Kat Volk

The whitest! He cleaned them on top of the puzzle just to make sure they shine!

Gus is sprawled across my in-progress puzzle. The puzzle is much more askew than it was before he flopped down

Such a helper

Denying 810,000+ Arizonans our representation in Congress.

I'd take it one step further--in order to do our jobs* we need Avi Loeb to _not_ be put in charge of an international directorate.

*ok, yes, this is a necessary condition but alone it's not a sufficient one

It remains way past time for the arXiv to stop accepting submissions involving Avi Loeb.

You know which field of endeavor doesn't get 500 hours of guaranteed, uncompeted characterization time annually on fancy telescopes? Planetary defense. And this is despite asteroids hitting the Earth being an actual, you know, thing.

This is complete and utter pompous bullshit. It's telling that of the people proposing it wants to anoint themselves director general when every one of his claims of having discovered technosignature interstellar objects has been debunked by the planetary community. arxiv.org/pdf/2510.01405

AAS members are on the Hill today to #SaveNASAScience and advocate for sustained funding for NASA, NSF, and our nation's other science agencies! Help us amplify their voices by calling and writing to your Congressional offices today: aas.org/action-alert...

Ash, a tabby and white feral cat, is curled up in a blanket-lined basket under the picnic table on my back porch. He’s looking up at me wondering why I disturbed him.

Little man went right back to bed after breakfast. I feel you, buddy

The only difference is I’d have been a little annoyed 😂

😂

Echo is cleaning her rear end with her back legs askew while on the fresh fitted sheet

Every time I change the sheets she *has* to do this. At least she’s at the foot of the bed 😂

He can also be the cat. It’s interchangeable 😂😂

UCSD’s Department of Mathematics has paused PhD admissions -- we will not be able to admit new PhD students in Fall 2026.

Another pause in graduate school admissions for 2026.
UCSD dept of math this time.

www.math.ucsd.edu/students/gra...

She’s “the cat” when she does this and then doesn’t even settle in for a purr 😂

The cat always waits until I have a stomach perhaps too full of tea or coffee to do this. Oof.

Been there. It sucks and I’m sorry. I’m so thankful that allergy shots have reduced my asthma enough to not need the stupid $500 a month drugs anymore. In grad school those meds cost almost more than my rent…

A pale blue stoneware soup crock with black shark designs swimming around its surface.

Made a shark soup crock because it’s cute and hilarious at the same time. Go on a French onion feeding frenzy with your shark friends.

Shark illustration by me.

In my etsy shop. Free shipping. Surly.etsy.com

I just got a call from my rheumatologist. Because of the changes to Medicaid, which no longer reimburses telemedicine appointments, I can either pay out of pocket or drive two hours away every three months, which is not possible for me most of the year due to my work schedule.

Oh dang. This is an excellent analogy.

US’s trajectory in space science leadership in a nutshell

My district has been without representation in the House since March.

Fingers crossed for no more flats!

Ugh!

Such a hassle!

And yet Acting NASA Administrator says the US will beat China to the Moon, establish a permanent lunar presence, and push outward. Newsflash: not on $18 billion we're not. Trump Administration plans to quietly impound the $10 billion Congress restored. NASA is being destroyed right before our eyes.

It sure would be nice to have something cool built there. The Starbucks there was just dumb

❤️💔

“The Destruction of NASA’s Mission” Whistleblowers reveal OMB’s Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency

New from Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation Ranking Member Maria Cantwell.

NOTE: This is indeed what I have seen going on inside NASA.
🧪🔭

www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

Yum!!