Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 7h

The Bird of the River (Kage Baker, standalone); whatever the nearest Mary Stewart is that I haven't reread in a while; A Little Princess (I know it has problems but I imprinted on it); The Dark is Rising or The Grey King; to mix it up with nonfiction, Ruth Goodman's The Domestic Revolution

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 7h

perhaps even more!!!

(oh my GOD)

Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 4d

Made this soup last night and it was a hit: localkitchenblog.com/2012/09/25/1... (Added extra thyme and sage; used veggie broth so I also added umami seasoning and stirred in some blue cheese at the end, but I only like squash when it's super umami so ymmv. Chicken broth would address this anyway.)

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Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall

Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 6d

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

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 14d

Oh, marvelous! That looks like a great time even without the research angle, but an amazing find with it!

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Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 27d

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 🧵)

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Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 20d

Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

Submit a Claim

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 20d

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 ❤️

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 20d

Just a genuine lifelong hero to me. May we all live even half as well.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 20d

And unlike many childhood role models, she was the real deal. Even up until right before her death she was a tireless advocate for conservation and animals and science, gracious and eloquent and compassionate and humble, constantly using her platform for good, always quietly but firmly herself.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 20d

I read In The Shadow Of Man over and over as a nature-loving kid. She was a genuine inspiration. I thought until well into college that I was going to be a scientist, and she wasn't the reason, but she was a major role model. She did the kind of work kid me dreamed of.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 20d

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.

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Reposted by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall

marcmagus @marcmagus.bsky.social · 22d

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.

tg @twotrickpony.bsky.social · Sep 4

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!

Go in: Settings > Languages> Content Languages and make it *unset* !

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 15

I am so here for every single one of these updates (but I KNOW to the autocorrected capitalization; it drives me up a wall)

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 15

CAN'T WAIT

Freya Marske @freyamarske.bsky.social · Mar 21

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

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

Yeah, I can come up with a bunch of theories but they'd all be like, "well, I can see how a guy who felt like and experienced this could have become Nick" and not "this is my clear idea of Nick and who he is"

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

Yes exactly!!

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

I remember discussing with you right after my reread, and it's fascinating because to me, the landscapes felt way more real than any of the people in them! Fairy tale either way but from different angles.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

Like, my read would be the "Nick has trauma he's refusing to even look at and it's shaping all of this" reading, but that's in part because I think it's more interesting; I don't necessarily feel bound by authorial intent but it's interesting to me that I don't know what the authorial intent is.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

And/or Doylistically if Fitzgerald put in the WWI background because it was illogical for Nick not to have one but wasn't really interested in exploring that, or if that's part of what he's talking about with the unreliability. I don't know! I can't tell! And I don't know that much about Fitzgerald

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

And yet because Nick is so very unreliable, and because of how it's written, I TRULY AND SINCERELY cannot tell if Nick has WWI trauma he's never looking at even indirectly, or if Nick is one of those people who managed to somehow skate through without deep trauma (some did! idk how!!) & move on

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

But it IS omnipresent. Nick getting demobbed, Nick and Gatsby having met in Europe, the occasional mentions of other veterans, the whole situation with Gatsby and Daisy breaking up in the first place, the economic impacts... it's all woven through.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 14

Yeah, I found the WWI aspects fascinating, because... like... mentions of the war are subtle but omnipresent, in the way you only get in books that are written at a time when everybody was living in the shadow of an event. A modern book would pause to spell some of this out and GG never does.

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 1

I hate vulture capitalism and I hate everything about this but fyi, sewing friends

your #3 source for absurdist true crime 🔨 @davidgerard.co.uk · Sep 1

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...

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

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · Sep 1

HI FRIEND HI I mean uh. Modulating my voice into something more low-key for less pressure lol. But sincerely, zero worries on ghosting (life happens!!), I'm so glad you aten't dead, and I'm so happy to see you <333

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