Big Bert and Ernie energy

New Year's Eve, and 125 years old today is 'The Darkling Thrush' by Thomas Hardy. (And when I myself read this poem, I often find myself becoming aware of that blessèd Hope from that frail and gaunt thrush ✨️)

Never forget!

Several Circles by Vasily Kandinsky, 1926 https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137491

Long shot: I'm writing a news story about "buy now, pay later" apps (Klarna, Afterpay) for a kids' magazine, and I'm looking to interview an economics scholar/professor on the topic, ideally someone focused on consumer spending. If that's you or someone you know, let's talk! #freelancelife

More of artist Helga Stentzel's fun clothesline animals #WomensArt

I love my extended families, but attending gatherings on Christmas Eve + again on Christmas Day is … a lot. Congrats, introverts, we made it!

👏🎄👏 #9LC

#9LC (Radio 4 re-broadcast)

Gosh, THIS setting of I Saw Three Ships will have woken up a few people. Surprised we didn’t hear the noise of service sheets flying off people’s laps onto the floor when it launched off #9LC

No need to turn page quietly during this #9LC

Not sure about these zippy ships #9LC

OH GOOD MORE RUTTER. (You may read that in whatever tone of voice you prefer.) #9LC

Even King's can't get their S's perfectly together. It's okay! #9LC

Oh good, Rutter #9LC

"O and A, and A and O"? #9LC

Oh good, Britten #9LC

I always appreciate it when a woman does the readings of Mary's story #9lc

Wow. This commissioned carol makes bleakness beautiful, entrusts the gospel to the thrush's song, and weaves harmony into hope. I will sit with that one for a long time. What a triumph. #9lc

The way the Portman just tailed off after the last line - "Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew / And I was unaware" - poignant. #9lc

Pretty!

Looking forward to listening to this live soon, my Christmas Eve morning ritual. 🎶 👼🎄It was so cool to visit King’s College Chapel in Cambridge a couple of years ago.

A Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored subspecies) dines on dock seeds.

we just went through a months-long cultural project where people lost their jobs for speaking ill of a dead man's politics

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

Work today: cycling between one project where I need to add the serial comma, and one project where I need to delete it. 😵‍💫 #copyediting #freelancelife

Wordle 1,632 2/6 ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ❗️

Also if you are generally satisfied with life in spite of not being able to get everything you might want, congratulations, you’ve already have something many billionaires can never have—enough.

The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow

Such hateful, petty, bigoted trash bags. Their hate will never erase the history she made.

“She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.” www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social

by Edward Gorey

Apropos of, well, everything: I used to roll my eyes circa 2019 when people described the world using the phrase "late-stage capitalism." I'm sorry. You were right. 🤑

Nov. 26, 1925: America celebrates Thanksgiving. The second annual Macy’s parade for the holiday moves along Fifth Avenue in New York. (At the time, it’s called the Christmas Parade; it will be renamed the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.) 1/5

NOT NOW, BIRD FLU

The U.S. government has released a new crash test dummy design that advocates believe will help make cars safer for women. Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a head-on crash than men. n.pr/48ne93H

Democrats: Don't do illegal things or participate in war crimes. Republicans: Treason!

Can't find out if Cloudflare is down because Cloudflare being down has taken out DownDetector, along with half the internet.

I don’t know what Cloudflare does exactly, but it’s messing up my day.

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen. Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

Stay in Place Billie Rae Busby 2022

so much of the advertised uses for genAI are to opt out of the human experience. opt out of communicating with others using a tool that writes meaningless emails. opt out of grief with a digital simulacrum of your loved one. opt out of dating with an AI gf/bf. opt out of thinking. opt out of living.

Wordle 1,610 5/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 A pleasing pattern.

So let me get this straight: The President’s plan to lower prices is to roll back some of his own tariffs?

Dear gift guides, The appropriate thing to get the person who says they "don't want a gift" is nothing. IT IS NOTHING. Signed, A gift hater

At my physical this afternoon, my doctor mentioned I was her first patient all day to be up to date on vaccines (flu, COVID-19, tetanus). Yikes. 💉

QAnon: The powerful pedophiles have invented elaborate codes to secretly discuss their crimes that require decades of interpretation Actual powerful pedophile: Hey Jeff hope this email find you well last week was great so when we meeting up to do pedophilia again

May you never have to write this vile man's name, but if you do, it now has a hyphen (explanation in link). Previously: Andrew Mountbatten Windsor Now: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

It ys onlye Gen AI if it ys from the Gen AI regioun of Fraunce, otherwyse it ys just sparklinge plagiarism.