Kate Blair

Large tortoiseshell butterfly confirmed no longer extinct in UK Early spring sightings show colourful insect is a resident species for first time in decades, says conservation charity

Some small good news. There is a little more beauty back in the UK . www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This makes me happy and reflects my reality. The vast majority of Canadians are a good bunch of people (and, here in Toronto in particular, come from all over the world).

Thank you. This article really answered a load of the ‘what might happen now?’ questions I had.

Of course, the answers aren’t reassuring.

I’m so sorry. I hope you get good news soon.

I’m sorry. I hope they are able to stay safe, and that you hear soon.

Renewables become biggest source of electricity globally for 1st time, beating coal | CBC News Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, according to a new an...

This is from last year, but I’m still super happy about it.

www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Researchers praise ‘stunning’ results of new prostate cancer treatment Early trials of the drug VIR-5500 showed it shrinking tumours in some patients

I think I’m going to go back to posting some good news for a bit.
Look! www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

This is beyond heartbreaking. There has been a long, expensive coordinated campaign to make this happen.

me to others: it's hard right now. be gentle with yourself
me to me: wtf is wrong with you

BNP to EDL to Restore (often with a stint in Brexit/Reform along the way).
Racism is a depressingly consistent thread in the UK.

COMING THIS APRIL: Becalming by Aga Maksimowska

Gosia feels stalled in her life, but a family trip opens her eyes to the life she has … and the life she wants.

Pre-order today: buff.ly/ubgNTXM

Happy Public Lending Rights day to all Canadian authors! And thank you so much to everyone who took one of my books out from a library!

So be honest. If your books are AI, say so! Then people who like AI books can read them.

But the whole idea here is not to provide something someone wants to read. It’s to trick people into reading a few pages of a book they will give up on in frustration. Slopper is paid by the page by AU.

I would be willing to bet there was a very hefty spend on Amazon promotion, and possibly fake reviews, that cut into this amount in an extremely significant way. If it were so profitable with such little effort, she wouldn’t be trying to sell courses on how to do it. She’d be all in on slop.

About that NYT article on the AI romance ‘writer’. These are not books. She is not a writer. This is not publishing and is certainly not the future of publishing. It is a scam to trick people into flicking through enough pages to grift a system into paying her for wasting other people’s time.

It is the WORST. I hate it and I want the old version back.

A ridiculously adorable hedgehog being held by a person wearing blue. It is looking at the camera with an adorably inquisitive expression.

Had a wonderful time at the OLA Superconference. Did a short presentation, signed a load of books, & saw lots of lovely author friends.

I only got photos of my friends when they were pulling uncharacteristically unflattering expressions, so here’s a picture of a hedgehog I met instead.

Grindcore is the new hustle culture In Silicon Valley, long hours have fused with a monastic male wellness aesthetic

I read this, and I am freshly reminded that one of the most important insights in humanism is that this our one and only life.

North of the city. 4.1 magnitude.

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

Earthquake in Toronto?

Just got to the office! An hour & 45 mins.

I made it across the Don! I usually get to St George in about 25-30mins (then take subway south), but am at 1h 20mins so far (have reached Sherbourne).

I thought I heard ‘cleared’ on the last garbled announcement, so it might be a competitive race!

*waves from the subway, which did resume, but is now stopped again*

Liking isn’t the right response. We need a ‘solidarity’ button for me to use here.

Call it, you cowards!

A back deck with extremely deep snow and two tall mounds of white that may conceal a chair and a table. Or possibly snow monsters. There’s no way to tell.

I’m pretty sure we had some patio furniture out here earlier.

People are snowshoeing and skiing down my road.

Toronto District School policy means my kids have outdoor recess if it’s warmer than -28c. This is hilarious.

This happened to me after a major snowstorm last Thursday. I have been sleeping in the kids’ bedrooms since. You have my deepest sympathies.