just finding my way

First guy: First I have to look at your furnace.

Me: Okaaaaay. But the broken part's outside.

First guy: Nope, furnace First.

First guy: *finds unrepairable parts on furnace. And air conditioner part will take 3-4 weeks and cost $3k*

Me: Well, how much would it cost to replace the whole thing?

First guy: Oh no, I can't tell you. Have to talk to my supervisor.

Me: 👀

Me: *waits in 100°F heat. Second guy is an hour late.

Second guy: Let's talk options. Did you know we have a bogo sale on right now? But only through the 4th. Nah, you shouldn't talk to the bank they'll only give you a bad deal. But our financing is a great deal. Btw I talked to our scheduler and we can totally install on Monday. Go ahead and give us $13k without talking to anyone else. Aren't I charming and relatable? Just trust me, the guy you met 3 seconds ago.

ad astra per a cappella | Lower Decks loves Star Trek.

This is my first ever Vidukon premiere! I got the idea from @hartknyx's Festivids letter a few years ago, but it took a while to find a way to vid it. The title is from @twwings, who made a series of great jokes while I was despairing of titles close to the deadline. (She also betaed the vid and made it much better!)

Lower Decks ties itself into the Star Trek universe in so many ways; I couldn't fit everything in but I am pretty pleased with the result.

twenty years | luthen & kleya

you’re the truth, not i. luthen finds his mirror. kleya sees the sunrise.

@vidukon 2026 premiere

eat your young | dedra & syril get some! pull up the ladder when the flood comes. syril never left that sunless room. dedra falls alone.

made for @nubreed73's vidukon 2026 vidshow on physical space and its emotional significance

Pawpaws are a Michigan native fruit that looks like it should not be a Michigan native fruit.

I'm told that it has the consistency of avocado, but tastes like a combination of banana, pineapple, and mango, with and earthy aftertaste. They are EXTREMELY delicate fruits, such that they are not really shipped anywhere- to eat them you have to find someplace local that has trees, or have trees, yourself.

I've always wanted to try them, so, I bought a few saplings, and spent a couple hours tonight planting them. They won't fruit for another 5 years at least. Each hole dug, each rootball excavated from its pot, each circle of mulch around the base of them... that's hope. That's a promise to be here 5 years from now, to see them flower, to pull sweet fruit from the limbs and try it for the first time.

So I look up a pretty prominent Star Wars guild and message one of their council and ask them to poll the same question and get back to me in a week. They do, and naturally the fuckin geeks said "Death Star".