Amazon might not notice that you stopped shopping with them* but if you take that same modest bit of disposable income and spend it on art bought directly from artists, the small electronics projects of your friends, helping people in dire financial situations and the the local theater all of those people WILL notice. It will have a massive impact. *But, also Amazon does notice. Especially as more and more people do this.

"What if for our theme, we choose ... *themes*?" (kid on the graduation party planning committee who I wish they'd all listen to. She's going places that one. Strange places I think, but it will be fun. ) I think they picked "art deco" or "roaring 20s" or something like that for the theme and I'm so over it already.

#picaTheCat and a stuffed ant plush are almost the same color and size. #catsofmastodon

When "google" became a verb the company celebrated it as a symbol of their market dominance. I think even those of us who are skeptical about LLMs need to recognize that the general public is increasingly turning to LLMs in the same way they turned to search. "I'll ask chat GPT" is something I hear often. I wince every single time I hear it. 1/ (This is a discussion of how people relate to technology *not* a request for software recommendations or technical solutions.)

They are shaped like fire. 🔥

I will ask chat GPT I will boil the last of our drinking water Salt the soil of the scrub-lands Tear the pages from books and feed them to my fire I will ask copilot I will scramble your library maim the faces of your favorite paintings I will bury you in poor copies of your dreams I will ask grok I will fall silent and never speak to you I will talk only to myself lost in a maze of my own fantasies I will forget all who cannot compliment me I will decouple my soul from this world.

Pica did a great job at the vet today. Got tons of compliments. She's not mad at us for taking her, but I think it's because she thinks all three of us were "abducted" and I plan on letting her go on thinking that's how it works. Yes the evil cab driver captured us all. Thank god we escaped!

Do you subscribe to any physical print magazines? Which ones? Any recommendations for interesting or *niche* ones? I really love: "Wings: Essays on Invertebrate Conservation" from the xerces society. The articles and photos are interesting and I like that it's a small format as it's perfect for reading on the train. Since it's not a "news" magazine and there are only 4 issues a year keeping it makes sense for reference. I'll grab one when I want something to read that fits in my purse.