Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · 26d

I will be there speaking on Action Scenes and Love Scenes. Also unveiling a new talk: Raiders of the Lost Archives with @shawntelle.bsky.social

Pamala Knight @pamalaknight.bsky.social · 26d

REGISTRATION opens October 1 for @chicagonorthrw.bsky.social Spring Fling 2026 Writers Conference. Join us for 3 days of learning, networking and fun! Come to Chicago or join in your pj’s for our hybrid event ☺️ #romancelandia #writers #conferences #chicago

www.accelevents.com/e/chicago-no...

Chicago-North Romance Writers Spring Fling 2026, Thu, Apr 16th, 2026 @ 8:00 AM Accelevents

Three-day hybrid writing conference hosted by Chicago-North Romance Writers featuring:Pre-conference half-day masterclass taught by Sherry Thomas (additional fee, may attend virtually only without attending conference)Thursday evening Bookseller, Blogger, Librarian, and Podcaster networking eventmasterclasses workshops and webinars for published and unpublished writers keynote speeches pitch appointments with editors and agentsnetworkingOnline and in-person Vendor RoomCoverage by Brown Book Seriesa silent auction benefitting a local charityan open to the public book signing an online and on site book store with The Last Chapter Bookshopa Gala ballSpa in Your Space Wellness LoungeJoin us and our headliners, ADRIANA HERRERA and BRENDA JACKSON, online for virtual only or in person at the Royal Sonesta Hotel Downtown Chicago. In-person attendees will also have access to the virtual platform. Access to all the workshops and recording will extend sixty days post-conference.** CNRW is not liable for changes in workshops, speakers, or conference dates due to unforeseen circumstances.**Please check back once registration opens on October 1. You'll be able to click the AGENDA tab above or go to our conference website to see our workshops, professionals, and hotel information: https://www.chicagonorthromancewriters.com/spring-fling

www.accelevents.com

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · 26d

My twinsies both made Jazz Ensemble. I may have cake to celebrate. I told them mommy might not have had a great day, but her DNA had a big day and so there should be cake.

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 27d

This is the clip. I still can't believe this is all he said.

gizmodo.com/why-jimmy-ki...

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · Jul 24

The Gaza Soup Kitchen run by Hani Almadhoun and family is currently feeding 3000 people a day under the monstrous conditions of the engineered famine happening before our eyes. You can help feed at least a few people. Please donate: gofund.me/e37b4bae

Donate to Hot meals 4 Starved Palestinian Kids in north Gaza, organized by Hani Almadhoun

Do you know what it’s like to watch your family starve? I do. My… Hani Almadhoun needs your support for Hot meals 4 Starved Palestinian Kids in north Gaza

gofund.me

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Jun 14

My Little Sis requested this at the No Kings rally she attended and it reminded me that 1) She’s a badass 2) California and LA is in my heart today ❤️

It’s been too long since I listened to this: music.youtube.com/watch?v=LRt6...

California Love (Original Version)

YouTube video by 2Pac - Topic

music.youtube.com

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Sheryl Weikal and the colorful Parrotlegals @leftistlawyer.com · Jun 10

The thing about human rights is that they belong to every single human being unconditionally

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · Jun 10

This took a while to get done, but I've chronicled my day among the protesters in Los Angeles, and the idea that this is anything but a celebration of cultural heritage and a firm, nonviolent demand to protect family, friends and neighbors is totally ridiculous.
prospect.org/justice/crie...

Cries of Defiance and Songs of Joy in Los Angeles

The protesters are being called unspeakably violent by the Trump administration. I mostly saw clergy sit-ins and Tejano bands.

prospect.org

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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · Jun 7

kind of just endlessly sad and grieving that there are so few voices in the public sphere making the basic principled argument that immigration is an affirmative good in every way and the best way for this country to serve humanity is to welcome people who want or need to leave their homes

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · May 16

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...

Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, recently used my second-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, and that of my teammate in the 800-meter run, to malign Soren Stark-Chessa, the trans-identified athlete who finished first.

One of the reasons I chose to run cross-country and track is the community: Teammates cheering each other on, athletes from different schools coming together, and the fact that personal improvement is valued as much as, if not more than, the place we finish.

Last Friday, I ran the fastest 1,600-meter race I have ever run in middle school or high school track and earned varsity status by my school’s standards. I am extremely proud of the effort I put into the race and the time that I achieved. The fact that someone else finished in front of me didn’t diminish the happiness I felt after finishing that race. I don’t feel like first place was taken from me. Instead, I feel like a happy day was turned ugly by a bully who is using children to make political points.

We are all just kids trying to make our way through high school. Participating in sports is the highlight of high school for some kids. No one was harmed by Soren’s participation in the girls’ track meet, but we are all harmed by the hateful rhetoric of bullies, like Rep. Libby, who want to take sports away from some kids just because of who they are.

Anelise Feldman
Freshman, Yarmouth High School
Yarmouth

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Kayla B @queenofthesouth.bsky.social · May 12

My daughter’s speech therapist went out of business because Medicaid reimbursement rates were too low. We do not have Medicaid. I’m going to keep posting this until people understand that when Medicaid gets cut *everyone* loses services.

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · Apr 28

"Parents have struggled w/the heartbreak of having lost years of their son or daughter’s childhood, children have had to rebuild bonds with parents that were shattered & through it all, the federal govt has done little for these families compared to the immense & lasting harm it inflicted on them."

Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights @theyoungcenter.bsky.social · Apr 24

We stand in support of the @aclu.org's court filling to enforce the Ms. L v. ICE settlement agreement. Families who endured the trauma of forced separation in 2017 and 2018 deserve to remain here, safe and reunited.

Parents and Children Formerly Separated under Trump 1.0 Zero Tolerance Policies Targeted Again by Trump Admin — Young Center

Today we stand in support of the ACLU’s court filing to enforce the settlement agreement and urge the Court to ensure the government fulfills its obligation under the Ms. L settlement agreement to p...

youngcenter.squarespace.com

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Apr 27

@eileendreyerauthor.bsky.social is our local Jeopardy celebrity. She met Trebek

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Apr 19

Who has two thumbs and was accepted to the @communityofwriters.bsky.social Non-fiction/Memoir summer workshop? This girl! 👍👍❤️❤️🥰🥰

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Olivia Waite @oliviawaite.com · Apr 17

Step one: call a rep and tell them you want them to do something, on an issue you care about.

Step two: find someone to help in a concrete way: money, food, a listening ear.

Step three: get yourself something to eat, and take five minutes to read a bit or play a game.

Then, tomorrow, do it again.

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Apr 17

Realizing I have autism made me conclude that ppl have autism completely wrong. And frankly some people are f#^*ing wrong.

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Apr 17

Autism runs in my family. I have autism. Some are able to mask & uncannily navigate any system. Some of us cope & function independently w/ strategies. Some of us require a little support. Some of us require a lot more support.
We all have value because we are human. We all take care of each other

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 30

“fight against the theft of your soul”

Andrew Simon @simongandrew.bsky.social · Mar 29

One of many moments in Omar El Akkad’s new book, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” that will stop you in your tracks.

There is an impulse in moments like this to appeal to self-interest. To say: These horrors you are allowing to happen, they will come to your doorstep one day; to repeat the famous phrase about who they came for first and who they'll come for next. But this appeal cannot, in matter of fact, work. If the people well served by a system that condones such butchery ever truly believed the same butchery could one day be inflicted on them, they'd tear the system down tomorrow. And anyway, by the time such a thing happens, the rest of us will already be dead.
No, there is no terrible thing coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing is happening to you now. You are being asked to kill off a part of you that would otherwise scream in opposition to injustice. You are being asked to dismantle the machinery of a functioning conscience.
Who cares if diplomatic expediency prefers you shrug away the sight of dismembered children? Who cares if great distance from the bloodstained middle allows obliviousness. Forget pity, forget even the dead if you must, but at least fight against the theft of your soul.

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 30

The pattern seems to be that I teach a class and then go on a trip right when it ends. I’ve graded final papers while on vacation in Paris, on a cruise, in a hotel in Vietnam and if this isn’t living, I don’t know what is.

Romance II finals will be graded in Las Vegas during the HNS conference.

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 30

My inaugural online Romance Novel II class at UCLA extension starts this Wednesday (4/2). There are still a few spots open. 10 weeks workshop-based class. (Requirement: You have written the first chapter of a romance novel)
www.uclaextension.edu/writing/crea...

Romance Novel II | UCLA Extension

Make substantial progress on a romance novel draft in this course for students who have completed Romance Writing I.

www.uclaextension.edu

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 24

We didn’t make it to any big temples, but every street has a temple (wat) if not multiple temples dedicated to some deity with its own stupa and that, in itself, is a fascinating microcosm. We were lucky to be in Chiang Mai for the weekend because there were local markets that only go up on weekends

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Data Rescue Project #DataRescue @datarescueproject.org · Mar 24

We will hold office hours tomorrow and Wednesday for those working on data rescues who want to ask questions: www.datarescueproject.org/updates-and-...

Updates and Office Hours

Preserving public data

www.datarescueproject.org

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 24

Second tip - Thai massage is not the same thing as Swedish massage. It is more akin to Thai boxing, lol. I enjoyed mine, but Little Sis said it was a bit rough for her.

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 24

The biggest tip is to try as many dishes from street food vendors as you can. There were not enough meal times to try everything we wanted to try

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Jeannie Lin @jeannielin.bsky.social · Mar 24

It’s been a whirlwind week in Vietnam and Thailand. A trip that started as a research trip for On the Backs of Elephants and ended up being one where we connected to our ancestors and reunited with lost family. Wild trip of a lifetime

Jeannie with elephant at ChiangMai Elephant Nature Park

At great-grandfather’s grave site which looks like a shrine

A visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships

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Michael Allan Schneider @quadbonus.bsky.social · Mar 19

If you're feeling hopeless and miserable, I cannot possibly overstate how much it helps to just pick one thing you can do that helps people, and do it.

You only need to do one person's worth of work. That's all any of us can do.

You'll be doing what you can, and there is so much relief in that.

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