Science educator, biologist, technology guru, and award-winning author of Esperanto-language haiku, haibun, and prose. he/his
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@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop
<p>Tau was sitting in the corner, alone
Tau was sitting in the corner, alone, hunched over his bowl.
David walked over and reached his hand down toward the bowl.
"Don't you think you've had about enough?"
Tau snarled, but David slid the bowl away, then sat down front of Tau and put a hand on his shoulder. (2/4) #wss366
<p>David arrived at the Select Club in
David arrived at the Select Club in the Red Zone of the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy. The Chamberlain looked grave.
"Thanks for coming, Master Sergeant," he said. "He's in there. He's been drinking all afternoon."
David entered the lounge and saw him. (1/4) #wss366
<p>I learned today that LinkedIn
I learned today that LinkedIn removed hate speech protections for transgender individuals from their policy on hateful and derogatory content. This is unacceptable for me and I won't use LinkedIn until these terms are restored. https://opentermsarchive.org/en/memos/linkedin-removes-transgender-hate-speech-protections/
<p>I've wanted to try umeboshi
I've wanted to try umeboshi (pickled plums) for a long time and today I went to a local store that had some. They're scary: a bit like sweet olives. There's little danger of gorging on them, I'll say that. But, in moderation, and with some good sake, they'll be really good.
<p>I've added a new filter to my
I've added a new filter to my mastodon feed: I filter on "substack" and call the filter "nazistack" so that's what I see in my feed.
<p>This Saturday (Aug 2), I'll be
This Saturday (Aug 2), I'll be selling books at Look Park. I hope to see you there! https://stevendbrewer.com/rock-roll-and-gather-at-look-park/ #WesternMass
<p>Meta charged with intentionally
Meta charged with intentionally distributing porn videos as a mechanism to boost their ability to bittorrent other, less desirable files, for training their AI. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/meta-pirated-and-seeded-porn-for-years-to-train-ai-lawsuit-says/
<p>Order a signed edition of Better
Order a signed edition of Better Angels: Tour de Force and receive a 'zine with snapshots of each of the Angels plus their vital statistics (including their three measurements) https://water-dragon-publishing.square.site/product/better-angels-tour-de-force/354?cs=true&cst=custom
<p>Zaza bent over and sniffed.<br /
Zaza bent over and sniffed.
"I don't smell anything," she said.
Sssindy's blue tongue flickered.
"Old Ssshoesss!" she said. "Marvelousss!"
After visiting each of the pieces, they congratulated Tau, and then headed back to Angels' Wings.
"Bebe still doesn't understand art," Bebe said. (4/4) #wss366
<p>"I didn't know you were an
"I didn't know you were an artist," David said.
Tau barked, then turned and pointed at his artworks. They were frames placed close to the ground that appeared empty.
"What kind of work is this?"
Tau ruffed.
"Olfactory Objet d'art?"
David and the Angels stared at the first empty frame. (3/4) #wss366
<p>"Nevertheless, we'll go
"Nevertheless, we'll go," Zaza said. "I'm sure you'll find it edifying."
David led the way. They arrived at the gallery and entered. No-one was there except the artist: Tau.
They ran over, squealing, and surrounded Tau, who twisted like a pretzel this way and that as they petted him. (2/4) #wss366
<p>"How can you eat those!"
"How can you eat those!" the boy said.
"Walnuts?" his grandmother replied. "There's a trick."
"A trick?"
"Yeah," she said, cracking one open. "Here! Look!"
"What?"
"Doesn't it look like a braaaaaain!" she whispered, with an evil chuckle.
When her son got home, he pointed at the boy cackling on the back step eating walnuts.
"What's up with him?"
She just shrugged. #wss366
<p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags
#WritersCoffeeClub How do you write sensory experiences that fall beyond the the usual five? Give an example.
I have a lot of examples from *Revin's Heart*, *A Familiar Problem*, and my current work-in-progress, *The Ground Never Lies*. Veronica is a geomancer who can sense things about the world that others cannot. She does land assessments for her daily job, but is also a crime-scene geomancer for the constabulary.
<p>Things I've learned from manga
Things I've learned from manga and anime number 327: People that use fancy parasols are probably not human at all.
<p>"Not fair!" screamed
"Not fair!" screamed Forrest.
Brunhilde thought for a moment.
"How about a good, old-fashioned footrace?"
Forrest shook his feathers out, spread his wings, and took off with disgust.
"Since Forrest has conceded, will you race me?" the bear asked Brunhilde.
"With pleasure!" (3/3) #wss366
<p>"Hey! Hey!" Brunhilde said
"Hey! Hey!" Brunhilde said, walking alongside the bear. "Who would win in a race? You or Forrest?"
"It depends," the bear said, thoughtfully after a lengthy pause.
"Lies!" Forrest screeched from the treetops. "You know that I would always win!" (1/3) #wss366
<p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags
#WritersCoffeeClub How does your social class influence what you write?
*Revin's Heart* is fundamentally a story about feudalism. My experience seeing the longing in the United States for royalty (e.g. celebrating the excesses of the hyperwealthy and a president who appointed his children to positions of authority) make me feel that we are entering a neo-feudal era. *Revin's Heart* is about finding a third-way forward between enlightened and repressive feudal regimes.