The only time I have used "empower" is at work, where as a mgr I might say that I want my writers to "feel empowered" (for instance, to negotiate when dev team tries to direct their work). It's not about me giving them power, but about assurance that they have the power and I have their back.

Over the weekend my brothers and I — all well over 50 — were talking about this silly narrative that only young Jews object to the genocide. The conversation sounded something like this: “What are we, chopped liver?”

Bears are not undoglike.

I know what you mean. Even when mom was alive, I had taken over the Thanksgiving cooking after she couldn't do it anymore, and it really did feel like channeling her sometimes!

This is the first Thanksgiving without my mom, and among many reasons it will be strange will be the absence of mom's deep anxiety about getting everything exactly right and constantly accounting for everyone's whereabouts and all that. I've inherited some of her anxieties, of course, but still.

There's a board-game cafe in my neighborhood (called, I believe, Knight Moves) which has survived for at least a decade (including through Covid) on a street that has a ton of retail turnover. As not a board-game person myself, it's impressive to see its staying power.

What even is the basis for the claim that the No Kings protests haven't had a substantial effect? Did the Times miss the elections earlier this month? How can they say the Tea Party caused the 2010 midterm results but No Kings didn't have anything to do with 2025?

Sometimes it’s better to power through rather than relying on future you to find the energy to do it. I’ve been there.

A take that ages like fine milk

Of course some readers just won’t enjoy this or that book with an irredeemable protagonist, no matter how clever or nuanced or meta the presentation is. That’s totally legit. (I named three that I admire, but there are certainly others I don’t like.) (3/3)

And in others, the genius lies in making it completely ambiguous whether the character is redeemable or not, so that different readers draw different conclusions based on their own biases and experiences (e.g. We Need to Talk About Kevin) (2/3)

I’ve been thinking about this comment all morning. Some great books have irredeemable protagonists, where the genius lies in making you root for them anyway (e.g. The Talented Mr Ripley) or making them fascinating even though you root against them entirely (e.g. The Sea, The Sea). (1/3)

This was an actual Black Mirror episode.

If it weren't for the "hits himself in balls with skateboard" video, this would be the funniest clip of Hegseth I've ever seen

Dying won't stop the emails, if what I saw the last time I logged into my mother's phone is any indicator.

My current ms used to have a lovely first sentence that I adored. But in response to (entirely correct) R&R feedback I replaced the opening scene, and have not yet managed to find as a great a first sentence.

*Martin Luther has entered the chat*

Feel important, yes, and also victimized -- I need protection because I'm speaking the the to people who don't want you to hear it who therefore threaten my safety

Of course, but I think for the average GenX member the most salient Wallace Shawn references are “Inconcievable!” and the Grand Nagus