B Thoreau 🛸

Writing my way out of an interplanetary space battle. Interested in books, science fiction, strategic planning and leadership. #scifi #books #Pekingese

My avatar is Yevgeny Mikoyan, aka Genghis Khan, gamer, and Captain of the Candy Cabal.

Struggling writer. Like, struggling in at least three universes right now.

Joined: Jul 2, 2022
Books, Writing: Science Fiction, Microhistories
Faves: Pekingese Dogs, Triathlons, Rugby, Tacos, K Dramas, Chinese Historical Dramas
Small Confession: Sometimes I chatter on this thing just to save stuff to write about. Don't mind me.

Last Notes

2026-09-14 01:44:32 UTC

Oil is up to 102 US$ per barrel today. The same day in 2016 we were sitting at 30 US$ a barrel, in case anyone was curious.
Hamburger was $4.25 per pound in 2016, and today it is $6.89 per pound.
Average home price was $235,500 in 2016. Today $410, 700.
Average personal income in 2016 was 88,810. Today the average personal income is 63,795.
Lots of mischief afoot. I am not digging this timeline.

2026-08-19 11:19:02 UTC

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I want in!

2026-06-30 02:20:35 UTC

So growing up my family would say, " I am hungry, let's get some grah-doo" or " Do we have any grah-doo, I could eat a horse." We use it to mean snacks, something good to eat.
I was always curious where we got the word grah-doo from, as I had never ever heard another family use it. I thought it was unique family-speak.
It was years before I learned the Cajun French word for the closely related word gradoux (pronounced grah-doo) refering to the flavorful, brown bits of meat and spices stuck to the bottom of a cooking pot. People love snacking on crispy "gradoo."
The thing is, no one in the Family tree was in Louisiana, or was French, or Cajun. I am wondering if the German- Dutch side of the family borrowed it from the French.
I was reminded of it when my seven year old nephew walked into my kitchen and asked if I had any grahdoo? Thus another generation inherits the mystery word.
#words

2026-02-21 22:32:55 UTC

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I would not mind buying a record player and picking up some vinyl, just for sheer nostalgia, but they priced me out of the market. 65 bucks? 80 bucks? Nooo thank you.

2025-11-27 14:09:27 UTC

Is it okay if I commit some kind of heresy and say I don't understand the point of parades?
Specifically, I don't understand the fun of marching in a parade. It's hot, sweaty, you walk at weird unnatural paces, hearing the same loud music over and over again, while people stare at you.
#IntrovertNightmare

2025-11-16 16:10:10 UTC

It is nice to have the bees win one. And a kid.
When the city tried to take a 10-year-old’s bees, hundreds rallied behind him.
#bees #beekeeping
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/11/16/bee-kid-law-california/

2025-11-10 04:28:20 UTC

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This reminds me of being a kid in Washington state. We'd end up having games in the snow by the end of the season.
In 1980's short soccer shorts, your legs would be red as tomatoes. Your cleats would be soaking wet by the end of the game. Need to do a throw-in? Good luck feeling your fingers.
The coach would bark, "Are you cold? You are not running enough!"

2025-10-23 11:15:07 UTC

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Listen, I have broken up so many fights in my life, I can't even count. Big fights, little fights, attacks from behind, gang-related, planned coordinated events, crimes of opportunity. I have spent hours investigating these events, questioning participants, studying camera footage.
People do things sometimes for deliberate reasons, but often it is blind unthinking rage. "He looked at me." Is one of my favorites to unpack. Dehumanization, unfettered emotion, stupidity.

2025-10-23 10:45:59 UTC

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it is logical though. When you feel weak and helpless and alone, like you can't find a job, no one is listening to you, you yearn to feel strong and have a purpose.
The feeling of learning martial arts, of being part of a group, gives your days purpose and a feeling of strength, rather than your family, your work, the community. It turns into Proud Boys in the US, groups use gun clubs and survivalist groups to lure people in.
How can we help young people better connect?

2025-10-23 10:28:27 UTC

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in Algeria back in the early 90's, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) did the same thing. They started karate clubs to lure young men in. They lured in the unemployed youth and then high school boys who started dropping out of school to go to madrassas and karate clubs. She was a math teacher then.
Khalida Toumi (Messaoudi), describes this in her biography "Unbowed: An Algerian Women Confronts Islamic Fundamentalism." She described the FIS as 100% a totalitarian populist force.

2024-09-29 12:29:32 UTC

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I have to get more disciplined in general. It is hard with a full-time job where I also do a lot of technical writing and very tedious computer work. By the time I get home, my brain is spent, except for writing poetry scribbles in a journal!
It is time to recommit to a planned schedule for novel writing (for me).

2024-09-29 12:10:11 UTC

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I noticed you are an early riser! Do you do most of your writing in the morning?

2024-08-16 01:57:45 UTC

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So sayeth we all!
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/969/216/862/010/783/original/7ec60a7433a1b7a7.jpg

2024-08-16 01:52:26 UTC

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All you did is make me hungry right now. And think about the cheese in my fridge. 😆