Your annual reminder: WXPN (xpn.org) plays "Alice's Restaurant" at noon EST (UTC-0500) every year. It's better broadcast/streaming than on YouTube/Spotify/whatever.

The Moon tonight at about 75% full on Halloween from #SantaBarbara. #MoonPhotography #MoonPhotos #MoonShots #Photography Camera settings: Canon T5i Sigma 150mm x 600mm Focal length: 600mm F-stop: f/11 Exposure time: 1/640 ISO: 800 Edited in Lightroom Classic

A selection from the Mandelbrot fractal that I found beautiful today. xaos-project.github.io/XaoSjs/

Listservs I manage this week have been having a high number of subscription requests from Pakistan. Curious.

Add one letter to a phrase to ruin it, and make a reference to the result. I'll start. "spa day" becomes "spay day", as in "today the puppy did not have the day she might have anticipated" True story.

WORDLE RESPONSE1: _______ was extraordinarily lucky today. You’ve eliminated all but one of the words in my dictionary: ______ RESPONSE2: There was only one possible solution left — and this wasn’t it. (_____ couldn’t be a possible solution.) But there’s still only one solution remaining. Oh well

apnews.com/article/tom-... One of my 40 favorites of his was "Oedipus Rex". And "The Vatican Rag". And "National Brotherhood Week". And and and....

I love sign language - for adults, for babies, for all. (Granted, mine is poor. But I still love it.)

The Philadelphia strike, including trash collection, pushed us to collect our food scraps to compost, which we've been too lazy to do, even though we compost our yard waste. Now that the strike is tentatively over, we may continue the food composting. We'll see how it goes.

I'm curious to see which of these invasive plants will win. Photo: Kudzu and poison ivy vines on slope in front of property being developed, resold, resettled, or ignored in our area

Short profile of mom on PBS: “A brief, but spectacular take on piecing the past to the future” #quilts #quilting #art #Juneteenth youtu.be/jFr8lkfSMks?...

At first I saw this as the Mandelbrot fractal.

The poster I carried yesterday.

In Philadelphia alone, a crowd of over 100,000 hit the streets despite the rain. 🎥 @indivisiblephl.bsky.social

Consider the possibility that our organizations will be impacted. Prepare so we may be resilient. If you use UNFI, check that any emails from them don't carry infected or fraudulent material and take other steps to prevent the fraudsters from making you their next victim (backups, 2FA).

I've always loved "Alice's Restaurant." I realized today it's somewhat of a variant on a traditional "talking blues." Here's one I stumbled on today. youtu.be/K2NS0L5jfeo?...

Mark Rober’s Space Selfie project lets you get a cosmic keepsake in the comfort of your home. #SpaceSelfie #MarkRober #SATGUS #SpaceX #STEM community.designtaxi.com/topic/12391-...

I find valuable reminders such as this one from the FBI last week to be cautious when approached by unconfirmed individuals. "If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic." www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA...

I'm happy to be in a world with spell check when on occasion I need to write words such as "asynchronously".

Am visiting someone in a hospital. Equipment is beeping: 4 short beeps, a pause, 2 short beeps. Over and over. I realize. In Morse code, that's "HI"

Received in email: On 04-23-2025 a Philadelphia public safety exercise is taking place with Public Safety & Emergency Responders. The exercise will take place in the area of 11th St/Pattison Ave starting at 9am and ending approximately at 5pm. member.everbridge.net/453003085612...

Eager to learn more about our protagonist before you see The Return of Benjamin Lay on our stage? We support local indie booksellers! 📸: @rebeccajmichelson.bsky.social

@wxpnfm.bsky.social I loved hearing Rockapella on the #KidsCorner 24-hour stream today. Thanks, Kathy O'Connell and team! www.kidscorner.org/listen/

"The only difference between science and screwing around is writing it down." - Mythbusters

Not all “Hands Off” events were in-person. I attended two virtual events centering chronically ill and disabled people for @motherjones.com, who are terrified about attacks to Medicaid, Section 504, research funding, education and more. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

@quintessencephl.bsky.social produces another fine work, with the performance today of Antony and Cleopatra showing strong acting all around, exciting costuming, creative uses of the space (which they now own!), staging that kept me engaged, and 5 of the hottest kisses this side of the Mississippi.

On shows like NCIS and CSI, why do they never collect DNA by prying up the keys from the person's keyboard and using the gunk collected there? (Says he whose right Shift key was misbehaving and who looked underneath. Ick!)

The radio announced an upcoming story about Ramadan mimosas. I was very confused. It was actually about Ramadan samosas. (Steve goes to clean his hearing aids.)

UPDATE: “Several members of DOGE arrived at USIP unannounced & accompanied by 2 FBI agents. They were met at the door by outside counsel who informed them of USIP’s private & independent status as a non-executive branch agency. Following that discussion, DOGE departed.” www.usip.org/press/2025/0...

As Margaret Killjoy says: Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.

Happy Pi Day to all who celebrate!

The emergence of Hannah and her fallen-leaf potion:

Glit. Glitter. Glittest.

Went on a midday walk. Stopped at a convenience store, and selected some candy to reward myself. Then remembered what today is. I put the candy back and walked the rest of the way home, purchasing nothing.

A thread of Philadelphia Flower Show beauty to brighten your Friday. Let’s start with this classroom of the future as imagined and built by students at Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet School. It’s their first year and people are already telling them they have to come back! So cool!

🖤

Fun fact - on Windows, if you press WIN + Period(.), it includes ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ to make it easy if you want to put it in a message, and I'm the one that added it

An important announcement from the Governor of Illinois.

@scottwesterfeld.bsky.social "Angelina Jolie paradox" - brilliant!

The emergence of Violet, happy upwind porcupine:

Yay, Young Friends!

This really is breaking: Friends General Conference joins with an ad hoc coalition of other religious groups in a second religious freedom lawsuit against DHS and ICE. #Quakers

New York Yearly Meeting (I don't think they're on the Bluesky yet, but somebody feel free to tap them in if I'm wrong) has now joined the lawsuit against DHS as a co-plaintiff. We're keeping an eye on this story; when we can publish something, I'll be sure to let you know!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to take part in a very inspiring presentation by Quaker activist George Lakey and his daughter Ingrid. #citizengeorge