Karen C
@silver.phoenyx.net
Midwesterner in South Jersey, tired Gen Xer, sometime Perl developer, doing weird things with sewing robots.
Once and future gamehawk.bsky.social
She/her, generally.
(Header image: cropped Tragic Prelude, John Steuart Curry for the Kansas Capital.)
Once and future gamehawk.bsky.social
She/her, generally.
(Header image: cropped Tragic Prelude, John Steuart Curry for the Kansas Capital.)
Pinned
Karen C
@silver.phoenyx.net
· Sep 17
I made a South Jersey feed, because the Philly feed is nice but Philadelphians will be quick to tell you that just because I can see the Linc from my neighborhood, and it's closer to City Hall than Chestnut Hill is, doesn't mean it's a Philadelphia suburb: bsky.app/profile/did:...
Okay I have been doing monocolor but I might finally get around to putting together a print-tower version just to make some pride flags!
Just pulled these off the printer. Super stoked about how they turned out.
February 5, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Okay I have been doing monocolor but I might finally get around to putting together a print-tower version just to make some pride flags!
"I mean, we put 'fixwal' in the name so that should cover our liability, right?"
#RECALL: Fixwal 7-Drawer Dressers Recalled Due to Risk of Serious Injury or Death from Tip-Over and Entrapment Hazards; Violates Mandatory Standard for Clothing Storage Units. Get refund. www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026...
February 5, 2026 at 8:15 PM
"I mean, we put 'fixwal' in the name so that should cover our liability, right?"
We had a fully grown adult greyhound who loved food but who did not comprehend catching it. It would bounce off her face and she'd be so sad: "Wh-why did you hit me with something... and why is the other dog eating a treat now?"
This is Milo. He has the reflexes of a sloth and the composure of a statue. Learning catch is going to take a minute. 12/10 (TT: milocrazy8)
February 5, 2026 at 12:08 AM
We had a fully grown adult greyhound who loved food but who did not comprehend catching it. It would bounce off her face and she'd be so sad: "Wh-why did you hit me with something... and why is the other dog eating a treat now?"
Last night's dream: I was in like a 20-person boy band, opening an arena concert with our hot single "This Sucks." (It was not about The Horrors, but about how high school was exactly as terrible as movies had said it would be.)
Folks, may I present: My Brain. 🤷
Folks, may I present: My Brain. 🤷
February 4, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Last night's dream: I was in like a 20-person boy band, opening an arena concert with our hot single "This Sucks." (It was not about The Horrors, but about how high school was exactly as terrible as movies had said it would be.)
Folks, may I present: My Brain. 🤷
Folks, may I present: My Brain. 🤷
Reposted by Karen C
Considerations when documenting
February 3, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Considerations when documenting
Reposted by Karen C
Know your rights in public spaces
February 3, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Know your rights in public spaces
Reposted by Karen C
The 5 D’s of fighting ice
February 3, 2026 at 11:43 PM
The 5 D’s of fighting ice
My car freaked out in the middle of traffic because its forward sensors were too obstructed with road salt, so now I really distrust self driving. Which mine doesn't have, just sensors that rumble when you drift out of your lane, which was turned off anyway because salt lines confuse it. The future!
February 3, 2026 at 8:07 PM
My car freaked out in the middle of traffic because its forward sensors were too obstructed with road salt, so now I really distrust self driving. Which mine doesn't have, just sensors that rumble when you drift out of your lane, which was turned off anyway because salt lines confuse it. The future!
I don't like provolone so I'm gonna have to sub in a buffalo chicken cheesesteak for the roast pork (though apparently if you do like provolone the roast pork is perhaps better than a regular cheesesteak? happy for y'all).
Alternate category: top five PHL sandwiches:
Cheesesteak (which we share with the world)
Roast pork w/provolone and rabe
Chicken cutlet
Italian hoagie
Pork roll egg and cheese
Cheesesteak (which we share with the world)
Roast pork w/provolone and rabe
Chicken cutlet
Italian hoagie
Pork roll egg and cheese
What IS the ultimate/quintessential NYC sandwich? (Correct, sincere answers only)
February 3, 2026 at 3:55 PM
I don't like provolone so I'm gonna have to sub in a buffalo chicken cheesesteak for the roast pork (though apparently if you do like provolone the roast pork is perhaps better than a regular cheesesteak? happy for y'all).
Mine: pacifism, coal, and a famine.
Genuinely curious: If your family is American, what brought them here?
Mine: religious nuttery & primogeniture
Mine: religious nuttery & primogeniture
February 3, 2026 at 4:29 AM
Mine: pacifism, coal, and a famine.
Made the mistake of trying to get to the trash on the untouched side of the house and learned that the crust is no longer structurally sound but still tough enough to just leave you with randomly tipping ice floes.
Ended up flailing over to the shoveled walk to stand back up.
Ended up flailing over to the shoveled walk to stand back up.
February 2, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Made the mistake of trying to get to the trash on the untouched side of the house and learned that the crust is no longer structurally sound but still tough enough to just leave you with randomly tipping ice floes.
Ended up flailing over to the shoveled walk to stand back up.
Ended up flailing over to the shoveled walk to stand back up.
"Say hello to Dubai Chocolate, now available at Dollar Tree!"
You know, "Dubai" and "Dollar Tree" are two things I never expected to see in the same sentence but I guess once they broke the "everything's $1" barrier it was bound to happen.
You know, "Dubai" and "Dollar Tree" are two things I never expected to see in the same sentence but I guess once they broke the "everything's $1" barrier it was bound to happen.
February 2, 2026 at 3:35 PM
"Say hello to Dubai Chocolate, now available at Dollar Tree!"
You know, "Dubai" and "Dollar Tree" are two things I never expected to see in the same sentence but I guess once they broke the "everything's $1" barrier it was bound to happen.
You know, "Dubai" and "Dollar Tree" are two things I never expected to see in the same sentence but I guess once they broke the "everything's $1" barrier it was bound to happen.
Reposted by Karen C
Taking a look back at The White Dragon, the Anne McCaffrey book that changed everything, as we review the 20 covers published in the year 1978 in this week's newsletter:
theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/1978-year-...
theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/1978-year-...
February 1, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Taking a look back at The White Dragon, the Anne McCaffrey book that changed everything, as we review the 20 covers published in the year 1978 in this week's newsletter:
theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/1978-year-...
theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/1978-year-...
Reposted by Karen C
February 1, 2026 at 4:35 PM
This is who runs this account.
February 1, 2026 at 4:30 PM
This is who runs this account.
Looking forward to being able to re-charge the car, because I forgot to bring the charging cable in during the storm. The charging head is clear, and the cable goes down into a hole in the ice crust into powder, and I can pull it freely for awhile but then it kinks up before it reaches the car.
January 31, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Looking forward to being able to re-charge the car, because I forgot to bring the charging cable in during the storm. The charging head is clear, and the cable goes down into a hole in the ice crust into powder, and I can pull it freely for awhile but then it kinks up before it reaches the car.
A more modern Ishmael would have written at *least* one chapter on the inaccuracy of whales in cartoons. I was very surprised the first time I saw a non-side-view photo of a sperm whale and discovered its jawbone is not a giant horseshoe shape (bonus inaccuracies in the alt texts). 🐋
January 31, 2026 at 3:21 PM
A more modern Ishmael would have written at *least* one chapter on the inaccuracy of whales in cartoons. I was very surprised the first time I saw a non-side-view photo of a sperm whale and discovered its jawbone is not a giant horseshoe shape (bonus inaccuracies in the alt texts). 🐋
Picked up keyboard switches so I could make "clicker" fidget toys and this is what we had the right colors loaded for.
January 30, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Picked up keyboard switches so I could make "clicker" fidget toys and this is what we had the right colors loaded for.
Had a little jumpscare today when I opened my calendar app to record an appointment for BK and my surgical date is showing at the bottom now.
Not done with physical therapy on the right for a few more weeks, already starting the pre-flight checks for the left, whee
January 30, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Had a little jumpscare today when I opened my calendar app to record an appointment for BK and my surgical date is showing at the bottom now.
Reposted by Karen C
I don't have a business to close today, I am going to be making donations to support businesses, organizers, and immigrant relief groups around the country. My first is to this trans-owned community pottery studio in Mpls that has been impacted by ICE raids in the area.
gofund.me/09c84d2c7
gofund.me/09c84d2c7
Donate to Help The Clay Pit Survive ICE Occupation in Minneapolis, organized by Soren Aster
My name is Soren, and I run The Clay Pit, a small community cerami… Soren Aster needs your support for Help The Clay Pit Survive ICE Occupation in Minneapolis
gofund.me
January 30, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I don't have a business to close today, I am going to be making donations to support businesses, organizers, and immigrant relief groups around the country. My first is to this trans-owned community pottery studio in Mpls that has been impacted by ICE raids in the area.
gofund.me/09c84d2c7
gofund.me/09c84d2c7
Moby Dick ch. 134:
"'By salt and hemp!' cried Stubb"
and
"put together of all contrasting things—oak, and maple, and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and hemp"
Hmm, wonder why Melville keeps reminding us of the hemp? 🤔
"'By salt and hemp!' cried Stubb"
and
"put together of all contrasting things—oak, and maple, and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and hemp"
Hmm, wonder why Melville keeps reminding us of the hemp? 🤔
January 30, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Moby Dick ch. 134:
"'By salt and hemp!' cried Stubb"
and
"put together of all contrasting things—oak, and maple, and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and hemp"
Hmm, wonder why Melville keeps reminding us of the hemp? 🤔
"'By salt and hemp!' cried Stubb"
and
"put together of all contrasting things—oak, and maple, and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and hemp"
Hmm, wonder why Melville keeps reminding us of the hemp? 🤔
Snow was fine until I got in my own driveway; I'd come home and parked fine and then went to the pharmacy and right back and discovered that the heat of the car had melted and refroze stuff right where the front (drive) wheels drag it up the last few feet. It's clear of the sidewalk... just.
January 30, 2026 at 12:04 AM
Snow was fine until I got in my own driveway; I'd come home and parked fine and then went to the pharmacy and right back and discovered that the heat of the car had melted and refroze stuff right where the front (drive) wheels drag it up the last few feet. It's clear of the sidewalk... just.
The good news is: now we have more filaments, ready for MASS PRODUCTION!!!!1!
(Not really the plan except for whistles, unless the kids decide to go into business with it.)
(Not really the plan except for whistles, unless the kids decide to go into business with it.)
I have returned from the trench run (driving my car into the narrow streets of Philadelphia, which I try to avoid when there ISN'T snow).
It was actually not bad because most other people were smart enough to not be doing that.
It was actually not bad because most other people were smart enough to not be doing that.
January 29, 2026 at 10:20 PM
The good news is: now we have more filaments, ready for MASS PRODUCTION!!!!1!
(Not really the plan except for whistles, unless the kids decide to go into business with it.)
(Not really the plan except for whistles, unless the kids decide to go into business with it.)
I have returned from the trench run (driving my car into the narrow streets of Philadelphia, which I try to avoid when there ISN'T snow).
It was actually not bad because most other people were smart enough to not be doing that.
It was actually not bad because most other people were smart enough to not be doing that.
January 29, 2026 at 10:10 PM
I have returned from the trench run (driving my car into the narrow streets of Philadelphia, which I try to avoid when there ISN'T snow).
It was actually not bad because most other people were smart enough to not be doing that.
It was actually not bad because most other people were smart enough to not be doing that.
🐋 ch. 133 definitely confirms that Moby Dick is not all-white, that it's just his hump: "his entire dazzling hump was distinctly visible, sliding along the sea as if an isolated thing" and forehead: "Before it... went the glistening white shadow from his broad, milky forehead"
January 29, 2026 at 2:30 PM
🐋 ch. 133 definitely confirms that Moby Dick is not all-white, that it's just his hump: "his entire dazzling hump was distinctly visible, sliding along the sea as if an isolated thing" and forehead: "Before it... went the glistening white shadow from his broad, milky forehead"