What are you good at? Got some skills? Are you a good talker? A gardener? A cook? A laborer? Got a closet full of coats that don’t fit your kids but might fit the kids whose mom just got deported? C’mon friends, there’s space for you in the movement. Join it. Pick up the tools for the time you got

@mspwhistles.bsky.social is the central hub for the Twin Cities!

My latest is the story of how my community has rallied to protect and defend our neighbors in recent days, as ICE has targeted the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. "This is not a story about a moment of victory, but a moment of being reminded of our power."

Also, so grateful for who you are and how you show up in community. ❤️

The songs running through my brain right not are Talkin Bout a Revolution by the inimitable Tracy Chapman, and Beautiful to Me by Alan Doyle- with a side of Embracable You by Ella Fitzgerald.

Hey, we’re here. Do you need cute pet photos? Silly memes?

@tcbikeparking.bsky.social

Bakken Museum bike racks, South Side.

A-, functional, solid bike racks with enough space for cargo bikes! Gap between sidewalk and bike rack concrete is a little exciting with a heavy cargo bikes.

Museum staff say there are more racks in the parking lot.

Just last night I was reminiscing with friends about Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, and the message that ordinary people can take actions to keep their neighbors safe.

Unasked for advice- I had to rebuild my reading habit at one point, and I set a phone alarm to put down my phone and read for 15-20 minutes every day.

Grateful for the leadership from Elliott Payne and Doran Clark tonight.

Yup. When he left home and came “west” to Michigan he changed the spelling. It’s consistent in census and land records, including documents he signed. And his children used the “new” spelling for their whole lives.

My suspicion is he wanted a clean break from his family of origin.

The internet has been such an amazing gift to genealogists!

(Although there’s also a distant relative of mine who likes to write screeds to me about how my 3x great-grandfather spelled his own name wrong and that using his spelling is diluting all this relative’s lifetime of work…)

See: FDR is a distant cousin, that made that branch easier to chase down. But wow does it give insights into privilege.

I love genealogy because I’m a dork about history, and it gives me a very specific tiny window into history.

But the best thing about being related to famous people is that there are more historical records/other people have done the work!

Threw out my back so I can’t be there tonight - excited to read the book!

This whole 🧵

I am “tweaked my back while reaching for my purse” years old.

Converted my bike commute to driving today and am spending some time babying my back.

Yup. This is the second version without the required information!

Yes. Highly recommend trekking poles for the descent on those steps, especially if they're damp!

We only made that mistake once….now we always go the other way!

The last climb is brutal.

What in the fever dream?

People win elections, govern in coalitions. The ooga-booga about “outsized” is the kind of anti-democracy crap authoritarians traffic in. And of course Carol will lend her conspiratorial mindset to any passing circus.

This was a recent favorite of mine