I have decided to launch a Patreon. I'll be talking RPG nerdy stuff over there, but I'll also design subsystems for rules, subclasses, magic items, etc. If you can support, I would appreciate it, but feel no obligation. It'll be heavy on the RPG theory :) patreon.com/MatthewCmiel

i hate being the stereotypical atheist but like i genuinly forget people actually believe in god. like what do you mean you pray every day

My story on Giants Pride Night and the four pitchers who didn't support it. Spoke w/Logan Webb on his views, long-time Giants fan who protested to team, and author of recent book "The God Squad" -- also here's the Giants' team statement: sfstandard.com/2026/06/14/sf… via @sfstandard

I just finished East of Eden this morning. I'm not religious at all but Steinbeck looked me in the eye and said: you are not destined to be your worst self; you are not condemned by your past; you get to choose, every single day, you get to choose. This book doesn't need you to believe in God (I judged it too harshly and quickly). It only needs you to believe in people...the terrifying, beautiful fact that we are capable of both darkness and light, and that the choice between them is always, stubbornly, ours. Honestly, one of the most devastating things I've ever read.

I think one of the healthiest things a person can do is become easy to delight. To still stop for weird clouds and dogs wearing bandanas and the smell of garlic cooking somewhere down the street. The world already has enough cynicism. Be the person who still points at the moon.

King Uther's plot in an episode of Merlin was a contributing factor in me finally realizing my partner was flirting with me. There's a lot of reasons my life has been improved by sharing a planet with Anthony Head, but I think this is my favorite. ❤️☕️

Future people will look back on current discussions about LLMs being conscious in the same way that we look back on Victorians discussing whether the telephone could be used to contact the spirit world.

I agree with the pope! And i'm a little worried about the psyche of the people who disagree

Sorry for Hasan posting but: 1) I don’t even think Hasan is being prosecuted lol 2) if he was, it is our duty to defend him against Republicans 3) He would not do the same for liberals. Yet, we are different for a reason

I've taken to a very niche occupation: reading sections of novels that no one reads, taking time with background passages that professors who are familiar with classics routinely skip over. all the descriptions at the start of "Madame Bovary"--amazing whale minutiae in "Moby Dick"--most tedious passages in "Ulysses" (Irish politicians, old feuds)--almost hallucinatorily precise descriptions of landscape in Paul Bowles. knowing that NO ONE ELSE is reading these passages is a weird sort of pleasure. it is good to do useless things often.

If nothing else, it's (moderately) interesting that the Greeks are interpreted as white by Musk etc and so Matt Damon et al are acceptable castings but Lupita Nyong'o isn't. Debatable at best!

Giants pretended to fuck each other after beating the Dodgers

Lou Seal is here with his mom ❤️ 🥹

When you learn that this is all because RF Kuang put an Israeli pianist in her latest book, and that she didn’t actually do anything wrong, then this freak out becomes a little disturbing.

Michael Tilson Thomas was a visionary leader in San Francisco’s music and arts community and helped shape our entire city’s cultural identity. In his time leading the San Francisco Symphony, Michael elevated the city’s music scene onto the global stage through innovative performances and a passion for bringing music to more people. As one of the first prominent and openly gay conductors, he helped lift up our LGBTQ community, commissioning and composing works that resonated deeply with many San Franciscans. His love for our city has been an inspiration to Becca and me and for generations of San Franciscans. His legacy will live on for generations to come. sfchronicle.com/entertainmen…

Search is full of ads and wrong answers. Every other email is an ad. Prime Video charges you and shows ads. Paramount? Ads. Peacock? YouTube? Hulu? Ads followed by more ads. Netflix full of ads. Meta and X, every other thing is an ad. Pinterest is nothing but ads. AI is in everything. AI finishes sentences incorrectly and won’t stop. AI reads your email and search history to target you with more ads. Every time you open an app or visit a site there’s an update making it worse. In a hurry? First, click here to agree to terms you don’t have time to read and must accept. You need an account to do that. Change your temporary password. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email and enter that code. Now use a passkey. Your password is too simple to remember. Change it. No, not like that. Now log on. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email for a code… Welcome back! We’ve updated our terms of service and privacy policy (you have none). Subscribe to the site. Subscribe to Netflix. Subscribe to toilet paper. Subscribe to these groceries. Pay a membership fee for the right to subscribe then tip your driver who delivers the subscriptions your membership lets you subscribe to. Time to work? We’ve got to update your laptop and will slow down everything you do until you agree to update. But first, click here to agree. Update installed — your laptop’s broken now. It doesn’t matter, since your boss just replaced you with AI. Go to your phone to complain on social media. Wait, your phone needs an update so we can add more AI. Click here. Oh sorry, your phone can’t handle this update. Now it’s useless. Go get the newest phone. Here’s a text from a friend, an email, a voice mail they left three days ago but you didn’t see until now because of sync problems with the cloud. It’s their GoFundMe. Their MLM. Their Patreon. Never mind, you didn’t respond to their text within 9 minutes and now you’re no longer friends. They blocked you. Make new friends. Download this app to find people in your area. In your neighborhood. On your street. Two doors down from you. Do you know this person yet, we think you’d get along. You need an account to use this app. That username is taken. Enter a password. Not that one, you used it on another site. You need to be connected to WiFi to download the app. Allow the app to connect to other devices on your network. Allow the app to access your contacts, know your precise location, store your credit card details. Oops, sorry, we got hacked now all that info is available on the web. There’s a class action suit. You can join. It’ll take a decade to get your $3.73 share of the ten billion settlement. We’ll send it via PayPal or deposit it to your bank, just tell us those details. Oh no, another hack. That info is circulating now, too. Here’s a spam call, a spam email, a spam text. Why are you angry? Why are you talking about getting rid of your phone? Why don’t you like AI, it lets us make all of this easier? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? This is progress. You’ll be left behind. Do you want to be left behind? Do you???

I refuse to read the comments because I don’t care but I am clearly right about this. Donald Trump started a war of choice nobody saw coming that doubled gas prices in two months and the Democrats are…performing worse in the generic ballot than at the same point in 2018 We’re going to have a hard fought election to try and take the Senate after Trump did the craziest shit I’ve ever seen from a sitting president. Given the war will be over before November, the Dem generic advantage might even be far less than the current 6% The GOP can do the most psychotic nonsense and reman competitive. Meanwhile, the median voter thought Biden - who progressives think was to the right of Ronald Reagan - was a communist. Sorry I’m the only lib being honest about our situation

I spent six hours yesterday writing a poem, and it was difficult, but by the end I was in tears because the experience was so creatively rewarding. No one will ever be moved to tears by inputting a prompt into a chatbot. Don’t surrender the most rewarding parts of living.

Long term the Democrats are completely fucked. They keep moving left and 60% of American voters already think the Democrats are too liberal. The party is overwhelmingly hated and it will get worse The Democrats are only able to compete because Donald Trump is still alive

Dear Hollywood, Just saw Speed Racer in IMAX. Please can we have more fun films? We weren't ready before and we were dumb about it, but we promise to be good now! Yours Hopefully, Me

I hate when people at work ask you what books you are reading for professional development. I am reading books to counteract the effects of being professionally developed. I am reading books that bring me back to being human.