Author | Lightnews

Brett Ortler

@gutenfrog.bsky.social

670 followers 560 following 490 posts

I'm a naturalist, a writer, and an editor based in the Upper Midwest. Acquisitions editor for AdventureKeen. Author of popsci books. Poet and literary journal editor (prosepoems.com). Moths! Sometime tardigrade wrangler. For more, visit brettortler.com

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Mar 15

"Recession Generation" is the first poem in Democracy of Noise, by Dan Pinkerton, which released TODAY! Here is a video of yours truly reading it. 📚💙

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 59m

Dr. Acula, PhD in Hematology, at your service. #halloween

A dorky white guy with a cape, fake vampire teeth on his front teeth, a stethoscope, and a nametag that says Dr. Acula, Hematology

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 11h

So every morning, I make a Lunch Letter for my daughter by hastily photoshopping a note together, in a newspaper-like format. Here is today's #Halloween letter. It features the very real threat of "poison" #candy that must be carefully tested by Dad. 🎃

Area Dads Issue Warning: ALL CANDY COULD BE POISON AND MUST BE TESTED (BY DADS) FIRST!
Candy poisoning is a very serious potential threat. Consider the image at left: This seemingly harmless Mounds Bar had an Iowa-Class Battleship in it, a F-106 Delta Dart and the Pyramids of Giza in it! By carefully eating around those objects, the heroic father below sucessful protected his family.

These candies must be carefully tested by area Dads:

Mounds
Almond Joy
Butterfingers
M&Ms (only the peanut ones)

Count Dracula launches new tourism campaign

"It's actually pretty nice here!
Stay for free at our castle!"

Images of a Mounds Candy bar, opened up to reveal an Iowa-class battleship, a F-106 Delta Dart, and the Pyramids of Giza, with a heroic dad shown below.

The Dracula ad has the first-edition cover of Dracula, along with a goofy dad dressed up as a vampire.

Reposted by Brett Ortler

Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 2d

Y’all saw it here on Bluesky FIRST.

Trailer for #GarWeek 2025.
JOIN US November 3-7!!!

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 9d

Anoka-Hennepin residents, don’t skip this election!

Sahan Journal @sahanjournal.bsky.social · 9d

A 3-3 split between liberals and conservatives at the state’s largest school district has led to gridlock over issues including the budget and state social studies standards.

Written by @bzosiad.bsky.social

After battles over equity, Anoka-Hennepin school board race could tip balance of power

Voters could break a 3-3 split between conservatives and liberals on the Anoka-Hennepin school board, which oversees the state’s largest school district, in November.

sahanjournal.com

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 11d

This person has clearly never seen Apollo 13

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 12d

#NoKings (aside from this honorary one)

A yorshire terrier wearing a sweater and a tiny cardboard crown

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 13d

Cc: @derekhennen.bsky.social you might like the (presumed) centipede!

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 13d

So I always prowl auctions here in MN, and I am on the lookout for items to add to ye olde cabinet of curiosity. Initial hunches: a centipede, a caddisfly or moth, and maybe a sap beetle.

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 13d

One of my favorite #NoKings moments was a woman in an inflatable duck costume walking around and saying “I am a migrant too!” #birds

Another: An older gentleman had a sign that said, “I knew things were gonna be bad but GADZOOKS!”

Reposted by Brett Ortler

Silky @silkyweineck.bsky.social · 13d

this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · 13d

Crazy-big turnout for the #NoKings rally in Anoka, MN (suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul). Several thousand people.

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Reposted by Brett Ortler

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14d

Administrators at Indiana University baselessly fired the student media director and ordered the student paper to cease its print edition, so it'd sure be a shame if this excellent digital front page were to be widely shared today

issuu.com/idsnews/docs...

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 29

This is amazing

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 25

Well, today I learned that sometimes groundhogs are inadvertent #archaeologists. Sometimes they expose unknown sites when digging burrows. The Ufferman site in Ohio is one. Huh! Here is one I spotted the other day.

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 17

I wasn't going to #LAMP tonight, as my kiddo had soccer, but I turned on the outside lamp for a half hour since it was warm out. The moral of the story, as told by this leafhopper (maybe Gyponana): always lamp. 🦋

A striking yellow, pink, and orange leafhopper perched on a window screen

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 12

It cannot be a good feeling to be stuck in the *Franklin Strait* in September in the Northwest Passage. That's...like 100 miles north of where the Erebus and Terror froze in. Yikes.

Company launches plan to refloat, salvage grounded ship in Northwest Passage

Updated Sept. 11 at 4:50 p.m. ET A plan to salvage the cargo ship Thamesborg is underway after the Canadian Coast Guard completed aerial and remote-operated vehicle surveys of the vessel, which sits g...

nunatsiaq.com

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 10

This is an improvement, TBH.

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 9

HAPPPPPPY MARRRRRRIAGE! That's so exciting. And glad you spotted one of my babies! Have fun up north!

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 9

Happy Pub Day to A Season on the Drink, by Pat Harris! This #novel tells the story of how residents from the St. Anthony Residence for Chronic Alcoholics formed an unlikely softball team and *went undefeated* in the summer of '86. It's funny, sweet, sad, & always decent and compassionate. #BookSky

A Season on the Drink

Based on a true story, The Residence’s fast-pitch softball team is remarkable in the extreme. The unlikely teammates who take the field have fallen out of society, landing into a safety-net haven for ...

shop.adventurewithkeen.com

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 7

Thrifting, as a nature nerd, is always a blast. This Marion Sheehan #violets print is a doozy.

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 5

Had. Ugh.

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Sep 5

Well, this #moth print hanging in our kitchen has an on-the-nose guest last night!

A moth print showing a large sphinx (I think) moth with red and black underwings. And atop it, a living moth that landed there.

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Reposted by Brett Ortler

Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · Aug 16

NEW Gar Friends edit by request!

Watch until the end for what you’d want in a Gar-Friends crossover teaser 👏👏👏👏😂

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Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Aug 16

Heal fast!

Brett Ortler @gutenfrog.bsky.social · Aug 13

I'm working on updating my trivia book, and I'm mentioning the (amazing) apples grown by the University of Minnesota, and I checked on the U.S. Apple stats, and the U.S. Apple trade group's report, instead of having an executive summary, had CORE FINDINGS. That just kills me. #puns #apples #umn