The first… hm. Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web was probably second grade? But there are several from that 7–10 age range. Leslie in Bridge to Terebithia, Old Dan and Little Ann in Where the Red Fern Grows, Ellidyr in Taran Wanderer. Hazel at the very end of Watership Down (I am teary just typing that)

Oh, h-hello there, side-table spider.

I don't know which of you saved this, but I agree, it is worth watching again.

You might not know this about me, but Revvie is my service dog. Because he is elderly, he no longer goes with me everywhere. He's semiretired. I was illegally denied housing because of him once. I burned thousands living out of a hotel while I scrambled. The cruelty is the point

My first time seeing a coyote in the wild today! Saint Paul, Pierce Butler Road, in the grassy area next to the southbound ramp for Snelling. In lieu of the photo I did not get, here's the cover for a book about coyotes, in which I learned that they adapt well to urban life.

Every time I go up Dragon Star Oriental Foods for a lunch bánh mi, I vow not to succumb to impulse buys, and every time I’m like, welp

Look who climbed the motherfuckin silks

One reason (of which there are many) I dislike the modern shift of needing to rely on informal sources to stay abreast of news? It's never just the news. It's the news, plus the emotional burden embedded in how it's framed by whoever is delivering it. That just compounds the cost of bad news.

No dates, no prospects, but it’s the time of year when the weather calls for a long-sleeved shirt made of lightweight material. Peasant blouse season, let’s go.

@floregonian.com was the first Bluesky friend I met in real life. He is a source of joy and positivity on here. Whenever I get too cynical about men, I remind myself that sometimes they turn out like Jeremy. For his birthday today, go tell him about something that brought you joy this week.

(1/X) I would argue that the vast majority of all commentary is essentially pro-Trump. I don't mean pro-Trump in the sense of liking Trump, I mean it in the sense of them not holding him to the anything close to the same standards as Democratic politicians....

“Okay.”

Pet sitting. I need to get up and go home so I can chip away at my editing, but I cannot. The cat is on my lap.

This is Diego (tabby) and Luna (Husky mix). I’m pet sitting them.

Weekly gratitude practice. What’s everyone grateful for? I’m pet sitting. I’m glad to get cat time with Diego (pictured) and Luna (dog; pictures forthcoming).

Today I'm working on acronyms. They're in a handy at the front. Great! but does that mean the acronyms show up in the text? What if the acronym is only used once, to define the phrase? Don't need it! What if it's on page 15 and again on page 243? no one will remember that! It's not helpful!

When I used to write for The Guardian, every time I wrote the word “meow” the editors would change it to “miaow”. It used to really get on my wick. Don’t try to make my cats sound like your upper middle class London cats, you fuckers. My cats did not go to your posh cat schools. They say “meow”.

god help me I just signed up for something called Singles Bingo

I follow Playboy for the articles.

"girl talk" umm please call it by its formal name, the Bechdel test

This Far Side predates Chick-fil-A’s ad campaign by nine years. So they’re thieves as well as homophobes.

I post my daily Far Sides each morning, before I get out of bed. Does the evening crowd even know about this? do they know what they are missing?

Will our intrepid copyeditor get through the endnotes today? Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion!

I reskeet this story occasionally. Give it a read, if you have a few minutes. And the appetite for reading about trauma.

cool, cool, neat

here's another: I broke up with the guy I was dating. He responded by creating a homemade bomb and detonating it in the apartment building next door.

When I witnessed a person in power being a racist, I tried to hold him accountable. And got my ass handed to me. lost my career, income, friends, and stability. And I would do it again because fuck that guy.

I love that 100 years later, you're lucky to get the 1927 rate for short fiction/non-fiction magazine writing

It’s over. Yvonne is done with his excuses.

I was trying to draw a cityscape a few days ago and it was really slow going and frustrating. Then I spilled ink on it so I put it aside. Today I noticed that the splotch looked slightly like a dragon

I've been a sex worker for six months today. It still feels strange to say that. I never in a million years would have considered that as a role for me, a sexually inactive demisexual with a not-hot background.

The Minneapolis “dirtbag lawyer” challenging ICE detentions—and winning:

This pup was absolutely not digging in the dirt. Everybody knows that would require a permit. Thinks you have a whole lot of nerve accusing him of breaking municipal laws with no evidence. 12/10 (IG: san_francisco_rott)

OpenAI Announces Construction Of New Data Center On Top Of Sick Child

I post all this anagram content and yet I am single. Makes no sense

Falafels is an anagram for False Alf

I hate AI. I hate AI the way Montresor hates Fortunato, the way Simon Gruber hates John McClane, the way Kendrick Lamar hates Drake: with the intensity of ten thousand fiery suns. It is an affront to our humanity. It is a blasphemy upon the sacredness of the human condition.

Masterful body language and expressions for everyone except Jerry

I am WHEEZING

i'm sorry but what in the ever loving baby beluga in the deep blue sea

I hate AI. I hate AI the way Montresor hates Fortunato, the way Simon Gruber hates John McClane, the way Kendrick Lamar hates Drake: with the intensity of ten thousand fiery suns. It is an affront to our humanity. It is a blasphemy upon the sacredness of the human condition.

AI is the lynchpin of the whole political project. It’s the container for the parallel governance they have promised each other. I truly think that they are surprised that people don’t like it…and that they can’t yet wholesale punish everyone for not liking them.

I’ve been doing this long enough that I gravitate toward my familiar arsenal of tricks, but I usually throw in new moves too. The spin at the two minute mark is not in my regular repertoire. Also: I’m going to perform a Lyra duet this summer with Bree, visible in the background.

This is why I moved here. Frost in May. If you don’t know me, this probably scans as sarcastic, but I am being 100% sincere.

Look at my nice sandwich I made

3/10 would not pet

Writing is the greatest human invention. Reading for pleasure is one of the most sublime leisure activities. It affirms our humanity. It makes us better. When I think of all the magnificent books I will never read, because we get a few decades at most on this planet— And then I see this—

thanks, Microsoft Word grammar check 🫶

I have not read Bridge to Terebithia in 35 years. I just refreshed my memory with the Wikipedia plot summary and now I am bawling.

I just finished a monster of an edit. time to wind down with Marvin Gaye and a logic puzzle.