Merwinian

You have discovered a planet. The inborn sunrise watches on its coordinated rivers. If there are choke cherry trees there, they could teach love.

parents freed a hummingbird from a skylight with a coleus flower attached to a pole

When Whistler showed 'Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket,' in 1875, he outraged the chief moralist of art John Ruskin: 'I... never expected to hear a coxcomb ask 200 guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face.' And so a lawsuit began.

Nice work, NYC, VA, NJ and anyone else who came out today to tell Trump to eat shit.

Private equity-owned quack shrinks bringing back the repressed memories moral panic of the 80s. Great.

Sadly there will be no Mariners vs Pilots World Series.

❤️❤️❤️

*Should have said "Had a nice dinner"

A bottle of Castello di Gabbiano's Chianti classico, a red wine, vintage 2020. The vinter's name in gold lettering, the wine's name in a burgundy close to the color of the wine, the vintage and DOCG label in black. In the center of the label is gold artwork of a cloaked and armored knight on horseback carrying a shield and flag, a feathered plume atop his helmet, his horse sporting a sort of checkered cloak with a pattern identical to that on the knight's shield, flag and cloak.

In the foreground, a large piece of lasagna on a plate with a knife and fork, the fork with some sauce on it. An opened bottle of Chianti and a wine glass about a quarter full are just behind the plate, slightly out of focus. The setting is atop a gray countertop.

Had a dinner. No wine expert, me, so the recommendation of a chianti to go with this (frozen) lasagna was one I had to look up. Not a fan of reds, so buying this was a risk, but it wasn't bad.

And they're pretty awful for elderly people too even when dry.

While I watch a baseball game on my computer, my cat Billy sits on the windowsill looking out at the dusk. Billy is white and black with some brown tabby markings. Some of his loose belly skin overhangs the windowsill. The Mariners' Cal Raleigh is at bat to lead off the top of the 7th against the Angels, with an 0-2 count against him. Ms lead 6-2. The glare of my bedroom's ceiling light can be seen on both the window and the computer monitor. The whole photo has an unrealistic yellow tint because of how poorly my phone takes photos in artificial light.

My cat refuses to understand what a historic season Cal Raleigh is having.

Review: Black Flame, by Gretchen Felker Martin (2025) It’s striking to think that it was just two years ago that Gretchen Felker-Martin was an enfant terrible debut author. Now here we are with her third book, and a fourth on the way for 2026—a striking ...

Highest praise I can give a review is that made me buy a copy of something rather than wait three or four months for the library to get it: @scumbelievable.bsky.social's "best yet," from @eruditorumpress.com:

www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/review-...

I am wasting my life.

I didn't know at the time that a lot of players just left the stadium before the game was over, and I'm surprised they were allowed to do that! This would have dampened some of the grumbling.

Well, not anymore

On the Road: Western Pennsylvania “I walked five miles to get out of Pittsburgh, and two rides, an apple truck and a big trailer truck, took me to Harrisburg in the soft Indian-summer rainy nigh…

Yep. From 538 in October 2008:

fivethirtyeight.com/features/on-...

John Singer Sargent's 'An Artist in His Studio,' (1906) depicts Ambrogio Raffele; he's shown here in his cramped bedroom at Purtud in the Val d'Aosta, Italy. Sargent’s rendering of light on the rumpled sheets of the unmade bed fills nearly half the canvas.

📷 Raúl Urbina.

trump should’ve been in handcuffs in jan 2021 and there is no way to quantify just how much human suffering will result from the disastrous decision to slow walk his prosecution or even avoid it altogether

Worst of the liberal cohort by a mile. Adores Scalia. Self-described textualist. A great example of liberal legal academia's acquiescence to the conservative legal revolution on every issue.

That doesn't actually work in a decision where there are 6 votes for the worst case scenario. Her joining was earnest and non strategic.

Call these U.S. Representatives and tell them to vote NO on the “Big Beautiful Bill”: AZ-06, Juan Ciscomani CA-22, David Valadao CA-40, Young Kim CA-41, Ken Calvert CO-08, Gabe Evans FL-07, Cory Mills FL-13, Anna Paulina Luna FL-27, Maria Elvira Salazar IA-01, Mariannette Miller-Meeks IA-02, Ashley Hinson IA-03, Zach Nunn MI-07, Tom Barrett MO-02, Ann Wagner NJ-07, Tom Kean Jr. NY-17, Mike Lawler OH-07, Max Miller OH-10, Mike Turner OH-15, Mike Carey PA-01, Brian Fitzpatrick PA-07, Ryan Mackenzie PA-08, Rob Bresnahan PA-10, Scott Perry TN-05, Andy Ogles TX-15, Monica De La Cruz VA-01, Rob Wittman VA-02, Jen Kiggans WI-01, Bryan Steil WI-03, Derrick Van Orden

These are the weak points. You know what to do. First thing tomorrow, use 5calls.org and raise hell.

Today's Supreme Court decision, though couched in the language of freedom and inclusivity, is a tragic failure for both the right to read and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. Authors Against Book Bans stands firmly and fiercely against the decision and its rationale. To allow parents to "object" to the presence of positive books about the lives and rights of LGBTQIA+ people is to allow them to "object" to the existence of LGBTQIA+ students, parents, educators, and others in the wider community. You cannot “opt out” of reality, no matter what today’s majority opinion states. These books belong on shelves and these stories belong in classrooms and curricula.

Our statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v Taylor. Image thread with alt text. 1/4

While I'm aware that you're not supposed to rinse after brushing... I've always done so. It feels odd not to. But I'm lying here in bed with a mouth full of toothpaste even after spitting out the excess. Am I not supposed to swallow?

A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At left is a large elliptical galaxy, smooth like a polished stone. At right lies a large spiral galaxy that is nearly a ring, with bright golden core. To its lower left is a smaller spiral with a barred core. At top and bottom, two bright stars shine brightly with multi-colored diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies are just smudges of various colors.

A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top left is a large galaxy that is smooth like a stone, with wisps like cotton candy spiral from left and right. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. / A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At bottom left is an elegant two-armed galaxy, with arms extended like a dancer viewed from above. The bright points of three stars form a triangle at top center. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.

A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top right is a large galaxy with two whirling spiral arms wrapping around like a hug. At bottom left, two smooth elliptical galaxies appear near each other, like champagne glasses in the midst of a cheers. A bright star above the pair has red, green, and blue diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors.

A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At center is a spiral galaxy peppered with tight, knotted clumps of vivid blue, young stars. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.

Yesterday we released our cosmic treasure chest...and now it's yours to explore! With ✨~10 million galaxies✨ in the image, there's plenty to find.

Pan, zoom, and hunt for gems in this treasure chest using Skyviewer - and be sure to share your favorites with us! 🔭🧪

➡️ skyviewer.app/explorer

Kitchen by Natalia Zourabova, 2018.

Russian, b. 1973 -

Oil on canvas

Read the whole thread for a comprehensive fisking.

What Covid “Lab Leak” and “Rushing Kids into Transition” Have in Common and more general thoughts about conspiracy theories and negativity bias

NEW ESSAY: rather than reading the legalese SCOTUS used to justify Skrmetti, learn about how conspiracy theorists hijacked mainstream discourse on gender-affirming care:
on Substack (no paywall): juliaserano.substack.com/p/what-covid...
& Medium (friend link): juliaserano.medium.com/what-covid-l...

seven years on the dot.