kideagle

Reminds me of Neema Parvini's claim (as an elite theorist) that ideology follows power and that culture is downstream of law, which in turn is downstream of the interests of the ruling class.

2026-05-09 22:10:39 UTC

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Me too.

2026-05-09 03:57:48 UTC

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#filmstr

2026-05-09 03:52:41 UTC

Hokum (2026) is terrifying and bleak but also funny and life affirming if you're on its wavelength.
A curmudgeonly writer and skeptic goes to Ireland to bury his parents' ashes but the hotel he's staying at maybe has a curse and a witch and some other chicanery, as sometimes happens.
Some absolutely diabolical jump scares. Made my sister's feet sweat, she says. I didn't verify but I've known her for awhile and have no reason to doubt her.

2026-05-08 18:17:00 UTC

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As a K teacher, I have to agree. I tell parents we're having an "end-of-year celebration" or "student showcase."

2026-05-07 21:24:36 UTC

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Sent this to my family. Had to save the file as "monty-pony" of course.

2026-04-25 14:23:34 UTC

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At least a protopia is within reach, where things aren't perfect but every day is a little better.

2026-04-25 14:17:49 UTC

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Agreed. Manousos and Carol were such interesting contrasts.

2026-04-24 18:36:44 UTC

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I do the same for Goose and Hermes.

2026-04-22 15:48:24 UTC

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You're making awesome stuff!

2026-04-03 12:10:26 UTC

you. shall. not. pass. #catstr
https://blossom.primal.net/2bc354067c0db8244b5a51fc7a62488fd38b1774dc3433392a202b5e94dab2d9.jpg

2026-04-02 17:10:36 UTC

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No wonder we can't step in the same one twice.

2026-03-25 13:44:59 UTC

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Same.

2026-03-24 13:43:21 UTC

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I'm drinking some now, but it doesn't look as good as what you have there.

2026-03-23 23:24:08 UTC

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Really enjoying #wisp

2026-03-23 20:03:22 UTC

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Hm looks good now, thank you!

2026-03-23 13:12:05 UTC

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“Tell me," Wittgenstein's asked a friend, "why do people always say, it was natural for man to assume that the sun went round the earth rather than that the earth was rotating?" His friend replied, "Well, obviously because it just looks as though the Sun is going round the Earth." Wittgenstein replied, "Well, what would it have looked like if it had looked as though the Earth was rotating?”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein

2026-03-23 11:57:40 UTC

The most interesting thing about the horror film Dangerous Animals (2025) is that the sharks are less like villains and more like mistreated weapons.
It's an okay watch if you can look past the cornball romantic elements and shaky VFX at the end.

2026-03-20 20:55:41 UTC

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Moves and counter-moves.

2026-03-19 12:00:10 UTC

Good Boy (2025) is a horror film told from the dog's point of view.
Normally, I see a dog (or baby) and think, "yep there's someone right off camera with a finger puppet or a treat," but this dog (Indy) was operating at another level.
It looked like he was able to internalize multi-step directions and actually ACT, although I'm sure editing and camera placement helped too.
Otherwise, an average film. #film #filmstr

2026-03-17 22:50:21 UTC

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I wish it weren't so.

2026-03-17 22:31:41 UTC

The Dune: Part Three trailer looks good.
But if I could have only one adaptation it would be for God Emperor of Dune.
And maybe it would look better animated?
What would the Quiznos Hazmat want? 🤔

2026-03-17 22:17:25 UTC

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Yep. Also, your articles rock.

2026-03-17 19:34:32 UTC

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I recommend his book Applied Elite Theory to anyone who wants to dig a little deeper.

2026-03-11 16:01:34 UTC

In the Odyssey Odysseus's dog (Argos) is old and weak but thrilled when he recognizes his master before dying peacefully.
I'm not aware of any other text where that trope of the loyal dog appears earlier and I hope I see it in Nolan's adaptation and I hope it hits just as hard as when I first read that poem years ago.
My second favorite example of that archetype is a certain scene from Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice but I won't say anything else in case someone wants to drop what they're doing and read the first book in a trilogy which kicks off a 16 book fantasy series.

2026-03-10 23:56:49 UTC

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I had no idea these existed, had to look them up. Going on my wish list.

2026-03-10 15:08:22 UTC

The ATU system catalogs plots from folktales for cross-cultural comparison.
"The Magic Mill" (ATU 565) is a tale type where someone gets a magical grinding mill that cranks out meal or salt or what-have-you, but the mill only listens to its true owner and causes havoc when others try to use it.
Why is the ocean salty? Well, a long time ago a magic salt mill fell into a sailor's hands and he unintentionally filled the ocean with salt because he couldn't turn it off.
Magic mill go brr? 🤔

2026-03-09 14:30:47 UTC

What if two civilizations were fundamentally incompatible and the only recourse was war?
The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio is a good read if you have some tolerance for melodrama and minor pacing issues.
It's thousands of years in the future and humans are living on thousands of different planets. The technology is hard to distinguish from magic but the social structure is late stage Roman Empire.
Roucchio uses a first-person narrative framing device to great effect. Think Kvothe in The Name of the Wind. And just like Kvothe the protagonist (Hadrian Marlowe) is a bit self-absorbed.
But unlike Kvothe it's established in the first paragraph that Hadrian will follow an "innocent Anakin becomes jaded Vader" arc.
The world-building is strong, too. There's echoes of Dune, The Hunger Games, Red Rising, and Game of Thrones, but the storytelling doesn't usually feel derivative.
The killer combo for me is that Ruocchio is unsentimental about politics and power but optimistic about what groups of individuals can do. I had never seen a speculative fiction writer explicitly reference Jouvenel's high-low vs middle dynamic.
And yes there's an alien civilization but first contact is less Arrival and more "let's be friends oh wait you seem to enjoy the taste of human flesh as something of a delicacy."

2026-03-09 13:10:32 UTC

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The knower had to tell us but we did figure out that the rule for the "word" section was "ends in a vowel or y."
It's usually hardest for us to figure out the rule for what goes into the "social context" section, e.g. "can be dangerous," even though of course the rule seems obvious after the fact.

2026-03-08 15:15:48 UTC

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There's one knower and one to three guessers.
The secret rule for that section was "things that are generally curved." Us guessers didn't get it, so yes you could say it "slipped" past us. 😂

2026-03-07 21:56:43 UTC

In Things in Rings you put things in rings and guess the secret rules.
Lots of fun Easter eggs on the cards.
Pretty sure that banana card is a reference to that guy who taped a banana to a wall and called it art.
https://blossom.primal.net/529cb3e365a17c4776e32db2f2eaaa8cf8cb0b297d8960fd94e6f8ab081ca9de.jpg

2026-03-07 12:53:36 UTC

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I'm enjoying it!

2026-03-06 19:45:28 UTC

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Awesome.

2026-03-06 19:44:14 UTC

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@nprofile…jejf whoops not sure what "wispderp" is.

2026-03-06 19:42:54 UTC

This weekend I will be installing @nprofile…tdq0, @nprofile…9yxp, @nprofile…xqkm, and @nprofile…mv9l on my wife's phone.
She said, "Sure, why not?" 😂

2026-03-06 17:30:40 UTC

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Nice! Any plans for an Auto Model that intelligently picks a private model for you?

2026-03-05 16:23:04 UTC

I feel like Salieri trying to keep up with Mozart whenever I use an LLM to learn something technical.
https://blossom.primal.net/be78da1672c1f6dc6b4f2ac0ea9eaac95a0732a87efd2ec9e145d5407fb3c8ca.png

2026-02-28 21:48:17 UTC

Saw some short films today.
The Singers is worth a watch if you like broken men in bars with strong pipes. Based on the short story by Ivan Turgenev. A little too self-consciously heartwarming to be great.
Or Two People Exchanging Saliva if you like black-and-white cinematography, absurdist world-building, forbidden love, garlic gum, retail therapy, and paying for goods and services with power slaps. I was moved by the end.

2026-02-27 15:23:23 UTC

I learned recently that "nostos" is a theme in Ancient Greek literature.
It usually includes "an epic hero returning home, often by sea."
The Nostr space feels a bit like coming home. I wonder how many folks had to dodge Sirens and lotus-eaters to get here. 😂

2026-02-26 15:19:08 UTC

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Saw a black bear my wedding night so only one possible answer for me.

2026-02-25 16:41:12 UTC

@nprofile…kwpe the variety pack arrived. Thanks for the extra strawberries and handwritten note!
So far I've had the freeze dried mangoes, which taste great. Looking forward to trying the rest soon.

2026-02-22 19:18:40 UTC

My wife did beautiful gouache art of locations in Banff, Switzerland, and Iceland (left to right).
https://blossom.primal.net/dd7fbefab14117f343d3017d4412938cf37a2e16150b1ade7c1956475fb75f96.jpg

2026-02-19 17:59:18 UTC

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It's already helping me pry myself from my phone and get more steps in!

2026-02-18 14:33:41 UTC

Excited to try some honey and maple syrup from @nprofile…7ya7.
I'll probably put the former in some tea and the latter in some coffee later.
And I appreciate how secure the packaging was. The box could have been tossed out of a helicopter and the contents would have been fine.
https://blossom.primal.net/b0328f44fcfa12d17d5eaba974d9a1644ebff02d37b29931d0f1753063c6636a.jpg

2026-02-18 01:37:49 UTC

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The only other book that comes to mind is The Habsburg Way, which I haven't read, but I see it's well-regarded.
https://www.amazon.com/Habsburg-Way-Rules-Turbulent-Times-ebook/dp/B0C27339B7/ref=pd_sbs_d_sccl_2_1/141-3464952-7750144

2026-02-17 23:17:24 UTC

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I enjoyed Leaving a Legacy.

2026-02-17 23:15:33 UTC

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Lyonesse Trilogy by Jack Vance, if you like a dark Arthurian fable.
Vance is an anagram for Vecna (of Stranger Things).
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Lyonesse-Jack-Vance/dp/0575090243

2026-02-17 02:39:42 UTC

Hear a bit of Alice in Chains with these guys.
https://wavlake.com/track/0624efde-d0e5-4327-b67a-1773001a4693

2026-02-16 00:35:43 UTC

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It was an actual shower thought. 😂

2026-02-15 20:53:20 UTC

In The Hunger Games, the nation is called Panem.
In Juvenal's Satires, he coins the phrase "panem et circenses," or "bread and circuses."

2026-02-10 18:33:26 UTC

The author of Mandibles has a new novel out, might read it after I finish Lyonesse by Jack Vance. 🤔
Fun Fact: Vecna of Stranger Things is an anagram of Vance, whose stories I think had an influence on aspects of D&D.
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-better-life-lionel-shriver?variant=43823065432098
https://www.jackvance.com/ebooks/shop/?q22_action=view&q22_id=83

2026-01-30 20:50:12 UTC

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNRZ91t7B0I&list=RDZNRZ91t7B0I&start_radio=1

2026-01-30 18:11:08 UTC

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Looking forward to the mastered mix 🎧
https://wavlake.com/track/7e91a668-ea6d-42d3-9fb9-bd4e36c75446
#nevent1q…7lyf

2026-01-30 17:46:11 UTC

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Today it's Cicatriz Esp by The Mars Volta, specifically the "Santana Jam" that starts at the 9:20 mark.

2025-12-31 21:21:05 UTC

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.76, like some other folks here. 🤔

2025-12-22 15:28:53 UTC

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This reminds me of a book I read recently, "Applied Elite Theory," by Neema Parvini. He makes the argument that culture is downstream from law, which is downstream from the interests of the ruling class.

2025-11-26 19:08:13 UTC

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Look how yellow that yolk is.

2025-10-09 16:22:08 UTC

Democracy: A Guided Tour is a good political philosophy 101 kind of book. Democracy is a tool, not a poem, and we can judge how well it's working from the standpoint of standards like stability, virtue, wisdom, liberty, and equality.
The table of contents itself is useful for developing a mental model.
1. Democracy: Why or Why Not?
2. For Stability: Stability through Shared Power
3. Against Stability: Passion and Polarization
4. For Virtue: Does Democracy Enlighten and Ennoble?
5. Against Virtue: Does Democracy Make Us Angry, Mean, and Dumb?
6. For Wisdom: Two Heads Are Smarter than One
7. Against Wisdom: Garbage In, Garbage Out
8. For Liberty: The Consent of the Governed?
9. Against Liberty: Democracy as the Many-Headed Master
10. For Equality: Democracy as the Public Expression of Equal Standing
11. Against Equality: Is Democratic Equality an Illusion?
In general, I found the "against" chapters more persuasive.
#books #bookstr
https://blossom.primal.net/ff88bbe737d86037982c268d36020042d1acaf39deb15973c0238fb321a322b9.webp

2025-09-24 15:53:43 UTC

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@nprofile…dp6t

2025-09-24 15:53:10 UTC

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https://whitepaperbooks.com/, I messed up the mention.

2025-09-24 15:38:15 UTC

Ordered To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism with @Whitepaper Books after requesting it and getting notified that it had been added. Excellent service, and paid in sats. Looking forward to making more purchases. #bookstr
https://blossom.primal.net/416f0447609de6fd305ef4aa49e53d95e7ec8b4efe562eac37ba76d823980bd7.webp

2025-09-07 22:24:26 UTC

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You might want to keep your distance then. 😅

2025-09-07 21:48:56 UTC

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Yeah it's a blast. My wife appreciates the cuteness factor.

2025-09-07 21:46:53 UTC

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I wasn't expecting the alien's rules to be so open-ended. I like the flexibility, but I could see others getting frustrated by how free-form it is.
If you've played Things in Rings, and had fun figuring out the placement rules, you might enjoy this. I'll need to play Signals more before I have anything else to say.

2025-09-07 21:36:55 UTC

Shōbu (2019) feels like a game humans could have been playing for hundreds of years.
You win by pushing all your opponents stones off any one of the four gameboards.
The twist is that you get two moves on your turn, a passive move followed by an aggressive move.
The passive move is setup, no pushing allowed.
The aggressive move must involve a different stone, and must mirror how the passive stone moves. Pushing is permitted here.
#boardgames
https://image.nostr.build/8cce5d2ca0b613599b7acddeb2e8c485b50cc551c7dfb0bb8ed58083d735b43f.jpg

2025-09-01 14:24:13 UTC

@nprofile…nxyn Tastes delicious in coffee. https://image.nostr.build/f6d584d580fdbe4bd1e7890ff31bb2489daab5673468754e176bb273f87657aa.jpg

2025-08-31 20:30:10 UTC

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Yeah, it does a lot with a little. Good emergent storytelling.

2025-08-31 14:17:41 UTC

Signal (2025) is a cooperative game for 2+ players, which thematically reminds me of the film Arrival (2016).
The humans supply the inputs (wooden pieces of different shapes and colors), then the alien moves them around according to certain hidden rules.
The humans and alien win if the goal output is created after the alien manipulates the inputs.
#boardgames https://image.nostr.build/5495965abfb5c33ffd7142a262eb27c41ec90aeaa751ba43e5e8a98ae8a6b579.jpg

2025-08-21 00:36:44 UTC

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90% Alien: Earth, 10℅ Anime: Earth

2025-08-17 21:35:19 UTC

boop. (2022) is a two-player abstract strategy game where you try to be the first to line up three cats in a row (or get all eight of your cats onto the bed).
But you start the game with only kittens, which then "graduate" into cats only after you have lined THEM up in a row of three.
The twist though is that placing a piece bounces any adjacent pieces one space away, so lining up three is trickier than it looks.
And yes, the box converts to a bed, and yes, your kittens can be "booped" off them.
#boardgames
https://image.nostr.build/d73ed4098b12258d854e427b196f2a29a346cc95e57178f40e9e57ca996ac208.jpg

2025-08-17 19:57:59 UTC

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I thought the first 10-15 minutes were very promising, before the change of location. Almost wish the entire film was set there.

2025-08-15 22:27:28 UTC

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Me too, you could tell S2 would have really expanded the scope. And yeah, me neither, but it sure had a chip on its shoulder. For some reason I think of it whenever I see a labubu toy out in the wild.

2025-08-15 20:25:34 UTC

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Scavengers Reign, if you don't mind animation and think the ecology in Annihilation (2018) was too tame. One season, short episodes. Crew gets stranded on alien planet and try to get off before becoming food for the, uh, flora and fauna. Unfortunately, ends on a cliffhanger, and I think it was canceled by HBO before Netflix picked it up, at least in the US.

2025-08-13 17:46:36 UTC

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Good movie.

2025-08-08 21:02:36 UTC

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The Innocents (2021) if you like, uh, Norwegian supernatural dark fantasy thriller horror.

2025-08-08 19:57:57 UTC

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I'll mull too and return with my thoughts once I see both.

2025-08-08 19:35:53 UTC

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My next watch. You like it more than Together?

2025-08-03 20:42:27 UTC

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Seeing this on Tuesday. Looking forward to "Weapons" next week, too.

2025-07-16 16:32:48 UTC

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Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. Does enough to avoid being derivative of Dune, Red Rising, and The Name of the Wind.
I've seen it described as, "Gene Wolfe's Star Wars if Anakin's becoming Darth Vader was the right thing to do."

2025-06-10 19:31:28 UTC

I see Mandibles mentioned here, and it's great, but another good read by the same author is Mania. It's set in an alternative 2011 where the Mental Parity movement argues that there is no such thing as differences in human intelligence. No one is smarter or dumber than anyone else, so goodbye to tests, qualifications, and the like. Kids get kicked out of school for saying "stupid" and don't even think of using a term like "dumbwaiter" in polite company. It's excellent satire. #bookstr
https://blossom.primal.net/74cbe3e095c982615f687bc1e149dcc45801d2a6c1c8bac1a70d1440e2c1f89b.webp

2025-03-07 17:54:58 UTC

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Man-eating shark or man eating shark?

2025-03-07 15:36:22 UTC

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Saw them live. Great show!

2025-03-06 23:17:17 UTC

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Yes

2025-02-24 19:48:45 UTC

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As a former preK teacher, I can confirm.

2025-02-17 22:11:10 UTC

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I forgot this song existed. Thank you.

2025-02-07 22:57:54 UTC

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Same!

2025-01-26 02:08:00 UTC

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1:07! About 2 if I'm packing.

2025-01-18 16:10:46 UTC

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🎻
https://wavlake.com/track/58b8fe5b-4409-405a-a1d9-d0d434bddbbc
#nevent1q…qlk0

2025-01-12 16:10:35 UTC

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Looking forward to more music!
https://wavlake.com/track/58b8fe5b-4409-405a-a1d9-d0d434bddbbc
#nevent1q…2z79

2024-12-12 23:24:10 UTC

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Only $74? Bummer.

2024-11-16 00:10:15 UTC

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"electric perfection" ⚡
https://wavlake.com/track/4d0573e4-89a3-4dcc-b0c8-7265355ace37
#nevent1q…gung

2024-11-10 14:36:21 UTC

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Pyramid Song is in my top five if I'm also watching the music video

2024-11-09 22:49:52 UTC

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My wife was in the area having lunch with a friend. I asked her if she saw some clowns and she said yes what was that all about. I don't know!

2024-11-06 00:56:42 UTC

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Lovely. That art style reminds me of a board game I enjoy called Inis. https://image.nostr.build/005ba6da1e919ead282abfa937b1662ee9a286fca524b3381dbfbe48083a19b7.jpg

2024-11-03 12:39:28 UTC

Up and running a https://image.nostr.build/4e53278786f95a748b7ec931479ba5401fefefd98845c435435deec7b73497dc.jpg #bitaxe

2024-10-28 19:11:55 UTC

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Fiction: "Mania" by Lionel Shriver
Non-fiction: "Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" by Greg McKeown

2024-10-27 21:42:42 UTC

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Hope to hear more music soon!
https://wavlake.com/track/c15224ef-d190-4954-9a3a-8a18ef679528
#nevent1q…406u