Philly will TAKE THEM DOWN

Sitting in an orthopedist’s waiting room in Mississippi, where Pet Shop Boys’ “It’s a Sin” is blasting over the speakers 🤔

Meanwhile in Mississippi

This is fantastic news and I am happy for my hometown but I'm also distracted by this photo featuring an Old Timey Criminal being apprehended by a Friendly Police Man

Whoever said there aren’t huge financial dividends to being a literature scholar?

As a grown-ass woman in her 50s, I saw “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the first time the other day, and I have THOUGHTS: 1. George Bailey is basically an abusive asshole;

In 1830, the Friends Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason in Northeast Philly (now Friends Hospital) introduced rabbits and lambs to patient exercise areas (possibly the earliest use of pet therapy) as part of their Moral Treatment of the mentally ill. 1830!

I’m confused — has Owen Wilson been trying to act all this time?

Happy Holidays! Please enjoy this cheery Yuletide Nazis essay I wrote a few years ago.

ANY ADDITIONAL SANTAS WILL BE ESCORTED OUT OF THE PARADE

Why are candles so expensive?

This is stunning -- an absolute must-read: "if you measured income inadequacy today the way [it was] measured it in 1963, the threshold for a family of four wouldn’t be $31,200. It would be somewhere between $130,000 and $150,000.

Here's my ranking of the numbers 1 and 2 in reverse numerical order: 1: 2 2: 1

Pie crust is a dialectic

I know this is going to sound cheeseballs, but I am deeply grateful to have this book I'm working on as my daily companion.

So we got to be happy and hopeful for … 5 days?

From North Carolina to Mississippi, Black-owned farms are filling the gaps left by SNAP funding delays

Finally watching "Task" and I have thoughts. The accents are okay-ish -- Mark Ruffalo doesn't bother trying, but I forgive him because Mark Ruffalo. (Also, his character is from Newtown Square, my hometown.) But what the hell is going on with characters from PA pronouncing it "LAN-CAH-ster" FFS?

I will add: People who expected this teacher to be bummed do not know (good) teachers very well. A civics teacher? With a student who wants to run for office? That’s probably bliss.

It is KILLING me to learn that the digital camera I've owned since 2005 is now considered "vintage"

Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time

After 13 years, Mississippi Democrats have broken the Republican Party’s supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. Democrats flipped two GOP-held Senate seats and one House seat in the special elections. buff.ly/nTvLlFI

If the sandwich don’t split, you must acquit

Mr. Campbell-Spickler said that the bear might have climbed a tree to drop down and gain entry. “What we do know is that our perimeter fence is secure.” Define "secure."

Do you need to look at a painting of a very large hog this morning? Yes, you do

I have two, and they definitely date me: 1. Texting to say you're running late is still being late; 2. Cancelling at the last minute cause you need "me time" is still being rude.

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

This is an (admittedly belated) appreciation post for @doctorwaffle.substack.com & @devo3000.bsky.social & all the amazing essays they put together for their incredible volume AFTER DARWIN. What thoughtful and thought-provoking work. THANK YOU! www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...

Meanwhile in Mississippi

Nothing I have ever read in my entire life, ever, has made me feel this old. My house: 353-2305 Bestie: EL6-8958 [PLEASE NOTE INITIAL EXCHANGE OF "ELGIN" FOR EXTRA I-AM-OLDNESS]

Remember when folks predicted that if the Epstein files revealed that members of the administration had engaged in sex trafficking, it would suddenly be "okay" according to MAGA to sexually abuse children? Here we go:

POP QUIZ, CLASS! When the protagonist boasts "I have never been called for jury duty," and then two days later receives a summons for jury duty, that is an example of ________ irony.

In honor of National Poetry Day, the greatest parody rewrite of all time:

Was extolling the 90s-era magic (and safety) of the Tin Can phone to @rezekjoe.bsky.social & husband (IRL!!!) yesterday, so figure today I might as well proselytize on a broader scale! tincan.kids?srsltid=AfmB...

Well thank you this made my day

Remembering MN house speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark and their beloved dog Gilbert. Murdered in June at their home by a rightwing Trump-voting evangelist, who also shot another MN lawmaker and his wife at THEIR home, 9 and 8 times, respectively (miraculously, they survived).

If I have learned anything from my many years of watching British police procedurals, it's that the most dangerous place on planet Earth is a Scottish ferry.

Training session for volunteers in NC prisons: we are told it’s forbidden to speak in tongues.

I feel like someone is messing with me. I have a modest little podcast called "Dr. Waffle and Friends," each episode of which gets several hundred listens--it's cracked a couple thousand maybe once or twice, but not often. 1/1

“Do not forget me, Sara Awad, a Palestinian student, whose biggest dream is to finish her degree in English literature and become a professional journalist. Do not forget the people of Gaza and their 2 million stories of love, heartbreak and perseverance.“

"It is an enormous relief that the court has sided with academic freedom, free speech, and due process in its recent decision," said Deanna Kreisel. "The students of Mississippi can continue to learn in an environment free of ideological constraints and partisan censorship." (That's me!)

I've just decided to title one of the chapters in my book about lawns "Mow Problems" and am feeling super proud of myself

A U.S. District Court judge just granted plaintiffs in Mississippi a temporary injunction against the state's horrid new anti-DEI bill! Read it and weep (with joy)! #AcademicSky

Mmarch

Jiffy Pop says Happy Sunday. Put down the doomscrolling thing and try a blanket burrito

Sometimes I worry what the Interlibrary Loan staff think of me

Current mood:

From the Poetic Justice Files: Josef Mengele's skeleton is used for forensic research and education in Brazil. His own family refused multiple requests by the government of Brazil to repatriate his remains to Germany.

Wow the barista really got my name wrong this time