Foreign policy explained

Thank you, @theonion.com! It is me. I’m Area Woman. theonion.com/new-leather-...

An hour and a half walk through the cold. Just in time back home before it started snowing again.

The up-side of a cancer diagnosis? I don’t have to go into school today. 😛

Expecting libraries and other services for the public god to “turn a profit” “or spend less to save money” is a sign that something has gone seriously wrong with the understanding of why these services exist!

Happy New Year from my favourite company for public transport! (Must watch for every fan of Wes Anderson) www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZbr...

If we wanted to watch a series finale where a girl with powers closes a dimensional rift to stop ultimate evil with the help of her friends then we’d watch umm

You don't know what day it is. You're eating countless meals a day with lots of snacks in between. You're napping throughout they day. Either it's the time between Christmas and New Year or you're a cat.

My daughter has been selected to benefit from the Turing Scheme in S. Korea attending workshops at top animation studios but the college funding has fallen short so Phoebe wants to help them. She's going to spend a day crocheting hats for the homeless in exchange for sponsors. gofund.me/963ccbb54

Funny Numbers xkcd.com/3184/

Happy Christmas to those who celebrate. Enjoy your day off. I am slowly recovering from spending Tuesday in the OR and am in awe of our healthcare system. All considered I’m actually doing fine.

Lovely internet friends, acquiantainces: wonderful book readers, publishers, sellers and related trades, enjoy MrsRJ's Christmas card. Have a lovely holiday. (Forgive my awful photograph.)

In our actual cyberpunk dystopia, there will remain in the dark nooks and crannies of the world machines which are cognitohazards people must avoid. Young people told "if you see one, don't fucking talk to it. Don't ask it any questions. It will drive you mad and get you to kill yourself."

Oh my goodness, YES! Why don't more people write musical covers of their papers??!

Since everything is awful and it’s nearly Christmas, who’d like some pictures of ship’s cats? Don’t worry dog lovers, a canine thread’s coming soon! Let’s start with Tiddles, sitting in his favourite spot on the carrier HMS Victorious in 1943 (he liked playing with the bell rope) 📷 IWM A 10646 🧵1/17

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future." - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit. Incredible words. Listen to all of it!

I understand that a lot of folks have been misled by fear-mongering and powerful regressive voices but it’s still astonishing to me that so many have fallen for the idea that oppressively policing other people’s gender identity and expression could in any way be part of an enlightened future.

The most strangely comforting video I saw this year: King Philippe of the Belgians, asked in a 65th birthday interview about his favourite music, scrolling through his phone to find his favourite Dire Straits tracks.

Every act of creativity is a kind of resistance.

♥️

Still can’t get over the fact of Americans using ordinary Lotus speculoos for their fancy desserts. We buy those by the kg and eat them as crisps. (Made my own last week btw).

Fucking cancer can fuck the fuck off.

LLM as fortune tellers…

So much happened in Buffy Season 3, none of which gets talked about in the description on the back of the DVD boxset

I don’t want a guessing machine helping me out. I already have 15 guessing machines who don’t read the question before giving an answer.

Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.

Love this! Said this many times before, but: There’s no other medium that so routinely plays with both form, and the reality it constructs, as comics. I think that sense of play is fundamentally part of why children love the medium, and why publishing dropped the ball for so long in not making them.

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

He’s not a lap cat, but I’m sitting in his chair so he’ll make do.

Snurk duvet covers now come packed in cardboard. Was v pleased when they arrived (but don’t tell the kids, it’s a surprise!)

Was v posh & spent a lot of money to go to Cirque du Soleil yesterday & it was amazing! I like little circus productions, I love street theatre. Alegría is a big production, but it doesn’t compromise on artistic value and storytelling. Loved every second.

This totally! Also wanting to add libraries should also cater for parents. My pupils don’t go to the library because their parents don’t want to let them go on their own & only read other languages. Also: stop asking for money for late books.

Happy Horror Month to goth Daddy, bisexual icon Vincent Price.

Trump and Musk share a commonality of somehow being both quite clever and extremely dumb which I (and others) have found confusing. I have a model that has been working. I think they’re both clever guys with extremely narrow worldviews.

You are now a magician. A wizard. A sorceress. A witch. What is your familiar? A cat. We spend two hours a day hunting down your enemies and will snooze for the rest. We are very effective.

Love when @hankgreen.bsky.social makes a video screaming what I have screaming in my head. It's good to not feel so alone.

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

So, with Jane Goodall passing, I am reminded of a very fun incident where her institute sent a furious complaint over this cartoon on her behalf, only to have Goodall herself find it hilarious and go on to write the introduction to the collection it appeared in. A fantastic sense of humour.

Jesus Houdini Christ, this is great.

A shoutout for my lovely friend, Weegbree. It’s her first publication outside of The Netherlands. If you have time, drop by and check out her cool weird story at www.weirdlitmag.com/fiction/broo...

My sweet sweet Gigi died last night. He was only with us for 4 years when his little heart gave up. Now go and catch mice in your next life little guy. And remember: live snacks are eaten outside.

spent today at the amazing Hoge Veluwe forest park that also contains a modern art museum with about 40 staggering Van Goghs on display. All privately owned but accessible to the public. Rich tech bros: THIS is what you do with your money instead of building Fallout bunkers.

What we lose when schools rely on competition: a large Chilean experiment shows it not only makes pupils less prosocial during school, but the effect lingers years later. wp.me/p2nWPo-5bX

Our school has nice book bags to use when we go to the library. They are nice and big. Kids can haul all their books in them back to school (We go to the local library every month.) After a year of use they were a bit dirty. I washed them. They shrunk. The kids’ll have to choose smaller books then.

Timeline cleanse

Me when someone gives me a compliment.

Got all these books by Martha Wells in one go, because I wanted to read Murderbot. It’s so fun to read and you can give money to a good cause! Go buy it. www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...

You can add packages from Belgium to that list (letters still ok).

Now, what about recommendations for teachers who are anxious about returning to school? ;)