TrishEM
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pematson.bsky.social
TrishEM
@pematson.bsky.social
1.5K followers 410 following 1.2K posts
Award-winning journalism editor and writer, speculative fiction reviewer and podcaster, lover of games, music, audiodramas, wordplay and more. (She/her)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciamatson
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pematson.bsky.social
Here's another with a really vivid red! No touchup, just the Night Sight setting!
Same as above, except the red is really vivid here!
November 12, 2025 at 2:53 AM
pematson.bsky.social
Gorgeous Northern Lights tonight! The red is visible to the naked eye, but this is using the Night Sight setting on my Pixel 6 camera.
A broad band of crimson stretches down from the sky toward the trees on the horizon on the lower left, surrounded by greens that fade into the black night.
November 12, 2025 at 2:49 AM
pematson.bsky.social
Root beer float (house ice cream with Boylan'sl and a Big Eddie sundae at Shug's in Seattle after the end of #WorldCon2025.
August 18, 2025 at 1:12 AM
pematson.bsky.social
Had truly delicious salmon Benedict, plus a tasty sausage donated by a friend, at Bacco Cafe near Pike Place. Potatoes were okay. Alas, the side order buttermilk biscuits were dry, crumbly (should be FLAKY), and barely warm. #Worldcon2025
August 15, 2025 at 5:44 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Bought a salad and water at the Seattle Convention Center (Summit) and stepped out onto the lovely green Terrace on the third floor for a quick and quiet lunch. A lovely break! Breakfast was delicious, but protein heavy, huevas rancheros at Los Agaves at Pike Place. #Worldcon2025
Boxed salad at the Terrace, an outside garden space at the convention center. Lots of empty tables and chairs here at 1 15! Huevas rancheros on a thick corn taco with chorizo and other fixings at Los Agaves at Pike Place in Seattle.
August 14, 2025 at 8:24 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Hi Womble! I have a couple of ARCs in progress for future reviews, but right now I'm rereading Changer's Moon (1985) as I work on a retrospective of Jo Clayton's novels, which generally had female protagonists and addressed a lot of social issues during many adventures. What a great writer she was!
Cover of Changer's Moon, by Jo Clayton, featuring a green-skinned woman's head with flowers in her hair, floating in the sky, with a coyote's face in the moon (or a mirror), above a standard-bearer riding a multi-legged horse thing, advancing on a walled city.
July 27, 2025 at 7:21 PM
pematson.bsky.social
If you see this, post the most recent photo of yourself from your camera roll. No cheating!
Me, a woman, with my hair pulled back, in glasses, wearing a collared blouse with colorful geometric patterns.
May 7, 2025 at 2:11 AM
pematson.bsky.social
I've made the "hand gesture that they allege is proof of gang membership" myself, many times (I'm no crook). The pointer finger stands for "I," pointer and thumb at right angles make an "L," and thumb and pinkie make a "Y." This alleged "gang" symbol is just sign language shorthand for "I Love You."
Picture of a hand making the "I Love You" symbol.
March 20, 2025 at 2:23 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Kind of spooky! And the next Duolingo translation exercise was La sombra siempre estaba despierta: The shadow was always awake.
Is this a haunting, or is it about Lamont Cranston?
Duolingo exercise: Lin is saying "Mientras cenábamos, la sombra me llamó." (While we were eating dinner, the shadow called me.)
March 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
pematson.bsky.social
This is even worse than Duo's owl-unicorn-centaur thing. Mind blown, I guess?
A brain with wide eyes and an open beak rises from Duo the Duolingo owl's head, with its eyes closed, beak agape, and either a shadow or scorch marks on top of its head (under the brain). Mind blown, I guess. Text: "Voice of a generation "You did 3 speaking challenges. Iconic work."
February 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Thanks, I guess, Duo, but I DO NOT LIKE this owl-unicorn-centaur chimera.
Duo the Duolingo owl's face, topped by a pink horn and a rainbow, is the "head" of a green horse with a pink tail. Duo text: "Flawless. 0 mistakes. You're like a pristine, freshwater pearl."
February 5, 2025 at 5:10 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Survivorship bias - image of a WWII warplane where shots appear to be concentrated on the wings and tail, possibly indicating that's where armor would be most needed -- but in fact, shots to the nose and engines were the lethal ones that stopped planes from coming back at all.
February 2, 2025 at 1:41 AM
pematson.bsky.social
Milestone: 1,000-day streak! I'm now at level 81 in Spanish, high B1 level in CEFR terms.
Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWK...
Orange Duo owl, wearing sunglasses, outlined in yellow flames like a phoenix. "I'm on a 1000 day learning streak!"
January 29, 2025 at 5:09 AM
pematson.bsky.social
Duolingo 2024 year in review:
I'm nearly at Duo's level 80 in Spanish, which is to say, nearly at high B1 (about a quarter through "intermediate") in CEFR terms.
Duolingo 2024 year in review: (Picture of green Duo owl on top of "2024") Top 1% rank, 940 longest streak, 96493 total XP, 10928 minutes spent.
January 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
pematson.bsky.social
We had blackeyed peas on brown & wild rice, mixed turnip and mustard greens, and cornbread!
January 2, 2025 at 2:23 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Huh, IDK what kind of critter left those footprints there! We had some backyard visitors today here, but no snow.
Picture of a doe, a deer, a female deer, in a yard of scrub grass, behind a playset with a swing, in front of bamboo. Some red brick buildings are visible through the foliage.
December 26, 2024 at 1:07 AM
pematson.bsky.social
I've been working hard at learning Spanish! Top 1% of Duolingo learners, 2 years in a row! I'm at Duolingo level 75, equivalent to the middle of CERF B1.
Duolingo 2024 Year in Review: I'm in the top 1% of all Duolingo learners! (Image: muscular-looking Duo owl, wearing a "1" medallion, asking "Is your last name "Winner"?"
December 2, 2024 at 5:18 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Hey Duo, I don't need you judging anything except my language skills!
Duo the owl and Junior the kid character are dancing in celebration. Below, the Duolingo app says, "Perfect lesson!" Below that, in smaller text, it says, "You made 0 mistakes. Unlike in real life." I circled "Unlike in real life." Below that, I wrote, "Judgy!"
November 21, 2024 at 4:38 AM
pematson.bsky.social
More of a line than I expected: 35 minutes to go through the line and vote, at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Vote early if you can, since lines will probably be much longer on Election Day. Your vote: Use it or maybe lose it!
October 30, 2024 at 8:43 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun (although occasionally irritating or bemusing). I'm on a 900-day streak, mostly Spanish; I'm at CEFR level B1 now. Here’s my invite link: invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWK...
Orange background, orange owl, glowing yellow like a flaming phoenix. Text: I'm on a 900 day learning streak!
October 21, 2024 at 4:05 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Alas, we couldn't get the tech working for Twitch, so we talked instead in our @skiffyandfanty.bsky.social patron Discord. The podcast will be released to the public eventually. Meanwhile, here's my mild Evelyn Carnahan cosplay, from the beginning when she's a serious librarian.
Here I'm wearing a striped shirt and a kerchief-necktie, like Evelyn at the beginning of The Mummy 1999.
October 12, 2024 at 1:54 AM
pematson.bsky.social
If you see this, quote post with a beach photo from your gallery.
Tiny, rocky peninsula on Lake Superior, with pine trees or some kind of evergreen.
September 1, 2024 at 1:49 AM
pematson.bsky.social
This does NOT make me want to click on the app and do my language exercises today, Duolingo! Ick! Your marketing, if that's why you changed the icon, is for the birds!
Cropped picture of a phone screen with Duolingo app icon-owl suffering from some kind of illness, sweating, pink rings around the pupils, snot dripping down from its beak.
August 29, 2024 at 12:49 PM
pematson.bsky.social
I am SURE that @princejvstin.com will receive his missing second Hugo Award trophy (for Best Fanzine, with Nerds of a Feather) much faster than the Chengdu winners got theirs -- and probably not broken, either!
#Glasgow2024 #WorldCon #HugoAwards2024
Nerds of a Feather crew members accept the Best Fanzine award at the 2024 Hugo Awards ceremony in Glasgow. PrinceJvstin is the one in back, holding a camera.
August 11, 2024 at 10:05 PM
pematson.bsky.social
Emily Tesh wins Best Novel for her DEBUT book! #Glasgow2024 #WorldCon #HugoAwards2024
August 11, 2024 at 9:13 PM