Mixed Metaphors
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mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Mixed Metaphors
@mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
710 followers 1.1K following 2.1K posts
reader, writer, vegan, techie, shiba inu, mixer of metaphors. He/him.
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mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Sometimes in the morning I get a coffee and write in One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn and they have a large family tree on the wall that is very helpful for coming up with character names.

#amwriting
A large family tree is mounted on the wall of a cafe. It's not a typical tree design, but a kind of bowtie shape that radiates out from the center. It appears to be hand lettered and was likely moved from some other wall when this cafe was built. I won't list every name, but the center of the shape is a flowered circle with the names Nate and Camille.
November 26, 2025 at 1:08 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Woody’s death in Toy Story 4 is causing a nightmare for the next film. Writers are stuck because Woody “was blown to pieces.”

Buzz Lightyear, author of three Toy Story novels, says:

“You can't have him wake up in shower and saying it was all a dream."
Text that is a very lazily adjusted version of the James Bond text from last week's discourse: BUZZ LIGHTYEAR, the novelist commissioned by the PIXAR estate to write three official TOY STORY books, echoed the concern. He said: "The last time we saw WOODY he was poisoned and blown to smithereens -- how will they get past the fact he is dead with a capital D? I think was a mistake, because WOODY is a legend. He belongs to everybody, he is eternal -- except in that film. If I was asked tomorrow to write the script, I wouldn't be able to do it. Where would you start? You can't have him waking up in the shower and saying it was all a dream."
November 14, 2025 at 6:44 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
A non-religious photo you think of as holy.

Lots of musicians and movie stills with this prompt. But I've always thought of Falling Water as a holy site. Even a photograph takes my breath away.
A photo of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. A cantilevered home juts out over a waterfall.
November 11, 2025 at 1:31 AM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I'm just a few pages into the new Helen DeWitt and it does NOT disappoint.
Text from a book that reads: He says: Yeah. So the point of the book is to get the message across, without actually coming out and saying in so many words, You stupid fucking morons, you're learning fucking elf languages.
November 6, 2025 at 11:49 AM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I've been reading some books with meta-books inside of them lately: Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Plot and Jason Mott's Hell of a Book. Also Percival Everett's Erasure. Plus I'm always thinking about Nabokov's Pale Fire.

I love a good book-in-a-book meta-narrative, though it's always risky.

#booksky
The cover of the book The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, which is mostly just the words "The Plot" in big capital letters with what I think is a view looking up out of an unfilled cemetary plot at a blue sky.
November 5, 2025 at 4:26 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
#fireplace
November 4, 2025 at 11:17 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I'm roasting two different types of squash.
A view inside an oven, with a delicata squash cut into circles on the top rack and a butternut squash cut up into cubes on the bottom rack.
November 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I once attended a dinner party with this guy!

(Screenshot at the 0:18 mark from the NYT video: www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...)
A runner in the NYC marathon is juggling three balls in the air as he "joggles" his way through the race.
November 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
In an unintentional Halloween-themed #booksky, I'm reading The Barre Incidents by Lauren Bolger, published by @malarkeybooks.bsky.social. Very ghosty and spooky so far, terrific writing, very character-driven, wonderful atmosphere. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Cover of the book The Barre Incidents by Lauren Bolger. It's a creepy picture of a cemetery with the negative space creating the outline of a skull.
October 31, 2025 at 3:38 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Maybe not a traditional horror novel, but Samantha Hunt books always get me. Mr. Splitfoot as well.
Cover for the book The Seas by Samantha Hunt
October 31, 2025 at 12:23 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
How does one say this business name out loud?
A large hotel sign atop a tall pole set against the expansive graying sky. The sign reads "Red Roof Plus +" Note that the first "plus" is the word spelled out and the second "+" is the symbol.
October 27, 2025 at 6:50 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I walked past this bit of sidewalk again after watching One Battle After Another and it was raining, and the pattern was even more apparent. So here is a second picture of the same sidewalk for all you sidewalk photo perfectionists.
A square of cement sidewalk. Some artifact of chalk or rain or time has left faint streaks that look almost like tiger stripes. This time in the rain!
October 12, 2025 at 10:42 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
A sidewalk pattern in Brooklyn. I can't tell if this is the remnants of fading chalk art, or just some random effect of rain and concrete and time.
A square of cement sidewalk. Some artifact of chalk or rain or time has left faint streaks that look almost like tiger stripes.
October 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
A gorgeous beaver dam near the #AppalachianTrail at Beartown Mountain, MA.

I love how the autumn leaves have collected on the water like a woven carpet.

The water level is very low elsewhere in the forest, so I hope this spot is providing some comfort to all the animals.
A beaver dam has created a small lake in the forest. The autumn leaves have collected on the surface of the water at the dam, making it look like a plateau of land. A close up of the beaver dam. The sticks and logs are piled and entwined like knitting, the leaves collected on the water are like a speckled carpet.
October 7, 2025 at 12:59 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I decided this little #porcupine needed slightly better production value, so I've stitched together several views.

Additional notes: I took these videos on the Charcoal Trail of Olivia's Overlook in Richmond, MA.
October 2, 2025 at 1:28 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Important news: a porcupine eating dinner.
October 2, 2025 at 1:06 AM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
25# shorty super strength beer bag
A brown paper bag with the words "#25 shorty super strength beer bag" in block print
September 27, 2025 at 11:57 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Lovely, layered, textured, knobby, fat, cantilevered, patterned, beautiful #mushrooms from my morning walk.
Flat mushrooms grow in cantilevered layers on a fallen tree branch, each mushroom with a brown rainbow pattern. A fat knobby mushroom grows in a grass patch, two pinecone guardians at its flank.
September 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Autumnal wildflowers line the entry path to a forest walk.

#autumn #wildflowers #berkshires
A view into a forest, with a trail of wild flowers growing all together in a variety of autumnal colors. There are multiple shades of purple asters, some yellow goldenrod, and red and white blooms as well.
September 23, 2025 at 9:02 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Am I alone in thinking "COFFEE FLAVORED AMARETTO COFFEE" is a confusing way to describe amaretto flavored coffee beans?
A closeup image of the label on a bag of Fairway coffee beans that reads "COFFEE FLAVORED AMARETTO COFFEE"
September 8, 2025 at 1:20 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
It's the Captain Kirk "Khan!!!" meme except the text says "TRRRRRROPE!!!!!"
September 7, 2025 at 9:40 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Sometimes my dog does a little leg tuck as well, but he's a shiba inu and they are very cat like. I couldn't find a good loaf photo but I do love the little knot of legs in this one.
A red shiba inu dog sleeping on a carpet, with his legs tucked into a little pile.
August 23, 2025 at 12:50 AM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
Look at this velvety suburban deer! Look at that leg tuck!
A deer lounges in the matchbook back yard of a suburban lot. It has velvety antlers and its front legs tucked under its belly like a cat.
August 22, 2025 at 9:38 PM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
I just finished reading Daniel Mason's North Woods and now I'm going to have to go to bed feeling that gnawing sadness only a great book can leave inside of you.

Amazing novel. The trees of Western Massachusetts.

🖋️📚💙
The cover of Daniel Mason's novel North Woods. It's a painting of a catamount lounging on a green field.
August 17, 2025 at 2:32 AM
mixedmetaphors.bsky.social
This was a trap! I zoomed in to see the fangs, as instructed, and now I am the vampire's thrall!
A zoomed in version of the vampire drawing, focused on just the eyes, nose, and befanged mouth. If you look in her eyes too closely you will be hypnotized.
August 16, 2025 at 7:57 PM