Inbox dumb fat, or, the joys of international package tracking

Not so subtle up north. Hope everyone is on high ground.

Long subtle quakes in the background today

There's a scene in an old submarine movie (K-19) where teams have to take turns repairing a damaged nuclear reactor, and just a few mins of exposure devastates their bodies, and I feel like the morning trains are a bit like that.

Honestly I think we might be in tsuyu. Summer's going to begin in late May and Christmas is hereby moved to September.
#梅雨

I wish someone would give the moon a quarter-turn every 20 years or so

Vacuum the underside of the pads that protect the floor from my chairs:
Check.

Tuning in to the inaka frequency

totally, like the world champ in 2050 will recall in an interview how she learned on her parents' Prada board

If that's what it takes to grow the go population, so be it! But honestly, for that money the set you could get would be so much more pleasing.

Prada made a go board. It costs a million yen. They're like "the leather on the boxes is special," but no word about what the board and stones are made from. For a ¥mil you could get a hon-kaya stunner with fatty-bo-batty clam and slate stones... or, you could get this.
www.prada.com/jp/en/p/saff...

I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.

It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

Regarding the NYT NATO headline meltdown: Mistakes happen and it's always mortifying. At the same the, the NYT decided to let a large clutch of editors go in 2017, thereby greatly increasing the chances of mistakes like this occurring.

poynter.org/reporting-edit…

Yak with full ink regalia takes a video call from his missus in the change room post-onsen.

She's like, "It happened again. It's on, but the water won't come out."

He stands there butt nekkid, winces, looks up at the ceiling and utters a plaintive, guttural "Moooooh."

Gotta love #Japan

AC/DC - Back In Black (Official 4K Video) YouTube video by acdcVEVO

get well chooon
youtu.be/pAgnJDJN4VA?...

Missouri v. Biden, Consent Decree (2026) The Justice Department and the states of Missouri and Louisiana reached a settlement in a Missouri v. Biden that bars certain federal agencies from coercing social media companies to remove content.

Btw, the case that the US Supreme Court punted on has been settled. The Biden admin did in fact coerce social media platforms to suppress free speech.

Twitter is bad now, but it was equally bad in a very different way pre-Musk.

firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/miss...

Right on cue spring reminds us of that under-appreciated aspect of winter: the lack of bugs.

Full blao

This feels like prolly a good time to watch Errol Morris' 2003 doc "The Fog of War," in which Robert McNamara comes to grips with his role in the escalation ratchet of the Vietnam War, where the US attempted to pay down the growing debt of a sunken cost fallacy denominated in human lives.
#Iran

Shibano Toramaru takes the Kisei title from Ichiriki Ryo in a tense iron backspin do-or-die final to the best-of-7 series!

Shibano's willingness to try wild, heterodox stuff (like the helicopter move in game 6) even during a title match makes him a fascinating player to watch.
#囲碁

A fountain pen freshly written dry

To write one of these dry ranks among life's simple pleasures. Truly an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
#fountainpen #万年筆 #writing

this augers well

a red car is parked next to a trailer that says u-tow on it ALT: a red car is parked next to a trailer that says u-tow on it

My neighborhood is replete with dudes getting riddled with violent sneezing fits without breaking stride. One guy on his bike was barking out a six pack and between each one he made a sound like Sideshow Bob when he steps on a rake.

Watching people think for eight hours at a stretch while big Katsuura palms get buffeted about in the background. Truly, go is the ultimate spectator sport.
#囲碁 #棋聖戦 #千葉県勝浦市 #igo

a cartoon robin hood is standing in the woods with his arms outstretched . ALT: a cartoon robin hood is standing in the woods with his arms outstretched .

contemplatin' nothin' but escapin' finally makin' it,
oodelally oodelally
golly what a day

That's an interesting thought — could be for sure

That is so opposite to anything that has ever happened to me, and that's alright.

You're a braver man than me! And I expect you have considerably more hair

Far as I can tell the law of haircuts is that if it looks good right away it'll grow in wonky, but if it looks a bit shit off the bat you're going to be mint in about 11 days.