Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

Throw the collapse of Baker & Taylor on the pile with the other bad omens.

The limitations to speech we allow to be imposed on us now will impact our governance as surely as moats and mountains did in the past. -Heather Marsh.

The Birkenhead Drill dates back to the 18th century. In an emergency, save women and children first. Instead, the building’s on fire and we’re all inside. As with everything else, the opposite of what should happen, is happening. At what point do we stop sleeping and take the streets en masse?

“Every person has a right to belong to a society, except in extreme cases as complete shunning can be equivalent to a death sentence.”—Heather Marsh, Binding Chaos Shunning is dehumanizing. Where we draw lines on extreme cases matters quite a bit because even a small dose of shunning is hurtful.

Prepare yourself for an emotional experience!

With Granny’s passing yesterday and what would be my dad’s 71st birthday tomorrow, I’m reflecting on what was and what could have been. I loved these people. Didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with them as I wanted. They were both makers. Granny loved textiles, Dad loved carpentry…and fishing!

A light has gone out.

As a librarian, I just want to say, and I understand the irony of it all…the internet was a bad idea. Now look at some buttons I made at the makerspace.

Hello good people of the United States…a lot of bad news going on and we can point fingers all day…but in the end, let’s come together and improve quality of life for everyone across the board…red states, blue states, rural areas and cities…nobody deserves this chaos and pain. Solidarity forever.

Turn of the century music was great. Lots of good songs, good videos came out around 2000. @talibkweli.bsky.social mos def, and common in top form.

Hope builds through people power, so of course they don’t want us to have renewable energy. Green energy is gaining serious momentum though and we are building toward a world where everyone has what they need to live with dignity, regardless of what our dear oligarchs might want for us.

SLW is galactic guitarlord of the hometapers.

Post a song from the year you turned 12

Stephen Colbert should interview Pope Leo in Gaza

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Geeshie Wiley featured so prominently in Sinners. She’s as mysterious as Robert Johnson, as haunting as Skip James, and her deep cuts are as vibrant today as they were 1930.

Bonne Fete Nationale! Rue Montorgueil, Paris Festival of June 30, 1878 by Claude Monet

Garden The world spins and grows. There is enough to go around. We change together. If we get lucky and make something beautiful… if we see each other and take time to acknowledge our neighbor’s contributions… it will grant us peace in knowing we are not alone. After tears, comes laughter

My intro to Philip Glass was watching weirdos at the Wherehouse perform a moving cover of Knee 5. A few years later he came to the Englert and we sat front row. IC is cool like that—you can see one of the greatest composers of all time and still have enough $ from your service job to eat ‘til payday

If Jesus was born today, he’d be Palestinian.

They used to tell me I was building a dream.

Remake the world modeled off of the best library you’ve ever been to. For me, that’s Iowa City public.

#bunnies & #bostonterrier friends keeping me going.

Are these hobbits!?! I’m tuned in and as present as ever, but we all deserve a timeline cleanse. I think there’s about 10 of these little doods in my backyard. Last week I saw them in a bunch rolling all over each other but didn’t have my phone on me so that was an experience just for me.

Here’s looking at you, NYT. Copaganda by Alec Karakatsanis coming out hard on page 1.

Interesting development across the pond.

The only 7/4 movie to watch is obviously the cult classic, Return of the Living Dead. Stream it for free on Hoopla with your public library card!

Give me your well-rested, your filthy rich, your gilded ones indifferent to breathe free, the curated bloodlines of your privatized beach. Send these, the housed, sheltered to me, I lift my gaslight beside the golden visa door!

The people hoarding our planet’s resources are the poorest of all. Poor in spirit. Poor in empathy. Poor in imagination. Poor in compassion. Poor in love. Poor in solidarity. Poor in community. Poor in resilience. Poor in joy. Poor in authenticity. Poor in culture. Poor in trust. Poor in purpose…etc

Good news is, it’s very easy to distinguish yourself from the ghouls.

Starting my day out seeing this dood every morning has been good for my mental health.

There’s mostly merchants and moneychangers in the temple.

I found this painting on Reddit sometime ago…hung it up at work and saved it on my phone. I find myself staring at it and thinking about what robust, healthy community looks and feels like. The Mill was the beacon on the hill for me. It’s the idea that I’m always trying to work myself back to.

We can’t read our way out of this, but I’ve found books can provide comfort, perspective, and purpose in this confusing time. Here’s 20 I find helpful as we face what needs faced. Deploy your radical empathy. Say hello to a stranger. Give more than you take. Find common ground. Speak up & be present

Still got it. #sourdough #baking

bunker bluster in chief

Baldwin is talking about the treatment of Blacks by Whites in a letter to his nephew here, but the sentiment applies across all humanity. Deploy your radical empathy and be kind…and don’t rank Cuomo!

This should be played at high volume, preferably in a residential area.

It’s a good time to get acquainted with your library makerspaces if they have one. If they don’t, you can still do things like print flyers, pamphlets, zines, stickers, screen print t-shirts and more at little to no cost. Find your machine that fights fascism.

🏳️ 🤍 🕊️

Sam's a treasure. We met around 2008ish and I proceeded to buy everything he released...complete and total STAN. He's had a hand in both my albums and when I was starting out, he introduced me to everyone in the scene: musicians, bookers, sound engineers, door staff, etc. This is my library anthem.⬇️

I’mma start doing some micro-reviews of books. I won’t review any read before today. My biggest challenge is creating a meaningful review in 300 characters or less. Is it possible/annoying? 🤐 I’m always up for a challenge and with these Bluesky imposed limitations, it will force me to get creative.