'It is discomfiting to think about how many [Counter Strike] players have been sent to the actual front lines of the war in Ukraine, with some soldiers even allegedly decorating their real AKs to resemble the digital cosmetics that can be applied in Counter-Strike.'

I wrote about CS2 for The Bulwark: thebulwark.com/p/the-anxious-…

*Trump voice* And Kierkegaard, he wrote books, big books, you can’t even pick them up they’re so big. No. No. [booing] no no no. We don’t like that do we folks. Now Hamann [applause] Hama— [roaring applause] he wrote ELLIPTICALLY [applause] he kept it short, said just as much

boys are so great. Tolstoy wrote one of the great world classics of all time but couldn't resist, 'you won't believe how strong this fat guy was.'

Thrilled to review Lucas Mann's Attachments for Los Angeles Review of Books! This one Gets Personal, as they say--turns out dads have feelings too?? lareviewofbooks.org/article/bad-da…

prospective employer: and you have a lot of editing experience, you say?

me, adding emojis to every comment i missed in the discord to give my friends' their one true tone: ohhh yeah

The writer's prayer:

Lord, give me the grace to not become a crank as a I get old, and if, in your infinite wisdom, I shall become a crank, please give me the strength to shut up

we're back with Tristram Shandy. we do not stay on track. the book is a 700 page Norm Macdonald moth joke. all the funniest British authors owe Sterne a small percentage. Bill is also forced to do a Civil War Jeopardy quiz live. on.soundcloud.com/oNHddQT4HYGArw…

this is about me and the other dads having one (1) weekend get together every year which only ends once the hot tub is fully empty

'how did the Liverpool game go'
'well I spent the majority of it tweeting stanzas from The Hollow Men...'

we're back with Tristram Shandy. we do not stay on track. the book is a 700 page Norm Macdonald moth joke. all the funniest British authors owe Sterne a small percentage. Bill is also forced to do a Civil War Jeopardy quiz live. on.soundcloud.com/oNHddQT4HYGArw…

stumbled across the word 'folk-say' today. a great compound word. a perfect one? couldn't read a paywalled JSTOR article about its origin, but convinced it's another win for puns. folk-say. folksy. the unwritten lore of the land.

Such a great discussion, this.

Celebrate 300 years of Kant by spending 150 minutes with me, the only joel and an incoherent jumble of organ, sinew, and bone as we discuss Adam Roberts's novel The Thing Itself, a book that represents arguably the most fun anyone has ever had riffing on the first Critique: soundcloud.com/thebigreadcast…

5yo just asked if clouds were made out of fire, presocratic ass question

Introduce yourself with one book, one movie, one album, and one TV show

i love (sincerely, not ironically) when a critic is like, 'read these three works by a Slovenian woman you've never heard of to celebrate women's history month,' and the replies are filled with, 'just finished Woman in Cabin 10—totally blown away.' let the people mingle.

[going back in time to see Tolstoy at the Astapovo railway station] this screams ADHD

A terrific bat poem from Les Murray for bat appreciation day: lyrikline.org/en/poems/bats-…

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back is about Cold War mutually assured destruction. the snow is going too pink. too, too pink. the pink is spreading. and the Cat in the (Striped) Hat has to stop it. he helped create it. he escalates it. but he can end it with the voom that goes voom.