Omg, how? Time.

Sometimes I am genuinely flummoxed by the English language despite 18 literature courses in college, two graduate degrees in English/Writing, and many jobs as a writer and editor.

I love getting insight into reader responses. It's always hard to imagine what other people think and feel as they read your words.

The book on a wooden surface. It features a nearly full-cover photo of a totally rusted, opened sardine tin with the title and author (Backyard Alchemy, on life with other creatures in a time of salvage) written into it. The background is dark brown to fit with the rust of the tin.

The tangents you can launch into while your body is at work taking in signals from its environment, transforming it and you—a two-way flow of connection. I love how
@nematode.bsky.social's lyric essays in their Backyard Alchemy @riverriverbooks.bsky.social, 2026) do that!
🐛🌱❤️💫🌱🐛💖

📚💙

I will never unhear this

A white wall with a series of dark gray lines across it. Sometimey bits of chipped paint. It looks a little bit like sound waves or some other sort of wave measuring reading

My computer rubbed against the wall of my office and wrote this poem.

Idgaf what that guy thinks.

🙀

Who the fuck is diplo?

I quit a job because of poor cybersecurity practices today. Take it seriously, people.

More great talks at @indexerscanada.bsky.social conference today. After the latest review by Elizabeth Bartmess on generative AI attempts at creating book indexes, compared with how ‘good’ the chatbots say they are, the bots could do with much more imposter syndrome. #IndexSky

If the action is boring or disappointing, you can look out the window at the nice view.

Michael.

Yessss

Our colleague needs your help keeping a 1,200-year dataset alive!

If you have botanical expertise or are based near Arashiyama, Kyoto — DM her or email tuna@ourworldindata.org.

A little cloth bound hardcover book called How Shostakovich Changed My Mind by Steven johnson. The notting Hill books logo appears at the bottom. The cover is dark blue cloth. A quotation is printed in yellow on the center of the cover instead of a cover image. The quotation reads: I sensed the glimmering of a possibility. If Shostakovich could find the method, the thread of logic, in his teeming, cascading thoughts, then perhaps I could too

Reading this amazing book about the power of music. @nottinghilleds.bsky.social

A thick-headed fly 💛 🇬🇷
#NatureWithin

You beat me to it! (Grateful.)

Last but very much not least, beloved former Horn Booker J.D. Ho asked me to blurb their new book Backyard Alchemy: On Life with Other BACKYARD ALCHEMY Creatures in a Time of Salvage, a collection of gorgeous, plainspoken, and raw personal essays — and what a gift it was. Sometimes books just find you at the exact right time. Who else has had this alchemical experience?

“…a collection of gorgeous, plainspoken, and raw personal essays…”

Beautiful shout-out to J.D. Ho’s Backyard Alchemy by Elissa Gershowitz, editor at The Horn Book!

Read the full post here: www.hbook.com/story/out-of...

@nematode.bsky.social 📚💙

Every week is the wrong week these days

An image showing my book THE FALL OF IRIS HENLEY. Text reads “a New York Times Bestseller!”

Hey we nudged up into the YA mass market bestseller list this week! Thanks to everyone for reading!

National Poetry Month: Prompt 4, from J.D. Ho Write about a city (or place) that you changed your opinion about. Note from J.D.: I’ve thought about this a lot as I have gone back and forth through the Bronx while travelling. I always tho…

National Poetry Month: Prompt 4, from J.D. Ho—of feelings and place 💙 #NaPoMo #poetry @nematode.bsky.social

Map showing bird migration last night. It shows hotsposts in the Mid-Atlantic to Ohio Valely, in the Southeast and Southern Plains.

While you slept last night: ~100 million birds took to the skies 🐦

The Mid-Atlantic saw heavy traffic moving north/northeast, with migration hotspots from the Southeast to Ohio Valley and Southern Plains.

The overnight rush continues this weekend.

Details at cwg.live

😭

Did you just diss the Star Trek replicator?

A hardcover copy of Oaxaca Journal by Oliver sacks. It is sitting on a wood floor. The cover is white with lines of latitude and longitude printed on it in light blue. There is a plant specimen of some kind which I could identify if I were much smarter and More well-versed in tropical botany

No index. I know that's a small thing to complain about rn, but ffs!

Call the Scooby Gang to unmask him and trap him in a pit of slime!

Why? Why must he and I have the same name?

The dude is 80, and he's pretty much never done anything I didn't like. Until now.

The Best Science Stories and How They Work: A Collection with Commentary - The Open Notebook An invitation to engage with some of today’s most respected science journalists as they take readers beneath the surface to tell the stories behind eleven of the best science stories.

Coming June 2026! Pre-order now and if you go through @uchicagopress.bsky.social you can take 30% off with code UCPNEW.