#Spooktober 22: The Spectre Barber

October 22, 2024

Today’s reading on my Patreon is “The Spectre Barber” by Johann Karl August Musäus translated and collected by Helen Smith in The Decameron of the West (1839).

architecture, engineering and construction

To lie or to lose? The tendering dilemma

On unreasonable LOD requirements, dishonest tenders, and who really benefits A friend called me last week. BIM consultant, hands-on experience, knows what he’s doing. The situation he described was nothing new to me, yet it hit the same way it always does. The call He’s

June 24, 2026 9:00 am

books and literature

Arthur Machen’s Ornaments in Jade

Arthur Machen (1863–1947), born Arthur Llewellyn Jones, was an influential Welsh novelist and essayist widely regarded as a forerunner of 20th-century Gothic science fiction and a pioneer of “weird fiction,” so it’s a man after my own heart. Machen lived most of his life in

June 21, 2026 9:00 am

movies and tv

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die — and Other Things We Say Instead of Grieving

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a 2025 science fiction comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) and written by Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying). It was released early this year, but I just got around to seeing it now.

June 20, 2026 9:00 am