We’re going to need a bigger little treat

nonfiction book: salt: a world history author: mark kurlansky topics: historical anthropology, technological history, food history recommendation: yes, a compelling read about salt's place in politics, history, cuisine, and even etymology 😋. interesting and non-stressful

hi friends, it’s a great time to donate to your local food bank if you are able. folks are really struggling. @accfb.bsky.social is a great option if you live near me & i donate monthly (i am peer pressure-ing you)

Reading is punk. Keep reading in public. Reading in public is hot.

Caroline Bird

Octavio Paz

live your life such that, when you die, your obit doesn't need a whole section on how you didn't credit your colleagues in general or how you stole data from a female scientist in particular

Good things are possible and we don’t have to settle.

through the kalix

big question of the night: why didnt NYC like the billionaire backed groper who killed their grandparents

The Reader, Ichijō Narumi.

Richard Avedon The Beatles 1967

Jack Clarke

happy #smallpoemsunday! 💜 feel free to participate by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :) here’s one I love for the first weekend of the month, by Jane Cooper~

Dan Smith “Knowledge Wins” World War I Propaganda Poster (American Library Association, 1918) movieposters.ha.com/itm/movie-po...

Fujita Tsuguharu (Léonard Tsugouharu Foujita), Self-portrait with Cat, c. 1920s, Color woodblock print, 38.8 × 28.5 cm (15 1/8 × 11 3/16 in.) (Art Institute of Chicago)

This is a great resource in precarious times. Tried it for my city and it pulled up all the things I know about + more I didn’t. It finds food pantries, but also stuff like legal help and housing assistance. For those of us more fortunate, great way to find volunteer and donation opportunities.

"WHEREAS, the annual event is a fang-tastic Elmwood community tradition..." (etc) shout-out to @markhumbert.bsky.social who had a lot of fun with this official doc on the Russel St Halloween Festivities berkeleyca.gov/sites/defaul...

Feeling seasonal, might delete later...

nonfiction book: the ghost map author: steven johnson topics: epidemiology, john snow, cholera, managing human waste, waterways, city planning, engineering recommendation: hard yes, a compelling read about an underdog tracing the origins of an epidemic & old-timey waste management practices

A fiction debut by Hope Henderson (@hoperhenderson.bsky.social), about a scientist couple grappling with their young daughter’s devastating illness, recommended by Willem Marx. buff.ly/Ho0ScjN

my library knows the deal

Lightning flashes within the powerful eye wall of Hurricane Melissa. Incredible imagery this morning of Melissa, a Category 5 storm, south of Jamaica.

that HMO feeling in rockridge (oakland)

existential halloween decor in rockridge (oakland)

novel: songs of no provenance author: lydi conklin status: DNF who might enjoy this more than me if: folks who like feral/“bad”/taboo-breaking female characters, folks into the underground music scene, fans of tampa by alissa nutting, water-sports enthusiasts

ICE is in the Bay – some advice from Berkeley’s mayor

Celebrating the work of our trans and queer contributors today and every day! Check out a few pieces from our archive we hope stay with you beyond the blog. buff.ly/554vznz

pleased to announce I have become such a regular at my local poke place that they know my name 🥹

If you haven't signed up for a migra watch or legal observer training yet time to do it comrades

Jack Gilbert

novel: convenience store woman author: sayaka murata themes: societal expectations about what makes a good life, comphet, authenticity vs belonging, work as a source of life meaning. autism? recommended: if you particularly like a quirky narrator and an easy-to-read texture

her nose

novel: true biz author: sarah novic themes: Deaf community, ASL, mixed deaf/hoh and hearing families, language deprivation, coming of age, BASL would recommend: yes – thoughtful, nuanced, informative, engrossing caveat: unsatisfying ending

so-called peanut pumpkin at berkeley bowl

Beautiful prominences launching off the Sun's eastern and western limbs today, wow!

In my head is a circle farm. Selma Asotić

Jason Shinder

short stories

Writers: I am going to write a book and leave a mark on this world! A legacy! Legacy:

I love Pete

In July 2024, a paper published in the @thelancet.com estimated the death toll in Gaza at 186k. It is perhaps 400k now, or about 1 in 5 residents.

"The impulse to view everything in terms of efficiency, of reducing costs and maximizing output, is radically overapplied in the modern world." lareviewofbooks.org/article/life...

my second-favorite lichtenstein

Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world,... I feel like I can't take it. And my heart is just going to cave in.

‘To the men who ran the world, I was just a photo op’: Malala Yousafzai on growing up, getting cynical – and how getting high nearly broke her

it’s been a minute since i’ve published anything, so i’m especially grateful that @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social gave this little musing on love + leavings a home. you can read the full piece here: matchbooklitmag.com/mb/relles/departures

Was just trying to tidy the house yesterday when all of a sudden this Caroline Bird poem came on the slow down and then of course I was crying

wild flour bakery in sebastapol

If you like yelling about misuse of the passive voice, THIS IS IT.