Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 20hExcuse me, is this the queue for the Bulterian Jihad? 020
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I teach a graduate research methods course in a English department, on rhetcomp and tech comm. We read a ton of recent journal issues from ‘26 and ‘25. The sheer amount of ‘We must adjust to AI’ publications is staggering, like taking a census of zombies. There is resistance, but not enough. 030
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 06/10/2026My son is learning about the Bill of Rights and has been asked to draw each right. For the Third Amendment he drew a house with a meanie outside, and a guy inside the house with a small but firm NO bubble. Also, a mailbox with the flag up, so ‘pick up the mail on your way out, redcoat.’ 020
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The hard science fiction novel I wrote over the summer about Sandra Misha is in strong shape; I’ve started querying literary agents. The title: A Closer Orbit. Now I really like the book, but the title is dead on. I went through hundreds of duds to get three perfect words. 120
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Every university needs journalism faculty and a strong, independent student newspaper. 000
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I watched The Empire Strikes Back in a dark theater colder than Hoth in 1980. I hadn’t started kindergarten. Vader was absolutely terrifying. I wasn’t old enough to understand how he was never going to kill Luke. Formative, though, in the sense that repeated failure and tension make a good story. 011
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I read three books today. I think I’ve averaged a book a day since June. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 28/09/2026It occurs to me that no one will probably check to see if these fictional moons I’ve got in the novel are within the Hill sphere of the given planet and have plausible masses, orbits, and related phenomena, but someone MIGHT, so those ducks are gonna be a row. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 27/09/2026My recurrent carpal tunnel symptoms fade after solving a Rubik’s cube a few times. Also good for grip strength and endurance on guitar and similar dexterous activities. 010
Reposted by Mike DuncanEd Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Happy Stanislav Petrov Day He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.” If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it. @gchalliance.bsky.social @docsforclimate.bsky.socialsammatey.substack.comHappy Stanislav Petrov DayTake five minutes to not destroy civilization 252124938
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I have dissected the latest set of peer reviews I received. I now have a lot of unpleasant things in sealed containers that I don’t want. A few might be useful for my… project.static.klipy.comGene Wilder as Young FrankensteinALT: Gene Wilder as Young Frankenstein 120
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It’s possible to look up how much money you’ve spent on Steam overall. You’re most welcome. 010
Reposted by Mike DuncanDr. SkySkull @drskyskull.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Reminder: Almost time for Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October! (A short blog post) skullsinthestars.com/2026/09/23/r...skullsinthestars.comReminder: Almost time for Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October!It is a tradition for fans of Roger Zelazny to read his novel A Night in the Lonesome October every spooky season. The book has one chapter for each day of October, making it a fun casual activity … 173
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 24/09/2026“That Green-Blooded SOB: Effects of Hosting A Vulcan Katra on the Human Body” Leonard McCoy, SMJ 021
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I’ve never written for a specific academic journal. I write to my interests, then look for a place. If I don’t like it and feel confident about quality, why share it? Audience-centric models of communication feel dishonest to me, though they’re not wrong. Chasing an audience just ain’t in me. 011
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026So It’s time for me to start looking for a literary agent for the hard SF novel. This seems to involve a query letter and a synopsis. The letter is straightforward enough, but writing a synopsis is weird. It feels like I’m rewriting the novel as a deathly serious children’s book. 000
Reposted by Mike DuncanDonnie Johnson Sackey @donniejsackey.bsky.social · 20/09/2026CCCC Leadership Response to NCTE’s De-Chartering of CCCC. Please read and sign. theorganizationformerlyknownascccc.com 12733
Reposted by Mike DuncanMichelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️ @snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Dinnertime! #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmil... 1433747664
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I was overworked, broke, half-starving, about to drop out of college at 20. Impressed that I’d mated and reproduced and became one of those cranky eccentric professors, but disappointed that I’d let so many creative projects slide, and that I was creating a closed loop time paradox… 000
Reposted by Mike DuncanBill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026"She *lived* for her job. "For 40 years. "And now it’s gone." -- Dave Barry, writing about how his wife, longtime Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman, just got laid off by "two corporate guys she did not know, who did not know her." davebarry.substack.com/p/michelledavebarry.substack.comMichelleA tribute. 12143331194
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I am well within the target audience of the Steam Frame, but VR makes me dizzy too quickly. And I got the Machine already… 000
Reposted by Mike DuncanVictor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Shout out to the student journalists at The Daily Iowan for reporting on the travesty that is Iowa's Center for Intellectual Freedom. With quotes from me dailyiowan.com/2026/09/15/u...dailyiowan.comUncertainty in leadership, curriculum surrounds UI Center for Intellectual FreedomIn the barren walls of his Calvin Hall office, where the Center for Intellectual Freedom resides, interim director and University of Iowa economics professor Luciano de Castro shuffles a stack of pape... 22663233
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I cannot believe this, but I solved the title problem with my book. At two in the morning. Been working for weeks on this, like Gandalf tearing his hair out trying to get into Moria, when it was in front of me the whole damned time. Typical overthinking. I’m happy. I also feel like a moron. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Looking at this again and realizing it’s… accurate. The Dakotas are the only lower 48 states I’ve not visited or lived in. 000
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Life sucks at times, but at least I’m not a senatorial handler. 020
Reposted by Mike DuncanC. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026The dumbest thing about the whole Ed Sheeran thing is he identifies as a "culturally Irish" musician, and is seemingly touring with half of Ireland, and yet somehow had no clue that Irish musicians have been the single longest and loudest chorus of voices in Europe about what is happening. 1354511717
Reposted by Mike DuncanUna Mullally @unamullally.bsky.social · 15/09/2026The Irish musicians, Beoga, who play alongside Ed Sheeran, have withdrawn from Sheeran’s tour. This is the statement they published on Instagram: 142103982157
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 15/09/2026If I made a reference to The Matrix (1999) to my freshmen students (born 2008) it would be as relevant as a professor referencing El Dorado (1966) to 18-year-old me in 1993. You’re welcome. 030
Reposted by Mike DuncanTexas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 14/09/2026“For 16 months, UT Rio Grande Valley prof Clyde Barrow has been getting paid not to teach. On May 15, 2025 the school told him he was suspended. To this day, he cannot access his campus office, + the university has given him no clear indication of when-or whether-he will return to the classroom.” 😡fire.orgTexas university keeps professor on suspension for over a year with no end in sightUTRGV has kept a tenured professor off campus for 16 months — no hearing, no resolution, and no answer about whether he'll ever teach again. 054
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Habeas corpus is something. But it’s not a presser. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Being able to change your mind, being able to admit you were wrong, and being able to hold the line when you’re alone are really important skills. They don’t get easier as I’ve gotten older. The university doesn’t foster them, either. 010
Reposted by Mike DuncanAAUP @aaup.org · 13/09/2026“You have people who are furthest from the classroom, curriculum design, and the subject area of a subject saying all students must take this thing. How is that good for students? How does that suggest they will get the best education?” #academicskyal.comProtesters speak out against ‘climate of fear’ after Auburn University dissolves faculty senateAuburn’s decision came after the Alabama Legislature put limits on the powers of faculty senates. 27239
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Ok, Zero Company takes place during the Clone Wars, does that mean we’re going to run into… well, at least he’s still in his emo phase. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 12/09/2026“Orders of Magnitude” is one best Trek episodes I’ve ever seen. Top ten at least. That was a metric ton of narrative work and done well. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 11/09/2026On 9/11, a friend and I had competing theories of what would happened next, as we watched the towers burn. I saw an opporunity to turn away from nation-states and toward a world government. He thought it meant our civil liberties would disappear. He’s always been smarter. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Another bad peer review experience. Took three times as long as it should have, and the feedback missed the side of the barn. I’ll tale another look at it tomorrow, but the search continues. 000
Reposted by Mike DuncanNate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026More than any Chronicle of Higher Education profile of a professor who doesn't like academia, I think this interview is the one I'd recommend to understand where higher education is at in the United States www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...insidehighered.comArchitect of Ohio Higher Ed Overhaul on Shared Governance: GarbageJerry Cirino, former chair of the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, successfully passed a sweeping, controversial law in his state. He’s an example of state lawmakers getting more invol... 69642
Reposted by Mike DuncanAAUP @aaup.org · 11/09/2026“Overall findings indicate about 60% of respondents would not recommend their state as a desirable place to work for colleagues or graduate students. This is a 5% rise compared to the previous year. Almost 20% said they do not plan to stay in academia long term, a slight increase from last year.” 01613
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 11/09/2026After a reader or two, the novel I wrote over the summer feels good. I’m getting down to quibbling little edits. Don’t like the working title, though. I have to settle on one before the next step. The short stories named themselves, but this damned thing is elusive. I need Rex Stout on speed dial. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 08/09/20265k words down today. Felt like breathing. When you’re hot, you’re hot. 000
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 05/09/2026“You’ve read your last free article.” You poor little fool of a website. I have not yet begun to fight. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 04/09/2026God-dammit. I was only in Florida for two years. mydialect.us 000
Reposted by Mike DuncanTom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 23/08/2026THREAD. A while ago my parents' cat Bridget went missing. As the worrying weeks dragged on my dad devised a way to distract himself: he began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time & inhabiting art's most iconic scenes. What he produced (& how quickly) was phenomenal... 22890290
Reposted by Mike Duncan🇮🇪🇺🇸 Lord Wesley 🧹🎃 @lordwesley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I'll stop sharing 30 year old comic panels when they stop being true. 722015
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Apparently Red Bull is not sold on my campus so some enterprising students may have filled lockers with the stuff for no particular reason, certaintly not distribution. 010
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Well, I’m done with being borne ceaselessly back into the bullshit of online textbooks. Can’t print more than 10 pages, every page has a ugly watermark and a screwed header, just to drive in that anyone printing a reading in 2026 is a potential criminal. 000
Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 01/09/2026There was no trigger discipline at all at the Hot Gates, or Greek soldiers not wearing armor. And it was also in Greece. 010