Nicholas "phi" Shectman

@totient.bsky.social

195 Followers 158 Following

Professional generalist. Four season cyclist. Conrunner. Photographer. Process geek.

The Far Side cartoon with the two chimps in a tree and the caption "Well, well—another blond hair. ... Conducting a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?" ... signed by Jane Goodall.
_History of the Great Fire in Boston_ by R. H. Conwell (1873), in the ziploc bag I keep it in to keep it from destroying anything.
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in _Agatha Christie's Poirot_.
George Formby with five banjoleles, none of which were later owned by John Scalzi.
The cover to Tracy Chapman's 1988 eponymous debut album.
Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross shoots and kills Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney with a long barrel revolver in the 2010 Coen Brothers remake of _True Grit_.
A blank "Always Has Been" meme image, featuring an astronaut with a flag of Ohio shoulder patch pointing a gun at one with a US flag shoulder patch, in front of an Earth as it might be seen from the Moon.
The cover to Liz Phair's 1993 album _Exile in Guyville_, about which books have been published describing how perfect it is. The album is a track for track response to another perfect album, The Rolling Stones' 1972 _Exile on Main Street_.
The cover of the soundtrack to the 1984 movie Repo Man, featuring a very young Emilio Estevez, a very old Chevy Malibu, and great music by Iggy Pop, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Fear, and The Plugz.
The sign for the Halifax Pier Pub. Presumably frequented by broken men or at least people who like sea shanties.
The cover to Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland.
A red "sold" dot on the tag for my piece "Kearney, 10:07 PM".
An empty 7oz bag of Laxmi brand garam masala, and an empty 10oz bag of Deep brand frozen kasoori methi.
"Airplane" pack of Biscoff cookies, alongside an Americano served in a surplus former Northwest Airlines onboard service coffee cup.
Baby me giving my grandmother more side-eye than I can remember ever giving anyone ever.
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Aliens, in which movie she utters the word "bitch" in a way that, uniquely, simultaneously conveys both the derogatory sentiment required for this meme and the feminist sentiment required for me to reply to a meme.
An empty 7.5 oz bag of Hungarian half-sharp paprika from Penzeys.
A wave breaking on an empty New England beach.
phi sitting at his desk, in front of a shelf of cycling books, two of poetry, and a bunch of art, most prominently a watercolor astronaut with flowers in its faceplate by Meg Frank.
Killian Scott as Orpheus, Ramon Tikaram as Charon, and Robert Emms as Anatole in Charon's boat on the river Styx in the TV series Kaos.
Wilbur, a grey short haired cat, naps on a light blue armchair with ottoman.
A negative flu/rsv/covid combo test.
Guinan resisting Q's powers in the ST:TNG episode "Q Who".
Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short as Charles, Mabel, and Oliver in _Only Murders in the Building_.
Phil Foglio's immortal, impervious, incredibly dim-witted Archetype of Intelligent Life: Winslow.
One yellow onion, all by its lonesome on my kitchen counter
An empty 12 oz bottle labeled "Mint Simple", with funnel and strainer at the ready.
A plastic egg carton full of ground spices in varying amounts.
An array of Indian spices about to be roasted for garam masala.
A rusty old iron railroad trestle makes an almost abstract contrast to green water and white sky reflections.
Old Orchard Beach at low tide, a month or so ago.
A firework is reflected in the water, with the silhouettes of people watching. The shadows of previous fireworks are faintly visible as the wind blows them from right to left.
Peter Sellers as Doctor Strangelove gets in a fight with his own hand in the War Room in the eponymous movie.
Cousin Avi gets tired of trying to clean up the mess on the phone and crosses the Atlantic in a five second montage during which zero other plot transpires.
Belinda Carlisle driving a vintage convertible in the video for _Our Lips Are Sealed_.
Winona Ryder lights a cigarette for Gena Rowlands in Jim Jarmusch's _Night on Earth_.
A recent photo of Mandy Patinkin with thin rimmed glasses, greying beard, and receding hairline.
Eddie and Dulcey from the Deadloch TV series.
Sixteen steamed dumplings arranged in a pretty spiral around a small dish of dark colored dumpling sauce.
A map of the world, showing my order and my house in New England and the delivery driver in Nigeria.
Two bottles of decently good Chinese soy sauce, one dark and one light.
A rear quarter view of the flying taxi from Fifth Element, with strong design elements resembling both a Checker Cab and a street rod, flying high above a concrete canyon full of New York pre-war style architecture, other flying traffic, and the occasional skybridge. The taxi number B90 is emblazoned prominently on each corner.