October Octopod of the Month is a black kittypod! She has joined her Violet and Honeycrisp siblings!

Chuseok in New York City with the college student and a persimmon octopod or two!

Empty nesting makes me feel like Odo from Deep Space 9, reverting to his true form with a sigh of relief after approximating mommy-shaped form for 22 years. I do want to fulfill my duties but I'm just a gelatinous glob in a bucket.

We are at the break glass moment on the Democratic Party and its treatment of transgender people, and it is my opinion that if we don’t act now and loudly demand to be heard, we will suffer the consequences of their shift.

a lot of people act like there's a trade being offered where we give up trans athletes in sports and in exchange fascism is defeated forever

Hello from my first vacation as an empty-nester! I took a daylong quilt workshop, just the kind of thing that used to make me think, "I wish I could, but who has the time?" Left: the sample instructor David Sirota used to demonstrate his paper-piecing technique. Right: my first block.

The editor who trained me in journalism has a novel out!

Excited to read this new novel.

Jewel box quilt block study #3. All scrap fabrics. Okay, I'm starting to see the potential of this block.

My friend Kiyoshi Kuromiya was an Asian American gay and AIDS activist who truly shaped the best of those movements and more. A documentary about him is raising funds for their final push before completion. THIS is a movie we need.

Jewel box quilt block study #2.

Jewel box quilt study 1. Getting to know a new-to-me quilt block.

The purpose of life is to enjoy being the person you are and doing the things you like to do. There are people who don't want you to have that. But those things are yours.

Psyche cleanse, Day 3. I've never made a quilt with the Jewel Box block before. Maybe it's time to try one.

Psyche cleanse, Day 2. Washing and ironing fabrics for some test quilts.

By all means boycott TERF media... but DONATE to orgs and people fighting for trans rights! Donate to individuals who need it! Considering the rapid timeline of this fight, we need donations and activism NOW. Boycotting popular culture media alone is NOT ACTIVISM.

Psyche cleanse, Day 1. Time to remember that I'm a quilter.

I love this so much. The original words haven't changed. Times change. The reader changes. The translator changes.

rogueclassicist ~ david meadows@rogueclassicist.bsky.social · last mo.

Why Emily Wilson Is Translating Homer’s Odyssey Again - GreekReporter.com greekreporter.com/2026/08/31/e...

Green apple pod prototypes. Which do you think? Green tentacles or pale yellow?

It's a sunshine and scallions sort of day

She got her license days before college started. A toast with her sister before NYU move-in.

Upon the college student's request: Honeycrisp applepod prototypes. I think I'm going to go with bolder yellow and green on the next round.

Grad student daughter made me a quilted wall hanging for my birthday! It features hwatu cards from the suits of each of the birth months in our family. I gasped when I saw it.

What if it felt like autumn a little bit today

I've made at least a thousand five-petaled flower hats for octopods, but i took special care with the divot on this one to suggest a violet.

The news is unbearable. Carrot octopods get through it by holding hands.

Sometimes it's comforting to just make blobs of felt shaped like watermelons with tentacles

My kid wanted Granny Smith octopods with glasses. What's your feedback on these prototypes? White floral cap? All green? Pale yellow tentacles? (I really want to make them without glasses, too. They look so plump and juicy. But the kid insists on glasses.)

A bout of COVID-19 can wake up an army of dormant viruses hiding inside the body. This reactivation happens even in people with otherwise healthy immune systems. Vaccine? Yes, please! 🧪⚕️💉 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

COVID can wake up a slew of dormant viruses inside you

Reactivation of typically harmless anelloviruses, in particular, seems to be linked with developing long COVID, study finds.

nature.com

1. Amnesty International has withstood threats from death squads and dictators. But it could not stand up to JK Rowling and the anti-trans movement she finances. It has apologized for calling those groups "anti-rights" after legal threats. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Amnesty International UK Caves To JK Rowling, Issues Apology For Calling Anti-Trans Groups "Anti-Rights"

The organization has stood up to dictators and death squads, but Rowling and the UK's anti-speech laws were apparently too much.

erininthemorning.com