Stevie

If you were confused by political sentiments in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime, I suggest reading “War Against All Puerto Ricans”. It’s so enlightening (and upsetting).

Trying to keep this account mostly science posts — but making friends as an adult is difficult because adults aren’t as forthcoming about their social motivations. Or maybe it’s just my social anxiety telling me so. 🫠

Woman resting her head on a fluffy calico cat who is resting on a table. The cat looks unfazed.

Monday morning vibes

My favorite part about writing about pentastomes is the constant “they are crustacean, but look how similar they are to worms, but also, they are crustaceans”. If it looks like a worm and walks like a worm, it might still be a crab.

I worked in a restaurant where one of the back of house guys mixed blue Powerade and milk. I saw it happen and had the same “genius or madman” conversation with myself and tried it. Gotta say, I do not see any Michelin stars in that man’s future.

Don't pick up frozen iguanas When the temperatures drop, so do Florida's iguanas.

Hey #Florida, don't pick up those frozen iguanas! www.popsci.com/environment/... via @popsci.com

Let’s gooooooo 🎆🥳🍾

My partner and I walked to a nearby park to watch the Disney fireworks. Others had the same idea. I tend to be a really cynical person, but it felt really nice to celebrate with these other families.

I hope we find community and kindness in 2026 ❤️ HNY 🎆

Gopher tortoise walking across freshly cut grass.

Moved this little old friend off of the 408 freeway the other day. Drivers should really heed my “I brake for tortoises” bumper sticker. ❤️🐢

My mom and I were talking about things she read in the news. She kept referring to some guy named “AL”. I let her finish her thoughts and asked her to clarify who this “AL” person was. It was ai. The only charming conversation I’ve ever had about ai.

The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10.

We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢

I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...

Apparently ultramarathon runners fuel their races with nerds gummy clusters. I will be considering myself an elite athlete because I am doing the same to get through my thesis defense.

Split image, with the top being then movie poster for Jason and the Argonauts and the bottom a replication with images of paper nautilus (Argonauts). The bottom image says “mating of the argonauts - reproduction of the ages! For possibly the only time!”.

Give me a PowerPoint slide, and I will make the design complicated and with such a dated/nuanced reference you won’t believe your eyes.

A peaceful moment for your timeline

Ah! Our samples were all female, so I’m still not sure 😔 but I’ll add it to the list of questions once this is completed!

The pentastomes I am studying are sexually dimorphic with males being much smaller than the females. Sometimes the male cephalothorax isn’t as defined, and if you get them alive/recently deceased they are transparent enough to see the many many ova the females are carrying.

**porocephalidae (still waking up lol)

Raillietiella and porocephildae! I’m working on reference genomes for three species in Florida, two native and the invasive Raillietiella orientalis.

First wives club may not be one of the “better” ones, but it is one of my favorites, what a loss, she was delightful.

This was such a cool article and oddly specific to my background. I spent a couple of years researching electric fish from South America, and now I work with pentastomes (also in oligostraca). I had the same question, and my guess is that chitin isn’t conductive.

[Your Name] is confusing. Is it meant to be a template? If yes, the beginning should be set up with “Hello [Name of Addressee],”.

Where does the body of the text go? Under or above the condescending instructions?

Dear Kevin,

Make it make sense.

Queerly and Sincerely,
The rest of us

Headshot image of actor Thomas Haden Church.

He looks a bit like Thomas Haden Church (sandman in Spider-Man no way home)

Grassy trail with saw palmetto and long leaf pine trees flanking both sides. The sky is cloudy and blue behind the trees.

#Florida is alright sometimes.

A red-shouldered hawk is perched on a bird feeder in a grassy backyard.

Well, now I know why the other birds aren’t hanging out at the feeder #florida #birding

MS thesis defense scheduled ✅
Genome annotation in progress ✅
Daily panic attacks ✅
Therapy appointments to keep the panic at bay ✅

It’s about balance, right?

I bit my nails after feeding fish bloodworms and mysid shrimp. I thought I had washed and scrubbed my hands enough after feeding. I did not. 🤢

Look at the stubby tail 😭

Two juvenile and one adult raccoon in a grassy back yard. There is a black metal fence behind them.

Baby raccoons are in the yard, I repeat baby raccoons are IN THE YARD!! 🥰

SNAKE LUNGWORM ALLIANCE AND MONITORING The invasive lung parasite, Raillietiella orientalis , was first introduced in South Florida with Burmese pythons. It is now found in 34 counties and 18 native snake species, with infections...

There is more information about the invasive pentastome species in Florida here if you’re interested: slamconservation.weebly.com

Depends on the pentastome! The invasive Raillietiella orientalis seems to be not very picky about snake hosts, which is unfortunate. They were likely introduced to FL with Burmese Pythons. Some other pentastome species have been known to infect humans as well, so there is some unknown zoonosis 😬