It is with great relief (and exhaustion) to report my submission of the final chapter of QUEER IN THE COLD WAR: THE CIVIL-MILITARY BATTLE OVER THE LAVENDER SCARE to @bethanywasik.bsky.social at @cornellupress.bsky.social. Photo Credit: Joan E. Biren (June 1987)

I went to Yale and all I could afford was a sweatshirt. 👀💸

Easing back into my natural brunette.

If I attended Texas Tech right now for my Ph.D., the university would bar me from writing my dissertation about sexuality in the Cold War U.S. Navy. If TTU receives federal dollars, is this not illegal under the First Amendment?

A bee.

Too late for SMH, but I finally splurged on business cards. ⚓️ I frickin’ love them. 😍

I picked up a hitchhiker on my walk home. 🌬️🐝

I *updated my signed academic book collection to include several newly autographed books from #SMH2026. Thank you for your contributions! 🖊️ 📖 * Not pictured: signed books at the office, which include ~every~ book from BJ Armstrong and Trent Hone.

Quote with your Sunday plans. 🛌 💤

Best railcar graffiti I've ever seen

I achieved BOTH of my goals today: (1) finish the marathon ✅ and (2) complete it in under 6 hours ✅. I’m going to go collapse in the shower now. #YuenglingMarathon

Made it to Virginia Beach! 🏖️ After surviving tunnel traffic—IYKYK—stopped at the Convention Center to pick up my race packet. ☘️🏃‍♀️💨 I run my *first* marathon on Sunday. 👇🏼 This is what 40 looks like! 👌🏼

🤎✨️🤎♀️🤎🇦🇴🤎🇬🇳🤎

📚 Seeking book recommendations that help the reader to map out their 5- and/or 10-year plan(s). 📖 It occurred to me, in conversations with my therapist, that I’m still thinking like a nomadic grad student. Can you blame me? It was 10+ years of my life. I think it’s time I shake that off.

By happenstance, or the universe, I was able to witness the Buddhist monks walk their final stretch down Crystal Drive in Arlington, VA toward their destination, Washington, D.C. They began in Fort Worth with “a simple message about blocking out the noise of a messy world and finding tranquility.”

Amazon suggests I use their online service. I *want* to inspect the produce. I *want* to select items that won’t immediately expire. Amazon is likely moving to dynamic pricing (AKA surge, demand, time-based, variable pricing) to get more money out of consumers. Never shop for groceries online.

“Avēdē kedēvē.” 🪄 I had a glove in my mouth (so I could record it).

I just shoveled snow for the first time ever. Holy hell. That was painful. 🛀 May I be an honorary midwesterner?

🚨 I had to get a new phone today (thanks planned obsolescence). ‼️ If you have me in your contact list, would you send me a text with your details? Some of my contacts were deleted in the transfer. 😮‍💨

#OtD 10 Jan 1934 disabled anti-fascist construction worker, Marinus van der Lubbe, was executed by the Nazis for setting fire to the Reichstag. He'd hoped to inspire resistance to fascism; instead, the Nazis used it as a pretext to repress dissent stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8195...

I love how these shelves turned out. 🤩 * Before anyone comes at me: Yes. I know Kikuchi’s ‘Vampire Diaries’ series isn’t manga. They’re the height of manga, so that’s where they’ll go.

David Graham, a day later: “Remember what yesterday’s attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol was like. Very soon, someone might try to convince you that it was different. Maybe someone already has.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago

For people that feel helpless, this period is so tough but there's ways to help for anyone. Go out there support Venezuelan ppl and artists living in it as they prepare for unpredictable times Here is a starter pack of artists with commissions or donations open as well: go.bsky.app/8daQmpX

Democrats need to grow a f*cking spine. No more strongly worded letters. It’s time to draft articles of impeachment. Impeach. Convict. Remove.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act is a law, passed by Congress on November 19 with an overwhelming vote. Complying with it was not optional. The Department of Justice did not comply. I want to make sure this is very clear.

I’m really happy with that time. I haven’t been training like I should, ut I’m almost positive this is my first sub-10 minute-mile 10K in YEARS. 11.5 hours to 40! 🎂 🎁 🎉

Last race of my thirties! 🏃🏼‍♀️💨🥶

"It was hard to pick only 25. But it was easier than it used to be," Daniel Dale writes. https://cnn.it/49bMv9c

Enjoying the last four days of my thirties. 📸 💁🏼‍♀️🍰🗓️

Spite and the example of others who found courage in terrible times

Clean Christmas continues with a thorough cleaning of the living room and the reorganization of the bookshelves to accommodate our new selections. 📚🍂☕️🧣🎄

It took me ALL DAY. My dining room is tidy and my plants attended to. L Sometimes a nice reset does wonders for the mind. 🍂 l☕️🧣

This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to be in a crime drama.

It all started in 1955 with a misprint in a Colorado newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret military hotline. Shoup played along with the tiny voice who called, and a tradition was born. From the NPR archives.

reminder:

The Epstein file is the only thing Trump has ever taken his name off of

An epidemiologist at Columbia had to issue a statement saying the research article RFK Jr. cited with her name is FAKE. It’s not real. The paper itself doesn’t EXIST. Yall this is fascism. FAKE scientific articles used by the government to influence policy is FASCISM. This is horrifying.

The American right insists that it has the secrets to a happy life. But what they offer is a prison ship of reactionary politics, misogyny, and contempt for anyone who doesn’t conform to their retrograde expectations. Read my latest at @liberalcurrents.com www.liberalcurrents.com/marriage-mis...

💙💛 GO NAVY! 💙💛 #GoNavy

My name is Suzanna Shkreli and today I’m announcing my Democratic campaign for Secretary of State in Michigan. My parents came to this country to flee authoritarianism. Now as those same threats take root here at home, I’m ready to defend our democracy and safeguard Michiganders’ right to vote.

My latest this AM with @warontherocks.bsky.social. Of note: "[Military officers] will be active participants with choices to make about the degree to which they continue to serve civilians intent on undermining the liberal values enshrined in the Constitution." 1/ warontherocks.com/2025/12/the-...

You don’t get to pick. That’s the whole damn point of the rule of law.

Anyone else’s Apple Watch ⌚️ in the boot loop? How do I fix it?

‘The heavily gilded renderings of the ballroom interior owe far more to the baroque, even the rococo, than to Thomas Jefferson. It sits on the city limits between Las Vegas and St Petersburg. It is, quite simply, not the sort of thing democracies build’ – Will Wiles on the White House

I submitted a brand new chapter to my editor @bethanywasik.bsky.social today. 😮‍💨🫩 Only one remains. 😳📖

Who else is Turkey Trottin’ this morning? #TurkeyTrot #BurkeLakePark #TexasState #GoBobcats

Like @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, I don’t have any books of my own to suggest (next year, I’ll have one I hope y’all will read!). So here are some books I read this year that I *highly* recommend:

globalmaritimehistory.com If you are a maritime historian (broadly conceived), and you would like to promote your work, we are looking for people who are interested in writing for us. If you want to write about a neat project you are working on, or if you have a short series (or even long series)