While his attendance may irritate some people, it will give them the opportunity to either shun him, or show their good graces by accepting him anyway.
- [Link Archive 2/4/15 – 3/31/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-2415-33115/) - The Angelarium. Awesome art of angels. What the Web Said Yesterday "The average life of a Web page is about a hundred days." "50% of the URLs within United States Supreme Court opinions do not link to the originally cited information" "Last year, a tool called Perma.cc was launched, developed by the Harvard Library Innovation
- ["Vicarious"](https://deathisbadblog.com/vicarious/) - In an interview, Hideaki Anno (writer & director of Neon Genesis: Evangelion) was asked what he thought of the immense popularity of Evangelion. He replied that it was one of the saddest things he could imagine. That so many people could relate so strongly to a story about this sort of pain was depressing beyond
- [Surrogate Families (and why we love Joss Whedon)](https://deathisbadblog.com/surrogate-families-and-why-we-love-joss-whedon/) - There have been many tears shed and much ink spilled on the internet over what makes one a Geek. I’m not here to wade into that debate, but I will say that there is one experience that seems to have been shared by all geeks – isolation. The sense of being an outsider, not fitting
- [SF/F Review - The Martian](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-martian/) - The Martian, by Andy Weir Synopsis: An astronaut is stranded on Mars and must survive until NASA can send a rescue mission months later. Book Review: I went in wanting to like this book, because I love narratives of the new economy triumphing over Old Media. I was not disappointed. :) The best thing about this book
- [Let the clowns bleed to death](https://deathisbadblog.com/let-the-clowns-bleed-to-death/) - I have a suspension-of-disbelief problem whenever I see DHS (Department of Homeland Security) mentioned in fiction. I snicker. Usually when they are mentioned it's to invoke the fear of a powerful government agency, meant either to protect or terrorize us, depending on the story. They're charging in to save the day, or they're menacing us
- [Twittering](https://deathisbadblog.com/twittering/) - So I've finally created a Twitter account - @EneaszWrites. Don't worry though, I have no plans to engage the wider twitosphere. This is purely a tool for those who want to follow my writings without having to check this lame blog all the time. Whenever something of mine is published, I will tweet the news
- [Hidden Super Powers](https://deathisbadblog.com/hidden-super-powers/) - Up until last week I had no idea how to open those sealed plastic bags that chips and other processed foods come in. Every time I tried to open them they'd explode and the contents would fly everywhere. My only hope was scissors nearby, and that couldn't be replied upon. It was embarrassing, so my
- [More on Echopraxia](https://deathisbadblog.com/more-on-echopraxia/) - From Echopraxia (note that “Bicamerals” are humans that have self-modified to network their brains and thus reach post-human levels of intelligence) – “You could look into the eyes of any cat or dog and see a connection there, a legacy of common subroutines and shared emotions. The Bicamerals had cut away all that kinship in
- [AP History isn't pro-military](https://deathisbadblog.com/ap-history-isnt-pro-military/) - Look, we all know why Oklahoma is banning AP History classes. They teach things that are unflattering and politically disadvantageous to the right. Of course they're going to want to stop children from being exposed to that. I'm more than a bit annoyed by the faux-outrage of the left. I've been seeing a lot of
- [SF/F Review - Echopraxia](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-echopraxia/) - Echopraxia, by Peter Watts Synopsis: A biologist joins a crew to retrieve a sample of an alien life form, and becomes embroiled in the machinations of competing post-human intelligences. Book Review: The novel follows a baseline (non-upgraded) human, in a world that contains post-human intelligence (groups of humans that have self-modified and networked their brains, as well
- [Apologizing for Others](https://deathisbadblog.com/apologizing-for-others/) - There was a time not too long ago that whenever any Muslim anywhere did something morally reprehensible, the assholes on Fox News would demand that every Muslim everywhere repudiate those actions and engage in a public repentance ritual. There were some groups that were more than willing to do this, and went on air to
- [Sad Puppies are fun](https://deathisbadblog.com/sad-puppies-are-fun/) - I love the Sad Puppies Saga. It’s making the SF Lit scene fun again! Brief summary for those not in the know: the Hugo Awards are considered very prestigious awards for SF literature. They are awarded by SF Fandom at large – anyone can vote. There’s a group of conservative authors (led by Larry Correia)
- [Dispatches from Aging](https://deathisbadblog.com/dispatches-from-aging/) - Last Call was published in 1993 and is set in the then-present day, so it’s now a period piece. The most fascinating part of reading it came when the protagonist had to cross-dress as part of a disguise. Nowadays that’s no big deal. In the book he is so repulsed by the idea that he
- [Link Archive 12/17/14 - 2/3/15](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-121714-2315/) - Haven't done this in too long. So much to archive. Image - well shit, I can't argue with that. From Spiderman And The X-Men #2 (unverified), on sale now. When a character receives gets a "First Edition" of The Iliad - The moment you know that everyone involved in this movie had run out of fucks.
- [PSA: Hugo Membership 2015](https://deathisbadblog.com/psa-hugo-membership-2015/) - Just a reminder to anyone who's into the Hugos - there's only two days left to get your membership if you want to nominate 2014 works. And even if you just want to vote on the finalists and/or attend the con, rates go up after Jan 31. So now's a good time to buy. For
- [Anderson Lake IS Capitalism](https://deathisbadblog.com/anderson-lake-is-capitalism/) - I want to briefly rave about my favorite character from one of my favorite books - Anderson Lake of The Windup Girl. (with the caveat that I haven't read the book since it came out a few years ago, so the details are slightly fuzzy) I recently compared the game Forbidden Island to modern corporate capitalism.
- [A Ghostbuster Confession](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-ghostbuster-confession/) - I guess this is a good time to say it. I really dislike the original Ghostbusters. The hero was clearly Egon Spengler, but the movie focused instead on Peter Venkman, who was the worlds BIGGEST asshole. In fact, I hate a lot of Bill Murray movies, because he generally plays a massive douchebag. I hope
- [SF/F Review - Last Call](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-last-call/) - Last Call, by Tim Powers Synopsis: A dark Gaiman-esque retelling of The Fischer King legend, mixed with Tarot mysticism and gambling, set in the early 1990s. Book Review: An interesting tale. It kept my attention and moved quickly. It is filled with a delightful plethora of psychotics who are all demented in new and interesting ways, and
- [Sympathy for the Devil](https://deathisbadblog.com/sympathy-for-the-devil/) - I recently came across this post of 10 WOMEN CHRISTIAN MEN SHOULD NOT MARRY. It is, of course, hilarious. I have a love/hate relationship with fundamentalists, because both atheists and fundamentalists do something that no one else seems to do – they take their religion seriously. Phil Goetz already covered this in his “Reason as
- [The incredible value of a good editor (or: back when Red Legacy was Red Menace: Origins)](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-incredible-value-of-a-good-editor-or-back-when-red-legacy-was-red-menace-origins/) - When I first wrote Red Legacy it was a villain origin story. An origin story cuz I felt like writing an origin story, and that of a villain rather than a hero because hero origin stories are played to death and boring, and villains are awesome and interesting. Back then it was called "Red Menace:
- [TILWW: Red Legacy](https://deathisbadblog.com/tilww-red-legacy/) - Things I Learned While Writing – Red Legacy edition. These are things I didn’t know before, and found out while fact-checking for Red Legacy. People have been trying to stop bullets for as long as there’ve been bullets. Early black-powder guns were relatively weak, and the lead balls could sometimes be stopped by a good
- [Je Suis Charlie](https://deathisbadblog.com/je-suis-charlie/) - I received some disagreement with my previous post. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I'm busy all the time nowadays. One commenter posted: > I recall agreeing with most of this article by Scott ... You shouldn’t draw pictures of Muhammad just to anger Muslims ... I think if you have some reason a picture would help,
- [This Is Not Brave](https://deathisbadblog.com/this-is-not-brave/) - Satrical Magazine Charlie Hebdo has been hit in a terrorist attack, 12 people dead. These are the names of the dead that have been released so far (9:30 Mountain Time, 1/7/15). Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb, the magazine’s editor and cartoonist Bernard Maris, an economist and writer and the magazine’s deputy editor Jean Cabu, cartoonist
- ["Untitled" condensed and mangled](https://deathisbadblog.com/untitled-condensed-and-mangled/) - This is a radical condensation of Scott Alexander’s “Untitled” post. My immediately-preceding post explains why I’ve done this. I quote the summary at the bottom of that post: Scott has a lot of amazing things to say, which need to be heard by people other than just those who already agree with him. But I
- [Well crap](https://deathisbadblog.com/well-crap/) - So just yesterday I was reading Scott Alexander’s reply/rebuttal to the NewStatesman “On Nerd Entitlement” and thinking to myself “Gosh, I am really glad that I have such a nice in-group bubble that this never even came up and I don’t have to deal with it.” And then wouldn’t ya know it, someone linked the
- [Forbidden Island as an allegory for capitalism](https://deathisbadblog.com/forbidden-island-as-an-allegory-for-capitalism/) - There’s an old saying – Don’t take life too seriously, no one’s getting out alive anyway. While on vacation I was introduced to a fun little game called Forbidden Island. It’s basically a faster, simplified version of Pandemic (made by the same guy!). It is a cooperative “players vs the board” game, and the gameplay is
- [SF/F - Of Blood And Honey](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-of-blood-and-honey/) - Of Blood And Honey, by Stina Leicht Synopsis: A young man (Liam) in 1970s Northern Ireland joins the IRA, discovers he’s a werewolf, and is hunted both by the English Army and Catholic inquisitors. His friend and Catholic priest tries to convince the Church that the Fey and the Fallen are two different races and the Fey
- [The Deadline FAQ](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-deadline-faq/) - Presenting the Deadline FAQ. All the questions about Mira Grant's Deadline that you wish someone had asked before you picked up this book. Q: Will there be spoilers? A: SOOOOOOO many spoilers! Q: This seems to be a direct rip-off of the internet-famous Transformers 2 FAQ. Why is that? A: This book has the
- [SF/F - Deadline](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-deadline/) - Deadline, by Mira Grant Synopsis: After his sister was murdered, Shaun now hallucinates her speaking to him constantly. He drives around a post-zombie-apocalypse US with his friends, making “witty banter” and trying to uncover a big government conspiracy to keep the populace timid and afraid. Brief Book Review: Not much to like here. A longer
- [SF/F - Among Others](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-among-others/) - Among Others, by Jo Walton Synopsis: Set in ’79 and ’80, the diary of a teenage girl (Mor) who lost her twin and was herself crippled in a car accident. She deals with the loss by joining an SF book club. In the meantime, fairies help her defend herself from her evil witch mother. Brief
- [SF/F - Wise Man's Fear](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-wise-mans-fear/) - The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss Synopsis: The second book in the Kingkiller Trilogy. Kvothe continues his education at the University while searching for information about his family’s killers (the Chandrian) and trying to woo his first love (Denna). Along the way he learns magic, is taught the martial arts of the far east,
- [SF/F - Cat's Cradle](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-cats-cradle/) - Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut Synopsis: A nihilist travels to the poorest nation on earth and joins the world’s most nihilistic religion just days before the entire world is destroyed. Brief Book Review: Like all of Vonnegut’s books it’s very well written. It pulls you in and holds you. And like all of his books,
- [SF/F Review - City of Bones](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-city-of-bones/) - City of Bones, by Martha Wells Synopsis: A post-apocalyptic fantasy. After out-of-control magic reduced most of the world to a desert wasteland, the survivors do their best to survive while trying to find magical artifacts and piece together what went wrong. Brief Book Review: A lackluster effort. There is never any build-up of tension, the
- [SF/F Review - Permanence](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-permanence/) - Permanence, by Karl Schroeder Synopsis: An orphaned girl living on an orbital habitat discovers a seemingly abandoned alien craft - an inter-solar trading vessel. She gathers interested parties to investigate it while attempting to keep her legal claim in the face of competing national interests. Brief Book Review: A lot of very big ideas in this book, each
- [SF/F Review – Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said](https://deathisbadblog.com/flow-my-tears-the-policeman-said/) - Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, by Phillip K Dick Synopsis: Living in a police state, a famous and genetically superior man is suddenly stripped of his identity and erased from everyone’s memory. As far as he can tell, he never existed. He struggles to regain his past and avoid the attention of the corrupt
- [SF/F - The Way of Kings](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-the-way-of-kings/) - The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson Synopsis: An ancient evil draws close to consume the world in war. A prince attempts to unite his divided kingdom to resist it, a scholar seeks lost legends for clues to its nature, and a slave rises to become a savior. Brief Book Review: Pure awesome. Nevermind the
- [SF/F Review – The Half-Made World](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-half-made-world/) - The Half-Made World, by Felix Gilman Synopsis: Two factions war for control of a Steampunk Old West. A young psychologist (Liv) must find and cure an insane old man who’s mind may hold the key to ending the war permanently. Brief Book Review: An interesting read, but not a compelling one. The super-human powers that
- [SF/F Review - The Blue Sword](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-blue-sword/) - The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley Synopsis: An orphan is taken into a foreign land and discovers she has magical gifts. She must learn to use these gifts to prevent a dark sorcerer from invading her new home. Brief Book Review: This is the stereotypical fantasy story template. It’s good for people who are new
- [SF/F Review - Range of Ghosts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-range-of-ghosts/) - Range of Ghosts, by Elizabeth Bear Brief Synopsis: A prince, having survived being on the losing side in a civil war, tries to avoid assassination. An unrelated princess joins an order of wizards to avoid assassination by her power-consolidating brother. They meet up, and are embroiled in a plan by an evil sorcerer to foment
- [SF/F Review – The Light of Other Days](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-light-of-other-days/) - The Light of Other Days,by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter Brief Synopsis: Privacy is demolished when a technology is invented that lets anyone see what is happening in real time anywhere on earth. Later in the book this is extended to allow people to see into the past as well. Book Review: This is
- [SF/F Review - Bitter Seeds](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-bitter-seeds/) - Bitter Seeds, by Ian Tregillis Synopsis: Nazi X-Men vs British Demon-Summoning Warlocks in an alternate-history WWII. It’s played straight, and very dark. The first book in a trilogy. Brief Book Review: While a minority of people may find the premise difficult to take seriously, I had no trouble suspending my disbelief, and if you can
- [SF/F Review – Wild Seed](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-wild-seed/) - Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler Synopsis: Two demi-gods clash. The immortal Doro wants to breed a race of god-men to be his equals. The unaging shapeshifter Anyanwu just wants her family to live in peace. Brief Book Review: A masterful exploration of the consequences of slavery and how it erodes the humanity from both its
- [SF/F Review - Finch](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-finch/) - Finch, by Jeff VanderMeer Synopsis: A noir murder-mystery set in a city occupied by a totalitarian alien race. Brief Book Review: I’m torn on this one. It does some things extremely well. The city is half-flooded and overrun with mold and fungus, and that’s portrayed excellently – I constantly felt damp while reading it. VanderMeer also
- [SF/F Review - 2312](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-2312/) - 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson Synopsis: A guided tour of our solar system after extensive terraforming and space-settling. A note – this review is over a week late because I wasn’t able to finish the book in time. I still haven’t quite finished it, so please keep in mind the “book review” part is based
- [Throne of the Crescent Moon](https://deathisbadblog.com/throne-of-the-crescent-moon/) - Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed Synopsis: An old ghoul-hunter trains his apprentice while trying to protect the kingdom from evil forces. Brief Book Review: The cool thing about this book is its setting. Most fantasy is set in an analog of Medieval Christian Europe, and this one is set in an analog
- [SF/F Review - Captain Vorpatril's Alliance](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-captain-vorpatrils-alliance/) - Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold Synopsis: A romantic comedy and a heist adventure set in an Imperial Britain-style future. Brief Book Review: Bujold can write witty dialog like no one else. Her writing style is a pleasure to read, you can tell she’s having fun and she infects you with that same sense
- [What happened to the 2013 Hugos?](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-happened-to-the-2013-hugos/) - The 2013 Hugo-nominated novels are a bit of a mystery, in that most of them are not very good. I’ve been trying to figure out why this is, as we’ve been reading through them. There are less-than-charitable views on why the Hugo’s suck, but I have more optimistic view of the matter. As anyone who’s
- [My Hugo Ballot](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-hugo-ballot/) - I’ve just submitted my Hugo Ballot. Here’s my votes, and why. I’ve omitted categories I didn’t vote in. For those unfamiliar - it’s a preference ballot, meaning you rank your choices and if your first pick doesn’t win your vote goes to your second pick instead, and so forth. Best Novel 1. Redshirts –
- [SF/F Review – Blackout](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-blackout/) - Blackout, by Mira Grant Synopsis: A zombie B-movie in book form Brief Book Review: My dislike of Deadline is well documented. So it may be surprising that I didn’t hate Blackout! Many of the things I hated in Deadline are fixed – there aren’t long boring stretches and the climax actually happens on-stage. Whereas Deadline
- [SF/F Review – Lucifer's Hammer](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-lucifers-hammer/) - Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle Synopsis: A comet hits Earth, post-apocalyptic survivalism ensues Brief Book Review: /sigh I’m going to get a bit off track here. I’ve long felt that all fiction is contemporary. Sci-fi is ostensibly about the future, but really it’s just a way of examining current issues under a different
- [SF/F Review - Heroes of the Valley](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-heroes-of-the-valley/) - Heroes of the Valley, by Jonathan Stroud Synopsis: A coming-of-age story in a Viking village Brief Book Review: A fantastic YA novel. Stroud really knows how to make a story live within its world. The Valley feels like the entirety of the world, and it’s a rich, vibrant world that lives and grows far outside the pages
- [SF/F Review – Maul](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-maul/) - Maul, by Tricia Sullivan Synopsis: Two story lines. 1 – Rival teen girl gangs battle in a mall in the present day. 2 – In a future where men are nearly extinct, women use desirable ones as sex slaves and ugly ones as virus test subjects. Two such men meet and try to escape. Book
- [SF/F Review – The King's Blood](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-kings-blood/) - The King's Blood, by Daniel Abraham Synopsis: A religious order works to bring their ancient evil goddess back into a high-fantasy world. Wars, intrigue, and civil revolt erupt. This is the second book in a series, preceded by The Dragon's Path. Book Review: Daniel Abraham excels at characterization. Every single character is a vibrant, living
- [SF/F Review – Use of Weapons](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-use-of-weapons/) - Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks Synopsis: A series of shorts taking place during lulls in violent conflicts, examining the banality and futility of war, of redemption. Book Review: Technically there are two storylines in this book, my synopsis only covers the important one, which is told in reverse. The normal-progressing storyline is too long,
- [SF/F Review - Auraria](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-auraria/) - Auraria, by Tim Westover Synopsis: A land developer buys up property in a quirky, haunted valley in late 1800’s small-town Georgia Book Review: This book came to our club’s attention via the 2012 Fall Battle of the Books, where it made it to the final round. I was very excited, as this is a self-published book,
- [SF/F Review - Wool](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-wool/) - Wool, by Hugh Howey They’re back! I did not abandon these reviews, I’ve simply been unable to do them for a while. Nov/Dec we only do one book per month, due to holidays. Then I was sick one week, and I didn’t feel I could do an honest “Book Club Review” if I didn’t see
- [SF/F Review - Divergent](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-divergent/) - Divergent, by Veronica Roth Synopsis: Teen girl in a vaguely post-apocalyptic society rebels against authority, gets a boyfriend, and saves the day. Book Review: Let’s start with the good stuff. Roth is extremely good at making us sympathize with the protagonist, and despise the antagonist. I personally wanted to murder the hell out of Peter, and I
- [2013 Hugo Nominations](https://deathisbadblog.com/2013-hugo-nominations/) - The deadline for the 2013 Hugo Nominations is almost upon us! It seems less popular to blog about who you’re nominating this year, but I think it’s a fine tradition, so I’ll be continuing it myself. Much like last year, I’ve not had much time for reading this year, so my list is woefully
- [SF/F Review - Something More Than Night](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-something-more-than-night/) - Something More Than Night, by Ian Tregillis Synopsis: A murder-mystery set in the near future, told by two protagonists. The murder victim is an angel. One of the protagonists speaks entirely in 40’s Noir patter, and is also an angel. The existence of angels is not well known. Book Review: I don’t know where to begin
- [SF/F Review - The Drowned Cities](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-drowned-cities/) - The Drowned Cities, by Paolo Bacigalupi Synopsis: Child soldiers in a crumbling American South try to survive. Book Review: An interesting mix, because this is marketed as “YA”, but the subject matter really pushes the boundaries of that. It’s rare (to say the least) for YA to feature amputation, pre-teens using drugs/alcohol and visiting brothels, and
- [SF/F Review – Daughter of Smoke and Bone](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-daughter-of-smoke-and-bone/) - Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor Synopsis: Romeo & Juliette with angels and demons. Book Review: The first thing you notice about this novel is that strength of the author’s voice. It is witty and young and energetic, and reminds you what it’s like to be a teen. I rarely see such a fantastic portrayal
- [SF/F Review – The Daedalus Incident](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-daedalus-incident/) - The Daedalus Incident, by Michael J. Martinez Synopsis: A steampunk-in-space/hard-SF mining-on-Mars crossover Book Review: I picked this up because it was an awesome concept. Olde Timey wooden ships, sailing between the planets? Sign me up! I wish it had been executed by someone who could write. The book reads like an outline that was never fleshed out.
- [SF/F Review - Warbound](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-warbound/) - Warbound, by Larry Correia Synopsis: A secret group of superheroes saves the Earth from an approaching planet-consuming alien in a 1930s noir setting. Book Review: First the good parts – Larry Correia can spin one hell of a yarn! He writes a cool alternate-history world with fantastic settings, from a superhero prison to a walled-off Berlin filled
- [Bonus Review: No Lasting Burial](https://deathisbadblog.com/bonus-review-no-lasting-burial/) - The admins of Fantastic Reviews attend our Book Club, and they passed a copy of Stant Litore's "No Lasting Burial" to me, as they figured it would be right up my alley (they were right). Litore is a local author, and he's interested in reviews, so they asked me if I'd be willing to write
- [Themes in Ancillary Justice](https://deathisbadblog.com/themes-in-ancillary-justice/) - OK, this is the spoiler-heavy discussion of Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice. All sorts of plot developments and twists will be discussed below, including the climax. Consider yourself warned! So for me the biggest and most important theme of the book was the old question of which Ends can justify which Means. When we’re first introduced
- [SF/F Review - Neptune's Brood](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-neptunes-brood/) - Neptune's Brood, by Charles Stross Synopsis: A post-human is chased across a star system and to the bottom of an ocean by competing wealthy and powerful people who want a code in her head worth a nigh-unimaginable fortune. Book Review: Like all of Stross’s works, this combines an intricately built world and tight plotting with a biting
- [SF/F Review – The Left Hand of Darkness](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-left-hand-of-darkness/) - The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin Synopsis: The spiritual journey of a fixed-gender human who, while living on a world inhabited by humans who alternate between genders, gets caught up in their political schemes and is cast into the wilderness. Book Review: The first thing I noticed about this book is the writing style.
- [SF/F Review – Ash](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-ash/) - Ash, by Melinda Lo Synopsis: An asexual lesbian retelling of the Cinderella story Book Review: I’m reluctant to say bad things about this book, because it seems to have come from a sincere place. So I’ll start by saying it was nice to see some depth in the evil step-mother and step-sisters. They were still evil, but
- [SF/F Review – The Circle](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-circle/) - The Circle, by David Eggers Synopsis: Old Man Eggers gripes about social media and kids these days not having enough concern for privacy. Book Review: Sometimes you hate a book so much you just have to dedicate hundreds of words to expressing that hate. This is one of those books. I said before that I'm not that
- [SF/F Review - The Golem and The Jinni](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-golem-and-the-jinni/) - The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker Synopsis: An unlikely love story in turn-of-the-century New York. Book Review: This is a solid story about two fish-out-water characters who come to rely on each other in a strange world. It hooks you early with a fairy-tale style, then builds slowly, establishing all the major characters firmly before
- [SF/F Review – Frankenstein](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-frankenstein/) - Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley Synopsis: The original 1818 Frankenstein. Book Review: Ugh. Frankenstein has been called the first work of science fiction. But the person who called it that defines science fiction as “hubris clobbered by nemesis,” (at least if I’m to believe Neil Gaiman) which really should have been my first clue. But I
- [SF/F Review - The Steerswoman](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-the-steerswoman/) - The Steerswoman, by Rosemary Kirstein Synopsis: A rationalist monk investigates why the wizards of her world want to destroy her order Book Review: I’d heard this was a rationalist novel. I was not disappointed. Much of the meat of this book is in applying the tools of thought and observation to puzzle out what is happening, or
- [Promoting Rationalist Fiction](https://deathisbadblog.com/promoting-rationalist-fiction/) - When I was a kid, SteamPunk basically didn’t exist. The Difference Engine had come out, sure, but there wasn’t a recognized genre. Nowadays even people who aren’t big into SF/F know what SteamPunk is. We like Rationalist fiction. I would like for it to be a genre, so I could go and pick up a novel
- [Trying to stay timely, part 2](https://deathisbadblog.com/trying-to-stay-timely-part-2/) - Let it be known that 5 major theater chains -- Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Cineplex Entertainment -- are cowards and are strengthening terrorists. I'm embarrassed to be sharing a country with these people.
- [Link Archive 11/8/14 - 12/16/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-11814-121614/) - Why do people post pics of text, rather than actual text? Is it just to make it impossible to copy/paste, search, find, google, and share easily? Damned kids these days... Shave without shaving cream. I've been doing this for over a month. Yes, it works, very well. Shaving cream must be a relic carried over
- [Pay Transparency Presentation](https://deathisbadblog.com/pay-transparency-presentation/) - For the culmination of a year-long leadership training course at work, I had to give a presentation in front of some Senior Management types. Everyone was instructed to pitch something in 15 minutes or less that would make the company better/more valuable/etc. I chose Pay Transparency. The presentation went well. And because I hate to
- [The Procreation Lottery](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-procreation-lottery/) - The way our economy is currently structured, we require constant growth. Of course this will someday come to a head, because as Robin Hanson has pointed out, even at extremely low growth rates we’ll run out of atoms in the galaxy well within 10,000 years. As someone who suspects we may already be beyond the
- [Almost No One is Evil; Almost Everything is Broken](https://deathisbadblog.com/almost-no-one-is-evil-almost-everything-is-broken/) - If my friend’s statuses are any indication, in the wake of Monday’s acquittal there’s been a wave of people defriending each other on Facebook. Which is both the least important impact of the Brown situation, and the only one personally felt by almost everyone in my social circles (which says a lot on it’s own).
- [Death with Dignity legislation being drafted in Colorado](https://deathisbadblog.com/death-with-dignity-legislation-being-drafted-in-colorado/) - I'm extremely happy this is happening in Colorado before it's too late for me. Having my brain destroyed via dementia before I can have it preserved is one of my greatest fears. This will help to prevent that. And yes, I realize there's a 6-months-until-death clause in this draft, which wouldn't help for those being
- [Disappointed to be more baseline human than I thought](https://deathisbadblog.com/disappointed-to-be-more-baseline-human-than-i-thought/) - So after years of delays, I finally got my Soylent a couple months ago. I was absolutely stoked about this product. I don't spend a lot of time on food prep as it is, but I am forced to spend some amount of time on it, as well as the buying, the eating, the cleaning
- [Trying to stay sorta timely](https://deathisbadblog.com/trying-to-stay-sorta-timely/) - In an attempt to not fall too behind the conversation, here's things I stumbled upon in the past two days. An NPR headline claims "Combining The DNA Of Three People Raises Ethical Questions." I was all sorts of excited, cuz I like arguing, and I wanted to jump in on this. I'm already on the record as
- [Link Archive 9/18/14 – 11/7/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-91814-11714/) - I haven't done this since 9/18? Blarg! Flow chart of AI results. Every now and then it's nice to have a reminder of what we're working for/to avoid. Eliezer's writing a series on how to write Rationalist Fiction, and it's really good. Most of it is applicable to writing all forms of good fiction. "If
- [Greater Than Intended](https://deathisbadblog.com/greater-than-intended/) - Recently seen on Facebook. For those who can't view the pic, it says “1. Guy Fawkes was not an anarchist, or even an anti-monarchist. The Gunpowder Plot was a religiously motivated attack, with the intent of replacing a Protestant King (James I) with a Catholic ruler (Princess Elizabeth). The notion of Fawkes as an anarchist
- [Voting](https://deathisbadblog.com/voting/) - I voted. Not because I expect my vote to make a difference, but because I think that when making a decision, you are also deciding for all entities that run a decision algorithm that's similar enough to your own. It would be stupid if all entities sufficiently like myself opted out of voting because they
- [Oddly Selfish](https://deathisbadblog.com/oddly-selfish/) - I’ve run into a weird form of selfishness lately. Anyone who knows a writer can attest that writers are neurotically insecure about themselves. I don’t know if the following is the case for other writers, but my every act of creating something and putting it out is a plea for attention. “Look at what I
- [Involuntary "Citizenship"](https://deathisbadblog.com/involuntary-citizenship/) - My parents escaped from communist Poland when I was a wee baby. And there was a level of actual "escaping" involved, the country was trying to prevent their leaving. Preventing one's citizens from leaving a country, despite their wishes, is a pretty infamous characteristic of totalitarian regimes, especially communist ones. Our media still criticizes North Korea for
- [Golden Ages don't exist](https://deathisbadblog.com/golden-ages-dont-exist/) - I read an article on the internet, as I am wont to do. This one was about how modern games are lacking a certain innovation that was around in the classic era of gaming, and speculates it may be that older hardware restricted older games to have to focus tightly just on the really good
- [In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war continued by other means](https://deathisbadblog.com/in-the-grim-darkness-of-the-far-future-there-is-only-war-continued-by-other-means/) - I. PvE vs PvP Ever since it’s advent in Doom, PvP (Player vs Player) has been an integral part of almost every major video game. This is annoying to PvE (Player vs Environment) fans like myself, especially when PvE mechanics are altered (read: simplified and degraded) for the purpose of accommodating the PvP game play.
- [Open relationships are stronger](https://deathisbadblog.com/open-relationships-are-stronger/) - Continuing from yesterday, there is nonetheless a bit of fear when one first opens up a relationship. Intellectually you know it’s silly, but on an emotional level there’s still that hesitation, that worry that you’ll lose the one you love. It’s a lot like the first time you’re going to jump off the high diving
- [Jealousy is a social construct](https://deathisbadblog.com/jealousy-is-a-social-construct/) - I was just talking with someone interested in monogamish relationships and the looming specter of Jealousy (insert ghostly "oooOOOOoooOOooo" sound). As far as I can tell, jealousy is an entirely invented social construct. It's like God, in that we all have to pretend to believe in it, and act like we believe in it, when we
- [Link Archive 6/25/14 – 8/9/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-62514-8914/) - Been too long since I've done this, stupid life keeps getting in the way. The most fascinating Treasure Hunt story I've read in a long time. For over 210 years humans have been trying to dig 140 feet down on an island in Canada, and failing over and over. Tons of man-hours, money, and a
- [The Outer Reaches of Art?](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-outer-reaches-of-art/) - Up until yesterday I completely agreed with Bad Horse’s assertion that art has been caught in a spiral of self-isolation. >The elite learns to associate inaccessibility with quality, and criticism with amateurism, and produces more and more inaccessible works The song linked at the top of his post sounds to me like cats walking across
- [What Humans Can Do](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-humans-can-do/) - My 4th ToastMasters speech
- [Magic That Works](https://deathisbadblog.com/magic-that-works/) - When younger I often longed for the ability to use The Force (ala Star Wars). If only I could flick that light-switch from a distance! With time I realized I could, at a distance of ~2.5 feet (the length of my arm). All I had to do was think about it, and expend a tiny
- [There's Poe's Law, and then there's being an idiot](https://deathisbadblog.com/theres-poes-law-and-then-theres-being-an-idiot/) - This post is just me being intensely annoyed with “my tribe.” For those unfamiliar with the injunction against feigning surprise, the origin (AFAIK) is from Hacker School’s first social rule: No feigning surprise. The first rule means you shouldn't act surprised when people say they don't know something. This applies to both technical things ("What?!
- [Confounding Variables](https://deathisbadblog.com/confounding-variables/) - My first coplay (I'm the far-right Gaston) A reader of the blog wrote to point out that I’m probably placing way too much emphasis on having lost a bunch of weight and starting to care for my appearance a few years back. In his experience, he actually had poorer social outcomes back when he looked
- [9/26 – Happy Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/926-happy-petrov-day-2/) - More details here Let's all do something to not destroy the world today.
- [Seth Dickinson's Economies of Force](https://deathisbadblog.com/seth-dickinsons-economies-of-force/) - Yesterday I mentioned several of Seth Dickinson’s stories over at the podcast site. Today I want to focus on one in particular – Economies of Force. It is a transhumanist story so I’ll assume readers are already aware of common themes in transhumanist fiction – particularly the proposed ability of humans to edit their own
- [Non-monetary motivations (or: What writing and porn have in common)](https://deathisbadblog.com/non-monetary-motivations-or-what-writing-and-porn-have-in-common/) - Colleague/Acquaintance (and possibly Friend? I always feel a bit weird using that word if it's someone I don't hang out with regularly. We have a great time when we're together somewhere, but I don't think I've ever been to her house for a party, or vica-versa, and I don't want to make claims to a
- [Link Archive 8/10/14 – 9/17/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-81014-91714/) - Yes, today there are at least three links that originated from Scott's blog. I don't have a problem! I can quit any time I want! But first: This is what I think of your rabbit! An atheist church is coming to Denver. Interesting... I fear this will be one of those things for "families" and "children," but
- [Another effect of increased attractiveness](https://deathisbadblog.com/another-effect-of-increased-attractiveness/) - I mentioned previously some of the effects of going from unattractive to moderately attractive. One that I didn't mention before, but that I am reminded of all the freaking time... People touch you. A lot. I've always been really bad with physical touch. I don't particularly like it, particularly from those I'm not intimately familiar with. So
- [The Slippery See-Saw](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-slippery-see-saw/) - The Slippery Slope fallacy is probably my least favorite fallacy ever. It seems I run into it every single time I want to talk about anything outside the norm with average people. Thanks to SMBC’s great comic on the matter, I’ve taken to slipping the slope the other way to try to demonstrate how dumb this
- [Too Moral](https://deathisbadblog.com/too-moral/) - This started off as a reply to the previous post, but it’s sorta grown since then. In the justly-famous “All Debates Are Bravery Debates” Scott starts with the story of a friend who was helped by reading Atlas Shrugged because “he’d been raised in a really strict family that had told him that ever enjoying
- [Dammit Dawkins! (or: twitter is for twerps)](https://deathisbadblog.com/dammit-dawkins-or-twitter-is-for-twats/) - When asked what to do if the fetus one was carrying was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, Richard Dawkins recently tweeted “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.” I learned about this via the outraged Facebooking of an in-law, who has a close
- [Don't judge past people too harshly](https://deathisbadblog.com/dont-judge-past-people-too-harshly/) - Yesterday I said people who didn’t terminate Down Syndrome fetuses weren’t individually immoral, even though they were making an immoral choice. They were misguided by a broken moral system that has failed to update to changing conditions. Most people are basically good, and they’re trying to make their way through life guided by principles that
- [Christians are ruining marriage](https://deathisbadblog.com/christians-are-ruining-marriage/) - A friend of mine just posted twice about divorce, which has brought up a lot of old emotions re my own divorce. Similar reasons are why I never want to get married ever again. So much BS baggage goes along with divorce that it doesn't make *getting married* worth it. I’ve seen far more relationships
- [The Impermanence of All Things](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-impermanence-of-all-things/) - Yesterday’s post was a sort of prelude to today. At our last book club meeting we read The Left Hand of Darkness. This is considered a classic of SF. It won both the Hugo and Nebula. People still speak of it with admiration. It broke new ground and pushed the genre forward. And when I
- [Why am I even here?](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-am-i-even-here/) - During my alcoholic phase I had a pretty major blackout. Not as bad as some I’ve heard of, but my worst – I found a party boring, so I left at about 9pm. When I woke up the next morning I couldn’t find my car. I asked my roommate where it was, and he informed
- [Ban Babies!](https://deathisbadblog.com/ban-babies/) - (The Title and Picture are for humor only) An exchange on Eugenics: Simple idea, but it needs to be said. Give all kids a birth control implant and don't turn it off until they are 20 and can prove they aren't likely to binge-drink while pregnant or flunk basic parenting skills. "what’s the result of this
- [How to Think about Non-Existent People](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-to-think-about-non-existent-people/) - Thinking about people who don't exist is hard to do. The most emotional response I received yesterday was: > I'm not disagreeing that there is some benefit to society when there are fewer people with severe problems, and I'm not saying I would never do something like select not to have a child with severe
- [Use The Hacks, Luke](https://deathisbadblog.com/use-the-hacks-luke/) - Rationality, it has been said, is about winning. And winning is often heavily influenced by who can best exploit the infrastructure they find themselves in. It’s what the losers often call “cheating”, what the winners call “technique”, and what most people I know like to call “hacks.” It’s no secret that attractive people have an
- [Roles are Martial Arts for Agency](https://deathisbadblog.com/roles-are-martial-arts-for-agency/) - A long time ago I thought that Martial Arts simply taught you how to fight – the right way to throw a punch, the best technique for blocking and countering an attack, etc. I thought training consisted of recognizing these attacks and choosing the correct responses more quickly, as well as simply faster/stronger physical execution
- [Everyone is Faking It (or: Organizational Inadequacy)](https://deathisbadblog.com/everyone-is-faking-it-or-organizational-inadequacy/) - Much like The Joker, I used to think there was a plan. That someone (or rather, various groups of people) had some idea of what they wanted to happen, and had some sort of plans to bring those things to fruition. You know, the adults of society. The older I get and the more I
- [My 2014 Hugo Ballot](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-2014-hugo-ballot/) - Only hours left to get in your Hugo ballots! By long* tradition, my ballot and reasoning below. Best Novel 1 – Ancillary Justice, obviously. So cool that in addition to my standard Book Club Review I also had to write a second post, about the themes I loved within it. Deserves the win. 2 –
- [SF/F Review – 2014 Hugo Short Stories & Novelettes (or: A Love Letter to Samatar and Chiang)](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-2014-hugo-short-stories-novelettes-or-a-love-letter-to-samatar-and-chiang/) - Book Review: Every year my book club reads all the short stories and novelletes nominated for Hugo Awards and discusses those at a meeting, rather than reading a novel. So this will be more of a quick review of a bunch of stories, rather than of a single work. Short Stories ‘‘The Water That Falls
- [Gordian Goals](https://deathisbadblog.com/gordian-goals/) - Like pretty much all geeks everyone, I am a huge Alexander the Great fan. Except for the story of The Gordian Knot. When I got to that part of his legend I was sorely disappointed. Here’s one of the smartest badasses ever, presented with an intellectual challenge of epic proportions, and what does he do?
- [Suburban Life](https://deathisbadblog.com/suburban-life/) - I really really dislike the suburbs. I grew up in the suburbs and I didn’t have a happy childhood, so that’s probably in part psychological. But the suburbs are a cultural wasteland. I find them barren of anything new or exciting. Everything is cookie-cutter, all of it feels like a fake plastic façade. Neighbors with
- [Step Two Complete!](https://deathisbadblog.com/step-two-complete/) - (skip to bottom for the big reveal if you get bored) In some of my spare time, I try to write Speculative Fiction. I’ve written a half-dozen stories, and every now and then I get people asking me “Why don’t you just self-publish online?” At the most basic level it isn’t terrible difficult, and I
- [Link Archive 5/3/14 – 6/24/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-5314-62414/) - It's been too long since I last did this. In the pic, a Facebook friend shared the meme version of Russell's Paradox. Supporting my assertion that all fiction is contemporary, Bad Horse reads some centuries-old stuff and says something very similar. The classics ain't that great (to us). In familiar "The past is terrible and we
- [How to get There from Here?](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-to-get-there-from-here/) - Someone asked me to comment on this video. So I did. And then, having written all those words, I figured I might as well throw them up here as well in case I need to refer back to them (since Facebook is a terrible archive). I've run into Zeitgeist before, and I love their idealism and
- [Fake it till you make it](https://deathisbadblog.com/fake-it-till-you-make-it/) - Authority is a weird thing. Last year I had a great time volunteering at Denver Comic Con (DCC). I ran around, did what people told me to do, got to be part of the machinery that let tens of thousands of people have a great weekend. And I got to see a bunch of stuff
- [Westboro Leftists (or: Not All Feminists)](https://deathisbadblog.com/westboro-leftists-or-not-all-feminists/) - So apparently even John Green (yes, that John Green) is being attacked as a terrible transphobic misogynistic racist, or whatever. One of the nicest people in the world, certainly the nicest since Mr. Rodgers, is getting threats and hate from the extremist left. This is something I just would have written off as lunacy not
- [Crowd Control at DCC](https://deathisbadblog.com/crowd-control-at-dcc/) - Management was, overall, less fun than general volunteering, but it certainly did have a few exciting parts! This year we had specific areas for queuing before panels, including a separate queuing room for Main Events, but for the really popular panels it just wasn’t enough. We did have special “overflow queuing” a little ways away
- [Denver Comic Con 2014 Main Events Volunteering, in Pics](https://deathisbadblog.com/denver-comic-con-2014-main-events-volunteering-in-pics/) - I worked in Crowd Control (technically "Programming") at Denver Comic Con this year. I got bumped up to a staff position this year (from general volunteer last year) so they had me working basically open-to-close all three days. Which was my own darn fault for volunteering/accepting. :) It was fun and I learned some stuff...
- [Holy Crap, someone noticed me! Also an admission of ignorance and a counter-point.](https://deathisbadblog.com/holy-crap-someone-noticed-me-also-an-admission-of-ignorance-and-a-counter-point/) - Wow. So Larry Correia both read my review of Warbound, AND commented on it (in a totally awesome way, you should read it), AND LINKED BACK. I get 50 hits on a good day, Larry's link spiked that to over 700 in a matter of hours. Yowzah! I, knowing a good thing when I see
- [Mitigating risk](https://deathisbadblog.com/mitigating-risk/) - trigger warnings – recent tragic events, suicide A few days ago I complained that our society doesn’t care to treat mental illness. And that we reap occasional mass killings as a result. In my last post I said that we are so averse to allowing a tiny chance of a bad outcome that we far overspend
- [The road paved with good intentions](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-road-paved-with-good-intentions/) - Those of you familiar with Less Wrong may already be familiar with the torture-vs-dust-specks controversy. It asks one to imagine someone going through 50 years of severe pain. Then imagine the smallest possible hurt that still registers as pain (such as a speck in the eye, or a stubbed toe), and imagine a number of
- [Bleh](https://deathisbadblog.com/bleh/) - I’m not going to comment directly on the Isla Vista massacre. I managed to avoid it for four days, and I don’t want to get dragged in. But I will finally post something I’ve been kicking around in my head for months (years?) but I’ve been unwilling to say out loud. And maybe still shouldn't.
- [Leadership is Dark Arts](https://deathisbadblog.com/leadership-is-dark-arts/) - So to follow-up from the last post… …what I really wanted to say was that this was a stunning example of how quickly and easily humans are hacked. Because this exercise was simply “count the Fs” to teach us an attention-to-detail lesson. After we counted the Fs, a Teacher drew numbers on whiteboards across the
- [Leadership - 6F vs 9F](https://deathisbadblog.com/leadership-6f-vs-9f/) - I’m currently enrolled in a leadership-training program (for reasons I won’t get into). I was told to give a brief presentation on the most impactful lesson from our first training session, several weeks ago. This is the text of what I presented. The last part was… modified… to fit into corporate expectations. I’ll post what
- [Purpose - Parenting or WoW?](https://deathisbadblog.com/purpose-parenting-or-wow/) - Following up from the last post – there was a time I felt particularly needed. When I was in a raiding guild in World of Warcraft. I was one of only 40 people who could accomplish a goal, and to accomplish it all of us were needed. Every single member was vital. It was an
- [On Being Needed](https://deathisbadblog.com/on-being-needed/) - I’m reading a book set in the British colonial period. Early on an alchemist is pressed into service on a ship. “Britain needs your skills. By the power of the crown I compel you to serve.” That man was unique, and he was needed. The ship could not function without him, and they forced him
- [Link Archive 4/4/14 – 5/2/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-4414-5214/) - Flaws Only A Protagonist Could Have. I laughed. This makes me smile. Parent called the cops on a teen for giving away free books at a book giveaway. "it's almost like banning books from schools makes teens more likely to independently find and read those books" The Entirety of Denmark Recreated In Minecraft Family sues N.J. School District
- [Military Cryo Movement](https://deathisbadblog.com/military-cryo-movement/) - Ever since my brother joined the Military I've thought that could be a potentially good way to push cryonics. The Military is already well-known for forcing technological change, but it's less known that the Military's effort to reduce loss of fighting men to Syphilis (as well as other STIs) was a contributor to the social
- [Hugo 2014 Best Short Story & Novelette links](https://deathisbadblog.com/hugo-2014-best-short-story-novelette-links/) - Every year my book club reads the short stories and novelettes nominated for the Hugo Awards that are available for free. This year that is all of them. Here are the links: Short Stories ‘‘The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere’’, John Chu ‘‘The Ink Readers of Doi Saket’’, Thomas Olde Heuvelt ‘‘Selkie Stories
- [HBO's Game of Thrones is more rapey because that's safer](https://deathisbadblog.com/hbos-game-of-thrones-is-more-rapey-because-thats-safer/) - Everyone is freaking out about how HBO is making Game of Thrones extra rapey. From The AV Club: Why are the Game Of Thrones showrunners rewriting the books into misogyny? and from navigatingwonderland on Tumblr: I guess consensual sex isn't edgy enough for hbo. Let me quote from that last one. Book: "He stopped then, and
- [Letting go of The Reaper](https://deathisbadblog.com/letting-go-of-the-reaper/) - Confounded by people’s strong attachment to Deathism, I posited that they’re probably just automatically reciting back the answers they’ve heard. I thought better results would be achieved by asking "If you could live young and healthy for as long as you wanted, how many centuries would you want to live?" Get people to stop and
- [Less power = more feels](https://deathisbadblog.com/to-feel-love-hurt-yourself/) - Yesterday I managed to screw up my back when I ignored proper form while putting down some weights. Yay me. :/ Now I’m all hobbling around in pain. Which reminded me of something I’ve observed several times, but haven’t commented on yet – when I’m ill or injured, I feel the emotion of love more
- [Write](https://deathisbadblog.com/write/) - An acquaintance asked a group of us to motivate him to finish his story for a writer's workshop in a few days rather than attending the local book festival coming that weekend. Ahem. There will be other book festivals. If you go to this one, what lasting impact will you have on the world? What
- [Let's participate in some agitprop!](https://deathisbadblog.com/lets-participate-in-some-agitprop/) - Tell everyone you know – a Christian documentary says famous physicists and cosmologists accept the word of God: the Sun revolves around the Earth! There’s been a bit of a kerfuffle recently about many well-known scientists “participating” in a documentary that claims modern cosmology is coming to accept that the earth is the center of
- [Finding out what's important on accident](https://deathisbadblog.com/finding-out-whats-important-on-accident/) - You've probably already heard of the HeartBleed Bug. If not - here you go. In short - Do you use passwords on the internet? Unless you use a unique password for every site, it's time to change all of them. ALL OF THEM. (Although maybe wait a couple days for everything to get patched first,
- [ToastMasters 3 - Live Longer, Do Stuff](https://deathisbadblog.com/toastmasters-3-live-longer-do-stuff/) - My third ToastMasters speech
- [Link Archive 3/1/14 – 4/3/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-3114-4314/) - The Secret Gnostic Key to Aronofsky's "Noah" that Everyone Missed - I always thought it was pretty obvious to anyone who really read the bible (at least the English/Protestant version that I got) that the OT god was the bad guy. He managed to win, and so He re-cast the serpent as evil and everyone worships Him in
- [Rebel Without A Cause - Movie Without A Protagonist](https://deathisbadblog.com/rebel-without-a-cause-movie-without-a-protagonist/) - Me and my SO saw Rebel Without A Cause for the first time yesterday, which has long been considered a classic. It didn’t age well. Specifically, changes in social norms have made it impossible to relate to anyone we were supposed to relate to. Before before we begin, can I ask if there was a
- [The Divergent Movie: A Kinder, Gentler Divergent](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-divergent-movie-a-kinder-gentler-divergent/) - I got to see an early showing of Divergent due to being in a super-cool SF/F book club. This is a review of the movie Divergent intended for people who have already read the book. So beware: MASSIVE SPOILERS! Turn back now or forever hold your peace. Before we get started, can I make comment
- [The other thing that the Divergent movie really fucked up](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-other-thing-that-the-divergent-movie-really-fucked-up/) - I didn’t mention this in the previous post, because I got off on a dystopias-gotta-be-dark-or-they-don’t-work tangent. But there was one scene in the movie that was heavily modified from the book which infuriated me. It was such blatantly sexist gender-conformist bullshit that I want to strangle the asshole who made this decision. And no, it's
- [Shit keeps getting better](https://deathisbadblog.com/shit-keeps-getting-better/) - Very few things irritate me as much as when some pretentious dickbag denigrates someone for reading what they consider to be low-class works, and tells them they should go read Moby Dick instead. First off all, congrats on just driving away another person from reading. You are making the problem worse. But secondly, why are
- [Saftey Third](https://deathisbadblog.com/saftey-third/) - While working with power tools recently, I heard someone say “Remember, Safety Third!” I’d always heard “Safety First”, so I asked him to explain. In his community (which handles power tools much more frequently than I do), it’s a combination joke and reminder. Everyone says “Safety First”, but this is a lie. If Safety really was First,
- [Parents abandon daughter, public sides with parents](https://deathisbadblog.com/parents-abandon-daughter-public-sides-with-parents/) - Rachel Canning is an honor student at a private school, and has received a $20,000 scholarship. Lately she was suspended from school a few times, got caught drinking, and lost the captaincy of the cheerleading squad. Also, her parents don’t approve of her boyfriend. They kicked her out of the house, and now she’s staying
- [Violence is Always the Final Arbiter. Even in Community Colleges.](https://deathisbadblog.com/violence-is-always-the-final-arbiter-even-in-community-colleges/) - I love Community (except for most of season 4, of course). Episode 6 of Season 5 touched on one of my favorite themes in fiction – the final basis of all power is the ability to do violence to others. The episode follows Annie as she explores the bureaucratic anatomy of Greendale Community College. Greendale’s
- [Link Archive 1/21/14 - 2/28/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-12114-22814/) - It's strangely exciting watching the dystopian sci-fi you read as a kid slowly becoming reality in one of our own states. Michigan Legislature Wants to Pass Bill To Fine Citizens Up To $1k Per Day For Picketing Omega-3s. Did McDonalds cause the decline of violence in America? A question. The Vogons show up and bulldoze Earth to
- [Internet Porn Makes Marriages Stronger](https://deathisbadblog.com/internet-porn-makes-marriages-stronger/) - Back in the Bad Old Days there was only one major distributor of porn - Playboy. Since it was run by Hugh Hefner, it swung wildly towards his tastes in women. They're obvious - super-thin, blonde, big boobs. As a result, several generations grew up experiencing this as the model of beauty, and with this
- [Showing rather than Telling](https://deathisbadblog.com/showing-rather-than-telling/) - Currently there's a trend in writing to avoid direct descriptives. Saying "he collapsed in exhausted" is a no-no. You describe his actions and let them speak for themselves, or you describe the physical sensations of exhaustion to let the reader feel the exhaustion. Such as "He dragged his leaden feet to the couch, eyes straining
- [Weird moral intuitions](https://deathisbadblog.com/weird-moral-intuitions/) - I found out something about myself recently. I was writing a short story in which the protagonist attacks her lover (the protagonist is the villain of the piece, so it’s ok. I hope.) She threatens her with murder, the murder of her loved ones, and initiates physical violence, partly to control her. These are Bad
- [Understanding Others](https://deathisbadblog.com/understanding-others/) - Not me I recently had a story workshopped. Which, BTW, is the best thing ever, and every aspiring writer should do this. I gained three levels in one day. Anyway, in the story a male character is introduced and described by a female character as “tall, but not uncomfortably so.” A workshopper of the female
- [That's Not Self-Publishing (or: The Saga of Baboon Fart Story)](https://deathisbadblog.com/thats-not-self-publishing-or-the-saga-of-baboon-fart-story/) - There’s been a lot of talk about self-publishing lately. Perhaps the two most important view points on this coming from Hugh Howey in the “self-publishing is best publishing” camp, and Chuck Wendig in the “publishing is a business, it’s a lot of work, and it’s generally best done by professionals” camp. (of note: Wendig does
- [Suspension of Disbelief](https://deathisbadblog.com/suspension-of-disbelief/) - So I read Veronica Roth’s Divergent, despite my exasperation with YA, because we’re reading it for our book club. I’m not going to talk about the book itself (which will come in a future review post), but rather about the whole concept of nitpicking. It is very clear to any reader who’s handled a gun
- [Smaller Gods are Better Gods (or: MLP Theology)](https://deathisbadblog.com/smaller-gods-are-better-gods-or-mlp-theology/) - My dad had quite an interest in Greek mythology, which he passed on to me (literally). I read a lot of the myths in my childhood, and I always thought the pagan gods were a lot more sensible than the christian one. Even as a kid I could see that there was something deeply irreconcilable
- ["Devils not done digging"](https://deathisbadblog.com/devils-not-done-digging/) - I don’t get poetry. Sure, there’s a couple poems I like (literally, I can think of two). But for the most part it completely goes over my head. I much prefer poetic prose such as (if you’ll excuse me using my standard example) Comes The Huntsman. I get spoken poetry. I love Storm and What
- [No Pain, No Pain](https://deathisbadblog.com/no-pain-no-pain/) - I have a problem with the old “No Pain, No Gain” saying. Pain is almost always a sign you’re damaging something. If your workout hurts, you’re probably doing more harm than good to your body. That saying is responsible for a lot of injury. Furthermore, it is incredibly counterproductive. I’m sure it’s driven a lot
- [Exercise for Introverts](https://deathisbadblog.com/exercise-for-introverts/) - As I’m sure we all know by now, regular exercise is an amazing life hack. Not just via the traditional benefits to your health, attractiveness, and life expectancy. It also improves your sleep, mental and emotional health, and gives you a Halo Effect boost. And it significantly improves intelligence, memory, and learning in a wide
- [2nd Toastmasters Speech](https://deathisbadblog.com/2nd-toastmasters-speech/) - My second Toastmasters speech. This one is on the 1972 Marshmallow Test, and Ego Depletion. I'm getting better. I think I rushed it a bit, but I used my hands slightly, and I had 50% less hands in pockets! :) Toastmasters 2 - Marshmallows and Ego Depletion
- [Zen and the Art of Home Maintenance](https://deathisbadblog.com/zen-and-the-art-of-home-maintenance/) - It’s good to clean up after oneself immediately whenever possible, but sometimes it’s not possible. Urgent tasks take precedence, or in some cases it’s actually more efficient to save up a chore and then do it all in one long go (like laundry). Likewise, it’s good to keep a stress-free life, but sometimes unavoidable complications
- [A Writer's Ego](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-writers-ego-2/) - In a recent comment, Samuel asked if I've considered self-publishing. I had a similar IRL conversation not too long ago as well. Yes, I have considered it. And it brings one back to “Why do I write in the first place?” Ultimately, I write because I have something I want to say. The problem is,
- [The Long Price](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-long-price/) - I know there are people out there who don’t believe in an afterlife, and who don’t believe that human immortality is possible even in principle. I also know that some of them have children. I don’t understand them. In a way, yes, I get it. I understand the will to live, and hormonal urges and
- [Link Archive 12/25/13 – 1/20/14](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-122513-12014/) - Remember Moneyball? Rather than using voodoo and gut-feelings to hire baseball players, some quants went and crunched a lot of data and did math, resulting in an outstandingly successful team and revolutionizing how baseball management is done? Fascinating results from a company that actually uses data & math to compare performance on various jobs, to
- [The best use for junk mail](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-best-use-for-junk-mail/) - Like everyone else in their right mind, I used to just toss junk mail straight into the recycle bin. No more! I have been alerted to a fun new use of this modern scourge! Fill the business reply envelopes with crap from other junk mailers. Then drop it in the mail. Why? The awful spamming company
- [State of Alabama vs Free Speech](https://deathisbadblog.com/state-of-alabama-vs-free-speech/) - You know that Freedom of Speech thing we like? If there was a country in the Western Hemisphere that was jailing people for saying mean things about its politicians, which country do you think it would be? (yes, merely asking the question gives away the answer. It's us) "Shuler’s is the only name listed from
- [Drugs Are Tools](https://deathisbadblog.com/drugs-are-tools/) - I was sick last week, which sucked. It was extra sucky because I’m an accountant and last week was right in the middle of the Quarter-End crunch (which was also the Year-End crunch!). I had to go in to work anyway and get my shit done. Fortunately I had drugs to reply on to mask
- [I haz a troll! (or: Understanding personhood and consent are deeply linked)](https://deathisbadblog.com/i-haz-a-troll-or-understanding-personhood-and-consent-are-deeply-linked/) - Hey check it out! My first troll! I know you’re not supposed to feed them, but it’s my first one! When I get tired I can just ban him anyway. Here we go! From The Property Model of Marriage >Marriage is defined widely by different people but come to the common understanding that it is
- [The Property Model of Marriage](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-property-model-of-marriage/) - The Denver Post just ran an article about The Scarlet Ranch (a Denver swinger club). It was a pretty good article. Normally I don't ever read comments on public sites, because The Internet. But I was curious if anyone was having the same mixed feelings as me - More public exposure and acceptance is good,
- [Pot Coming Out Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/pot-coming-out-day/) - Yesterday, January 1st 2014, marijuana became legally purchasable for recreational use in Colorado. It’s now basically as legal as alcohol and tobacco, at the state level. There’s a story (can’t find the reference right now, so treat is as apocryphal) of a psychologist in the early 70s, back when homosexuality was considered a mental illness.
- [Sex is Good](https://deathisbadblog.com/sex-is-good/) - In reviewing some of the links from yesterday’s post I was struck by a disturbing trend – sometimes delaying sex was reported as a good thing. Things like “pledges did delay the onset of sexual intercourse for an average of 18 months” I almost feel silly saying things, but Sex is Good. I guess that’s
- [Finding excuses to hate](https://deathisbadblog.com/finding-excuses-to-hate/) - The person I was conversing with in my last post went on to claim that she doesn't hate Teh Gays, her church is just trying to save them from a self-destructive lifestyle. She then listed rates of STI's among gay men. This is for her. /sigh. So much to unpack.First, almost every issue you have
- [Jesus loves you thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!](https://deathisbadblog.com/jesus-loves-you-thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis-much/) - I was just privy to someone deflecting their church's stance on gays (spoiler alert: they're not fans) by going on and on about how much Jesus loves everyone. He's so awesome and kind and loving! So many cuddles! Ahem. No one cares what you think your imaginary friend thinks. They care about how you actually
- [Link Archive 12/1/13 – 12/24/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-12113-122413/) - Hey, people have been doing it for 2000 years, why stop now? Right-Wing Group Seeks Help Rewriting the Bible Because It's Not Conservative Enough. As an aside, I love Conservapedia. It's the physical incarnation of Poe's Law. "I can spank this kid. That will teach him to stop. It sure might. Just like if I want a
- [Move early, move often](https://deathisbadblog.com/move-early-move-often/) - I’ve moved five times in the last six years. The first two times it was forced on me by circumstance, but I’ve come to enjoy it. Nowadays I try to move every 1-2 years. I recommend it to everyone. You learn a lot about yourself when you’re forced to move often. One of the early
- [New Year's Resolutions are for Suckers](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-years-resolutions-are-for-suckers/) - I don't understand the point of New Year's Resolutions. They seem specifically engineered to prevent people from accomplishing things, and feel bad about it. If you want to do something - do it. Don't set artificial limits on yourself. Do you want to start working out? Why put it off for another three weeks until
- [Comes The Huntsman - Rachael Acks](https://deathisbadblog.com/comes-the-huntsman-rachael-acks/) - This started out as a reply to Anaea Lay's deconstruction of Comes The Huntsman (by Rachael Acks). It got too long to be a comment, so I turned it into a blog post. As the old adage says - "If you have more than a couple of lines to say, don't clog up someone else's
- [Because I'm a goddamn citizen](https://deathisbadblog.com/because-im-a-goddamn-citizen/) - Some friends have been deriding the recent ruling that ordered a local cake-maker to serve gay couples, saying it is against the principles of the country. It is anti-freedom, or anti-liberty, or something similar. These are fairly liberal friends. I believe they are wrong. In the legal sense, this falls in line with the Federal
- [Subverting the Christmas Tree - The Tree of Knowledge](https://deathisbadblog.com/subverting-the-christmas-tree-the-tree-of-knowledge/) - As most people already know, the Christmas Tree doesn’t have anything to do with Christianity. It was a pagan symbol for a pagan holiday, and when the Christian church appropriated the holiday they simply took many of its traditional customs and decorations along for the ride without question. I dunno if they were being clever
- [The Dick Punch](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-dick-punch/) - Back in the early days of my current relationship, before we were officially together, my SO punched me in the dick. We were at the Renaissance Festival, drinking a bit, and she grabbed something from my hand and ran off with it. I took off after her, caught up, and grabbed at her shoulder. On
- [Link Archive 11/8/13 – 11/30/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-11813-113013/) - Ack, didn't realize how long I'd let this go! Thanksgiving is a Sci-Fi story. This post is both historically accurate and epic. "Mr. S heads to the alien settlement [...] What if he could use these aliens as a tool to unite the warring bands of survivors? Break the ex-governor’s stranglehold on the region? Start
- [That was unexpected](https://deathisbadblog.com/that-was-unexpected/) - Holy crap, not 24 hours after I post my instructions on how to restore the thumbnail on Chrome's New Tabs Page I see that this has been remedied. I assume this sort of thing takes more than a single day to implement, so obviously they had to have been working on this before I wrote
- [Microsoft Has Doomed Our Species](https://deathisbadblog.com/microsoft-has-doomed-our-species/) - Alright I admit it – part of yesterday’s post on un-unpinning a tab in Chrome was a set up for today’s post. Because just a few days after that I started using a shiny new Android phone, and, well… I posted this Facebook rant after my first texting experience. "WTF is with software nowadays being
- [How to reverse a home page unpin in Chrome](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-to-reverse-a-home-page-unpin-in-chrome/) - This will only be of interest to those of you who use Chrome. I wouldn’t normally post a how-to that’s basically a replication of other stuff on the net, but it turns out this is a two-step process and no one tells you that, which can lead to much frustration. Those most-visited sites on the
- [Do not blame porn. DO thank a gay guy.](https://deathisbadblog.com/do-not-blame-porn-do-thank-a-gay-guy/) - I recently had a conversation with the father of a 12-year-old who was worried that his son would get a grossly distorted view of sex from porn, since there’s so much of it these days and it can get pretty extreme. Well sure. There are some things you’ll learn from porn that are wrong if
- [Last Night](https://deathisbadblog.com/last-night/) - She: Hi baby. I just fed the dog dinner. He - sits down to eat Dog - comes over to ask for his dinner He: Don't try to play that game, I know you just ate. Dog - indicates he can't remember the last time he had anything to eat, can't he have just a
- [Link Archive 10/18/13 – 11/7/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-101813-11713/) - Star Wars inserted into Kinkade. Awesome. Dammit! I was tricked into rejecting Jesus by my toys! It's all so clear now... Glad they mentioned Smurfs. Those were a big scare in my church as a kid. My best friend's younger brother was tormented by the smurfs that literally(!) jumped off his bedsheets and danced around
- [Denver's Million Mask March - Nov 5th 2013](https://deathisbadblog.com/denvers-million-mask-march-nov-5th-2013/) - A friend attended the Nov 5th Million Mask March. I did not, as the previous two marches I’d attended recently didn’t really seem have any impact. We walked around and shouted for a bit, inconvenienced some vehicle traffic around the capital building, and then dispersed and everything was forgotten. Also, it was taking place on
- [Spreading Lies](https://deathisbadblog.com/spreading-lies/) - I was recently directed to a video that purports that "CDC Chief Admits that Vaccines Trigger Autism." It's interesting that the video does nothing of the sort. In fact it takes the normal scientific practice of describing what happened and what we know, and then makes outrageous claims completely unsupported by the statement. This is
- [Plagiarism? For real?](https://deathisbadblog.com/plagiarism-for-real/) - I didn't intend to comment on this because I thought it was just plain silly, but someone engaged me, so here's why I can't get excited over Rand Paul's "plagiarism". I think people are confusing plagiarism with reading a wikipedia movie synopsis. One is stealing someone else's work and claiming it as your own -
- [Toastmasters Icebreaker](https://deathisbadblog.com/toastmasters-icebreaker/) - I've joined a Toastmasters group to improve my public speaking. This is my first talk given in the group, the Icebreaker. I speak about being an alcoholic for three years, and then not doing that anymore. I have been informed that I need to move a bit, add some gestures, and take my hands out of
- [Gattaca a dystopia?](https://deathisbadblog.com/gattaca-a-dystopia/) - Rand Paul recently lifted large sections of the wikipedia entry on Gattaca during a speech. I guess this is being called plagiarism? I can’t find anything to get upset about, not even enough to quirk an eyebrow, so I won’t be commenting on that. Seriously, there are PLENTY of awful things about Rand Paul to actually
- [The Un-Charity](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-un-charity/) - My employer encourages philanthropy among their employees (which is awesome). Every year they have a week where employees are encourages to volunteer for various organizations during the work day, while still drawing full pay! Some of those organizations even come to our place of work to make this volunteering as convenient as possible. So last
- [Further King's Blood Speculation](https://deathisbadblog.com/further-kings-blood-speculation/) - I said yesterday that I get the impression Daniel Abraham is not as impressed with truth and honesty as most people say they are. He almost seems to be saying there are times when it is better to suppress the truth and lie to the public, if it results in better outcomes. It even looks
- [Maul continued](https://deathisbadblog.com/maul-continued-2/) - Several of the people in our book club who disliked Tricia Sullivan’s Maul said they were disappointed by the fact that it was billed as “feminist SF”, because they didn’t consider it to be particularly feminist. Certainly not in the ways of older feminist works that explore gender politics and imbalances in societal power. In contrast, I thought
- [Mile Hi Con 2013](https://deathisbadblog.com/mile-hi-con-2013/) - I went to MileHiCon this past weekend. It was awesome. Here are details. One of the first things I did was run into Paolo Bacigalupi, multiple-award-winning author of The Windup Girl. At the last MileHiCon I had attended, two years ago, I had tagged along as Aarron Hughes from our Book Club took him to
- [Freedom is Not Having To Give A Fuck](https://deathisbadblog.com/freedom-is-not-having-to-give-a-fuck/) - I was at MileHiCon over the weekend, during which time I spoke with Paolo Bacigalupi (/shameless-name-drop). He related his legal difficulties with Night Shade Books (publisher of Windup Girl) and how glad he was that at the time he was drawing a good income from his YA series. Night Shade Books was holding his adult-SF-fiction
- [Link Archive 9/12/13 – 10/17/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-91213-101713/) - Maybe I should do this weekly, so they don't build up like this. >< A Bad Lip Reading of Game of Thrones. This should NOT be as funny as it is. But it is. Donald Glover's notes on why he' s leaving Community are moving. I know that feel. I expect many people do. Oprah says
- [A Simpler Explanation](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-simpler-explanation/) - (What’s this, two posts in one day? Madness!) Yesterday I explained why I attended an anti-Monsanto rally despite being pro-GMO (generally). It occurred to me while I was writing it that I was protesting too much. I went ahead and finished the post, because I thought it was interesting and it made a point. And
- [Ides of October](https://deathisbadblog.com/ides-of-october/) - I don't think he actually has the balls to do this but - if congress can't raise the debt ceiling by midnight tomorrow, that would be a perfect opportunity for Obama to hold all of congress in No Confidence, temporarily seize its financial powers for the executive branch (for the duration of the emergency only,
- [Political Games](https://deathisbadblog.com/political-games/) - I attended an anti-Monsanto rally over the weekend. People who know me may be a little surprised, as they may know that I’m generally pro-GMO. I am, however, against certain applications of the technology (which should go without saying about any tech, really). Much like I’m generally pro-electricity, but anti-Electric-Chair. However the recent US budget
- [Expecting More Than Nothing](https://deathisbadblog.com/expecting-more-than-nothing-2/) - Last week I was rear-ended. As I posted then, I let the police officer take down the other driver’s info, which he said would be passed on to me in a report, and gave me the report number. I could have taken the driver’s info down myself, but I trusted that this process would work. I
- [Car Crash](https://deathisbadblog.com/car-crash/) - Yesterday I was sitting at a red light when someone behind me, not paying attention to the road, plowed into the back of my car. My car is still running, although it’s going to need a lot of work. I am extremely grateful to the people who immediately came to our aid. The blow left
- [Ow! My head!](https://deathisbadblog.com/ow-my-head/) - I was in a car accident on Oct 2nd. I seem to be OK. As far as I can tell I suffered a mild concussion – I was foggy the rest of that day and ALL of the next day. And by foggy I mean I had a hard time holding my concentration on anything,
- [Fire and Ice](https://deathisbadblog.com/fire-and-ice/) - Sometimes people try to imply that those who don’t want to die don’t care about others. For example, if put this way: "I'm dating a guy who wants to be frozen and wake up in 1000 years and plans to find a new girlfriend then." We sound pretty awful. Which is the entire purpose of
- [What is Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality?](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-is-harry-potter-and-the-methods-of-rationality/) - This is a cross-post from my podcast. Last week that I was asked to do a presentation on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality for a local con. I said ok and put together this little talk. The video’s about 25 minutes. It’s for the uninitiated, a brief explanation of Rationality, Rationalist Fiction, and HPMoR. It
- [OMG porn! Everyone panic!](https://deathisbadblog.com/omg-porn-everyone-panic/) - So I guess right now Britain is having a moral panic about online porn. Here is just one recent article documenting this generation-destroying menace. It’s another great example of wide-eyed parents jumping all over the chance to believe anything outrageous because indignation feels sooooo good. It’s almost as stupid as the Rainbow Parties “phenomenon”. (Seriously… ‘nuggets’?
- [9/26 - Happy Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/926-happy-petrov-day/) - More details here Please take a moment today to not destroy the world. In the interest of having backups, this is the full text of "9/26 is Petrov Day", linked above. Today is September 26th, Petrov Day, celebrated to honor the deed of Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov on September 26th, 1983. Wherever
- [Wherefore to blog?](https://deathisbadblog.com/wherefore-to-blog/) - I dunno why other people blog, or how, but I do it because my thoughts used to be dead-weight. I would think a lot, like I assume most people do. Long, meandering chains of contemplation. While driving from point A to point B. While showering. Far, far too often while laying in bed trying to
- [Pinkie Pie Is Made Of People!](https://deathisbadblog.com/pinkie-pie-is-made-of-people/) - So I was supposed to write this yesterday, but I kinda lost interest. I probably wouldn't even be writing it today, but I said I would. So in brief: It seems to me that the other Pinkie's would count as people because they displayed a range of emotions, had the ability to think about themselves
- [The role of angst](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-role-of-angst/) - Let’s assume that Twilight did the right thing by eliminating the excess Pinkie Pies. (Yup, I’m continuing this thread) If we grant a few premises, the ones commonly spelled out in these sorts of disaster stories, this is a safe assumption. What, then, is my complaint? If the correct decision was reached and the correct
- [Consent in Art](https://deathisbadblog.com/consent-in-art/) - Continuing musing on Too Many Pinkie Pies (TMPP) from yesterday. Spoilers below. (Also, a major spoiler for Paolo Bacigalupi’s “Pop Squad” short story!) The purpose of art is to create an emotional experience for your audience. With that in mind, maybe Dave Polsky (writer of this episode, yes I did just look it up) did
- [Did that just happen?](https://deathisbadblog.com/did-that-just-happen/) - Over the weekend I saw “Too Many Pinkie Pies” (FiM S3 E3). A good episode, but one that had a jaw-breaker of a moral punch packed inside it. For those who haven’t seen it – (SPOILER ALERT!!) (turn back now) (last chance) Ok, no complaining if you’re still here. Ahem. Pinkie Pie
- [Bread and Circus](https://deathisbadblog.com/bread-and-circus/) - (Continued from yesterday) So what is the profit that would come from attacking Syria? Why would a reasonable nation pay those costs? I don't know what the further motive is. Maybe it's there and I can't see it, or maybe there isn't one. After ten years I'm still not sure why we attacked Iraq. But…
- [Link Archive 8/21/13 – 9/11/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-82113-91113/) - Trying to do these a little more frequently so they aren't as long. Cracked is a far better site than any of the professional news media. The 6 Weirdest Things We've Learned Since 9/11 Another *amazing* brilliant science-fiction piece from Ted Chiang is out. One of my favoritest authors ever. "writing is a technology, which
- [Morality Hipsters](https://deathisbadblog.com/morality-hipsters/) - When I hear about the pope I feel like a hipster. His apologia fills me with intense irritation rather than joy, which I realize is a flaw. I should be happy that they’re finally coming around. Secular morality is always advancing and pulling religion kicking and screaming into the current century. It had to be
- [What would the world look like...](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-would-the-world-look-like/) - …if governments actually cared about chemical weapons being used? Well perhaps they would set up an extra-governmental agency, to which all UN member nations would donate funds and military hardware and personnel. This agency would not be under the control of any single nation, or even a group of nations, it would be fully independent.
- [When can we stop pretending it's about chemical weapons?](https://deathisbadblog.com/when-can-we-stop-pretending-its-about-chemical-weapons/) - There’s been claims lately that we must strike in Syria as a deterrent to any regimes who would use chemical weapons*. We must strike anyone who uses chemical weapons, which will prevent their use in the future and save many innocent lives. That sounds noble, but it is a lie. Chemical weapons were used in
- [Living for the day](https://deathisbadblog.com/living-for-the-day/) - Recently an acquaintance posted that she doesn’t make long-term plans because you never know when you might die. She could be gone next week, so she enjoys every day as much as possible without worrying about the future. In practice, this means coasting by at a comfortable job, a lot of social activities in the
- [How to Make Your Writer Love You](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-to-make-your-writer-love-you/) - Lately I’ve started to actually seriously try writing something. For those who have found themselves befriended by aspiring writer, and have been tricked into reading a draft of their next story – my condolences. I hope it’s as painless as possible. However for those who like the idea of being a beta-reader, here is what
- [The slut-shaming of Miley Cirus](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-slut-shaming-of-miley-cirus/) - /sigh. I wanted to move away from Blurred Lines, as it seems to have taken over my blog the last couple weeks, but shit keeps coming up. I get most of my news from social media and podcasts. And I gotta say, I’m pretty proud of my friends-list! Barely a peep about the Miley Cirus thing,
- [Gender-Swapping is Ineffective](https://deathisbadblog.com/gender-swapping-is-ineffective/) - I found this video the day after I saw the official Blurred Lines video. I’ve previously said I’m unsure if Blurred Lines is really sexist. Before I watched the parody I thought “Yay! Now men can be just as objectified and everything is equal.” Except - it really isn’t, is it? Because it isn’t about
- [A Sad Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-sad-day/) - Today my country holds political prisoners again. 35 years, for an act that should have gotten him a medal. By way of comparison, Marine Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate and Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson were both sentenced to 21 months for the aggravated assault of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, a grandfather, in 2006. Awad died after
- [Link Archive 7/20/13 – 8/20/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-72013-82013/) - It's that time again 20 Historic Black and White Photos Colorized Note to everyone: crack all the books you bought legally before you travel. Or disable wi-fi on your reader. In a world where reading is outlawed, only pirates will have reading material. :/ You'd rather go out of business then help spy on
- [US Government fighting against Transparency](https://deathisbadblog.com/us-government-fighting-against-transparency/) - Recently Lavabit, which lets people send secure private emails via encryption, was shut down by the government. Why? "we offered secure storage, where incoming emails were stored in such a way that they could only be accessed with the user’s password so that even myself couldn’t retrieve those emails. And that’s what we meant by
- [Rorschach Test of a Society's Sexual Health](https://deathisbadblog.com/rorschach-test-of-a-societys-sexual-health/) - I was taken to the previously-mentioned clothing-optional club for the first time by my now-fiancee. She later confessed it was partly a test, as she couldn’t be long-term with someone who wasn’t comfortable with that sort of thing (spoiler alert: I passed). There’s a fair bit of nudity (more female than male), a bit of
- [Blurred Lines - sexist?](https://deathisbadblog.com/blurred-lines-sexist/) - A little over a week ago I heard Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” for the first time, and I immediately loved it. The music was catchy and light, the vocals were fun, and the song was vaguely sexual. A good summer song. A friend who was with me at the time was surprised I hadn’t heard
- [That seems a bit much...](https://deathisbadblog.com/that-seems-a-bit-much/) - For over a year I had almost no time to play video games. A few months ago I managed to find some free time again, so I finally played through Mass Effect 3, and now I’m working through Bioshock Infinite. I’m enjoying it while it lasts, because I may well soon lose extra gaming time
- [The Narrative is the Argument](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-narrative-is-the-argument/) - A comment to my previous Ender's Game post said it "leaves the impression that you missed the part where O.S.Card throws a heavy critique at this "ultimate solution" -- at the end of "Ender's Game" and throughout "Xenocide". Do you make a point that he criticizes it only on moral grounds, not on rational grounds?" No,
- [Libertarians Moving Backwards](https://deathisbadblog.com/libertarians-moving-backwards/) - In a previous post I recanted from my position of “I don’t care if the government knows who I call”. I had held that because it was a step closer to my ideal of Radical Transparency – under that ideal everyone who be able to see who you called, but in return you’d also be
- [Teenage boys and violence](https://deathisbadblog.com/teenage-boys-and-violence/) - My girlfriend recently asked me what level of truth was contained in this article, specifically about item #3 - There’s a reason for that emotional repression. She wanted to know if teenage boys are really that violent. To quote the article: Almost every adult man walking around spent at least part of his adolescence dealing with
- [My Priests](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-priests/) - My recent brush with people I greatly admire got me thinking about the purpose of hero-worship, and reminded me of something I wrote several years ago. This was written when I was in my alcoholic phase, and yes, I was drunk when I wrote it. I’ve cut out a bit, and it’s still kinda belligerent.
- [Immortality Debate: After-Action Review](https://deathisbadblog.com/immortality-debate-after-action-review/) - The immortality panel has passed. Holy hell was that a rush. Here's the video: First, this has been another demonstration of the “doesn’t hurt to ask” principle. When PZ first described the FTBCon concept on his blog and asked for submissions I figured “What the hell. Might as well send an email. Worst that can
- [The Immortality Debate](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-immortality-debate/) - I will be participating in a panel at FTBCon on Sunday. FTBCon (Free Thought Blogs) is an all-online convention, a chance for a lot of people to get together and hangout while listening to people talk about atheist and skeptic issues. I proposed a panel on whether human immortality is a good thing or a
- [Link Archive 6/21/13 – 7/19/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-62113-71913/) - Yeesh, I hadn't realized it's been almost a month since I did this. Will Facebook ever become a decent archive? I'm betting no. In praise of Joanne Rowling’s Hermione Granger series Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind Coming to Television! This is what balls looks like in day-to-day life. Changing The Creepy Guy Narrative
- [Hail Leviathan](https://deathisbadblog.com/hail-leviathan/) - Our neighbor has an annoying habit. He will sometimes get himself really drunk and belligerent and start trying to pick a fight. One night he moved the potted plants we have out by our front door because he was “sick of looking at them”. There was a confrontation, but it didn’t get physical. Last weekend
- [Zimmerman's Escalation of Violence](https://deathisbadblog.com/zimmermans-escalation-of-violence/) - It’s a bit of a joke that “You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.” But there’s a more important principle that it seems some people were never taught: You don’t bring a knife to a fistfight. A few years ago I was on an attempted-murder jury. Two young minority men (one black, one Hispanic)
- [SF/F Review - 2013 Hugo Shorts](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-review-2013-hugo-shorts/) - Every year in our book club we read the 2013 Hugo-nominated Short Stories and Novelettes (those that can be found online anyway) and discuss them at one of our semi-monthly meetings. I’m not sure how exactly to do a “Book Club Review” for a handful of shorts that aren’t bound together in a single work.
- [Judging People Based On Looks](https://deathisbadblog.com/judging-people-based-on-looks/) - Lately this video has been making the rounds in my corner of the internet: (summary: Dustin Hoffman went about as a woman for a movie role. He was crushed when he was told that they couldn’t make him beautiful. And he realized how many women he’d simply dismissed out of hand because they weren’t beautiful
- [On Being Attractive](https://deathisbadblog.com/on-being-attractive/) - I was never very attractive in my younger years. As a teen I was scrawny and dorky. In my 20s I was kinda fat and oafish. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve started working out and taking care of how I look. And I’ve discovered something – I’m somewhat attractive. Lest
- [Criminal Stupidity](https://deathisbadblog.com/criminal-stupidity/) - Western society seems far too lenient on those who harm others due to gross negligence. Far too often people are given a free pass because they “believe” something “deeply”. I was recently gladdened to see that parents who killed their child by resorting to “prayer” rather than going to a doctor were convicted of homicide. In
- [Preventing Escalation](https://deathisbadblog.com/preventing-escalation-2/) - I said yesterday that the Republicans made a massive mistake - they acknowledged the primacy of the game, and attempted to cheat, at the same time. The problem with games is that they are weak artificial constructs, and both sides must agree to play them without cheating. If the Republicans simply wanted to get their
- [War Games](https://deathisbadblog.com/war-games/) - I was watching the Wendy Davis spectacle last week. For those unfamiliar, the Texas State Legislature was about to put vast restrictions on abortion. There was a populist filibuster where hundreds of people spoke in the congress in order to delay the vote. This was cut short by the Chairman, but not before a day
- [Respite](https://deathisbadblog.com/respite/) - My friend, Autumn Rachel Dryden, is probably known to most of you as the voice of Prof McGonagall from the Methods of Rationality podcast. A number of years ago she wrote a short story called "Respite", originally published in IGMS and soon to be included in the "Beyond The Sun" anthology. It has now also been picked up
- [Another possible cause of falling fertility](https://deathisbadblog.com/another-possible-cause-of-falling-fertility/) - Inspired by a "friend-zoned" post. There's a serious failure mode in society where guys are not taught how to attract females in any formalized way. Seems most decent guys have to go through *years* being the idiot portrayed in this XKCD (I know I did), and women have to go through years of being
- [Link Archive 5/31/13 – 6/20/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-53113-62013/) - BWAHAHAHAHA! Hyperbolic (and hilarious) recounting of vital scenes from the new Man of Steel movie "Pa Kent: Remember! Remember this one thing! Young Clark: I will, Dad! Pa Kent: KEEP... MURDERING... CHILDRENNNnnnnnnnnnnnnn! (Pa Kent is carried away — flashback ends)" YAY! HPV Vaccine has cut infections in teen girls by half A
- [Running at 95%](https://deathisbadblog.com/running-at-95/) - In an old post, an LW user asked: Imagine that the technology has just come available to resurrect a frozen brain. However, the process has low fidelity, … these limitations are purely practical - as the technique is refined, the process of resurrection will become better and better … The results of the process is
- [A horrible old lady](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-horrible-old-lady/) - This doesn’t have any significance beyond my own personal venting, but I need to vent. Over the weekend I met an older relative of my fiancé. I hope to never see her again. She put on a friendly show and smiled a lot, but she betrayed herself with a “joking” question. “You know you’re not
- [Freely Available Hugo-Nominated Stories, 2013](https://deathisbadblog.com/freely-available-hugo-nominated-stories-2012/) - Every year at our book club we read the Hugo nominated short stories and novelettes that are available online. This year not all of them are available. Here are the ones that are. Short Stories: “Immersion”, Aliette de Bodard (audio here) “Mantis Wives”, Kij Johnson (audio here) “Mono no Aware”, Ken Liu Novellettes: “The
- [Getting There From Here](https://deathisbadblog.com/getting-there-from-here/) - Based on various discussions in recent weeks, I am revising my stance on Transparency. Not the end result, which is still ideally a state of complete transparency, but in how to get there from here. I’ve said that the records the NSA was collecting should be public information anyway. But obviously the government doesn’t feel
- [Temporal Self-Cooperation](https://deathisbadblog.com/temporal-self-cooperation/) - I write often about cooperating with myself, as that’s a fairly important aspect for anyone trying to make the world more like themselves (always have a back-up plan in case you succeed!). There more than one way of doing so though – sometimes you can negotiate with your future self for personal gains. It seems
- [More transparency, not less](https://deathisbadblog.com/more-transparency-not-less/) - I'm still hearing about the NSA "scandal". Sigh. >some people don't fancy being treated like a criminal When we ask people to remove their veils/masks/whatevers for photo IDs, we aren't treating them like criminals. This seems like the reverse of the "If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" argument. If everyone's information is
- [NSA phone records - outrageous?](https://deathisbadblog.com/nsa-phone-records-outrageous/) - A lot of people are pretending to be outraged by the “revelation” that the NSA and FBI have requested phone records from Verizon. The records apparently show origin and destination phone numbers, and time/location/duration of calls. I fail to see what the big deal is. Maybe I’m cynical, or maybe I’m just not deluded, but
- [Denver Comic Con - Doing Stuff!](https://deathisbadblog.com/denver-comic-con-doing-stuff/) - Denver Comic Con is, interestingly, not a con that I would go to as an attendee. The main attraction is the “Exhibitor Hall” which is basically a huge shopping plaza for geek stuff. It’s there to stoke consumerist passions, and then sate them (for a fee). I am vigorously against the Owning of Stuff , and
- [Denver Comic Con - In Pictures](https://deathisbadblog.com/denver-comic-con-in-pictures/) - I volunteered at Denver Comic Con over the weekend. More on that tomorrow, but today I'll be putting up some pics I snapped, with comments. Note that I left my decent camera at home, so these are taken with my crappy cell-phone camera. Also if the hallways look empty it's because I was working most
- [An Unreasonable Fear](https://deathisbadblog.com/an-unreasonable-fear/) - In high school I knew someone who was afraid to cross bridges. Once I saw her unable to cross a 4-foot walkway over a creek that one could hop over. This was bizarre and unbelievable to me, partly because there was no way the bridge could have collapsed, and partly because even if it did
- [Link Archive 5/14/13 – 5/30/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-51413-53013/) - Hitler Tea Kettle Now I feel like I've got to come up with some kind of witty review for the webstore Non-Bullshit Fables Illinois Bans Abstinence-Only Sex Ed: ‘In Fantasy Land, We Teach Our Kids Abstinence’ The Soylent Kickstarter I'm pleasantly surprised by how quickly this went from an idea to a
- [Our Social Welfare Program Should Focus Less on Killing People](https://deathisbadblog.com/our-social-welfare-program-should-focus-less-on-killing-people/) - We’re still a ways away from human labor being unnecessary, but out of compassion many countries have social welfare programs in place to help the very poor anyway. I don’t know how it works in other countries, but in the US there is a lot of resistance to giving people aid simply because they are
- [Existential Angst Suggests Good Things For Humanity](https://deathisbadblog.com/existential-angst-suggests-good-things-for-humanity/) - I said yesterday that a basic income guarantee should be considered in light of rising productivity. The most common argument against this is that living requires the consumption of resources, and as long as humans are producing as much or more than they consume than everything is fine, but guaranteeing everyone enough income to live
- [Amazon Wants Your Words](https://deathisbadblog.com/amazon-wants-your-words/) - Kindle Worlds lets you get paid for fanfic. Yay? No. John Scalzi summarizes the legal jargon, go read it. You’ll get paid for what you write, but then Amazon and the Licensors have full copyright ownership of everything you created. If you want to protect your rights you’ll have to change all the names, like
- [Humanity Beat The Game, But Is Bad At The Expansion](https://deathisbadblog.com/humanity-beat-the-game-but-is-bad-at-the-expansion/) - For most of the human race’s existence, we’ve been playing a game called Survival. The rules are mind-bogglingly complex, change all the damn time, and are not fair. But humans managed to hold on long enough try many different ways to win, and had the previously unheard-of ability to record their attempts and pass on
- [Existential Angst](https://deathisbadblog.com/existential-angst/) - Yeah, the Expansion is Existential Angst. As far as I can tell, untold volumes have been written about Existential Angst, and no one is any closer to beating it. Are there any things we can say we’ve learned so far? 1. It’s not a fear of death. Indeed, some people seek out death as
- [Final Boss Theorycraft](https://deathisbadblog.com/final-boss-theorycraft/) - So, assuming that the Final Boss is Learned Helplessness. What can be done? I’m going to outline a strategy for an attempt. Seeking feedback, if anyone has any to give. First, cut out a lot of media. Anything that you can’t change can be safely jettisoned. Stop watching the news and reading the paper. Eventually comedy and
- [Education is Optimized for the Wrong Game](https://deathisbadblog.com/education-is-optimized-for-the-wrong-game/) - Back when we were in the process of Beating The Game the education system was exactly what we needed. A base of farmers to keep us in calories, a large pool of industrial workers to keep society growing and upgrading, and an elite corps of intellectuals - as administrators and to make new progress in
- [Post-Scarcity Preview](https://deathisbadblog.com/post-scarcity-preview/) - Yesterday I claimed that due to our ever-climbing productivity, we need far fewer factory workers than we are producing. That we need to retool our schools to produce creative, innovative, entrepreneurial people. I am not that sort of person. But I have, recently, gotten a taste of what it’s like to be that sort of
- [Would You Cooperate With Yourself?](https://deathisbadblog.com/would-you-cooperate-with-yourself/) - Game theory book The Art of Strategy included a great Prisoner's Dilemma experiment. The experimenters spoiled the game: they told both players that they would be deciding simultaneously, but in fact, they let Player 1 decide first, and then secretly approached Player 2 and told her Player 1's decision, letting Player 2 consider this information when
- [Link Archive 5/4/13 – 5/13/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-5413-51313/) - Google Wallet The internet just gained a level. HUZZAH! Why Star Trek is great An absolutely awesome article for all the Trek fans. Dredd is actually a really good action movie. The evil engineer's guide to patents Software patent law is broken. Exploit it for personal gain - be a munchkin IRL
- [Tosh.0 Rape Jokes](https://deathisbadblog.com/tosh-0-rape-jokes/) - Presumably you've heard all about Daniel Tosh's recent hilarious take on rape. A woman in the audience yelled out that rape jokes aren't funny and... From Cookies For Breakfast: After I called out to him, Tosh paused for a moment. Then, he says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5
- [The Batman Shootings](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-batman-shootings/) - Note: I wrote this before Death Is Bad was up. I originally posted it to my other site, HPMoR:The Podcast. I've moved it here, but I've left the original post uneditted. I was woken up this morning by my phone ringing. I ignored the first call, but when it was followed by another call
- [Mayors against Bigotry!](https://deathisbadblog.com/mayors-against-bigotry/) - The Mayor of Boston wrote a letter to Chik-Fil-A stating "There's no place for discrimination on Boston's Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it." Full Size Image Here. I thought about this myself a bit. I'm an atheist, and it's actually still very common for political officials to say things like "we
- [Celebrating the Tragic](https://deathisbadblog.com/celebrating-the-tragic/) - It sucks being retarded. That should go without saying, and yet I feel incredibly nervous saying it. Last week at our book club we read the Hugo-nominated short stories, which included “Movement”. It asks the question – if we can cure a certain type of mental handicap, should we do so? I feel the answer
- [Mental Plasticity in Perpetuity](https://deathisbadblog.com/mental-plasticity-in-perpetuity/) - A common pro-death argument is that without the older generations dying off, humanity was stagnate and social progress will end. This is often supported with Planck's quote that "An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out, and
- [Office Efficiency](https://deathisbadblog.com/office-efficiency/) - Recently at my work we had an intern. I was tasked with giving her some of my work to keep her busy. In theory, this would reduce my workload as well, since she was doing it. In practice, I had no motivation to make sure she was doing things well. In a month she’ll be
- [Mental Plasticity or Mental Stagnation](https://deathisbadblog.com/mental-plasticity-or-mental-stagnation/) - Continuing from the previous post on mental plasticity. Warning – spoilers for Total Recall and major spoilers for Diaspora. Value drift is the term for the incremental changes that occur to people as they go through life that slowly turn them into different persons. It has been said that value drift is akin to
- [Engineering Can Fix Your Problems, But It Isn't Magic](https://deathisbadblog.com/engineering-can-fix-your-problems-but-it-isnt-magic/) - I stumbled upon an article that described a device you place over your glasses that keeps near objects clear, but blurs your distance vision. Its purpose is to prevent ultra-religious men from seeing a woman and becoming filled with lust. Lets put aside for a moment the seemingly weird belief that feeling lust is Bad.
- [Targeting Lust](https://deathisbadblog.com/80/) - Continuing from my last post on working with the human sex drive, describing an Orthodox belief that one should be attracted to one's mate and no one else. I'd said such selective mental engineering is currently in the realm of magic. It is interesting to consider if we should encourage this once we do
- [We Need Aurors](https://deathisbadblog.com/we-need-aurors/) - "Free will" could be exercised in defining the field of battle, not when and how my enemies would attack. Whenever I heard them ask "Would you like that super-sized?" I knew they were really saying "It's already too late. - from This Article by Ta-Nehisi Coates It's unfortunate this was sparked by the soda-size restriction, since
- [How Many of Me Are There?](https://deathisbadblog.com/how-many-of-me-are-there/) - In trying to continue my posts on mental plasticity, I've found I need to expand on a related subject before I can continue. The following was originally posted at LessWrong. If an AI was asked today how many human individuals populate this planet, it may not return a number the several-billions range. In fact
- [Violatin' the fire code at WorldCon!](https://deathisbadblog.com/violatin-the-fire-code-at-worldcon/) - WorldCon is awesome. Although I dropped my phone in a toilet. That part was lame, but entirely not the fault of WorldCon. I've learned that the subject of panels is generally less important than who is on them. Note good panelists and go to thier panels. Myke Cole (far left below) from the Disaster Response
- [Trial and Error at WorldCon](https://deathisbadblog.com/trial-and-error-at-worldcon/) - I met a number of cool people at the con, and I regret not having gotten pics of more of them. In particular - Kevin Riggle, who hung out with me a fair bit of Friday, and Anaea Lay (author of Your Cities) who was my "con girlfriend" in that we hung out much of
- [Chicago Architecture](https://deathisbadblog.com/chicago-architecture/) - I'm a big fan of architecture. Here are a couple pics from Chicago. (The Tower in Fog from the first WorldCon post is from Chicago as well) Gorgeous building, very stately, love the flying buttresses. Unique design. Parking on the first dozen floors, living quarters above them. Practical? Maybe. But ugly. Uniquely ugly. That'll
- [Amateur Boxing](https://deathisbadblog.com/amateur-boxing/) - I come from a family of arguers. We love to sit around and dispute almost any old thing. So Facebook has become my favorite place to hang out, as people are always itchin' for a fight there. I'll never reach the level of the late, great Hitchens (who is a hero of mine), but you
- [Hive Minds](https://deathisbadblog.com/hive-minds/) - If you have both a dog and an SO you live with, you’ve probably thought to yourself “That dog must think our entire species has RAGING Tourettes.” There he is, quiet almost all day long, just enjoying being his doggy self. And here we are, making noise non-stop for no conceivable reason. It’s rare for us
- [What about masturbation?](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-about-masturbation/) - On August 27, 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a revised circumcision policy statement saying: Although health benefits are not great enough to recommend routine circumcision for all male newborns, the benefits of circumcision are sufficient to justify access to this procedure for families choosing it … Parents ultimately should decide whether circumcision is in
- [Adapting to Survive](https://deathisbadblog.com/adapting-to-survive/) - A recent episode of Planet Money described the process of “creative destruction”. "By 1991 Walmart has taken over Woolworth’s place on the Dow Jones, by 1997 Woolworth’s has closed down all of its stores […] Why isn’t Woolworth’s prepared to make that change, they should be better prepared than anyone. They could’ve been Wal-Mart, why didn’t
- [Power vs Survival](https://deathisbadblog.com/power-vs-survival/) - This article from Alone is extremely good. I’d recommend reading the whole thing, but in summary it states that people expect a higher power (god, government, society, dad, etc) to provide an environment where the most terrible things are not allowed, and this allows us to accept less responsibility for ourselves. It is a reminder
- [Internalized Beliefs](https://deathisbadblog.com/internalized-beliefs/) - Speaking of Among Others, I had an interesting conversation with Anaea Lay about the ending when we were at WorldCon. Warning, here there be spoilers. One of the things that you notice as you’re leaving religion is that almost nobody acts like they believe in an afterlife. With few exceptions, no one acts like it’s
- [Simple Economics in Morality](https://deathisbadblog.com/simple-economics-in-morality/) - While I’m going on about Among Others, I have a thought about morality that can be pulled from it. “I went into Woolworths where I pinched a bottle of talc and a Twix […] I wouldn’t take a book though, or rather, I would from Woolworths, if they had any, but I wouldn’t from a
- [Willy Wonka's Downfall](https://deathisbadblog.com/willy-wonkas-downfall/) - I made a thing!
- [Fertile Soil](https://deathisbadblog.com/fertile-soil/) - All my life I had believed Isaac Newton created Calculus. I’d heard repeatedly that he was an unparalleled genius. Possibly one of the smartest men ever to have existed (if a bit of a dick). Last week I learned that Calculus was created at the same time and independently by Gottfried Leibniz as well. Which
- [Proverbs 20:29 - The Glory of the Young](https://deathisbadblog.com/proverbs-2029-the-glory-of-the-young/) - I grew up inside my own head. I read a lot, and thought a lot, and didn’t care for physical play. I was scrawny as a kid, chubby as a young adult. I disliked being constrained to a body. It was something that tied my mind down. I would have preferred to be transferred into
- ["Won't sleep with me = attention whore"](https://deathisbadblog.com/253/) - Why is this guy angry? He pretends it’s because the nerdy girls he meets aren't nerdy enough*. They’re infringing on his identity and trying to pretend to be in his cultural group, but they really aren't. They’re impostors and phoneys! It’s actually because he feels entitled to fuck them, and is frustrated that they don’t feel the same way. He
- [Broken Windows](https://deathisbadblog.com/broken-windows/) - Another round of amateur verbal pugilism. The challenger is in italics, my replies in not-italics. Higher cost items include a higher profit which can employ more people. For example, when I worked at a car dealer, a new base model jeep wrangler had $99 in profit for the salesmen. A fully loaded had $8,000 in
- [Evaluating Tools](https://deathisbadblog.com/evaluating-tools/) - Tweet from Ricky Gervais - "Dear Religion, This week I safely dropped a man from space while you shot a child in the head for wanting to go to school. -Yours, Science" A friend asked: " Is it really fair to use the Taliban as the mascot for religion? You could easily switch around the bias
- [What I Run On](https://deathisbadblog.com/what-i-run-on/) - I’ve been sick over the past week, which reminds me again just how much we’re just biological machines. In my previous life I had dismissed the importance of a bodily incarnation entirely. I am my mental processes, what do I care for the meat life-support system I’m stuck in? I didn’t much care what went
- [That's Not Humor](https://deathisbadblog.com/thats-not-humor/) - Beating up people weaker than you - not funny. Torturing small animals - not funny. Humor is often used as a weapon. That's what satire is. And like any weapon, it can be used to oppress the weak, or defend them. A weapon turned against people who harm others is a weapon used well. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-3-2005/mass--hysteria
- [Gifting Knowledge](https://deathisbadblog.com/gifting-knowledge/) - As mentioned in my About page, this blog is mainly a personal archive. It’s for me to compare my future selves vs past selves, and to maybe assist in any reviving/emulation attempts after I’m frozen. As such it doesn't contain all that much that is objectively valuable to other people. And yet it still takes me quite
- [Derailing Myself](https://deathisbadblog.com/derailing-myself/) - I FB-shared this article because, as Irin Carmon says “Dear everyone asking what it is about Republican candidates and their clumsy talk about rape: This is a feature, not a bug.” The title of the article is "Does God Want You To Be Raped?" I didn’t comment any further, because that was the message and
- [Gaston Syndrome](https://deathisbadblog.com/gaston-syndrome/) - I went as Gaston for my Halloween costume this year. It probably says something about me that this got me thinking a lot about Gaston and where he went wrong in Beauty And The Beast. Gaston had a pretty good thing going. It was established in song that he’s the best looking man in town.
- [Cool Stuff on the Internet](https://deathisbadblog.com/cool-stuff-on-the-internet/) - Cuz it's Friday. Sound of Cylons song/video, to remind you of all the cool parts of BSG. Overly Manly Man meme Ted Chiang’s “Exhalation”. Another amazing Chiang story. Well worth the read. WWII in real time, 72-years delayed Bill Moyer’s Essay on the Return to the Gilded Age Epic Rock. I didn’t know this was
- [Friendship Is Magic](https://deathisbadblog.com/friendship-is-magic/) - My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is awesome. A few people I know have asked me why I like it. I’m sure there’s plenty of explanations already available online, but I’m not a serious brony (I’m not even through Season 1 yet), so I haven’t run into them to direct my friends to. Therefore I’m
- [Why Vote?](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-vote/) - Many people seem to think that their vote doesn’t matter much, because unless their vote happens to be the one that breaks a perfect tie then the outcome of the election would’ve been the same whether or not they voted. This is dumb. There aren’t any real exact ties once you get more than a
- [Not Surprised](https://deathisbadblog.com/not-surprised/) - I’m writing this on Monday evening. I’ve already voted. Obviously for Obama, since I think science is awesome and women are people. I can’t say that I think he’ll win, but I can’t say I think he’ll lose. I have actually internalized a state of complete uncertainty about this election (and, in fact, all elections).
- [Transparency fosters empathy](https://deathisbadblog.com/transparency-fosters-empathy/) - Racist Teens Forced to Answer for Tweets About the ‘Nigger’ President I have some mixed feelings about this. Obviously it is good that they are being held to account, we can’t tolerate this kinda shit in our society. Honestly, it’s probably best for them to get this smack down right now, while they are still
- [Transparency also stops false outrage](https://deathisbadblog.com/transparency-also-stops-false-outrage/) - While we’re on the subject of transparency, here’s another example: David Petraeus, the director of the CIA, resigned after an investigation uncovered that he had been involved in an extramarital affair. Who gives a damn if Patraeus was having an affair? I don’t know enough about him to know if he was a good or
- [Catholic Death Panels](https://deathisbadblog.com/catholic-death-panels/) - So this has been blowing up all over. Savita Halappanavar, 17 weeks pregnant, was miscarrying. There was no chance that the fetus would survive. In excruciating pain, Savita asked for an abortion. The hospital, University Hospital Galway in Ireland, refused. Why? There was still a fetal heartbeat, and as Savita and her husband were told, “this
- [So Little Time](https://deathisbadblog.com/so-little-time/) - I still have so many things to get out, and yet so little time to do it. The holidays are actually worse, because even though I have a lot of time freed up from my job, I have to spend all that plus more on social functions. The rate of posting will slow down for
- [Reviving Old Monsters](https://deathisbadblog.com/reviving-old-monsters/) - Why should sex have any negative consequences? The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists put out a statement this week saying the birth control pill should be available over the counter. If anyone actually began the process of making this possible you know there’d be an outcry by the same assholes who opposed the HPV vaccine,
- [Upgrading](https://deathisbadblog.com/upgrading/) - The previous post got me to thinking about my old raiding days. I used to play World of Warcraft. The highest-end content required huge sacrifices of time and a lot of skill to complete, and resulted in rewards of the best weapons and armor available. Every few months this content was made much easier, so
- [Evo-Psych: Clean Your House](https://deathisbadblog.com/evo-psych-clean-your-house/) - There's a bit of a dust-up on the interwebz - Evolutionary Psychology vs Feminism. The below was originally posted by me on Less Wrong. If there was a scientific field (Evolutionary Sociology) that declared rationalism is harmful for humanity - that Less Wrong need to be destroyed, long-time readers found and re-educated so they will
- [Can We Stop Pretending It's About Tyranny?](https://deathisbadblog.com/can-we-stop-pretending-its-about-tyranny/) - I don't want to get too involved in the gun-control debate, because I don't actually know which side I support. Obviously fully-automatic weapons should be banned, as should high-capacity magazines, as the only thing they're good for is indiscriminate mass carnage. Aside from that, I don't have a strong degree of confidence in either side's claims. I
- [Kids have no taste](https://deathisbadblog.com/kids-have-no-taste/) - Children have no taste at all. It is why they are constantly successfully marketed cheap crap. You don’t realize this until your taste grows. As a kid, I loved ThunderCats. A couple years ago, I decided to go back and watch it again. Word of warning to anyone thinking of doing this – just keep
- [2nd Amendment - Is It Racist?](https://deathisbadblog.com/2nd-amendment-is-it-racist/) - Currently the 2nd Amendment is interpreted by the Supreme Court as guaranteeing a right to self-defense. This is precisely why concealed-carry is protected by the 2nd Amendment, but RPGs are not. There is no need for concealed-carry if you’re arming the populace to stop a tyranny, and there IS a need for RPGs. The protection is
- [Creationists in my hood??](https://deathisbadblog.com/creationists-in-my-hood/) - We interrupt the regularly scheduled stream-of-consciousness for stupid politics. The creationist fucktards are bringing the battle into Colorado. Are we gonna let them sneak this shit through? Just a few days ago, a bill was introduced into my home state’s legislature that would allow teachers “to miseducate students about evolution, whether by teaching creationism as a
- [Talking To Your Dog](https://deathisbadblog.com/talking-to-your-dog/) - It can be fun to talk to your dog. You can ask him things like “what the heck are you barking at the door for?” and know he won’t answer, can’t even understand what you want. It can be frustrating to teach a dog a new trick. You can tell a person “If you push
- [Make Your Belongings Pay Rent](https://deathisbadblog.com/make-your-belongings-pay-rent/) - One of the advantages of realizing that you’re riding atop an unwieldy mass of urges is that you can stop blaming yourself for lapses of willpower and start actually fixing the situation. If you know that the elephant you’re riding gets dizzy near ditches and sometimes fall into them, it’s stupid to berate yourself for
- [Still worried about meat](https://deathisbadblog.com/still-worried-about-meat/) - I fear the universe runs on TGGP's "Asskicking Theory of Morality" which states that the moral consideration things get is directly proportional to their ability to kick asses. Which is why animals and children have no moral weight to humans, aside from what allies they can seduce with their cuteness. I don't WANT that to
- [Outlasting the Crazy](https://deathisbadblog.com/outlasting-the-crazy/) - I’ve always had strong religious sentiments. I guess the term would be “spiritual”, but it sounds like a stupid word for someone who doesn’t believe in the supernatural. I sometimes feel jealous of the reality-minded folks who’s brains aren’t susceptible to a spiritual hijack. So I’m somewhat proud of a recent(ish) victory over my irrational
- [I don’t trust any of you bastards (to be real)](https://deathisbadblog.com/i-dont-trust-any-of-you-bastard-to-be-real/) - My life’s gotten pretty darn good lately. I am more healthy, fulfilled, and happy than I have been in any point of my life that I can remember. This worries me. The odds that I would be this happy are very remote. I am a white male in the richest country in the world during
- [Upon Pain of Death](https://deathisbadblog.com/upon-pain-of-death/) - I’m sometimes confronted with “How can you think no one should be killed? Aren't some people so vile that they deserve death?” So let’s take a Boogie Man – someone who has committed great evil while rejoicing in it, and who will never be held accountable. While the details are certainly debatable, I’ll be using Dick Cheney
- [2012 Hugo Nominations List](https://deathisbadblog.com/2012-hugo-nominations-list/) - Like everyone else with a blog and a Hugo vote, I’m posting my Hugo noms. Final deadline for nominations is March 10th, don’t forget. First, a confession – I don’t have much time to read anymore. I’ve never been a very fast reader, I simply had a lot of free time, which can be deceptively
- [Gaining a Super Power](https://deathisbadblog.com/gaining-a-super-power/) - Like many people, I’ve long had problems falling asleep. Sleep has always felt like such a terrible waste of time, a third of my life lost. Imagine what I could have done living an extra ten years of life up to this point! But curtailing sleep was an unmitigated disaster, the loss of performance and
- [Wonka's Downfall](https://deathisbadblog.com/wonkas-downfall/) - This happened a few months ago, but I’m just now getting around to complaining about it. You’ll notice my Wonka’s Downfall video now has advertising on it. Not by any choice of mine! Mainly because it would be illegal, to be honest. But whatever, I made a thing and I’d rather have people see it
- [A Picture for "Everything I Needed To Know About Life, I Learned From Supervillains"](https://deathisbadblog.com/a-picture-for-everything-i-needed-to-know-about-life-i-learned-from-supervillains/) - I saw this list over at DirtSimple.org and had to make a pic for it.
- [Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Learn](https://deathisbadblog.com/some-men-just-want-to-watch-the-world-learn/) - A few days back on Facebook I posted a thing I learned: Keep Calm and Carry On doesn't have an official font, as it was originally hand-drawn. Use Gill Sans. Why? P22 Underground has a similar look, and is used on London Underground signage. Gill Sans is a kinda rip-off of Johnson's Underground font (something Eric
- [The Root of Morality (or: A Mouse in the House)](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-root-of-morality-or-a-mouse-in-the-house/) - I live in a townhome, and share a wall with an unoccupied unit. This puts us at greater risk of pests, and sure enough, a couple weeks ago we heard a mouse in the walls. We have since solved this problem by catching it with a live trap and letting it free in a field
- [Why the Anti-Vaxxers are Morally Evil](https://deathisbadblog.com/why-the-anti-vaxxers-are-morally-evil/) - The Tragedy of the Commons is a broader application of the Prisoner’s Dilemma (brief summary at Wikipedia). I wouldn’t call the Prisoner’s Dilemma the Root of Morality if it wasn’t for the fact that the Tragedy of the Commons is interchangeable with it, since the TotC is more common and a bigger problem. Most laws
- [Getting Married](https://deathisbadblog.com/getting-married/) - I’m going to get married. I am happy. :) But I was against marriage for a long time, and I still am. I dislike marriage for two major reasons. 1. I don’t need any outside group telling me my relationship is legitimate. I don’t need anyone’s approval to be with the person(s) I
- [The Diamond Invention is Useful](https://deathisbadblog.com/the-diamond-invention-is-useful/) - As almost everyone who’s bought a diamond knows - along with most people who haven’t - diamonds are only valuable because de Beers wants them to be. Through strict monopoly practices and careful marketing they can sell cheap, abundant shiny rocks at a huge markup. Some people say this is bullshit, and that we should
- [Take Responsibility For Your Death Machine](https://deathisbadblog.com/take-responsibility-for-your-death-machine/) - A gun is a tool like any other. But its function is specifically to kill, which makes it a tool we’ve got good reason to be wary of and maybe place some restriction on (an obvious no-brainer is the magazine capacity limit). Some people find the registration of guns controversial. I don’t think it should
- [To help: strengthen society](https://deathisbadblog.com/to-help-strengthen-society/) - This was just a comment on Facebook in reply to someone's flailing calls for action. I didn't think it was very noteworthy, and I've said similar things before, but someone else asked for permission to repost it, so I guess it's good enough to put up on a blog. I think the psychological hurdle
- [Rituals of Remembrance](https://deathisbadblog.com/rituals-of-remembrance/) - I used to hate the phrase “I’ll keep you in my prayers.” It’s a meaningless sentence muttered so that people can feel like they’re helping without actually doing a thing. As the saying goes, “Two hands working accomplishes more than a thousand clasped in prayer.” I’d much rather that someone offered to help in some
- [Replacement Costs](https://deathisbadblog.com/replacement-costs/) - As long as I’m talking about things I’ve changed my mind about… I used to be of the opinion that there should be no tax breaks for having children. This seemed like an incentive for humans to have more children, which I was told was bad. Children are a drain on society, and they’ll grow
- [DRM is stupid (eBook edition)](https://deathisbadblog.com/drm-is-stupid-ebook-edition/) - DRM is, of course, the stupidest thing ever. It only hurts the people who pay for a legitimate product, it never stops the actual pirates. There are two books we’ll be reading next in my book club that are only partially available in e-formats. I resisted e-readers for a long time, and once I finally
- [Biological Self-Replicators](https://deathisbadblog.com/biological-self-replicators/) - This is a picture of a pot of lettuces first sprouting a few days after my girlfriend fiancée planted them (that girlfriend/fiancée thing is going to take some getting used to). I had never kept living things in my home before. They bring dirt and harbor insects and require maintenance. But she enjoys growing things, so I’ve
- [There, But For The Grace of God, Go I](https://deathisbadblog.com/there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-go-i/) - My fiancée has taken to growing edible things (as mentioned in the previous post). When we killed most of our lettuce through overwatering, at first I was elated. Then I realized that my continued existence depends on these sorts of plants being grown to maturity, and that they are fragile little bastards. We’ve had more
- ["Self" Defense](https://deathisbadblog.com/self-defense/) - Recently I was accused of “not believing in anything” because I was skeptical of certain claimed medical advances. This is not an uncommon occurrence. I’m often called “robotic” by people who know me. I find this both interesting and frustrating, because IMHO what people are seeing is a self-defense mechanism. My actually problem is that
- [Reading Ayn Rand is like using Malaria to cure Syphilis](https://deathisbadblog.com/reading-ayn-rand-is-like-using-malaria-to-cure-syphilis/) - I mentioned in my podcast’s production notes that I was raised with a moral code meant for gods, which breaks mere men. I see my younger brother now struggling with the same problem and I want to help him. I was at a loss when trying to figure out how to do this though. I
- [Industry is Ritual Magic](https://deathisbadblog.com/industry-is-ritual-magic/) - There’s two primary types of magic in fantasy novels. The personal kind, in which a wizard casts a spell himself, usually completing it within a few seconds of starting. It can have stunning effects, but it’s rarely very complex. Then there’s ritual magic, which involves a group of wizards combining their efforts, casting for a
- [Nirvana Is Not Caring](https://deathisbadblog.com/nirvana-is-not-caring/) - Robert Heinlein said you never truly own any more than you can carry in two hands at a dead run. In my book club we just read two books in succession about people being controlled by an outside force via threats to what they love. Growing up, I learned that caring about things is dangerous.
- [Link Archive 4/19/13 - 5/3/13](https://deathisbadblog.com/link-archive-41913-5313/) - So in the last post I complained about how Facebook makes a terrible archive. Then it occurred to me I have a tool to fix that.* So every Friday I'll be posting an list of links I've posted to Facebook in case I need them again in the future. Hooray for Google! Doubling up this week to
- [9/26 is Petrov Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/926-is-petrov-day/) - More details here Thank you Stanislav Petrov. I like being alive.
- [New Tab - (My) Fiction](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-tab-writings/) - If you look up, there's a new tab up there next to Videos. I don't really write, but it is something I'd like to start doing more often, so I figured I'd start putting my stuff up. Right now all that's there is some submissions to flash-fiction contests. There's a half-dozen stories of varying quality,
- [SF/F Book Clubs Reviews](https://deathisbadblog.com/sff-book-clubs-reviews/) - I attended a bi-weekly book club, and I’ve noticed something interesting. Books that are great to read don’t always make astounding books for a book club to read. Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind is an amazing book. Utterly enjoyable, well written, and so on. But when we discussed it in our book club the

## Pages

- [Fiction](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/) - What Lies Dreaming My debut novel. Famine wracks 2nd century Rome. Food riots rage in the streets, and the emperor struggles to hold on to power in the midst of a burgeoning coup. He recalls the German Legion to Rome to restore order. Unbeknownst to him, a hidden evil slips into the city along with
- [I Went To Ink In The Abby And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt, A Week Of Amazing Experiences, A Dozen New Friends, And This Fancy New Story… What Now?](https://deathisbadblog.com/i-went-to-ink-in-the-abby-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt-a-week-of-amazing-experiences-a-dozen-new-friends-and-this-fancy-new-story-what-now/) - There is a further step, if one wishes to plumb the depths of pain. Publication! If you want to self-publish, feel free. However, once a work is up for the public to read (on a webpage, on a public forum… basically anywhere someone can access it without having received it directly from you personally), publishers
- [Excerpts from Teens 2.0 by Robert Epstein](https://deathisbadblog.com/excerpts-from-teens-2-0-by-robert-epstein/) - Excerpts from Teens 2.0 by Robert Epstein Teens: the main need a teenager has is to become productive and independent. their primary task is not to break free of adults but rather to become productive members of their families and their communities as soon as they are able because of the contract
- [Crash Course in Creating a Podcast](https://deathisbadblog.com/crash-course-in-creating-a-podcast/) - This is a quick guide to starting your own fiction podcast. It focuses on simplicity, getting you running quickly, and not duplicating information that’s already out there in a superior form. It comes in four parts. 1. Bona fides 2. Tools 3. Technique 4. Publish 1. Bona fides I’m Eneasz Brodski. I produce the
- [Amazing Man 2](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/amazing-man-2-love-conquers-all/) - [story contains graphic violence, and also graphic man-on-dinosaur sex] [There is now also an audio version here] Amazing Man 2: Love Conquers All Amazing Man flicked the underside of an insurgent’s chin with one finger, to see what would happen. Behind him, the Botanical Gardens of Rome’s La Sapienza University blazed with hellish delight. The
- [About](https://deathisbadblog.com/sample-page/) - Why yet another blog out there on the internet? Don’t we have enough? In part, it’s simple self-indulgence. Sometimes it feels good to just throw your thoughts out on the web for everyone to see, even if no one particularly cares. It is also a record. Recently I’ve noticed just how drastically I’ve changed
- [testpage](https://deathisbadblog.com/testpage/) - Testing Any Amount
- [Purchase History](https://deathisbadblog.com/checkout-2/purchase-history/) - [purchase_history]
- [Checkout](https://deathisbadblog.com/checkout-2/) - [download_checkout]
- [Purchase Confirmation](https://deathisbadblog.com/checkout-2/purchase-confirmation/) - Thank you for your purchase! [edd_receipt]
- [Transaction Failed](https://deathisbadblog.com/checkout-2/transaction-failed/) - Your transaction failed, please try again or contact site support.
- [Cart](https://deathisbadblog.com/cart/) - [woocommerce_cart]
- [Shop](https://deathisbadblog.com/shop/)
- [Checkout](https://deathisbadblog.com/checkout/) - [woocommerce_checkout]
- [My account](https://deathisbadblog.com/my-account/) - [woocommerce_my_account]
- [Meet Robin Hanson, April 20th](https://deathisbadblog.com/meet-robin-hanson-april-20th/) - Hello! If you are reading this, then you have been personally invited by Robin Hanson to meet Robin Hanson. Congrats! :) The Denver Rationalists are hosting Robin Hanson at: Harry's Bar and Grill within the Magnolia Hotel 818 17th Street Denver, Colorado 80202 on April 20th, 2018. We are meeting at 7pm. Text me at
- [Videos](https://deathisbadblog.com/videos/) - All created by me, but with a lot of borrowed content. My Toastmasters Icebreaker - Ex-Alcoholic 2nd Toastmasters Speech - Marshmallows and Ego-Depletion 3rd Toastmasters Speech - Live Longer, Do Stuff 4th Toastmasters Speech - What Humans Can Do 5th Toastmasters Speech - Happily Ever After What is Harry Potter and the Methods
- [New Beginning](https://deathisbadblog.com/new-beginning/) - Once, you were called Jenna. Here, you are warmth, and you are joy. Nothing is wrong, and nothing has ever been wrong. All is light, and fullness, and beauty. You float in transcendence, swimming in eternity. You sing, exaltation overflowing. You dance laughter, and all things dance with you. God is Love. Your phone
- [The Dream Is Over; The Dream Begins](https://deathisbadblog.com/dreaming_rome/) - Hello NCWW peeps! /waves I'm flattered you came, click-through on most things is very low. There's nothing actually here right now, but if this gets a publisher I'll either A) make a dedicated forums website to hold any writings anyone wants to do that in any way related to the novel, in a FanFiction.net or Sufficient
- [Carter](https://deathisbadblog.com/carter/) - You find love within you to pour upon John. It is just a drop, but it draws Heaven with it, and a torrent of God’s Love washes down upon him. There is no end to Love. Eternity itself vibrates its love, and there is no phone to answer. You have one new message, one
- [Justice Ending](https://deathisbadblog.com/justice-ending/) - Justice Ending The moment John kills himself, God’s wisdom is made manifest. For one brief instant, you are made one with John. You see his ultimate sin. You relive the moment of Miriam death--as John. You become him. You feel every sickening thing he felt as he failed to act that night. It is you that
- [Prologue](https://deathisbadblog.com/prologue/) - https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/0-Jenna.mp3 -Begin-
- [Listen](https://deathisbadblog.com/listen/) - https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/A-breathing.mp3 [continue]
- [Reunions](https://deathisbadblog.com/reunions/) - You embrace your father. You cry joy. You embrace your grandmother. You ARE the embrace, and so is she. Everyone is here, and everyone was always here. All is eternity, and you will always be as you always were--together. As it should have been. Your phone vibrates and you vibrate, for you are the
- [Miriam](https://deathisbadblog.com/miriam/) - Miriam is here! Miriam, who was ripped from your soul just six months after she joined it. Three years of cold and hurt on Earth, desperately hanging on after your daughter’s death, and still the wound ached so. Now the hurt is gone. Always, it was gone. You laugh your tears, and she laughs, and
- [Listen 2](https://deathisbadblog.com/listen-2/) - https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/B-weeping.mp3 [continue]
- [Left Behind](https://deathisbadblog.com/left-behind/) - https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/C-hello.mp3 [continue]
- [John](https://deathisbadblog.com/john/) - There is only joy, only warmth and light. God is gentle, and he shields you from the anguish upon the face of the Earth. And yet… you remember John. He was fractured love. The love of an earthly, imperfect sort. He was… your husband. Why isn’t John here? [Question God] | [Trust in God]
- [Why](https://deathisbadblog.com/why/) - God knows your concerns. His loving spirit embraces you, and brings comfort to your soul. God is Just, and has perfect reason that mankind cannot comprehend. You shiver with glorious delight, and sing your ecstasy. Your phone vibrates in glorious delight, but you cannot answer phones in Heaven. You have one new message, thirty-eight seconds
- [Trust](https://deathisbadblog.com/trust/) - There is no goodness apart from God, and God is all that is good. You are wise, and place your trust in the Most High. Eternal love suffuses every fiber of your being, and you sing your ecstasy. Your phone vibrates its ecstasy, but you cannot answer phones in Heaven. You have one new
- [Falling Apart](https://deathisbadblog.com/falling-apart/) - https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/D-falling-apart-1.mp3 [continue]
- [Sins](https://deathisbadblog.com/sins/) - A hair-thin crack appears in your joy. It is almost too small to see. John has sinned. When his penance is paid, he will be reunited with you and Mariam. The thought fills you with warmth. Should you intervene to ease his burden of his sins? [Comfort the Sinner] | [Trust God’s Plan]
- [Hiding](https://deathisbadblog.com/hiding/) - Your phone vibrates with earthly worries, but you cannot answer phones in Heaven. You have one new message, fourteen seconds long https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/E-weeping.mp3 [continue]
- [Concerns](https://deathisbadblog.com/concerns/) - Your concerns for John are beginning to mar your joy. They weigh you down, and you, in turn, weigh down your father, and your daughter, and all who love you. All of eternity feels the sharp pain of your burden. You must give your burdens over to God, for he can bear their weight. Only
- [Question](https://deathisbadblog.com/question/) - God understands your worries. God is not offended by your questioning. God embraces you, enfolding you in his forgiving arms. You are but a child to him, and there is nothing you can do to slight him, no more than infant Miriam could do anything to slight you. Acceptance bubbles up within you. The warmth
- [Escape](https://deathisbadblog.com/escape/) - Your phone vibrates comfortingly, but you cannot answer phones in Heaven. You have one new message, fifty-two seconds long https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/F-escape.mp3 [continue]
- [Blasphemy](https://deathisbadblog.com/blasphemy/) - John’s blasphemy sears you. It brings pain into Heaven, and it cuts all those near you as well. The chorus of joy turns briefly to cries of pain. You realize now that sin cannot be allowed into Heaven, for it destroys all love that it touches. How great must his sins be, that God left
- [Test](https://deathisbadblog.com/test/) - Your phone vibrates, but you cannot answer phones in Heaven. You have one new message, forty-six seconds long [Listen] | [Ignore]
- [No Earthly Cares](https://deathisbadblog.com/no-earthly-cares/) - No Earthly Cares Ending Everything has been made new. God has wiped out every tear from mankind’s eyes. Death is no more, neither is mourning, nor outcry, nor pain, anymore. The former things have passed away. You have no more concerns for the affairs of those left behind on the Earth. In an eyeblink they
- [Comfort](https://deathisbadblog.com/comfort/) - There is love enough in Heaven for all creation, and yet more. You open your heart, and spill out a shining trickle of Eternal Love, allowing it to fall upon John. Your phone vibrates its love, but you cannot answer phones in Heaven. You have one new message, one minute and fifty-four seconds long https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/H-that-night.mp3
- [Cold](https://deathisbadblog.com/cold/) - You are cold. The chorus of joy echoes hollowly around you, but you are not of it. John. John killed your daughter. And now… now he wants what? Forgiveness? Comfort?? Only the joyous laughter of Miriam keeps you whole. She is yours again. You smile, and you partake in her love as she comforts you.
- [Goodbye or Hello](https://deathisbadblog.com/goodbye-or-hello/) - https://deathisbadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/G-no.mp3 [continue]
- [Mercy Ending](https://deathisbadblog.com/mercy-ending/) - Mercy Ending There are no more phone calls or voicemails. You do not question God about this, for God doesn’t reply, or plan, or strive. God is Eternity, and It only loves. As this trial fades, you allow yourself to float on the currents of transcendent peace again. Miriam floats with you, and within you,
- [Red Legacy](https://deathisbadblog.com/red-legacy/) - Red Legacy by Eneasz Brodski Overture I hold my daughter tightly as she disgorges a torrent of thick, jaundiced fluid from her lungs. She spasms in my arms, her body contorting in motions more akin to vomiting than coughing. I push my fingers into her mouth and scoop out what sticky remains I can. It
- [Gotta start somewhere](https://deathisbadblog.com/gotta-start-somewhere/) - In the past I enjoyed entering short-fiction contests, the restrictions one is placed under make it fun. Those submissions are below. Note that these are VERY early works, as I was still learning to write, and unpolished. For curiosity only. 5/2012 - Tenacity; for NPR's 3-minute fiction. 700 words or less, must start with "She
- [9/2010 - Untitled](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/92010-untitled/) - 700 words or less, begins with "Some people swore that the house was haunted," and ends with "Nothing was ever the same again after that." I've always liked the concept of living things that we are symbiotic with, such as houses and cities. I figured in a world with living homes, it'd be easy to confuse
- [1/2011 - Untitled](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/12011-untitled/) - 700 words or less, one character tells a joke and one character cries. I wanted to avoid the "Jokes used in sad irony" and "Jokes used to help someone heal or get through a traumatic situation" tropes which I suspected would be popular. I'd just been reading about insult and status on LessWrong ("to give
- [9/2011 - Untitled](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/92011-untitled/) - 700 words or less, must have one character leaving town and one character arriving. This is fairly autobiographical. The details were all extracted from my parents over time. The conversation is completely made up. by Eneasz Brodski Luba rocked her grandson in her arms as the pan of water slowly came to a boil. She looked
- [London Calling](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/london-calling/) - 1000 words or less, on future food At the time of this contest I had been reading a bit about automatic trading agents. David Brin had ranted against them (lifted some of his phrasing almost verbatim), Planet Money had a show about them, and The Dervish House featured them. They are parasites - they provide
- [Tenacity](https://deathisbadblog.com/fiction/tenacity/) - 700 words or less, must start with "She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally, decided to walk through the door." I had to think hard on how to make this work. For most people, doing this would make them unlikable. What were you doing, sitting around and hesitating before going forward
- [Thank you!](https://deathisbadblog.com/thank-you/) - Thank you for your contribution! It means a lot to me, and makes my day that much better. :)
- [HPMoR Podcast](https://deathisbadblog.com/hpmor-podcast/) - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a Harry Potter fanfic written by Eliezer Yudkowsky. It is intended to tell an entertaining and intelligent story, parody some of the aspects of Rowling’s wonderful world, and help spread rationality, all at once. To do so it takes the basic elements and characters from the cannon

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [Book Club Review](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/book-club-review/)
- [Personal](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/personal/)
- [Musings On Present Day](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/musings-on-present-day/)
- [Speculations](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/speculations/)
- [Writing](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/writing/)
- [WorldCon](https://deathisbadblog.com/category/worldcon/)