Susan Van Metre

Don’t frog it, Crochet! #redsox

The transition from being still vaguely a peer of your young colleagues to being a peer of their parents is tight.

Was telling a friend that my only child asked about what it was like to have a sibling and that I had replied: It’s having a person in your life who will say the cruelest things to you yet also drop anything to help you. She looked shocked. Surely that is the definition of a sibling?!

Concept: Airport crochet or knitting kits arranged by flight time, with airplane-approved supplies.

We Traced Pope Leo XIV’s Ancestry Back 500 Years. Here’s What We Found. Noblemen, enslaved people, freedom fighters, slaveowners: what the complex family tree of the first American pontiff reveals.

Totally fascinating!

We Traced Pope Leo XIV’s Ancestry Back 500 Years. Here’s What We Found. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Is Calling Up National Guard Troops Under a Rarely Used Law

This is deeply not okay.

Trump Is Calling Up National Guard Troops Under a Rarely Used Law www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/u...

That Cup of Coffee May Have a Longer-Term Perk

At least we still have coffee…

RIP red wine

That Cup of Coffee May Have a Longer-Term Perk www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/w...

240. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend — Backlisted The wonderful Nina Stibbe , award-winning novelist and diarist, joins us for a discussion of Sue Townsend's classic comic creation . When it was first published in 1982, the confidential journal of ...

Tuesday 27th May. Lined up new episode of Backlisted for my commute. It was bloody brilliant! I thought Secret Diary of A. Mole 13¾ was just funny but intellectuals like @ninastibbe.bsky.social have convinced me it is actually searing critique of Mrs Thatcher etc. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...

The Library of Congress belongs to Congress and the American people. [Logos: Show up for our libraries - American Library Association]

For 225 years, the Library of Congress has collected America’s stories and kept Congress informed. The American Library Association stands with America’s library.

Opinion | George Saunders: Shame on the White House

“Shame on all of us if we let these ignorant purveyors of cruelty reduce this beautiful thing we’ve built over these hundreds of years to a hollow, braying, anti-version of itself.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

Are trees the dogs of the plant world?

Just really here for Pope Leo’s brothers!

Trump fires Librarian of Congress and Baltimorean Carla Hayden President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday, according to statements from House Democrats.

Dr. Carla Hayden has served as Librarian of Congress with honor and distinction, bringing our prized institution to new heights.
 
Trump’s outrageous, politically-motivated move to fire her is despicable. The Library of Congress belongs to the American people — NOT to Trump.

Auto caption just came up with Auntie’s Inferno, which I now want to read.

Alternate side of the street parking is my alone time. 🤪

Just really enjoying the natural deodorant discussion in the middle school parent group chat. #stinkypreteens

Wordle 1,397 2/6

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Wordle results in order of most satisfying

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A bit of crafting for a beloved new book. @candlewickpress.bsky.social

For the young reader in your life: 2 stories about Monti and Leo’s friendship. About 70 page each. 7- 9 yo. “Sweet and genuine” “radiates warmth throughout”
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#MontiandLeo #ChapterBooks #YoungReaders #GraphicNovel #Friendship
@skeetervm.bsky.social @candlewickpress.bsky.social

Have survived school spirit week! Five costumes and hairstyles, two baked goods, and one concert. 👐

Gene Hackman Lost His Wife and Caregiver, and Spent 7 Days Alone The exact details may never be known, but Mr. Hackman, 95 with advanced Alzheimer’s, was alone for about a week after his wife and sole caregiver died.

This makes me think of my own parents and the incredible stress of caregiving for someone with dementia. I am so sad for them both. Yet for Gene I wonder if a hospital would have been its own kind of curse. Maybe he was always going to go out alone.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/u...

We found huge errors in the "wall of receipts" for Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, where the group lists what it has saved by canceling federal contracts. After The New York... TikTok video by The New York Times

Do the five things you did last week count if they were all mistakes, Elon?

www.tiktok.com/t/ZT294ceMS/

Trump News and Live Updates: Zelensky Attends Meeting of European Leaders on Ukraine Britain’s prime minister announced the move ahead of a meeting with European leaders as the region reeled from President Trump’s confrontation with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

The adults have come to the table

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...

Legislation, Soft Censorship Could Keep YMA Winners Off the Shelves While winning the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards often leads to a bump in sales and a spot on school library shelves, censorship legislation, librarians afraid of challenges, and the growing…

Legislation, Soft Censorship Could Keep YMA Winners Off School Shelves | School Library Journal

Every time I hear the term “rare earth minerals,” I think of this book and it’s absolutely brilliant and bloody ending.

Worry by Alexandra Tanner. Sisters and anxiety. My jam.

If you want an honest assessment of your appearance, get yourself a twelve-year-old daughter! Signing up for some tooth whitening right now. 😂

"Ruthie Rose’s Big Idea features a little girl who, much like the author himself, changes the world around her with her love of the written word and her instinct for building a beautiful, mutually caring, and respectful community." — @skeetervm.bsky.social www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Wow, good job getting rid of the deep state…🙄