Brian Gongol
@briangongol.bsky.social
Make money. Have fun. Clean up after yourself. Mind your business.
Until someone starts that column, this (or at least an older version of it) was the core of a World Literature class I took in 9th or 10th grade. An excellent sampler of great literature that pointed me to the longer works of James Joyce, among other authors.
Used editions are online for $6.
Used editions are online for $6.
December 6, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Until someone starts that column, this (or at least an older version of it) was the core of a World Literature class I took in 9th or 10th grade. An excellent sampler of great literature that pointed me to the longer works of James Joyce, among other authors.
Used editions are online for $6.
Used editions are online for $6.
Swirls like crazy in the wind, though.
November 29, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Swirls like crazy in the wind, though.
After a video from @spectrum.ieee.org showed up in my Facebook feed this morning, featuring some lines from @emilymbender.bsky.social that made me stand and applaud, I went in search of her verified socials so I could give her a follow.
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
November 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
After a video from @spectrum.ieee.org showed up in my Facebook feed this morning, featuring some lines from @emilymbender.bsky.social that made me stand and applaud, I went in search of her verified socials so I could give her a follow.
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
No computer is going to be moved by this image. It can't. That's our thing, and it's best enjoyed in company with others.
November 12, 2025 at 3:05 AM
No computer is going to be moved by this image. It can't. That's our thing, and it's best enjoyed in company with others.
Post a concert photo you took
September 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Post a concert photo you took
They'd get more page views if they had more of these:
August 22, 2025 at 8:36 PM
They'd get more page views if they had more of these:
Moving so slowly it should be handing out Werthers to its grandchildren.
July 20, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Moving so slowly it should be handing out Werthers to its grandchildren.
Can confirm the high-altitude haze over Iowa this afternoon. This is the view from south-suburban Des Moines:
May 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Can confirm the high-altitude haze over Iowa this afternoon. This is the view from south-suburban Des Moines:
American news broadcasts: Here is the reporter's name, Twitter handle, and favorite flavor of ice cream.
CBC News: Here's a face.
CBC News: Here's a face.
April 29, 2025 at 4:16 AM
American news broadcasts: Here is the reporter's name, Twitter handle, and favorite flavor of ice cream.
CBC News: Here's a face.
CBC News: Here's a face.
For real. It's driving me crazy.
April 29, 2025 at 4:00 AM
For real. It's driving me crazy.
That line developing from Atlantic to Fort Dodge is going to wake a lot of children tonight in Central Iowa, methinks.
April 29, 2025 at 3:18 AM
That line developing from Atlantic to Fort Dodge is going to wake a lot of children tonight in Central Iowa, methinks.
Beware of sweeping technological predictions like this one. As best I can tell, the only thing that ever makes a warfighting technology permanently obsolete is a change in propulsion:
For example: Sails → Coal → Diesel → Nuclear
Everything else sticks around in some form or another.
For example: Sails → Coal → Diesel → Nuclear
Everything else sticks around in some form or another.
April 26, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Beware of sweeping technological predictions like this one. As best I can tell, the only thing that ever makes a warfighting technology permanently obsolete is a change in propulsion:
For example: Sails → Coal → Diesel → Nuclear
Everything else sticks around in some form or another.
For example: Sails → Coal → Diesel → Nuclear
Everything else sticks around in some form or another.
My kids are being raised with a big ol' desktop encyclopedia on the table. Open it up, kids! Learn something at random!
There's no algorithm trying to feed you anything here, except for alphabetical order.
There's no algorithm trying to feed you anything here, except for alphabetical order.
April 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
My kids are being raised with a big ol' desktop encyclopedia on the table. Open it up, kids! Learn something at random!
There's no algorithm trying to feed you anything here, except for alphabetical order.
There's no algorithm trying to feed you anything here, except for alphabetical order.
The nearest lightning strikes are 30 to 45 miles away, yet I can easily hear the thunder even from indoors. This is going to be a loud one.
April 18, 2025 at 1:31 AM
The nearest lightning strikes are 30 to 45 miles away, yet I can easily hear the thunder even from indoors. This is going to be a loud one.
I don't believe I've ever seen contiguous flash flood warnings stretching across four or five states like this:
April 6, 2025 at 5:58 AM
I don't believe I've ever seen contiguous flash flood warnings stretching across four or five states like this:
If you didn't know it already, @akrherz.bsky.social is an evil genius. I don't know how long ago he changed the profile picture for the NWS Des Moines bot, but I chuckle-snorted when I saw it this afternoon.
March 30, 2025 at 9:09 PM
If you didn't know it already, @akrherz.bsky.social is an evil genius. I don't know how long ago he changed the profile picture for the NWS Des Moines bot, but I chuckle-snorted when I saw it this afternoon.
We interrupt this Red Flag Warning to bring you a blizzard.
March 17, 2025 at 11:22 PM
We interrupt this Red Flag Warning to bring you a blizzard.
Hmm. Where's the low, do you think?
March 15, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Hmm. Where's the low, do you think?
I am in this HRRR picture, and I don't like it.
March 14, 2025 at 4:04 AM
I am in this HRRR picture, and I don't like it.
The iPhone weather app is really downplaying tomorrow's severe weather risk, and I worry that a lot of people are going to miss the magnitude of the hazard until it's too late.
March 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The iPhone weather app is really downplaying tomorrow's severe weather risk, and I worry that a lot of people are going to miss the magnitude of the hazard until it's too late.
A 68.9° swing from low to high in a week. This is why we can't have nice things.
February 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
A 68.9° swing from low to high in a week. This is why we can't have nice things.