Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • What I've read in 2024

    The first novel is Subtil Béton (Subtle Concrete), by the Aggloméré·e·s Collective (like cinderblock but with French inclusive writing), which was very good with its story, characters, and its ability to make fun of our revolutionary ideals (ok not "make fun of", HAVE fun WITH our ideals). Recommended!

    Then there is Le procès (The Trial) by Franz Kafka that I've read for some reason, and it was very entertaining as well.

    Beloved by Toni Morrison was NOT fun but rather unsettling, harsh, warm, of extreme sadness. This is one of the stories where the flow of time is blurry and at some point you start getting doubts on who's really that character or are they r e a l at all. One of my favorite novel of the year.

    My other favorite novel is L'art de la joie (The Art of Joy, or L'arte della gioia) by Goliarda Sapienza, an enormous biography of Modesta, a woman born in complete poverty, who ends up with quite the capital and social status, and whose life go through the various adventures and horrors of Italian fascism. It's deeply moving and touching and also a reminder that fascism always ends. A great story,

  • Denali Park Train Trip

    In early August (2026-08-08) my family took a day train trip to Denali Park, and I meant to publish a few notes about it. Denali Park is the home of Mt. McKinley in Alaska — President Trump recently changed the name back to Mt. McKinley from Mt. Denali. These days, riding the Alaska Railroad is not generally something done out of necessity or economy, since it is faster to take a flight, and less expensive to drive. But the Alaska Railroad has made a tourist industry out of it, for sight-seeing. One of the packages is a day trip from Fairbanks to Denali Park. You ride the train for four hours, spend about three hours in Denali Park, and then jump on another train headed back to Fairbanks.

    Tickets are expensive, currently around 200 USD per person for Adventure Class. At the time, though, there was a promo going for one free child per adult. This gets you spacious seats on a passenger car with big windows, and a tour guide (through the PA system) points out various sights and wildlife as you travel along. There is also an upper observation deck that you can visit, for a better view. If you can pay more, there is another package that gives you upper-level seating on a fancier car. There is a dining car, but we couldn't afford that, so we brought our own food.

  • name tag

    i did make many, non-scratchy clothing name tags before and i needed to make more. i dusted off my somewhat atrophied sewing skills.

  • already there

    the version of me you see
    is holding back, terrified 
    filtering words too intense
    to be allowed out in the world
    like it would change the truth
    swallowing questions
    censoring sentences 
    while the words you are waiting for
    are already there
    

• Technology and Free Software

  • Internet/Gemini

    • Re: Replying to smol.pub user posts

      Here's a thing that I think is worth knowing.