These very true words from Steve Hely have given me tremendous comfort over the years.

My latest project: a scripted podcast drama where librarians fight magical foes and solve paranormal problems in downtown St. John's NL. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ter... #podcast #scriptedpodcast #fiction #fantasy #Newfoundland #Canada #libraries #magic #folklore #librarians

Me talking to CBC about theft of writers’ work to train AI (video version linked below): www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Colour me SHOCKED. I knew Carney would win but I thought it would at least be close. Cannot believe Freeland got only 8%. She deserved better. #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

"Trudeau the father, Trudeau the son" .... is there a Trudeau the holy ghost? #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

He may be ancient but wow it's good to hear someone saying the words "diversity, equality ... inclusiveness" and reminding us those are GOOD THINGS that our country stands for #JeanChretien #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

Well, that answers the "Is Jean Chretien still alive?" question.

I have mixed feelings about #Trudeau, but the things he did well, he did v well. My biggest criticism is he shoulda quit a year earlier, but on the whole, speaking as someone who is well to the left of most Liberals, I have admired him many times, though not all the time. #LiberalLeadship #CdnPoli

It's great to hear the anthem in both languages but it's unfortunate when singers do that it's pretty much always the VERY problematic lines from the French anthem that they choose to sing. The cross being carried by the arms that carried the sword is, uh ... #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

I don't think we need an unending Trudeau dynasty or anything, but Ella-Grace is impressive for a 16-year-old. #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

Here, I fixed it for you: This CBC News special A FRIEND TURNED FOE: A Cross Border Conversation will broadcast across the U.S. and Canada. Our question: WHAT DOES THE THREAT OF ANNEXATION MEAN TO YOU?

if I try out again it would have to be for this version of #Jeopardy

Even though I no longer work on Mondays I still enjoy a snow day.

No they don’t. Canada and Mexico want none of this. They want the president of the United States to respect and abide by the trade treaty he negotiated with them - and not make up bogus pretexts for plunging us all into a gratuitous no win economic debacle.

Great advice! I've started donating to (as they don't have a subscription model) @independentnl.bsky.social, putting money where mouth is, etc. Independent journalism matters so much and is disappearing so rapidly!

My review in @spectrumadventist.bsky.social about @tialevingswriter.bsky.social 's powerful memoir, A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape From Christian Patriarchy -- spectrummagazine.org/culture/a-we...

Anybody in #yyt playing Snowday Roulette tonight? Or is it too long a shot? #nlwx #newfoundland #stjohns #weather

When #Jeopardy Tournament of Champions is on, it's the only time in the year when I sort of understand people who are really into watching sports.

My review of "Wild Faith" by @swordsjew.bsky.social in @spectrumadventist.bsky.social

Talia Lavin is a voice crying from the margins, warning readers of what life in a world dominated by conservative Christianity will be like—especially for those who do not fit into its white, straight, patriarchal worldview. spectrummagazine.org/culture/book...

Watching from Canada (I mean, not LITERALLY watching, I'm not a masochist, but following news reports) the worst thing about this US inauguration (and the next 4 yrs) is the despair/exhaustion I sense from ppl, like no-one has energy to fight. I hear the same attitude from ppl here re our elections.

I was optimistic about this platform that seemed to offer the best of Original Flavour Twitter (with More Moderation; Fewer N*zis!) But...am I doing BlueSky wrong, folks? More than 1/2 my followers are bots, I don't see the NL/Cdn accounts I follow in my feed, my posts never get more than one like.

Keep your eye on Poilievre. He's their boy on the inside.

This was the jaw-dropping moment of his whole announcement for me. SIR YOU ABSOLUTELY COULD HAVE DONE IT AND YOU NEVER EVER MADE AN EFFORT!!!

Compiled my list of 10 favourite books I read in 2024. Happy to be able to put two of my favourite local authors among the best books I read this year! #nlarts #nlbooks #fiction #books @breakwaterbooks.bsky.social compulsiveoverreader.wordpress.com/2025/01/04/b...

#BoxingDay is the best day of the year.

The only the thing American system does better than ours is the concept of term limits. Tho I'm not a Liberal voter I was never strongly anti- #Trudeau and thought in the first 8 years or so many things were done well. The desperate clinging to power is a disaster for the country. #canpol

I'm still not 100% sure I get how BlueSky works tbh. I follow a LOT of fellow Canadians, including newspeople. This feels like one of the bigger days in recent Canadian politics, and yet my feed is still full of American political discourse. Not sure what/who I'm missing.

Since I got Covid in April 2022 I have not been sick once - no Covid, no flu, not even a cold or anything respiratory (I do get regular Covid and flu shots but that wouldn't stop me from getting a normal cold). I chose to believe that Covid had given me superpowers. Turned out I was wrong.

I’ll be at @breakwaterbooks.bsky.social shop at 1 Stamps Lane (St John’s) on Friday Dec 6 from 11-12 signing books. All their books are half price Friday and Saturday, and local authors will be there both days signing and saying hello! Great deals on #nlbooks #nlarts #shoplocal

Honestly, if I described the runaround I have gotten from Bell over this fairly simple question over the last little while you would not believe it ... unless you have ever had an account with Bell, or any other telecommunications company, and tried to get a simple question answered.

What I need is not #Bell tech support over the phone; what I need is a #Bell technician to come to my house, sit on the couch beside me, and gently hold my hand while with their other hand they take my remote and show me how to connect to the friggin google play store to download streaming apps.

Has anyone made a #Newfoundland starter pack yet? Still missing a lot of the old familiar NewfTwitter faces and not sure if it's because they're not on here or I just haven't followed them.

So far I have not yet used Bluesky for book-promotion stuff as I don’t have anywhere close to the number of local contacts here that I used to have on Twitter. But I’ll be signing books at the North Pole Fair at Jack Byrne Arena today at 3 pm; maybe see you there? #nlarts #nlbooks

Texting with someone who uses speech-to-text on their phone (but is not super adept at it) is a bit likely having a conversation with someone who's slightly drunk or high ... like, the conversation ALMOST makes sense, but then there's a random nonsense word and you're like "what is happening?"

I don't really understand the concept of "dark academia" as an aesthetic. Like ... is there a *bright* academia? Sunny, light-hearted academia?

Did it rain at all in St. John's today? Even before sunrise? I missed the actual sun, of course, being at work in my windowless office when this rare event occured, but I'm wondering if we kept the rain-every-day-in-November streak going, or broke it today? #nlwx experts, let me know!

These are literally the weather headlines we’re getting. “Less rain.”

I know it’s passé to post blue sky on Bluesky but this is literally the first bit of blue sky I’ve seen since I joined Bluesky … so here ya go. It rained right after this, of course. #nlwx

there are no moral defenses of AI art, sorry about it. “I need an AI artist to complete my project and can’t afford one” then raise money or change your project, other people’s creativity isn’t free

This is a beautiful and insightful essay.

I really enjoyed those few hours when it wasn't raining. It was cold, windy, and overcast, but it wasn't raining. Here we go again. #nlwx

Had a dream last night that was supposedly about a fun road trip with my two adult kids and turned into the opening scene of a dystopian nightmare when I couldn’t reach my daughter, called my son who told me there was “some stuff happening” ending with the ominous words “Mom, they killed Tom Hanks.”

Adventism finds itself stewing in circular logic. A church which maintains its woman co-founder was a “prophet,” also argues that she could not hold an executive position in the church she co-founded because she was not ordained. spectrummagazine.org/views/column...

Update: My spiritual practice of constantly refreshing the EnviroCan weather site WORKED! The rain stopped!! (for now anyway. Results not guaranteed but it can't hurt to try).

Frantically refreshing Environment Canada's site in hopes they're going to give me some different news about #nlwx

I will never understand the deep fondness some ppl have for those sex-segregated communal bathrooms where you pee in a stall next to strangers. Every public washroom should be its own separate lockable room, wheelchair accessible, with a sink, grab bars and a change table. Every. One. 🚪🚽🧻🚰

Did anyone else read this and think “There is no Charles in the kindergarten”? Maybe there is no Norbert in the daycare.

I honestly don't think I can bear another 30 mm with the accompanying fog and wind. I need a vacation someplace where the sun shines. #nlwx