Don't let the door hit you on the way out
Dec. 28th, 2025 08:47 pm2025 but pictured in gingerbread. Amazing art.
International commerce
Dec. 27th, 2025 04:26 pmOn the mundane side, I ran across FlossGrip a while ago via network, and it sounded like a good idea, but the website is very 90's and I was dubious about ordering internationally, even with PayPal's guarantees. I went ahead and ordered in late October, and received a confirmation email saying I should receive it in 10 days, 30 days at the most. 30 days later had received nothing, so I wrote and asked about next steps.
The proprietor and inventor Gui wrote back and said he could ship again, or I could have a refund. Since I didn't know what went wrong and if it would go any better the next time, I opted for a refund, and got it quickly. Yesterday, almost two months after ordering, it showed up in the mail!
I wrote back to Gui and asked how to pay him again, since I now had the item. I ended up placing another order and paying for it, with the understanding that he wouldn't send anything. He said, "Ps: you are really a lovely person; I can tell you it’s not all the clients who are reacting the way you do."
All I did was pay for goods received, but it's nice to be reminded that my efforts to be a good person do succeed and do make a difference, since it's the mistakes that usually echo in my head.
(I tried out the FlossGrip this morning and it indeed uses much less floss, but it was awkward to use. Maybe I'll get better at it.)
The proprietor and inventor Gui wrote back and said he could ship again, or I could have a refund. Since I didn't know what went wrong and if it would go any better the next time, I opted for a refund, and got it quickly. Yesterday, almost two months after ordering, it showed up in the mail!
I wrote back to Gui and asked how to pay him again, since I now had the item. I ended up placing another order and paying for it, with the understanding that he wouldn't send anything. He said, "Ps: you are really a lovely person; I can tell you it’s not all the clients who are reacting the way you do."
All I did was pay for goods received, but it's nice to be reminded that my efforts to be a good person do succeed and do make a difference, since it's the mistakes that usually echo in my head.
(I tried out the FlossGrip this morning and it indeed uses much less floss, but it was awkward to use. Maybe I'll get better at it.)
Songs to sing
Dec. 26th, 2025 08:28 pmI've been getting together with a friend to sing for a couple of years now. We met in the Balkan choir and both have aspirations to sing in a trio again someday. She generally sings low and I generally sing high, although it's fun to swap sometimes. We haven't been successful at finding a third person to sing middle with us, but we've enjoyed practicing choir songs and learning other songs together.
I tend to like song with strong rhythms and melodies, and she tends to like the slow wandering songs with lots of ornamentation, so it's been broadening both of our repertoires. Here are a couple of songs I've been working on at her suggestion.
Zora Zazorila "Dawn is breaking". Here is Eva Quartet sounding fantastic. I listen to them and despair, because I will never ever sound like that, but I can sing my own version, with my own slower and simpler ornaments. Zora Zazorila sheet music
Bozha Zvezda "Lord's star". Here is Kitka singing it on their Wintersongs album, Leslie Bonnett gorgeously singing melody with Janet Kutulas. Bozha Zvezda sheet music
They learned it from Daniel Spassov, and here's his recording. Bozha Zvezda
Those songs are both Bulgarian, but in case anyone is interested in learning more about Balkan singing, Dragi Spasovski is a kind and knowledgeable teacher of Macedonian songs, and he's teaching online for EEFC four Wednesdays in January, 5-6:15pm PT. I just signed up! More info and registration.
I tend to like song with strong rhythms and melodies, and she tends to like the slow wandering songs with lots of ornamentation, so it's been broadening both of our repertoires. Here are a couple of songs I've been working on at her suggestion.
Zora Zazorila "Dawn is breaking". Here is Eva Quartet sounding fantastic. I listen to them and despair, because I will never ever sound like that, but I can sing my own version, with my own slower and simpler ornaments. Zora Zazorila sheet music
Bozha Zvezda "Lord's star". Here is Kitka singing it on their Wintersongs album, Leslie Bonnett gorgeously singing melody with Janet Kutulas. Bozha Zvezda sheet music
They learned it from Daniel Spassov, and here's his recording. Bozha Zvezda
Those songs are both Bulgarian, but in case anyone is interested in learning more about Balkan singing, Dragi Spasovski is a kind and knowledgeable teacher of Macedonian songs, and he's teaching online for EEFC four Wednesdays in January, 5-6:15pm PT. I just signed up! More info and registration.
Link: Let's support trans children
Dec. 21st, 2025 10:47 amKids Deserve a New Gender Paradigm by Kai Cheng Thom.
[I]n the trenches of trans health care, there is a growing idea that pushes back against the “one true gender for each individual” framing altogether—one that could allow us to resolve the bitterly divisive culture war over the psychological and medical care of transgender children. What if, instead of viewing gender as a fixed trait, we started to think of it as something that could evolve over the course of a lifetime? Or if detransitioning wasn’t considered a sign of failure and was instead regarded as a natural and healthy part of the gender development process?
O Generous One by Timothy Snyder, a Substack link with more history of Ukraine then and now. Excerpt below.
Excerpt from the article:
“Carol of the Bells” stands out because it arises from a different tradition: that of Ukrainian folk songs, and in particular ancient Ukrainian folk songs welcoming the new year, summoning the forces of nature to meet human labor and bring prosperity. These are called shchedrivky, “carols of cheer” or, a bit more literally, songs to the generous one. The word “magic” is used a good deal around Christmas; this song has its origins in rituals that were indeed magical. And perhaps this is exactly why it reaches us.
Before the advent of Christianity, and for that matter for centuries afterwards, these songs orchestrated and encounter with the forces that could bring what was sought, which was the bounty of spring after the cold of winter. The pagan new year began, reasonably, in February or March, with the arrival of the swallows or the equinox; the carols of cheer were pushed back towards January or December 31st by Christianity -- and one in particular was pushed deep into December by Americans, transformed into a Christmas carol.
The melody that I heard in St. Paul’s Cathedral in Toronto as “Carol of the Bells” is a Ukrainian folk song. It was arranged as “Shchedryk” by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in the middle of the First World War, likely on the basis of a folk song from the Ukrainian region of Podilia. The four ancient guiding notes of the melody sound like the dripping of icicles joined by the singing of birds. Leontovych’s lyrics capture the earthy directness and incantatory purpose of the ancient songs. My English translation is no doubt inadequate and a little free -- in Ukrainian, for example, a dark-browed woman is by definition a beautiful woman, and so I have rendered her.
( Ukrainian text and English translation )
Excerpt from the article:
“Carol of the Bells” stands out because it arises from a different tradition: that of Ukrainian folk songs, and in particular ancient Ukrainian folk songs welcoming the new year, summoning the forces of nature to meet human labor and bring prosperity. These are called shchedrivky, “carols of cheer” or, a bit more literally, songs to the generous one. The word “magic” is used a good deal around Christmas; this song has its origins in rituals that were indeed magical. And perhaps this is exactly why it reaches us.
Before the advent of Christianity, and for that matter for centuries afterwards, these songs orchestrated and encounter with the forces that could bring what was sought, which was the bounty of spring after the cold of winter. The pagan new year began, reasonably, in February or March, with the arrival of the swallows or the equinox; the carols of cheer were pushed back towards January or December 31st by Christianity -- and one in particular was pushed deep into December by Americans, transformed into a Christmas carol.
The melody that I heard in St. Paul’s Cathedral in Toronto as “Carol of the Bells” is a Ukrainian folk song. It was arranged as “Shchedryk” by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in the middle of the First World War, likely on the basis of a folk song from the Ukrainian region of Podilia. The four ancient guiding notes of the melody sound like the dripping of icicles joined by the singing of birds. Leontovych’s lyrics capture the earthy directness and incantatory purpose of the ancient songs. My English translation is no doubt inadequate and a little free -- in Ukrainian, for example, a dark-browed woman is by definition a beautiful woman, and so I have rendered her.
( Ukrainian text and English translation )
Link: Car-free in Pittsburgh
Dec. 10th, 2025 06:17 pmConfessions of a ‘passenger princess,’ traveling Pittsburgh without a car by Emma Riva.
My parents gave me their older car when I was a senior in college, and later I bought one new, both small hatchbacks with few fancy features. I already biked around town a lot and arranged my life so I didn't have to commute by car. After a crash in September 2002 totaled my little blue hatchback, I decided I didn't want another car.
Over the last 23 years as cars have gotten bigger and more complicated and more invasive of privacy, I'm only confirmed in not wanting one.
I use public transit sometimes, and I get rides from friends sometimes, but mostly I get around on foot and by bike. Even in a place with good transit by US standards, it's still infrequent enough and unreliable enough to be a huge hassle. I'd rather be out in the cold and the rain on my bike than standing waiting for a bus.
Someone asked me recently how cold it has to get to stop me from riding. The answer is, cold won't really do it in the places I've lived. In Portland I had good enough gear to ride when it was 25 or 30 degrees. In the Bay Area it just won't get cold enough. Ice and snow stop me, and wind strong enough to blow me into the opposing lane.
I hope I can continue being car-free for a good long time to come. I love being out in the weather, breathing the air, saying hello to other cyclists, and being graciously allowed to cross big streets by drivers. I have a bike trailer to haul big items, and a bike pannier to haul groceries or sheet music or whatever else I need.
Taking the bus might not feel as sexy as driving a Mustang, but this is the role of the passenger princess: to romanticize the blue glow of the late-night buses; to celebrate the serendipitous conversations with poets, former MMA fighters and sommeliers doubling as rideshare drivers; to enjoy the intimacy and trust of a loved one driving you somewhere you need to go. Let’s keep the city yours and mine.
My parents gave me their older car when I was a senior in college, and later I bought one new, both small hatchbacks with few fancy features. I already biked around town a lot and arranged my life so I didn't have to commute by car. After a crash in September 2002 totaled my little blue hatchback, I decided I didn't want another car.
Over the last 23 years as cars have gotten bigger and more complicated and more invasive of privacy, I'm only confirmed in not wanting one.
I use public transit sometimes, and I get rides from friends sometimes, but mostly I get around on foot and by bike. Even in a place with good transit by US standards, it's still infrequent enough and unreliable enough to be a huge hassle. I'd rather be out in the cold and the rain on my bike than standing waiting for a bus.
Someone asked me recently how cold it has to get to stop me from riding. The answer is, cold won't really do it in the places I've lived. In Portland I had good enough gear to ride when it was 25 or 30 degrees. In the Bay Area it just won't get cold enough. Ice and snow stop me, and wind strong enough to blow me into the opposing lane.
I hope I can continue being car-free for a good long time to come. I love being out in the weather, breathing the air, saying hello to other cyclists, and being graciously allowed to cross big streets by drivers. I have a bike trailer to haul big items, and a bike pannier to haul groceries or sheet music or whatever else I need.
Link: the dangers of e-bikes and e-motos
Dec. 9th, 2025 10:35 pmThe Shocking Crash That Led One County to Reckon With the Dangers of E-Bikes by David Darlington. This is an unlocked New York Times article (posted to the Grizzly Peak Cyclists mailing list) about a bad e-bike crash in Marin County and the political fallout from it. Content note for description of the injury and medical treatment, although the teenager did survive.
The article sparked quite the discussion on the mailing list about reckless e-bike riders on multi-use paths, the pleasures of riding an e-bike and being able to go further and faster without a car, the differences between e-bikes (pedal assist) and e-motos (no pedaling required), and the disingenuousness of the concern about e-bike injuries when cars and motorcycles are far more dangerous to drivers, pedestrians, and the environment.
The person I ride with regularly rides an e-bike, and that has led me to appreciate them more. I look forward to owning one someday when I can't get to where I need to go on my acoustic/manual/regular bike. It's nice to know I have an option other than getting a car or taking lots of taxi rides. And, I still don't appreciate being passed without warning by people on silent fast vehicles who haven't learned bike manners.
The article sparked quite the discussion on the mailing list about reckless e-bike riders on multi-use paths, the pleasures of riding an e-bike and being able to go further and faster without a car, the differences between e-bikes (pedal assist) and e-motos (no pedaling required), and the disingenuousness of the concern about e-bike injuries when cars and motorcycles are far more dangerous to drivers, pedestrians, and the environment.
The person I ride with regularly rides an e-bike, and that has led me to appreciate them more. I look forward to owning one someday when I can't get to where I need to go on my acoustic/manual/regular bike. It's nice to know I have an option other than getting a car or taking lots of taxi rides. And, I still don't appreciate being passed without warning by people on silent fast vehicles who haven't learned bike manners.
Links: Nora Samaran's new post
Dec. 5th, 2025 09:12 pmNora Samaran made a new post! On Conflict and Community Fabric. When we value community, we work through conflicts with them not because the individual relationship is important to us, but because the whole community is important to us.
I'm not sure I had read her prior post from 2021, Coercive Persuasion and the Alignment of the Everyday. In it she mentions "How We Show Up" by Mia Birdsong, which I got from the library. I loved the book, about all the different ways we can weave connections with each other rather than focusing on isolated little nuclear families. And it turns out Mia Birdsong lives right here in Oakland! My review.
She also linked to Be careful with each other by Rushdia Mehreen and David Gray-Donald. "How activist groups can build trust, care, and sustainability in a world of capitalism and oppression."
I loved her article The Opposite of Rape Culture is Nurturance Culture and I can't believe that was back in 2016. Nine years ago! Anyway, it's great to keep someone's feed on the list even if it seems like they'll never post again, because sometimes they do!
In healthy human community, the kind that so many people say they want, and the kind study after study suggests people living in Western countries feel is missing in their lives, human beings are often in community with people with whom we aren’t individually or personally close, but who nonetheless form part of the larger circle of human bonds that forms the anchor and soilbed of our belonging.
I'm not sure I had read her prior post from 2021, Coercive Persuasion and the Alignment of the Everyday. In it she mentions "How We Show Up" by Mia Birdsong, which I got from the library. I loved the book, about all the different ways we can weave connections with each other rather than focusing on isolated little nuclear families. And it turns out Mia Birdsong lives right here in Oakland! My review.
She also linked to Be careful with each other by Rushdia Mehreen and David Gray-Donald. "How activist groups can build trust, care, and sustainability in a world of capitalism and oppression."
Collective care refers to seeing members’ well-being – particularly their emotional health – as a shared responsibility of the group rather than the lone task of an individual. It means that a group commits to addressing interlocking oppressions and reasons for deteriorating well-being within the group while also combatting oppression in society at large.
I loved her article The Opposite of Rape Culture is Nurturance Culture and I can't believe that was back in 2016. Nine years ago! Anyway, it's great to keep someone's feed on the list even if it seems like they'll never post again, because sometimes they do!
Link: Gladys West made GPS possible
Dec. 2nd, 2025 10:56 pmMother of GPS, Gladys West, Finally Gets Proper Recognition by Judith Fogel. Did you know GPS was made possible by a Black woman (who is still alive)? I sure didn't!
Gladys West and her husband Ira were both mathematicians at Dahlgren Naval Base, then called Dahlgren Naval Proving Ground. West was hired in 1956. Her extraordinary contributions to the geodetic modeling of the earth became the foundation for the Global Positioning System (GPS). But few knew how much this Black woman changed the way we navigate.
Links: Anti-AI
Nov. 23rd, 2025 09:36 pmThe Right to Say "No" by Audrey Watters. A rant about AI, eugenics, and Epstein (no details).
Why Science’s press team won’t be using AI to write releases anytime soon by Emily Underwood at The Last Word On Nothing.
The AI Invasion of Knitting and Crochet by Jonathan Bailey in Plagiarism Today.
Edited to add:
I don't care how well your "AI" works by Fiona Fokus.
The dark side of AI: Climate chaos, pollution, and injustice by Dwaign Tyndal. "Massive data centers pose serious risks to Black and brown communities."
WorkersDecide.tech, including AI Implementation Bingo. "Frustrated by your employer's generative AI policies? We're here to help you organize."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
erinptah's list of a lot more relevant links, content note: teen suicide.
More great links in comments!
There is a real rot at the core of many of our institutions – and certainly at the core of those powerful players operating within and adjacent to them. "Artificial intelligence" emerges from this rot. It cannot be a bulwark against it.
Why Science’s press team won’t be using AI to write releases anytime soon by Emily Underwood at The Last Word On Nothing.
Every time a translator takes a book and puts it in their own words, they are interpreting the material slightly differently. What we found was that ChatGPT Plus couldn’t do that. It could regurgitate or transcribe, but it couldn’t achieve the nuance to count as its own interpretation of a study.
I think that’s because ChatGPT Plus isn’t in society — it doesn’t interact with the world. It’s predictive, but it’s not distilling or conceptualizing what matters most to a human audience, or the value that we place in narratives that are ingrained in our society. [...]
Now, after this experiment, we’re very against using it. After a year of data, we know it can’t meet our standards. If we ever did plan to use it, we’d have to implement super rigorous fact-checking, because we don’t want to lose reporters’ trust.
The AI Invasion of Knitting and Crochet by Jonathan Bailey in Plagiarism Today.
Creating a pattern requires considering the entire work; each step has to fit with and work with all the others. Blindly selecting the next step without that consideration will, more often than not, fail. This is especially true since AI can’t “test” the pattern after writing it, which is a big part of what humans do. [...]
However, the best and simplest advice is to buy from patternmakers that you trust. If you know someone who is a human making high-quality patterns, turn to them first. Rewarding known human creators rather than chasing the cheapest pattern is the best way to avoid buying AI slop.
Edited to add:
I don't care how well your "AI" works by Fiona Fokus.
No matter how well “AI” works, it has some deeply fundamental problems, that won’t go away with technical progress. I’d even go as far and say they are intentional.
The dark side of AI: Climate chaos, pollution, and injustice by Dwaign Tyndal. "Massive data centers pose serious risks to Black and brown communities."
WorkersDecide.tech, including AI Implementation Bingo. "Frustrated by your employer's generative AI policies? We're here to help you organize."
erinptah's list of a lot more relevant links, content note: teen suicide.More great links in comments!
Links: Emotions, trauma, research
Nov. 16th, 2025 07:22 pmyoufeellikeshit.com, a self-care game by Amanda Miklik, based on a twine site by Jace Harr. Step by step questions to help you feel better.
Using the Arousal-Valence Model to Better Your Emotional Intelligence by Dr. Megan Anna Neff. Some aids to naming emotions for people who find it difficult, including an Unpleasant/Pleasant, High/Low Arousal grid.
Finding the Middle Way in Black & White Thinking with Marbling by Cait Klein.
Self Compassion and How The Science of Kindness Changes Your Brain interview with Dr. Kristin Neff, audio with summary.
The Collapse of Self-Worth in the Digital Age by Thea Lim.
“To See it All at Once”: Black Southern Placemaking Technologies with Zandria Robinson
How our noisy world is seriously damaging our health by James Gallagher.
Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID by Gillian Rutherford.
Opinion | I’m just 16, and I already have too many memories of mass shootings by Lydia Ganser. "It’s easy to offer condolences from afar while doing nothing to stop the guns."
What I Need You To Understand, Notes from Chicago in Late October by Dan Sinker.
Unofficial Pluslife FAQ (EN). Very detailed information on Pluslife Covid tests, which are as senstive as PCR tests. Sadly they are not available in the US.
Using the Arousal-Valence Model to Better Your Emotional Intelligence by Dr. Megan Anna Neff. Some aids to naming emotions for people who find it difficult, including an Unpleasant/Pleasant, High/Low Arousal grid.
Finding the Middle Way in Black & White Thinking with Marbling by Cait Klein.
Black and white thinking is a trauma response that is important to break down for our overall happiness and wellbeing. When we are not feeling safe, it’s easy to slide into rigid thought patterns such as everything is either good or bad, friend or enemy, kind or mean, awesome or awful etc. The reality is things are rarely ever all one or the other, and as we break down binary ways of thinking we allow more space for connection and collaboration to move forward in our lives.
Self Compassion and How The Science of Kindness Changes Your Brain interview with Dr. Kristin Neff, audio with summary.
The Collapse of Self-Worth in the Digital Age by Thea Lim.
When I was twelve, I used to roller-skate in circles for hours. I was at another new school, the odd man out, bullied by my desk mate. My problems were too complex and modern to explain. So I skated across parking lots, breezeways, and sidewalks, I listened to the vibration of my wheels on brick, I learned the names of flowers, I put deserted paths to use. I decided for myself each curve I took, and by the time I rolled home, I felt lighter. One Saturday, a friend invited me to roller-skate in the park. I can still picture her in green protective knee pads, flying past. I couldn’t catch up, I had no technique. There existed another scale to evaluate roller skating, beyond joy, and as Rollerbladers and cyclists overtook me, it eclipsed my own. Soon after, I stopped skating.
“To See it All at Once”: Black Southern Placemaking Technologies with Zandria Robinson
It was amazing to me to get to graduate school and to discover that I was a Southerner, and to discover that there was this idea that once all the Black [Southern] people left for the Great Migration, apparently we just didn’t even exist anymore, despite the inconvenient fact of the whole civil rights movement. So I had a bone to pick, and I just continued picking it.
How our noisy world is seriously damaging our health by James Gallagher.
"You have an emotional response to sound," says Prof Clark. Sound is detected by the ear and passed onto the brain and one region – the amygdala – performs the emotional assessment. This is part of the body's fight-or-flight response that has evolved to help us react quickly to the sounds like a predator crashing through the bushes. "So your heart rate goes up, your nervous system starts to kick in and you release stress hormones," Prof Clark tells me.
Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID by Gillian Rutherford.
Through analysis of immune cells, biomarkers in the blood and RNA sequencing, they identified a distinct immune signature in female versus male patients.
They found evidence of “gut leakiness” in the women patients, including elevated blood levels of intestinal fatty acid binding protein, lipopolysaccharide, and the soluble protein CD14 — all signs of gut inflammation that can then trigger further systemic inflammation once they reach the circulatory system.
Opinion | I’m just 16, and I already have too many memories of mass shootings by Lydia Ganser. "It’s easy to offer condolences from afar while doing nothing to stop the guns."
What I Need You To Understand, Notes from Chicago in Late October by Dan Sinker.
There's noise, so much noise, but there's also signal and the signal was that they were here that they were everywhere. Smash and grab jobs happening across the city nearly simultaneously. But the things being stolen aren't jewels, they're lives. Off streets, from yards. One roofer plucked off a ladder. A landscaper thrown to the ground, tackled by a half-dozen men in camo with weapons. Sixteen people on this day. Sixteen people disappeared, from just the northern side of the city and suburbs. More across the entire city.
Unofficial Pluslife FAQ (EN). Very detailed information on Pluslife Covid tests, which are as senstive as PCR tests. Sadly they are not available in the US.
Link: How to turn off AI tools
Oct. 29th, 2025 10:38 pmWhether it's the environmental destruction, the extraction of private information into the public soup of things AI might spit out, or the fake and/or wrong answers, there are a lot of reasons to turn AI off.
Consumer Reports: How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More by Thomas Germain.
Even if you've done this already, it's worth taking a look, because the people pushing AI use trickery to keep turning it on after people wisely opt out.
Consumer Reports: How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More by Thomas Germain.
Even if you've done this already, it's worth taking a look, because the people pushing AI use trickery to keep turning it on after people wisely opt out.
Oakland Love Life
Oct. 26th, 2025 09:13 pmI just learned that the city motto of Oakland is Oakland Love Life, as described on the city's website.
Love Life Acknowledgement (long version) PDF.
I'm glad that Oakland is a Sanctuary City, and California is a Sanctuary State. I'm glad that Barbara Lee is Oakland's mayor, with her experience in national politics.
Love Life Acknowledgement (Abridged Version)
We acknowledge that in service to our beloved city of Oakland, and all its citizens, adhering to the city of Oakland's official motto, "Oakland Love Life" we enter into this space committed to embody love as our guiding principle.
We acknowledge Love Life as our motto as we denounce violence in all forms and the conditions that create it.
We acknowledge that when we demonstrate love, we also exhibit respect and kindness towards each other.
We commit to acts of love as an intentional force to generate tangible solutions, in regards to all of our actions.
We recognize as leaders, we must set an example and precedent for those in community who have entrusted us with these duties.
We welcome and appreciate all contributions to this space, and even when expressing disagreement, we request that we lead with love in your heart.
We seek to find common ground, and tangible solutions that demonstrate love for our city, its residents, and all constituents.
We acknowledge that when we lead with love we are able to uplift a thriving city rooted in equity, equality, justice, inclusion, and opportunity for all.
We commit to the action of "Love Life" as our motto and mantra.
Love Life Acknowledgement (long version) PDF.
I'm glad that Oakland is a Sanctuary City, and California is a Sanctuary State. I'm glad that Barbara Lee is Oakland's mayor, with her experience in national politics.
Link: Ed Yong is an amazing human being
Oct. 19th, 2025 07:45 pmVia
siderea, 35 min talk by Ed Yong on what it was like to report on the pandemic while valuing curiosity, empathy, and kindness, what it was like to step down from his job at the Atlantic, and what he's doing now. What an amazing human being.Also, because my respect for Ed Yong reminds me of how I respected Ursula K Le Guin, a blog post of hers I ran across recently. A Rant About “Technology”, 2005.
Links: around the world
Oct. 19th, 2025 12:18 pmWe had a very cool summer in the Bay Area! While much of the country is baking, Berkeley is bundling up by Daniel Ekonde and Sara Martin. When the rest of the country is hotter than normal, it pulls in cool air from the Pacific and it's cold along the coast.
Seattle's Dunava, my favorite Balkan choir in the Pacific Northwest, went to Bulgaria and Serbia this year and they're writing about it on their blog. Dunava Balkan Choir blog 2025.
Via network, ran across a recommendation for FlossGrip dental floss holder from Brussels. International shipping looks affordable, not sure how, and I might try it out.
Halbuki Linguist Cooperative offers online language classes for less available languages such as Ukrainian, Quechua, Albanian, Turkish, etc. Recommended by the same friend who is writing a language learning app.
Babatunde Olatunji, Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (video, music only). Fantastic Nigerian drummer. We went to see him perform in DC when I was a kid, and I've never forgotten his gorgeously rhythmic name which sounds like a drumbeat itself, and the way the drumming filled the amphitheater and resonated in my body.
NPR Founding Mother Susan Stamberg has died by David Folkenflik. Growing up in the DC area, we heard Susan Stamberg, Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, and Linda Wertheimer on the radio all the time. I didn't realize it was unusual to hear women announcers. My belated thanks to these pioneers who filled my childhood with their resonant kind voices.
Seattle's Dunava, my favorite Balkan choir in the Pacific Northwest, went to Bulgaria and Serbia this year and they're writing about it on their blog. Dunava Balkan Choir blog 2025.
Via network, ran across a recommendation for FlossGrip dental floss holder from Brussels. International shipping looks affordable, not sure how, and I might try it out.
Halbuki Linguist Cooperative offers online language classes for less available languages such as Ukrainian, Quechua, Albanian, Turkish, etc. Recommended by the same friend who is writing a language learning app.
Babatunde Olatunji, Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (video, music only). Fantastic Nigerian drummer. We went to see him perform in DC when I was a kid, and I've never forgotten his gorgeously rhythmic name which sounds like a drumbeat itself, and the way the drumming filled the amphitheater and resonated in my body.
NPR Founding Mother Susan Stamberg has died by David Folkenflik. Growing up in the DC area, we heard Susan Stamberg, Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, and Linda Wertheimer on the radio all the time. I didn't realize it was unusual to hear women announcers. My belated thanks to these pioneers who filled my childhood with their resonant kind voices.
Y'all may remember siderea's prescient, detailed, actionable coverage of the Covid pandemic as it developed. Check out her pestilence tag for historical and recent posts.
Given her track record, I am paying very close attention tosiderea's new post The Essequibo (Buddy-ta-na-na, We Are Somebody, Oh): Pt 1 about how Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, is trying to start World War Three.
Ohhhhh, this is why the US military is sinking Venezuelan "drug boats."
No preparation advice (yet). I suppose preparing for war looks a lot like preparing for a pandemic. Stock up on essentials, and build community connections.
siderea's prescient, detailed, actionable coverage of the Covid pandemic as it developed. Check out her pestilence tag for historical and recent posts.Given her track record, I am paying very close attention to
siderea's new post The Essequibo (Buddy-ta-na-na, We Are Somebody, Oh): Pt 1 about how Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, is trying to start World War Three.Ohhhhh, this is why the US military is sinking Venezuelan "drug boats."
No preparation advice (yet). I suppose preparing for war looks a lot like preparing for a pandemic. Stock up on essentials, and build community connections.
Link: How to weigh an octopus
Oct. 12th, 2025 07:37 amHow to weigh an octopus in only 8 wriggly steps (brief video) by Aquarium of the Pacific, via andrewducker, with entertaining narration/subtitles.
andrewducker, with entertaining narration/subtitles.Links: Moon facts and other useful things
Oct. 4th, 2025 07:30 pmCommon Moon Mistakes by MinutePhysics. I knew about the full moon rising opposite the sun, and the crescent moon rising near the sun, but there was a lot here i didn't know presented clearly with quick line drawings. 5 minute video, very worth it!
Jump the Paywalls and Help Others Over the Top by Alan Levine. I keep forgetting to try this, so let me know if it works!
symbol.wtf. A page of useful Unicode symbols like superscript TM, paragraph, accented letters, musical symbols, etc. Labeled with names so you can search. It doesn't have the accented consonants I need for Balkan languages, but on a Mac I can just hold down the letter to get a list of accented versions to choose from.
Jump the Paywalls and Help Others Over the Top by Alan Levine. I keep forgetting to try this, so let me know if it works!
right in your browser, where the address reads https://www.wired.com/2004/03/honey-i-shrunk-the-url/ stick right in front of it archive.ph/ making the full link http://archive.ph/https://www.wired.com/2004/03/honey-i-shrunk-the-url/
symbol.wtf. A page of useful Unicode symbols like superscript TM, paragraph, accented letters, musical symbols, etc. Labeled with names so you can search. It doesn't have the accented consonants I need for Balkan languages, but on a Mac I can just hold down the letter to get a list of accented versions to choose from.
LInks: medical (EDS, ME/CFS, Covid)
Sep. 28th, 2025 05:10 pmPrevalence of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study by Tomasz Tabernacki, Lydia McLachlan, Matthew Loria, Shubham Gupta, Swagata Banik, Kirtishri Mishra, and Megan McNamara.
Exciting New Research Sheds Light on hEDS Biology, study by Griggs M, Gensemer C, et al..
Factsheet: The immune system and ME/CFS by ME Research UK.
The symptoms are coming from inside the house. (& Long Covid Prevention Tips!) by Nyx Mir. Lots of good info!
Indefinitely Ill – Post-Covid Fatigue by Maria.
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time by James Gallagher.
Mortality caused by tropical cyclones in the United States by Rachel Young & Solomon Hsiang.
TGD individuals demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of hEDS and HSD than cisgender individuals (OR: 18.45). The prevalence among TGD individuals assigned female at birth was 2.62%, and among those assigned male at birth, 1.00%, compared with 0.16% and 0.04% in cisgender females and males, respectively. Hormone therapy status was not associated with significant differences in prevalence.
Exciting New Research Sheds Light on hEDS Biology, study by Griggs M, Gensemer C, et al..
The researchers found 35 blood proteins that were different in people with hEDS compared to those without. Most of these changes were in proteins linked to the immune system, blood clotting, blood pressure, and inflammation. The largest group of changes involved the complement system, which helps the body fight infection and control inflammation.
Factsheet: The immune system and ME/CFS by ME Research UK.
ME/CFS is no longer viewed as a complete “mystery.” A simple PubMed search reveals hundreds of biomedical studies showing measurable differences between people with ME/CFS and healthy controls.
The symptoms are coming from inside the house. (& Long Covid Prevention Tips!) by Nyx Mir. Lots of good info!
COVID is most often transmitted via the air, not droplets like we thought early in the pandemic. As such: Fresh air will be your easiest and most effective option, assuming climate safety. Even a slightly open window will be MUCH better than closed windows.
Indefinitely Ill – Post-Covid Fatigue by Maria.
If you have had Covid-19 (tested or not), and are getting to a month or two on and still feel like you’ve been hit by a bus, please, for the love of God, rest.
CONVALESCE.
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time by James Gallagher.
The new treatment is a type of gene therapy given during 12 to 18 hours of delicate brain surgery. [...] "We never in our wildest dreams would have expected a 75% slowing of clinical progression," she said.
Mortality caused by tropical cyclones in the United States by Rachel Young & Solomon Hsiang.
We estimate that the average Tropical Cyclone generates 7,000–11,000 excess deaths, exceeding the average of 24 immediate deaths reported in government statistics6,7. Tracking the effects of 501 historical storms, we compute that the TC climate of CONUS imposes an undocumented mortality burden that explains a substantial fraction of the higher mortality rates along the Atlantic coast and is equal to roughly 3.2–5.1% of all deaths.
Links: here comes the sun
Sep. 22nd, 2025 07:38 pmSanta Rosa cyclist on cross-country adventure rescues kitten, rides him hundreds of miles to safety — and a new home by Kerry Benefield. *teeny* *kitten*!
Mojave phone booth
The Future Is Coming and It's (Literally) Sunny: Notes on the Solar Revolution by Rebecca Solnit.
Learn about ecological restoration or get out of my way by![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
elbiotipo.
A food designed for astronauts now fuels first responders and new moms by Madeline Taub. "Oakland resident Ryan Dowdy came up with the idea for READYBAR while working on food systems for the International Space Station." Kind of an ad, also a cool success story. No, I haven't tried them.
Mojave phone booth
a lone telephone booth in what is now the Mojave National Preserve in California. It attracted online attention in 1997 for its unusual location – it was located at the intersection of two dirt roads in a remote part of the Mojave Desert, 12 miles (19 km) from the nearest paved road (Interstate 15 to the northeast, Kelbaker Road to the southwest) and miles from any buildings.
The Future Is Coming and It's (Literally) Sunny: Notes on the Solar Revolution by Rebecca Solnit.
[I]n the western Mojave desert of California I passed in quick succession three vast renewable energy sites: the first was three solar concentrator power plants, the kind where rings of mirrors reflect sun onto a central tower, which I think is now an outdated model, but it was striking to see the literally dazzling array; the second was a big field of solar panels around the town of Mojave t hat appeared to be tipping toward the setting sun; and then a long array of wind turbines just before the desert ends as the road heads uphill into Tehachapi
Learn about ecological restoration or get out of my way by
Now, you can go to Península Valdés and find that the whale population there is growing year after year, people can see them from their windows. In Iberá, where yaguaretés were extinct for over 70 years, there's now a population of 35 and growing, after being reintroduced just five years ago. As for rainforests?
A food designed for astronauts now fuels first responders and new moms by Madeline Taub. "Oakland resident Ryan Dowdy came up with the idea for READYBAR while working on food systems for the International Space Station." Kind of an ad, also a cool success story. No, I haven't tried them.
