Alyssa Harad
@alyssaharad.bsky.social
Writer. Reader. I live in a box of paints. She/her. Banner: a detail from Remedios Varo’s Vampiros Vegetarianos. Three vampires in fantastical golden outfits sip fruit through extra long straws.)
It occurs to me that I might hate it even more than most bc I’ve been a refusenik re: Siri et al. I do not like talking to machines!
Alyssa Harad@alyssaharad.bsky.social · 2h agoYet another AI bot receptionist, this time at my dentist and I hate it hate it hate it hate it.
Yet another AI bot receptionist, this time at my dentist and I hate it hate it hate it hate it.
Fashion report: The barista in the little black dress with white polka dots serving the grand old lady in a black and white mixed print of dots and checks with black and white polka dotted butterflies dangling from her ears.
I like Xlear for this bc the xylitol in it temporarily makes the insides of your nasal passages too slick for larger particles to adhere but any non-medicinal spray helps a lot.
My phone can’t capture it but the sun is a flat, orange-pink disk right now. No corolla. Very minimalist eye of Sauron. Very end of days. Dislike.
I’m telling you this as a political scientist. The person who is electable is the one who is elected. This can and does change over time. Any and all speculation about “electability” is either puffery or anxiety and is often both.
Julia Azari@juliaazari.bsky.social · 16h agoOne way to be safe is to never write an electability take
I am yet again watching a white British woman gardener of a certain age on You Tube and once again she is telling me about Thugs vs Good Doers and once again I am finding it soothing, informative and adorable.
Drove northeast of PDX for an appointment and holy hell the smoke is thick up here.
Omfg I cannot believe people are doing this but also ofc they are.
Tom Wambsgans’ Second Wife, PhD@drwambsgans.bsky.social · 20h agoI stg, please do not fly your pleasure drones over wild fires. You are making things worse.
I really appreciate the number of PDX bumper stickers that endorse crying.
The signs of the prophets are written on the CVS parking lot surveillance camera solar panels.
It will be so funny to me if Texas finally goes blue after I moved away but hey if that’s what it was going to take I would have left years ago.
*actively trying to look away bc hope is too painful but*
ashley 🌹@clearlyashley.bsky.social · 23h agoyall remember the Texas Fox News poll? yeah it’s real. they’re on the money
Look at the giant pollen thighs on this hardworking bee. Yet another reason to live Cosmos.
This is just his resting face. He’s not actually plotting to kill me. Yet.
It's going to be hot out there, bring PVD's hardest-working library staff some cold juices (dates & locations in @steveahlquist.bsky.social's article steveahlquist.substack.com/p/unionized-...
Unionized workers at the Community Libraries of Providence picket
"We are also working families. Being open until 8 pm four nights a week is what helps working families get to the library, not losing late nights and shifting 30 minutes.”
steveahlquist.substack.com
Extremely true. I just took the dogs outside for a couple of minutes, and it was very smoky. My throat is burning and I have a headache, which are both unusual for me with that brief of an exposure at this AQI.
Anne-Marie W. Clark 👩👧👦🐶⚖️😷🌎🚢📚🌦️⚜️@amwclark.bsky.social · 2d agoSeattle air looks better. Portland not great. Be careful being outside. Map at fire.airnow.gov?lang=en#6.15...
Um, a blog post I wrote in 2012 is cited by an author I admire? This the internet I once knew and loved. ✨💙
Deb Chachra@debcha.bsky.social · 2d agoHello! I'm (finally!) reading Virginia Postrel's THE FABRIC OF CIVILIZATION and was delighted to see you in the citations! alyssaharad.com/2012/11/blue...
I do appreciate that learning the history of the role of the AAU during the Red Scares (that's what the link at the top of this thread comes from) prepared me for the day they would offer higher ed up for political repression on a silver platter
Me on the AAU "The AAU claims to be comprised of America’s leading research unis...But if the member presidents choose the guise of institutional neutrality as a way to gain political cover, they may now be leading higher ed toward greater authoritarianism." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares
Powerful organizations during the Red Scares crafted a world where “academic freedom” was conditional on political allegiance.
insidehighered.com
I don’t know if it’s just strangers on my TL, social media in general, or actual bots but many people seem to have lost their ability to speak in anything but meme and shorthand discourse jargon. We’re tired, y’all. Talk like a human. Make a weary little joke now and then.
Can someone explain to me, gently, why we are doing Covid discourse again? I thought most of y’all were done talking about the pandemic in 2022. Is it the Fauci hearings?
I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet
I didn’t get a good photo, but I saw a brilliant red dragonfly this afternoon and I’m pretty sure it was a Cardinal Meadowhawk. (Such a cool name.) http:/ creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CardinalMeadowhawk.html
Cardinal Meadowhawk
creagrus.home.montereybay.com
This person does not understand the power dynamic between the front of the house and the back of the house.
fesshole 🧻@fesshole.bsky.social · 3d agoI tell waiters what I think of a dish, even when it's bad. My husband says this is wrong and I must stop. But if I don't tell them that their sauce is watery or a medium rare steak is actually well done then they'll never improve and they all lose their jobs. Honesty is polite.