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Rick Austin (he/him)

@birsy.bsky.social
43 followers 29 following 144 posts

Award-winning author of queer fiction living in Portland, Oregon. Hoping to publish my recently-completed ‘Darum’ trilogy, a queer romantasy set in Portland. Married for over 30 years. Fond of little dogs, high places, and a good old-fashioned. [He/him.]

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Reposted by Rick Austin (he/him)
Kari Maaren @angrykem.bsky.social · 10h
This Is Just to Say I have trained the AI to read to our baby the one you were probably expecting me to interact with Calm down AI is awesome so sweet and so cold
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 6h
I reserve the right to ignore small talk.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I don't understand people complaining about other people complaining online. Everyone complains. Misfortune exists. Mood disorders exist. Even with medication and therapy, not everyone achieves full remission. Maybe instead of dismissing others as toxic, you could have a bit of compassion for them.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Wore a tank-top to today to make getting vaccinated easier. The chat: Vaccinator: Wow! You're hairy. Me: [Shrugs.] Sort of? I've seen hairier. Her: Is there a scale for rating it? Me: Pretty sure it goes from 1/Baby's Bottom to 10/Sasquatch. Her: But... Chewbacca? Me: [Nodding slowly.] Fair enough.
An older gent's bare, hairy upper arm to which two bandages have been applied.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
These chocolate-covered sandwich cookies from Missionary Chocolates are delicious. They're also gluten-free, vegan, and soy-free. I had a few with cow's milk (full fat), heathen that I am. [missionary-chocolates.myshopify.com…]
Chocolate-covered sandwich cookies with a mug of milk.Two fingers holding a chocolate-covered sandwich cookie with a bite taken out of it.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I live in Sullivan's Gulch. In July, we got a notice from the city saying speed bumps would be going in along NE Multnomah near our house. 'Hurray!' I thought, because the drag-racing at all hours was obnoxious. Here we are in October, no speed bumps and—even more drag-racing. 😞 #pdx #noise
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Oh, I forgot to tell you. I finished my fourth novel. Go me. #writing
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Five rejections since July, when I began submitting the first book of a trilogy to publishers and agents in earnest.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Pods from a Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa).
Dry pods in a bunch from a Princess Tree, some open, most closed.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I still love chocolate milk.🧋
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Happy Bisexuality Day! I'm happy to have you folks on the team. #bisexual
The flag of bisexuality, which consists of horizontal stripes (from top to bottom) of puce, purple, and dark blue.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The casual #ageism I witness daily on the internet never fails to astound me.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Current wallpaper, which was accidentally created by taking a photo while unintentionally obscuring the lens.
A field of purple—dark at the edges and lighter near the center.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I do not want your AI generated summary. I do not want it in my browser. I do not want it in my document. I do not want it in my mail nor do I want it in my news. I have done perfectly fine without it since learning to read nearly 60 years ago and I anticipate I will continue to do so. #noAI
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This could be us, but you'd rather stare at your phone. 😞
Line-art illustration of two men greeting one another, shaking hands.
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Reposted by Rick Austin (he/him)
Olivia Gaines, Author @ogaines.com · 17/06/2025
#booksky #writingcommunity
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Nonprofits that require 'frequent travel' for fully remote, purely administrative support roles are out of their damn minds. I'd love to do that job for you, but there is no way in hell I'm going to drag my senior ass onto a plane regularly just so you can feel chummy during a meeting. Ridiculous.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Oh wow. Turns out I'm a few months older than Star Trek. 😱
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Queer folk of Oregon who are familiar with Silverton—how friendly is it for people like us? My husband and I are thinking of vacationing there, but know nothing about the place. Checking to see if we'd feel safe/comfortable. Thanks for any insight you can offer. #oregon #lgbtqia #pdx #queer
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Yeah. Pretty much. #ihateai [Artist: www.twonks.co.uk]
A comic by the artist 'Twonks' done in the style of the Jetsons cartoon. A disgruntled man vacuums while Rosie the Robot paints on a canvas on an easel.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Yikes. '40% of Americans Read Zero Books Last Year' #data #reading www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeau...
reddit.com
From the dataisbeautiful community on Reddit: [OC] 40% of Americans read zero books last year. The top 10% account for half of all the books read in the country.
Explore this post and more from the dataisbeautiful community
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This test indicates I talk like someone from New Jersey? Really? I was born in TX, moved to Georgie when I was 4, then to Illinois at the age of 7, lived in Chicago until I was 30, and since then I've lived on the west coast for 30 years (San Francisco, then Portland, OR). I sound nothing like NJ. 🤣
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Isabella Rossalini in the 1986 film 'Blue Velvet.'Title shot from the 1986 film 'Blue Velvet.'
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
It was a beautiful day for a hike on the Oak Island Trail on Sauvie Island. #pdx #hike
On the Sauvie Island Oak Island Trail, native Oregon oak (Garry Oak) trees rise behind a meadow and a cattle fence with a clear blue sky above.On the Sauvie Island Oak Island Trail, a view of a cattle fence and meadow grass with a few oak trees to the right with a clear blue sky above.On the Sauvie Island Oak Island Trail, a view of Sturgeon Lake in the background with arrow weed in the foreground and a clear blue sky above.On the Sauvie Island Oak Island Trail, native Oregon oak (Garry Oak) trees rise on either side of a packed-earth trail with dry grass beneath them and a clear blue sky above.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
At a party we went to last night, someone casually mentioned that, in his capacity as lawyer, he'd once sat down and chatted with Kenneth Bianchi; to which a woman nearby abruptly replied that she, while working for the FBOP, had once met and chatted with David Berkowitz. 😱 #yikes
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A tremendous copper beech new our home. I repeatedly try and fail to take a good picture of it with my phone. The sensor is just not large enough to do it justice. #pdx #trees
A photo taken from beneath the canopy of a very large copper beech in Northeast Portland, Oregon.
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Reposted by Rick Austin (he/him)
Rae Radford @raeradford.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Grammar is extremely important…. #BookSky
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
“There are no greater or lesser works of God. Creation is all one work, in a single style, from electron to star, we think, as a dog might suppose that the world extends from the orchard to the river.” — Guy Davenport, “Wo Es War, Soll Ich Werden” #quotation
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The more often I am nagged to review a product or service I purchased from a company, the less likely I am to review said product or service.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
After I finished my fantasy trilogy, several friends asked to read my work. I obliged them. Months went by—no feedback. When I asked if they’d read it, I got mumbled replies such as ‘need to make time for that’ and ‘I don’t really read much anymore.’ 🧐
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Straight couple in the parking lot arguing loudly about… how to wipe a speck of something off the hood of their expensive black car? I really want to yell, “It’s not about the car!”
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
🤮🤮🤮
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Pretty sure the Doomsday Clock is meant to be a warning, not an appointment reminder.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Most agents and publishers these days will ask an aspiring author how many followers they have on social media FOR THIS VERY REASON. They want you to have an established audience with an interest in you and your work. #publishing
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Not sure I understand the logic of telling me to ask for permission to pet your dog… *after* I have pet your dog, but ok.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Me, in a different era. (2008, I believe.) #youth
A forty-something white male with a mostly-russet beard that is turning gray standing in a midwestern meadow with a line of autumnal trees in the background.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Was working on a scene that included sex earlier today and remembered that time in an MFA workshop when my story was up and someone said, “At this point I think the topic of sex might be getting a bit tedious,” and another student immediately replied, “Says you.” Good times. 🤣 #workshop
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I like having a long beard. I do not like taking care of a long beard. The horseshoe mustache is my compromise. #grooming
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Good. 👏🏼 www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne... #technology #addiction
nbcnews.com
Meta, other tech companies must face thousands of lawsuits over social media addiction, court rules
The San Francisco-based federal appeals court rejected the companies’ bid to reverse a lower court’s ruling forcing them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits.
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Reposted by Rick Austin (he/him)
'Nathan Burgoine (he/him) will be at Can*Con! @nathanburgoine.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
🎵 What a feeling / Being's believing I can have it all / Now I'm dancing for my life Take your pants off / And make it happen Pictures come alive / You can dance right through your life 🎵
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Does anyone else play the love-you-more-than game with their partner? Or is it just some oddball nonsense my man and I engage in?
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Husband: I love you. Me: I love you more. Him: More than what? Me: More than eggplant. Him: Bah! You hate eggplant. Me: Do I? Him: So, what I’m hearing is you don’t really love me. Me: I love you more than I hate eggplant. Him: Wow! Really? Me: Yep. *That* much.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Husband: I love you. Me: I love you more. Him: More than what? Me: More than coffee. Him: No way. Me: Yes I do. Him: I don’t believe it. Me: Sounds like a you problem. Him: There’s no way you love me more than coffee. Me: I didn’t marry coffee, did I? Him: Aw. You really do love me.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
But seriously, who actually eats dinner at 8:00 PM?
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Reposted by Rick Austin (he/him)
'Nathan Burgoine (he/him) will be at Can*Con! @nathanburgoine.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Post the best picture you have ever taken of your pet. (In the sense of capturing his essence.)
A husky is on his back on a carpet, his ears smooshed into the carpet, and his mis-matched eyes looking your way, paws curled up against his chest, and his teefs are all showing. He looks… less than regal.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Get you someone who will make you a heart-shaped #meatloaf. 😁
A middle-aged, bearded man wearing glasses gestures enthusiastically toward a heart-shaped meatloaf resting on tinfoil in a pan.
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
“Whatever’s written in your heart you’ll find a way to say it all someday.” —Gerry Rafferty, ‘Whatever’s Written in Your heart’ (1975) Not necessarily a song for or about writers and #writing, but it’s still comforting to sing along. youtu.be/I8UHCqvuUqY?...
youtu.be
Gerry Rafferty - Whatever's Written In Your Heart (Official Video)
YouTube video by Gerry Rafferty
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
It’s a shame a certain someone didn’t schedule an in-person consultation with Portland’s very own Wigland www.wiglandportland.com. I am confident he would have come away with a more appealing item. #pdx #wigs
wiglandportland.com
Wigland
Wigland
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
“Maybe there was something to be said for laying out all your secrets and making people choose between accepting you and getting out of your life.” — Cat Sebastian, ‘Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots,’ 2022 #excerpt #queerlit
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Rick Austin (he/him) @birsy.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
A year ago today I was laid off from a place I’d worked at for over nine years. Since then I’ve applied to 150+ jobs and had all of two interviews. ‘Disheartened’ seems the most appropriate adjective to describe how I‘m feeling. #pdx #unemployed
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