Samara Rafert

Picture shows grey Lego shark on wooden table top.

Another Lego shark has been found! It was discovered on Sunday by Emma Fraser Trecurno at East Portholland beach in Cornwall. It's one of 51,800 Lego sharks that fell into the ocean on 13th February 1997.

Picture credit: Emma Fraser Trecurno

The judges, it seems, are fucking pissed. It’s a nice thing to see.

Someone outside the US: So, let me get this straight. The groundhog...

Me: Is clairvoyant, yes

When I saw pictures of Liam Ramos with his Spidey backpack and bunny hat, I felt an overwhelming responsibility as someone who works in superhero comics. Please do check out the art in #Comics4Liam and visit comics4liam.com to support Liam and groups helping other immigrants like him. ❤️💪🐇

Hanging out in a favorite cosy neighborhood bar with @dangearino.bsky.social while a group of strangers struck up an excited discussion of euchre variations was just what I needed after a very hard week. #ohio #Studio35

I went to Macalester College (best choice ever) and have been frustrated by the assumption that private school is for economic elites ever since. Obviously everyone's case is different but, for example, Macalester now offers a full ride to anyone whose family income is less than 100K.

I survived myself; my death and burial were locked up in my chest.

"Michael Lowenthal finds himself over the course of ten inquisitive, incisive memoirs. … Lowenthal never definitively “finds himself” which, of course, is the point." PLACE ENVY out from #MadCreekBooks next month! @passportmag.bsky.social @jwi.bsky.social passportmagazine.com/passports-be...

”Along with many others, Coffee House, Graywolf, and Milkweed in particular are known for publishing fiction that would give an ICE agent a stroke”

Yep! He's getting flooded

The video circulating of Alex Pretti, the VA ICU Nurse murdered by ICE in Minneapolis yesterday, honoring a veteran who died in his unit is a good reminder of how we truly should be honoring our troops, compared to all the bullshit talk from the GOP while they gut the VA.

Walz: "To Americans who are watching this, I've got a question for you: What side do you want to be on? The side of an all powerful federal govt that can kill, injury, menace, & kidnap its citizens off the streets? Or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such govt?"

Profiled in @dangearino.bsky.social's book COMIC SHOP. Hosted Dan's Mpls book event. Please do support him.

But yet, no actual snow day for employees. Back in the pre-work-from-home days that would never fly!

For those unfamiliar with Edina this is the Minneapolis equivalent of a Westchester socialite walking down Fifth Avenue singing "John Brown's Body."

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."

Literally all of this is a lie. We are about to find out who is state media, because they will be the ones to parrot a justification for state-sanctioned murder.

Horrifying news out of MN this morning. Sadly, I think we can confidently predict what comes next... DHS, the Trump admin, & rw influencers working to frame another ICE murder as the fault of the victim. I don't see it here on Bluesky, but over on X the focal claim is that the victim was armed.

Can someone smuggle copies of this newspaper into the offices of The New York Times and Washington Post so their editors can learn how to write headlines again?

the invisible flow of metadata is what helps you find the books you need. Madison Mosely explains why keeping metadata fresh matters for #Feedingtheelephant #ReadUP networks.h-net.org/group/discus...

"Many Americans have maintained a suspended reality, too, in which they simultaneously believed that they lived in a functioning democracy while also on some level realizing tremendous harm was being visited on vulnerable communities."

Large brick wall with a tiny white signat the base of the wall that says "Slavery was real"

"Slavery was real"

Tiny sign at the base of a brick wall that, until yesterday, held panels about the people enslaved by George Washington.

Presidents House, Philadelphia.

Liquid Glass is the most annoying thing tech has foisted on me yet. I HATE IT

The Queer Love Project What do we know about love? Find, accept and explore love and commitment among gay, lesbian and trans people in queer relationships through storytelling and interviews with LGBTQ+ folx. Click to read ...

Lynette D'Amico's MEN I HATE gave me that edgy, slightly breathless, electrified feeling I get when the cadence and language of work together perfectly. Anyway, enjoy this excerpt on @queerloveproject.bsky.social, and pick up a copy online or at AWP! queerloveproject.substack.com/p/f437a477-0...

Don't forget @uminnpress.bsky.social and Minnesota Historical Society Press

A black cat curled in a ball on a tan blanket between my legs, which are under the blanket. His head is up and he's glaring at me

CHOTINER: You said you did nothing to provoke the cat. But here it says you —

ME: Moved my foot. Yes.

CHOTINER: While the cat was sleeping.

ME: Yes.

CHOTINER: I see

Do not forget that people are GOOD.
People WANT to help.
People have evolved to be in community and do teamwork.

The jackasses in control of the government want us to forget that. Don't let them get what they want.

It's so nice to momentarily think about medieval plague victims instead of everything else.

Childhood: Brandywine. Now: Olentangy/Scioto

New on Book Work: an interview with Michael Lowenthal. His first essay collection “Place Envy” is out on Feb. 11 @derekkrissoff.bsky.social @rafertess.bsky.social @ohiostatepress.bsky.social