Whatever Tumblr

The Tumblr adjunct of John Scalzi's Whatever Blog http://whatever.scalzi.com

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Various & Sundry 6/6/26 It's a bit of a stormy day here. Let's see what's going on elsewhere. The "K"-shaped economy comes for laptops:...

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Me and Brandon Sanderson in Conversation In April I went town to the Atlanta area to chat with Brandon Sanderson, and we talked about writing, of course, but also about kids, about our early days in the industry and how it was I became Brandon's official nemesis....

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Various and Sundry, 6/5/26 What interesting tidbits of thought do I have for you today? Let's find out together! Bots now make up more than half of Internet traffic:...

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Various & Sundry, 6/3/26 I have gotten out of the habit of commenting on the news of the day here, …...

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The Big Idea: Isabel J. Kim Two paths diverge in a wood... and what happens when, in fact, you can travel both? In her debut novel…...

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A Deceptively Sweet Moment Between Smudge and Saja Awww, doesn't it look like they're cuddling? They are not, about a tenth of a second later they were rolling about in a full-blown tussle, as they are wont to do....

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View From a Hotel Window, 5/29/26: Pittsburgh

Does the photo have a parking lot? Yes. And as a bonus: a CVS! This one’s a classic of the form. Reminder that I’m in town for tomorrow’s PGH Book Fest, and my event, with Isabel J. Kim is a 1pm, with a signing to follow. Come see us and/or get books signed by us! — JS

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A Year(ish) With the Eames Chair

Roughly a year ago (actually closer to thirteen months), a chair arrived at the house: an Eames Lounge Chair, that classic piece of midcentury furniture, beloved of tweedy intellectuals and pretentious jazz aficionados everywhere. I had wanted one for years but couldn’t rationalize buying the thing, because they were (and are) stupidly expensive; I could and have furnished two entire rooms with…

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New Cover: "High Fidelity"

It was a holiday weekend and when I wasn’t de-skunkifying a dog, I had some free time, so I went ahead and did another cover song, this one from Alisa Xayalith, who is probably best known as the lead singer of The Naked and Famous, but who has put out a solo album while that band as been on a break. This song was one she put out in the run-up to that album. It’s simple but lovely. My version…

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The Big Idea: T.K. Rex

In science fiction, everything can be rethought — including one of the most foundational aspects of human civilization, agriculture. T.K. Rex gives it a go in The Wildcraft Drones, with an exciting take on the future of food production… and how we all might live because of it. T.K. REX: The world of The Wildcraft Drones began on a train. I’d just finished my first ecology class, I was watching…

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A Farewell to Shelley(ness)

My friend Shelley Combs died, suddenly, a week ago. I found out about it the other day when her ex-husband posted about it on Facebook, and it was fair to say I was shocked. She and I had messaged each other just a few days before her passing, to catch up and talk about our kids and just have very mundane friend talk. I didn’t know it would be the last time I would ever talk to her, but then, we…

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Charlie Met a Skunk

It did not go well for her. Nor, it must be said, did it go particularly well for us, since Charlie has now swamped the entire house with a gassy, onion-y skunk smell. Currently all the windows are open and the fans are running. It’s working questionably well. To Charlie’s credit, as soon as she came into the house she ran upstairs and toward the bathroom. She was well aware she needed a bath.…

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New Cover: "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"

I got myself a new musical instrument (one of these) and I thought I would give it a spin on a cover song. For reasons that are known only to the subterranean recesses of my own brain, this is the song that immediately recommended itself, the second-most popular song from The Postal Service. The Orchid (the synth I got) is indeed providing one layer of the synth sequence that runs through the…

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In Retrospect I Suppose This Demise Was Inevitable

“He died at the hand of the Coca-Cola Company” has a fitting ring to it, doesn’t it. (Spoiler: I survived. Bearly.) — JS

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Three Flowers For You

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Total Ohio

Fun fact: Ohio is the only US state to have a flag that is not rectangular — ours is a pennant. Also fun fact: I hardly see anyone ever fly an Ohio state flag. They will fly to Ohio State flag, which is to say, the flag of the football team that has a university attached, but not the actual state flag. So, I got one (two, actually, the size I wanted only shipped as a pair) and have placed upon…

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New Cover: I Won't Back Down

Because this is a sentiment that is surely timely. In addition to singing, I’m playing bass on this one. I tried chugging along with the guitar but it sounded just terrible, so the guitars on this one are courtesy of UJAM, and some MIDI programming on my part for the solo. Also, I wasn’t intentionally trying for a Tom Petty-like drawl, but damn it’s hard to sing a Tom Petty song without one, so…

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