Bruce Arthurs
@brucearthursaz.bsky.social
Long-time SF/F reader, occasional writer. I live in Arizona with my wife, several housemates, and a small mob of cats.
I strive for posts that are amusing, informative, and/or wise. (The last one's the toughie.)
I strive for posts that are amusing, informative, and/or wise. (The last one's the toughie.)
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
This gorgeous binding that I got at the Philly rare books fair last weekend feels very Christmassy 🎄
December 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
This gorgeous binding that I got at the Philly rare books fair last weekend feels very Christmassy 🎄
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
So I'm fretting over the weather for this drive (five days over, five back), and looking at a driving weather app. There's a column of FREE features, and then a column of PRO features.
I didn't expect the third column, down at the bottom, though. These guys have game!
I didn't expect the third column, down at the bottom, though. These guys have game!
December 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
So I'm fretting over the weather for this drive (five days over, five back), and looking at a driving weather app. There's a column of FREE features, and then a column of PRO features.
I didn't expect the third column, down at the bottom, though. These guys have game!
I didn't expect the third column, down at the bottom, though. These guys have game!
Gonna assume if That Guy drops dead, OF COURSE he'll be embalmed like Lenin and put on public display for his cult to worship.
But: Where would he be displayed? The Capitol? The Oval Office? The ballroom (or the pit where it was never finished)?
And, how much would admission cost for a brief look?
But: Where would he be displayed? The Capitol? The Oval Office? The ballroom (or the pit where it was never finished)?
And, how much would admission cost for a brief look?
December 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Gonna assume if That Guy drops dead, OF COURSE he'll be embalmed like Lenin and put on public display for his cult to worship.
But: Where would he be displayed? The Capitol? The Oval Office? The ballroom (or the pit where it was never finished)?
And, how much would admission cost for a brief look?
But: Where would he be displayed? The Capitol? The Oval Office? The ballroom (or the pit where it was never finished)?
And, how much would admission cost for a brief look?
From time to time, Vitalant offers free t-shirts to frequent blood & platelet donors. Here's the latest.
(Not sure Popeye would actually be able to donate blood in real life. Those swollen arms and legs may indicate a serious health problem. But the thought counts.)
#blooddonor #popeye
(Not sure Popeye would actually be able to donate blood in real life. Those swollen arms and legs may indicate a serious health problem. But the thought counts.)
#blooddonor #popeye
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 AM
From time to time, Vitalant offers free t-shirts to frequent blood & platelet donors. Here's the latest.
(Not sure Popeye would actually be able to donate blood in real life. Those swollen arms and legs may indicate a serious health problem. But the thought counts.)
#blooddonor #popeye
(Not sure Popeye would actually be able to donate blood in real life. Those swollen arms and legs may indicate a serious health problem. But the thought counts.)
#blooddonor #popeye
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
More traditional media experimentation! Watercolor, ink, color pencil, and a little bit of digital touchup.
December 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
More traditional media experimentation! Watercolor, ink, color pencil, and a little bit of digital touchup.
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
I'm looking for Christmas-themed crime #Poetry -
poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/p/guidelines...
Submit for a shot at the Dec. 15 and 22 slots.
poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/p/guidelines...
Submit for a shot at the Dec. 15 and 22 slots.
Guidelines
by Gerald So Publishing an original poem each Monday, THE FIVE-TWO's purpose is to bring current and historical wrongdoing to light, wheth...
poemsoncrime.blogspot.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I'm looking for Christmas-themed crime #Poetry -
poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/p/guidelines...
Submit for a shot at the Dec. 15 and 22 slots.
poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/p/guidelines...
Submit for a shot at the Dec. 15 and 22 slots.
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
Posting this again because a lot of people said they found it helpful! Guide to ALT text: www.perkins.org/resource/how...
April 19, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Posting this again because a lot of people said they found it helpful! Guide to ALT text: www.perkins.org/resource/how...
Sam, Sam, just ask your mom how she raised you to be the person you are.
And then do the opposite.
And then do the opposite.
Jimmy Fallon: "And do you use ChatGPT when raising your baby?"
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
December 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Sam, Sam, just ask your mom how she raised you to be the person you are.
And then do the opposite.
And then do the opposite.
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
They didn’t have ChatGPT when I was a newborn and I was repeatedly killed.
December 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
They didn’t have ChatGPT when I was a newborn and I was repeatedly killed.
You will be visited by three spirits.
December 9, 2025 at 9:16 AM
You will be visited by three spirits.
Hilde's mom had shingles for months. Awful, awful, awful experience.
What's shingles like? Take that infamous pic of Joyce Carol Oates' grossly swollen, blistered & discolored foot (an open-toed walk thru poison ivy, iirc). Now douse that foot in lighter fluid and set it on fire. That's shingles.
What's shingles like? Take that infamous pic of Joyce Carol Oates' grossly swollen, blistered & discolored foot (an open-toed walk thru poison ivy, iirc). Now douse that foot in lighter fluid and set it on fire. That's shingles.
I am baffled by this because I have had so many friends with shingles and NONE of them made it sound fun. Not one. A vaccine that made me absolutely miserable for 48 hours would still be a huge improvement over the mildest case of shingles I've heard of. (Also it made me tired for 1 day.)
All over my FB people talking about their bad experiences with shingles vax and dissuading each other from getting it! We need to give people real info on how to mitigate the symtoms caused by vaccines because vaccines are always better than meeting a virus unprepared. Yet drs aren't coaching ppl
December 9, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Hilde's mom had shingles for months. Awful, awful, awful experience.
What's shingles like? Take that infamous pic of Joyce Carol Oates' grossly swollen, blistered & discolored foot (an open-toed walk thru poison ivy, iirc). Now douse that foot in lighter fluid and set it on fire. That's shingles.
What's shingles like? Take that infamous pic of Joyce Carol Oates' grossly swollen, blistered & discolored foot (an open-toed walk thru poison ivy, iirc). Now douse that foot in lighter fluid and set it on fire. That's shingles.
Fancy!
WINTER LORDS
CHYS KHAN a winter Lord of the Sakha Republic of Northern Siberia dressed in his robes & staff. DED MOROZ or ‘Grandfather Frost’, a Slavic snow god, who often appears with his granddaughter Snegurochka, the snow maiden.
CHYS KHAN a winter Lord of the Sakha Republic of Northern Siberia dressed in his robes & staff. DED MOROZ or ‘Grandfather Frost’, a Slavic snow god, who often appears with his granddaughter Snegurochka, the snow maiden.
December 8, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Fancy!
So, last night, finished a piece of flash fiction, <500 words. First completed piece in a year.
Felt kinda good. But also frustrating, bc what should have been done in one brief keyboard session got done in dribs and drabs spread over a week. Not being a good example, to myself or anyone else.
Felt kinda good. But also frustrating, bc what should have been done in one brief keyboard session got done in dribs and drabs spread over a week. Not being a good example, to myself or anyone else.
December 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
So, last night, finished a piece of flash fiction, <500 words. First completed piece in a year.
Felt kinda good. But also frustrating, bc what should have been done in one brief keyboard session got done in dribs and drabs spread over a week. Not being a good example, to myself or anyone else.
Felt kinda good. But also frustrating, bc what should have been done in one brief keyboard session got done in dribs and drabs spread over a week. Not being a good example, to myself or anyone else.
It's as if a perceptual switch suddenly flipped in young kitten Perk's brain, changing the new Xmas tree from "just a big new thing in bedroom corner" to "CAT TOYS! DOZENS AND DOZENS OF CAT TOYS!!!"
December 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
It's as if a perceptual switch suddenly flipped in young kitten Perk's brain, changing the new Xmas tree from "just a big new thing in bedroom corner" to "CAT TOYS! DOZENS AND DOZENS OF CAT TOYS!!!"
Long but interesting piece inspired by a 1975 special issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS focused on the future of solar technology in Arizona. Covers progress and shifts in focus in the 50 years since. Includes some of space artist Robert McCall's paintings for the issue.
www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
In 1975, an Arizona magazine had a vision of a solar future. See it
Arizona Highways filled its entire August 1975 edition to utopian visions of solar energy. And it had almost nothing to do with climate change.
www.azcentral.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Long but interesting piece inspired by a 1975 special issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS focused on the future of solar technology in Arizona. Covers progress and shifts in focus in the 50 years since. Includes some of space artist Robert McCall's paintings for the issue.
www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
Happy 76th Birthday, Tom Waits!
December 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Happy 76th Birthday, Tom Waits!
Long but smart thread about having "enough" when the world keeps screaming "More!"
My parents were free-wheeling Boomers convinced things were only ever going to get better, financially. They had good reason, then. They could afford a house, car, and weekly nights out on two full time assistant manager jobs at a fast food chain. But they also got caught up in emulating wealth trap
December 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Long but smart thread about having "enough" when the world keeps screaming "More!"
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.
-A. E. Housman, "Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries"
Full poem:
And saved the sum of things for pay.
-A. E. Housman, "Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries"
Full poem:
December 7, 2025 at 8:10 AM
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.
-A. E. Housman, "Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries"
Full poem:
And saved the sum of things for pay.
-A. E. Housman, "Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries"
Full poem:
[moves "Nonsense" slider down to 50%]
'twas brilliant, and the slimy toads did gyre and gambol In the glade; all clumsy were the boring doves, and the moon wraiths outraged.
(I had a few free minutes to goof around. Doesn't happen often.)
'twas brilliant, and the slimy toads did gyre and gambol In the glade; all clumsy were the boring doves, and the moon wraiths outraged.
(I had a few free minutes to goof around. Doesn't happen often.)
’twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 9:26 PM
[moves "Nonsense" slider down to 50%]
'twas brilliant, and the slimy toads did gyre and gambol In the glade; all clumsy were the boring doves, and the moon wraiths outraged.
(I had a few free minutes to goof around. Doesn't happen often.)
'twas brilliant, and the slimy toads did gyre and gambol In the glade; all clumsy were the boring doves, and the moon wraiths outraged.
(I had a few free minutes to goof around. Doesn't happen often.)
When Sweet was Artist GoH at a local convention, I got to see some of his original paintings. They were done on *big* canvases, easily double the size most artists used, and held a level of detail significantly lost when reduced to bookcover size. Very impressive.
Artist Darrell Sweet sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sweet_... died on this day, so here's some of his cover art:
December 5, 2025 at 10:33 PM
When Sweet was Artist GoH at a local convention, I got to see some of his original paintings. They were done on *big* canvases, easily double the size most artists used, and held a level of detail significantly lost when reduced to bookcover size. Very impressive.
Last few days for the Criterion sale!
(With the latest "Engulf & Devour" news about Netflix buying Warner/HBO, physical media is looking like the smarter and smarter choice.)
(With the latest "Engulf & Devour" news about Netflix buying Warner/HBO, physical media is looking like the smarter and smarter choice.)
This reminds me: Barnes & Noble is currently having a 50% off sale for Criterion Collection DVDs and Blu-Rays, running thru 12/7. Includes several shown in John Coulthart's post below, and many others. (Good time to pick up a copy of FLOW.)
December 5, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Last few days for the Criterion sale!
(With the latest "Engulf & Devour" news about Netflix buying Warner/HBO, physical media is looking like the smarter and smarter choice.)
(With the latest "Engulf & Devour" news about Netflix buying Warner/HBO, physical media is looking like the smarter and smarter choice.)
Any birders following me? What are we seeing on this lovely old Xmas card? (And would the various species hang out together like this?)
Image of a Christmas greeting card taken from the Gertrude Tomkinson scrapbook Christmas and New Year Greetings Cards c.1883-1890. Presented by Mrs. A. F. Dauglish in November, 1957. Early and Fine Printing Collection A741.68
December 5, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Any birders following me? What are we seeing on this lovely old Xmas card? (And would the various species hang out together like this?)
Reposted by Bruce Arthurs
Since the holidays coming up, here are some of my sovcat holiday cards and one of my popular posters. You can find these and other works in my Etsy shop at
nathannunart.etsy.com Thanks for taking a look. And thank you, Cats of Yore, for the show.
nathannunart.etsy.com Thanks for taking a look. And thank you, Cats of Yore, for the show.
December 4, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Since the holidays coming up, here are some of my sovcat holiday cards and one of my popular posters. You can find these and other works in my Etsy shop at
nathannunart.etsy.com Thanks for taking a look. And thank you, Cats of Yore, for the show.
nathannunart.etsy.com Thanks for taking a look. And thank you, Cats of Yore, for the show.
"Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro. No competition.
When it was most popular, I pushed every "change station" button on the car radio. *ALL* of them were playing "Honey". Turned the radio off and didn't switch it back on for six months.
When it was most popular, I pushed every "change station" button on the car radio. *ALL* of them were playing "Honey". Turned the radio off and didn't switch it back on for six months.
December 4, 2025 at 11:27 PM
"Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro. No competition.
When it was most popular, I pushed every "change station" button on the car radio. *ALL* of them were playing "Honey". Turned the radio off and didn't switch it back on for six months.
When it was most popular, I pushed every "change station" button on the car radio. *ALL* of them were playing "Honey". Turned the radio off and didn't switch it back on for six months.