Hello to every one of my three or four readers. Welcome to 2024!

Here at the Library of Winkelman Abbey, things are quiet so far. Our comfort watch for the past couple of years has been Doctor Who. We have just started series 10, the last season with Peter Capaldi.

I expected to write a lot more for this entry but instead found myself laid up with two cracked teeth, one of which became infected. So distracted by pain and sleep deprivation, instead I watched tv. Maybe better writing next week.

Reading

I am still working my way through Dostoevsky’s Demons, which I hope to complete by the end of the month. It is slow going.

Writing

Last week’s writing prompt was:
Subject: Robots, Undead
Setting: Bar
Genre: Weird Fiction

Weekly prompt

Interesting Links

• The 2024 State of the World conversation is currently taking place at The Well.
• “January 1, 2024 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1928 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1923!” –  Loads of old creative works from 1923 are now part of the public domain. For a full list, see the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries 1923.
• “As Death Toll in Gaza Rises, Israeli Officials Fear Possible Genocide Charges at ICJ” (Common Dreams) – And an explainer article from Vox here.
• “How the ‘visionaries’ of Silicon Valley mean profits are prioritised over true technological progress” (The Conversation)
• “An Anti-Defense of Science Fiction” (Jake Casella Brookins, The Ancillary Review of Books) – Truly excellent essay on why, if we’re going to give SF credit for the good things it has inspired, we must also blame SF for all of the bad things which it has inspired.