hour of the wolfgator

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, your weekly window into whatever's on my mind. 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.There's no real good way to preface this: I'm upgrading to Dad Mode in November. Pre-Dad Mode: UNLOCKED.My wife Mavis and I made the announcement to the world (AKA Facebook) this past Sunday, which also happens to be our wedding anniversary because we're those people. Due date's Nov 1, but I'm hoping for a Halloween baby. Anyone who asks whether it's a girl or a boy will be answered with one of the names we're "considering," which will definitely clear the matter right up:ByniberJaydynsleighAidynaydenTymadimaslynHarpemaysleightonJaydelexiblenJust so you know, the fifth one is pronounced with emphasis on the third syllable ("harp a MAYS lee tun"), lest you be tempted to accent the fourth one ("harp a muh SLAY ton"), which would of course be wrong. Of course. So that's happening! You may be treated to future rambles on impending parenthood in this space; just a heads-up. Interestingly, while I'm not sure what kind of dad I'll be yet -- Lame Jokes Dad? Fun Dad? Bizarre Dad? -- everyone I know is excited to see it, which is heartening but also mildly terrifying. Like: sometimes I wonder if I'm secretly A Monster, and if this kid is going to somehow get passed only my Possibly Monstrous tendencies and none of the good ones everyone else seems to see? This is just a normal thing we all worry about as humans (not to mention incipient parents), right? Feel free to pass along any/all unsolicited advice, which I can promise I'll at least read. 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye.Like so:

• America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People: not a pretty read, but it does offer solutions at the end, so there's that.

• I 100% endorse the act of discovering a new natural phenomenon and literally naming it Steve instead of taking what might be an inaccurate guess as to its underlying cause. Can we get the scientific community to agree to do this more often?

• A chem professor invented an artificial photosynthetic reactor that takes CO2 out of the air and turns it into "solar fuel," a thing I thought was a misnomer until I did some more reading: solar fuels are hydrocarbons synthesized using sunlight instead of prehistoric dead animals, of which we're going to have to eventually acknowledge there's a finite amount.

• I just found out about brain balls, everybody. What are the chances at least one research team has nicknamed one of theirs Krang?

• I cannot take the chance that one of you has failed to read this short but highly illuminating tell-all from somebody who worked behind the scenes at the start of the Fyre Festival debacle, which is solid gold -- if not platinum -- all the way through.

Looky Here

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory Giveaway38 - Wolfgator"Jon (@ferociousj), Besha (@besha), and special guest Yuri (@ync) get into some dog-related matters, contemplate a pressing ontological question regarding lycanthropy, and workshop an unusual murder weapon."Besha returns for the first episode in a while! Also, while I definitely admit that my murder weapon idea is very weird, I still think it'd work. Too bad Mythbusters isn't on anymore.You can subscribe using:iTunesRSSStitcherGoogle Play MusicYou can also just go to the website to play or download episodes:https://ideafactorygiveaway.simplecast.fm/ 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.Some new bars in townThe Disappointed SailorThe Sass HoleSalty Cindy’s Sake & Cider 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.