This one woke me up early by yelling at me. She only quieted down when I stayed awake enough to hold her. She’s just doing her part, being a good example for the baby.
Maybe I’ll have more brain next week.
Alex the cat 07/31/25
Less brain more cat, 7/24/25
Here’s an oldie but a goodie. It turns out I do not have the brain (nor the time) to continue last week’s thoughts today. I will come back to that when I’m next able. Until then, I hope you like pictures of Alex the Cat. She’s a very good cat.
Are Boys The Problem?
A reddit thread has been living rent free in my brain and scattering its gross leftovers all over the couch of my cortex.
Last week, while I was prepping my post about Some Desperate Glory, I read a post on r/newparents from a first time mother wrestling with her cognitive dissonance around having a son. She described herself as a feminist who no longer believed that all men were bad (she cited her husband as a good example), but who still struggled to reconcile her fear, animosity, and resentment towards most men with the idea of raising a young boy. She said (I paraphrase) she was trying to understand how to raise a young boy to be a good man with positive models rather than negative ones. She asked for help and advice.
I was immediately awash with thoughts, with so many ideas that I wanted to share. I wanted to lend my perspective as someone socialized male, as a camp counselor working with teens, and as a new father. Yet as I read on through other’s replies, I despaired.
The post has since been deleted. I’m not surprised that the post was deleted. I’m not happy about it either. I’m caught between wishing I’d replied faster and being glad that I didn’t stick my neck out. You might be able to guess why, but let me explain.
Continue readingSome Desperate Glory, by Emily Tesh
Emily Tesh’s book Some Desperate Glory is an excellent sci fi story (“queer space opera” quoth many other reviewers) about living inside fascism, coming to terms with and recognizing that fascism, and trying to find ways to resist that fascism even when resistance seems impossible. It’s grim. It’s painful. It feels uncomfortably true, real, and relevant. I mentioned it in passing earlier this spring.
This isn’t a book I wanted to feel was more relevant after I finished it, but here we are.
This is also a book that deals with sexual abuse, assault, forced pregnancy, and suicide. I think the story handles them well, but they’re still rough. You’ve been warned.
With all that said, why does this book still feel hopeful to me?
Continue readingAlex the cat, 07/03/25
Three months of baby-time! A second week of we-just-moved time. The unpacking and sorting of everything continues, along with all the other housework involved in caring for a baby and a new home.
This week’s meditation: how can I better give myself permission to write what I find fun, and what I’m curious and excited about? Also, how can I return to meditating a bit every day? And how can I make time for writing?
I’m pushing through the second Ranger’s Apprentice book, The Burning Bridge. It reinforces my impressions from More Alex, 06/05/2025 so far—I’m glad this exists, and we need something newer. Either this one is less enticing for me than the first one, or I’ve been more distracted. The second is definitely true, the first one might be. With a little luck, I might have more to share about this next week.
Settling in, 6/26/25
I live amidst a sea of boxes. At least Alex has a comfy spot on the sofa (when she isn’t yowling in the middle of the night). Surely someday soon I will have the capacity to tell you more about books and games and stories. If anybody suggests that you should move while you have an infant, laugh in their face. If you must move while you have an infant, you have my deepest sympathies.
Moving! 6/19/25
Good morning! Here is a sweet little roll of a cat.
I’m moving again. I hope I’ll be back to longer posts here soon—maybe even next week!—but I won’t make any promises. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your Juneteenth.
Alex the cat, 6/13/25
The busy-ness will continue until morale improves. Or maybe that’s until baby gets much older? Either way, I missed my usual post here yesterday and I’m here to offer you a cat.
I did read Stuart Gibbs’ first FunJungle book in the last week, Belly Up. It’s great. It is a neat distillation of the noir-ish detective story reinterpreted for a middle grade novel, and set in a zoo. There’s a whole series of these books, and I’m itching for a go at the next one. Maybe when I’m more awake and have more time I’ll give you more in depth thoughts, but now the baby is waking and I must feed him.
More Alex, 06/05/2025
Alex is a good kitty. She sleeps so that I don’t have to. That’s how that works, right?
I read The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan, the first book in the first Ranger’s Apprentice series. I have a bunch of thoughts. Those won’t make it up here today, because despite Alex doing a good job of sleeping for me she has not made me feel more awake or alert. Nor has she taken care of the baby.
I’m glad that these books exist. And I think we’re sorely in need of newer work.
Feline interlude, 5/29/25
Life has been very full of baby recently. I don’t have a full post for you.
I’ve been lucky enough to play a bit of Cities Without Number with a neighbor and some friends. My other games are basically on hiatus, but being able to start early, end early, and walk less than ten minutes to and from game is amazing. There’s also no way I could be doing this without sometimes bringing baby Gibby with me, or sometimes coordinating extra support for Ley. Asking Ley to take care of the baby without any support while I go play RPGs is no good. Having a two-month old is a lot of work.
Cities Without Number, like other Kevin Crawford titles, could really use some editing. It’s… acceptable. The text is definitely better organized and written than some other RPGs or boardgames I’ve seen. Some of Crawford’s verbosity adds evocative texture to both system and setting, and his approach certainly produces consistently fun results. But…
Continue reading
Fistful of Wits 