Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
@epbirdsall.bsky.social
Writer, FR>EN translator, general nerd about town. Same username in various realname-y places.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
not sure how to square ‘no one person can be reasonably expected to pay for every media subscription’ with ‘sorely underpaid writers need to make a living’ but my inclination is not to locate that problem with any of the broke ass people on either end of the complaint
December 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
not sure how to square ‘no one person can be reasonably expected to pay for every media subscription’ with ‘sorely underpaid writers need to make a living’ but my inclination is not to locate that problem with any of the broke ass people on either end of the complaint
Reading "I Leap Over the Wall," a 1950 memoir by Monica Baldwin, who entered a cloistered convent in 1914 and left it like a dazed and blinking time traveler into the wildly different world of 1941, and it is FASCINATING. I'm having a wonderful time so far.
December 8, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reading "I Leap Over the Wall," a 1950 memoir by Monica Baldwin, who entered a cloistered convent in 1914 and left it like a dazed and blinking time traveler into the wildly different world of 1941, and it is FASCINATING. I'm having a wonderful time so far.
Delighted to announce that the MURDERFISH anthology is now live!! Containing a whole bunch of great stories and cool art, all about murderous fish, including my own story "In Sheets of Seaweed."
Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0G59L1WF2/
Paperback: www.amazon.com/Murderfish-A... Audiobook: coming soon!
Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0G59L1WF2/
Paperback: www.amazon.com/Murderfish-A... Audiobook: coming soon!
Murderfish: an Aquatic Anthology (Unhelpful Encyclopedia)
Murderfish: an Aquatic Anthology (Unhelpful Encyclopedia) - Kindle edition by Stoumbos, Mike Jack, La Ronn, Michael, Stein, Jake, Rey, Jena, Arther, Azure, Hodges, Larry, Hankins, David, Haskell, N. V., Fox, Shannon, Cole, Ryan. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Murderfish: an Aquatic Anthology (Unhelpful Encyclopedia).
www.amazon.com
December 6, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Delighted to announce that the MURDERFISH anthology is now live!! Containing a whole bunch of great stories and cool art, all about murderous fish, including my own story "In Sheets of Seaweed."
Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0G59L1WF2/
Paperback: www.amazon.com/Murderfish-A... Audiobook: coming soon!
Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0G59L1WF2/
Paperback: www.amazon.com/Murderfish-A... Audiobook: coming soon!
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
December 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
I think part of What's Going On with billionaires is that the daily friction of interacting with normal people is part of what anchors people to the real world, and once you have enough money to buy your way out of the friction you can knock down a load-bearing column propping up your sanity.
December 3, 2025 at 8:10 PM
I think part of What's Going On with billionaires is that the daily friction of interacting with normal people is part of what anchors people to the real world, and once you have enough money to buy your way out of the friction you can knock down a load-bearing column propping up your sanity.
You know that feeling when you're reading along going "wow, this book is SUCH AN ID VORTEX, it's hilariously over the top, I wonder how it's going to stick this landing???"
In this case, readers: it did not 😅
In this case, readers: it did not 😅
December 1, 2025 at 9:52 AM
You know that feeling when you're reading along going "wow, this book is SUCH AN ID VORTEX, it's hilariously over the top, I wonder how it's going to stick this landing???"
In this case, readers: it did not 😅
In this case, readers: it did not 😅
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
This essay about Cinder House is definitely the most vulnerable, personal thing I've ever written; it took me over a year to get to the point where I wanted to tell this particular story. Thanks to @booktrib.bsky.social for giving it a home! 🏠🔥
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
Housing the Heroine in “Cinder House” | BookTrib.
If you asked me today, and if you'd asked me two years ago, I'd tell you I'm very fond of my house. It's nothing special. It's a townhouse surrounded by other townhouses that look just like it, formin...
booktrib.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This essay about Cinder House is definitely the most vulnerable, personal thing I've ever written; it took me over a year to get to the point where I wanted to tell this particular story. Thanks to @booktrib.bsky.social for giving it a home! 🏠🔥
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...
my beautiful wife, handing me this month's book club book, which happens to be by Ursula Le Guin: "what about DEEZ... possesseds"
November 14, 2025 at 4:26 AM
my beautiful wife, handing me this month's book club book, which happens to be by Ursula Le Guin: "what about DEEZ... possesseds"
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More via @ConsumerReports
AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.
www.consumerreports.org
October 15, 2025 at 8:53 PM
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
In other news, an easy fast to anyone dating tomorrow, and if you're observing Yom Kippur with or without fasting, may it be meaningful ❤️
October 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM
In other news, an easy fast to anyone dating tomorrow, and if you're observing Yom Kippur with or without fasting, may it be meaningful ❤️
I'm not someone who's usually much affected by the deaths of famous people I don't know, but the news today of Jane Goodall's #death hit hard. Dying at 91 of natural causes after a long life well and energetically lived is pretty much all one can ask, but still.
October 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
I'm not someone who's usually much affected by the deaths of famous people I don't know, but the news today of Jane Goodall's #death hit hard. Dying at 91 of natural causes after a long life well and energetically lived is pretty much all one can ask, but still.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
I don't object to this new feature existing as I'm sure filtering out unknown languages improves the experience for a lot of people, but I loathe that it was turned on for me by default.
IMPORTANT PSA: You will NOT see posts from non English speaking artists if your content language is set to English!
Make sure it's *unset*!!! If you're following Chinese artists or whatever and wonder why their posts never show up on your feed this is why!
Make sure it's *unset*!!! If you're following Chinese artists or whatever and wonder why their posts never show up on your feed this is why!
September 29, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I don't object to this new feature existing as I'm sure filtering out unknown languages improves the experience for a lot of people, but I loathe that it was turned on for me by default.
CAN'T WAIT
Coming in October 2025: CINDER HOUSE, a queer Gothic retelling of Cinderella in which our titular character is a very frustrated ghost! 🔥 Fire, skeletons, fairies, intense epistolary friendships, and lots of feelings about ballet.
Preorder US - bit.ly/CH-buyUS
Preorder UK - bit.ly/CH-buyUK
Preorder US - bit.ly/CH-buyUS
Preorder UK - bit.ly/CH-buyUK
September 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
CAN'T WAIT
I hate vulture capitalism and I hate everything about this but fyi, sewing friends
the big 4 sewing pattern brands are being sold off for parts. if you want patterns, get them *now*.
(if you're secretly a zillionaire who likes sewing patterns, call the liquidator immediately with your chequebook)
craftindustryalliance.org/parent-compa...
(if you're secretly a zillionaire who likes sewing patterns, call the liquidator immediately with your chequebook)
craftindustryalliance.org/parent-compa...
Parent Company of the Big 4 Sewing Pattern Brands Sold to a Liquidator - Craft Industry Alliance
The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator.
craftindustryalliance.org
September 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I hate vulture capitalism and I hate everything about this but fyi, sewing friends
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Quit doomscrolling and come watch Crunchyroll get their ass handed to them in the comments of this innocuous-seeming post! It's a good time for everyone!
Share a piece of anime lore that lives rent-free in your head.
August 28, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Quit doomscrolling and come watch Crunchyroll get their ass handed to them in the comments of this innocuous-seeming post! It's a good time for everyone!
it was a genuinely fascinating double header! both extremely fun but VERY different takes on the music industry, lol
the last two pieces of media we watched were, respectively, KPop Demon Hunters and the last two episodes of We Are Lady Parts. in the words of @epbirdsall.bsky.social, really funny accidental wine pairing
August 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
it was a genuinely fascinating double header! both extremely fun but VERY different takes on the music industry, lol
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩
August 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Every award ceremony should have this.
A few logistical notes to consider for future Hugo ceremonies:
It wouldn't be a bad idea for future Hugos to invest in a trained transcriptionist at $60/hr or whatever rather than relying on risible autocapture.
Some of these folks type 120 wpm with exceptional accuracy.
It wouldn't be a bad idea for future Hugos to invest in a trained transcriptionist at $60/hr or whatever rather than relying on risible autocapture.
Some of these folks type 120 wpm with exceptional accuracy.
August 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Every award ceremony should have this.
Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall
Congratulations to all of the #HugoAward finalists and winners!!
Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Winners
The winners of the Hugo Awards, the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book were announced on August 16, 2025 by Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World…
locusmag.com
August 17, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Congratulations to all of the #HugoAward finalists and winners!!
Congrats again to all the Hugo nominees, and HUGE CONGRATS to all the Hugo winners!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
August 17, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Congrats again to all the Hugo nominees, and HUGE CONGRATS to all the Hugo winners!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
...And extra huge congrats to Emily Tesh and my beautiful wife Rebecca Fraimow for HUGO-WINNING BEST FANCAST podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones!!!
Courtesy of catsitter friend, please behold Mina when she sneaks up behind you on the bed and judges you for not playing with the string toy already
August 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Courtesy of catsitter friend, please behold Mina when she sneaks up behind you on the bed and judges you for not playing with the string toy already
#uspolitics The direct line to the HHS secretary's office is 202-690-7000, as mentioned in a reply this; I just called and left a polite but emphatic voicemail about RFK Jr's horrific decision about mRNA vaccine research funding. Let's give 'em hell about this.
RFK Jr. backs down all the time when he gets push back, so if anyone wants to call, here's the HHS number 1-877-696-6775.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he will cancel $500 million in vaccine development projects.
August 6, 2025 at 3:13 AM
#uspolitics The direct line to the HHS secretary's office is 202-690-7000, as mentioned in a reply this; I just called and left a polite but emphatic voicemail about RFK Jr's horrific decision about mRNA vaccine research funding. Let's give 'em hell about this.
I was complaining to/with friends about how I'd like a number-go-up kind of challenge to get me to walk more but I don't want my data auto-synced to a corporation about it! I just want a step counter! Not to be a health tracking surveillance big data point!
August 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I was complaining to/with friends about how I'd like a number-go-up kind of challenge to get me to walk more but I don't want my data auto-synced to a corporation about it! I just want a step counter! Not to be a health tracking surveillance big data point!