ㅁ The dream told me I was in Saint Paul, down along Snelling Avenue, but the buildings were all wrong - odd gothic fantasies: U of Chicago run through AI, distorted in weird shapes.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #3171 “At the gate”
ㅁ civilization, founded on trust, is overtaken from within; cynical barbarism, distrusting all the words, hollows out the world, until at last what remain are our fears.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Links #138
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“Escape room idea: a well-stocked bookstore with clearly marked exits. You have one hour. Good luck.” – Internet Person
Caveat: Poem #3170 “And you can get there by subway”
ㅁ i have left this world a place between real, not-real orbis tertius
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3169 “Discourse on madness”
ㅁ Language is utterly contingent. Meanings will coalesce sometimes, only to evaporate. Strings of sounds will remain, contours in the air. This bland babble entertains, flowers, fails.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Links #137
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- Observational evidence for string theory
- Pueyo on Korea’s History (good summary for those unfamiliar)
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“We all have forests in our minds.” – Ursula Le Guin
Caveat: Poem #3168 “Eighty-fifth stanza”
ㅁ Kiamon sighed. Things becoming quite dire. People were angry, the world was on fire. Still, she at least had the comfort of ghosts. Calm and assured, with their confident boasts.
– a quatrain in dactylic tetrameter. Part of a never-ending series of randomized snippets from the life of a fictional being in a fictional world (which is to say, my novel-in-progress that refuses to actually ever progress).
Caveat: Poem #3167 “Falling asleep, and then”
ㅁ Those hypnagogic moments when the brain zaps flourish: not quite "zen"... I jolt awake, as if the gods had poked at me with cattle prods.
– a quatrain in iambic tetrameter.
Caveat: Links #136
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- Kriss’ strange fiction (?) is always interesting (The coming AI overlords…)
- Slightly right-slanted analysis of extreme political polarization in SKorea
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“Ölümden qorqma, faydasız yaşamaqtan qorq.” – Crimean Tatar proverb (“Don’t fear death, fear living a meaningless life.”)
Caveat: Poem #3166 “A decision has been made”
ㅁ I have many tasks, but I'd rather do nothing. So: procrastinate.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3165 “Caninity”
ㅁ Dogs and dogs live their lives along the road visiting and smelling the scenery.
– a tetractys.
Caveat: Links #134
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“When you go far enough left, you get your guns back.” – Internet Person
A thought.
Closed-border autarky is just right-wing-coded degrowtherism.
Caveat: Poem #3164 “What I think when I say ‘Enjoy the sunshine'”
ㅁ The sun is shining. The air is still quite cold, though. I prefer the rain.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3163 “Ideations”
ㅁ If I weren't bound here by commitments and duty, I'd re-emmigrate.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #133
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“Dreams drag truth out of the darkness” – Internet Person
Caveat: Poem #3162 “Events down the road”
ㅁ some birds swirled nearby tracing out their social plans feeling spring's approach
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3161 “The softness”
ㅁ the fool ruled the world with a fist of jelly no one could resist such mildness they lost
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Links #132
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- I think he just prefers playing golf
- Detailed write-up on El Salvador and Bukele
- Consciousness is in the eye of the beholder
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“Everyone is systematically exploitable. You can pay costs to mitigate this, but not to entirely solve it. That’s impossible, and not even obviously desirable. The correct rate of being scammed is not zero.” – Zvi Mowshowitz
Caveat: Poem #3160 “Stasis”
ㅁ Inspiration lags; the world is overwhelming. So I read a book.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3159 “The scene in Hades”
ㅁ Other aimless ghosts declaim on the streetcorners regarding the end.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #131
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.” – Timothy Snyder
Caveat: Poem #3158 “What the ghosts have”
ㅁ Oblivious days followed by long, dreamless nights, the ghosts have nothing.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3157 “Diagrammatic apocalypse”
ㅁ Lines spread out, overtake, rhizomatic, a diffusive planetary conquest.
– a tetractys.
Caveat: Links #130
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“How do you make software? It’s so simple. You start with a block of bytes, and carve away everything that’s not software.” – internet person
Caveat: Poem #3156 “Things I don’t want to do”
ㅁ Sunny days are when the air itself reeks of guilt, pale obligations.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3155 “The north window”
ㅁ Some fog on the trees, sweeping shapes with purple light, a predawn sky broods.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #129
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“It is possible for a dictator to govern in a liberal way. And it is also possible for a democracy to govern with a total lack of liberalism. I personally prefer a liberal dictator to a democratic government lacking in liberalism.” – Hayek
Caveat: Poem #3154 “Aeromancy”
ㅁ Seven small raindrops hung on the stair window's glass, a premonition.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3153 “Time’s urgency”
ㅁ mountain: impossible distributions of snow reaching down to touch the dark trees... not spring
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Links #128
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A thought – my own thought.
“In my darkest moments, I feel that I am becoming an accelerationist. I think: go ahead, burn Social Security to the ground! Take the VA and Medicare down too, while you’re at it! Let’s see if we can get into a hot war with Canada or Europe; let’s raze the entire country…”
Caveat: Poem #3152 “Conclusions by the committee”
ㅁ Any reason, now? No, no justification. Just random, dumb stuff.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3151 “Eighty-fourth stanza”
ㅁ Kiamon boarded the tram in the morning; No one had offered her much of a warning. Mist over snow, all half melted and gray, Slowly she started unfolding her day.
– a quatrain in dactylic tetrameter. Part of a never-ending series of randomized snippets from the life of a fictional being in a fictional world (which is to say, my novel-in-progress that refuses to actually ever progress).
Caveat: Links #127
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- The Zvi on recent, viral, AI-written fiction
- Useful reporting about the intersection of crypto and drumpism
- The new Utsonomiya tram (宇都宮ライトレール)
An illustration from the internet (a few months late, sorry).
(Transcription and translation: 혹시 파트너 소개팅방 관심있으세요? / 내란수괴 윤석열은 퇴진하라 / 퇴진하라 … Are you interested in “partner blind date rooms” [sex chat]? / The coup-leader, [President] Yoon Seok-yeol, must resign / resign)
A quote.
“Ignorance is rarely an accident. It operates with precision, lurking in classrooms where history is selectively taught, in courtrooms where justice bends under the weight of wilfull blindness, and in cabinets of power where silence is often the most strategic policy. It is not simply the absence of knowledge but the calculated absence of knowledge, forged to serve particular ends.” – Colin W P Lewis