Karen McGrane

Karen McGrane

@karenmcgrane.bsky.social

On a good day, I make the web more awesome. On a bad day, I just make it suck less.

4,670 Followers 778 Following 955 Posts Joined Jul 2023
5 hours ago

I thought maybe you’d died but you kept Slacking me so I figured it was unlikely

3 0 0 0
5 days ago

Tim has gotten me to care about professional football and basketball but I had to tell him I draw the line at college sports. I will make an exception for his primary rivalries but otherwise he can't make me care.

2 0 0 0
6 days ago
Preview
Seat 11A: The Windowless Inside Joke at 30,000 Feet

This is my preferred seat, particularly for long distance travel. You can lean up against the wall and sleep and it isn't cold. I would deliberately check seat maps in order to confirm I could find this seat.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/u...

7 0 0 0
1 week ago

Hostile information architecture

19 2 0 0
1 week ago

I can confirm this is real, just took my own screenshot

104 22 1 2
2 weeks ago

Think WIAD Philadelphia won't be enough community and nerd stuff? Don't worry! IAC is back in Philadelphia this April, and look! One of local faves @karenmcgrane.bsky.social is co-conducting a workshop! Find more details at theiaconference.com.

5 4 0 0
2 weeks ago

The worst airline meal I ever had was on a United flight from Tel Aviv to Newark. (It was 12 years ago, don’t yell at me.)

Fish pasta. Seemed like it might be okay? Absolutely disgusting, I still remember it all these years later.

2 0 0 0
2 weeks ago

In general, I believe that when you fly an American carrier back to the US the food is better because it’s coming from a supplier in your departing country.

This American flight from Italy has really put that theory to the test. Italy! Your food is supposed to be better than this!

5 0 1 0
2 weeks ago

I'm leading a reading group on liberal-to-lefist ethics in the European antifascist tradition (think Weil and Arendt to Gramsci and Fanon). We're reading one short book a month w/ongoing discussions from now until December. No pressure! If you're interested and a mutual, DM me for a Slack invitation

16 5 2 0
2 weeks ago

I have been in this hotel for two weeks and I am almost to the point where I can consistently choose one of the (many, MANY) light switches to turn on the light I want. Maybe up to 90% accuracy, starting from near zero. We leave Friday, maybe tomorrow I’ll figure it all out.

5 0 0 0
2 weeks ago

I remain in Rome, the eternal city, the endless vacation

3 0 0 0
2 weeks ago

The MOST married. None more married.

1 0 0 0
2 weeks ago

You like me

1 0 2 0
2 weeks ago

The bill for storing so much information online in formats designed for printing rather than in HTML was always going to come due, although I confess this wasn’t how I imagined it

7 3 0 1
2 weeks ago
Video thumbnail

Look who else loves oranges

4 0 1 0
2 weeks ago

Our Roman hotel brings us a little treat every day and I’m so disappointed when it’s tiramisu and not fruit. That’s how good the fruit is.

3 0 0 0
2 weeks ago

When the melon outshines the kiwi that’s when you know the kiwi sucks (the melon was amazing)

0 0 0 0
2 weeks ago

Please let us also express our gratitude for the amazing, wonderful, helpful and delightful @di-trnr.bsky.social, who is the world’s best travel agent. She’s saved us TWICE on this trip from the agony of cancelled flights. If you are going anywhere you should hire her and you will have the BEST trip

11 1 1 0
3 weeks ago

I mean, hard to argue

1 0 0 0
3 weeks ago

He captioned it “Ladies” and I cannot believe that worked

1 0 1 0
3 weeks ago

My new health insurance plan has a “Rewards Program.” So far I’ve earned $30 just for using healthcare!

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to wonder if capitalism might be bad?

5 0 0 0
3 weeks ago
Hotel bed decorated with heart shape and dotted with paper rose petals Paper rose petals neatly gathered up and placed in the trash can so the housekeepers don’t have to pick them up off the floor

I like to tell my team at Contentful that we need to “win HR” which to me means that whatever weird shit they throw at us with good but maybe misguided intentions we handle with commitment and grace

Here’s me and @tcarmody.bsky.social winning housekeeping here on Valentine’s Day

10 0 2 0
3 weeks ago
It’s a FUCK YOU FRIDAY

A 75-YEAR STUDY OF 
HARVARD MEN SHOWED
CONCLUSIVELY THAT
LOVE
IS THE #1 REQUIREMENT FOR A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE

oh is that all

It's a good thing they didn't say owl bables or ball lightning or something that Is KIND OD HARD TO GET

WHO WANTS MY NICENESS!
WHO WANTS MY NICENESS!
WHO PERRRMANENTLY WANTS MY NICENESS!

I bought Tim a signed framed copy of this Achewood, mostly because he did a dramatic interpretation of the entire comic for me (quite enthusiastically) but also because, well, it’s true

10 2 0 0
3 weeks ago
Video thumbnail

You can see what I’m missing here

7 0 0 0
3 weeks ago

Me: I am celebrating my five year anniversary with the love of my life in Rome, in an amazing hotel suite where the staff wants to know when we’re leaving so presumably they can scatter Valentines rose petals

Also me: Where are my updates on what the dog is doing, I crave them

8 0 1 0
3 weeks ago

Fortunately it’s not like ball lightning or owl babies or something that is KIND OF HARD TO GET

1 0 0 0
3 weeks ago

“How’d you meet?” “Well, he moved in to my house and has never left.” We’ve spent the past five years and one week basically spending our lives together 24/7 (with very occasional work travel) and we’re happier than ever each and every day.

22 1 0 0
1 month ago

It’s 2026. Everyone is talking about a hyperpersonalized, AI enabled future.

Every time I leave the country they still show me ads in the local language, which I do not speak

8 0 0 1
1 month ago

We had three copies at one point, that’s how much @tcarmody.bsky.social loves me

7 0 1 0
1 month ago

It’s just another chance for you to appreciate how right I am about things

1 0 0 0