#library versions....................................

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Christopher Brown’s ‘A Natural History of Empty Lots’

On SEPTEMBER 24th, I'll be speaking IN PERSON at the BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY!

Christopher Brown is an accomplished post-cyberpunk sf writer, a tech lawyer with a sideline in public interest environmental law, the proud owner of one of the most striking homes I have ever seen, and an urban pastoralist who writes about wildlife in ways I've never seen and can't get enough of:

https://fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/

All of these facets of Brown's identity come together today with the launch of A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys and other Wild Places:

https://christopherbrown.com/a-natural-history-of-empty-lots/

This is a frustratingly hard to summarize book, because it requires a lot of backstory and explanation, and one of the things that makes this book so! fucking! great! is how skillfully Brown weaves all that stuff into his telling. Which makes me feel self-conscious as I try to summarize things, because there's no way I'll do this as well as he did, but whatever, here goes.

Brown is a transplant from rural Iowa to Austin, where he set out to start a family, practice tech law during the dotcom boom, and write science fiction, as part of a circle of writers loosely associated with cyberpunk icon @brucesterling. After both the economy and his marriage collapsed, Brown started his restless perambulations around Austin's abandoned places, sacrifice zones, the bones of failed housing starts and abandoned dot-crash office parks.

When he did, something changed in him. Slowly, his eyes learned to see things that they had just skipped over. Plants, animals, and spoor and carapaces and dens of all description, all around him, a secret world. These were not pockets of "wilderness" in the city, but they were pockets of wildness. Birds' nests woven with plastic fibers scavenged from nearby industrial dumpsters; trees taking root in half-submerged tires rolled into a creekbed, foxes and rodents playing out a real-life version of the classic ecosystem simulation exercise on the edge of an elevated highway that fills the same function as the edge of a woodland where predator and prey meet.

As Brown fell in love again – with the artist and architect Agustina Rodriguez – he conceived of a genuinely weird and amazing plan to build a house. A very weird house, in a very weird place. He bought a plot of wasteland that had once housed the head-end of an oil pipeline (connected to a nearby oil-storage facility that poisoned the people who lived near it, in an act of wanton environmental racism) and had been used as a construction-waste dump for years.

After securing an extremely unlikely loan, Brown remediated the plot, excavating the oil pipeline, then building the most striking home you have ever seen in the resulting trench. Brown is a pal of mine, and this is where I stay when I'm in Austin, and I can promise you, the pictures don't do it justice:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/style/christopher-brown-edgeland-house-austin/

Formally, A Natural History of Empty Lots is a memoir that explains all of this. But not really. Like I say, this is just the back story. What Natural History really is, is a series of loosely connected essays that explains how everything fits together: colonial conquest, Brown's failed marriage, his experience as a lawyer learning property law, what he learned by mobilizing that learning to help his neighbors defend the pockets of wildness that refuse to budge.

It's an erudite book, skipping back through millennia of history, sidewise through the ecology of Texas, all while somehow serving as a kind of spotter's guide to the wild things you can see in Austin – and maybe, in your town – if you know how to look. It's a book about how people change the land, and how the land changes people. It is filled with pastoral writing that summons Kim Stanley Robinson by way of Thoreau, and it sometimes frames its philosophical points the way a cyberpunk writer would – like Neal Stephenson writing a cyberpunk trilogy that is also the story of Leibniz and Newton fighting over credit for inventing calculus:

https://memex.craphound.com/2004/11/20/neal-stephensons-system-of-the-world-concludes-the-baroque-trilogy/

Brown is a stupendous post-cyberpunk writer, and also a post-cyberpunk person, which I've known for sure since I happened upon him one morning, thoughtfully mowing his roof with a scythe:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/46433979075/

You can get a sense of what that means in this lockdown-era joint presentation that Chris, Bruce Sterling and I did on "cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk":

https://archive.org/details/asl-cyberpunk

Brown is a spectacular novelist. His ecofascist civil war trilogy that opens with Tropic of Kansas got so much right about the politics of American demagoguery and was perfectly timed with the Trump presidency:

https://memex.craphound.com/2017/07/11/tropic-of-kansas-making-america-great-again-considered-harmful/

The sequel, Rule of Capture, uses the device of courtroom drama in a way that comes uncomfortably close to the Orwell/Kafka mashup that the authorities have created to deal with environmental protesters:

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/08/12/rule-of-capture-inside-the-martial-law-tribunals-that-will-come-when-climate-deniers-become-climate-looters-and-start-rendering-environmentalists-for-offshore-torture/

And the final volume, Failed State, is one of the most complicated complicated utopias you could ask for. This is what people mean by "thrilling conclusion":

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/12/failed-state/#chris-brown

As brilliant as Brown is in fiction mode, his nonfiction is unclassifiably, unforgettably brilliant. A Natural History of Empty Lots is the kind of book that challenges how you feel about the crossroads we're at, the place you live, and the place you want to be.

The paperback edition of The Lost Cause, my nationally bestselling, hopeful solarpunk novel is out this month!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/17/cyberpunk-pastoralism/#time-to-mow-the-roof

[perpendicularpotatoes]

"Sodomy and the pirate tradition" (B. R. Burg, 1983)

Short intermission from fanart: I recently learned that there is a 1983 book called "Sodomy and the pirate tradition" and it got fucking Blackbeard on the cover 🤣🤣🤣

Just wanted everyone to know about that.

The author is still alive and seems very cool. His attitude on the back cover was basically:

I'm not saying all pirates are gay and I'm definitely not trying to argue the obvious and indisputable fact that they had tons of gay sex. I want to look at what homosexuality being okay and even encouraged meant for pirate society.

When I posted this on Reddit a month ago I was informed that he is still very much alive and super excited about OFMD, hadn't watched it yet though because he's hard of hearing and wasn't sure how to at the time the commenter talked to him which is both heart-warming and heart-breaking. 🥺

I hope he's figured it out by now.

(I was able to get a free ebook version through a university library BTW. Haven't gotten around to reading it yet though)

[loryn-art]

2 am sketches preview - a little update on my version of child!Qilby !

In my Child!Qilby-verse he still doesn't have his memory back before he's 6-7 years old. I like to think he's enjoying a normal child life at least for a short period of time.

Descriptions translator :

Left handed

Tall for his age

(About a certain book he keeps borrowing at the library) "This book again ? it's the third time this month !"

[cripplecharacters]

i'm debating giving one of my OCs strabismus exotropia. the work/story is YA SFF. part of my reasoning is he's one of two characters in the group who's the Brains, his specialty being history and languages, and his magic relates to mind reading and telekinesis, and i know too often characters with eye differences are portrayed as the opposite of smart. one of his big hobbies is reading and i know strabismus can affect it bc of focus/headaches, so i thought maybe reading/being fluent in braille could help him engage in his hobby when actual reading is getting on his nerves / refer to his amblyopic eye as his "permanent side eye" as he can be quite critical of others sometimes. his personality is being smug but normally right and very sure of himself (though not without his insecurities), he's seen as a bit of a Pretty Boy (handsome), and is the youngest of his group of friends so they do look out for and protect him a bit more. is there anything else i should look out for, or any way i may be playing into tropes i'm unaware of? he's also queer (gay) and brown (pakistani coded) if that helps any provide context, and has an antagonistic bickering but genuine friendship with another boy (the other brains) that eventually develops into a romance

Hello!

In general, this sounds like a perfectly fine character concept and there's nothing about his personality/portrayal that's immediately jumping out at me. He sounds like a well rounded character, which is something I'm very glad to see!

One thing I would like to mention is that, while braille may be a useful tool for him at times, it's not likely to be a feasible solution for his day-to-day life.

Braille books aren't like regular printed books, there are quite a few differences that make them much more difficult to use:

Size:

Braille books aren't easy to carry around. With the possible exception of some smaller children's books, most are pretty thick and VERY heavy. In fact, many braille books are split up into several separate volumes for this reason.

To put the difference into perspective, let's look at The Fellowship of the Ring (The first Lord of the Rings book).

A standard printed copy generally weighs around 1.5 lbs, give or take a bit if it's a hardcover. A braille copy of the same book weighs over 15 lbs.

This printed copy has 432 pages including pages for spacing, author's notes, etc. The braille copy has 873, not including any non-text pages.

The physical dimensions of braille vs printed books also differs greatly. While a printed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring may easily fit in a small bag or even a pocket, the braille copy is around the size of a standard three ring binder (In terms of length and width at least).

This is all to say that taking a braille book with him out on the go wouldn't exactly be a simple task and, because of how braille is read, reading on the bus or on a park bench or anywhere that isn't a flat surface without disruption wouldn't be a possibility.

Cost:

Aside from the problems with physically reading and using braille books, it's also very difficult to acquire them in the first place. Braille books are EXPENSIVE.

Depending on the availability of the book, the size, and the popularity, a single braille novel can go for anywhere from 50$ to well over 300$ (In Canadian dollars).

The hardcover printed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring mentioned before costs around 25$ (Again, in Canadian dollars). The braille version ranges from around 150$ to 225$ depending on the type of braille.

And if your character wants to request a less popular book, it can still be pretty expensive. There's a wide range of factors that can affect the cost and it varies so wildly that it's hard to get a reliable estimate but they could be looking at anywhere between 5$ - 50$ per page.

Although some libraries may have braille books and there are several virtual libraries for the blind with braille books, it can still get very pricey for them to build up their own collection.

Availability:

In part because of this cost, there is a very low availability of braille titles compared to printed titles.

If your character is into more popular books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or some of the classics, they'll have little issues finding a copy.

Beyond that, unfortunately, they'd be out of luck. If a book isn't incredibly well known, it's a very slim chance of there being a braille version. Likewise, there's also very low chances of finding more recent releases.

Even one of my old favourites, The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- which was written around ten years ago and is fairly popular, doesn't have any braille copies.

While it is possible to get a book printed in braille for yourself, the costs of it can get quite high (As shown above) and it's not generally an option that people go for.

Durability:

The last point I want to make is that braille books don't last as long as printed books. Although braille is read with a light touch, the braille does get worn down over time.

Library books in particular are an unfortunate victim to this. Because so many different people are borrowing the books, they often get worn down much quicker. This can be because of new braille readers using a harsher touch when reading or it could be because of improper storage, either from the readers or from the library itself. It's less likely that somebody will notice when the braille is worn down.

The braille itself isn't the only concern. A lot of braille books are bound differently than printed books are and often use plastic for the bindings, which requires more care than the usual bindings of printed books. I've included an example of what a braille book may look like below.

[Image Description: A braille copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. It is open to a tactile map of Middle Earth. The binding is made of small, circular pieces of plastic, similar to a notebook of sorts. End ID.]

Now, this all isn't to say that he can't use braille books -- these are just some things to consider. And if you do choose to go in a different direction, may I suggest audio books?

Audio books have a wider availability than braille books do and are much less costly. There's also the added benefit of being able to take them pretty much everywhere with you, as long as you have one or two downloaded to your phone.

You could also go with having a balance of the two. Maybe your character uses audio books with his headphones or earbuds during the day and reads his braille books at home so he can give his ears a break from his headphones/earbuds.

Another option is large print books or e-books that allow you to adjust the font size, which could make it easier for your character to read them. There are also other strategies that he could use when reading regular printed books, such as covering an eye or using a bookmark to sort of box in the lines as he reads.

As one quick final note: Reading braille is actual reading! Braille is just another language with a different -- not lesser! -- method of reading it.

Hopefully some of this information helps! If you're interested in knowing more about the specifics of braille books, Blind In Mind's Braille Bookstore has a lot of great resources and their copy of The Fellowship of the Ring is the one I've been referencing.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[feroshgirlsims]

Chapter 4.1 - Dating for Weirdos

ALICE

Alice agreed to meet Vlad at the library because she had a class nearby, and for once in her natural life, she wanted to be on time. Plus, she needed the extra fifteen minutes to give herself a completely normal, very-relaxed pep talk about not farting.

Or saying something nuts.

Or doing anything that would screw up the first date she’s had the courage to make since she broke up with Jeffery. 

Fuck, why did her mom have to call and ask a million questions about her flight home for fall break? It's not her fault that she forgot to buy the tickets two weeks ago before the price went up.

…okay, it was kind of her fault, but her mother freaking out because Alice planned to ask her dad for help was not. If there was one thing Cyrus Martin did well, it was to give Alice money. 

Ugh, she needed to stop thinking about marriages ending in divorce. She needed to stop thinking about marriage. She needed to stop—

“Alice?”

Shit. She whirls around to find Vlad standing by the bike rack.

“I’m Vladislaus,” he says as if she hadn’t seen his picture and wouldn’t know those cheekbones any-fucking place.

He’s tall and angular, with a deeply off-putting aura that makes her want to curl up beside him. Alice has always been a glutton for punishment, and no amount of lecturing herself to stay away from dangerous things has worked. 

“We arranged a date,” he continues, “I’ve spent the past week or so disabusing you of your wretched Tea & Treachery opinions. You think I’m pretentious, and my theories are shit, but you still agreed to meet.”

Holy Mother Watcher. Vlad writes like a Simlish Literature Textbook and talks like one too—crisp and precise, an odd combination of casual and antiquated, catnip for an audio girly like her.

“I promise I’m chill,” Alice blurts out, even though she is not. Chill is like a country in SimNation she’s never been to because she doesn’t have a passport. 

“Er…I-I mean, I just knew if I went back to my dorm after class, something catastrophic would happen, and I’d never make it on time.”

Vlad tilts his head, intrigued. “What kind of catastrophe?”

“The worst kind,” she replies with mock seriousness. “Llama attack, building fire, walking past my laptop, and then remembering the video I was watching earlier.”

His gaze shifts to the library's entrance. He looks distracted.

Fuck. That went south.

Suddenly, his attention snaps back, and he grins. “So many potential dangers. It’s a wonder you arrived at all.”

“I’m smart,” she replies, hiding her relief, “Resourceful. Faultless.”

“I see,” he chuckles, “Now, should we mark you safe from this catastrophe on Social Bunny, or do you want to keep your survival a secret?”

His laugh is like a prize Alice wants to win again. If he’s laughing, then he’s happy, and she’s not completely screwing this up. “Let’s keep this between you and me for now. Who knows how many of my enemies have also survived?”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Vlad agrees. “Who’s on your list?” His eyes glitter with something that looks like excitement. 

But that doesn’t make sense. It’s a joke. It has to be. 

“No one, really,” she lies, ignoring the dark part of her that wants to give him a name, “I was just being silly. Should we head out?”

PREV | NEXT

(Part 1 of 4)

If you prefer the long-form version of this chapter. You can read it here on my WordPress.

[deathspremonition]

after a month i have xkit here. yippie

[tinyowlet]

[ithinkdogshouldvote]

Terry I love you. You are so weird. WHY do you have a sword????

[brandirecognition]

having fun isn't hard...all you need to do is support your local library! don't be intimidated -- here are some simple steps that you can take!

[fistfuloflightning]

Winterfell

[hongluboobs]

Hey girl you must be an angel. because a

[yoestuveaquiunavezfrases21]

2245- Silenciar una versión es una peculiar forma de hacer mal.

[mikeystrawberry]

It’s here!! A playlist compiling every song reference made in the main campaign, with a playlist cover illustrated by yours truly

[farsight-the-char]

The End and The Death vol III - Oll Persson stands his ground against Horus. By Mikhail Savier

[tarobii]

honkai star rail x project moon

I had a thought and I had to bring it to fruition