Ed Marshall @esm@mastodon.social

@kaezarrex just FYI, looks like @hn100 died a couple of days ago?

It is really weird hearing second-hand that someone you worked with for years is just poof, gone, because of COVID-19.

Fuck.

I have nothing insightful to say here. Wash your damn hands, wear a mask, and if you're American, vote in November like your life depends on it.

"Learn how to burn down your state from experts in the field!"

Got an email titled "You are Invited: PG&E Wildfire Safety Webinar and Town Hall" and I'm genuinely confused, is this, like, a how-to tutorial session?

I never thought I'd be stuck voting for Creepy Grandpa Joe and a cop that hates sex workers and transfolk, but I guess the hits just keep on coming in the year of our lord 2020

So, uh, I'd just like to say that five months ago I was way more optimistic than I should have been. https://mastodon.social/@esm/103813164418929142

I never got around to reading Harry Potter, but I imagine a lot of people right now feel the same way about JK Rowling as I did about Orson Scott Card when I first read his opinions about queer folk, or Scott Adams' positions on...well, almost everything.

Really weird that a successful space launch requires running commentary about American exceptionalism and a thank-you-dear-leader speech at the end, but I'm not a rocket scientist, what do I know

Oh no I accidentally watched Clannad again

My eyes are leaking why do I do this to myself

So apparently I've adjusted. the eye strain I felt even a week ago is gone.

This has meant I've taken a very large bite out of my reading queue in a very short period of time. I'm reading significantly faster than I was a few months ago.

It seems obvious now that my dip in reading was due to unnoticed discomfort (the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog effect); my eyesight was degrading so slowly that I hadn't noticed it.

I should have done this a year ago. 🤦‍♂️

Proof that I am, in fact, aging: I've owned reading glasses for a few months now.

How do people get used to these things? These past few weeks (thanks, pandemic!) I've been reading almost as voraciously as I did when I was in high school, but while the early mild headaches and dizziness went away quickly with regular use, my eyes are still *exhausted* after a session.

Maybe I'm just working them harder, now that I can actually focus on what I'm reading, rather than inferring from vague shapes?

What idiot called them "Rustaceans" instead of a "cargo cult"