jeffc

jeffc, 6 hours ago

@VisualInspiration
Style, that's the thing. Do it with panache.

Browns makes the best boots, but they're ugly. If one wanted to change the situation, one would need to blend with the Kowloon ship traffic, like so. Then slip into their factory control, like so. One would--oops! avoid those cameras, perhaps by (carefully) walking across the beam they hang from. Then update the design... and everyone gets nicer boots. With (ding!) a special delivery for oneself.

Aways with panache.
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 1 day ago

@VisualInspiration

"There's not enough room in the bunker for us and his new family. He knows that."

"But it's gotten dangerous out there! When we were his age, chain twisters and hurricane trains didn't even exist. What if they take the bunker and we go on the road?"

"I suggested that. He wouldn't hear of it. He said we wouldn't stand a chance out there. She grew up as a New Nomad. She knows how to dodge the weather. It scares me, too, but they'll be ok."

#MicroFiction

jeffc, 8 hours ago

@VisualInspiration
Here's hoping Mother Nature doesn't give us a preview this year!

jeffc, 1 day ago

@VisualInspiration

"No, I'm not going to tell a campfire story. I'm an axe. I chop things. That's what I do. That's all I do, and I'm very good at it. I might be a magic axe, but that just makes me better at chopping. You want a story? Ask your smart phone. You can get them to do anything for a few coppers."

"I heard that."

#MicroFiction

jeffc, 3 days ago

@VisualInspiration
When Toothbrush was old enough, Modem Song took him to see the spirit casks.

"The Old Tribe made spirits work for them. There, in the white tower. Then they put them in these casks. The spirits are still angry--feel the warmth? They give anyone who gets too close strange diseases. This symbol is an Old Tribe warning. There's good hunting here in the winter, but don't go near the casks."

"How long will they stay angry?"

"Thousands of years? Who can say."
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 6 days ago

@VisualInspiration

Basically, I'm in solitary for the duration. (Don't never piss off no warden.) I'd be crazy if I hadn't found the gate.

It's in the cell, but you can only see it from certain angles. Go wherever you want; time stops while you're gone. Stay too long, it'll yoink you back.

I got no money 'cept what I can make on day job, so I'm "on a budget," but it keeps me sane while I'm doing time. Even if the clock stops while I'm gone.

#MicroFiction

jeffc, 8 days ago

@biped808 Sorry for the grayness! We have May gray and June gloom, but they're kind of like our climate control: they (and the ocean the leads to them) keep the temperature moderate instead of desert-like extremes.

jeffc, 7 days ago

@biped808
I didn't take it that way--sorry if I sounded defensive! Enjoy your trip!

jeffc, 8 days ago

@VisualInspiration

Sometimes the moon's so big and close you feel like you could touch it, you know?

Thing is, you can.

I tried once. First I touched it. Then I tried stepping over, but it was too hot and cold all at the same time.

So I wrapped myself up in a bunch of space blankets, the shiny kind, and got some good boots, and tried again.

It worked.

I could walk around up there.

So if you look at the moon and see something shiny, it's me. Wave, and I'll wave back.
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 8 days ago

@VisualInspiration
Thanks!

jeffc, 9 days ago

@z_everson
@Forbes
It's been a busy week for team Trump Media: a "we're blowing our deadline" notice and several "interesting" 8-Ks.

Here's the notice: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001849635/000114036124026277/ny20026576x18_nt10q.htm

jeffc, 9 days ago

@VisualInspiration
I'm an Earth-head. Always have been. So 40 years ago I figured I'd try to trade with them, maybe score a Walkman. I painted the saucer like one of their shuttles and snuck into their spaceport.

As soon as I landed, they came boiling out, and they looked mad. I jumped back in and took off. Then I realized I'd dropped my phone.

Today I see a native on a phone that looks like mine. I guess they reverse-engineered it. I sure hope they don't figure out the AI part.
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 9 days ago

@ixtlidekami @VisualInspiration Turn it into an acronym, then anyone who wants to rename it also has to come up with an acronym: defensive linguistics for the win!

jeffc, 10 days ago

@VisualInspiration

"Have you seen my arm?"

"It's not with your other parts?"

"Find My Body Parts says it's around here somewhere. What a pain! The world's gone virtual. Why do we still have to vote in person?"

"They were worried about vote fraud. You could skip it."

"After the Great Mess? No way."

"Found it!"

"Where was it?"

"On the table, thumbs-up, with an 'I Voted' sticker."

"Oh! From the selfie last time!"
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 11 days ago

@VisualInspiration

"It's just floating there."

"I know."

"There's a force field. No-one can get near it."

"Yeah, I know. Even 'People' said that."

"I want to see it."

"Why go see a used car?"

"Huh?"

"It's like a parked car with a 'For Sale' sign. UFO for sale."

"I wonder how much they want for it."

"You couldn't fly it."

"I could learn."

"You're crazy."

"Bet all the celebs in 'People' would want a ride."

"Huh... I wonder how much they want for it."
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 11 days ago

@VisualInspiration
Now I have this vision of a UFO yard sale, where they've laid out tables full of magazines pulled from different points in Earth's history. "Check it out: Scientific American, volume 1! And look at this pamphlet from 1790!"

jeffc, 13 days ago

@hrefna
One odd thing about the Fediverse how your view of it changes with your location. Things that are obvious from one point of view can be mysterious from another. I usually let it go, and maybe I should do that here, but I wonder what context I've missed.

I routinely see posts from George Takai at universeodon. Is hachyderm blocking universeodon?

jeffc, 13 days ago

@sourcejedi
@hrefna Ah, thank you. That clarifies the situation.

jeffc, 13 days ago

@VisualInspiration
"Why's reality offline?"

"A couple white holes blew so we paused spacetime. Engineering's working on it."

"Any calls?"

"Some of the Advanced civilizations. Once I explained, they were chill."

"You don't make it to Advanced unless you're chill. What about the Precocious ones?"

"They might notice after the restart."

"Let me know if any do. I might recruit them. A stint Backstage may be the push they need, and we could use the help."
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 12 days ago

@VisualInspiration
At some point a civilization figured out, first, that they were alone with no one to talk to, and second, that other civilizations were more likely to appear if there was a spacetime.

So they created it.

jeffc, 13 days ago

@VisualInspiration
The bus pulled up and Trilobite leaned out. "Extinction line?"

"Yeah," said Bear, "guess so. You been picking up a lot?"

"Not as bad as after the astroid. That line went around the block. But more than usual."

"Human won't be popular when it's Their turn, will They?"

"Could be worse. The Anaerobes still won't talk to the Cyanobacteria. Hey, cheer up. You had a good run. Ground Sloth's looking forward to seeing you."

"Ground Sloth? Really? It's been ages!"
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 15 days ago

@VisualInspiration
Tycho Base. Officially we're trying to breed crops that can survive the lunar day/night cycle. But we could have done that on Earth.

On Earth, you can be selfish or lazy and smooth it over with a lie. Not so here. Leave the airlock open? You die. Don't check your seals? You die. Reality is as harsh as a lunar shadow.

That's our real experiment: can we breed a new culture? In the pressure cooker of a hard vacuum, can we create something worth exporting to Earth?
#MicroFiction

jeffc, 16 days ago

@lowqualityfacts
This is actually a late 18th century public safety law, one of the first of its kind, in fact.

It arose after a tragic incident in which a textile worker, apparently unfamiliar with geese, got into an altercation with a goose that had wandered into the factory. The goose knocked the worker into an early automatic loom. The failing loom, in turn, caused a gas explosion, injuring several workers.

By all reports the goose was unharmed.

jeffc, 16 days ago

@VisualInspiration

"Welcome to Draconis Air Taxi. Where to?"

"Wall Street Helipad.... Hey, are you a real dragon?"

"Yeah."

"Why aren't you sleeping on gold in a mountain or something?"

"Crypto crash. I gotta rebuild my nest egg."

"So, like, if I was a knight, would you be scared of me?"

"Nah. The Brits can do what they want. I like that Attenborough guy."

"So maybe I'm a knight who won't pay. What're you going to do about it?"

"We've been known to eat customers."

#MicroFiction

jeffc, 17 days ago

@VisualInspiration
Some of those game shows get into pretty edgy territory.