Panel Suggestions Open
Jan. 13th, 2026 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
boxofdelights posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
wisconIf you have an idea for a Wiscon panel -- even a half-baked idea -- you can propose it here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvi7TCCIHg82rSpzrUKl8wX2SNMevlGP5HxOOnqa0pkrWu2w/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=106072416256127446722
Seriously, even if your idea is just "We have to talk about Heated Rivalry!" it's okay to propose that. The Panels team will take all the input we get, and work to shape it into a proposed schedule.
If you'd like to talk your idea over before you suggest it, you can use the comments to this post, or start a new post in this group, or start a new post in your own space and maybe also point your readers here?
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvi7TCCIHg82rSpzrUKl8wX2SNMevlGP5HxOOnqa0pkrWu2w/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=106072416256127446722
Seriously, even if your idea is just "We have to talk about Heated Rivalry!" it's okay to propose that. The Panels team will take all the input we get, and work to shape it into a proposed schedule.
If you'd like to talk your idea over before you suggest it, you can use the comments to this post, or start a new post in this group, or start a new post in your own space and maybe also point your readers here?
i do hope you have a dime
Jan. 13th, 2026 05:40 pmmusesfoolI barely slept on Sunday night - maybe about 3 hours in total? - so I called out yesterday and went back to bed. I felt better but not great upon waking again after actually sleeping for another 2 hours, and spent most of the day zoned out on the couch, looking at tumblr. Last night I slept hard and today I woke up feeling much better, but ugh, sleep should not be so hard!
I know it's just January and winter but I can feel myself withdrawing and hermiting up, so if I'm late in responses to comments, that's why - it's definitely not you, it's me.
*
I know it's just January and winter but I can feel myself withdrawing and hermiting up, so if I'm late in responses to comments, that's why - it's definitely not you, it's me.
*
The Hike, by Drew Magary
Jan. 13th, 2026 10:17 amrachelmanija
Ben is on a work trip, away from his wife and three young children, when he decides to take a hike through the woods by his hotel. Ben sees a man with a Rottweiler face disposing of a corpse, and flees into the woods with the dog man pursuing him.
The next thing he knows, he's trapped in a surreal world halfway between a nightmare and a video game. It often involves distorted reflections of his own past - Ben has a scar on his face from a Rottweiler bite and he keeps getting attacked by Rottweiler-faced men, an old lover appears at the age she was when he last saw her, and he befriends a talking crab that knows a suspicious amount about him. He has to stay on the path, or he'll die. A mysterious old woman gives him tasks and tells him the only way he can get home is to find the Producer. Things appear and disappear in a very dreamlike manner, the scene shifting from a cannibal giant's castle to a hovercraft to a desert. After each ordeal, he gets a banquet with champagne.
This extremely weird book is a bit like a dreamlike, horror-inflected Alice in Wonderland for bros. I almost gave up on it halfway through - it was so "one random thing after another and the whole thing is clearly not real" that I got bored - but that's when something happened that intrigued me enough to continue. It doesn't need to be as long as it is - it's a short book that would have been better as a novelette - but the ending, while not explaining all that much, still manages to be satisfying.
I wouldn't re-read this - the actual reading experience often felt like a slog - but it was definitely different and had some good twists, so I'm not sorry I read it. I suspect there's some overlap in readership between this and Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Don't read the spoilers if there's any chance you'll actually read the book.
( Spoilers! )
Probably it's all a metaphor for life.
Content notes: Horror-typical gore and gross-outs.
here, take this
Jan. 13th, 2026 10:04 amthistleingreyJodi McAlister, An Academic Affair: A Novel (2026): two scholars in Sydney who've been competing since they were undergrads inhabit enemies-to-lovers without doing it, become housemates, and then inhabit sham-marriage (obviously, they're aware of the relevant topoi---he's an early modernist, she does pop fiction) because a job and a family hang in the balance. The Goodreads detail page has a more spoilery summary.
It's a relief to find that I haven't become a fan of romances, only better able to grasp them. This one is fine, like, whatever---but as academic novels go, it's almost alarmingly solid despite the brisk, casual tone. It's not satire when the caricatures resemble people one's met, people one's friends have worked with. Though one could say the same of Lodge (whose character-bases lasted long enough for me to've met a few, glancingly) and perhaps of Smiley and Tartt, Lodge wanted things to seem flash to the uninitiated while he took apart what suited him; all three writers sought to construct various levels of mystique. McAlister knows the world I was in for some years, despite being the other side of it geographically, and her narrative defines "precariat" for the uninitiated.
(Lodge: Changing Places et seqq. Smiley: Moo. Tartt: The Secret History, which I DNFed.)
It's a relief to find that I haven't become a fan of romances, only better able to grasp them. This one is fine, like, whatever---but as academic novels go, it's almost alarmingly solid despite the brisk, casual tone. It's not satire when the caricatures resemble people one's met, people one's friends have worked with. Though one could say the same of Lodge (whose character-bases lasted long enough for me to've met a few, glancingly) and perhaps of Smiley and Tartt, Lodge wanted things to seem flash to the uninitiated while he took apart what suited him; all three writers sought to construct various levels of mystique. McAlister knows the world I was in for some years, despite being the other side of it geographically, and her narrative defines "precariat" for the uninitiated.
(Lodge: Changing Places et seqq. Smiley: Moo. Tartt: The Secret History, which I DNFed.)
Sometimes things actually work
Jan. 13th, 2026 04:39 pmoursinAt least, I found a whole foods supplier which had - among other things like wheatbran which looked like it would not be like the sawdusty stuff Ocado have lately been purveying under that name - things like Medium Oatmeal! Wheatgerm! and POMEGRANATE VINEGAR!!! which I have been complaining everywhere were No Can Haz. Also kasha (I did have kasha but on recently examining the package found that its BBF was way back last summer).
And conveyed to me with remarkable expedition even if I didn't pony up for the expedite delivery option.
Slight whinge at DPD for just leaving it on the step and not even ringing the bell.
Also, I discovered that my library card for Former Workplace expired several years ago. On emailing about renewal (as I have a need to Go In and Consult Things) got a next day response saying they can renew if I send in scan of appropriate ID and address verification, and pick up card when I go in.
This somewhat makes up for:
a) the two reviews I did last year which still sit in limbo with the relevant editors.
b) the two feelers put out for books to review, ditto, such that I am hesitant to put out another for a different book to a different journal in case I end up yet again with stack of books for review.
c) local history society which I contacted last year apropos 2 volumes of its proceedings which are Relevant to My Interests and which after some initially encouraging response has gone silent.
Am still miffed about either inadvertently deleting or not being sent Zoom link for the last Dance to the Music of Time discussion.
and am baffled by the ongoing situation 'The server is taking too long to respond' of the Mastodon instance I frequent, which has now pertained for nearly 5 days.
with their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns
Jan. 13th, 2026 09:18 amjazzfishJOE: We're gonna have to live with them eventually.Watching a film set in the Troubles on the eve of travel to Minneapolis and after doing some reading about Palestine may not have been the wisest course. Then again, maybe it was. No time like the present.
HARRY: Who?
JOE: The Protestants, Harry. The other half of the population.
"The Boxer" is mostly about Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson's characters' relationship, but there's a lot of focus on Harry the IRA warlord and Joe the more political-minded IRA leader as well.
HARRY: And what are you offering, Joe?I'll be doing bus-stop watch for a couple of days, making sure kids can get home from school or seeing where they get taken if they don't. It's scary out here.
JOE: Peace, Harry. Peace.
HARRY: Well, I'm sure you can deliver.
Care and Feeding: My Son Argues Endlessly
Jan. 13th, 2026 08:48 amcereta posting in agonyauntDear Care and Feeding,
I am at a loss for what to do with my almost 11-year-old.
He argues constantly about everything. Here’s an example of the arguing: We made gingerbread houses this weekend. He got home from school, and I gave him a snack. While he was eating, he said, “I’m going to smash the gingerbread house on Christmas.” I said, “Nope, we do it on New Year’s Eve.” He said, “I made mine, so I get to smash it when I want.” I replied, “Nope, we always do it on New Year’s.” He kept repeating himself until I finally said, “We are done arguing, just drop it.” To which he retorted, “You just drop it!” I then asked him to go anywhere in the house besides the kitchen because he was still talking about it after I asked him to stop. (I couldn’t leave, I was helping his sitter get a snack, and doing dishes.) He then yelled at me, “You leave! Why do I have to leave if you’re the one with the problem?”
This happens every time he talks to me. I don’t get it. I want to spend time with him, but he is so hard and angry right now. He is so exhausting. He is nice to everyone else except his little sister and me. Whenever she talks to him, he makes fun of how she said something. Please help!
—Argued Out
Dear Argued Out,
It seems as if your son is truly upset with something other than what you’re actually arguing about. For example, in the case of the gingerbread house, he seemed upset about the loss of autonomy in making decisions about the house that he created, rather than the actual fact of not being allowed to smash it on Christmas. Does he feel like you always make all of the big and little decisions, while he isn’t allowed to make any? During these tween ages, it’s totally normal to want more freedom. It sounds like that could be the case, but you’ll need to ask him directly. Approach him in a quiet moment—not when you’re in the middle of a squabble and try to get to the bottom of it and his emotions. But make sure to stress that there is a way to respectfully share his feelings, especially when talking to his little sister. Also, think about the small ways that you can let him make his own decisions. Smashing his own gingerbread house, for example, doesn’t really hurt anyone else. So, sometimes, consider letting him make decisions that aren’t necessarily the ones you’d make.
In these day-to-day situations, do your best to keep calm. If your emotions start to rev up, his will automatically do the same. Then ask him why he wants to do something and encourage him to rephrase what he is saying. The fact that he only gets angry with you and his sister shows that he’s capable of communicating and expressing himself, but is too frustrated in those moments to do so. I’m unsure of where this inability is ultimately coming from, but some conversations with a therapist—for the whole family—during calmer times when emotions aren’t running so high would be beneficial for everyone. Good luck!
—Arionne
I am at a loss for what to do with my almost 11-year-old.
He argues constantly about everything. Here’s an example of the arguing: We made gingerbread houses this weekend. He got home from school, and I gave him a snack. While he was eating, he said, “I’m going to smash the gingerbread house on Christmas.” I said, “Nope, we do it on New Year’s Eve.” He said, “I made mine, so I get to smash it when I want.” I replied, “Nope, we always do it on New Year’s.” He kept repeating himself until I finally said, “We are done arguing, just drop it.” To which he retorted, “You just drop it!” I then asked him to go anywhere in the house besides the kitchen because he was still talking about it after I asked him to stop. (I couldn’t leave, I was helping his sitter get a snack, and doing dishes.) He then yelled at me, “You leave! Why do I have to leave if you’re the one with the problem?”
This happens every time he talks to me. I don’t get it. I want to spend time with him, but he is so hard and angry right now. He is so exhausting. He is nice to everyone else except his little sister and me. Whenever she talks to him, he makes fun of how she said something. Please help!
—Argued Out
Dear Argued Out,
It seems as if your son is truly upset with something other than what you’re actually arguing about. For example, in the case of the gingerbread house, he seemed upset about the loss of autonomy in making decisions about the house that he created, rather than the actual fact of not being allowed to smash it on Christmas. Does he feel like you always make all of the big and little decisions, while he isn’t allowed to make any? During these tween ages, it’s totally normal to want more freedom. It sounds like that could be the case, but you’ll need to ask him directly. Approach him in a quiet moment—not when you’re in the middle of a squabble and try to get to the bottom of it and his emotions. But make sure to stress that there is a way to respectfully share his feelings, especially when talking to his little sister. Also, think about the small ways that you can let him make his own decisions. Smashing his own gingerbread house, for example, doesn’t really hurt anyone else. So, sometimes, consider letting him make decisions that aren’t necessarily the ones you’d make.
In these day-to-day situations, do your best to keep calm. If your emotions start to rev up, his will automatically do the same. Then ask him why he wants to do something and encourage him to rephrase what he is saying. The fact that he only gets angry with you and his sister shows that he’s capable of communicating and expressing himself, but is too frustrated in those moments to do so. I’m unsure of where this inability is ultimately coming from, but some conversations with a therapist—for the whole family—during calmer times when emotions aren’t running so high would be beneficial for everyone. Good luck!
—Arionne
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
Jan. 13th, 2026 08:52 amjames_davis_nicoll
Sisters process family tensions as the world slowly grinds to an end.
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
sigh
Jan. 12th, 2026 10:27 pmjames_davis_nicollOne character in my Outgunned game gets a laptop as part of his starting gear. Game is set in 1977 so I told the university age player he could have a programmable calculator or a slide rule.
"What's a slide rule?"
"What's a slide rule?"
I got interviewed about Paper & Clay Bookshop
Jan. 12th, 2026 11:45 amrachelmanijaAudio and transcript here.
Kat Spada: Today, I’m talking to Rachel Manija Brown, a writer who’s published over 30 books, and opened up Paper & Clay Bookshop in late 2024. Rachel, will you tell me about why you decided to open a bookshop?
Rachel Brown: I had never intended to open a bookshop. I always thought it was one of those idle daydreams that people who love reading and books have. I never planned to actually do it because I didn’t think it would be successful—they frequently go out of business. But after I moved to Crestline, which is a very small town in the California mountains, the little town did not have a bookshop.
It had a shop that was kind of a bookshop. I would say about ten percent of its inventory was books, but it was primarily gifts and herbs and crystals and things like that. But it had a really great atmosphere, people loved it, the people who worked there were really great. And all the kids in town used to hang out there, especially the queer and trans and otherwise kind of misfit kids. And I used to hang out there.
[When it went] out of business, I was so sad at the idea of the mountain losing its only bookshop. Especially the thought that all the queer, trans, bookish, and otherwise misfit teenagers, like I had once been, were going to lose their safe space.
I started daydreaming about opening it myself, and I thought, I love this idea so much, maybe in a couple of years when I have actual preparation, I’ll open a bookshop. Then I realized it was at was such a good location, that I would never get that good of a location again. It’s smack in the middle of the tourist district, every person who visits Crestline walks right past it.
Unfortunately, this was all while I was in Bulgaria for a month. So, I spent some time frantically trying to take over the lease, which was extremely difficult from another country. I couldn’t take possession of the shop until November 1st, and I really wanted to open it in time to get all the Christmas customers. And I have a tiny house, so I couldn’t really buy very much, because I had no place to put it. So I took possession of the shop on November 1st, and I opened on November 14th.
I've posted the rest of the edited transcript below the cut. ( Read more... )
Kat Spada: Today, I’m talking to Rachel Manija Brown, a writer who’s published over 30 books, and opened up Paper & Clay Bookshop in late 2024. Rachel, will you tell me about why you decided to open a bookshop?
Rachel Brown: I had never intended to open a bookshop. I always thought it was one of those idle daydreams that people who love reading and books have. I never planned to actually do it because I didn’t think it would be successful—they frequently go out of business. But after I moved to Crestline, which is a very small town in the California mountains, the little town did not have a bookshop.
It had a shop that was kind of a bookshop. I would say about ten percent of its inventory was books, but it was primarily gifts and herbs and crystals and things like that. But it had a really great atmosphere, people loved it, the people who worked there were really great. And all the kids in town used to hang out there, especially the queer and trans and otherwise kind of misfit kids. And I used to hang out there.
[When it went] out of business, I was so sad at the idea of the mountain losing its only bookshop. Especially the thought that all the queer, trans, bookish, and otherwise misfit teenagers, like I had once been, were going to lose their safe space.
I started daydreaming about opening it myself, and I thought, I love this idea so much, maybe in a couple of years when I have actual preparation, I’ll open a bookshop. Then I realized it was at was such a good location, that I would never get that good of a location again. It’s smack in the middle of the tourist district, every person who visits Crestline walks right past it.
Unfortunately, this was all while I was in Bulgaria for a month. So, I spent some time frantically trying to take over the lease, which was extremely difficult from another country. I couldn’t take possession of the shop until November 1st, and I really wanted to open it in time to get all the Christmas customers. And I have a tiny house, so I couldn’t really buy very much, because I had no place to put it. So I took possession of the shop on November 1st, and I opened on November 14th.
I've posted the rest of the edited transcript below the cut. ( Read more... )
Bundle of Holding: Eichhorn Mork Borg
Jan. 12th, 2026 02:02 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Diseased grimdark English-language sourcebooks by Christian Eichhorn for the artpunk tabletop fantasy roleplaying game Mörk Borg!
Bundle of Holding: Eichhorn Mork Borg
Spring Flowers
Jan. 12th, 2026 05:14 pmbookscorpion posting in common_natureI buy primroses and pots full of bulbs as soon as they are available, it does so much for my mood to have them where I can see them from the couch. I have daffodils, grape hyacinths, a couple of different hyacinths and these netted irises.
Humanz B weerd ('throughout the whole of history', or at least, seldom for the v first time)
Jan. 12th, 2026 03:26 pmoursinThat piece about people having AI spouses is online: As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot lovers.
NB we note that 'Lamar' says that the breaking point with his actual, RL, girlfriend was when he found her doing the horizontal tango with his best friend, but it's clear that there were Problems already there, about having to relate to another human bean who was not always brightly sunshiny positively reinforcing him....
what would he tell his kids? “I’d tell them that humans aren’t really people who can be trusted …
I'm not entirely persuaded that individuals haven't made up imaginary companions (even way on into adulthood) before - I seem to remember some, was it in Fandomwank back in the day, accounts of people being married on the astral plane to fictional characters?
This is not entirely 'wow, startling news' to Ye Hystorianne of Sexxe: The Phenomenon of ‘Bud Sex’ Between Straight Rural Men.
I am not going to see if I actually have a copy of the work on my shelves, or if I perused it in a library somewhere, but didn't that notorious work of 'participant observation' sociology, Tearoom Trade argue that many of his subjects were not defining themselves as 'homosexual'.
I also invoke, even further back, Helen Smith's Masculinity, Class and Same-Sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957 about men 'messing about' with other men in Yorkshire industrial cities.
And there is a reason people working on the epidemiology and prevention of STIs use the acronym 'MSM' - men who have sex with men - for the significant population at risk who do not identify as gay.
I had, I must admit, a very plus ca change moment when I idly picked up Katharine Whitehorn's Roundabout (1962), and found the piece she wrote on marriage bureaux. In which she mentioned that the two bureaux she interviewed tried to get their subscribers not to be too ultra-specific in their demands - that if they met potential partners in real life they would be more flexible.
Was also amused by the statement that 'Men over thirty are always very anxious to persuade me that they could have all they women they liked, if they bothered'.
Books Received, January 3 to January 9
Jan. 12th, 2026 09:18 amjames_davis_nicoll
This is late because my site was down when I had the time to post on Saturday. Seven books new to me. Two fantasy, one non-fiction, one mainstream, one collection of poetry, and two thrillers.
Books Received, January 3 to January 9
Poll #34072 Books Received, January 3 to January 9
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 39
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
Of Venom and Vengeance by Mikayla Bridge (July 2026)
6 (15.4%)
Bad Advice by Susan Carpenter (April 2026)
3 (7.7%)
The Innocent Canadian by John Delacourt (April 2026)
6 (15.4%)
Woodbine Grove by Ryan O’Dowd (December 2025)
3 (7.7%)
Rum Maniacs: Alcoholic Insanity in the Early American Republic by Matthew Warner Osborn (March 2020)
22 (56.4%)
Inside Passages by Heather Paul (April 2026)
4 (10.3%)
Existence in All Its Uncoverable Beauty by Calvin White (April 2026)
2 (5.1%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
32 (82.1%)
random Japan stuff
Jan. 12th, 2026 08:32 pmmindstalkLast night's sleep was short, and I tried something that supposedly will improve things after a while, but today sucked, so apart from shopping (yes, I can eat 3 fresh-baked sweet potatoes in a row) I didn't go out. So catch up on random stuff: ( Read more... )
Shockingly good advice from Hariette
Jan. 12th, 2026 04:33 amconuly posting in agonyauntDEAR HARRIETTE: My brother and I were raised in the same household by the same parents, yet as adults we have two very different views of our father. I see my dad as someone who worked hard, showed up in the ways he could and consistently supported us throughout our lives. I'm deeply grateful for him and everything he's done. My brother, on the other hand, seems to carry a lot of resentment. Whenever the subject of our dad comes up, he focuses on his shortcomings and disappointments, often listing ways he feels let down or overlooked. Listening to this has become exhausting and painful for me. It feels like he's erasing the good and ignoring the sacrifices our dad made, and I can't help but hear it as ungratefulness. At the same time, I don't want to dismiss my brother's experience or silence his truth just because it differs from mine. How do I respect his feelings without sitting through what feels like constant criticism of someone I love? -- Oh, Brother
( As always, we grade her on a curve because she's usually so terrible )
( As always, we grade her on a curve because she's usually so terrible )
(no subject)
Jan. 11th, 2026 03:23 amconuly posting in agonyauntDear Eric: My husband has just one sibling, a brother. For many years, we all invited each other to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays. A few years ago, my brother-in-law and his wife stopped inviting us. (They still invite my husband's parents to everything).
We don't know the reason; there was no fight or misunderstanding or awkward interactions. We in turn no longer invite them to our smaller occasions. Weddings and other big occasions are different; everyone is invited.
However, every time we are celebrating our birthdays or anniversary, my husband starts insisting on inviting his brother. No matter how many times I remind him that they no longer invite us, he says it is still his only sibling and it's important to him that his brother be there.
I refuse to agree to invite them, the only exception I make is for my husband's birthday because that's him we are celebrating so he can invite them if he wants. They attend his birthday but do not reciprocate. It's very weird.
I still cannot figure out why it's important to have people at our table that do not care about seeing us at theirs.
Can you help me formulate a response that would stop my husband from asking me to invite them? Apparently my saying no every time for years and explaining why is not sufficient. I am tired of these arguments, and it does not change anything. I need an ironclad reason that he will agree with.
– Tired of the One-Way Street
( Read more... )
We don't know the reason; there was no fight or misunderstanding or awkward interactions. We in turn no longer invite them to our smaller occasions. Weddings and other big occasions are different; everyone is invited.
However, every time we are celebrating our birthdays or anniversary, my husband starts insisting on inviting his brother. No matter how many times I remind him that they no longer invite us, he says it is still his only sibling and it's important to him that his brother be there.
I refuse to agree to invite them, the only exception I make is for my husband's birthday because that's him we are celebrating so he can invite them if he wants. They attend his birthday but do not reciprocate. It's very weird.
I still cannot figure out why it's important to have people at our table that do not care about seeing us at theirs.
Can you help me formulate a response that would stop my husband from asking me to invite them? Apparently my saying no every time for years and explaining why is not sufficient. I am tired of these arguments, and it does not change anything. I need an ironclad reason that he will agree with.
– Tired of the One-Way Street
( Read more... )