Portland enacts emergency powers of nudity to check federal overreach.

I finished 11 books in September, 8 by women/POC, seven of those for my Black writers monthly topic, with three in German and one in Portuguese. chinese-poems.com/blog/?p=2933

Today’s all new episode in the series: How Much Opossum Can Fit in this House? 1/2

So exhausting..

When I think of a cranchiid, I think of a Taonius squid. Transparent body? ✅ Ammonium filled sac for buoyancy? ✅ Steve Buscemi eyes? ✅ Arms making it look like they got funky hairdo? ✅ I mean, what else could you want in a squid? #SQUIDtember

Two peregrines illustrating the size of their absurd nest. #birds #WildlifeBrandenburg

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

Respect to whoever put this sticker on a post box in Baker Street.

Get it!

Alaa has been pardoned! So happy for him and his family apnews.com/article/egyp...

Essential birding etymology.

The Ram's Horn Squid (Spirula spirula) is the only living member of the order Spirulida. It's rather unique squid, with a spiral internal shell, photophores on the tip of its mantle, and the way it swims upside down. The first time we saw one alive in its natural habitat was in 2020! #SQUIDtember

Dam been writing a book about this and she just TikToked it in 90 seconds.

The great apex predator chasing a daddy long legs

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage. When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig. Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

“I mean, your society’s broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No let’s blame the people with no power & no money & these immigrants who don’t even have the vote, yeah it must be their fucking fault.” —Iain Banks www.theguardian.com/books/2013/j...

Well, the one I bought (Jina Khayyer, Im Herzen der Katze), the one I read another book by (Michael Köhlmeier), and the author on my library TBR list (Annett Gröschner) have all been trimmed. I might get to one of these before 13 October!

They are the real puppet master. Grimalditeuthis bonplandi has a unique hunting strategy. It lets its tentacle out as a lure, with its tentacle club flapping around in the water to mimic a squid, like a squid hand puppet. Prey is lured in thinking they are about to have a squid snack. #SQUIDtember

Bonkers.

Yesterday (13th September 2025) I found myself in London, camera slung over my shoulder, moving through a crowd I wasn’t there to join but to try and understand. That’s what I do: I observe, I photograph, and I try, however imperfectly, to make sense of the world in front of me. More👇

Strawberry squids (Histioteuthis heteropsis) are known for two things: the fact that they look just like a strawberry, and the fact they have two different sized eyes. The large eye looks upward to spot shadows, while the small eye looks downward to spot flashes of bioluminescence. #SQUIDtember

Ein Mann geht rückwärts in eine Hecke. Mutmaßlich handelt es sich um einen Gärtner. Die Hecke ist grün, eine Farbe, die auch bei Umweltaktivisten genutzt wird. Aufgrund der gelben Haut des Mannes, ist eine Hepatitis-Erkrankung nicht auszuschließen. (Das ist das Meme-Analyselevel, dass ich sehe. 🙃)

Piglet squids (genus Helicocranchia) are a genus of small cranchiids known for their goofy appearance. They have a rather large siphon that make them look like a pig with a snout. Well I guess with their arms raised up cranchiid style, they look like a pig with a crazy hairdo. #SQUIDtember

Tiny, colorful baby scallops — a total cuteness overload in one dish! You might think, “This person posts the same creature every year!” But honestly, seeing the same life return year after year is something truly wonderful𓂃🫧‪

Possibly the only set in Germany? Thanks to @asterismbooks.bsky.social and @neglectedbooks.com.

Why are this Labour government quite so poor at messaging on migration?

TIL that the core of the Earth is 2½ years younger than the surface purely due to gravitational time dilation. Personally this brings the concept which I’ve always found mind blowing much closer to home and makes it more real. www.science.org/content/arti...

Trending at number four on Spotify today and comfortably sitting at number three on the UK news charts. Listen here: open.spotify.com/show/3AIde5j...

The Spanish word for a river is 'río'. 'Río' and 'river' - these must be etymologically related, mustn't they? No! They're as unrelated as can be. Surprisingly, 'río' is related to 'rival' and 'derive'. 'River' is related to 'riparian' and 'arrive'. My new infographic tells you all about it:

Not even the best Irish comic writer to disastrously undermine their own defence in a London court

The era of Bold Politics has begun. Watch out first episode on our new YouTube Channel. youtu.be/EY-8xoK6Yro?...

Profile Books catalgue, Spring 2026, via @kirkdalebooks.bsky.social

Look at this response from Polanski to Sophie Ridge's attempted gotcha on flags To *finally* have a mainstream political voice standing up for racialised & minoritised communities being intimidated by the violent fash on our streets It's really not that hard, is it?

Sea Level xkcd.com/3135/

I finished 12(ish) books this month, 11 by women/POC, and 10 of those for #WITMonth. 5 in German, and one in Portuguese. chinese-poems.com/blog/?p=2926

The words 'fluent', 'fluid', and 'influence' come from the Latin verb 'fluere', which means "to flow". 'Fluere' and 'to flow' look very similar, so they must be etymologically related, right? No! They're entirely unrelated. 'To flow' is related to 'pluere' (to rain) instead. Here's how we know:

Tenth and last #WITMonth book for this year: A Sunny Place for Shady People -- Mariana Enriquez, tr. Megan McDowell. Interesting contrast with the Can Xue: normally horror is some distance from my bag, but ...

#WITMonth book 9: Love in the New Millennium -- Can Xue, tr. Annelise Finegan Wasmoen. I didn't hate every moment of it -- the Nest County chapters were relatively calm -- but novel length dream sequences are not for me. I'm done with Can Xue for a while, I think.

Renewing #proofofcat

Perhaps the big question is, when all is said and done: Of all the phenomenal technological progress that has occurred during the last couple of centuries, has any of it awarded us anything even half as thoroughly fantastic as moss?

#WITMonth book 8: Besuch bei Zerberus -- Anne Weber. Not translated into English, but try her recent Epic Annette: A Heroine's Tale (Tess Lewis). One for the hard-core Weberians, this is a very slippery meditation on the border of life and death ...

#WITMonth book 7: Child of All Nations -- Irmgard Keun, tr. Michael Hofmann. Like Das große Heft, this is the Nazi period seen through the eyes of a child, in this case the daughter of a Roth-Mann-style refugee.

#WITMonth book 6: Im Spiegelsaal -- Liv Strömquist, tr. Katharina Erben (not yet translated into English, but her earlier Fruit of Knowledge is also great). This non-fiction "graphic novel" (graphic essay, perhaps) is classic Liv Strömquist:

Embarrassed not to have even heard of any of the authors, but I've now bought Im Herzen der Katze, for obvious reasons.

What you need – and you probably didn’t even realise it – is grebes running on water vimeo.com/43951114

On the recognition of Palestine A close look at an unconvincing letter from "distinguished" UK lawyers By me Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/on-the-rec... Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/08/on-t...

Slowworm season is in full swing: this morning I encouraged one youngster and one pregnant female to leave the paths. #WildlifeBrandenburg #reptiles

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