rinsemiddlebliss
"At the mercy of the geography"
The state monopoly on violence
How it works and how it stops working
by AK Krajewska
If you enter into a contract with the Mob and fail to deliver the goods, they will send a representative around to break your knees. If you enter into a contract with an organization following the rule of law in a place where rule of law obtains and fail to deliver the goods, they will attempt to... Continue reading (1291 words)
It's peak Turrell skyspace viewing season
Go see The Three Gems by James Turrell at sunset
by AK Krajewska
Right now--the next two weeks--is the best time to go see The Three Gems, the James Turrell skyspace in San Francisco. The skyspace is like a little adobe house with a round hole in the roof through which you look at the sky. It's designed so that if you look at the sky as it's changing color... Continue reading (562 words)
Artificial wombs
A brief history of ectogenesis
by AK Krajewska
A conversation about uterine replicators in Lois McMaster Bujold's work made me curious about the history of the idea of artificial wombs. When do exo-wombs first appear in literature? And when do they first appear as a positive idea? I worked backwards from Bujold to the first mentions I could... Continue reading (845 words)
Plein air in San Francisco
Hills and the ocean
by AK Krajewska
It's been an exhausting week. I feel out of words because I've used up all my words doing my job which is a job about words. I'm also exhausted because I cope with anxiety about the state of the world by working extra hard. I'm pretty good at my job and generally it makes me feel in control--and... Continue reading (573 words)
The consolations of philosophy
by AK Krajewska
Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy in 523 while in prison awaiting execution[1]. In it, Philosophy, personified as a woman, visits him in his prison cell and talks him down from his despair. She explains where true... Continue reading (1155 words)
Yes on K
Turn the Great Highway into a great park
by AK Krajewska
I live in San Francisco and I am voting Yes on proposition K. Prop K would turn the Upper Great Highway into a permanent ocean-side park. The Great Highway is already closed to car traffic on weekends, which is how we know it's really lovely to have it as a park. The experiment started around the... Continue reading (1481 words)
Cosmic horror but make it funny
I'd also take planetary romance that's a also romance-romance
by AK Krajewska
Late October is that time when the mind, conditioned by years of half-assed NaNoWriMo attempts, turns to the thought of the fantasy of writing fantasy and science fiction, maybe whole novels of it. I used to think, I must write a novel or I'll be a failure. After years of not writing a novel, I... Continue reading (1492 words)
Blow your cooldowns
A.B.C.: Always Be Comparing
by AK Krajewska
You're going to want to save the special stuff for the right moment. That's the instinct. That's my instinct anyway. Limited use items in D&D, special consumables in Final Fantasy X, and long-cooldown abilities in World of Warcraft--whatever it is, I want to hold on to it, to wait until I... Continue reading (1335 words)
CAT FAQs
Frequently asked questions about my cat
by AK Krajewska
If this blog had comments, people might have asked questions about my cat when I gave her her 90-day performance review evaluating how she's doing in her role as a senior cat. As it does not, I have instead had to do as... Continue reading (1104 words)
90-day performance review for a senior cat
Her job is cat
by AK Krajewska
Good evening, Shinjuku. In a few days, you will reach your 3-month mark in this household, and so I would like to take this time to deliver your formal 90-day performance evaluation. As a cat, you may not be aware of the passage of time in terms of calendar days. You also don't know how to read,... Continue reading (1268 words)
