Arthur Dent says, "It must be Thursday . . . I never could get the hang of Thursdays." Mostly I think I haven't quite gotten the hang of this life. Sometimes it feels like it's all Thursdays, and I tend towards despair.
I just realized I spelled "majestic" as "magestic" in my January letter from the editor, but in my defense, English is hard and also why do we have so many letters that do the same thing?
Whatever, I'm owning it--misspelling things is about the most magestic thing a person can do
I accidentally spent an hour this morning learning Orthic shorthand, and boy does studying orthographies scratch an itch in my brain like nothing else
Image of a tree that fell in our backyard, crushing our swing set.
Different angle of the tree that fell in our backyard, crushing our swing set.
If a tree falls in my backyard (and crushes our swing set), but no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?
I'm sorry but asking if I'd be the savior of the broken, the beaten, and the damned is just too much pressure. I just wanted to enjoy the parade, dad
We're talking about Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer in my American Studies class today, and I'm kind of excited about it!
It's a gen ed class, so at this point we're completely focused on how cultural narratives of Americanness promote ideas of belonging and exclusion. Should be interesting!
I know I'm super late to the party, but I've been listening to The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones on my long commute, and it's honestly incredible
I don't seem to be vibing with my classes this semester as well as I did last year. One of my students told me on Monday that the class is tedious, and that landed surprisingly hard.
Luckily I have my dread over my dissertation to distract from all the other dreads.
My kid is home sick from school today, and I'd much rather hang out with her all day, but apparently I have to work?
Yesterday marked 20 years since Katrina, and for a long time after the storm, I dreamt each night of packing, of evacuating, of rain and thunder and floods. I fled to my girlfriend's roommate's boyfriend's mom's house in Jackson MS, and 20 years later, I can still feel the wind on my face
Picture of an enormous outdoor bouncy structure called Fun Box.
My kid goes back to school next week, so today we're at a big bouncy thing at the mall, and boy is my age showing
Oh wow, very interesting! I bet there's a story behind that
Today I am reading newspapers from the 1920s about the Okeechobee Hurricane. That storm is central to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, and I'm really enjoying putting my chapter together but I also deeply dread what my committee will say about it
Every few hours, I take a break from working on my dissertation to force everyone in the house to play 5-Minute Dungeon with me, and it is so very fun
Archie #616 (2011). The cover shows Barack Obama and Sarah Palin as superheroes fighting each other.
Took a break yesterday from working on my dissertation to go to Cave Comics in Newtown, and check out this weird Archie comic I found
Nisi Shawl is one of my favorite writers, a queer elder & a BIPOC icon. I hate that the state of publishing is such that the book of their dreams would struggle to find a home, but I love that we as a community can come together to make it happen!! Give/boost as you're able? 🙏
gofund.me/3a52097a
All Jackson Pollock all the time
I forgot my electric toothbrush and have to use a manual one
Remind me, do we still brush in a circular motion? Octagonal? Trapezoidal? Has the shape changed at all in the last few years?
A sheep sheepishly looking up at the camera in my mom's backyard.
Omg my mom had a sheep suddenly appear at her house this year! The farm animals are rising up!
As a bonus action, I use Second Wind and regain hit points equal to 1d10 plus my Editor level, which allows me to work for several more hours
Both suggestions are very real. Knowing me, mine'll probably be, "Now where did I leave my shoes..."
Filled out a form today that ended, "Final thoughts?" and it occurred to me that one day I really will have a final thought, and that's sad to think about
News article from the Guardian about Chuck E. Cheese getting arrested for credit card fraud.
I guess they finally built a better mousetrap
Came home from Readercon yesterday feeling inspired by all of the interesting conversations I had over the weekend. Got some great ideas about how to grow Haven Spec, and I'm determined to find time to work on my own fiction now
Nice! I'll be around if you want to meet up :)
Readercon 2025 schedule for Leon Perniciaro. The full schedule is at https://schedule.readercon.org/.
Headed to Readercon this afternoon and omg there's still so much to do before I go, but I can't wait to see all those lovely folks I only get to see once a year!
Here's my schedule if anybody is interested :)
Working on Haven Spec holds today, although I feel the whispers of a dozen other projects calling my name
The acting and writing was top notch, and the tension was great. I should 100% give the comics a try!
I started watching El Eternauta last night, and it's so good. I accidentally stayed up way too late watching the first three episodes. It's like a good book I couldn't put down.
Haven Spec Magazine, Issue Twenty, July 2025. Cover and table of contents. The issue is now free to read, and its contents are as follows: Cover Art by Saleha Chowdhury. Fiction: Visions of Althea by Alex Woodroe, Fish Upon A Star by AR Frederiksen, Brother, What Is Your Name? by Leanne Howard, and Restaurant Space for Lease by Vivian Chou. Poetry: she brings me waves, she brings me wind by Angel Leal, Anchor Spindrift by Elizabeth R McClellan, and Cryptid Sister by H.V. Patterson. Nonfiction: Letter from the Editor, Ya Herd? By Leon Perniciaro.
Our ✨July 2025 Issue✨ is now free to read online!
Find it here:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Or get the PDF and EPUB:
ko-fi.com/s/b837a91596
