As far as user caps went, Tenchi Teikoku had one of the lowest in the area. The rumors went that its sysop, who went by the name of Kenoh, ran the board out of his basement with his own equipment and bundled T1 lines. That meant bandwidth into Tenchi was
The other night, Matador had trouble falling asleep. Something was plaguing his little eight-year-old mind, and he tossed and turned in his bed while I lay reading and crying beside him. Not openly, of course. I wasn't bawling. But tears ran down my cheeks, and the same low
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a writer or because of the anxiety disorder that’s been quietly narrating my life since middle school, but I am always listening. People talk, and my brain just… grabs it. Out in public, in movies, in books, in checkout
A friend messaged me the other day. Let's call him Bort. No, let's call him Steve. Steve is a normal and completely real person, just like me, and we share many of the same interests, such as staying healthy, trusting science, and acknowledging the basic human
“Uh… hi, this is Bob Newhart calling from, uh, the… well, I guess you’d call it the ‘Patriotic Apparel Compliance Office,’ if that’s still the name. Right. Good. “…Yes, yes, I got the memo. That’s why I’m calling. I, uh… well, it says here that starting
Spoilers for Death Stranding 2 ahead.
There’s a moment in Hackers when Dade Murphy, aka Crash Override, aka Zero Cool, is poking around Kate Libby’s laptop. He notices the specs and starts rattling them off to prove he's in the know: Dade: It has a killer refresh rate. Kate: P6 chip. Triple
I’ve been trawling through literary agent websites lately, and I’ll tell you what: each one has their own quirky little rules. Some want a guaranteed happily-ever-after. Some will accept robots, but only if they're unattractive. And still others insist that the protagonists must be a lesbian
Last night, for maybe the thousandth time, I watched Hackers on my phone while delivering some packages in Death Stranding 2. It’s the cinematic equivalent of comfort food: dope-ass graphics, neon lighting, and dialogue that I was never cool enough to fully understand. If you’ve spent any time
After more than twenty years in the (self-)publishing world—and eight consecutive New York Times bestsellers—I still get a little thrill every time I open my inbox. It’s not the awards, not the movie deals, not the lavish praise from critics that keeps me going. No, it’
August 5th, 2025. Portland, Oregon. Portland is two hours ahead of Austin, so I woke about 3:45 a.m. ready to conquer the day. Unlike previous adventures where Dom has organized a precise, value-maximizing itinerary for us, this year, I was in charge. In classic Verastiqui style, that meant
August 4, 2025. Portland, Oregon. When I told people we were headed to Portland for our 2025 Family Adventure, the common reaction was: Why? Even Dom, once we arrived, asked more than once: What were you expecting to see? Their skepticism made it seem like Portland was just a random
