This was… a bizarre book. I’ve read plenty of David Weber’s writing before and the premise of the book seemed pretty close to Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series, so I thought I might enjoy it. Te premise of the book is that Earth has been invaded by a species that is clearly superior in the grand scheme of things but comparable to human technology other than space travel, giving humanity somewhat of a fighting chance.

Walk read 27,000+ Marvel comics to write this book, an attempt to trace the most important part of the Marvel universe over the past ~60 years. I love the book for a few reasons. First, it takes comics—and Marvel Comics in particular—seriously, examining their sense-making and stories. Second, there’s a deep love of comics that’s evident in the book. Not a stilted, defensive love, but a mature one that knows what’s wrong with them but champions what they get right.

Jim Hacker is in The Prisoner???

Came across this while explaining Puerto Rico to my games and learning class. I love board games, but we have to critically evaluate them just like any other medium.

I think concerns about being dependent on technology are valuable, but I also note that no one is ever talking about technologies like, say, language or agriculture.

Is NaNoTwiMo a thing? Every time I assign Twine to my students, I want to spend some time doing something big and beautiful with it.

One of my favorite differences between European and Canadian French is the subtly different way they each pronounce words and names in English.

I probably would not have read this book on my own but it was selected as the 2022 Kentucky Reads selection by Kentucky Humanities. I noticed that in a headline somewhere (probably the Herald-Leader) and decided it was worth giving it a shot. I ended up enjoying the book a lot! It plays with themes of nostalgia and wondering if the past could have or should have been different. I’ve been thinking about both of those things a lot recently, including in the context of my faith transition.

Anyone know an easy way to get Belgian citizenship?

More Wallace and Gromit is always welcome.

Going through old files and throwing out notes from a French phonetics class from over a decade ago. I recognize that I don’t need them anymore, but there’s still something hard about it!

Paid a visit to Cincinnati’s Union Terminal today. The building makes for a gorgeous museum, but how cool would it be if it were still the busy train station it was designed to be?

I have been joking since March 2020 how desperately we need a new Stromae album now, but I could have never anticipated how perfect Multitudes is going to be for this moment.

Is it too late to exchange this 2022 for a new one? We’re within 30 days, and this one clearly came broken.

Angry at myself tonight for not noticing spousal abuse perpetrated by someone I worked with regularly while it was happening. Angrier still at those I know who were aware of it and did nothing.

I wish Nintendo would translate the French release of Mario Kart as « chariot de Mario » because it’s very fun to say.

The internet is dumb but sometimes in an amazing way.

Why shut down Alexa rankings???

Grâce à YouTube, j’ai appris au sujet des « speakerines » aujourd’hui. J’étudie le français depuis vingt ans, et il reste des tas de choses à apprendre.

Initial Dungeons and Dragons pizza plans have fallen through. I have pointed out that there’s a LaRosa’s nearby and am now swelling with an unexpected amount of Northern Kentucky pride.

I traditionally get a mild cold every beginning and end of semester, which has always been a pain but has become anxiety-inducing these past two years.

It has been a long week, and tomorrow is looking just as long, but it’s been a beautiful Sunday that I plan to cap off with the new videos from the French train nerd YouTube channels I subscribe to and maybe even some Stardew Valley.

The more Grammarly ads I see, the more my skepticism of them grows.

Just finished two phone calls that I’ve been dreading and putting off for weeks, and both were fine. I’m relieved, but it’s also a stark reminder of how high my anxiety has been this semester.

Taika Waititi is doing a movie based on a Franco-Belgian comic, and I am very excited. I haven’t read this series, but it’s time to fix that.

It is flannel shirt, heavy gloves, and balaclava season for this bike commuter, and I couldn’t be happier.

Thanks largely to traveling, I powered through my first Franco-Ontarian novel over the past few days, and it was delightful. Some of the best Francophone books I’ve read have been purchased used for about $5, so hooray for used bookstores.

A fun article that reminds me of my plans to create a Cleric of Trickery based on George Smiley for an upcoming 5e campaign.

Why did no one tell me there’s a new Stromae single???

Posting this for hoopy froods to read.

This delights me to no end.

Tentatively excited! Such a great comic—they’d better do it justice.

Two years ago today, I visited a mental health therapist for the first time and immediately wished I’d done it a decade earlier. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself, and I can’t recommend the experience enough.

Here I am, refreshing local news to get sports updates—not because I care about the game, but because I want to know when my neighbors will stop yelling at their TV.

On one hand, I am worried about the platformed internet. On the other, I realize that the phenomenon of “in cab” train videos probably wouldn’t exist without a centralized, problematic behemoth like YouTube, and that would make me sad.

It amazes me how many people there are who think it’s acceptable to ride a scooter or a skateboard the wrong way down a bike lane.