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Interested in books, history, neurodiversity, cooking, art, and democracy
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Apparently, no one seems particularly bothered, but for the past few days, Trump has been talking repeatedly about being a dictator. If Americans don’t want that, the window to stop him is closing quickly.
We took a field trip to #ShopLocal and practice paying with cash. The kids liked the selection and the staff was patient with all 6 of our transactions (and gave a 5% discount for cash!). Now we have so much candy and popcorn to eat! #TinyJoys
I’m from L.A. We did not feel freer with your jackboots in our city. I’m sure those in D.C. would agree. Get lost with this fascist propaganda.
"Black women, have a history of being marginalized,”...“When you can send in the troops and it’s a Black woman leader on the receiving end, then it’s not such a big deal to send in the troops — because they’re already the enemy, and they must not be capable of managing their city."
Litter is definitely a massive emergency that warrants mobilizing units from several states’ National Guard, arming them heavily and sending them into the streets of the capital.
Watching my kindergartner at the playground “for safety” and thinking of how in 1954 Beezus left 4yo Ramona in the sand pile outside the community center for an hour unsupervised every Friday night and this was considered an ideal arrangement for everyone. #BeezusAndRamona #BeverlyCleary #kids 💙📚
It actually really sucks watching people lionize Newsom for "fighting" because he has good comms people and tell trans people we essentially need to willingly sacrifice ourselves for a candidacy he hasn't announced yet and are terrible people if we're not eagerly doing so.
Thousands of ICE agents are doing a lot more damage to our social fabric than millions of undocumented immigrants.
putting aside the trans rights issues specifically (lol), I think part of what has me so frustrated with the Newsom thing is that Pritzker, Walz, and Zohran are putting on clinics for a popular, progressive politics and we’re wasting time talking about this used car salesman ass goblin.
All or none. Simple shit. And don't tell me it's bad strategy, that just means you're someone who can't be trusted in a foxhole. Conceding any ground to the right on this is what got us here in the first place.
This message just popped into my head and I feel like I'm being told to share it: Now is a season for discernment. Not being paranoid and distrustful of others, but it's a time to really be aware of who/what you allow into your space and energy, and who/what you allow to take you off your square.
For years I’ve been told that the 2nd Amendment + the NRA are critical to ensuring that a tyrannical government can’t run the country. … and yet we have armed troops marching the streets in our cities, and those folks now seem quite silent. Think they just forgot?
Reminder: Live long enough, and you’ll - A. Get old. B. Acquire some kind of disability l, because our bodies were not designed to last forever. So, when you address how society should treat people with disabilities and the elderly, remember that if you’re lucky, one day that will be you.
Which is awful and should not exist. Convict leasing is slavery transferred, and I was embarrassingly old when I found out about it. Yet another way the system fails people.
The Obama-era rule made it so costs increased but workers haven’t seen income increases? Where is that money going? Similar, a local farm is closing its seasonal activity business, bcause worker costs are their biggest expense. Why would Paying workers a (not quite) living wage break a business?
ICE agents are not wearing ‘masks’. They’re face coverings. Bandanas. Gaiters. Masks are a public health tool. They’re a form of both resistance and community care. ICE agents wear them to terrorize people & hide their identity. The rest of us wear masks to protect one another.
If Delusion and Denial were ranked, the USA would be #1. Certainly not Awake or Aware.
My neighbor is teaching a group of kids age 10 and under a #Bollywood style dance routine, and it’s amazing. #TinyJoys
I’m unreasonably delighted that my #LocalBookstore owner knows me on sight. #TinyJoys
in two months newsom has given liberals to oppose trans people in sports and now healthcare for trans kids itself. he wants us to die and the people applauding him for it couldn’t care less, truly blue maga
It was interesting to see both sides of immigration. Marjane struggled as an immigrant to Austria, and yet was clear about the general negative opinion of Kuwaiti immigrants to Iran.
I agree Marjane was “in between.” After her return from Austria she says something about being a westerner in Iran, but an Iranian abroad, and therefore fits nowhere.
The part where Marjane falsely accuses a man so the guardians of the revolution will not arrest her for make-up, and then laughing about it. It seemed so out of character for her to throw someone under the bus like that.
The way Marjane’s family consistently offered their support. They never told her she was too much or to stay home from parties. They made sure she knew of the possible consequences but let her decide, and I think that was critical to Marjane’s well-being. Parenting goals.
I feel like other fans of Surprised Eel Historian greenleejw@bsky.social would appreciate knowing when an eel was a sweet potato.
#Parenting milestone no one talks about: when all the #kids can out on their own swim suits. #TinyJoys
An assassin bug chowing down on a false potato beetle larva that was eating eggplant leaves. This is why you don’t indiscriminately spray insecticides—predator insects are killed too and their numbers recover more slowly. 🌱 🦋
Finding people who will accept my kids’ weirdness is #TinyJoy and #NotSoTinyJoy
The idea of being "naturally gifted" at art is a joke. What you see from an artist you like is the result of years (even decades) of obsession.
I love grocery store self-checkout. It makes me feel like a thief, a cashier, and a magician with trust issues all at once.
Today’s #TinyJoy was that my tween cleaned the #rabbit room with minimal support. 😍
“The lesser evil”
This Weeks Editorial Cartoon: Sweetshop Labor
The White House's memes about imprisonment, deportation, and death by alligator are designed to radicalize and desensitize. “What you have is this desire to get people to buy into the fun of sadism,” says Jason Stanley, an author who’s leaving the US because of “concerns over fascism.”
My spouse and I can’t write #LoveNotes to each other because we can’t read each other’s handwriting. 😂 #marriage
After getting a message from my pastor saying basically the same thing about accommodating #disability, this gets my dander up.
The number of artists, particularly musicians, we are losing to disability or death due to COVID….
🦜🐦⬛
One who beaves
Cameron, a transgender 17-year-old from Massachusetts, is preparing to leave the country. “Having to choose my safety over staying with my family at a young age is a really frustrating place to be in.”
My kid has two neighborhood friends who are opposite eaters. One friend is particular, and the other told me about the time he ate cooked goat brains. I’m glad they’ll both eat nuggets here. 😂 #FoodSky #cooking #TinyJoys
Tomatoes built like garlic bulbs?! That sounds amazing! 😮
I took my teen to the County War Museum so he could be with his fellow 80yo #WW2 aficionados. #FieldTrip 🗃️ ⏳
To say that "the data show these vaccines fail" in regards to the mRNA plaform is unforgivable. For those of you that don't remember - this is the data from a SINGLE dose. In December 2020. So good I cried in grateful tears.
Today I learned that when sugarcane farmers burn their fields, a “black snow” falls for months on communities downwind. Under FL law, burns are prohibited when the wind is blowing into wealthy, white neighborhoods. They’re only allowed when it’s blowing into poor, majority black areas.
Today marks 80 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima—the first use of such a weapon in history. As the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, Japan has a vital role in building a world without nuclear weapons. Let us pause to remember the victims and pray for lasting peace.
bro why am I so tired all the time is it the fascism
We’ve discovered a literal miracle with almost unlimited potential and it’s being scrapped for *no reason whatsoever*. This isn’t even nihilism, it’s outright worship of death and human suffering.
#CurrentlyReading The Once and Future King by TH White. It’s a smooth narrative and yet I find it hard to read. It’s poking all my current internal crises of political structures, economic systems, and the inevitability of violence. #BookSky ⏳📚
This image fascinates me, but as a midwestern landlubber, I don’t know what I am looking at. 😅 A good alt-text description would help me a lot.
I have spent years finding replacements for things #SpecialNeeds kids want but can’t have readily. My go to phrase is, “give them something to replace it.” It never occurred to me that the replacement was not enough, but for society something else has to happen. #nature #environment #sustainable
A photograph of children at the Minidoka incarceration camp in Idaho. Caption on back: Nursery school in Hunt Idaho. Eddie Masaru Hirota 5 years/Norma Kayoko Hirota 4/Dickie Yoshihiro Hirota 3/Teachers (from left) Miss Takahashi/Miss Ota/Miss Tanaka/Mrs. Hanamura/August 1943." 🗃 #skystorians
Or as we say in my house, “wuffles.”
Gorgeous! You made the ink/colors?
I'm never get over the fact that this administration's war on trans people is being carried out with the pretext of "protecting women and girls" while the president is a pedophile rapist.
For all those rightwingers crying about how “DeMoCrAtS GerRyMaNdEr ToO,” just ask them if they support a nationwide ban on gerrymandering. We do. They don’t. They’re not mad at the concept of gerrymandering, they’re mad that they don’t get to be the only party wielding it anymore.
This sounds like something my chaotic children would enjoy, LOL.
It's Monday, friends. And you deserve safe passage to wherever you're bound. So enjoy this lovely illumination of St. Christopher. The patron saint of travelers, he often appears in Medieval English art surrounded by eels. Here, you can see an happy eel gliding along near the saint's ankles! 🗃️🧪
#OnThisDay, 3 Aug 1798, British woman Nancy Ann Perriam serves in the naval Battle of the Nile against the French aboard HMS Orion. She prepared the cartridges for the guns, normally a job for young boys known as powder monkeys. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory 🗃️ 1/2
If you want to learn about married women’s dependent citizenship in the early 20th century & the birthright citizens who lost their citizenship by marrying an immigrant, check out “Forgotten America” on The Great Courses Plus or Audible. 🗃️ bit.ly/4omm0oi
Some perimenopausal women have hot flashes, but apparently my symptoms include wanting ice in my drinks and not feeling cold all.the.time. The worst is probably yet to come. 😂 #perimenopause #HotFlashes #TheChange #PersonalHeatWave
Ok, #GardenSky, I need #compost advice. I have an open air compost pile ready now, and wood pellets waiting for composting. All gardens are growing things now. Would you: side dress existing gardens? Store the ready stuff and start the new browns cooking? A 3rd option? #NativePlants #GrowYourFood
The lighting in this photo is amazing. It looks like a light fixture turned on!
Illinois is now the first state in the nation to require mental health screenings in its public schools. Our schools should be inclusive places where students are not just comfortable asking for help — they’re empowered to do it.
This is a subtweet for someone I’ve just seen post two complex images with alt text which, when you open it, just read “pic 1” and “pic 2”. Don’t do that shit, please?
“It’s just a tool! People used to hate on photoshop too.” Take away my photoshop, take away my tablets, I can still draw. Take away your plagiarism machine and what are you gonna do? Shout prompts at me?
I pulled into the parking lot for my #mammogram, and a #dog in a nearby car looked at me with sleepy eyes like, “wut is this nonsense?” And I was like, same, dog. Same. #DogSky #AnnualExam
Evangelical anti gay Republican group Liberty Council calls for overturning gay marrige. Overturning Obergefell will cause total chaos even in Trump’s Cabinet Treasury Sec Scott Bessent is gay and married Will he support Trump overturning his marriage along and millions of others? #ProudBlue
The Women’s suffrage movement gained a lot of popular attention due to hunger strikes. Keep talking about this place!
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.” The first part of this James Baldwin quote gets thrown around a lot, but it’s the second half that stick with me.
Disability justice is worker justice. When we fight for accessible workplaces, flexible policies, and respect on the job, everyone benefits. Solidarity means making room for all workers to thrive. ✊ #DisabilityPride #DisabilityAwareness
5/ Despite looking in 5 places for 2 different books and having to ask librarians repeatedly for help, we all enjoyed our time at the library. /end #LibrariesAreForEveryone #TinyJoys
4/ The highlight for me was when a heard a kid crying - and it wasn’t mine! We made it out with no tears or fussing at all, which I think sets a record.
3/ The most surprising perk was the new bathrooms. 4/5 kids praised it, some because it’s an all-gender one-holer, and some because…IDK, they just liked it. 😂 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
2/ It’s a gorgeaus library. A lovely combination of familiar for the older kids and new and exciting. And the #BOOKS! Everyone found books they wanted to read! #BookSky 💙📚
WE WENT TO THE RENOVATED #LIBRARY! 1/🧵
In 1917, American women were asked to ditch their corsets to help win the war. They did—and freed up enough steel to build two battleships. Once again: never underestimate the historical power of women’s clothing choices.🗃️ Corsets and battleships, explained: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9
I know this is sarcastic but I think its important to address this. There are a lot of pictures of Japanese Americans smiling at the camps but there is a lot of nuance. They weren't happy living in the camps or losing their homes but they worked hard to endure a difficult time. 🗃 #skystorians
The logistics of Pilate’s lack of a navel boggle my mind. It’s probably a device to advance her rejection by people and her ties to the supernatural, but I’m stuck on, how? LOL
A photograph of four Japanese American girls at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Wyoming. The photograph was taken by Yoshio Okumoto on July 29, 1944. 🗃 #skystorians #OTD
In 1544 an English merchant in Calais named Otwell Johnson wrote to his brother John, & asked him to remind their sister to buy some eels in London for Lent. Which is basically the 16th C. version of texting someone to stop by the store on the way home. 🗃️🧪
You steep them whole? I usually make a syrup from rose hips and add it to drinks (hot water for tea, whiskey for a nightcap, etc). I hadn’t thought of just tossing them in the pot. 😂
Looks almost like an artichoke. Are they still edible?
If you plant a garden, you'll always have something to photograph. 📷 🌱 🦋 🐝
They’re blooming! #BloomScrolling #GardenSky #TinyJoys #NativePlants
When people invoke "common sense" it should be a big red flag. What it means is that the individual in question hasn't considered their own biases and assumptions and possibly can't tell the difference between that and valid, informed opinions.
Homelessness is not a crime. Poverty is not a crime. Disability is not a crime. Immigration is not a crime. Everything Trump Republicans are doing is.
July 26, 2025 Disability activists take over Trump Tower to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid on the 35th anniversary of the Americans withdrawal Disabilities Act. We refuse to allow our rights to be taken away!
Disability rights are fundamental human and civil rights. www.nea.org/advocating-f...
Dynamic disability
Signed in 1990. Still treated like a suggestion. Broken elevators, missing ramps, “just call us when you arrive.” The ADA isn’t a checklist; it’s civil rights. People deserve more than accommodations if convenient. #ADAAnniversary #DisabilityRights
#OTD 35 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. It opened doors, broke barriers, and affirmed that disability rights are civil rights. Let's continue the fight for full inclusion and equity. #ADA35
The best advice I ever got (and it was from social media) was to actually fucking rest when I had COVID instead of pretending I was fine (which leads to long COVID and possible permanent disability). I still wasn't the same for about a year! People need to rest to recover from anything.
One child is off to the local #Pride Fest with dad, which means a) they get to go, and 2) I don’t have to navigate a street fair. #TinyJoys #LGBTQ+ 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ #NotAllHeroesWearCapes
2/2 I suspect there’s an aspect of black culture I am missing here. Or maybe the characters are missing it, and that was part of Morrison’s point? Anyway, Milkman didn’t really seem engaged in family until he found “his people” in Shalimar, and the rest of his household never got there.
Characters use the phrase “my/her/your people” a lot, and it seems to apply only to blood family; eg Milkman says he is Hagar’s people, even after discarding her abruptly. Yet he never calls Guitar his people, even though Guitar is the only one Milkman is attached to until the end of the book. 1/2
July is #DisabilityPrideMonth! Everyone deserves to live in a world that celebrates and makes space for us — and ensures that we have access to the health care and other resources we need to thrive.
