Laurel

@laurelfynes.bsky.social

learning from the world, my family, students, birds, trees, plants, waterways, relationships. unlearning. biophiliac. growing roots along great lake ontario. settler. she/her. class site: https://bsky.app/profile/k2westacres.bsky.social

We are full! Wait list spots available, as cancellations do happen. There's a lot of history packed into this ravine, and into our walk. Also: wear boots. Though the weather looks good, the forecast has been changing all week with sporadic showers here and there. www.eventbrite.ca/e/a-lost-riv...

A Lost Rivers exploration of Rennie Creek

Come on an adventure walk to explore the natural and human history surrounding the course of Rennie Creek, a modest but inspiring waterway

eventbrite.ca

"We’re the ones turned into Soylent Green, so it’s a little fucking rude to have an essay piped hot and fresh into our inboxes that dares to be mad at us for criticizing anyone who eats Soylent Green. We’re getting cannibalized, turned into sausages, and you’re mad that we’re mad about it."

Chuck Wendig@chuckwendig.bsky.social · 5h ago

Professional writer organizations should not send out pro-AI propaganda in the form of tantrum-having "essays" to their members, and I don't think that's controversial.

A beautiful thing about "AI" is that all of the critics are becoming better and better writers by having to come up with new and ever sharper ways to say "this is pernicious nonsense peddled by bad men" over and over.

Just heard on this week’s @thebeaverton.com pod: ““From Phil B over the Patreon. So the next episode is the last one for a while. It seems like it would be a great time to let Meg host. We will make this happen. The Internet has spoken. Who are we to disagree?” ‼️🫣🎉 podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...

Who Says Conservatives Aren't Patriotic? Mostly Other Conservatives

Podcast Episode · The Beaverton Weekly Report · July 29 · 56m

podcasts.apple.com

I’m weird. I can give blood, no problem. I’ll look when I get a needle. But I can’t put in eye drops without losing a bunch down my cheeks, and I’m too afraid to use nasal spray so I just don’t, even when recommended. So, I finally got some eye drops in my eyes, just now. THAT took a while.

A rabbit I met tonight. The camera adds so much light it looks like daytime here, but I saw the silhouette and then red eyes (reflection of streetlight) as I got closer.

A brown cottontail rabbit sitting in grass dotted with flowers, a vine growing up a tall wire fence behind the grass and a windowless factory building beyond that.

I've mentioned in the past that I sponsored a local female race car driver and put pro-library messages on the car. They did a "pit party" where kids could come through, see the cars, etc. Andrea got book stickers made so all the kids could sign her car. Truly some of my best library outreach work.

Hood of a white stock car. It has a woman in a purple superhero outfit with a cape flapping. The car reads NO BOUNDARIES. NO LIMITS. KNOW YOUR LIBRARY. There are many small stickers that look like open books on it which are signed by kids.Back of a white stock car used for racing. It says BURN RUBBER NOT BOOKS. There are some small stickers that look like open books on it which are signed by kids.

You guys… I saw a bald eagle! In my neighbourhood!!! I know it’s way, waaaay up there, but those long, straight wings, the white head and tail? That’s not our usual red-tailed hawk or turkey vulture. That’s a big beastie. 🤩 Flew over the western edge of Sam Smith Park.

The boy brought me up a cup of tea. I’m about a third of the way through it when Gord brings me up a cup of coffee. I feel loved. “Call me two-drinks Fynes” I say, then spot my water (lidded cup bc cats exist). Uhh…

Our youngest is a horror & cult film fan. Years ago I shared Dead Zone, 1 of my favourite movies as a teen (and 1 of my 1st Hollywood crushes, the ridiculously intense Christopher Walken). We saw Medium Cool at the Revue today & there’s a scene that gave me flashbacks… I see I wasn’t alone in that

Text to me:

“David Cronenberg directed the dead zone??
How did I not know this”
From me: “Ha! Funny too, I wondered if you had Déja vu today from the scene where he's filming in the convention (while she's stunning (autocorrect for running) through the growing demonstrations outside) - I thought of Dead Zone”

Rode out to the end of the breakwater spit that protects the marina at Sam Smith Park yesterday. With construction closures M-F, the plants have grown higher, bushier, & the smell of the white clover is incredible. Excuse the sideways view first up, was avoiding capturing folks walking on the path.

What’s a fringe group? Using that word recklessly is bad faith & undermines democracy. The numbers from NoJetsTo were impressive, & this was in a month or two. Imagine if this fight had gone on longer. (W this POV, you can see how not letting this mvmt grow was in the interest of those in power)

Despite the breadth of the opposition movement, Ford's Transportation Minister, Prabmeet Sarkaria, called it a "small fringe group." That's a heck of a fringe as federal survey results revealed 87 per cent of the roughly 87,000 people who responded to the survey were against airport expansion. While that might seem like a small sample from a city of more than 3 million, it's magnitudes larger than the 2,500 people the Ford government polled in order to launch its ill-conceived proposal.
In an email, Norm Di Pasquale, the NoJetsTO program manager, told me more than 8,000
NoJetsTO lawn signs were displayed across the city, over 800 people made donations to the NoJetsTO campaign, with many giving more than $100, and that tens of thousands of letters were sent to MPs. He also mentioned that 1,500 people from Etobicoke alone signed the NoJetsTO petition.
With such a massive opposition, I saw one post on social media wondering what to make of the 15,371 people in the Brampton South riding who voted for Sarkaria in the 2025 provincial election, securing his win. They represented 52 per cent of people who voted in Sarkaria's riding, certainly not "fringe" and intentionally smearing them like that would be exactly the kind of undemocratic bad faith being employed by the losing side of the airport saga.
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🛩️ v 🏖️ People who aren’t used to winning, won. At the same time, people who often win lost for once. The losers are throwing tantrums. Winners should take the win to heart because it truly belongs to them & no one else. My column on this remarkable grassroots mobilization in @thestar.com

Shawn Micallef: The Billy Bishop expansion pause was a real win for the people. But don’t put away those No Jets signs just yet

The federal government’s decision to pause the Billy Bishop expansion means that people who often win lost for once — are taking it badly.

thestar.com