#ScribesAndMakers Change one word in the title of a famous book, a movie, a song, and a play to create four new titles.
Grownup Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Wildtype Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Geisha Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortoises
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Steven D. Brewer 🏳️⚧️
@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop
mastodon 4.7.3Author of #LGBTQIA+ #ScienceFiction and #Fantasy #Books. Emeritus Senior Lecturer II at UMass Amherst. Lover of natural history. SFWA Secretary. Straw Dog Writers Guild. Ekskabeinto. #WesternMass カワウソになりたい (he/him)
1283 Followers
931 Following
50 Posts
Joined February 10, 2023
A shadow fell over the city and the sky turned dark.
"Gryphons!" yelled a knight.
Everyone looked up to see dozens of gryphons circling overhead.
"It's a whole #flock!" yelled one.
"It's called a 'flight'!" yelled another.
"I'm pretty sure the correct term is 'wing'," said a third.
"You're all wrong," said a fourth. "Everyone knows they're called a 'pride'."
"Wasn't 'pride' last month?" said yet another, who hadn't been paying attention.
"Look out!" yelled the Captain. "Here they come!" #wss366
Boosted by @welcome@friends.deko.cloud
A new #introduction as I make a major life change. After 30 years as a faculty member at #UMassAmherst, I am becoming emeritus this fall. I look forward to having more time to write speculative fiction & devote to service. I'm the author of several books of science fiction & fantasy. I serve as Secretary of @SFWA@wandering.shop, as creator of @wss366@wandering.shop, & on the program committee of the Straw Dog Writers Guild. I also speak #Esperanto & have won awards for my poetry, stories, & essays. https://stevendbrewer.com/
Pawpaws in bloom. Their flowers are unubtrusive, but charming when you see them. #BloomScrolling
Boosted by @GroupNebula563@mastodon.social
Replying to
@kimlockhartga@beige.party I don't know about German, but you could easily construct a word meaning that in #Esperanto. Let's see: hundsopirvizitema (dog-longing-visit-tending). Even a second-language speaker of Esperanto would have no trouble understanding that. 😉
I saw a boxer dog at the Amherst summer concert, an older distinguished boi. #DogsOfMastodon #WesternMass
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@davidsirota@mastodon.online I think voters who expect politicians to make promises and fulfill them have an awfully simplistic view of the role of political office. Good politicians balance competing demands among constituents and act in the best interests of all of them. When you should be disappointed is when they act in their own interests instead. Demanding promises, rather than good judgment, means you're picking charlatans, not politicians.
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@alice@lgbtqia.space I think someone flirted with me once.
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@momo@social.linux.pizza I used a variant of this approach that resulted in my kids never asking me a second question.
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The GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic et al) are derived from Gila monster venom. Perhaps someday, rather than a prescription, patients could keep a pet Gila monster to bite them every week.
"The use case for AI is doing things that should not be done. And there’s only so much market for that." https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/06/25/office-workers-are-spending-way-too-much-on-ai-too/ h/t @davidgerard@circumstances.run
#WritersCoffeeClub What wisdom do you wish you could share with your younger self?
Winning lottery numbers? There's a lot of specific information that might have been very helpful. Wisdom is harder. I did many unwise things as a young person, but I don't think "sharing" wisdom with me would have been helpful.
Wisdom is generally hard won. It's not like I didn't know what I was doing even then. At some point, I realized it wasn't helpful to keep kicking myself when looking back. That helped.
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Venoms are also generally not poisonous, if you drink them. You can digest proteins just fine. Just don't have any cuts inside your mouth. ;-)
Thy spathe and spadix, they comfort me… #BloomScrolling
The Demon Lord was hard at work reviewing the reports of his minions when Jaygor arrived.
"Post for you, Lord."
He handed the Demon Lord an envelope.
The Demon Lord studied the envelope, which had no return address.
"Are you sure it's safe to open?" Jaygor inquired. (1/4) #wss366
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@ben@werd.social In their answer to T.J.C, EV had a pretty good answer today: https://www.electoral-vote.com/
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He grabbed the handset and listened. Coral could hear a mechanical voice that repeated a string of digits several times. Jimmy replaced the handset in the cradle.
"Let's go," he said, abandoning his breakfast uneaten. (5/5) #wss366
Ooh! Ooh! Is it Donald Trump?
Sad. I just learned that Hampshire College is closing. https://www.hampshire.edu/closure-information Unfortunately, it won't be the last, either. Higher education in the United States is being decimated. #WesternMass
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@alice@lgbtqia.space Well, I only realized it in retrospect, so…
And I'm still not really sure.
Coral followed Jimmy as he walked through the run-down park in the early-morning light. He went to a bench that was covered with empty cans of cheap, premixed cocktails, reached underneath, and felt along the bottom. He pulled something off and pocketed it.
"Let's get outta here," he said. (1/2) #wss366
This sakura tree, probably of similar age to ours, is almost completely dead. But one small branch still flowers and leafs out.
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"Where will you sleep?" she asked.
"I'll just sit by the phone." He put his big automatic on the table, then leaned a chair back against the wall by the phone. "Good night."
"Good night," she said.
She went into her room, shut the door, and was asleep in minutes.
(4/4) #wss366
Happy Marine Day! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Day
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In moments, he joined her with an identical omelet for himself. He cut a bite and was about to eat it when the phone rang.
Coral stood and started to reach for the phone, but Jimmy got there first. (4/5) #wss355
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He poured a dollop of cream in her cup, then began to cook another omelet for himself.
She took a sip of coffee and inspected the omelet. It was simple, eggs lightly browned and folded over, with spinach and melted cheese inside. She took a taste and found it delicious. (3/5) #wss366
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@danmccullough@ecoevo.social I also have a similar picture of Azolla. I don't know of a hashtag for that. 🙂
I tried doing this survey, but I couldn't finish it: https://www.hardtolovetest.com
A bunch of the questions were like, "Some stranger starts talking to you…" and I'm like, "When does that ever happen?"
Finally, a question was "a newish friend texts you," and I just shook my head and closed the window. I haven't had a "newish friend" in years.
I don't know what the survey would have said, but I suspect it would have said I'm not only hard to love, I'm pretty damned unlikeable too.
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@neatnik@social.lol I've thought PHP was cool since it was part of PHP/FI.
After driving a short distance out of town, Jimmy parked next to small wooded area. He jumped down and beckoned to her.
"What's here?" Coral asked, sliding out of the truck.
"No cameras." Jimmy said.
He led her into the forest. There was a well maintained trail. (1/3) #wss366
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@Owen_G_Richards@writing.exchange @wss366@wandering.shop We would love to have you. Note that it's WSS366. We started on a leap year. ;-)
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@Owen_G_Richards@writing.exchange Same. When I left twitter, I continued to follow vss365 using the website, but when they started charging to use the api, the website shut down. That was when I (and friends) set up @wss366@wandering.shop. One thing I hadn't liked about vss365, was when people chose unusual words, especially with a single meaning. We aim for ordinary words with multiple meanings.
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@Owen_G_Richards@writing.exchange There are also a number of prompts, like #wss366 (wandering shop stories) and #vss365 (very short stories) that encourage people to write microfiction.
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She unlocked the door and went to step inside.
"Wait," he said. "Let me go first." He put his hand on the butt of his pistol and stepped inside. She followed cautiously behind.
He made a quick circuit of the house and came back.
"It looks clear," he said. "Go get some sleep." (3/4) #wss366
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@NaraMoore @MarkBrigham @extraspecialbitter If we're talking about possibly inappropriate topics for haiku, here is page 18 from my book "senokulvitre": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1491276940
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@MarkBrigham @extraspecialbitter @NaraMoore People have been writing haiku for hundreds and hundreds of years. I'm certain people have written haiku about squirrels mating many, many times. They're supposed to be about nature, after all.
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@Impossible_PhD Check #UMassAmherst.
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@cstross@wandering.shop Regular expressions are magic. Anyone who works with text should learn how to use them.
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@MarkBrigham @NaraMoore @extraspecialbitter For myself, I welcome your honest, genune engagement. Yoroshiku onigaeshimasu!
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@MarkBrigham@universeodon.com @extraspecialbitter@indieauthors.social @asakiyume@wandering.shop @NaraMoore@sakurajima.moe Live, in-person, and liberally lubricated with alcohol (at least in my case. :-)
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@cr00ky @pluralistic I wonder if they'll make a version with a regular Raspberry Pi, so it could have ethernet.
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@Impossible_PhD The hiring cycle usually begins with advertisements in the fall, interviews during the winter, and offers coming out in the spring.
RE: https://wandering.shop/@wss366/116889197085381077
Today's Wandering Shop Stories prompt word is "pointer" which seems like it offers a lot of options: a pointer could be a device (like a mouse or stick or laser). Or a dog. Or a tip you give someone. Or a memory location (like in programming). So many possibilities!
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@cmconseils@mastodon.social I stopped for gas in the midwest last year and a swarm of European honey bees was moving through: they were like a cloud buzzing around between the pumps and the door of the gas station. People were terrified of walking through them. As a biologist, I pointed out that stinging is associated with the defense of the hive and that swarms of bees, that don't have a hive, are unlikely to sting. So I waded into the swarm, was not stung, and encouraged others to do the same.