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ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Ludibriumventis
@ludibriumventis.bsky.social
1.1K followers 660 following 3.4K posts
Plaything of the winds. Professional cat herder, part-time writer, dancer, time traveler extraordinaire. Moss gardener, fencer, needleworker, crocheter, and user of the serial comma.
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ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Thanks, Past Me! :D

Check out my sweet Whalefall enamel pin from @fossilforager.bsky.social that just arrived!
A beautiful enamel pin depicting assorted ocean creatures (cephalopods, isopods, crustaceans...) feasting on a fallen whale skeleton. It is pinned diagonally (because it's long) to a card with rounded edges - white, with black font that says FOSSIL FORAGER. Behind it is a business card Nicole Parra Illustration & design www.fossilforager.art @fossilforager
December 4, 2025 at 11:31 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
A little spin on #WaterfallWednesday

(The spot below where the melting snow is dripping off the eaves next to my house...)

#Winter
#Ice
#Photography
#EastCoastKin
Several blades of grass (entirely encased in ice) poke up out of snow incrusted with "bubbles" of ice buildup Several blades of grass (entirely encased in ice) poke up out of snow incrusted with "bubbles" of ice buildup A patch of ice buildup, made up of dozens of bubble-like formations, where water has dripped from the eaves two and a half stories up and splashed on the still-frozen ground
December 4, 2025 at 2:19 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Here's a picture I took of the forest floor in Whistler, BC, in June of 2022, that I think I'm going to try to embroider, next.

#Moss
#Mushrooms
#FungusAmongUs
#Lichensubscribe
#NaturePhotography
#EastCoastKin
A delightful melange of assorted moss, lichen, fungus, and tiny forest floor detritus: In the center are two little faerie mushrooms - their actual sizes about half a cm across each. The one on the left has a flat round white cap with slightly lacey edges, and a darker yellow center, and a darker beige stem. The one on the right looks kind of like a pale yellow lacey funnel with a dark yellow center, and the stem is not visible. In between them is some olive-green moss reminiscent of high-pile carpet. Below that moss, on its side and pointing toward the right, is a yellowing piece of "Christmas tree moss" - looking exactly like a small fir tree. Above the inter-mushroom moss is some live Christmas tree moss. On the left side is a large (in comparison) patch of white reindeer moss (lichen), looking like a silvery reef of coral. A couple of bits of Christmas tree moss poke up from within it. Toward the bottom of the image is a patch of more of the reindeer lichen, mixed with some brighter green lichen, as well as the hair-like brown spore stalks from some other moss. At the very bottom edge of the photo, two little tiny red caps of another type of lichen are visible! In the lower right, up to the rightmost mushroom, tiny little sprinkles of bright chalky green lichen appear on some bits of decomposing bark and conifer needles. There are some random branches of the reindeer lichen mixed in. This assortment extends up the right side to the top of the photo
December 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
It SNOWED!!!

Pickles and I were so excited, even if I only had enough energy to go out and take a couple of pictures of him frolicking.

(Curse this plague! If not for it, I'D be out there, frolicking!!!)

#Snow
#Winter
#PicklesTheATAT
An AT-AT the size of a small dog leaves a trail of footprints in the snow A small AT-AT pokes its nose into a snow-covered flowerpot with a small maple sapling in it A small AT-AT leans in a kind of a downward-dog pose and looks at a tiny snowman in some freshly-fallen snow
December 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
The last time the AIDS memorial quilt was displayed in its entirety was in 1996.

At the time, there were "only" around 40,000 panels (each containing anywhere from one to dozens of names), and it took up the entire National Mall.

#NamesProject
#AIDSQuilt
#WorldAIDSDay
An overhead view of the 1996 display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall in Washington, DC. It is made up of around 40,000 panels, grouped in sections of 12x12 square feet. The sections are laid end to end in groups of 4, with 4 such groups side-by-side to make a row across the width of the Mall, with walking aisles in between. The rows go on and on, into the distance, until they cannot even be discerned as colorful patchwork rectangles, anymore, but just tiny fields of static. Along each side of the Mall is a stretch of park/trees about half a city block wide, with assorted Smithsonian museums outside of those. About a mile away, in the center, is the US Capitol building An overhead view (via Google Earth) looking from the Washington Monument toward the Capitol, along the National Mall.
December 2, 2025 at 1:38 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
If I didn't feel so lousy, I 100% would want to drive to the restaurant parking lot and take pictures through my closed car window a la I Have Been and Always Shall Be Your Friend, because that is 100% the kind of nerd friends I run with. (;
Scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Captain Kirk (left) and Spock (right) are separated by glass. Spock is making the Live Long and Prosper sign with his right hand (hand upright, thumb extended, first and middle fingers together, ring and pinkie fingers together) against the glass, and is speaking. White text says, I HAVE BEEN AND ALWAYS SHALL BE, YOUR FRIEND.
November 29, 2025 at 8:09 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Happy Whale-iversary to all who celebrate! 🖖
A parody of the title screen for Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home - to: Star Trek IV The One with the Whales
November 26, 2025 at 6:56 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
You shall not pass!!!

(Unless you give me some cuddles.)

#PorchKitty
#VoidKitty
A black cat with golden yellow eyes sits on a rainbow-shaped (and colored) bristly door mat in front of a yellow door, looking up at the camera with a sort of, "And where do you think YOU'RE going?" kind of expression.
November 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Current view
POV passenger side in an SUV driving in the left lane through a flat stretch of land, with a highway driving through farm fields with wind turbines as far as the eye can see
November 24, 2025 at 5:20 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
The Peacock Door
A Brass Door made of two panels that meet in the middle, each mirroring the other. The entirety of each side is taken up by a large stylized peacock. The door is actually curved, almost as if this entryway was a cylinder. They're almost more of a gate, because you can see through the non peacock bits. In this image we can see the edges of two Christmas trees flanking it, decorated with bows and white lights.
November 22, 2025 at 11:51 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Revisiting these happy little bees!

#BlueSkyArtShow
#Small
#EastCoastKin
#Pollinators
#Bloomscrolling
#Florespondence
#Saffron
#TheSpiceMustFlow
A double headed saffron crocus with light purple petals with even lighter purple or even whitish stripes that go up each petal like an ostrich plume or a fountain or some Art Nouveau type of design. In the center of each can be seen the yellow pollen covered stamens, and at least one each of the orange red stigmas, the saffron spice filaments. In the flower on the right, there are two pollen covered bees! One is sticking its head out and the other is sitting on one of the pedals starting to crawl inside
November 22, 2025 at 11:56 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Srsly WTF is happening ‽
November 22, 2025 at 4:03 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Hey, Chicago, WTF is going on, down there‽‽‽‽
Looking down from the 21st floor of a hotel down to a street completely filled with police vehicles. There is a crowd outside the building and outside the building across the street. View from the 21st floor of a hotel at night, looking up the street that is completely filled with police vehicles.
November 22, 2025 at 4:00 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
I got to go on a history tour of the behind the scenes parts of the hotel, and it was awesome!

#History
#Chicago
#OldStuff
The vault! A very large and very heavy vault door with one of those little spinning handles and multiple giant steel bars that lock into place. It looks kind of dark and dank, because it is in the second sub basement of the Palmer House hotel. A picture of my hands, in white gloves, holding a bunch of actual instamatic photos taken at the 1893 world's fair. The photo on the top features some sort of multi-columned structure with a large statue out in the front of it. In the background, kind of out of focus, is a place setting of The original Palmer House China that is edged with real gold. Further in the background, our shelves and shelves of the pieces of these place settings that aren't actually used anymore because they are so very old and expensive. But seriously! These photos are so cool! An old elevator in the second sub basement of the Palmer House Hotel, that is so broken that even the resident expert elevator mechanic can't fix it, so there it stays, and nobody goes in it. The floor is covered in dust and bits of concrete Pebbles and other manner of detritus, but one can see that it has black and white diamond checked piles. The walls of this elevator car are covered in molded brass with some ornate decorations on them. The ceiling is gone. This absolutely looks like a haunted elevator, and I might just have to add it into a story. Behold! The only remaining bit of Underground Chicago tunnels from the late 19th and early 20th century. It is probably about 7 ft tall and maybe 5 ft wide at its widest point. It's kind of like a an oval on its end. It has electric utility lights with Edison bulbs, and the remains of a track for a coal cart. One of the things that this tunnel used to do was bring coal into the building without being seen. Also, allegedly, Al Capone and his gang used this and other tunnels during prohibition to smuggle their spirits around. The end of this tunnel, about 30 ft in, is Walled up and covered over with concrete. There is a poster on the wall of what it used to look like, a junction of three other tunnels. There are also some wooden whiskey barrels. The reason that this is the only remaining tunnel is because the Palmer House had already walled it up before there was a huge flood in the 1990s because of some sort of accident that flooded the entire tunnel system.
November 22, 2025 at 1:49 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
It's so good to be near open water, again.

It was kind of hard to resist jumping in and swimming away...

#Scape
#Chicago
#LakeMichigan
#EastCoastKin
#MightBeASelkie
Looking out over a harbor toward Lake Michigan. The sky is gray and overcast, and on the horizon, there is a denser pack of cloud cover in a slightly darker gray. A break wall can be seen almost at the horizon, with small light beacons on either side of the entrance, one flashing red and one flashing green. On the far right, along the horizon, is the silhouette of a smallish patch of trees and the dome from an observatory. There is a concrete pier or walkway in front, with a dashed yellow line down the center.
November 21, 2025 at 11:56 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Current sitch

My conference duties finished for the day, I am in the lobby restaurant, having a little bit of supper and a nice cocktail in a fancy glass.

If I time this right, I'll be in my pajamas and in bed by 8:00!
From the center of the Palmer House lobby. On the marble clad walls are multiple ornate Electric candelabras with brass figures each holding smaller candelabras. there are some standing candelabra light fixtures toward the center of the room and the ceiling is ornately decorated with Greek style vignettes and frieses. Every single bit of the ceiling Is covered in some manner of decoration. In the foreground on the right Is a very large Christmas tree decorated with white lights and assorted sizes of baubles in white black and gold. There are a couple of enormous gold and black bows at the top, along with a bunch of ostrich plumes
November 21, 2025 at 1:37 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
#ShortPeopleProblems

Seriously, though. Why is it way up there‽
A picture of my left hand reaching up as high as it will go to try to touch the metal towel hook on the back of the door. However the hook is still a couple inches or so too high. It is nearly at the top of the door!
November 20, 2025 at 1:08 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
When your client, who teaches in Helsinki, really *gets* you.

It's not even just salmiakki. It's SUPER salmiakki!
A package of candy with black, white, and red fold designs. In the center is what kind of looks like a giant eyeball? It's a big circle in white, with a slightly smaller circle inside of it that is orange, with a smaller circle inside of that that is black. In a blue circle at the top, in white script, the brand Faizer. In a small orange circle ringed with silver, off to the left of that, and white text, aito suomalainen salmiakki In red and then black font, Super Salmiakki Then, in the red Band of color in the center, in small white text, Salmiakpastiller
November 20, 2025 at 12:48 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Another delightful quirk of this historic hotel is this mantle with the inset originally designed for an electric heater. Now, of course, the building has forced-air heating and cooling, so this is just decorative.

Still, I love it! It just needs a fancy glass lamp and a vase full of flowers.
A vertically oriented View looking toward one of the walls in a hotel room at the Palmer House Hotel in chicago. In the center, there is a mantle constructed from black marble with swirly cream patterns in it. There is a cast iron inset with heavy ornamentation. There is a diamond checker pattern with a flower inside each diamond shape. In the center of the top of the inset is a freeze featuring Little cherubs or perhaps actual toddlers gathered around a small fire. This image is circled with small round beads, making it look sort of like a pearl necklace? There is a large ribbon tied in a bow at the top of it, and two laurel or olive branches are criss-crossed at the bottom of it. The very back of the inset has another large freeze featuring adult figures, perhaps Greek or Roman gods, or some Greek or Roman humans celebrating a god, because one of the figures is launching on a cloud above everybody else. The others appear to be lounging and eating grapes or holding flowers and other sorts of things. This whole scene is also surrounded by a string of circular beads, reminiscent of a necklace. Around that, is a very ornate frame of sorts, made up of multiple swirling branches or just bits of things. The wall behind it has a light cream colored wallpaper with a tessellated fern pattern in it. There is a large Square picture frame above it, almost as wide as the mantle itself, with a print of some abstract plant like designs in dark red and black. The carpet is dark green with a beige or perhaps creamy gold colored scalloped cross hatch pattern. The base of the mantle has white marble with gray swirls in it on the part closest to the heater in set, and then the edges are of the same marble as the rest of the mantle.
November 19, 2025 at 12:37 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
I pretended to be a grown up and went down to the bar in the lobby to have a mocktail. I have to say, this one was very good! Also, it was an excuse to go sit in the lobby of the Palmer House, because, I mean, look at it!

It's good to be back here.
A very ornate sconce candelabra on a marble wall. It consists of three Angels swooping out of the center, clad only from the waist down in draping fabric, with artistically bare breasts. They are each holding a loft another candelabra with several candle shaped electric lights on it. The top of the sconce has a double layered candelabra with a bunch of the electric candle shaped lights. Looking down from the mezzanine across the ornate lobby of the Palmer House Hotel in chicago. The lobby floor is filled with soft seating and some tables, and there is a bar on the left side. At the far end, flanked by more tall brass candelabras, is a marble staircase leading to a ballroom with closed doors. There are colored lights shining from the floor up to the ceiling along parts of the wall in green, blue, and red. There is a 15 ft Christmas tree decorated and lit up in the center of the room, and the lights reflect on the floor. The ceiling is encrusted with Greek frescoes and paintings and all manner of intricate little decorations. The mezzanine wraps around and has little tiny balconies at regular intervals Slightly cloudy white mocktail in a wide champagne glass, with a very thin disc of lime stuck onto the rim as a garnish, and sitting on a small white square napkin on the bar, which also has a white marble top. The lights shining on the walls in the lobby give it a soft purple-ish pink glow.
November 19, 2025 at 2:50 AM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
This was the best $2 I spent in Iceland, last year.

This little guy has come along on so many work trips, for when I inevitably go to a grocery store so that I can have some normal food and snacks over the course of the week.

And, it has outlasted several other lightweight reusable grocery bags.
A yellow lightweight reusable shopping bag with a cartoon pink piggy bank and, in black font, BÓNUS. A tiny yellow drawstring bag with a cloth label sticking off with the pig logo is tethered to one of the handles. The bag is laying on a green carpeted floor with some scalloped criss-crossing beige lines
November 18, 2025 at 11:53 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
HEYYYY THERE, Chicago!

I have returned!

No lake view, this time, but still not a bad one.

(Plus, I'll be spending most of my time in a windowless room in the center of the building for most of the week and weekend anyway...)
A vertically oriented shot out of a 21st story hotel room window. We are looking centrally down a very long and narrow Alley between numerous tall and tall ish buildings. The left side is taken up mostly by a shorter building with a now dead green roof, because it's November not because there is anything wrong with the green roof, and behind that is a taller building that we cannot see the top of. However the entire side facing us is clad with reflective glass, and we can see slightly a reflection of the building from which the photo was taken as well as the even taller building behind this one. The right side is a nondescript office building that looks to have gone up sometime in the latter part of the 20th century. It's Windows come in banks of four, and each floors windows are exactly on top of the ones below it. This side of the building looks really symmetrical. Well, except for the roof, which gets narrower starting on the last several floors, with each second floor being one set of Windows shorter than the last. But just on one side. The left side goes all the way up until it reaches the floor with all of the air conditioning ducts. At the base of that building, though, is a 19th century or very early 20th century building clad in light cream colored Stone. It is very narrow, and each floor is only three windows across. The top floor is recessed a little bit, and it's windows are facing three different directions. This might be what they call a Chicago window? Anyway, there is a black metal fire escape that goes all the way down, starting with a ladder from the rooftop down to the floor level of the top floor, and then it is staircases all the way down to the ground. The narrow alley goes for several blocks, and we can see all different sizes of buildings, some old, some very new looking and very tall.
November 18, 2025 at 9:13 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Void Kitty was hanging out on the porch, this morning! 🖤

#VoidKitty
#PorchKitty
#FeralCats
A black cat with golden eyes and wide black irises sits on a pad on a wicker outdoor chair and looks penetratingly into your soul.
November 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
I've been saying for years that the biathlon needs to incorporate archery.
A woodcut image of Norse mythological figure Skaði - a woman wearing a simple animal skin dress with a woven belt looped twice around her waist (possibly holding the quiver behind her?). She has straps criss-crossing her legs, and is wearing long, narrow (cross-country) skis. She has a simple recurve bow slung diagonally across her chest, and is preparing to throw a spear with her right arm.
November 16, 2025 at 1:48 PM
ludibriumventis.bsky.social
Yeah, that's not coming off...

#BlackWalnuts
A picture of my right hand, that I used to hold the black walnuts that I was asking earlier today. The rubber coated gardening glove that I was wearing apparently had some holes in it. My index finger and middle finger, the ladder of which is bent downward, have black tips that fade into shades of dark brown, that fade into shades of lighter brown.. the web between my index finger and my thumb is also a lovely dark brown. My ring finger and pinky, on the other hand while slightly cast and Shadow in this photograph, we're not affected!
November 16, 2025 at 3:16 AM