Stephen Geigen-Miller

@stephengm

I work at the University of Toronto (but speak only for myself). I love the heck out of my two kids and my wife. In between, I write. He/him

1.999 Folgt1.797 Follower3.491 Posts

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Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· 28d

I have NEVER seen an AQI that high in Toronto.

A screenshot from the information via my phone's weather app, centered on Toronto. It shows a heat map of southern Ontario and the adjacent Great Lakes and East Coast parts of the U.S. More urgently, the AQI is circled in red and shows a warning of Hazardous and an AQI of 326. It also notes, somewhat redundantly, that conditions for running outdoors are currently poor.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· 28d

The morning sun through smoke over Toronto.

The morning sun rises and shines through smoke over Toronto. The haze is making the sky and sun an end-of-days red.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· 28d

Popped this on for my commute home. The majority of folks I see aren't wearing masks, but a lot more are than this morning.

A picture of me, wearing a face mask for my commute home thanks to the catastrophic air quality in Toronto.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jun 21

Wow, thanks for the SKIN RASH, PHARMACIST.

A sign outside a pharmacy shows a picture of a white woman with long brown hair examining a rash on her own hand. The text reads, "Skin Rash? Think Pharmacist. Get an assessment and a prescription on the spot."

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jun 19

The other day I saw a post that shared and criticized a screenshot (not this one) from Omar El Akkad's book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. It was a smirking, morally vacuous comment, but a good reminder that I hadn't read the book. Now I have. You should too. It's essential.

A screenshot sharing a quote from Omar El Akkad's book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, which reads, "It's all fiction. I understand - the novel, the speech within it, maybe the other speech too. But so long as there exists a Western self-conception that demands the appearance of purity at all times. it should be known that what shocks the most isn't the cruelty or indifference. Many people's governments are cruel, many people's governments are indifferent. It's this relentless parachuting of virtue. It's these speeches and statements of eloquently stated concern for human rights and freedom and the demand that those who abuse human rights or withhold freedom be held to account. And it's the way every ideal turns vaporous the moment it threatens to move beyond the confines of the speeches and statements, the moment it threatens even the most frivolous parcel of self-interest, What good are words, severed from anything real?"

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jun 17

I'm delighted at the implicit accusation that the pilot *deliberately chose to aim for already-existing flames.*

A screenshot of a breaking news push notification I received shows a photo of people at the scene of a crashed private jet, which is in flames.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jun 12

The Pride display is up in the lobby at work. I don't agree with all the decisions UofT makes as an institution, but I'm happy and VERY proud that we're committed to welcoming, supporting, and celebrating 2SLGBTQ+ people. Happy Pride, everyone!

Big paper flowers in all the colors of the Pride Flag hang suspended from the ceiling in the lobby at the poster's workplace at the University of Toronto, as part of an annual Pride Month display.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· May 18

That's quite a typo, CP24.

In a screenshot from the breaking news app on the poster's phone, a headline links to an online news article. Above is a stock photo of people at a beach on a sunny day. Below that is the headline "Toronto weather: Teat warning in effect".

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· May 2

Even McDonald's coffee is surprised by how good McDonald's coffee is.

A picture of a McDonald's coffee cup, in close abd from above. The plastic lid is on, with the tab open. The lid looks like a face with eyes wide and mouth open in surprise.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Mar 25

Drone over downtown Toronto. I spotted it flying south from near Queen's Park, along University. When I took this picture, it was hovering by the Ontario Power Building, maybe 10 or 12 floors in the air?

A drone hovers in the air over downtown Toronto

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jan 25

A photo looking out from a balcony across a grey and snowy sky as fresh snow blankets the street and the neighborhood.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Nov 25

You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who's coming to save you? I'm doomed, but it'll be delicious! (That's the contestants on Season 9 of the Great Canadian Baking Show, for those who aren't familiar.)

The 10 bakers featured on Season 9 of the Great Canadian Baking Show stand in a line, wearing aprons with their names on them, in the tent that is the location for the program.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Oct 31

This werewolf is howling for the Jays tonight! #WantItAll #HappyHalloween

A photo of the poster, who's wearing furry pointed ears AND a Toronto Blue Jays ball cap, for Halloween.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Oct 14

Using the online form to unsubscribe from Paramount Plus, I selected the "Other" reason, and included the feedback, "I'm disgusted that in a blatant display of currying favor with Trump and his fascist cabal, your parent company has installed Bari Weiss - a racist, far-right propagandist with zero experience in anything to do with real journalism - as the head of CBS news. You're fascists or cowards and you don't get my money for that."

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Aug 8

Last year I went to Plauen, the small city in Germany my grandfather was from. The town records office told me the address of the *building where he was born*. There's a pub there now, the Weisses Rössl. VERY much a local. The proprietor spoke no English but happily served us goulash and noodles.

Picture of me, the poster, in the Weisses Rossl in Plauen, Germany, eating a plate of goulash and noodles.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jun 28

The handsome goofs are having fun at Toronto Pride!

The poster, a middle-aged white man, sits with his son, a young white man with a beard, wearing and rainbow sunglasses, at a bench at Toronto Pride

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Jun 15

This is the book that goes with me to the hospital. I wouldn't necessarily RECOMMEND it anymore - it hasn't aged well in some very significant ways - but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE it. It still makes me cry.

Cover of the 1984 fantasy novel Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. The cover is modern but uses a style inspired by classical Chinese art to depict a woman being borne aloft by a flock of birds. The text includes the title, the author's name, and the description, a novel of an Ancient China that never was.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· May 25

Wishing you the best on this Glorious 25th of May. Source: reverse-mermaid, via Tumblr GNU Terry Pratchett

An illustration of a stylized sprig of purple lilac, superimposed over a rectangle in lighter purple, and text in white reading "How do they rise up?"

Below the rectangle, in smaller purple text against a white background, are the words, "The Glorious 25th of May"

Source: reverse-mermaid, via Tumblr

G N U Terry Pratchett

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· May 20

The handsome goofs are ready to see the Jays beat the Padres!

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Apr 7

In more pleasant news? MURDERBOT! -- Vanity Fair: 'Murderbot' Would Hate You - But That's Why You'll Love It www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...

A still photo showing a scene from the Apple+ TV adaptation of Murderbot, with Alexander Skarsgård as the title character in the foreground.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Apr 1

When the TTC doesn't put a bench at your bus stop and you take matters into your own hands.

A folding wooden chair sits just off the sidewalk, on a thin patch of mostly dead grass in front of a metal fence, at a Toronto Transit Commission bus stop.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Mar 28

DAMN STRAIGHT

Me, the commenter, a middle-aged white dude with glasses. I'm seated and pointing at my t-shirt, which is black with the words, "YOU WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME" in the colours of the trans flag

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Mar 17

It literally got on the subway at Dundas West station, walked from one set of doors to the next, and flew off at the next stop. #DontLetThePigeonRideTheSubway

A pigeon stands on the floor of a TTC subway car.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Feb 27

Hands und Fronds!

Picture of the poster's arms extended and hands splayed against a background of Florida plant life, with some kind of fronds most prominent.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Dec 22

Name a non-LOTR character that could resist the One Ring.

Illustration by Garth Williams from Charlotte's Web, which shows Charlotte, a small and ordinary seeming spider, using her webs to securely attach her egg sac, which is many times her size, to a weathered board in an old barn.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Dec 13

My comment that I included with my signature.

My comment on the Change dot org petition "Bluesky must enforce its Community Guidelines Equally", which reads:

The whole point of Bluesky, the selling point that brought so many of us to it, is that it promised to be a better social media platform that isn't regularly used as a vehicle for harassment and abuse. This is a real test of that commitment, and the only possible decision if we're going to have the Bluesky we were promised is to immediately and permanently ban Singal, who has already violated Bluesky's community guidelines and has made it clear that he plans to continue to do so.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Dec 3

The Came From Beneath The Sea! You're a character in a 50s B-Movie, fighting off monsters from the deep, aliens from beyond the skies, and other ridiculous horrors. Comedy, horror, science-fiction and maybe a little romance, all in one game!

The cover of the table-top role-playing came They Came From Beneath The Sea! A furious, gigantic octopus-like sea monster rises from the depths. It lifts a huge cargo ship in its tentacles. In the foreground, one crew member clings desperately to the prow as others plummet into the creature's maw, or to the sea below.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Dec 3

Monsterhearts 2 (the revised edition). You're a teenager. And a monster. You were expecting a bunch of new feelings and for your body to change, but not exactly like THIS.

Cover of the MONSTERHEARTS 2 table-top role-playing game. Against a red moon, three monstrous teenagers stand gazing at the reader. One, at the front, is bestial or vampiric, their long fingernails claws, fangs visible in their snarl, eyes glowing red. To their right is a witchy-looking goth, arms crossed, regarding you with a mysterious and maybe superior stare. On the left, a more nervous-looking teen with glasses, a bandana covering their hair, and a shirt decorated with a unicorn, holds their chain-clad arms over their body protectively. Are they a monster too? Are they an ordinary teen? Is there any difference?

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Dec 3

You're a broken toy in a broken world, fighting to put yourself back together, and maybe the world too. IT'S TOY STORY: FURY ROAD.

Cover of the Threadbare table-top roleplaying game. Against a background of weatherbeaten cardboard boxes painted to look like buildings, a worse-for-wear teddy bear wearing a cape and clutching a wrench in one hand triumpantly rides a haphazardly-repaired T-Rex. The dinosaur is covered with tape and odd screws and has a can opener instead of one of its arms. In the foreground, broken-down toys including a knight with one arm, a doll with an eyepatch and a mismatched limb, a wrestler with an eggbeater in place of one arm, a saluting toy soldier and a posable wooden doll with its arms raised all stand ready for action.

Stephen Geigen-Miller@stephengm· Dec 3

Court of Blades. You're the courtiers, retainers, and operatives of a noble family, engaging in courtly intrigue, dalliance, and occasional brutal violence for position and status in a deeply intricate, highly corrupt city-state.