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Bill (Pliny the Older)

@plinytheolder.bsky.social
344 followers 390 following 846 posts

the older & wiser Pliny | fiftysomething queer | San Francisco since 1994 | on the web since 1996 | fka Mermaniac back in the blogging days | he/him

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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Once again reminded of the brilliance of Paul Ford's 2011 column: every medium answers a fundamental question. The fundamental question of the web is WHY WASN'T I CONSULTED? and everyone is constantly demanding an answer.
ftrain.com
The Web Is a Customer Service Medium, by Paul Ford
I look forward to your feedback.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
@itsdlevy.me Last night we were talking about a kitsch-themed runway on RPDR, and I (correctly) said all of the runways were going to be camp but not kitsch, and I did a google search on the difference and the first thing I found were some blogposts from you from (gulp) 2008.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
good morning
A selfie of me; my tee shows a happy nonbinary frog reading; the pile of books says “Read Books Be Gay”
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
well are they?
A screenshot of a google search that reads:

PEOPLE ALSO ASK

Are leaves of grass queer?
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I’ve known Julián for years and years, and even though they are a well-known writer (won a Lambda in 2021, first novel got a rave review in the New York Times) I’m still stunned that they are nominated for a National Book Award in Fiction this year.
77TH NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS

PRETEND YOU'RE DEAD
AND I CARRY YOU
Julián Delgado Lopera
Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company

PRETEND YOU'RE DEAD AND I
CARRY YOU
A NOVEL
JULIAN DELGADO LOPERA

Fiction | LonglistCover image of the 77th National Book Awards fiction longlist featuring 10 book covers and the title "Fiction | Longlist."Me with Julián
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
the new Prince compilation of unreleased songs includes a live version of How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore from a March 2016 Oakland Arena Piano and a Microphone concert that I attended, so I've decided you can hear me in the crowd
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Keep thinking of ways that Dolly and her music touched my life. Closest I ever got was a one-night stay at a rinky-dink Reno casino when my mom and I drove through to be with my grandma in her last weeks. Dolly was performing at that casino that night, but attending wasn't in the cards.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My favorite underrated Dolly song is Better Get To Livin', a Dolly-fied way of saying "get your act together". I can't tell you how many times I've said, or at least thought, this. Also great: Star of the Show from her last album of the 70s, about a year before 9 to 5 changed everything.
A girlfriend came to my house, started crying on my shoulder
Sunday evening
Better get to living
She was spinning such a sad tale, I could not believe the yarn That she was weaving Better get to living
So negative, the words she had to say
I said if I had a violin, I'd play I said you'd better get to living, giving
Be willing and forgiving
'Cause all healing has to start with you
You better stop whining, pining
Get your dreams in line
And then just shine, design, refine till they come true
And you better get to living
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I forgot to post immediately when I felt the earthquake tremors but nonetheless I felt them
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
New Randall Mann poem, "Five Murders", about the first week of his freshman year at the University of Florida, which was also my freshman year at UF. I can't tell you what the fog of fear and rumor felt like; I had no other experience of college life. Eventually everyone just… moved on.
poets.org
Five Murders
It was my first week as a college student. / I’d traveled with friends
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
thinking about the numbers of large mammals — wolves, deer, lynx, wild boar and even horses — that are living in the evacuated and uninhabited areas around Chernobyl. (this doesn't mean that it's "safe" for them to live there.)
spacedaily.com
Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, emptied of most human activity after the 1986 nuclear disaster, is now home to abundant populations of wolves, lynx, deer, and introduced Przewalski’s horses—with one major study finding several large mammals as numerous as in nearby uncontaminated reserves, while wolves were more than seven times as abundant.
Nature's paradox: the world's most radioactive region has become a thriving wildlife sanctuary, with wolf populations flourishing at seven times the rate of protected reserves.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This was moving, and also it was interesting how the narrative was told. Loved this comic — 16 Scenes of You and Your Dad in Cars
thenewfatherhood.org
16 Scenes of You & Your Dad in Cars
Warning. This email may cause emotional damage.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Charli XCX's Yeah is the purest and most stupid CXCX lyric I've ever heard and I think it's brilliant. Love that the next track is Wink Wink
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
sometimes I see that someone like Phoebe Bridgers has new music and I get excited and then I remember that the singer I was thinking of was actually Maggie Rogers
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
we arranged our vacation to make sure we were back in time for the 25th anniversary Hedwig screening with John Cameron Mitchell (and Peaches Christ)
A short line in front of the Castro Theatre with the marquee: Hedwig and the Angry Inch with John Cameron Mitchell 7/17 8pm
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
she has it all figured out
A seal on a beach with its mouth opened in a smile and one flipper raiseda beach photo of a seal with sand on its snout and bellyseven palm trees on a sunny day at a beach park
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I've been listening to the Womack Sisters (who are the nieces of Bobby Womack) and I'm excited for their debut album on Daptone.
rollingstone.com
Sam Cooke's Granddaughters Preview Their Daptone Debut With 'If I Let You'
The first album from the grandaughters of Sam Cooke and nieces of Bobby Womack will be out in August
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I would like to manifest one last truly great Janet album please if you want a late era banger, I recommend "shoulda known better" from unbreakable.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
now that I've successfully worn my tee-shirts in rainbow order, I can relax
nine photos — one closeup of plumeria, plus eight selfies of me wearing pink, red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue and purple shirts
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
had a fantastic morning snorkeling on the other side of the island. I took a nap after we got back; we are headed out later for a fun luau on the ocean
Me in a purple tee with a rooster in the background an empty beach with some rocks in the foreground
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
dragged my chair out to the lanai to read while housekeeping is in the room
me in blue shirt that says “but first… pie”
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
busy day — snorkeling in the morning, new shoes because the bottom of my sandal broke, farmer's market, dropping off and picking up laundry, napping
me in a light blue shirt
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
went out to look at this sunrise, and walking back I saw what appeared to be a very large housecat that was somehow wagging its tail like a dog — turns out it was a wild boar
a line of cottages behind a big field with a teeny tiny white cat on the far leftocean sunrise with silhouetted trees on the beacha forested area behind a lawn with a small wild boar eatinga wild boar eating and swishing its tail
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
found a little spot of beauty while in a tiny strip mall parking lot
me in a green shirt in front of a palm tree beside a creek
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
had a leisurely drive to poipu this afternoon
me in a yellow shirt standing in front of a green wall
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
heading out for lunch after snorkeling this morning
me in an orange shirt standing next to a print of abstract plants in shades of orange and red
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
tonight we went to the hanapepe art night. hanapepe was the inspiration for lilo's hometown in lilo & stitch
me in a red shirt standing in front of a pink building with a mural of a pink potted tree
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
went down to the beach for the sunrise; this was just before I got caught in a brief tropical downpour
me in a pink shirt in front of a beach at sunrise
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
had fun putting these three looks together for the friday, saturday, and sunday of pride
Me in a yellow tee, pink overalls, a kaftans with yellows, greens, and pinks, and a white parasolMe in a blue shirt, white overalls with pink polka dots, paisley caftan, and white parasolMe in green shirt, yellow overalls, a red, greens and yellow caftan, and a red parasol
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
here are all the new tracks that were released today that I added to my playlist there are bunch of others that I listened to and rejected. sorry Shania, Katy Perry, Karen O and Benson Boone, this is not your time
Read My Lips (FIFA Version)
Madonna & Feid

On Wires
Carly Rae Jepsen

Wink Wink
Charli xx

Lost Boys
Phoebe Bridgers

Chauffeur
The Womack Sisters

It's Kinda Hot
Amy Shark

Tantra
Cain Culto

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
BRONZE AVERY

Thank You For Leaving David Wimbish & The Collection

Hologram
Delta Goodrem

Idyllwild
Pete Yorn

My Body Isn’t Ready
sombr
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
You might have theyed your last giants
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Reposted by Bill (Pliny the Older)
Matthew S. Bajko @politicalnotes.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
The San Francisco Public Library has several ways patrons can access - for free- newly released LGBTQ films and documentaries, queer cinema classics, as well as a trove of historical movies that played just at film festivals or have never been screened for the public.... www.ebar.com/story/167591
ebar.com
SF library connects patrons to LGBTQ films
Wanting to create a celluloid tribute to Teresita, one of their transgender mothers they had befriended in San Francisco in the late 1980s, Tina Valentin Aguirre pieced together footage of the rancher...
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
ok not me getting teary reading a social media post from the official Korea Soccer account thanking the people of Mexico for all the warmth and hospitality they've been shown in the lead up to the Korea-Mexico world cup match
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Tina made a short documentary about a trans elder back in 1997 that's been lost ever since. The SF library recently found the only VHS copy in their archives and digitized it. This article tells that story in the context of the work the library does for queer films and film-lovers.
ebar.com
SF library connects patrons to LGBTQ films
Wanting to create a celluloid tribute to Teresita, one of their transgender mothers they had befriended in San Francisco in the late 1980s, Tina Valentin Aguirre pieced together footage of the ranchera singer performing and being interviewed for a short documentary.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
TS Leonard with another glorious essay, this one about Olivia Rodrigo's "stupid song" and Lena Dunham, and chronic illness, and the aids memoir genre, and what it means for a poet/artist to be a witness.
fabuloussurvival.substack.com
You Should Feel How I Feel
on "stupid song," Lena Dunham, illness metaphors and 'living still'
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
yesterday during some world cup news, when the reporters mentioned teams moving on to the knockout rounds, I said "all is not lost" in a RuPaul voice. it feels good to understand sports
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I thought you were my pekpek! (Salina, you were the best thing to happen this season)
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Madonna's street team made it to Fillmore St
Posters for Madonna’s Confessions II album wheatpasted on boards outside a theaterSelfie of me in front of posters for Madonna’s Confessions II albumPosters for Madonna’s Confessions II album wheatpasted on boards outside a theater
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
haircut yesterday
Selfie of me after a haircut
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
if you swapped Ruth's anecdotes of growing up on Widow's Bay with Rose's stories of St Olaf, would anyone on either show notice?
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I love that the source of Ruth’s Tennessee Williams quote is an interview from James Grissom (who clearly fabricated his interviews with dead celebs). So not only has Ruth been caught by some actually fake nonsense that your aunt would repost on Facebook, but SHE EMBROIDERED IT. I love this show.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
yass quiche
A chalk sidewalk sign of a femme pastry with long nails with the handwritten words “yass quiche”; below is the name of the bakery @thoroughbreadandpastrySelfie of me on Market waiting for the streetcarSelfie of me on the F
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
also I love that she found the time to make the transparencies during a hurricane
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
saw someone typo it as Windows Bay and I may steal it
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I am sorry to be the one but: there is no possible way that a fundraiser on June 25 is a "pride kickoff". they call it the 90 days of June for a reason
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I've stopped at this cafe so many times over the years, so this makes me sad. Connecting the loss to climate change is a wake-up call.
kqed.org
‘You Can’t Beat Mother Nature’: Destroyed Cafe Gives Pacifica Look at Climate-Changed Future | KQED
Pacifica residents pushed for a path forward after coastal erosion forced the city to demolish a beloved local cafe on the water’s edge.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I know we all keep marveling at how great Widow's Bay is, but it is so fantastic. I will remember the genealogy exposition for a very long time.
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
oooh there's a new Pride Storybundle — 16 drm-free ebooks, including the newest We're Here (best queer sf/f/h from 2024), and I Want That Twink Obliterated, and Geoff Ryman's classic Was, and R. B. Lemberg's latest, and so much more.
storybundle.com
StoryBundle
Pay what you like and get a bundle of awesome ebooks and more!
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
waiting for muni; yesterday was my Ilya shirt, so today is Shane
Selfie of me in a Montreal Metros tee while waiting at a transit stop
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Bill (Pliny the Older) @plinytheolder.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
"prism honey" isaac newton inventing the gay science of optics, probably
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