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I will read anything Adrian Tchaikovsky writes, and I read this, where a robot valet makes a decision his programming can't account for and is then thrust out of the safety and predictability of his manor home and into the chaos of the unknown, but it's a book that can't seem to commit to a perspective or tone. I mean:

Inside his decision-making software there were two subroutines in the shape of wolves, and one insisted that he stay, and the other insisted that he could not stay.

Is this robot valet on Tumblr? Nothing in the text justifies such a distracting choice.

This is not a page turner. At one point, I swear to god, Libby predicted it would take me 23 years to finish reading it. But it's Tchaikovsky, and so finish it I did. Even when dealing almost entirely with robots, his science fiction is humanist, concerned with individual choices, with no one person or group being the big bad. Instead the friction comes where systems overlap without comprehension.

Charles, House said at last. We are only following instructions.

This book is a world-building slow burn that examines the overlap of automation and humanity, and comes to a dire—but logical—conclusion.

There's also a short story set before this book that you can read at Reactor: Human Resources by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Contains: the collapse of human civilization, robot harm and death.

1. Had a good day at work today. No meetings, so I was able to get stuff done. Tomorrow should be the same.

2. In April we had our annual open enrollment for insurance at work and the company switched dental insurance. When I got the new insurance info and checked on their website, it didn't show my current dentist as an option, so I assumed I would have to find a new one. I don't currently have any outstanding dental work that needs to be done, so I wasn't worried about it and figured I'd find a new dentist eventually but I did have a scheduled cleaning coming up this week, so I planned to call the dentist on Monday to let them know I needed to cancel, but they actually called me instead, to confirm the appointment, and when I talked to them they said they do take the new insurance, so I won't have to change dentists after all. The appointment is tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out for sure then if they really do take it or not, but since it's just a cleaning, even if it turns out they don't, I won't be out a ton of money.

3. Today was the first round magic key presale for Oogie Boogie Bash tickets. First round is only for the highest tier keyholders (which includes us), and the general magic key presale is tomorrow, and then they go on sale to everyone on Thursday. Anyway, since today was only Inspire keyholders, it was very easy to get tickets. I'm really glad they started offering that as a perk, and it actually makes it easier for everyone because that's fewer people trying all at once on Thursday. We're not going on Halloween, but rather the Sunday before.

4. I haven't had much chance to catch up on my Bluesky feed tonight but I glanced at it quickly and it seems there's good news out of today's elections in New York. (And maybe other places, too? Like I said, not much time to read thoroughly.) So happy for any bit of good news politics-wise.

5. Tuxie just chilling on these random boards the neighbors left in our planter after repairing their fence a few months back.

Spoilers for everything. I have over-all been enjoying it still! Learned that it was conceived as a 6 episode show but Apple ordered 10, which definitely explains some things.

( It isn't EVEN a premium quality show )

Shipping feelings: I have read a lot of good, weird stuff about Gurathin and Murderbot being autistic and strange at each other in various ways involving wirefucking, gunport fingering, and Fucking For Science. As the author of that last one says, "aroace murderbot truthers do not @ me. you know already that god likes you best," I think there's a world where MB can be like "ew put my mouth that I use to talk on a human?" and also be kinky without obliterating the character we get in the books.

Also have read a bunch of good stuff about ART and Murderbot: this amazing one where ART writes Murderbot a sex act code and it's weird and they talk and I just found the vibes and the voices and the way the topic was approached to be perfectly in character.

And this one which fucking REWROTE MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY, half the TL has already rec'd it because I've been screaming about it to anybody who opens a DM with me, the fucking INTIMACY, the tenderness, the most relatable piece of media since the actual books. The voices and interaction are perfect, the feelings are perfect, the nonsexual kink and sensory overload and praise kink ("ART said, Your recent security performance continues to meet expectations. I couldn’t deal with that either,") are perfect, it's all perfect, go read it.

And because I wouldn't be me if I weren't bringing the gross: here's some fic where Iris masturbates with Perihelion's help and it gets its robot rocks off on acoustics. It's the highest quality what if you jerked off with your sibling and your sibling was a giant sentient space ship fic out there, I'm convinced.

Cattitude took the cat in for her follow-up appointment, and the nurse said she's doing just fine, and cleared her to start eating crunchy things (which include her favorite cat treats). She hadn't been eating much in the previous few days, so they sent Cattitude home with two medications to improve her appetite. The cat has her appetite back, and headed right for the bowl of kibble, and ignored the bowl of wet food. She also informed us at dinner, when offered Greenies, that those were her proper treats, thank you very much. The other cat, Molly, is also pleased that we are once again giving them kibble and the familiar treats; there was no practical way to give Molly kibble and Kaja only wet food, so neither cat got anything crunchy for ten days.

We may be going to London last month, to sort through some of Mom's stuff, including papers and photos. (Mark needs to be there, and I want to, even though it will mean a lot of time masking, and probably a lot of takeout meals eaten in a hotel room. I emailed the cat sitter,

I checked this afternoon, and my inherited share of Mom's Vanguard account is in my account. Separately, there's a life insurance policy that seems to have asked for another form after my brother sent in what he thought was everything they wanted. In addition to the Vanguard account, there are some UK bank accounts, which Mark thinks will take several months to go through probate. All of this is a little weird, and I want my mother, not her life insurance.

Boston (along with much of the eastern United States and Canada) is in the middle of the sort of heat wave where they advise everyone to stay indoors if possible, not just people who are particularly sensitive to the heat. Both the NWS warning and the Boston heat emergency are only through this evening, but they're predicting that tomorrow will also be hotter than I find comfortable.

Small-town Great War memorials are so sad. You have this glorious statue erected To Our Brave Boys, Their Sacrifice Will Endure Forever, and then, added on to the side or back of the plinth, the World War Two memorial is like, "well, fuck."

Great interview with Murderbot executive producer Andrew Miano:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-murderbot-ep-andrew-miano

First and foremost, my partner Paul Weitz read the book for pleasure, not with any eye towards adaptation, and came in with it and said, "this would make an amazing TV show." We all read it and really sparked to it and thought it was unique and special and funny, which is not something that you always get in a lot of sci-fi. [It is] also very meaningful and emotional. It was the whole package so it was very exciting and we went about it. We met Martha... One of the biggest things to focus on is how do you honor the book? How do you translate that to the screen? It's not easy, but I'm very fortunate to have Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz — two smart, talented partners — creating and running the show with their guidance and Martha's support and involvement to sort of capture and stay true to the books.

1. I did not get all my work tasks done today because there were so many and so much other stuff kept popping up, but I got the ones that had the highest priority done, and both tomorrow and Wednesday are pretty much free days with no meetings, so I should have plenty of time to work on all these little tasks.

2. The new store is set to open in just about one month and unlike the store that opened in December, I have not had to do any of the hiring except for a handful of interviews a couple months ago. The total staff is less than it was for the last new store but still, I am very relieved and impressed that the management team for this one has been able to do it all themselves and I haven't had to spend all day every day doing interviews.

3. Ollie is such a cutie guy.

I tripped coming back from the garden after watering and skinned the hell out my left knee and twisted my right ankle, plus minor scrapes on my palms. Ow.

Hobbled home, rinsed everything off (because of course I had some dirt on me from wrestling the garden hose and whatnot), smeared on antibacterial ointment, iced both joints (not super successfully), taped bandaids to my knee, and ordered delivery of a bento box. Now I need to put on enough clothes to get downstairs to receive said delivery, and get back up the stairs to eat. Ow ow OW.

This was a perfectly pleasant heatwave until then! I got the window unit into my bedroom window yesterday, have been eating popsicles and drinking various flavored waters, and made summer rolls last night. I was going to make peanut noodles. But no. Did I mention OW?

1. We had a nice time at Disneyland this morning. The weather's definitely trending summerish but thankfully not too hot yet.

2. Alexander's hasn't been feeling well for the past few weeks so he hasn't been over for his usual Sunday dinner and hangout, but he was able to make it over tonight. It was good to see him again!

3. Look at these sweeties!

Set the alarm and got up early this morning so we could get down there when the parks opened as it was supposed to be a pretty warm and sunny day.

( Read more... )

We just had an unexpected visit: Adrian asked if I'd be willing to either mask or sit in the study with the door closed, so one of her comrades could sit in our air conditioned apartment for a little while. Adrian asked because Simcha is less heat-tolerant than I am, and at least as covid-cautious, so I said yes. It was good to talk to them; I'd met Simcha but only in passing, and Adrian hadn't met them at all, but Adrian talks about them, and Simcha is the person we recently gave our loveseat to.

That was fun, and now they have left and I have taken my mask and clothes off, and am drinking tea. I ended the visit when I started getting uncomfortably warm despite the AC, as well as it being time for me to have tea.

I've been reading my own prose in public for audiences for more than 25 years now, and I've even thrown in a poem or two as spice. But this Saturday is the first time I will be doing a dedicated poetry reading! If you're a Nebula attendee or a SFWA member, please join us on Saturday, June 28th, at 11 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Central).

A microphone with sparkles provides the information for the SFWA Poetry Open Mic, June 28th, 11 AM Pacific, Featuring: Marissa Lingen, Host: Gwynne Garfinkle, events.sfwa.org/upcoming-events

1. Finished another puzzle today.

2. Finally got Carla's Switch 2 set up on the TV so now we can play Mario Kart World together. It's gonna take me a minute to get used to the split screen view, though.

3. Chloe is curious.

Got a Cake Batter cone (working my way through the non-coffee-flavors at my local ice cream shop) and walked over to the garden; I am very pleased to report that the rhubarb has come up, and so has the parsley and the cosmos and the sweet alyssum! Could there be 100% more of all of these plants, considering how many seeds I put in? Yes. But: I created plants! The basil is going to be so happy over the next week of heatwave. The peas are doing great and I am going nuts over the lack of watermelon, hopefully they will also rejoice in the heat.

And then I stuck a couple of coreopsis in the front garden, which I impulse-bought this morning at the farmer's market, not even a little sorry. Other impulse purchases today included a bag of basil (PESTO) and a container of corn salsa, which I will add to fish-stick tacos.

Currently Reading
A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge
74%. I have liked the other books in this series and this one is not putting me off the whole thing but it is definitely not a favorite. The whole plot revolves around this guy blackmailing the MC and threatening her family, and the only reason he can do so is because they don't know who he really is and has insinuated himself into their home as he grandfather's doctor. If she would just tell them the truth then he might still threaten her and her family, but he wouldn't be able to sneak around in their home. But she's too embarrassed to tell them that she's being blackmailed and determined to fix things herself. It's really, really frustrating to read.

The Mystery of Locked Rooms
9%. Middle grade book about a group of friends who love escape rooms. When the MC's mom gets an eviction notice, the MC and her friends decide to explore an old abandoned fun house that's said to hold a hidden treasure. Just started it but seems good so far.

Horrorstör
27%.

Riding the Rails
No progress.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
57%.

Recently Finished
Break in Case of Emergency
This was less about the MC's relationship with her estranged father and much more about her suicidal tendencies than I'd realized from the blurb. I did like it, though.

The Fourth Girl
I didn't end up enjoying this as much as I'd anticipated from the premise. There were too many unanswered questions at the end. One of the characters even says something like "I guess there are some things we'll never know" and I'm fine with the characters not knowing, but as the reader, I want to know! Especially when the book uses multiple outsider POVs to reveal stuff the main characters are unaware of, but then still leaves a bunch of questions.

Bokura no Hentai vol. 7-10
This really was a great series. I'm surprised I'd never heard of it before but I'm glad I stumbled across it.

I picked up my bicycle yesterday!

On

ringthebells's wise advice, I had them show me how to lube the chain and pump up the tires. (not that I own chain oil or a pump, but in principle I am prepared!) They installed a locking kickstand (fancy!) and threw in a rear-view mirror, which they mounted on the left handlebar and which I didn't think I'd have the spare attention to look into for days, as I concentrated on figuring out how to ride a bike again after fifty years, but I was certainly glad to have it. I wobble-rode around the local parking lot a bit to get the hang of it and then headed home! I felt secure enough to ride it on some of the deserted residential streets, but got off and walked it whenever there was traffic or I just felt insecure. (Every now and then I have to swerve a bit to keep my balance, which is not a thing to do if there are cars around.)

And today I rode and walked it into downtown again, to a community festival going on this weekend that provides a secure bike valet service. And I already feel more secure and stable (which is not to say that I'm not still occasionally wobbling, or jumping off in a hurry, and definitely am still walking it whenever anyone or anything else might be moving anywhere near me) -- and checking the mirror is already almost second nature! I think forty years of driving a car helps with that. I have the theory of how to shift pretty well down, too; this bike has three gears in front and five in back, which feels like massive overkill for my needs, and all the riding I've done so far has been on the level, but I've tried changing gears a few times just to get used to how to do it.

I traded my bike for a claim check and wandered around the community festival; and then I wandered through the big main-street commercial festival that's also going on; and then a friend texted me to find out if I was nearby and I connected with them and we wandered back through the community festival so they could check their bike as well, and then through the weekly farmers&crafters market, and then through the National Indigenous Peoples Day festival -- there was a lot going on in my city today! And then we went back and reclaimed our bikes and said goodbye and I biked-and-walked home, and now I'm exhausted from four hours in the midday sun but I still have a bunch of stuff to do before I leave tomorrow morning for eight days, oof. (Vacation with my in-laws. I do like my in-laws, but still -- oof.)

But it feels ~~slightly scary and also~~ good to be back on a bike after all this time! And my goodness but that is faster than walking. A very different kind of muscular effort, as well.

The admirable Redbird went down the hill this morning in search of supplies to make me a birthday cake. She went to the small Shaws (regional supermarket chain, like a Krogers or Wegmans) which is only half a mile away. It's down a moderately steep hill with lousy pavement, but still only half a mile. There's a Whole Foods a third of a mile away, but they usually don't have regular granulated sugar. They have organic sugar, turbinado sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar [1]...they are all too coarse for the recipe we wanted to use, so she braved the hill to find the sugar of our ancestors.

The sugar was essential for the cake. The cocoa powder was on the "nice to have" list. We usually bake with cocoa powder, and we had enough left for our usual birthday cake, but it would have been nice to have some dutch process cocoa and try a different recipe using that.[2] I expect any grocery store to have natural cocoa like the Hershey's powder in the brown box, but the dark dutch process stuff is more of a specialty item.

They don't sell cocoa powder anymore. It's not sold out, with a shelf tag saying the little brown boxes are supposed to be there, and how much they cost before everyone bought them. The shelf is full of other things. The person stocking the shelves doesn't know of any place for such a thing. When I stop and think about it, I suppose I shouldn't be shocked. There are only so many places on the shelves, and they need them for boxed cake mix, and pre-mixed syrup for making hot chocolate. Most people who bought the plain Hershey's powder (or their competitors) are more likely to use the pre-mixed stuff.

[1] They also have agave syrup, brown rice syrup, stevia, monkfruit, and molasses, which would all have been wrong in different ways.

[2] Note to non-bakers. Both are unsweetened powders, just processed differently to get them from bean to powder.

1. Finally after all week feeling like each day should be Friday, it's really Friday!

2. Today actually wasn't too bad at work and wasn't a long day. Though I didn't end up getting to everything I wanted to get done, so I had to push a lot of things till Monday. They're not urgent things, so it's fine, but I feel like Monday is going to end up with a lot of things, especially since I have a meeting in the afternoon. But so far I have nothing scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, so hopefully one or the other can be a catch up day if I need it.

3. This is an irresistible spot for cats. A canvas bag on top of a plastic bin, which is itself on top of a pile of other bags, on top of a blanket, on top of a chest. Plus it's got a nice view of the sidewalk!

This is the third year they've had an official Pride Nite at Disneyland. With only two dates each year, it's on a smaller scale than most of the other events, but still a lot of fun and I just love being there at the park when almost everyone (even many of the cast members working that night) is queer.

( Read more... )

1. They announced the amounts for our biannual bonus and the pre-tax amount is a little higher than last time. Not sure what the take-home amount will be, but I'll find out next Friday. (The day after my birthday, so that's a nice present.)

2. For some reason this week has felt so long. Like every day I've felt like it must be Friday. Even Monday! And now tomorrow is finally Friday! I'm excited about that. Taking next Thursday off for the aforementioned birthday, so it will be a short week, too. (And then the week after that I get that Friday off for 4th of July, so two short weeks in a row!)

3. Tuxie looks so contented.

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Aderam

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2025 Disneyland Trip #43 (6/22/25)

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patience in a garden plot

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apparently it's just like riding a bike!

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2025 Disneyland Trip #42 (6/18/25) Pride Nite

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