Happy book birthday!

Sliding in here to say a friend describes the sensation as someone drawing really hard on you with a ballpoint pen. For me it‘s not so much painful as triggering my fight-or-flight response after enduring that for a few hours.

2-panel comic 1st panel, titled UI. Mom and dad standing over a crib with the baby. A mobile with cute animals is turning over the baby. Mom says "I love it!" dad says "Me too!" 2nd panel, titled UX: From baby's POV only animals' assholes are visible.

UI vs UX

Good time to sit and read a book! Also you don't need anything fancy for aftercare, just unscented bar soap, unscented lotion, and paper towels (for patting the area dry after showers, and drying your washed hands before you apply lotion).

👀

I think focus on outcome rather than process describes the problem with a lot of areas these days!

Sometimes I wonder if gamification in order to make subjects ”fun” (eg all the online math games they had my kid use in school when he was younger) has trained people to fear getting things wrong

AI Use Appears to Have a "Boiling Frog" Effect on Human Cognition, New Study Warns A new study claims to offer the first causal link between AI dependency and cognitive erosion. Researchers warn of long-term implications.

NEW: A new pre-print study offers the first causal evidence that outsourcing reasoning tasks to AI can rapidly erode users' independent performance AND their will to persist despite difficulty.

"People’s persistence drops... they’re also not willing to try without AI.”

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Slasher Summer by E. L. Chen: 9798217089628 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books In this campy love letter to the slasher films of the 1980s, seven friends reunite for a weekend of fun—only to be hunted down by a cold-blooded killer. But the real horror is not being able to escape...

Late to the party, but I have a slasher romp coming out if anyone needs a Summerween read 👀www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/822948/slasher-sum...

Yay! I’m so glad you’re working on a new book!

Please help spread the word!

I'm teaching Creative Writing: Introduction at U of T's School of Continuing Education again this summer!

Course # 1664-600. In-Class

Thursday evenings, 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Jun 11, 2026 to Jul 30, 2026

Come learn with me! 😀

2learn.utoronto.ca/search/publi...

It’s fleece vest over blue button-down shirt season. If you wear a blue button-down shirt, you must wear a fleece vest on top. I disn’t make the rule, just observing

Yahoo!'s homepage (1994)

”These are all my—“ I glance around furtively and lower my voice. “All my fucks. Anyone down to their last can have one.”

Toad stands at his closet door, looking at his list. One more item crossed off! From "A List" In *Frog and Toad Together*

Toad took his clothes out of the closet and put them on. Then he crossed out: Get Dressed.

Alwaaaayssss

How do you know if an autism organization is good? Not every autism organization helps autistic people. Here's how you can tell the difference, with examples.

This Autism Acceptance Month, @thinkingautism.com has a great list of criteria for orgs to support, as well as lists of orgs that meet them and orgs that don't: thinkingautismguide.com/useful-autis...

Vincent holding up a copy of their book YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN NICER TO MY MOM.

anyone looking for a messy latino family mystery thriller tied together with a demonic thread should pick up my newest book--YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN NICER TO MY MOM

Vol.II, by Angine de Poitrine 6 track album

Wake up, babe, new microtonal Dada Pythagorean-Cubist bops just dropped anginedepoitrine.bandcamp.com/album/vol-ii

“All authors are using AI now”

Not true! A lot of us use crippling childhood trauma.

No, WhatsApp, I do not need you to summarize the unread reply from my friend, which was, “Yes.” 😒

I saw a subway mouse for the first time in about 10 years! I feel blessed 🥹

I don’t even like predictive text! Yeet all of that into the sun!

Compartmentalization. I‘m lucky that I like my day job, though. But I also work at lunch, and during my commute.

If anyone's in a position to pick up maybe a prepaid short story edit or two I can offer up on here (if no one needs/wants any edits for themselves, and those are $50 per), I've got bills on autopay coming out tomorrow and really can't deal with NSF charges right now.

😒

The Polkaroo standing in a colorful children’s television set from *Polka Dot Door*. The tall, kangaroo-like character has a long dark head with large round eyes, a red nose, and a tuft of yellow-orange hair. It wears a tan costume covered in large multicolored polka dots with tassels on the shoulders and holds a badminton shuttlecock in one hand. Behind it is a red arch doorway with large yellow polka dots. Surrounding the character are numerous toys and props, including alphabet blocks with the letters “M,” “K,” and “R,” stuffed animals, dolls, stacking rings, a small guitar, a toy telephone, a drum, a violin, a rubber duck, and other children’s play items arranged across the floor.

On this day in 1971, Polka Dot Door premiered. It aired for 22 seasons and 383 episodes. One of the most well-known and beloved parts of the show was Polkaroo.
In 2010, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television named it a Canadian Masterwork.

“Well then,” said Toad, “a little more sleep will not hurt me.”

as this monumental book is reprinted, honoured that my essay "Death in the Village" will be joining it as an afterword.

If you haven't read @daviddemchuk.com's book yet, this is the time to get it.

This Sunday! Drop by any time between 1-3pm.