Janet Lunde
LightNews LightNews
banner
janetlunde.bsky.social
Janet Lunde
@janetlunde.bsky.social
2.6K followers 1.1K following 8.6K posts
Local politics nerd. Anti-fascist. Black lives matter. Trans rights are human rights. She/her.

Account prone to cat & flower pix!

Pittsburgh
Posts Replies Media Videos
janetlunde.bsky.social
I once made a pumpkin pie from a Cooks Illustrated recipe that included maple syrup and candied yams that was tasty, but it was WAY too much work.

I endorse berry pie.

Chocolate cream pie is Just Wrong. Make a flourless chocolate tort instead!
Slice of flourless chocolate torte. It is obviously superior to pie. It’s basically a chocolate custard with attitude, and a chocolate ganache coating.
November 25, 2025 at 11:15 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
What is the correct Pie Take?

I made these, and they were all delicious.
Slice of apple pie. It’s holding together, as god intended, and there’s no gap between the apples and the top crust. Fresh fruit tarts. Sweet pie crust topped with custard and berries. Almond-pear tart. Sweet crust filled with frangipane and poached pear. It looks hella elegant. Three cherry pies. A bit singed, alas. Bottom crust with almond flour in it. Cherry filling. Crumb top crust with marzipan in it.
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
“You will be visited by three spirits.”

The three spirits
3 cats sleeping on a couch, cuddled together. One is an adult and the other two are 2-month-old kittens.
November 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
What immediately came to my mind was some poser explaining pentesting and kubernetes to Ian Coldwater.
An exchange on Twitter. The account cyberpunk_fixer@cybe_rpunkfixer says "if its the one in pen tester academy labs then yes, if not then no. if that answers your question and you have more feel free to ask." lan Coldwater replies: "Look it up, baby. You'll see my name on it."
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Spent some time with the Pittsburgh Overpass Project (POP) above 376 at rush hour.

I was struck by how many people were coming over this bridge on bikes -- there more bike commuters than I realized!

@pittsburghoverpass.bsky.social
Three people holding flags and standing on the sidewalk on a bridge over a freeway. You can see a bit of the banner that's on the bridge chainlink to be read by the cars below -- the full banner says NO MORE KINGS.
November 24, 2025 at 10:45 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Ah, the pleasures of the “Thursday Murder Club” books.

This is from the latest. Retired union leader Ron, speaking to his little grandson.
Kendrick tugs at his hand. "Have you ever been in a war, Grandad?" "Miners' strike 1974," says Ron. Kendrick nods. "Why did the miners strike though?" Ron feels his chest fill. "Let me tell you a few things about late-stage capitalism, Kenny." "Yessss!" says Kendrick.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
The drop in teenagers giving birth has been a nationwide trend, and some right-wing types are very upset about it.

www.congress.gov/crs-product/...
Chart showing births by age of the mother in the USA, by year. The number of births has been declining since 1991.
November 24, 2025 at 2:02 AM
janetlunde.bsky.social
The volunteers of the Pittsburgh Overpass Project (POP) got together for tacos and inspiration.
@pittsburghoverpass.bsky.social
An image projected on the wall reads THIS IS WHAT COURAGE LOOKS LIKE and show elected officials that Trump has said should be killed. There are volunteers sitting at tables eating and chatting. The tables are decorated with glass bridges with banners. This one reads DEFEND. Brad is sitting at the table smiling. Another table has a glass bridge and a banner reading DEMOCRACY. On the wall behind the buffet, there was a sheet of the orange plastic that POP uses for letters on banners. Drawn on it is a picture of a Monopoly style rich banker in a suite and top hat, with bags of money.
November 24, 2025 at 1:33 AM
janetlunde.bsky.social
My living room with 2 of my 17 bookcases, and some stacks of books. The dialog box from Facebook that you use to say why you don’t want to be tagged in a photo. The option that’s checked is “I'm in this photo and I don't like it”.
November 24, 2025 at 1:15 AM
janetlunde.bsky.social
a movie that takes place where you’re from
Actors Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis in the movie WITNESS (1985).
November 23, 2025 at 6:25 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Kij Johnson's "The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe" is an adventure novella, where the intrepid hero is a middle-aged professor of mathematics. It's categorized as Horror, which a genre that I don't like, but I loved this.

www.npr.org/2016/08/27/4...
In among the fantastical wonders and horrors that populate the book, what I loved most was Vellitt's perspective. It's rare to find questing adventure fantasy with an older woman as hero — rare to find books that allow women a glimpse of life after romances and happy endings. That Vellitt finds herself growing old, and reflects on it; that she looks in a mirror — that starchy staple trope! — and thinks about how she has aged without it being tragic, or a wicked spell to be reversed by story's end; that she wakes every morning with pain in her back and joints but goes on an adventure anyway; all these were nourishing gifts.
November 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Orange and white tabby cat asleep in a cat bed, with one front paw sticking up out of the bed.
November 23, 2025 at 2:59 AM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Ivan after 10 minutes of reading this site.
Grey cat laying on the top level of a cat tree. His front paws are crossed over each other. His head is slightly tilted down, and he’s looking at the camera in weary resignation.
November 22, 2025 at 6:58 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
I love the set.
Photo looking down on a stage set. The backs of the heads of audience member in the foreground. The play is set in a house in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood in 1980. There's a couch and recliner. The couch has a colorful crocheted afghan on the back. A table on the left has a bright pink tablecloth. There are paper decorations for a child's birthday part hung high on the wall.
November 22, 2025 at 2:49 AM
janetlunde.bsky.social
I'd planned to go to New York city in November, but cancelled when I saw how messed up air travel is.

I've bought tickets to 3 shows here in Pittsburgh this week, and the first one was terrific! "God of Carnage" at Barebones Productions.
The play "God of Carnage" takes place in a living room. This set shows a couch and two chairs, with a coffee table. The hallway also has a table, and there are big vases of tulips on both tables. The tulips and vases become important late in the play!
November 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Trans Day of Remembrance, Marching Vigil and Gathering on November 20th, 2025 6pm
Let us unite in mourning and anger!

ACT UP PGH
SILENCE = DEATH
ACT UP PGH. SILENCE = DEATH Trans Day of Remembrance, Marching Vigil and Gathering on November 20th, 2025 6pm Let us unite in mourning and anger! Join us for a marching vigil to mourn lost trans lives and express anger for the trans children who have been abandoned by UPMC. We will meet at the entrance to the Allegheny Cemetery on Penn Ave. Warm beverages and snacks will be provided. All ages welcome. We will be collecting donations for Trans Youniting.
November 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
When I don't feed my cat the good tuna, in light consommé.
Screenshot of Trump saying "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"
November 20, 2025 at 4:05 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance

Honor the memory of the trans people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-trans violence, and fight like hell to make everyone safe.

#TDOR
Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20th. We honor the memory of the trans people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-trans violence. #TDOR
November 20, 2025 at 3:40 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
"Can you be in an indoors space with more than 100 people, not wear a mask, and feel safe from catching COVID / flu / a cold?"

It depends!

These are all CO2 measurements from an Aranet. CO2 concentration is a proxy measure of how fresh the air is.
This shows 7.5 hours spent in the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Building, in the Ballroom, at a conference with over 200 people. The CO2 stayed pretty much below 600ppm the whole time. I felt fine taking of my mask to eat lunch, and to have glasses of water. The bus ride home after the conference. This was a large, bus with a lot of people on it. The ride was short, but the CO2 was 1593ppm, so we were definitely breathing each other's exhalations. I kept my mask on! At a show at Barebones theater from 8pm to 9:15pm. The CO2 started about 1000ppm and kept climbing. It peaked at 1780ppm. This is terrible. HVAC should be designed to keep things no higher than 1000ppm.
November 20, 2025 at 3:06 AM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Do I want to update my Zoom app from 666 to a newer version?
Why yes, yes I do! 😱
Screenshot from Zoom showing that my current version is 6.6.6 and asking if I want to update to version 6.6.10.
November 19, 2025 at 10:04 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Chatting & neither of us can think of someone's name. Other person puts a question into an AI tool. I type

"minnesota senator comedian -ai"

in Google. The search without any AI help returns an entire page of results about Al Franken.

You don't need AI to find information, for heavens sake!
A page of Google search results from the search string "minnesota senator comedian -ai". That -ai tells Google to not use any AI in the search. The links returned include The Guardian newspaper, the government Congressional website, YouTube, and Wikipedia.
November 19, 2025 at 5:31 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
I looked up nannyberry - Viburnum lentago - yet another nice viburnum! I’ve got a viburnum carlessi.
Pale pink flower on a shrub with small new spring leaves.
November 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Last bits of fall color in Pittsburgh.
Dark red leaves on an oakleaf hydrangea. Most of the leaves have fallen off this burning bush (Euonymus alatus) The last few leaves are bright red. There are also small, bright red berries.
November 19, 2025 at 4:51 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
Ivan isn’t impressed, but he’s a tough critic.
Grey cat on my lap looking sardonic.
November 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
janetlunde.bsky.social
There's no explanation for this madness.
Screenshot of Autocorrect suggesting that I change "many" to either "msny" or "manual".
November 18, 2025 at 2:58 PM