Rachel Trousdale

Last night I made a really delicious pot of soup, and I am now using the magic it generated to cast a curse on everyone in power anywhere who creates hunger. We harvest more grain than we can store in the US. Why the hell aren't we letting more people eat it?

You know how in nursing homes, they put signs like "Debbie's Room" in a big legible font on the doors of dementia patients, and it's somehow sweet and very sad and weirdly condescending all at the same time, and gives you existential dread? Well—

It was so fun getting to talk about bird cognition, experiments, and a list of beloved books with @robmclennan.bsky.social!

I'm pretty sure that as soon as Cheney arrived, Satan just filed him in a man-sized safe.

When you're writing, you come up with clever little devices and think, "I wonder if anyone will ever notice what I've done here?" Well, Sara Stoudt just reviewed my book in @psalteryandlyre.bsky.social, and she caught every. single. one. I'm thrilled and honored and kind of flabbergasted.

Two Poems by Catherine Rockwood Why I prefer All Souls to Halloween The day the license expires some revelers decide to never give up their wigs knives beards talons glitter On Thomas Street Little alta...

Two All Soul's poems from @havehashad.com last year 🖤

Why I prefer All Souls to Halloween

The day the license expires
some revelers decide
to never give up their wigs knives beards talons glitter

www.havehashad.com/preview/hadp...

I can eavesdrop pretty well in three languages, and I *never* overhear people saying rude things. It's all "Yuri, which cheese should we get?" or "Kids! We're going home!" Only exception: me and my mom, both native speakers of English, when we switch to Russian. I guess we're the problem.

Or maybe he's unaware it's possible to speak more than one language? like:
Vance: [hears neighbor speaking Spanish] Oh no how will we ever communicate?
Neighbor: Good morning, JD, how are you?
Vance: Now you speak English? This is dark magic!

Theory: JD Vance's neighbors have all learned Cherokee or Finnish or some other difficult-to-learn-by-new-speakers language, and use it exclusively in public specifically to avoid talking to him.

In MA, folks enrolled in SNAP who have active EBT cards with at least a $1 balance will still be able to access fresh produce with their cards through the Healthy Incentives Program. That funding doesn't go away Nov. 1, when SNAP does. www.mass.gov/info-details...

I would thank, had I not lost his name and address, a gentleman in America, who has generously and gratuitously corrected the punctuation, the botany, the entomology, the geography, and the chronology of previous works of mine and will, I hope, not spare his services on the present occasion. —Woolf

Heather Christle, Martha Ronk and Rachel Trousdale reading virtual sign up Please join us for a poetry reading with Heather Christle, Martha Ronk and Rachel Trousdale with an introduction by Catherine Rockwood. ** This event will take place synchronously in-store at 6 Plymp...

Virtual sign up: lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/7ttdx...

Heather Christle, Martha Ronk and Rachel Trousdale reading in-person sign up Please join us for a poetry reading by Heather Christle, Martha Ronk and Rachel Trousdale with an introduction by Catherine Rockwood. ** This event will take place synchronously in-store at 6 Plympto...

In person sign up: lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/a7uq2...

I'm so excited for this reading with @heatherchristle.bsky.social and Martha Ronk, introduced by @martin65.bsky.social! Thursday, November 13, at 7:00, Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Cambridge, MA. Links to preregister for in-person and Zoom options below!

Yes. And, as a corollary, that you're allowed to like things someone else has decided are "not for you." And that likes or dislikes don't have to be monolithic—maybe you like some science fiction books or subgenres and not others! it's possible!

I'm never going to forget the time a student explained that she didn't like The Left Hand of Darkness because "girls don't like science fiction." At a women's college, surrounded by other students and me, all of whom liked the book. Apparently stereotype > evidence.

I'm actually pretty excited about that ballroom. It's going to make such a great venue when we finally get to try Steven Miller for crimes against humanity.

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness

«Почему он так медленно работает? Что с ним?»
«Нельзя, мама, он не говорит порусски, но слышит твой тон.»

I know many Americans are uncomfortable when they hear people speaking a foreign language, but please believe that you are better off hearing me and my mom speaking Russian than you would be if we were saying that stuff in English.

The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Dogwitch by Catherine Rockwood - The Sundress Blog This selection, chosen by guest editor nat raum, is from Dogwitch by Catherine Rockwood (Bottlecap Press, 2025). Familiar It does not always have to drink your blood.It can be a live thing watchingwha...

still v. delighted to have poems from Dogwitch up on the Sundress Blog, all curated by nat raum. This short poem, "Familiar," begins with a hopefully funny/scary riff on Mary Oliver --

sundressblog.com/2025/10/09/t...

Life gave me lemons? lemonade. But life gave me three dodgy carrots, half an onion, and where did this celery come from, I never use celery?

AI can revolutionize your workflow. For example: the multiple voice mails I've received from some damn company selling AI-based grading software have actually made me WANT to grade this pile of papers myself. Preferably using a quill pen.

Surely Massachusetts lawmakers must be starting to realize that this Special Commission is a political liability.

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

Awesome, we got Kimmel back. Now how about all the disappeared detainees? www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Dress code: suit, extra-long tie.

"Be sure you laugh when he makes a joke! Don't make any jokes yourself."

"You are cordially invited to Awkward Drinks With Your Boss; strict pecking order will be observed at all times"

What really matters is the egregious human rights violations, but tangentially: can you imagine having a social circle with no immigrants, no LGBTQ+ people, no one with an antiauthoritarian sense of humor, and Jews are only allowed if they're hardline Zionists? What must those parties be like?

Poster for "You Can't Make These Things Up", an event featuring Kelly Matthews, Patricia Horvath, and Rachel Trousdale. Author images and book covers.

Next week: Thursday, September 25, 6:30-7:45 Eastern time, hear me and my colleagues Patricia Horvath and Kelly Matthews talk about how truth and imagination interact in biography, memoir, and poetry! (Zoom; free and open to the public)