Alexander M Crow

In today’s Wonder-Filled Wednesday livestream we celebrate the pollinators by drawing bees and butterflies! Grab your journals or paper, drawing implement of choice, a color medium or two, if you’d like, and join me this afternoon for some “natural” fun!

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

Make Good Soul: A List (A typo which works superbly as a title.)

Am I here? I suppose I am. I've been absent from much of the virtual world of late, including my own corner. However, I think I might be returning, slowly.

As such, here's a thing I just shared, a list-of-sorts, a way to keep on keeping on.

I am still in the process... Back at the 'special investigations department', which probably doesn't even exist, but is just something they think will placate people. It shouldn't actually be hard to close an account! (Also, back here after an extended break! Hi!)

UPDATE: Have now spammed every single facebook 'help' contact address/form/email/link possible, ensuring the initials GDPR are clearly visible from outer space. (I even managed to find a data protection officer contact form.)
They don't make this easy. Glad I'm in the EU.

Freelance Writing Jobs: The Telegraph, Olive, Crafts Council Happy birthday, Freelance Writing Jobs!

Freelance Writing Jobs is seven! Hundreds of issues, thousands of job listings, millions of pounds earned by subscribers in commissions, contracts and book deals. It is a joy to send every week, thank you so much for reading. 🎂 freelancewritingjobs.substack.com/p/freelance-...

something I will not do. I am fairly sure this goes against GDPR and wondered if any of you have experienced similar, or have any potential solutions. The irony is that I wanted to simply close the account without announcing the act, and now I'm stuck having to do so anyway. *shrug* HELP! 2/2

Help please!
After @lydiacrow.bsky.social reminded me I had an old facebook account, I tried to delete it, to no avail. Every time I try I receive an error message and, today, my account is now restricted. It appears the only way to resolve this is to give FB a phone number, 1/2

Frost flowers, valley thick mist, blue light, mountain sun-kissed.
This snow fell seven days ago and the temperature has hoovered around freezing ever since. The frost blooms daily, however. The gravestone photo is the view from my study window.

A woman holding a glass of champagne smiles at the camera.

I hope you've all had a marvellous Christmas Day! We had a thoroughly grand first Christmas Day in our new home, with the perfect mix of magic, fun, and madness. It seemed like the right time to finally crack open the champagne I got as a gift from @alexandermcrow.substack.com for being his témoin.

THIS IS HUGE! MIT researchers have developed dual-therapy microparticles that can deliver chemotherapy AND phototherapy WITHOUT harsh side effects. Preclinical studies show this approach completely eradicated tumors AND extended survival more than single treatments alone. Let’s talk about that! 🧪🧵⬇️

Destruction and reconstruction at the Stones of Stenness In December 1814, disaster struck the Stones of Stenness when a tenant farmer took it upon himself to obliterate them.

On Xmas Day 1814, festivities at a Kirkwall house were interrupted by news of the Odin Stone's destruction and damage to the Stones of Stenness...
#Archaeology #Stenness #StonesOfStenness #OdinStone #Neolithic

www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/around-the-n...

Great thread here from @irishrainforest.bsky.social the upcoming Programme for Government likely to include none of this?

The urge to watch The Snowman (perhaps even with the David Bowie intro) is strong.

Coming from the UK, where a tiny bit of snow cripples the nation, I love how well Isère handles it. How well? This morning, with 25cm of snow, the meals on wheels and care aid for our 93 year old neighbour arrived on time, pillion on a quad bike fitted with a snowplough...

Well, finally. (There is still deep magic, in going to bed snowless, and waking to this.)

Funded PhD opportunity working on a fascinating topic with two fantastic supervisors @nannonstevens.bsky.social and @mattpope.bsky.social

Navigational Entanglements A "Best of" Pick by Lit Hub | Amazon | New Scientist!Award-winning author of The Red Scholar’s Wake Aliette de Bodard comes for your heart with a compellin...

I hate doing that but with the current state of crisis (loved one in hospital + other stuff I won't go into), I'd love to have some income.
If looking for last minute Xmas presents, please consider my book? It has space jellyfish and martial arts and sapphic romance
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

Works for me, thank you!

Stim jewelery and stim toys for autistic adults Stim jewelery and stim toys for autistic adults This is my list of what we’ve found useful for stimming. Obviously this is a highly personal thing, but what we’re looking for is: Robust (must be abl...

Stim jewelry and stim toys for autistic adults

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Wrote this after we found far too many toys aimed at kids and/or which broke too fast

(THIS TIME I hope it works, this is take #4)

A copy of Susan Cooper's classic children's novel, THE DARK IS RISING. The cover shows a shadowy green woodland in the snow, indicating the tale happens in midwinter. In the centre of an alleyway of bare trees, a dark, hooded rider sits astride a black horse. The rider stares out of the book at the reader, as if noticing them watching. It creates a frightening atmosphere. This cover marks the 50th anniversary edition of the book, as confirmed by a silver embossed emblem on the upper left of the cover. To the left of the books sits a minute evergreen tree, decorated with red ribbon. To left, a green man mask can be seen peeping out, a corn dolly beside it

We begin tonight #thedarkisrising

Here we go! #LiteraryAdventCalendar Day 1, and it's one of my all-time favourites: Poet Laureate Simon Armitage listing the manifold humiliations of reading poetry in public.

In my time post-twitter, I have really, really missed the conversation on these topics. I love Substack Notes, but there simply isn't the depth of knowledge and debate on such subjects there. So, thanks to all replying here, you've reminded me of much I have missed.

Stonehenge may have been erected to unite early British farming communities, research finds The alter stone, which we now know is from Scotland, may have been a gift or marker of political alliance

Thought this wouldn’t be far off. Mike Parker Pearson expounds on his theory of Stonehenge as a unitary monument for Britain and Ireland in light of new evidence for the Scottish origins of the Altar Stone (link to the paper doesn’t appear to be live yet).

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

I remember revisiting the cliffs near where I used to live as a child in Orkney and being astounded at how few birds were present. When I was peedie, the noise and smell were at my limit of endurance; on that visit, both were relatively tame.

Me too. The more years I am lucky enough to witness, the more people I observe, the more I realise the vast majority of humankind is full of goodness, it is just outshouted by a vocal minority of those who wish to inflict pain on others.

The deluxe edition of Deadlands: Hell on Earth

Five books for the original DC Heroes TTRPG.

The program supplement for Gen Con 20.

Realm of Chaos, a classic book for Warhammer.

Gamers! My son Pat has put a bunch of my old gaming stuff up on eBay (like 50 things!). This includes several things I worked on (which I'm happy to personalize/sign), plus even more that I didn't.

You can find them here: www.ebay.com/usr/mforbeck

Spread the word if you can! Thanks!

Encouraging Vibes Getting Back Into It

Over on Substack, Barrie from Feasts and Fables writes about two years of encouraging others in their work. He spends 80% of his energy on celebrating the creative efforts of others, leaving just 20% for his own. Worth a peek.
encouragementmanifesto.substack.com/p/encouragin...

I am very glad you are here. I have missed your thoughts in my days post-twitter: they are true baubles of joy.

A sea bay is streaked with striations of spume, a storm bringing waves and wind and sheer power to the shore, the sky hidden in low cloud and wreathed by the salt water itself, thrown into the air. In the foreground, a small strip of land, wind-bent plants and the bleached colours of window grass.

I love living here, surrounded by forested mountains, wolves, and all manner of nature yet, quite often, I miss the moods of the sea. The salt is in my blood.(Pic from Keiss, in Caithness, Scotland, twelve years ago.)

Day 8

He's back again. All the same shit as last time. Some jewelry, a houseplant. Mostly birds. So many birds.

Today's horrible addition: 8 cows and 8 women. I begged him to stop. I told him he can't give me people for Christmas. He winked and said he'd be back tomorrow