I will similarly oppose any war in Venezuela. I refuse to put the lives of servicemembers at further risk, and I refuse to saddle our children with yet another costly war for no good reason. My full statement ⬇️

It is outrageous for a President who is tanking our economy here at home to suggest that the American taxpayer spend a fortune to “run” another country while doing nothing to make life better in America. I opposed the war in Iraq from the outset—and the parallels here are glaring.

If you tell me that this is a distraction from the Epstein files I will block you into last week. For fuck's sake, people in other countries are actual human beings who do not deserve to be murdered. They are deserving of our attention and care. Their violent deaths should not be on our hands.

In the wake of all the news coming out of the US and the amount of shouting at the TV I've done, I thought everyone else might benefit from one of my favourite photos from 2017 to break up the doom scrolling. I cannot fix the big things, so here's a small thing.

Saving this screenshot from Threads as a new reaction image

JRR Tolkien sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/tolkie... was born on this day, so here's some related artwork (Artist: Tove Jansson, Tove Jansson, Livia Rusz and JRR Tolkien).

This man's media team is a bunch of goddamned geniuses, someone scouted for locations and figured out they could set up this very shot. Look at it, it's incredible. Look up pics of Adams being sworn in at the ball drop, which look chaotic, cheap, and undignified in comparison.

reposted for my personal reference (and yours, too, if you’re out here and this is your jam)

I present the #cat semi colon (Cc @bcdreyer.social)

Happy New Year! 🎆🎇 We had black-eyed pea soup for dinner and watched Mythbusters, as has been my husband’s and my traditional way of celebrating ever since we moved in together. Let’s hope 2026 is a good year, or at least better than 2025.

'Hall of the Golden Hue at Hiraizumi' - Kawase Hasui, 1957. This was Hasui's final work before his death later the same year. #JapaneseArt #shinhanga

Well that's some good news.

“Are you ready, kid?” I’ve always loved how Christmas and New Year feel like one continuous season, so I drew this piece to celebrate that. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! 🐴 2026 is the Year of the Horse.

Squid *and* octopus? Right up my alley!

I'm trying to cut back on social media, so... I'm around, just not as regularly as I used to be. If you need me (like, if you want to schedule editing or website work, for which I have openings in the new year!) or really want me to see something, DMs are open. Don't make me regret that. 😉

Such a gorgeous painting, and the colors really express this time of year.

I'm either the emperor of Rome, or an expert in poisons and venoms. Either way, I don't like my chances of surviving for long...

You ready for our 2026 Valentines?? The art is ready for ya 😍 As with everything on our shop, sales of these valentines support @skypeascientist.bsky.social! This year's cards were designed by Philly artist @aprilfinfrock.bsky.social! Obsessed with how these turned out. order at SquidFacts.net

You don't need AI as an indie author, you need community. You need people who can help you when you're burning out (and vice versa, importantly). Trade labor with each other, beta read for one another, connect with editors and cover artists. Teach & learn. Help promote one another.

As we enter the New Year remember fear of making bad art is holding you back. Fear of people not liking your work is holding you back. Rejection is holding you back You'll make bad art, you'll have people not like your work, and you'll be rejected. Moving past it is half the job of being a creative

We didn't survive and thrive as a species because we had warriors or hunters - pretty much every omnivore can manage that. We did so because we developed Grandmothers, and domesticated Dogs. Community is what defines us as a species, and every "self-reliant" libertarian shitweasel be damned.

As usual, Courtney’s whole thread is fabulous.

Do you want your book to sell? DO NOT LET AI WRITE YOUR BLURBS OR YOUR PROMOTION OR YOUR MARKETING

NEW YEAR, NEW BINGO CARD!!! 🥳 ✍️fill it with your creative goals 🥇for every bingo you get you're entitled to a treat 🏆for scoring all fields you're entitled to a big treat! 🌻BONUS: a little phone wallpaper for personal use!🌻 #artbingo2026 #bingo #art #wallpaper

2025 RECAP: From installing an anti-vax conspiracy theorist as our nation's top health care official to taking an axe to lifesaving biomedical research, the Trump administration has systematically put politics over science.

*considers the Green Knight*

Gingerbread 2025 Dumpster 🔥

Today I got to read to my grandpa, who is on hospice care. We couldn’t stay too long (it’s tiring for him to focus), and he can’t really respond much anymore, but I got to be there and have the connection I’ve been worried I’d miss.

🎄 in the deep sea

In the first draft Marley told Scrooge “You will be haunted by three spirits, and a giant dancing octopus from another dimension." Maybe Dickens’ editors were right that the interdimensional octopus felt out of place. But I still feel something very beautiful was lost.

A walk down memory lane now that Christmas orders are finished, posting some pieces that I have sold in the past. Here's an octopus drawing in mixed media on buff paper. #Octopus #AnimalArt #Drawing #Painting #Art #TraditionalArtist #ArtFromScotland

"It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story." - Jerome K. Jerome

Oh wow - my winter fundraiser for the shelter is actually really close to breaking $10,000! Can you help us reach that gorgeous number? Thank you! 💫 givebutter.com/n5l31M

Love it. I'm in!

How very odd. Would make a lovely beginning to a short story though

Made a tiny Christmas tree out of fossils: the stars are crinoid ossicles, the trunk dinosaur bone & the branches are sharks’ teeth 🎄🦴

In the past week, I've seen stories of AI: - being used by middle schoolers to make porn of other students - calling innocent people sex offenders - shutting down highways with busted-ass self-driving cars - emitting more CO2 than New York City What the fuck are we even doing?

love that software developers are advertising AI functionality in every single app now and it's up to you to try to figure out if they mean "this has spellcheck" or "everything you create in this app will sync in real-time to sam altman's personal laptop" or something in between

On the first night of winter, St. Nautilus flies through the air, pelting good children with candy and dousing the naughty ones in ink.

Made a new friend at the Pacific Science Center’s butterfly house today. 🦋

Tonight is the solstice, the shortest day (in the northern hemisphere) and the longest night. We’ve seen a lot of darkness this year. Tonight, hold the light in your heart. Guard it. Tend the flame. After tonight, may the light grow stronger again. 🕯️

If you want *more* AI-free results (the cheat code doesn't give more than a page or so) - try DuckDuckGo, and turn off the AI: Start at the wheel control, then scroll to the bottom for "AI Features - Manage." It's not exactly intuitive or easy to find, but it's doable👍

Congratulations to everyone who wrote an op-ed about how he just wants americans to eat better

An (almost) end of year thought --

My response to anything over the next two weeks

Remember how I said I have it written into my foreign-language contracts that my work has to be translated by an actual human? This shit is why. Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.

Lovely little curly octopus. 🐙

My goal for 2026 is to actually write again. I've been the "do as I say, not as I do" editor for too long, and it's time to quit it and rebuild the habit. It's scary and hard and there are so many other things that are vying for my attention, but I have to remind myself that this is worth it.

I get a gold star today for remembering to write Christmas cards, and an extra gold star for remembering to put current school photos of the Squidling into the cards to my family. I was going to go out right away to post them, but... it's really gross and rainy out, which is not conducive to mail.

Flu’s link to cardiovascular disease shows why vaccination is essential www.nature.com/articles/d41... @ashishkjha.bsky.social "...we now have clear evidence that flu vaccination significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, and death owing to cardiovascular disease..." #VaccinesWork