@talzhemir.bsky.social
Painter, illustrator, co-creator of ttRPGs Cavemaster & Quicksilver, co-creator of Furcadia, writer on the Ultima series, atheist, and champion of teaching the difference between 'direct' and 'circumstantial' evidence, paleolithic textile artist
๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐๐ฉ๐จ?
The First Earth Battalion was a real U.S. top secret project. A 2004 book "The Men Who Stare At Goats" describes it.
But... Why is the only animal seen being assassinated through psionics, a goat?!
www.patreon.com/posts/150857...
#skeptics #criticalthinking
Did Sheep Spread Plague
in the Bronze Age?
DNA from pneumonic disease Yersinia pestis is found 2200โ1900 BCE in human remains of Sintashta people. They were nomadic herders, the first horse riders.
In 2025, that DNA was found in the bone of their sheep. ๐ข
www.patreon.com/posts/150457...
Help get out the word:
Conservative James "Jim" MacKay has changed his name in 2025 to J. Gordon Mitchel.
Now he's running for Congress as a Democrat!
Vehemently and adamantly opposed to critical race theory, he removed LGBTQ titles from Leander school libraries.
#Wilco #Democrats #WCDP
#FightWaste #EatCrostini
'Crostini'= little round bits of toast. This is wonderful with your favorite soups 'n' stews!
I got this 'baguette' free from a food distribution site for bakery products past their prime.
How To? Of course! It is super-easy.
www.patreon.com/posts/148994...
[How To] Make a Faucet Cover out of a Bottle
We have freezing rain on the way. The spiggot needs a little insulation.
(Do you suppose it could be a yarn caddy after this?)
#recycle #upcycle #winter
www.patreon.com/posts/148973...
#Measles #vaxx
With a cutesy name like "Measles", it's very hard to take it seriously, but in 2019, we learned this disease can wipe out up to 70% of the immune system's previously-earned immunities. That may include those conferred by vaccines.
www.patreon.com/posts/148067...
Season's Eatings! Have Some-- Zinc???
"Mixed Nuts" are a traditional holiday snack. Why do the cashews get eaten first?
Why are they so DELICIOUS?!
And, come to think of it, why not just go straight for a bowl of nothing-but?
www.patreon.com/posts/146745...
This not a defense of any of the parties allegedly involved. But, do keep in mind, this is an alleged SUICIDE NOTE.
That's what "the short way home" means. This belated postcard is--
FISHY ๐๐๐ AF
This not a defense of any of the parties allegedly involved. But, do keep in mind, this is an alleged SUICIDE NOTE.
That's what "the short way home" means. This belated postcard is--
FISHY ๐๐๐ AF
From the restaurant Casa Garcia: two tortillas and grilled #shrimp. 38% of all seafood sold is shrimp. But, why did it evolve to be so delicious?
www.patreon.com/posts/144963...
#Chestnuts are a traditional autumn/winter food, and they've been scarce since the Chestnut Blight hit in the 1910's. Their popularity encourages conservation of this tree. "Galil's" are from Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
#chestnuts and #rice
www.patreon.com/posts/143891...
New Hand-spinners!
We had far more kids wanting to learn how, than we could teach.
#handspinning #fiberarts
www.patreon.com/posts/143694...
I'll be teaching classes in crank-spinning with a stick, and then the Mayan Paddle Spinner. I'm making them with cardstock layers for the students. A wildcat is the school mascot.
#Crankspinning teaches the basics before #dropspinning
#handspinning
After shaping the 'akshas' with a corner store pedicure sandpaper tool, they soak in 'linseed oil', which is a "drying oil". It goes into the wood (or bamboo), and strengthens it. Drying oils are the 'medium' part of oil paints.
It turns out Pepe the Frog's creator successfully sues those who co-opt him as the alt-right mascot.
#SavePepe
This Halloween, you might find these hair bands on sale. It's easy to make fuzzy kitty ears. #Needlefelting
If religion was treated like gender:
"๐๐ค, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช'๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ. ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ง๐๐๐ก. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐ก๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐."
They're related.
Charlie Kirk hired SEVEN BUSSES to bring people to the Capitol. He invited them, thru social media, after priming them for violence with 'Replacement Theory'.
#CharlieKirk was
#NotJustASpeaker
Charlie Kirk hired SEVEN BUSSES to bring people to the Capitol. He invited them, thru social media, after priming them for violence with 'Replacement Theory'.
He should have been arrested and tried for conspiracy, reckless endangerment, and manslaughter.
#CharlieKirk was
#NotJustASpeaker
Charlie Kirk hired SEVEN BUSSES to bring people to the Capitol. He invited them, thru social media, after priming them for violence with 'Replacement Theory'.
He should have been arrested and tried for conspiracy, reckless endangerment, and manslaughter.
#CharlieKirk was
#NotJustASpeaker
Charlie Kirk hired SEVEN BUSSES to bring people to the Capitol.
Manda @talzhemir.bsky.social is playtesting Lost Age, her sequel to our Paleolithic #ttrpg Cavemaster. Here are two โcharacter tabletsโ from tonightโs game. Weโre using a diced variant of the Cavemaster โHabilis systemโ. Iโve tried to draw pictures in the style of Copper Age sites like Gobekli Tepe.
I made myself a Native American weaving loom. The spine is a palm leaf's center spar. There are two chopsticks for the beams (horizontals).
I think the 'Vytis Cross', Jogaila's Cross, is a similar loom with one beam and a beater-pick. โก Jogaila was a pagan. #Lithuania
#primitive #weaving
The point where twist is halted is the 'pinch'.
The off-center axis where the string acts like a fulcrum is the 'tula'.
The string between pinch and tula is the 'pend'.
#Minoan #Labrys
#Arkalochori
#Herakleion
#HandSpinning
#CrankSpinning
#ShetlandSheep
#Indigo #Wool
#ExperimentalArchaeology
How to Make a Stick Spindle!
The best stick for crank-spinning has a few slight bends, and a pointy tip.
For an archaeologist, this is circumstantial evidence a stick was the tool of an expert spinner.
Use jujube, blackthorn, Gambel oak.
#HandSpinning
#ExperimentalArchaeology
Sometimes! But, I *think* most people out there are using the Turkish Cross just like a Viking drop-style (because that's what YouTube shows).
At no point am I dangling it such that the weight can break the strand. I spin laying down in the bathtub or in bed.
Did that answer your question??
The Labrys: I'm pretty sure it's a crank spindle.
If it isn't, then I have discovered the most wonderful way to repurpose an enigmatic ancient artifact to make oodles of beautiful thread.
BTW-- the eight-pointed one works even better.
#labrys #handspinning
#CrankSpinning is
#NotDropSpinning
A Portable Pocket! Nothing hard or fancy; just a phone-toting bag with an over-the-shoulder strap.
If your hand-spinning makes yards of cord, not miles, here's a small yet rewarding project.
www.patreon.com/posts/136301...
#prehistoric #handspinning
The spindle is a stick from the back yard.
The fiber is Shetland wool wrapped "barber-pole" to make a puni. ๐๐๐๐จ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐ก๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐๐.
Move the spindle as if reeling in a fish. "Crank" but let slip.
Draft is fehu แ , not algiz แ (delta).
@jillianeve.bsky.social
I dyed my yarn with Rit. It's reddish purple in memory of Queen Penelope.
It's mock-Tyrian-purple, a color once made with billions of murex snails.
The mordant was water from soaking black rice.
It's shiny because it's crank-spun using a labrys (pรฉlekys), not drop-spun.
#handspinning