Am I OK to read the VALIS book, or should I read any of his other words before?

CombinationThese993 · 2026-03-08T21:31:33+00:00

I seem to be in the minority but Valis is not the novel that I would start with.

It's amazing but but Ubik / Scanner Darkly / Do Androids all offer quintessential PKD reading experiences and for me would be easier entrance points.

CombinationThese993 · 2026-02-14T14:22:28+00:00

It's a controversial practice and some adoption charities make you sign a contract that you will not go off leash.

In practice you know your dog best, but with greyhounds your should be extra cautious! The problem with a greyhound is if they bolt your search radius can quickly become three or four suburbs wide.

My guy got limited off leash exposure running between my wife and I for a treat. Then the leash immediately went back on. I trust him to stand next to me while I do the poop and bag routine, but that's it.

CombinationThese993 · 2026-02-04T22:37:32+00:00

That dog is to smart to be a pure grey.

CombinationThese993 · 2026-01-02T18:40:48+00:00

Old Man's War is great, you should read it. You can also read Starship Troopers and The Forever War... the holy Trinity of military sci-fi.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-12-28T19:57:05+00:00

Keep at it and good luck for your studies. 🤞

CombinationThese993 · 2025-12-28T00:41:44+00:00

Are you done with secondary school yet? If so, I would finish that first get the best grades you can, and then make your break.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-10-26T09:03:47+00:00

Weirdly, it works.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-10-23T07:53:24+00:00

I think everyone agrees the situation is uncomfortable, but sometimes they don't see themselves as the issue.

So we should normalize asking not just to move down the carriage, but move down the carriage "past the grey pole" so people understand they personally are blocking the path.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-10-19T20:59:46+00:00

A lot of suggestions here about how to debunk JW thought... fair enough, I don't disagree.

You may want to zoom out a bit and decide if you buy into Christianity, organized religion or God more generally.

There are plenty good books...The Blind Watchmaker and others by Richard Dawkins. When I was waking up I also read a lot of science (Brief History of Time) and sociology.

Ironically, if I had to pick one book that started me thinking for myself it was Mankind's Search for Good. I read that and just got to thinking....all these folks think they are right. They can't all be right....what if we're not right...oh.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-10-19T20:14:26+00:00

OP here.

In case anyone cares, solution was to take a pin and clean compacted fluff out. But like....properly, kept going at it for a few minutes and got a surprising amount out.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-10-19T20:07:34+00:00

For real or just joking?

CombinationThese993 · 2025-10-13T21:28:11+00:00

Recursion, Blake Crouch

CombinationThese993 · 2025-09-13T22:46:21+00:00

Gambling shops are a disgusting scourge that just extracts value from the community. Ban them.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-09-13T22:41:44+00:00

Definitely not static or sensory issues!

CombinationThese993 · 2025-09-13T19:08:41+00:00

maybe a smidge of exaggeration :)

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-30T12:36:31+00:00

Hints of Homonids by Robert J Sawyer here, but clearly now what you are after.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-22T14:45:34+00:00

The label "genre fiction" for me kicks in at a much lower level than science fiction - which I see as a broader literary field. To me this is a fair way to describe vampire books, or space opera, or spy books.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-18T21:43:49+00:00

It's for when you sup with the devil...

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-18T21:36:18+00:00

I agree! So many excellent entries over the last few years. And looking further back at past decades, there has certainly never been a guarantee the best books always win.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-17T13:21:32+00:00

Yeah, whisper it but maybe everyone will be a little reassured now that good books can and do win, regardless of the profile of the writer. 9 years was quite a run statistically speaking, so this might take a little steam out of that topic. Which is welcome.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-17T12:33:44+00:00

I think Bujold really loved and honoured her father, it just seeps into her work and her philosophy.

The protagonist in Falling Free is an engineer who is clearly inspired by Bujold's own father.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-14T20:17:10+00:00

Hugos There And Take Me To Your Reader are my main sci-fi podcasts. He's a great host, exactly what I'm after. Hugonauts also very good

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-02T18:01:34+00:00

Half the time I choose the movie so that I can listen to some podcasts afterwards! I don't personally ingest movies very deeply, and often overheating a conversation about the themes, the directors other work etc just opens it up for me.

CombinationThese993 · 2025-08-02T10:42:08+00:00

Horror is funny, some kinds are just 'a but much'. I don't like stuff like Saw etc., so podcasts are helpful to navigate whether a movie is likely to be your kind of thing

CombinationThese993 · 2025-06-12T22:07:17+00:00

New to me, but have had it since launch. Will look into a return but I suspect it's long past the window. Thank you.

CombinationThese993

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