Read: The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird ★★★★★
The fifties in a “divorce ranch” in Reno. I did not expect to love this, but I did. Felt a bit like a B&W movie. A feeling of things going awry builds. Great characters, interesting ‘history’ & some surprises.
Format: Status
In reply to 5 light links 04-Jul-2025.
@Miraz what a lovely set of links. Especially the bushcraft kid. While I’ve not seen anything as dramatic, I see a lot of good in outdoor learning in mainstream (taking my class to the woods for a morning). Gives kids a bit of space both physically and mentally.
The bit I enjoyed most, though, was the punchline at the end. “The irony”, wrote Claude, “is that by calling LLMs ‘artificial intelligence’, we’re not just mischaracterising what these systems do; we’re also impoverishing our understanding of what human intelligence actually is.
Refreshing, straightforward piece from yesterday’s Observer.
#silentsunday
Saw this lovely comma today, according to butterfly conservation the unusual wing shape allows them to hibernate among dead leaves.
Glen Douglas, started clear, got cloudy. Warm. Lots of tiny wild flowers in the grass. 3 types of heather. Not much fauna, stonechat, a few pipets & larks, a snipe. One ringlet, lone small heath.
Didn’t get round the 3 hills, I got quite puffed going up first so just did 2.
Read Midnight & Blue by Ian Rankin ★★★★☆ 📚
Given the unlikely idea of old Rebus in jail. I was surprised that this recent one kept me interested & engaged.
Kilpatrick Braes. Warm & cloudy. Dozens of ringlets. Other species: photos of dark green fritillaries, small tortoiseshells & meadow browns. A few painted ladies & whites escaped me. Met a fox up the steep field. A sparrow hawk flew through the woods near the big fallen beech.
#SilentSunday #Birds
Read: Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth ★★★★★ 📚
In 2023 there were sixteen fatal dog attacks in the UK alone, not to mention the approximately 15,000 sheep killed by dogs off the leash each year.
In 2022 The author follows the 2012, 1200 mile journey of a radio collared wolf from Slovenia to Italy. The book covers a lot of ground too, climate change, human migration, politics & the natural history, conservation & controversy of wolves in Europe.