just had the immense pleasure of learning that the yiddish word for “quotation marks” literally means LITTLE GOOSE FEET (gendznfislekh, גענדנפֿיסלעך)

And the upstairs people have all their windows open as they scream at each other. Do they really just not understand the entire neighborhood can hear them?

The Lot, or the Parking Adventure of James Harris

I don’t come here nearly often enough 🍀

Passionfruit is open for chapbook submissions until the end of May! Go check out our website for more details - link in bio.

your moment of calm: baby ducks

The Long-COVID Crisis: No Cure, Little Attention www.medscape.com/s/viewarticl...

My neighbor decided to start vaccuuming at 7:35 this morning. I need to not be stressed out by this. Let's see how far I can sing through Mozart's Requiem before she stops. Will I get through the whole thing today? Or just as far as the "Recordare"?

On May 2 I'll be talking about yokai at the Osaka Museum of History with Kyoto-based yokai culture researcher Kono Jun'ya. We'll discuss yokai, Lafcadio Hearn, and listen to ghost stories by a biwa player/kaidanshi. Don't miss it! More details and reservations here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Sparing you a click, LLMs always make everything up, based on statistical correlations not of knowledge but of amount, order and proximity of words in stolen text they ingest for training. It’s literally what they are designed to do. It just sometimes happens to be correct.

🟥大阪府の麻しん発生報告数の診断週別推移 2026年第1週～第15週（累計13人） 2025年の累計21人 グラフ作成はてかひのとら 出典：大阪府感染症情報センター ●大阪府の麻しん風しんワクチン接種率 2024年度 第1期 93.5％ 2024年度 第2期 91.4％ 厚生労働省「麻しん風しん予防接種の実施状況」より

An excellent day to read this if you haven't yet. muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/edited...

Builder came today and checked out the ever-widening hole in the deck. Confirmed that insects did a number on it and it’s just totally rotting through. My deck is now a portal to another world of miniature monsters, carving up dead pieces of tree. Whole thing has to be replaced🥴

Oh my what the Hell is not hot enough indeed

Since a certain poet has asserted Americans don’t learn union history I’m resharing my recently published poem. My great-great aunt Dora survived the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Her husband was a tailor and union organizer. We also learn in school and grew up knowing union organizers locally, too.

Thank you SO much to The Lullwater Review for publishing my poem, “Not the End of the World” in their 33rd issue. This poem was written for my mother🥹❤️ Congratulations to the editors and staff on a beautiful issue. emorylullwaterreview.com

Is first week of classes supposed to be this exhausting? Because I’m exhausted….

I'm so excited that my essay "Dissent and Secrecy in the Works of Shirley Jackson" has been published in _Democracy, Secrecy and Dissidence in Contemporary Fiction in English_ (Peter Lang, 2026). Huge thanks to editors Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque and Paula Martín-Salván! www.peterlang.com/document/149...

Thank you SO much to The Lullwater Review for publishing my poem, “Not the End of the World” in their 33rd issue. This poem was written for my mother🥹❤️ Congratulations to the editors and staff on a beautiful issue. emorylullwaterreview.com

Not falsely flagging Grammarly. It runs on AI. It basically: -changes your sentences into milquetoast writing -changes your grammar into phrases that sound copy-pasted off Spark Notes -robs you of your authorial voice What it doesn’t do: -check your grammar Use Strunk & White🙃

The Artemis II mission reminds me of these 1960s photos of NASA astronauts training in Iceland because they felt the terrain would be similar to what they'd encounter on the moon. The outfits are so great, even some 60 years later.

Even though laboratory studies suggest BA.3.2 can partially evade antibodies generated by vaccination or past infection, vaccines ARE still expected to provide protection against severe illness, helping to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. NOTE:

New genre of Southern Horror just dropped: alligators are totally up for a soothing song and a shared snack at twilight.

I'm so excited that my essay "Dissent and Secrecy in the Works of Shirley Jackson" has been published in _Democracy, Secrecy and Dissidence in Contemporary Fiction in English_ (Peter Lang, 2026). Huge thanks to editors Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque and Paula Martín-Salván! www.peterlang.com/document/149...

NEW: We’ve been reporting on cybersecurity for years. As President Donald Trump and his Cabinet say artificial intelligence will transform the nation, the messaging isn’t new. It follows a familiar pattern.

Thread worth reading.

you really gotta click through for the whole thing, but here's a sneak peek to show off today's amazing timeline-as-poem from JeFF Stumpo https://www.havehashad.com/zer2y

For a variety of reasons, even though I had to deal with ridiculous weather and a blackout in a blizzard, I’m glad I did my research trip to the U.S. in February instead of this month😬 Not enjoying the 花粉 tho🥲😷

#WorldPoetryDay | 'Night Over Birkenau' by an #Auschwitz survivor, Tadeusz Borowski (1922-1951, camp no. 119198 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Borowski)

As yet, as ever🌸

i have an AI idea for investors. i want to buy a house and ay I need you to pay for it.

Calling researchers of Japan! The JPP Library Services Team is interested in learning from you what services and benefits our team may provide to enhance the accessibility of Japan-related research and teaching resources in your region, language, institution, and/or discipline. 📋 bit.ly/JPPSurveyR

Has anyone tried making pdf documents on Adobe Acrobat Pro with a password as a way to stop most students from trying to generate summaries or use the pdfs to generate answers with gen-AI? It seems if you use pro, you can lock the editing options on the file so it’s always password protected...

I got a ton of books. Strange books, dark books. Folks in Japan, let me know if you want any. We can trade or you can buy a copy for ¥1,000+shipping (500 or so?). I could use some pocket money for ink and photo paper. Strange Pictures/Houses/Buildings, The Ark, Devil's Flute...

Staring in “I’m not taking it off inside” Sincere thanks to UTokyo hospital for requiring masks and enforcing that policy🫶🏻

Because the point of going to school is to learn things, not to use a dictation machine with the mental capacity of Jenny McCarthy. Why is NPR platforming some lazy 18 year old, anyway

When you have the chance, please take the time to watch Harrison Ford's remarkable, beautiful Life Achievement Award acceptance speech. #ActorAwards www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV_2...

I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a general rule people with Nazi tattoos are Nazis.

Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak. Here’s how we did. By @natlash.bsky.social

TLDR re. COVID VAXX: "Prepare for lots of headlines and mixed messages this week. In the meantime, if you’re under 65 and not high risk, *the window to get a Covid-19 vaccine is right now*—before the FDA label changes. Once it happens, access will be limited immediately (if it isn’t already)."

I need you to understand that if you heard a song you liked in the 80s, you couldn’t Shazam it. You couldn’t Google the lyrics. You had to sing it to the guy at Tower Records.

I interviewed Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) for my newsletter. We spoke about his approach to writing, the difference between working on a novel and a screenplay, and his favorite Jewish monster.

This made me laugh. And then I sat and thought about it. This is correct.

The phrase "sees but is not seen" signifies that God is omniscient but hidden and anchors a variety of charms, amulets, and recipes for Jewish invisibility magic that confused the eye of the hostile viewer. So "social invisibility" keep our heads down magic. Very relatable :) 1/5

'Now 97, Mr. Ozaki still dreams of those left behind... “In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the Emperor,” said Mr. Ozaki, who lives in Kyoto with his son, also retired. “They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.” '

My new as-yet unidentified chronic illness has decided to let me have peace today and lemme just say It’s AMAZING to not have a migraine! It’s amazing to be able to see without weird flashing lights in my peripheral vision blinding me! I’m so happy to be writing again😭😭😭

I don’t want to have to scaffold reading, thinking, conversing, and writing like it’s a teaching see-saw that bops a learning thingamaboob to ride down the logical twisty slide into the goal post of a blue book but here we fucking are.

While a N95 respirator is better, even a plain mask is better than nothing to stop you coughing germs over others.