The Wordsmith's Forge

What is nostalgia?

I’ve been reflecting on nostalgia lately,
specifically regarding the differences
between growing up in the '80s and '90s
versus the experience of kids today.

It is extremely different, and I suspect that the bad changes outweigh the good ones, considering the generally poor health of young people today.

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APRIL 2026 BOOK: A MAGIC STEEPED IN POISON on bookclub_dw

Hello! After a close fought battle, the winner for April is: A Magic Steeped In Poison by Judy I. Lin.

The Quiet Alliance That Helps Cities Change

In city after city, a quiet alliance often develops between two people who rarely coordinate directly: the resident pushing from outside city hall and the staff member working inside it.

One pushes from outside. The other nudges from within.

This informal partnership rarely appears on an organizational chart, yet it turns out to be one of the most reliable ways local change actually happens. A recent story from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, illustrates how this dynamic unfolds, but before getting there it helps to understand the environment inside local government that makes this relationship so important.


Nagging as an activism tactic.

"'We were there in the 80s for the crash, and this is definitely crashier.'"

guess I can get where they're coming from, but I don't think the current video game industry crash feels, specifically, "crashier." It feels worse and bigger, most definitely, which is what they meant, I'm sure, but it doesn't really feel much like an actual "crash" at all, at least not in the usual sense of such things.


This discussion post links to the original article about problems in the video game industry.

The Costs of Renewable Energy

Experts are really far apart on what such a world-wide renewable infrastructure would cost.


There are also costs other than financial. Take wind power. To flying creatures (bats, birds, butterflies, etc.) those are whirling blades of doom. Less dangerous models exist, but are less popular as they tend to be more expensive and/or less efficient. Then there is the problem of noise and vibration. Up close, it's usually miserable for people. Farther away, even the subliminal effects can cause problems like headaches and distraction. In other words, it's not good to put a wind farm near where people live, where "near" can mean 3-5 miles.

AO3 BS

AO3 is apparently crashing out again... Le sigh, do NOT get me wrong I do adore that site (for reading... I've yet to use it as a writer) but damn this just keeps happening.

Frequent service outage is one of the later signs of platform degradation heading for collapse. Always stay alert for warning signs, because they help you save your data and shore up contact with friends before it is too late.

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New Worlds: Miscellaneous Arts

Throughout the art sections of this Patreon, I've been grouping them into broad categories: visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, and so forth. But what about the arts that are kinda of . . . none of the above?


This is a fun ramble through many different arts and crafts.

When you're surfing the web & face a tsunami, make home under a bridge along the information highway

I hereby propose the term "The Under-net" (or "The Undernet") to refer to our preparation for and relationship with whatever (if anything) will be left for us in a future Internet dominated by unending, disingenuous, grifting slop.


This is an analysis of what's wrong with the Internet and some things we can do to improve it, as a form of resistance against corporate takeovers and enshittification.