NotYourAverageSpice
@spcyrlly.bsky.social
Very senior PLC lead at a Model PLC school.
Disruptor, deconstructor of systems that need it,
ELA teacher ~30 years, now taking on teaching ethnic studies as a resident of the reddest of the red California counties, bibliophile, listener, thinker...
Disruptor, deconstructor of systems that need it,
ELA teacher ~30 years, now taking on teaching ethnic studies as a resident of the reddest of the red California counties, bibliophile, listener, thinker...
Pinned
NotYourAverageSpice
@spcyrlly.bsky.social
· Jul 10
Because many things are very stupid...here's a stream orchid, epipactis gigantea, from high in the Trinity Mountains, growing snuggled up to a tiny fen full of cobra lilies, darlingtonia californica. There's magic if you look (sometimes for weeks on weeks of adventuring!).
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Ol' Salty, Pirate Saltasaurus. A bit of silliness which became a personal favourite.
Sepia ink over blue pencil on Strathmore grey toned paper, 110 × 143 mm, from 2013.
#ArtAdventCalendar
Sepia ink over blue pencil on Strathmore grey toned paper, 110 × 143 mm, from 2013.
#ArtAdventCalendar
December 2, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Ol' Salty, Pirate Saltasaurus. A bit of silliness which became a personal favourite.
Sepia ink over blue pencil on Strathmore grey toned paper, 110 × 143 mm, from 2013.
#ArtAdventCalendar
Sepia ink over blue pencil on Strathmore grey toned paper, 110 × 143 mm, from 2013.
#ArtAdventCalendar
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
#ArtAdventCalendar Day 1: sunlight filtered through leaves in a deep forest
Entrelac knitting in variegated wool
🧵 1/2
Entrelac knitting in variegated wool
🧵 1/2
December 1, 2025 at 11:55 PM
#ArtAdventCalendar Day 1: sunlight filtered through leaves in a deep forest
Entrelac knitting in variegated wool
🧵 1/2
Entrelac knitting in variegated wool
🧵 1/2
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Wait, what's this I see? Could it be the beginning of another year of #ArtAdventCalendar? #owls
December 1, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Wait, what's this I see? Could it be the beginning of another year of #ArtAdventCalendar? #owls
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
December 2, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Oh, #artadventcalendar, how I've missed you!
Here's a something for the eyes: high up in the Warner Mountains above Modoc country, northeastern California
Here's a something for the eyes: high up in the Warner Mountains above Modoc country, northeastern California
December 3, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Oh, #artadventcalendar, how I've missed you!
Here's a something for the eyes: high up in the Warner Mountains above Modoc country, northeastern California
Here's a something for the eyes: high up in the Warner Mountains above Modoc country, northeastern California
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Id rather go for work-life balance than be "successful" by the metrics society tells me are important.
Id rather take the sick days to get my bodymind back on track (and thank heaven for sick leave).
Id rather be perceived as middling or unmemorable.
Id much rather have a lifetime of happiness.
Id rather take the sick days to get my bodymind back on track (and thank heaven for sick leave).
Id rather be perceived as middling or unmemorable.
Id much rather have a lifetime of happiness.
While work-life balance may give you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, it isn’t always realistic, says Walmart executive vice president and chief people officer Donna Morris.
Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this is the mantra that made her highly successful instead
Many professionals see work-life balance as a non-negotiable. Walmart CPO Donna Morris says people should practice work-life integration instead. Here's why.
cnb.cx
November 27, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Id rather go for work-life balance than be "successful" by the metrics society tells me are important.
Id rather take the sick days to get my bodymind back on track (and thank heaven for sick leave).
Id rather be perceived as middling or unmemorable.
Id much rather have a lifetime of happiness.
Id rather take the sick days to get my bodymind back on track (and thank heaven for sick leave).
Id rather be perceived as middling or unmemorable.
Id much rather have a lifetime of happiness.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Got to be part of a safety drill--I mean absurdly accidentally triggered at 911 level lockdown--and can now scientifically confirm: 9th graders cannot shut up to save their own lives.
November 20, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Got to be part of a safety drill--I mean absurdly accidentally triggered at 911 level lockdown--and can now scientifically confirm: 9th graders cannot shut up to save their own lives.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Why is it always "that sexual assault perpetrator is a brilliant man who has contributed so much to science so we should excuse his behavior" and not "look how many women and girls will never contribute to science because he ruined their lives".
November 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Why is it always "that sexual assault perpetrator is a brilliant man who has contributed so much to science so we should excuse his behavior" and not "look how many women and girls will never contribute to science because he ruined their lives".
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
I don’t have a whole lot of advice for people younger than me but the earlier in life you stop worrying about what other people will think and just wholeheartedly enjoy the stuff you like the happier you’ll be
One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age:
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
Darn Tough turned me on to Cute Socks and I've never looked back
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
I don’t have a whole lot of advice for people younger than me but the earlier in life you stop worrying about what other people will think and just wholeheartedly enjoy the stuff you like the happier you’ll be
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Thei wante us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe, and Broadway to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop makinge a living. Thei want to sell us hell and have us pay for it.
November 7, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Thei wante us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe, and Broadway to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop makinge a living. Thei want to sell us hell and have us pay for it.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Should women be hated as witches or patronized as overgrown children? The paper of record debates the two available options.
November 6, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Should women be hated as witches or patronized as overgrown children? The paper of record debates the two available options.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Did Knee-Jerk Contrarianism Ruin the New York Times?
November 6, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Did Knee-Jerk Contrarianism Ruin the New York Times?
I can Wednesday with this to run on--hell, yeah!!!
NEW: Mississippi Democrats broke the Republican Party's supermajority in the state Senate tonight for the first time since 2011.
It came as Democrats flipped 2 Senate seats and 1 House seat.
“Mississippi just broke the supermajority—and the people have taken back their power,” the party says.
It came as Democrats flipped 2 Senate seats and 1 House seat.
“Mississippi just broke the supermajority—and the people have taken back their power,” the party says.
Mississippi Democrats Break Republican Senate Supermajority, Flipping 3 Legislative Seats
After 13 years, Mississippi Democrats broke the Republican Party's supermajority in the Mississippi Senate, flipping 3 legislative seats.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I can Wednesday with this to run on--hell, yeah!!!
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Thei wante us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe, and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to sell us hell and have us pay for it.
October 24, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Thei wante us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe, and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to sell us hell and have us pay for it.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Just a thought: How about we stop shaming the poor for buying things that may not be essential, and start shaming the rich for making a profit off things that are essential?
October 23, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Just a thought: How about we stop shaming the poor for buying things that may not be essential, and start shaming the rich for making a profit off things that are essential?
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
everything else sucks so bad except the story of the dam removals and the returning salmon. i guess if we all die at least we die with salmon
For the first time in more than 100 years, Chinook salmon have been spotted at the confluence of the Sprague and Williamson rivers in Chiloquin, the government seat of the Klamath Tribes in Southern Oregon.
Salmon clear last Klamath dams, reaching Williamson and Sprague rivers
Just a year after four dams were removed, a group of fall Chinook have migrated nearly 300 miles into the Upper Klamath Basin.
www.opb.org
October 18, 2025 at 3:37 AM
everything else sucks so bad except the story of the dam removals and the returning salmon. i guess if we all die at least we die with salmon
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
“Today, Dr. Frankenstein's descendants keep promising that Al won't destroy civilization while ignoring Shelley's point, that the inventor is more dangerous than his monster.”
October 17, 2025 at 10:11 AM
“Today, Dr. Frankenstein's descendants keep promising that Al won't destroy civilization while ignoring Shelley's point, that the inventor is more dangerous than his monster.”
If you walk in a two-way hall, follow driving rules. (THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING)
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 17, 2025 at 5:51 AM
If you walk in a two-way hall, follow driving rules. (THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING)
Canon👇
We should teach Shakespeare to high schoolers by highlighting the dirty jokes.
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 14, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Canon👇
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
"That's all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don't know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won't matter if we don't survive these times."
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
August 27, 2025 at 9:38 PM
"That's all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don't know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won't matter if we don't survive these times."
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Read this thread.
We could all use a bit of hope, love, compassion and a reminder of the good in the world.
We could all use a bit of hope, love, compassion and a reminder of the good in the world.
Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.
After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵
After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵
October 5, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Read this thread.
We could all use a bit of hope, love, compassion and a reminder of the good in the world.
We could all use a bit of hope, love, compassion and a reminder of the good in the world.
Reposted by NotYourAverageSpice
Journalism and teaching are some of the most valuable yet thankless jobs in our society. I want to thank everyone who wakes up in the morning excited to teach others or inform their fellow humans for terrible pay.
October 2, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Journalism and teaching are some of the most valuable yet thankless jobs in our society. I want to thank everyone who wakes up in the morning excited to teach others or inform their fellow humans for terrible pay.