Jason Pettus 

@jasonpettus
441 Followers
271 Following
2.1K Posts
Freelance book editor and rare book collector based out of Chicago. This is a migration from another account I've had since 2019. I do the middle-aged dad version of shitposting, whatever that's called. Mastolikes: Discordia, transgression, cyberpunk, intl travel, absurdism as lifestyle, breadmaking. Mastodislikes: Toxic positivity (aka "You Got This! Syndrome"), radicals on either side of the political divide, sports, popular music, and many more. #StopTalkingAboutLinux.
Freelancing sitehttps://pettus.rocks
Personal journalhttps://write.as/jasonpettus
Photographyhttps://pixelfed.social/@jasonpettus
Jason Pettus 3h ago

#TodayILearned that in the mid-1960s, the name Karen was the third most popular baby name in America, but by the 2020s has plunged to 831st.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/nation-world/karen-baby-name-plummets-popularity/507-93b87091-7c8b-40f3-8f64-91d0db8f1825

ABC10

News for Northern California - including weather, traffic, sports and Originals content. The YouTube home of ABC10 in Sacramento!

YouTube
Jason Pettus 3h ago
batkaren (a/k/a kt roth)2d ago
WHY IS THE PACKAGING SO FUCKING STRESSFUL TO GET INTO THE WEED GUMMIES
Jason Pettus 4h ago
Lilly Hunter5h ago
Wind turbine blade being transported inland from the harbour. Only way to do it without knocking down all the buildings in town is to carry them *vertically*. This is in Wick, in Caithness.
(the seagulls seem quite intrigued by this big white wing!) [photo by Alan Hendry]
Jason Pettus 12h ago

I'm intensely curious to know how many people in our society are ACTUALLY trying to read full-length novels on a fucking 2 by 4-inch screen. I suspect that the answer is "zero," meaning all the hype (I literally can't get away from it) over the Xteink X4 is exclusively from gadget people who are excited to own a new gadget, but that in practical terms is a useless slab of plastic.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/xteink-s4-e-reader-announced

This Little Device Might Be the Pocket E-Reader of My Dreams

The Xteink S4 is the latest device from the upstart Chinese tech company, and it could be a game-changer in the non-Kindle e-reader market.

Lifehacker
Jason Pettus 12h ago

"Hollywood celebrity is always early for work" is some REAL "slow news day" nonsense

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/movies/jet-li-beyond-life-death.html

Jet Li Believes in Showing Up on Time, or Earlier

“If you tell me eight o’clock,” the film and martial arts star said, “I will be there 10 or 15 minutes before and wait.”

The New York Times
Jason Pettus 12h ago

Because let us never forget -- it's perfectly okay to support a child molester if his music is GOOD!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/arts/music/michael-jackson-canceled-streaming-movie.html

Michael Jackson’s Music Was Too Big to Be Canceled

The pop superstar, who is the subject of the new movie “Michael,” faced several sexual abuse allegations. But the songs he made have endured, and even thrived.

The New York Times
Jason Pettus 12h ago
#Caturday
Jason Pettus 1d ago
Sneak preview of my next self-published book, done so I can write a making-of guide at my freelancing website as a marketing project for attracting new visitors (see the first of these at https://Pettus.rocks/Sunny). I'm always in the process of writing critical cultural essays, so I thought it'd be fun to publish them all under the series "Pettus On..." Future titles: Pettus on Beethoven, Pettus on Rare Book Collecting, Pettus on Jack Reacher. This book coming in May!
Jason Pettus 1d ago
I'm going out to a LOT of live events again this year, because of getting my cutting-edge new hearing aids over Christmas, enough now (80 or so events since the start of the year) that I'm now getting regularly asked for my contact information. So, I ran off a very simplistic two-sided business card -- my freelancing website on one side, my marketing catchphrase on the other -- and they just showed up today. They're pretty nice, I think! At least, they do the trick!
Jason Pettus 2d ago

What I learned by reading Alan Osmond's obituary today: The Osmond Family have actually been performing since the 1950s, when they were all little children. They got a gig as a kiddie barbershop quartet at Disneyland; that led to them appearing on "The Wonderful World of Disney;" that caught the attention of Andy Williams, who signed them to a five-year contract for his variety show; and that's what turned them into national celebrities in the 1970s.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/arts/music/alan-osmond-dead.html

Alan Osmond, Who Led His Brothers in a Boy Band, Dies at 76

He was the eldest original member of the Osmonds, a family singing group that hit it big in the 1970s with songs like “One Bad Apple.”

The New York Times