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cimorenenew_etymologylsandersonoursinThat piece about people having AI spouses is online: As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot lovers.
NB we note that 'Lamar' says that the breaking point with his actual, RL, girlfriend was when he found her doing the horizontal tango with his best friend, but it's clear that there were Problems already there, about having to relate to another human bean who was not always brightly sunshiny positively reinforcing him....
what would he tell his kids? “I’d tell them that humans aren’t really people who can be trusted …
This is not entirely 'wow, startling news' to Ye Hystorianne of Sexxe: The Phenomenon of ‘Bud Sex’ Between Straight Rural Men.
I am not going to see if I actually have a copy of the work on my shelves, or if I perused it in a library somewhere, but didn't that notorious work of 'participant observation' sociology, Tearoom Trade argue that many of his subjects were not defining themselves as 'homosexual'.
I also invoke, even further back, Helen Smith's Masculinity, Class and Same-Sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957 about men 'messing about' with other men in Yorkshire industrial cities.
And there is a reason people working on the epidemiology and prevention of STIs use the acronym 'MSM' - men who have sex with men - for the significant population at risk who do not identify as gay.
I had, I must admit, a very plus ca change moment when I idly picked up Katharine Whitehorn's Roundabout (1962), and found the piece she wrote on marriage bureaux. In which she mentioned that the two bureaux she interviewed tried to get their subscribers not to be too ultra-specific in their demands - that if they met potential partners in real life they would be more flexible.
Was also amused by the statement that 'Men over thirty are always very anxious to persuade me that they could have all they women they liked, if they bothered'.
bujhm
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phys_social_feedphys_social_feedphys_social_feedphys_social_feedcanyonwalker
Why start so soon?michifugu
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bakerstreet
kathleen_daileyjames_davis_nicoll
Which of these look interesting?
Of Venom and Vengeance by Mikayla Bridge (July 2026)
6 (15.4%)
Bad Advice by Susan Carpenter (April 2026)
3 (7.7%)
The Innocent Canadian by John Delacourt (April 2026)
6 (15.4%)
Woodbine Grove by Ryan O’Dowd (December 2025)
3 (7.7%)
Rum Maniacs: Alcoholic Insanity in the Early American Republic by Matthew Warner Osborn (March 2020)
22 (56.4%)
Inside Passages by Heather Paul (April 2026)
4 (10.3%)
Existence in All Its Uncoverable Beauty by Calvin White (April 2026)
2 (5.1%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
32 (82.1%)
larryhammerwhich_chickprettygoodword
cimorene - Names from Freeman Wills Croftsnew_etymology - VITT... does it FIT ?lsanderson - 2026.02.12oursin - Humanz B weerd ('throughout the whole of history', or at least, seldom for the v first time)bujhm - Жестяной голубок (презентация)phys_social_feed - Expert Q&A on post-war legal battle that changed Canadian citizenshipphys_social_feed - Police-related stress is associated with health risk for black womenphys_social_feed - The 6-7 craze offered a brief window into the hidden world of childrenphys_social_feed - Is it OK to feel 'schadenfreude' at work? Here's how to navigate this complex emotioncanyonwalker - I've Already Started my Taxes for Next Yearmichifugu - can BL/Yuri considered as part of LGBTQ art & literature?rebeccmeister - Right, then, let's get back to it [status, projects, food]blushline in bakerstreet - Rainy dayskathleen_dailey - Canadian media on Heated Rivalryjames_davis_nicoll - Books Received, January 3 to January 9seann - (no subject)larryhammer - “into the blue again after the money’s gone / once in a lifetime water flowing underground”neonvincent - A protest songwhich_chick - Plants over the weekend...prettygoodword - mai taibranchandroot
