Jim Grayson
@jimgrayson.bsky.social
teacher, writer, dad, hobbyist, snark
My opinions are only my own.
My opinions are only my own.
Look, not the point at all, but I had totally forgotten that Wayfair was ever a thing. I haven't seen junk email from them in months! (This is the most marginal of positives, and I don't have to hand anything to anybody as a result.)
It’s infuriating how many people claim to care about fictitious “child trafficking” conspiracies about trans people and Wayfair and Democrats but will miss, ignore, and distract from actual government agents kidnapping children in front of their very eyes
January 22, 2026 at 4:17 AM
Look, not the point at all, but I had totally forgotten that Wayfair was ever a thing. I haven't seen junk email from them in months! (This is the most marginal of positives, and I don't have to hand anything to anybody as a result.)
Used to have a place called Jax's about half a mile from my house. I'd stop in a few times a week after work, so they kept craft beer around for me. Fantastic bar food, great service, paint held on the walls with tar and nicotine. Fun crowd. I miss it.
Sunday night timeline cleanse
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
January 19, 2026 at 3:46 AM
Used to have a place called Jax's about half a mile from my house. I'd stop in a few times a week after work, so they kept craft beer around for me. Fantastic bar food, great service, paint held on the walls with tar and nicotine. Fun crowd. I miss it.
Gabe out here basing a lot of assumptions on the "Born in the USA" album cover that are not, in fact, supported by the song, or the rest of Springsteen's career for that matter.
January 18, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Gabe out here basing a lot of assumptions on the "Born in the USA" album cover that are not, in fact, supported by the song, or the rest of Springsteen's career for that matter.
Major crises of the day, Bsky edition:
·Minneapolis
·Greenland
·Greenland 2
·Holly Hunter's "Ake" tucks her legs under when sitting in the captain's chair
·Minneapolis
·Greenland
·Greenland 2
·Holly Hunter's "Ake" tucks her legs under when sitting in the captain's chair
January 18, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Major crises of the day, Bsky edition:
·Minneapolis
·Greenland
·Greenland 2
·Holly Hunter's "Ake" tucks her legs under when sitting in the captain's chair
·Minneapolis
·Greenland
·Greenland 2
·Holly Hunter's "Ake" tucks her legs under when sitting in the captain's chair
That wasn't tripping. That was slide tackling.
January 18, 2026 at 1:25 AM
That wasn't tripping. That was slide tackling.
Learning is a human process, which must be undertaken by humans.
Plese repost & share: "The risks of using generative artificial intelligence to educate children and teens currently overshadow the benefits, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education."
www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says
A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.
www.npr.org
January 14, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Learning is a human process, which must be undertaken by humans.
Things are terrible, but my first class of the day took what was supposed to be 25 minutes on Langston Hughes and kept interrogating the poem (usefully!) for the entire hour. Teaching runs on hope, but it repays that hope as well.
January 14, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Things are terrible, but my first class of the day took what was supposed to be 25 minutes on Langston Hughes and kept interrogating the poem (usefully!) for the entire hour. Teaching runs on hope, but it repays that hope as well.
The Onion does a deep dive into my discovery 20+ years ago that the bartenders had a "Skip" button somewhere near the tip jar.
Report: Guy Just Put 10 Bucks In Jukebox https://theonion.com/report-guy-just-put-10-bucks-in-jukebox-1819571279/
January 13, 2026 at 11:04 PM
The Onion does a deep dive into my discovery 20+ years ago that the bartenders had a "Skip" button somewhere near the tip jar.
I just need to start keeping a sledgehammer behind my desk, don't I?
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
January 13, 2026 at 10:38 PM
I just need to start keeping a sledgehammer behind my desk, don't I?
If there's a theme for my teaching career, it's this: the kids are all right.
Students at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis are walking out to protest ICE days after a clash between U.S. Border Patrol agents and protesters at the school.
📸: Jerry Holt
📸: Jerry Holt
January 12, 2026 at 11:59 PM
If there's a theme for my teaching career, it's this: the kids are all right.
I'm most always interested in writing advise from the folks who have done the work. Sharing this for future reference.
New year, time to start new things.
One of my latest is a Guide to Writing Short Fiction. It will walk you through the process of planning and executing a short story: through theory and practical advice.
ko-fi.com/s/f86e7b0e22 (Please repost, it will help a lot! Thank you.)
One of my latest is a Guide to Writing Short Fiction. It will walk you through the process of planning and executing a short story: through theory and practical advice.
ko-fi.com/s/f86e7b0e22 (Please repost, it will help a lot! Thank you.)
Basic Guide to Writing Short Fiction - Michael A Stackpole's Ko-fi Shop
This is a digital guide to writing short fiction, up to and including novelettes and novellas. It includes a breakdown of basic elements, elaborations...
ko-fi.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:21 PM
I'm most always interested in writing advise from the folks who have done the work. Sharing this for future reference.
I don't have the time to listen to you whine, Green Day. Please advise.
I shot the Deputy, Eric Clapton. Please advise.
I couldn't catch the mystery or catch the drift, Rush. Please advise.
January 6, 2026 at 1:24 AM
I don't have the time to listen to you whine, Green Day. Please advise.
My man bounces on his heels like he's demanding to speak to the chef about his wedge salad.
MILLER: The US is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere. We're a superpower. It's absurd we'd allow a nation in our backyard to become a supplier of resources to our adversaries
TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want?
M: *yells*
TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want?
M: *yells*
January 6, 2026 at 12:39 AM
My man bounces on his heels like he's demanding to speak to the chef about his wedge salad.
I remember an Avalon Hill game from the late '80s called FORTRESS AMERICA which seems, unfortunately, like an increasingly likely scenario.
January 5, 2026 at 12:04 AM
I remember an Avalon Hill game from the late '80s called FORTRESS AMERICA which seems, unfortunately, like an increasingly likely scenario.
Well, it sure was nice to sleep in on a Saturday morning so let's just check the news and WHAT THE OVERHEATED HELL
January 3, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Well, it sure was nice to sleep in on a Saturday morning so let's just check the news and WHAT THE OVERHEATED HELL
One more apology we owe to George Lucas.
January 2, 2026 at 4:33 PM
One more apology we owe to George Lucas.
Delightful.
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
🧵
🧵
January 1, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Delightful.
"Live from State Line Fireworks in Rocky Top, Tenn, um... *checks notes* That is, um, I'm told this is the Washington Monument in our nation's capital... Jane, can we confirm that? Jane? Jane?
"I'm sorry, Jane had to step away from the mic to laugh convulsively. We'll be back after this."
"I'm sorry, Jane had to step away from the mic to laugh convulsively. We'll be back after this."
January 1, 2026 at 3:09 AM
"Live from State Line Fireworks in Rocky Top, Tenn, um... *checks notes* That is, um, I'm told this is the Washington Monument in our nation's capital... Jane, can we confirm that? Jane? Jane?
"I'm sorry, Jane had to step away from the mic to laugh convulsively. We'll be back after this."
"I'm sorry, Jane had to step away from the mic to laugh convulsively. We'll be back after this."
New Year's resolution just dropped.
It gets worse because of grade focus, because of casualization, because of genAI, because of so many things. I don't have a solution other than to teach classes with as much love as possible.
December 27, 2025 at 6:30 PM
New Year's resolution just dropped.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Let's take good care of each other, today and every day.
December 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Merry Christmas, everyone. Let's take good care of each other, today and every day.
I had an intro-level anthropology course where the final was: "Define 'civilization.'" We were given a week and expected to deliver four to six handwritten pages. My cramped, spidery writing comes in around an 8-point font, which had me pretty anxious about the whole thing.
Exam I once had was like, "the US has learned that Saddam Hussein has exactly 3 ICBMs pointed at Chicago and there is credible evidence that he is increasingly erratic and paranoid. Explain optimal strategic and tactical responses citing every single theoretical framework you learned this semester"
Does anyone else bristle at this framing? WSJ says blue books are “torturing” students with hand cramps, and “nobody likes them.”
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
December 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I had an intro-level anthropology course where the final was: "Define 'civilization.'" We were given a week and expected to deliver four to six handwritten pages. My cramped, spidery writing comes in around an 8-point font, which had me pretty anxious about the whole thing.
I did an intensive Batman-themed course at Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program a couple of years ago and asked the kids to use data to support where such a vigilante might need to appear in the 21st C. They were shocked to learn how violent crime is declining in major cities across the country.
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
December 24, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I did an intensive Batman-themed course at Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program a couple of years ago and asked the kids to use data to support where such a vigilante might need to appear in the 21st C. They were shocked to learn how violent crime is declining in major cities across the country.
Please believe me when I tell you that I, a humble public school teacher, had to sink actually brainpower into figuring out just what he meant by "OOO."
I haven’t gotten a single OOO email reply. Everyone is still working! We are in a RECESSION, y’all.
December 23, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Please believe me when I tell you that I, a humble public school teacher, had to sink actually brainpower into figuring out just what he meant by "OOO."
I laughed six days this week. Should I be concerned?
December 22, 2025 at 12:18 AM
I laughed six days this week. Should I be concerned?