James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 23/09/2026My poetry debut will be in the Yesterday Review, look forward to it. 120
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Poetry magazine cover branding changes look like, according to my designer friend, "Chobani slop." Couldn't agree more. Shame to see it go like this. 110
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Someone stole my package of a Japanese textbook. Enjoy studying? 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 04/08/2026You know you're deep into an author's work when you start reading arguments about translation quality. I was curious why there were so many tonal changes in my No Longer Human copy, turns out the arguments about this particular translator (Keene) are endless. I might pick up a Gibeau copy. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Book translation work is fascinating... the original, vs my (probably bad) translation of the second sentence, vs an official translation. I had no idea translators took so many liberties?? Both in style and content. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Finished reading these two today. Really enjoyed the short story collection in the White Nights special edition. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. The Siken book took me forever to get through, because it was so good I kept taking a long time to read each poem carefully. Loved both. 020
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Always complaining that I can't read books in Japanese well, so I bought a few Dazai books in Japanese to force myself to learn. I'll just go page by page. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 28/07/2026I'd rather we get false positives for AI on Substack vs like the enslopification run wild like it has. Even if my writing got a false flag, I'd prefer that to BS unfiltered slop spam. 011
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Right after this photo she started trying to eat the Murakami library book 040
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Review for Real World is up open.substack.com/pub/jamesane... 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Officially adopted my kitty, Lady!! I took this photo for the rescue to use on their website ❤️ 180
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Lobotomizing my phone was a fantastic decision. I spend so much less time on it, and instead do other things. Like reading or playing with the cat. 000
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 26/07/2026I use Edge for browsing and microslop keeps your new tab page hostage with their MSN news site. It was always making me mad with various ragebait news articles. So, I switched the language to Chinese a while ago and it's working great. I can't understand a word of this. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 26/07/2026I'm glad I stopped going to the overpriced cafes nearby and instead have been reading at the library. I'm saving money and I get to look at the ocean LOL. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 26/07/2026I finished it! I really liked it, I'll write a review about it after having some time to think more 000
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Went and read at the library today, it's nice because they have a view of the ocean 000
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 23/07/2026my cat changed my mind on the cover thing because I realized there's nothing cuter than a cat standing on top of a book that says "I am a cat" 031
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Quickly snapped a photo because the book she's on was too perfect! 130
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 21/07/2026My "anti-design" concept isn't that graphic design is evil, only that it's been hijacked by advertising and commercialism. Every logo becomes an advertisement. Every font. Even illustration work becomes advertisement. How can we undo this? It's a question worth pondering. 000
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Continuing my "anti-design" experiments: removing/obscuring labels on products. Makes me consider if the product itself is doing the work rather than the marketing. So far already realized there are some skin care products I kept around because they looked expensive, but I was not using them. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Experimenting with a new concept called "anti-design." For books, this means wrapping them in white paper and assigning them a number. Then you search for the number to identify it. This is to attempt to make it so the book is solely judged on content rather than graphic design (advertising) choices 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 20/07/2026She woke me up from two nightmares today, she is a good girl 140
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 19/07/2026There's some kind of disease right now going around with former auteur artist types who are now turning to gen AI. Honestly I think it's because they're narcissistic and refuse to collaborate with others, have made that their entire brand, and now think AI will help them achieve that. 0162
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 18/07/2026My close friend @aislingb.bsky.social sent me a huge box of books from her collection!!! I am excited to read all of these!!!! 120
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I found this article really interesting discussing the markers of AI writing beyond just sentence structure and more about plot/themes www.404media.co/ai-fiction-i...404media.coAI Fiction Is Easy to Detect Because It's Stupid and Bad, Research FindsChatGPT uses too many dream sequences and Gemini won’t stop describing characters. 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I saw the term "tasteslop" and here's what I think it is: the usage of "highbrow" ideas divorced from their original context in order to sell people things on Instagram and Pinterest. Selling an upper-class lifestyle you too can afford with just one purchase of our wabi sabi trader joes analog bag! 000
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Reading now but won't be reviewing because it's an agency sibling and I wish the best for them no matter what 🤫 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 11/07/2026My first book review on Substack is up! open.substack.com/pub/jamesane... 000
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Minimalism fail: a raku pot they were selling so cheaply at the thrift store I had no choice but to take it home. No choice I tell you! 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 10/07/2026I didn't know what to do on substack but my lovely agent advised me to do book reviews, so I will be doing in depth book reviews from now on! Look forward to it! 010
James Anear @jamesanear.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Beware of Pity is such a depressing book I'm having trouble finishing it. Especially since I have a disability. I can see myself in both the main character and the disabled girl and it makes me sad. 130