Notices by Anne Deschaine (aehdeschaine@zirk.us), page 2

Too snowy to go out? Want something to do next weekend? Spaces still available in my local calligraphy guild's workshop!

The Unconventional Pointed Pen with Suzie Beringer

Zoom, January 11–12, 9:00–4:00 PST $70 members/$100 non-members

Register, more info, questions: https://www.portlandsocietyforcalligraphy.org/events/#!event/2025/1/11/the-unconventional-pointed-pen-with-suzie-beringer

Our guild is local, but our members are global! Share at will!

#calligraphy #typography #lettering #handwriting #graphicDesign #art #PDX

My husband keeps a list of "mental health webcams" (as in, live cameras at national parks, nature reserves, watching animal nests, etc.) to check when he needs a break during his workday. It's a very him thing, and I love it.

But I was clued in to a couple of feeds that I've now pinned to check on, and I think I want more.

So, what is your favorite scenic live webcam?

Nature is good, but I'm open to built spaces, too. Non-US would be especially good.

#AskFedi #webcam

@fifilamoura @skinnylatte I'd agree. And I've actually really enjoyed learning about traditional Nordic cuisine! Not a fan of the fermented fish, but the broader preservation practices are fascinating, and the "Nordic diet" counterpart of Mediterranean is really interesting, too. And spice DOES have a long history in the cuisine, but in specific places.

I admit the most flavorful explorations I've done have been in mostly-warmer cuisines. But living in the PNW's growing season really helps!

@fifilamoura @skinnylatte It is interesting that, the more I explore, say Chinese or Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food, the less I crave the few "traditional" foods from childhood. I always want to find a jazzier version, and the craving becomes nostalgia but not culinary appreciation...

@fifilamoura @skinnylatte The cool thing is, you can grow into one if you're willing and able! One of my closest early adulthood friends back home (Midwest) was Tai Dam and had a huge family. I got invited to a number of occasions, and I swore I would try ANYTHING at least once before asking what it was. That, plus how she was a big foodie, as well as cooking my own stuff and reading about food cultures, including my ancestral ones, meant that I slowly expanded my palate. It can happen!

@fifilamoura @skinnylatte I'm still not sure I can claim a long-standing family food culture (Midwestern Scandinavian-American comes closest, maybe, with adopted French from my husband), but I'm building one my son can claim. And he's willing to try all kinds of foods of other food cultures, and I can't complain about that

@skinnylatte @Jackiemauro @lzg It's so funny, because it's not like you won't use the more-useful bike in said apocalypse! Until that time, or actual change happens, car reality is car reality.

I had to mute a number of people from Amsterdam pretty early on here... Shouting from a very bike-friendly country doesn't improve my country's transit situation 🤷♀️

@Jackiemauro @lzg This says it so succinctly. I've had to mute some phrases on here that I *am value-aligned with* because it was the only way to keep the insufferable evangelists from becoming overwhelming. Not great.

You know what's hilarious? I boosted this article, which I enjoyed very much, earlier today. However, I have not yet found a clean way to save it in an offline format.

It has dynamic illustrations as you scroll, and citations that only appear when you hover over their associated links, and none of my usual tricks get me the whole thing in a format I can either save (yes, yes, I know, PDF) or save to print. Certainly managed to demonstrate irony, at least.

https://lil.law.harvard.edu/century-scale-storage/

I am very overdue to revive my blog/website. Moving beyond my current self-hosted WordPress site is an option. But I'm also curious about ways to connect my site to the fediverse. I know Micro.blog can do so, and I know of at least one WordPress plugin.

Are there other ways to connect a blog/website to fedi?

#blogging #FediTips #AskFedi

@marews I wish it wasn't such a depressing one!

Been thinking a lot about how unfriendly my neighborhood (okay, the increasingly pricey single-family homes further into my neighborhood) feels the more Ring cameras go in.

Now I'm thinking about how "obey in advance" is such a moot point when it comes to consumer security technology. People ate that up and now the residential areas in which we should be building resilience with neighbors have a ready-made authoritarian surveillance net instead.

#USpol

I am no infosec or other security expert, but I've always hated visiting homes with smart assistant devices. At this point, I would honestly be tempted to tell friends and family that I won't step foot inside if those are present.

I know this is an ironic statement since I do own a smartphone. I don't know how far I can draw the line. But I figure starting with the Alexas is better than nothing.

#USpol

It has been raining for hours. The local water crew has been out clearing leaves from drains along our hilly, curving, sidewalk-less street.

Guess what the landscape crew across the street is desperately trying to blow around and off their property?

🤬

I think I need to reach out to someone. The building owner? The water crew? The city?

The complicated part is that most of the landscaping crews around here are Hispanic/Latino, and I obviously don't know anyone's personal status. I want them to stop clogging drains and making our street shoulder unsafe to walk. I don't want them to be in trouble.

I've never tried to thread a needle like this. May need to do some research.

Maybe just asking the building owner to ask them to bag the leaves would be sufficient...

Completely internalized the wrong week for my Plants & Colour lecture, but got up in time anyway. Difficult to attend properly when I have to get my kid ready and off to school during the first hour. But despite feeling discombobulated, it's very grounding* to think about something as connective and embodied as pigment gathering and processing.

*literally, but also today's speaker makes pigments/colors from urban manmade things, not just natural ochres

My gods, I wish these lecturers, teachers, participants, and all artist/creative types would find a way to LET GO OF INSTAGRAM.

Every recommendation in chat is an IG screen name. I'm desperately trying to add library bib records and website URLs but I'm completely overwhelmed by the @@@ everywhere.

PLEASE.

@PhoenixSerenity It's wild how we (collectively) just handed ourselves over to platforms, totally out of our control. And now nobody knows how to handle their own website, and if the platform goes down, they're floundering. In these times, it's frankly worse than ever, and I hope we can all find ways past it.

That Stevie Nicks article is going to be my new guiding star.

My husband manages digital collections for the state historical society, and he's just had to rush in to honor a takedown request. One of the families in the immigrant stories oral history collection is receiving death threats, so they need their story to be removed from public access.

He's busy putting out fires and ensuring safety, so I'll say it:

This is horrifying. Fearmongering is middle-school bully nonsense. Stop being shitty to immigrants. Stand up for immigrants.