(no subject)

1. Somebody actually did THIS??
Are they insane?

[Apparently an amateur writer decided to fabricate quotes from various famous/best-selling authors promoting their work. And got caught. Because of course you would. The author found out, and wrote about it in his blog - telling folks - don't do this. ETA: read the comments - apparently the poor amateur writer may have been scammed by an online review site - that told them that Scalzi had reviewed their work and provided that quote.]

I googled and apparently this isn't as rare a thing as one may think?

"Jonah Lehrer has resigned from his brief tenure as a staff writer at The New Yorker after he admitted to fabricating, and then lying about, Bob Dylan quotes used in his latest book, Imagine: How Creativity Works."

- https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2012/07/jonah-lehrer-resigns-from-the-new-yorker-fabricating-bob-dylan-quotes.html

Hmm, considering subscribing to the New Yorker again or New York Magazine.

2. Taking tomorrow and Friday off.

Mother: Why?
Me: Doctor's appointment, I don't want to deal with the rain and the doctor and the commute.
Mother: Oh, and Friday?
Me: Supposed to rain. Am bored at work. It's a way to make the time go faster.

There's a lot of steps on the commute. About 16 flights or so it seems.
At least I get exercise?

Links...

1. Murderbot Cast headed by Alexander Starskard

2. Suffering shouldn't be a normal part of womanhood - Time Magazine

Women’s pain is all too frequently ignored or simply minimized as women being hysterical or overly dramatic. Even the word hysteria is most often associated with females, as it is derived from “hystera,” the Greek word for uterus. The linguistic implication is that being born with a uterus makes one more inclined to unfounded, uncontrollable emotional exaggeration, which is, of course, untrue. Back in 2020, more than 200 women were not believed when they complained mightily of excruciating pain during their egg retrievals at a Yale fertility clinic. The following year, a nurse at the facility pleaded guilty to tampering with the fentanyl meant for the women’s procedures, having replaced the opioid with saline. Now ask yourself why it took five months and two hundred women before anyone figured out what was going on.

3. 13 Books that Will Actually Make you Laugh Out Loud - Literary Hub

Eh, I don't know? I've read some of those books and I kind of laughed and cried? A Prayer for Owen Meany falls into the crying and laughing category.

And "A Confederacy of Dunces" is definitely not for everyone and underscores the notion that humor is in the eye of the beholder?

4. For the mystery lover? 9 Novels about Homes Brimming with Secrets - more thriller or gothic horror than mystery, I think?

5. 5 Surefire Ways to Make Friends While Traveling - Outside Magazine - I found this easier to do when I was much younger, weirdly the social anxiety has grown worse as I've aged. Now? I think in terms of trips with groups. Which isn't necessarily easier.

6. From Business Insider - America's New Age of Retirement Anxiety

Yup, the closer retirement comes the scarier and more exciting it is. I want it and don't at the same time?

7. "Why America Fell for Guns" by Megan Kang and Sam Hasleby in Aeon

( excerpt )