Madrona Murphy

Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family.

Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!

You can support my work Protecting People, Pets, and Foxes in a Wildland–Urban Interface through the San Juan Island Community Foundation sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

I find it growing on old orchard trees, wonderful multi-kingdom magic!

Hymenopterists, what’s up? Sleeping in pairs? Weighing down the seed head for Bee Reasons?

#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost!

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140

Acarology Summer Program | Professional and Workforce Development | University of Arkansas For 70 years, the Acarology Summer Program has trained researchers in mite identification, biology, and collection. Join this intensive, hands-on course to build your expertise in acarology.

The Acarology Summer Program (71 years strong!) returns to Univ of Arkansas summer 2026:
Soil Acarology: May 25-June 12
Medical & Veterinary Acarology: June 15-20
Limited to ~15 students for personalized instruction.
Registration: training.uark.edu/portal/train...
#Entomology #bugsky #invert 🧪

Close-up photo of red fruits opening to reveal white arils surrounding black seeds.

The seed oil of Paullinia cupana has cyanolipids that ARE cyanogenic. Has anyone tested the seeds of Acer or Aesculus for cyanolipids? They weren’t included in the family in the 1970s, when cyanolipid research was popular. 📷: Paullinia cupana Bernard Dupont CCBYSA2 #Sapindaceae #Botany 🌾🧪

I spent a few years reading bad books by worse people to save you the pain.

Having read the first page of the Nuzzi excerpt

Under medical advice I cannot get drunk enough to make reading that worth it and I suggest you don't try either unless you really thought Twilight was intensely good prose.

Someone just called the far right a "cancer in society," and as a person living with terminal cancer I find this really offensive.

I mean, cancer isn't killing people on PURPOSE. Cut it some slack.

anyway she sure looks good to me! she's floppin her dang tail all over the place and rollin around and hollerin, she doesn't look distressed, she looks... excited? i can't read whale body language but she doesn't give me a "suffering an agonizing death" vibe

A lot of people are going to walk away from the Ghislaine Maxwell coverage with the impression that our prison system isn’t punitive enough but I’d say it highlights how most everyone else is treated with *deliberate* cruelty.

Neil Gorsuch’s Lonely Quest to Fix Indian Law The justice has famously endeavored to do right by Native Americans and restore their place in the constitutional order. Here’s how that work is going.

newrepublic.com/article/2031...

The picnic table is back! It took a trailer and a backhoe to get it there (and presumably to take it out) since it is topped with heavy aggregate. The community rejoices (but doesn't seem to be forgetting that is was removed without consultation or that the neighbor is encroaching). Not my photo

Say what you will about cows, but zero of them are Nazis

Double checking which local heritage apples make great pies before sharing them for the holidays: Yellow Bellflower is a resounding yes! Nice texture (quite firm, despite how tender it can be fresh and how bruisable they are), and delicious flavor. Easy to slice. So good fresh though....

A red hoodie with black hand-lettered text reading, "Axial tilt is the reason for the season"

A black hoodie with white hand-lettered text reading, "feral queer"

A black hoodie with white hand-lettered text reading, "make bad art"

A white t-shirt with black hand-lettered text reading, "I would prefer not to."

Your seasonal reminder that I design t-shirts (and related products) for grumps, queers, and weirdos.

Impress your relatives at Thanksgiving Dinner! Surprise Grandma with the perfect Hanukkah present! Support a queer, trans independent artist who's been job-hunting since April!

Sometimes I temporarily stitch the corners on mine (loose enough to cut when it needs washing).

I went by there today (legitimately, it was on my way to some trees I was sampling) and the parking lot was FULL (which only takes ~4 cars but still). It seems the neighbors' complaining is backfireing somewhat spectacularly.

Maybe it's just me, but if I were illegally using public land, I wouldn't go running to the county council to complain about the public using the rest of the property lest it draw attention to the encroachment.

The plot has thickened: it's obvious from deeds and county GIS that one of the neighbors is occupying nearly 30% of the public land (with a gravel parking pad and planted trees) apparently without either authorization, or push back from the county.

Senator Murray Statement on Government Funding Vote: “The Fight for Health Care Does Not End Tonight—This is the MAGA Health Care Hike” | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

I voted NO. As long as there is still any time left to reverse the MAGA health care hike, I believe we should do everything we can to force Republicans to the negotiating table.

The fight for health care does not end tonight.

This bill doesn’t address the core issue that millions of Americans will no longer be able to afford ACA insurance coverage next year. I’m willing to work with anyone to create a path forward but this isn’t it.

please learn about your local ecosystems. please. its so sad and strange to me how many people live in a place and learn nothing about the land that surrounds them and the ways in which that land has grown and changed and flourished for hundreds of years before your town even existed

Turns out Yellow Bellflower apples are wonderful on pizza with chicken and blue cheese. (And Blue Pearmain are great stuffed with sausage and baked; and Gloria Mundi make a wonderful addition to chestnut stuffing rolled in pork loin)

Feed everyone.

Photograph of a quince

Photograph of roast quinces

#RecipeOfTheDay is Roast Quinces! Though actually I’m not sure this even qualifies as a recipe, since all you do is quarter them and roast them. But if you’ve never cooked with quince before, this is an excellent place to start. www.nigella.com/recipes/roas...

Straight people, for the love of everything: if you can’t stand your spouse, divorce them. Don’t do standup comedy or a YouTube series or anything normalizing being miserable in a marriage.

“My husband has me considering Acqua Tofana ha ha ha”

Hilarious!

walker beauty apples, painted by deborah griscom passmore, 1904

walker beauty apples, painted by deborah griscom passmore, 1904

An orange and white cat looks compassionate

he would pay for SNAP is all i'm saying and he's not even nice to me

/2 1. Real human beings will suffer from even a brief stay. 2. The government's position is transparently dishonest and in bad faith. 3. The Supreme Court has lost any benefit of the doubt. They have lost the mandate of the heaven that is the rule of law.