The Victorian Archivist

It's not subtle. WE CAN TELL. 😭

A disassembled sewing machine sits on an office table. It is in several pieces and lies on its side. Various screwdrivers and tweezers are nearby.

Everything I am learning about trouble shooting and fixing up cheap sewing machines I am learning against my will. Apparently wanting to run sewing classes means you WILL be a sewing machine mechanic.

Librarians ye be warned.

Obvs there was no one there. But I am trying to convince myself that it was just the ghost of the previous owner making a brief visit, because any other cause is going to prevent me from sleeping tonight 🥴

Dog emerged from under his blanket just to growl at the dark, empty hallway. After staring at it nervously for a minute he went and checked the bathroom & bedroom, returned like nothing happened, but I had to check the whole house with our biggest knife in one hand & phone ready to 911 in the other.

Spongebob props himself against a cave wall with one hand. His eyes are concerned, his lips pursed, and his cheeks puffed as he tries to catch his breath. His expression can best be described as "whew, I ain't touching that." He wears no pants, square or otherwise.

When I'm watching myself start to spiral as the SSRI wears off because it's almost time for the next dose.

I am increasingly of the opinion that people who change the UX interfaces to make them look new should have their library taxes increased each time in order to compensate for me & my coworkers wasting time (which = tax payer dollars) learning the new interface & having to guide patrons through it.

I work with the public and encounter people with mental health struggles daily. I don't have an exact percentage, but the proportion of them for whom religion is already a complex part of their mental health struggle is HIGH.

I AM ONCE AGAIN. STATING. I CANNOT SEE THIS ENDING IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN A SEVERE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS.

I'm not an expert, but it's very hard for me to see how stuff like this could result in anything other than a mental health disaster...

Update: sodium fluoride toothpaste acquired. It doesn't hurt my mouth at all. 😭 I didn't even realize how bad the stennous fluoride toothpaste was hurting, bc it built over time, until I brushed my teeth with the new toothpaste and it didn't burn at all.

for a hot second I seriously considered leaving the house at 10pm to go buy toothpaste. I just want toothbrushing to not be painful again.

My usual toothpaste was discontinued earlier this year & since then I've dealt w/varying degrees of little lesions/vesicles in my mouth & I think I finally figured out my old paste used sodium fluoride & all the new ones use stannous fluoride & I'm so excited to see if that's the cause that

A photo of Regina George from the movie Mean Girls. The text on the photo reads "so you agree, housing IS a right"

Never beating the "everyone on Bluesky takes everything too literal" allegations.

(Obligatory "of course posting on social media isn't activism, that's why I'm also running book groups and civics lessons programs irl" post for the 5 people who actually see my posts.)

The Access Hollywood interview, to borrow a term from the interwebs, is what radicalized me. That was what made me start posting about politics on social media. Before that I kept quiet bc I didn't think I knew enough & didn't want to make waves. The AH tape is what changed that.

Make billiinaires fear being visited by three ghosts in the night again.

I didn't think anything concerning serious political/economic issues could sound more Temu than "Waffle House Index" but 2025 just delights in proving me too rational.

I am also routinely mortified when neighbors' off-leash dogs come bounding across their front yard toward my chihuahua & me as the owner yells "he's friendly!" and I have to yell "mine is NOT!!" but most of them have stopped letting their dogs out front loose...

They just "updated" the look of the WorldShare interface and it's another one of those "optimized to look like an app" updates, and my eyes literally cannot parse what I'm seeing. If I wanted to use an app I'd use an app. I want to use a web browser. On a PC. The PC on my desk.

I feel like @chuckwendig.bsky.social is the obvious answet?

It has become very clear to me in the last hour that I now have severe election night anxiety. My county isn't even reporting yet.

You used energy-sucking, water guzzling AI to make a video that warns about climate change. This is not the way. 🤦‍♀️

A burgundy Victorian-era gown on a dress form stands in the middle of a room, surrounded by sewing machine, sewing box, and other tools. The gown is made in velvet, has a long train with pleats on it, cream trim on the cuffs and collar, and gathers that cascade down the back of the skirt.

Anyway, palate cleanser post. Go do something with your hands today. I'm hand sewing button holes onto this:

Why Did These Authors Have Their School Visit Canceled? They Were Talking About Their Book About Book Bans. Country Club Elementary School in California's Bay Area canceled an author visit moments before it began. Why? It covered book bans.

Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin Pritchard, authors of THE DAY THE BOOKS DISAPPEARED, had their elementary school author visit canceled when they arrived and students were waiting for them.

Why? Because they wouldn't *not* talk about book bans–inspiration for their book.

bookriot.com/the-day-the-...

Is everyone forgetting an entire plot point from the recent pop culture phenomenon show The Bear in which two main (white) characters refer to each other as "cousin" even though they are not, in fact, blood relation cousins?

"If we get socialized healthcare, we'll never be able to get in to see a Dr!"
My bro, I've been on hold with Drs offices trying to make an appt so much in the last week that the hold muzak is stuck in my head, and my partner & I pay a $300 premium per month for the privilege.

I think I saw something about this in a Buzzfeed headline a few days ago, but it made so little sense that I assumed I was having a stroke.

Every time I get a stretch of time when I can completely immerse myself in a sewing project, it makes me so happy that when I then think of all the projects I want to do but rarely have time for, I need to lie down and have a little cry and a long nap.