R. Eric VanNewkirk
@sotsogm.bsky.social
Nerd. Neurotic. Retired public defender. I'm sure these three things have nary a thing to do with one another.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
This is true. It is the best email I got this year.
November 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
This is true. It is the best email I got this year.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
Small town and suburban bars the week of thanksgiving have the most insane vibes—adults at home visiting parents and already going insane and sneaking out at night to drink. Weird and terrifying kinships form
November 22, 2023 at 1:18 AM
Small town and suburban bars the week of thanksgiving have the most insane vibes—adults at home visiting parents and already going insane and sneaking out at night to drink. Weird and terrifying kinships form
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
I don't know what — or really, if anything — in Lizza's account is true, because I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. If *any* of it is true, the fact that we are only hearing about it now, after the fact, to drive subscriptions to his paywalled private newsletter, is frankly vile!
November 27, 2025 at 2:19 AM
I don't know what — or really, if anything — in Lizza's account is true, because I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. If *any* of it is true, the fact that we are only hearing about it now, after the fact, to drive subscriptions to his paywalled private newsletter, is frankly vile!
The Moon Is A Mean Girl
Raincheck With Rama
My Mouth Is Simply Hidden By Facial Hair And Excuse Me If I Belch
Dragonfly Watchers of Pern
Do People Dream of Sheep
Chrome That's Warm To The Touch
The Year of the Ankle-High Water
Raincheck With Rama
My Mouth Is Simply Hidden By Facial Hair And Excuse Me If I Belch
Dragonfly Watchers of Pern
Do People Dream of Sheep
Chrome That's Warm To The Touch
The Year of the Ankle-High Water
#TonedDownScifi
Take a scifi title, and tone it down a bit.
I'll go first.
The Day The Earth Slowed Down For A Bit
Dim City
Eleven Monkeys
Intern Who
Knife Jogger
Logan's Stroll
Men in Dark Gray
Partial Recall
Requires-A-Permit Planet
Scufflestar Galactica
Snowdenter
THX 1134.2
Take a scifi title, and tone it down a bit.
I'll go first.
The Day The Earth Slowed Down For A Bit
Dim City
Eleven Monkeys
Intern Who
Knife Jogger
Logan's Stroll
Men in Dark Gray
Partial Recall
Requires-A-Permit Planet
Scufflestar Galactica
Snowdenter
THX 1134.2
November 26, 2025 at 11:26 PM
The Moon Is A Mean Girl
Raincheck With Rama
My Mouth Is Simply Hidden By Facial Hair And Excuse Me If I Belch
Dragonfly Watchers of Pern
Do People Dream of Sheep
Chrome That's Warm To The Touch
The Year of the Ankle-High Water
Raincheck With Rama
My Mouth Is Simply Hidden By Facial Hair And Excuse Me If I Belch
Dragonfly Watchers of Pern
Do People Dream of Sheep
Chrome That's Warm To The Touch
The Year of the Ankle-High Water
"BOUSHH" [inputting the thaw-out code into the doohickey only to have the fake doohickey fall apart in their hand, revealing the genuine Han-is-dead doohickey]: What the fu--
JABBA THE HUTT [offscreen]: hohohoho... hoho... ho...? BOHHHHHHBAAAAAAAAAH!
JABBA THE HUTT [offscreen]: hohohoho... hoho... ho...? BOHHHHHHBAAAAAAAAAH!
November 26, 2025 at 11:14 PM
"BOUSHH" [inputting the thaw-out code into the doohickey only to have the fake doohickey fall apart in their hand, revealing the genuine Han-is-dead doohickey]: What the fu--
JABBA THE HUTT [offscreen]: hohohoho... hoho... ho...? BOHHHHHHBAAAAAAAAAH!
JABBA THE HUTT [offscreen]: hohohoho... hoho... ho...? BOHHHHHHBAAAAAAAAAH!
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
To be clear Lizza’s story is that Nuzzi sat on important matters of national significance for personal benefit and he’s sat on these details until he could personally benefit.
All of DC media needs to be thrown into the sea. Anyone who defends these people is a goddamn clown.
All of DC media needs to be thrown into the sea. Anyone who defends these people is a goddamn clown.
November 26, 2025 at 10:17 PM
To be clear Lizza’s story is that Nuzzi sat on important matters of national significance for personal benefit and he’s sat on these details until he could personally benefit.
All of DC media needs to be thrown into the sea. Anyone who defends these people is a goddamn clown.
All of DC media needs to be thrown into the sea. Anyone who defends these people is a goddamn clown.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
The GOP entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to gerrymander everyone else, and nobody was going to gerrymander them. In half a hundred places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
COOK POLITICAL: Republicans “may have had a blind spot: the extent to which Democrats could push .. in blue states to fight back.” 🤡
@cookpolitical.com #Redistrict
www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/hou...
@cookpolitical.com #Redistrict
www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/hou...
November 26, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The GOP entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to gerrymander everyone else, and nobody was going to gerrymander them. In half a hundred places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
Every lawyer in America secretly worries at some point they're Lionel Hutz.
November 26, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Every lawyer in America secretly worries at some point they're Lionel Hutz.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
My personal guidelines for dealing with people on social media:
Assume everyone is a friend you haven't yet gotten to know.
Assume everyone is struggling with their mental health
Don't promise any emotional labor you might not be able to provide
If someone seems like a hater, disengage right away
Assume everyone is a friend you haven't yet gotten to know.
Assume everyone is struggling with their mental health
Don't promise any emotional labor you might not be able to provide
If someone seems like a hater, disengage right away
June 12, 2023 at 7:21 PM
My personal guidelines for dealing with people on social media:
Assume everyone is a friend you haven't yet gotten to know.
Assume everyone is struggling with their mental health
Don't promise any emotional labor you might not be able to provide
If someone seems like a hater, disengage right away
Assume everyone is a friend you haven't yet gotten to know.
Assume everyone is struggling with their mental health
Don't promise any emotional labor you might not be able to provide
If someone seems like a hater, disengage right away
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
"A turkey may be so prepared and preserved that, according to Artephius’s Key of Wisdom, “an ingenious Man may raise the fine Shape of a Homunculus out of its Ashes at his Pleasure, so he may, without any criminal Necromancy raise the Shape of any dead ancestor for study and labor.”
How to Brine a Turkey, by H.P. Lovecraft
This time of year all cabbalists, daemonologists, magicians, and the like share amongst their number one scrap of forbidden knowledge: that soakin...
buff.ly
November 25, 2025 at 6:20 PM
"A turkey may be so prepared and preserved that, according to Artephius’s Key of Wisdom, “an ingenious Man may raise the fine Shape of a Homunculus out of its Ashes at his Pleasure, so he may, without any criminal Necromancy raise the Shape of any dead ancestor for study and labor.”
Sometimes it's "I've Just Seen A Face" and sometimes it's "Two of Us"
November 26, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Sometimes it's "I've Just Seen A Face" and sometimes it's "Two of Us"
You will be visited by three... no sorry, by TWO spirits, a liqueur, a fortified wine, and two bitters.
November 26, 2025 at 2:33 PM
You will be visited by three... no sorry, by TWO spirits, a liqueur, a fortified wine, and two bitters.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
I think Pecan Pie is one of those things that is divisive now because it’s just a blob of sugar with nuts on it but to someone 150 years ago who ate shoes it was probably like having 12 orgasms at once
November 25, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I think Pecan Pie is one of those things that is divisive now because it’s just a blob of sugar with nuts on it but to someone 150 years ago who ate shoes it was probably like having 12 orgasms at once
The only reason to exist is to consume. It's your moral obligation to purchase the newest device not because you need it, not because it's better than your old device, not because your old device is broken, but because the market might contract if you don't buy it just to buy it.
You are a cog.
You are a cog.
November 26, 2025 at 2:45 AM
The only reason to exist is to consume. It's your moral obligation to purchase the newest device not because you need it, not because it's better than your old device, not because your old device is broken, but because the market might contract if you don't buy it just to buy it.
You are a cog.
You are a cog.
[Google search for "active volcanos in the United States"]
November 26, 2025 at 2:26 AM
[Google search for "active volcanos in the United States"]
It's a better piece of writing than the Nuzzi excerpt, the Lizza blog posts, or the erotic verse of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. There are worse ways to rubberneck the Hindenburg going down at Lakehurst.
I wrote 4000 words about Nuzzi/Lizza/RFK, please read it before it gets taken down by HR
The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined
Inside the most important, and also least important, story of our time
www.theringer.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:24 AM
It's a better piece of writing than the Nuzzi excerpt, the Lizza blog posts, or the erotic verse of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. There are worse ways to rubberneck the Hindenburg going down at Lakehurst.
Threatening to sue vendors at the farmer's market is living the American dream.
"elevate charismatic figures such as Alan Dershowitz"
-____________-
-____________-
November 25, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Threatening to sue vendors at the farmer's market is living the American dream.
The French female assassin is very chic, sexy, pencil skirts and heels; the male Israeli assassin is brooding, chiseled jaw, five o'clock shadow, piercing but haunted eyes, prefers very utilitarian clothing. The sexual tension between them is palpable. I hope Ms. Owens lets us know when they kiss.
the past few days candace owens has been claiming that the french have put out a hit on her & there’s possible conspiring with israel as a result of her spending the last nearly two years transvestigating brigitte macron
November 24, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The French female assassin is very chic, sexy, pencil skirts and heels; the male Israeli assassin is brooding, chiseled jaw, five o'clock shadow, piercing but haunted eyes, prefers very utilitarian clothing. The sexual tension between them is palpable. I hope Ms. Owens lets us know when they kiss.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
"Biting into a dish, knowing that it is not cod and rubbing one’s stomach and saying, 'Hmm, this tastes like cod… yes, very much like cod, indeed!' to remind us all that we have but little else to eat but cod."
Jokes That Everyone on the Mayflower Is Getting Sick Of
This document was found in the records of Puritan William Bradford, sometimes referred to as “America’s First Traveler Blogger.” - - -IN THE NAME ...
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 6:25 PM
"Biting into a dish, knowing that it is not cod and rubbing one’s stomach and saying, 'Hmm, this tastes like cod… yes, very much like cod, indeed!' to remind us all that we have but little else to eat but cod."
I think I've come across the worst toy ever invented: a 1915 toy WW1 trench that allowed British children to simulate the mass deaths of their fathers, uncles, brothers, and cousins. Fun!
November 24, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I think I've come across the worst toy ever invented: a 1915 toy WW1 trench that allowed British children to simulate the mass deaths of their fathers, uncles, brothers, and cousins. Fun!
Also, does it matter if they quit? Are they quitting to fix their hearts? Quitting to fix their party? Quitting to walk the Earth to make amends, serving penance for their sins?
Or are they just bailing a sinking ship in the most chickenshit way possible, hoping to run again once they're forgotten?
Or are they just bailing a sinking ship in the most chickenshit way possible, hoping to run again once they're forgotten?
I really hate all these “many republican representatives told us they’re planning on quitting” hopium articles. I don’t believe any of them, if they wanted to quit they would just fucking quit.
November 24, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Also, does it matter if they quit? Are they quitting to fix their hearts? Quitting to fix their party? Quitting to walk the Earth to make amends, serving penance for their sins?
Or are they just bailing a sinking ship in the most chickenshit way possible, hoping to run again once they're forgotten?
Or are they just bailing a sinking ship in the most chickenshit way possible, hoping to run again once they're forgotten?
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
These guys have never had to do any of that kind of difficult or gross stuff so of course AI is mostly a way to address their own lack of an inner life.
November 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
These guys have never had to do any of that kind of difficult or gross stuff so of course AI is mostly a way to address their own lack of an inner life.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
It's not social media or supposed attacks on masculinity that are causing the (largely made up) " male loneliness epidemic."
It's that some men choose to be people who nobody in their right mind would want to be around.
It's that some men choose to be people who nobody in their right mind would want to be around.
November 24, 2025 at 5:13 AM
It's not social media or supposed attacks on masculinity that are causing the (largely made up) " male loneliness epidemic."
It's that some men choose to be people who nobody in their right mind would want to be around.
It's that some men choose to be people who nobody in their right mind would want to be around.
Tablet. Stylus. Handwriting recognition isn't always perfect (I think of fixing things as I go as a bit like having to dip a quill pen) and it isn't the same tactile experience as pen scratching paper, but I feel like I largely get the best of both worlds.
I write longhand first. I hold out typing for as long as I can
I know a number of writers who draft in pen and I consider them like I would someone who insists on making bread by first planting the wheat
November 24, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Tablet. Stylus. Handwriting recognition isn't always perfect (I think of fixing things as I go as a bit like having to dip a quill pen) and it isn't the same tactile experience as pen scratching paper, but I feel like I largely get the best of both worlds.
Men Are In Trouble. Let's Take That Assertion At Face Value And Not Even Bother Thinking Of Ways They Can Have More Enriching And Meaningful Lives Without Burdening Other Human Beings.
November 24, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Men Are In Trouble. Let's Take That Assertion At Face Value And Not Even Bother Thinking Of Ways They Can Have More Enriching And Meaningful Lives Without Burdening Other Human Beings.