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Are you aware of a SimCity 2000 release that came on A LOT OF FLOPPIES? As in, ten or more 3.5" disks? Because I spent the better part of an afternoon watching my friend install it in the mid 90s. Yet there's no record that this version of the game existed.

Hi everyone! Just checking in with a nice announcement: I am once again signing/personalizing books via my local indie, Harvard Book Store. 

I no longer live around the corner from the store, so I expect to go in for signing and personalizing only about once a month or so — so please order ahead if you anticipate wanting something! Once I have more info about holiday deadlines, I'll come back and blog about that. In the meantime, feel free to go ahead and start ordering. Here is the link: https://shop.harvard.com/kristin-cashore-signed-copies. 

Notice the instructions at the top: When checking out, indicate in the comments field that you would like a signed copy. Include any personalization you'd like as well. I'm happy to honor requests to wish someone a happy birthday, good luck with their writing, etc., but please do note that if you ask me to write something I'm not comfortable signing my name to (!), I won't honor those requests. (Yes, I've occasionally been asked to write some head-scratchers...) ????

Hope everybody is doing well. I'll be back very soon with info about upcoming online events for Gareth Hinds' graphic novel adaptation of Graceling, which releases on November 16! And now I'll send you off with a picture from today, in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Southeast Asia’s economy has rapidly expanded over recent years — and there’s no sign of slowing down. In fact, the GDP growth of Southeast Asia is projected to outpace …

photo taken October 2020

My latest short story is out in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. When I first started writing short stories, back in the 90s, F&SF was one of the ‘big three’ that I really wanted to get a story in to cross off my bucket list. The big three were Asimov’s, F&SF, and Analog. […]

I've spent a month doing my best to help my community and prepare my household for Covid-19.

Kamala Harris is blasting Donald Trump for vowing to protect women whether they “like it or not” at the same time he is calling for Republican Liz Cheney to be shot in the face. We get response from The Nation's abortion access correspondent Amy Littlefield and talk about 10 states with abortion rights on the ballot, including Arizona, Nevada, Florida, South Dakota and Missouri. Trump's remarks are a “succinct and clear definition of patriarchy,” says Littlefield. She argues the 2024 election will be decided in large part by white women and whether they will vote for abortion rights. Trump is “laying out the bargain that white patriarchy has offered for white women in this country,” says Littlefield. “He is saying, 'White women, we will protect you from Brown and Black men.'”

With just days to go before the November 5 presidential election, fears are growing that Republicans intend to interfere with the official results in order to install Donald Trump as president. At Sunday’s Madison Square Garden rally, Trump said he had a “little secret” with House Speaker Mike Johnson that would have a “big impact” on the outcome, though neither he nor Johnson elaborated on what that entailed. Elie Mystal, the justice correspondent for The Nation, says the secret is almost certainly a plan to force a contingent election, whereby no candidate wins a majority of the Electoral College and the president is instead chosen by the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority. Mystal notes that even if Democrats challenge such an outcome, the case would still end up before a Supreme Court with a conservative supermajority that is likely to side with Trump.

As voters across the United States head to the polls, we speak with New York Times writer Jim Rutenberg about how Donald Trump may try to preemptively declare victory and challenge election results. The former president has ramped up claims Democrats are “a bunch of cheats” and preemptively cast doubt on a win by Vice President Kamala Harris, following a similar playbook as 2020 when he baselessly claimed the election was stolen. Rutenberg spoke to pro-Trump election officials in battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania who say they are ready to refuse to certify local election results as part of a wide-ranging effort to throw the system into disarray. Rutenberg says after the failed insurrection of January 6, 2021, many in Trump’s orbit had a clear goal for 2024: “We have to go local.” He also discusses the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 that makes it harder to stop the final certification of results.

अमेरिका में ट्रंप सरकार 2.0 (Trump Government 2.0) के आने के बाद रिपब्लिकन पार्टी के लिए चुनावी प्रचार अभियान में अग्रणी भूमिका निभाने वाले भारतीय मूल के अमेरिकी इंटरप्रिन्योर विवेक रामास्वामी की धमकी बढ़ने की पूरी उम्मीद है। अब तक रिपब्लिकन

Vivek Ramaswamy: पूर्व रिपब्लिकन राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार विवेक रामास्वामी, निर्वाचित राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रंप की एक घोषणा के बाद Google पर सबसे ज्यादा खोजे जाने वाले नामों में से एक बन गए हैं कि विवेक रामास्वामी। अरबपति एलन मस्क के साथ

Vivek Ramaswamy: भारतीय मूल के विवेक रामास्वामी ने निश्चित रूप से अमेरिकी राजनीति में अपनी छाप छोड़ी है और अब डोनाल्ड ट्रंप के दूसरे कार्यकाल में उन्हें बड़ी जिम्मेदारी देते हुए एलन मस्क के साथ डिपार्टमेंट ऑफ गवर्नमेंट एफिशिएंसी (DOGE) का

A long-awaited study of people with ME/CFS revealed differences in their immune and nervous system. The findings may offer clues about long COVID

Scientists have finally found the compact object at the heart of the famous supernova of 1987, and it’s not a black hole

As I layered up for the snow today, I figured out why I had these plain Jane earrings in my collection. They’re the companions for this Karen McCorckle beautifully caned angel pin that I love. Oh, that goes back a couple of interesting decades! Karen told us that she conditioned clay when she went to […] Read more

Cleo Sol “Fear When You Fly” The majority of people making traditional 20th century-style R&B music today are young enough that, almost unavoidably, their frame of reference for the music has been filtered through five decades of sampling in rap. I feel like this gets filtered back into the traditional music in different ways – […]

A climate-cooling La Niña pattern was expected to develop in the Pacific Ocean months ago, but forecasters now say it won't appear until November

Also: The Great Queen Victoria Winner Ostwen Has Arrived! launches in English

Yoshiki Nakajima, M.A.O, Yoshino Nanjō, more join cast

Posthumous documentary film of same name, directed by his son Neo Sora, shows Sakamoto performing 20 compositions

“Being determines consciousness.” — Marx The upper petit-bourgeois is a strange character indeed, his consciousness made up of a thousand pieces that are all at war with one another, producing a marvelous opportunity for study. All of modern society, one might say, is collected in this species, in various proportions, and various strengths, with different … Continue reading The Anatomy of Mr. Middle

Ann ordered a beach theme cake, and asked the baker to write "Happy Birthday Lorenzo" on the ocean part.

She got this:

...which has to be the first time a literal LOL actually pales in comparison to the butchered name of the birthday boy.

Seriously, how do you turn "Lorenzo" into "Boricua"?? That's only two correct letters! Out of seven! Why... what... HOW....? [head explodes]

Ahem.

 

When a house warming party turns ominous:

[whisper] "Geeeeet OOOOUUUUUTTT!"

 

Deb wants to know if she's the only one who sees a Pumpkin man wearing a fig leaf on this cake:

Dear Deb,

NOPE.

Signed,
Everyone.

 

This next one is a Sports Ball thing, so allow me to translate for my fellow sports neophytes: Apparently the Royals (a Sports Ball "team") are sometimes known as the "Boys in Blue."

But after today, that's not ALL they'll be known as:

HEYOOOOOOOOO

 

"VICTORIAN LACE"

Bakers, I do not think it means what you think it means.

 

And finally,

Ordering a company logo on a cake can be daunting, but luckily for Will R., the Michael Kors logo is literally just the letters MK.

And yet...

Where there's a Will, there's a way to wreck Will's manager's cake.

 

Thanks to Ann F., Brady T., Deb B., Sarah F., Terri C., & Will R. for giving his manager the perfect excuse to throw up his/her hands in disgust and cry, "I'M SURROUNDED BY LITTLE MK'S!"

*****

'Tis the season for PSLs, and now your furry friend can have one, too!

Starbarks Pumpkin Spice Latte Plush Toy

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

If you’ve noticed CloudFlare verifying that you’re human, that’s because I had to enable extra security because of a DDOS attack. I also woke up to 1500+ spam email messages sent through contact forms on the site, too. The poor server is having A Time of it. At least it’s not Tuesday, I guess? Then I’d have all those dildos to contend with. (Also: every time I see that cover, my brain wants to read … Continue reading Just a Little DDOS Fun, Dildos, and Finding the Mystery Cowboy →

Welcome to Book Beat! Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.

She's just got a chunk of her butt missing now

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