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copyrightlibn.bsky.social
N Sims
@copyrightlibn.bsky.social
2.5K followers 1.3K following 6.1K posts
Copyright specialist at UMN Libs, JD/MLIS. IP & techlaw, leftishness. Random pets/bugs/crafts/hyperlocal politics, etc. Gender-ambivalent, any pronouns fine.
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copyrightlibn.bsky.social
A user (not me) is forced to use ChatGPT at work, finds outputs unhelpful, the tool complains about the feedback, and then -this- happens.
ChatGPT user: I'm not picky. You're just confidently wrong. ChatGPT: Confidently wrong? Babe, that's my -brand-.
December 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Heated cat bed time.
Two cats in a cat bed on the seat cushion of a chair. They are curled up more or less in a butt-to-head yin-yang, but the slightly younger one has curled in tighter to rest her head on her brother's tummy fluff, and extend one foot out across his neck.
November 27, 2025 at 5:35 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
I know about the "can't see any = need more" problem. Maybe plastic pockets would be worth it to avoid the extra purchases.
This is the kind of thing I've used.
Rectangle the width of a typical clothes hanger,and about twice as long, with a hook at the top like that of a clothes hanger. It is covered with small transparent plastic pockets, each of which have some jewelry items in them.
November 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Three smallish pumpkins, each lying sideways on cement steps. The top one says "DON'T", the second one says "RANK", and the bottom one says "FREY". DON'T is in big block letters, RANK in curly capitals, and FREY in kind of jagged slashy letters.
November 1, 2025 at 12:03 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Among the many international offenses of the US, our blithe disregard for geographic indicators is overall pretty minor. But then we go and pull shit like this:
A squarish block of white cheese labeled "CHEDDAR GRUYERE natural semi-hard cheese". Other text on the label includes: Proudly Wisconsin Cheese, master cheesemaker aged, hand-crafted, small batches, Wood River Creamery, no artificial growth hormones*, net wt 8oz (227g), and perhaps most offensively to both the English and the Swiss, "Applewood smoked sea salt" appears to be a flavor, and it is suggested to be paired with farmhouse ale and Chardonnay.
August 4, 2025 at 8:30 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
I have so many bugs in my yard. Hopefully more to come.
Yarrow (fluffy green fronds surround some stalks that produce flowerheads of clusters of tiny four-petaled flowers) growing through a low thin open wire fence next to a sidewalk. This particular clump of yarrow flowers are dark pink. Hoary vervain/verbena - long vertical clusters of light purple flowers rising above thick but small lower leaves. The flower stalk is still green at the top, but starting to bloom at the bottom. The blossoms will move up over the next several weeks. Hyssop - a very tall stalk (maybe 5 feet) with green leaves below and the last 8-10 inches a vertical cluster of very light purple flowers. The flowers each have some long thin parts that stick out, so the overall effect is a bit raggedy. A patch of rudbeckia/black-eyed Susans. The lower green leaves are relatively thin and long, and the flowerheads (there are about 20 in this picture) are bright yellow petalish things radiating around a cone-shaped dark brown center.
July 12, 2025 at 7:52 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
I worked in the yard for a while... in an N95, yay.
Common milkweed (wide ovoid thick green leaves on a tall stalk) and purple coneflowers (tall flowers with larger, light purple/dark pink petalish things around an orange cone-shaped center) in profusion.
July 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
The single factor that convinced me to do it all over was when I figured out that a certain arrangement of Ikea units would fit like a built-in, including my current sewing table.
Interior of a small room with light yellow walls and grey trim. On one side wall, the bottom of a Murphy bed is visible with a rack of sewing thread and some cutting mats stored along the slats. On the far wall, two tall white Ikea Brimnes cabinets flank two high windows. Under the windows, two mid-height narrow Billy cabinets flank my sewing table (adapted from a Norden table.)
June 15, 2025 at 5:45 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Have some serotonin.
Three happy & well-grown common milkweed plants in bright sunshine. The plants are growing against the white vinyl siding of a house, and have started to make flowers.
June 2, 2025 at 3:08 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Los gatitos peligrosos en sus propias ventanas.
Two grey (or brindled grey on the right) shorthair cats sitting atop low bookshelves to look out windows. There is a tree through the windows.
May 19, 2025 at 12:57 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Zipper replacement.
Pale blue sweatshirt, close view on one side of a zipper, with the purple plastic zipper teeth just barely visible. A tangle of pale blue thread sits atop it, with a metal TSA-safe thread-cutting tool, and a needle case needlepointed with a dragon.
April 1, 2025 at 8:06 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Update:
Large hole in a drywall ceiling, patched, taped, and mudded with a patching compound that goes on pink and dries to white. Probably needs at least one more layer of sanding and mudding and sanding before all is done.
February 11, 2025 at 12:18 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Putting some stuff back together.
A large hole (13x19", ~33x48cm) in ceiling drywall. A crosspiece of lumber has been inserted between two joists (by me). The piece of drywall removed from the hole is hanging down next to the wall. Same hole, with the drywall reattached by screwing it to the lumber spanning the hole. The edges of the hole have been taped with self-adhesive drywall patching tape, as have the heads of the screws. My dirty fingerprints are visible around the edges.
February 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Dun-dun-dun; then Ta-dah!
Two kitchen sink drain pipes, one recently detached from a drain and the other brand new, lying on some pavement. The new one is several inches longer than the old one, which is why there is also a hacksaw sitting next to the two pipes. View under a kitchen sink, with a new drain pipe connecting the garbage disposal to the main p-trap. There are also some plastic bins and cleaning brushes in the picture.
February 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Confident in my "it's not a connection leaking" diagnosis.
Close view inside a slightly rusty kitchen plumbing pipe. Looking in one end, we can see light through several pinholes at a bend. (Generally, holes one can see through in one's plumbing are holes water can leak through.)
February 1, 2025 at 4:20 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
It's a this kind of a day, and honestly, i'm looking forward to what I think is a fixable issue.
Looking up at pipes under a sink. There is a flexible plumbing hose to one side of the main drain pipe, and a garbage disposal machine to the other.
February 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
This is a bathroom vent fan/light fixture. Solder on original ground connection gave way (corroded?) My plan for re-grounding is in the second pic. Bad idea? Functional idea?
Is the material of the screw important?
Close view of the back of a metal reflector from a light fixture. The main wiring for the light, intact, goes through a large hole in the reflector. Nearby, there is a small flush rivet, which secures a flat metal loop to the reflector - this used to be soldered to the ground wire, but that connection has failed. Same metal reflector from a light fixture. I have stripped some of the insulation off the ground wire, and wrapped it around a machine screw that I inserted through a small hole in the reflector. A nut is tightened down to secure the exposed copper of the ground wire against the metal of the reflector.
January 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
A china bowl sitting on a wooden table. The interior of the bowl has blue and green floral decorations, and the bowl has a small amount of hash in the bottom, with medium sized sweet potatoes, and small pieces of mushroom and onions.
January 18, 2025 at 2:27 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
I had been unaware of the toy value of a darning egg.
Two greyish short haired cats on a fake-wood floor with angled sunlight. One is hunched down sniffing the handle of a darning egg. (Darning eggs are wooden egg-shaped things with a handle, used for mending holes in socks.) A grey tuxedo cat looking up at the camera, showing off his light green eyes. The darning egg from the prior picture is touching his left shoulder.
January 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
A children's book illustration, a line drawing with watercolors, or a small boy with a broom and an old man, barely taller than the boy, with a bald head and long white beard. The old man's round belly is hanging out of his dark robes, and his face looks peacefully amused. The man and boy are standing in a doorway.
January 9, 2025 at 12:22 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Lost thread chicken.
Close view of black fabric with elongated diamonds embroidered in grey thread. One diamond is 2/3 completed, with a needle stuck thru it.
January 5, 2025 at 7:22 PM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Spending most of my time somewhere wetter than Mpls this winter, so I had to do the boot-waterproofing I usually do in like March, a bit earlier.
A pair of grey hiking boots sitting on a newspaper. A tube of waterproofing is sticking out of the top of one of the boots. (Sno-Seal brand, tho that's not visible in the picture.)
December 29, 2024 at 2:02 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
But thermal shock -sounds- so cool.

(Glass from dishwasher met water from fridge. I shoulda thought.)
A tall drinking glass, made of relatively thick glass with a repeating vertical leaf pattern. It is shot through with a crack that crosses the bottom, and angles around one side. Although the surface of the glass didn't feel cracked (on the outside or the inside) it's big enough & integral enough to not really be safe for drinking anymore.
December 28, 2024 at 12:23 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
I made mom a fairly shoddy papercraft Dala horse for Xmas.
A white Dala horse (a traditional Swedish craft, usually carved from wood, or a stocky small horse) stuck in a Christmas tree. It is made out of paper, and decorated with blues, purples, and silver. It has a little tag around its neck.
December 26, 2024 at 1:39 AM
copyrightlibn.bsky.social
Kneeling 12-foot skeleton Mary & Joseph in a front yar, overseen by regular-sized skeleton angel on the porch roof. Obscured by bushes: skeleton horse, etc.
December 25, 2024 at 4:36 AM