Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope: "Oh, she says, well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And I'll ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don't know. The moral of the story is — we're here on Earth to fart around And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And it's like we're not supposed to dance at all anymore."

Kurt Vonnegut man

If you're in the UK, today is the last day to contribute to the UK government's consultation on AI. This guide is very useful.

So one of the things that I think is lost on AI proponents is what I call the card catalog effect, a thing I shouldn’t call it because a lot of people probably have no experience with a card catalog.

I'm thinking of starting a free Zoom coworking session daily from 10AM to 12PM CET (11AM-1PM GMT, 14:30-15:30 IST).

Anyone interested?

I'll use it to do my marketing work

Dear Everyone in 2025: For your consideration, here’s my annual What’s In/What’s Out list.

Where to find joy?

"In language. That’s one of my answers. To read what some of the most talented writers can do is to be reassured of human ingenuity, human sensitivity, human spark." ~ Frank Bruni

I haven't really got started yet!

Cartoon picture of a boy reading a book with his dog by his side, in a living room with a Christmas tree behind

I just did my annual donation to Book Trust, which donates books to children who wouldn't have them otherwise. Having books of your own, to keep and re-read, is important.
www.booktrust.org.uk

What a lovely summary of the post. Thank you. And great to see you here, Ginny. ❤️

3 valuable life lessons I've learned from writing Reflections on 2024 and lessons relearned. How do I become a better human?

If you can learn to love writing, you can learn to love life www.enchantingmarketing.com/life-lessons... @henneke.bsky.social

"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"

The story of a 40 year book-quest and of its remarkable ending

And about goblins and Christmas; the perils of ChatGPT; and the real value of librarians and so on

Substack emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...

Personal blog davidallengreen.com/2024/12/twel...

UK writers of any kind: see below

Ruth's Charity Walk along Hadrian's Wall 10 years ago, I lost my beloved father, Richard Maria Winden, to cancer. By the time he got diagnosed, it was too late. He died within a few months. Every day I think of him. Every day I miss him. Ev...

Asking for charity donations in December is a bad idea.

BUT - I'm less than £3 away from hitting the £300 mark for @cancerresearchuk.org.

Who will it be? HUGE thanks in advance 🎉

#CancerResearch #Fundraising #Charity

fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ruths-c...

Goals. All of it.

Yes, it feels like such a long year, and still I wonder, how is it December already. Hugs to you. 💜

A cartoon drawing of purple-haired Henrietta cultivating her little corner of the earth. She's poring tiny hearts from a watering can; the tiny hearts are nestling in the earth, feeding the roots of flowers; the flowers are growing tall and colorful.

My first post (tweet?) here is a message of kindness. ❤️

Sending love to everyone feeling anxious, stressed, or exhausted.

Let's take December one day, one hour at a time, my friends.

I'm sending hugs. 🤗💕🤗

Hey, I've got a Starter Pack going for Content Marketing, but I need your help to add people to it.

go.bsky.app/HT32cm3

Created this Pack for those who live email

I know there are folks who should be included, who should be in here?

go.bsky.app/D6Mgvt2

New publisher Spines aims to 'disrupt' industry by using AI to publish 8,000 books in 2025 alone A new publisher has claimed it aims to “disrupt” the books industry by publishing 8,000 books in 2025 alone using artificial intelligence.

I will cheer on anyone who wants to write a book. I’m not precious about how: Self-publish! Hybrid-publish! Whatever works to get your ideas out of your noggin & into the world.

But we gotta draw the line at these 8000 new AI-written, AI-edited books. Ick.

www.thebookseller.com/news/new-pub...

“I’m stealing this.” I get that we say this is a compliment. But increasingly it feels… off.

Maybe instead of “I’m stealing this” we try “I love this & will repost it everywhere with full cred and a hyperlink, because attribution matters.”

I'll tell her. 😁😍

So far, Henrietta and I have just been lurking here & keeping up with the news. Might need to get a little more active! 💃

Lovely to see you here! I haven't tried it but heard that you can bookmark by using the red pin emoji 📌 and then go to the feed of red pin emojis to see everything you've bookmarked.