@bhalpin@better.boston
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

bhalpin

@bhalpin@better.boston

Bostonian, writer, teacher, parent, spouse. Fan of public libraries, public transit, horror movies, punk rock, and bikes.

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bhalpin, to MountainBiking
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Finished the first draft of my play in iambic pentameter! Because I have the freedom to do weird shit now! Anyway, given that I've been bike commuting in Boston since 2008, I was thinking I could put together some bike commuting tips for folks considering it. Do you think anyone would want such a thing?

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Beautiful morning here in the hub o'the universe. Coffee by my side. Working from home till noon. Teenage Fanclub playing. Trump is a felon. Contentment is always elusive for me, but I'm feeling it this morning.

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Too much pomp, not enough circumstance

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Taking a train whose final destination is Roanoake, and they really called it The Northeast Regional when The Croatoan was right there.

purplepadma, (edited ) to random
@purplepadma@beige.party avatar

Have you ever knowingly conversed in an informal manner with a murderer?

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@purplepadma I've certainly talked with many people I knew to be war veterans.

bhalpin, to boston
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

The Globe is advocating for Josh Kraft to run for mayor of . I did some digging into who Josh Kraft really is and found some surprising reasons why he shouldn't even be considered for mayor.
https://write.as/brendanhalpin/who-is-josh-kraft

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Continuing my annual tradition. This is the Memorial Day column that got Howard Zinn fired from the Boston Globe. Sadly, still relevant 48 years later. https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/whom-will-we-honor-memorial-day/

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Just crossed over the Hell Gate Bridge, which surely has the most metal name of any bridge in the US

bhalpin, to random
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I am extremely proud of myself because I overcame the sunk cost fallacy and stopped reading a mystery halfway through because it was all mopey detective backstory and zero progress on the murder.

bhalpin, to random
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Amazon is offering a ten dollar credit to give them your palmprint for their creepy pay with your palm service. I'm not wealthy enough to rule out selling my palmprint, but you gotta do better than 10 bucks.

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Boston is nowhere near the city I'd like it to be, but , on the other hand, at least we're not hosting an Olympics this summer. Shoutout to the famed 10 People on Twitter for the biggest win for Boston residents since activists stopped the highway project on the southwest corridor

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Celebrities, even SAG-AFTRA members, typically cross picket lines. Should be interesting to see if anyone refuses.

NYTimes: Condé Nast Employees Threaten to Walk Off Job on Eve of Met Gala
Condé Nast Employees Threaten to Walk Off Job on Eve of Met Gala https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/fashion/conde-nast-union-vogue-met-gala.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Jennifer, to scifi
@Jennifer@bookstodon.com avatar

I need some new science fiction to read, who has some suggestions? I don't like military sci-fi. For reference, my favorite series is the Expanse, I also enjoyed Scalzi's Collapsing Empire, I love Robert Charles Wilson's books. I mostly enjoy space operas and unique stories about technology, for example I really liked the recent book Mountain in the Sea about AI and intelligent octopus. Suggestions from the awesome Bookstodon community? @bookstodon

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@Jennifer @bookstodon Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series is pretty great.

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@Jennifer @bookstodon I think The Warrior's apprentice I'd a great one to start with because it's pretty much nonstop action as Miles continually gets out of scrapes and into even bigger ones.

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

My daughter: "You know, one of those strange little men who has enough money to do what he wants, and he wants to be a kind, harmless weirdo."

Me: "As opposed to being poor and doing what weird one can."

My son: "DIY weird." #saidatdinner

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@lilithsaintcrow

GIF of shirtless, oiled, mulleted sax player from the Lost Boys

samwho, to random
@samwho@hachyderm.io avatar

Made a dumb website so I wouldn't ever have to Google "tm symbol" again.

https://symbol.wtf

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@samwho I want you to know I have used your site several times since you posted it. Absolute godsend. Thank you!

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

If you call yourself an urbanist but you haven't confronted the question of whether cities should be built on rock and roll, you're simply not doing the work

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

I can't help thinking that the entire system is going easy on Trump because they feel that if they start enforcing the laws on rich guys, that's gonna be a can of worms that will be difficult to close.

livinghell, to random
@livinghell@kolektiva.social avatar

wait a minute, a cannibal corpse is just a compost bacteria

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@livinghell this reminded me of my 1st year of teaching high school in 1993. One of my students had a Cannibal Corpse shirt featuring one rotting corpse performing oral sex on another. "Jesus, they let you wear that?" I asked the kid. "You're the only one who's noticed," he said. I did not rat him out because English teacher

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

People who know about songwriting: what do you call it when a song starts with a part with a different melody before the main song starts? (i.e. "I get a kick out of you")? Bonus if you can point me toward any history of this weird thing.Did it start with musical theater?

the_etrain, to random
@the_etrain@beige.party avatar

If the first porn flick filmed in space isn't called Astronut, I'll be massively disappointed.

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@the_etrain I vote for "The Zero G Spot"

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Thoughts on the Atlantic's "Great American Novels" list: https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/03/best-books-american-fiction/677479/
1.) Kind of shocking not to see either To Kill a Mockingbird or Maus.
2.) Haunting of Hill House is great, but We Have Always Lived in the Castle is better

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

3.) I had hoped revelations about DFW and Junot Diaz being sex pests would stop people from overrating their novels, but I guess not.
4.) Left Hand of Darkness is much better than The Dispossessed
5.) Watchmen is one of those things that's far more influential than it is good.VERY dated, imo.
6.) Absurd that Babel didn't make the list

bhalpin,
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

@donw I guess for me the whole thing just feels inextricably connected to the 80's in its sensibility and preoccupation. Also I hate the black freighter stuff

bhalpin, to random
@bhalpin@better.boston avatar

Another fun part of the US healthcare system is how the insurance companies periodically waste your time by asking you to prove you don't have any other insurance they don't know about. I can't even afford THIS insurance! How the hell could I have two different insurances? And why?

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