Elessa

Down there - he said - are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any inequity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathsomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you might say, without a trace of originality. They accept evil not because they say yes, but because they don't say no. - Lord Vetinari, Guards! Guards!

Words written by Terry Pratchett in Guards, Guards.

For Alex Jeffrey Pretti Murdered by I.C.E January 24, 2026 by Amanda Gorman We wake with no words, just woe & wound. Our own country shoot ing us in the back is not just brutal ity; it's jarring betrayal; not enforcement, but execution. A message: Love your people er you will die. Yet our greatest threat isn't the outsiders among us, but those among us who never look within. Fear not the those without papers, but those without conscience. Know that to care intensively, united, is to carry both pain-dark horror for today & a profound, daring hope for tomorrow. We can feel we have nothing to give, & still belove this world wait ing, trembling to change. If we cannot find words, may we find the will; if we ever lose hope, may we never lose our humanity. The only undying thing is mercy, the courage to open ourselves like doors, hug our neighbor, & save one more bright, impossible life.

Jigsaw puzzle pieces on table with tv in background showing a ruined Norman castle on the Welsh Marches.

Tis the gloomy season which means time for jigsaw puzzles and documentaries.

Chapter 1, second sentence “Clad in silk robe of a scribe” isn’t possible in the time period of ostensible aftermath of Hyksos. But during reign of Ramsses. Come on! Centuries separate all three scenarios.

Chapter 1, second sentence “Clad in silk robe of a scribe” isn’t possible in the time period of ostensible aftermath of Hyksos.

Usually I come across a historically implausible scenario in book a few chapters in. This time Chapter 1, 2nd sentence.

Text on cartoon of person in chair with a book says, I was going to clean the house, but then I realized this book isn’t going to read itself.

Books always come first for me.

Reflection from glass wall building onto grass and concrete in diagonal lines.

Shadows, patterns, and reflections exist all around us.

My middle and Eastern European genes have been satisfied. Cabbage rolls are a process to make. Therefore I am willing to pay for them. Divine!

Me to apartment mgt after walking across the complex to mail, “there is a dead goldfinch on the sidewalk. I don’t have means to dispose of it, please ask maintenance to pick up before kids or pets get to it.” Reply, “A what?”

Rather sad they didn’t understand. Showed photo of the deceased.

I am waiting for you to post when you finally reach home. The past few weeks have been dystopian in nature. You shouldn’t have been going through any of this.

Drawn image of two knights in armour. Left one running with body fully to left but helmet facing right. “When you put your armour on without reading the instructions.”

I did not edit this, this is the actual parade with the actual music being played.

CINEMATIC

Watercolor of the Statue of Liberty Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus, 1883.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

A peach colored rose macro image

Encountered a bush of really stunning peach colored roses whilst walking a neighborhood. The scent was nice and strong. Really dislike flowers without scent.

Looking at iTunes idly while clicking links. A wee bit of denial as I note the albums of decades past knowing I was buying them on vinyl at time of release. Where has time gone?

Macro image of Snow-in-Summer white flower blossoms

image of Snow-in-Summer white flower blossoms

Snow-in-Summer. Methinks this is a misnomer as it is still very much Spring. Flowers with this name should bloom in mid-June or later.

Meme pic of Medusa wearing red dress striding forward. To the right are a couple. The man in chiton with head turned to whistle as Medusa walks past. He is stone. Woman in white chiton next to male statue looks at him with expression of WTF.

I nearly snorted my morning coffee out my nose when I saw this.

They aren’t wrong. When I went to college in the 1980s I paid less than $500 per Quarter including books. I took 13-18 credit hours each Quarter.

You cringed at the mention of using snails. Thought you should know snail mucin is in facial serums today. The Korean cosmetic brands utilize mucin. Guess the Romans were onto something with that one. Not going on my face though.

This truly made me look in mirror. *snerk 😂 I would never say such a thing.

There is a feeling of zen, as well as accomplishment when I clean mine. #TinyJoys

Macro pic of three pale pink rhododendrons

A little bit of Nature’s beauty as a reminder that long after turbulent times, flowers will continue to bloom with or without humans existing.

A prescient dialogue written by the dearly missed Terry Pratchett describing current affairs in “Going Postal”

Booker speaks truth

I have made it my mission to unteach children that “fiction is fake” Here are my new definitions I started teaching today Nonfiction = learning through information Fiction = learning through imagination Jennifer Powell @ace_librarian7

🔥🧙🏻‍♂️

Quite true. Our time is but a grain of sand in the hourglass of nature and the universe. I sit and marvel at Nature knowing it will always exist no matter what happens.

Alas no. I changed the sheets. Not there. 😕

Slightly confused. I appear to have lost a bulky, pullover sweater. Not in laundry. Not hanging up anywhere. Not in a drawer. Not on the floordrobe. Gremlins. Must be gremlins.

Was on hold on a phone call. Staring aimlessly I realized there was a beautiful blue sky above me.