Optional's Blog
Last posted on the 7th of February, 2026.
Currently at 145 posts total.
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From /books
Poor Things | Alasdair Gray
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All Systems Red | Martha Wells
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Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket | Hilma Wolitzer
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Der Belgische Konsul (orig. Premier sang) | Amélie Nothomb
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The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics | Olivia Waite
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Das Meer der Aswang | Allan N. Derain
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BLAME! | written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei
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Audition | Katie Kitamura
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Awkwardness: A Theory | Alexandra Plakias
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From /misc
"AI" is like…
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From /misc
Obsidian Bases Tips and Tricks
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From /books
Permutation City | Greg Egan
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By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept | Elizabeth Smart
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Prophet Song | Paul Lynch
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Lebensgeister (orig. "Sweet Hereafter") | Banana Yoshimoto
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Creation of the Gods (often also "Investiture of the Gods," orig. 封神演義) | translation by Gu Zhizhong
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Claimed! | Gertrude Barrows Bennett
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Seven Sons | Robert Windom, Kelvin Mao, illustrated by Jae Lee
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From /misc
Building A Better Keyboard
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21C Human | Arch Hades
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Happy End (orig. Riquet à la houppe) | Amélie Nothomb
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From /misc
Keyboards Are Terrible
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You Need An Email Aliasing Service
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Why You Should Give Kagi A Try
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From /fiction
Leave A Like
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From /misc
That Study About AI is Making People Dumber
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From /books
All About Love: New Visions | bell hooks
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Why I switched from writefreely to zola
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The Light Fantastic | Terry Pratchett
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The Colour of Magic | Terry Pratchett
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Starship Troopers | Robert A. Heinlein
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | Susanna Clarke
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Ambivalenz (orig. Les prénoms épicènes) | Amélie Nothomb
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Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction | Michael Tanner
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Thirst (orig. Soif) | Amélie Nothomb
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The Wave | Todd Strasser
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The Eyes Are The Best Part | Monika Kim
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Notes on Complexity | Neil Thiese
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The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England | Brandon Sanderson
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From /fiction
November 2023 Overview and eBook
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Gods of Want | K-Ming Chang
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Die Scareman-Saga 12: Allianz der Hoffnung | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 11: Das Blaue vom Himmel | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 10: Die Bio-Bombe | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 9: Karawane der Verlorenen | Sylke Brandt
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Die Scareman-Saga 8: Reise ins Blaue | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 7: Krötenrebellion | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 6: Blutige Erkenntnis | Dirk van den Boom
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Zombies in Western Culture | John Vervaeke, Filip Miscevic, Christopher Mastropietro
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From /misc
Some Thoughts on Managing Personal Projects
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Die Scareman-Saga 5: Das Ende Der Gewissheit | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 4: Fabrik der Zahlen | Sylke Brandt
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Die Scareman-Saga 3: Herr des Meeres, Herr des Blutes | Dirk van den Boom
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Die Scareman-Saga 2: Der Eine | Dirk van den Boom
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Ein Scareman erwacht | Dirk van den Boom
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From /misc
What's so Great About «the forest jar»?
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Torture The Artist | Joey Goebel
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Bluebeard's Castle | Anna Biller
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Wintersmith | Terry Pratchett
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Victory City | Salman Rushdie
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Veronika Decides to Die (orig. Veronika Decide Morrer) | Paulo Coelho
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Tokyo Fiancée (orig. Ni d’Ève, ni d’Adam) | Amélie Nothomb
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The Vegetarian (orig. 채식주의자) | Han Kang
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The Stepford Wives | Ira Levin
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The Enemy's Cosmetique (orig. Cosmétique de l'ennemi) | Amelie Nothomb
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No One Is Talking About This | Patricia Lookwood
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Antichista (orig. Antéchrista) | Amélie Nothomb
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From /fiction
Escaping Neo Crete
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Carry On
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Rainy Days
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Theme Park
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Extremely Online | Taylor Lorenz
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No Loose Ends
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A Night In Vegas
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Quartz' First Theory
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The Listening Society | Hanzi Freinacht
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Kassandra | Christa Wolf
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From /fiction
Escaping Crete
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Father's Workshop
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The Long Way Home
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Martha
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Fenco
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The Cracked Egg
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At The Café
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Sweet Like Honey
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The Talent Show
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Egg
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A Dance With The Prince
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A Metamorphosis
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The Abandoned House
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From /misc
Installing Castopod 1.6.5 w/ MySQL and behind Caddy
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Hello Spring
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The Dead Lord
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The Buddy Programme
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Tea Party
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Mike
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The Woodcarver
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The Woodcarver's Daughter
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Respite
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Bean Speech
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Clara
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From /books
Treacle Walker | Alan Garner
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From /misc
Optional's Guide to Custom Emoji in Obsidian
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Romeo and Juliet | William Shakespeare
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Pick me Girls | Sophie Passmann
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Alte Sorten | Ewald Arenz
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Diary of An Oxygen Thief | Anonymous
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Men Without Women | Haruki Murakami
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The Princess Bride | S. Morgenstern (Abridgement by William Goldman)
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From /misc
New Sub-Blog for Book Reviews
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The Dispossessed | Ursula K. Le Guin
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The Cockroach | Ian McEwan
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Paper Romance | Arch Hades
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Metamorphoses | Ovid, translation by Charles Martin
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Magdalenas Sünde | Romana Ganzoni
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How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports | Valerie Aurora, Mary Gardiner
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Digitale Bildkulturen | Annekathrin Kohout, Wolfgang Ullrich, Tilman Baumgärtel, Dirk von Gehlen, Diana Weis, Jörg Scheller, Roland Meyer
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Dies ist mein Letztes Lied | Lena Richter
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Desire | Haruki Murakami
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Der Triumph der Waldrebe in Europa | Clemens J. Setz
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Der Sprung | Simone Lappert
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Der Process | Franz Kafka
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Arcadia | Arch Hades
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Alice's Adventures In Wonderland | Lewis Carroll
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A Room of One's Own | Virginia Woolf
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A Philosophy of Loneliness | Lars Svendsen
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A Hat Full of Sky | Terry Pratchett
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From /misc
An Optional selection of Calibration Tools for Pen and Paper Sessions
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Only Bad Posts From Now On
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You Can't Learn From Outlier Events
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AI-Assisted Learning
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Lasers & Feelings Game Wrap
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That Username Is Taken
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The Unlikable "Heroes" of «Belle» (2021)
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An Optional Intro to Pen and Paper
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From /misc
Learning in Life, as Seen in «Boss Level» (2021)
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An diesem Film ist nichts «Wunderschön» (2022)
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"Immoral Behaviour Is Good, Actually," Says Professional Ethicist
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Meeting Up At Your Password
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Experiencing Personal Progress
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A Critique Of The New Pokémon Short
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From /misc
What Is This Blog?
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How do you experience progress in your life?
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