Manual Defiance
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shortoctave.bsky.social
Manual Defiance
@shortoctave.bsky.social
130 followers 330 following 230 posts
danza ritual del ego

Middle-aged enby in the 412. Early keyboards player; semi-professional dilettante in everything else.
They/them, he/him
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shortoctave.bsky.social
"well lgbts we made it through another winter" illustration from -Wind in the Willows- of a happy animal picnic on the riverbank
April 15, 2025 at 11:36 AM
shortoctave.bsky.social
Mellan's engraved portrait of Girolamo Frescobaldi with a crudely-applied cowboy hat
March 26, 2025 at 1:35 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
scored this exquisite spoopy lace at the Joanne Fabrics closing sale.

antimacassar time?
two yards of figural lace with skulls & crossbones draped over a sofa
March 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM
shortoctave.bsky.social
my copy of Practical Pomology came today.
Cover of Practical Pomology: a field guide. With an Emphasis on Apples Historically Grown in New England, by Sean Turley.
March 8, 2025 at 5:13 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
that was quick
a shrine at my library featuring work by the late David Lynch & a banner that reads FIX YOUR HEARTS OR DIE
January 17, 2025 at 9:17 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
Snowy, frozen-over granite fountain inscribed 'FOR MAN, BEAST & BIRD — 1909'. It has a fetching bronze lion-face spout. North Side, Pittsburgh (RIP City of Allegheny)
January 15, 2025 at 11:38 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
cover of Adam Ellis's Tiny Hats on Cats (Because Every Cat Deserves to Feel Fancy) with a cat in a little red paper hat. cover of 'Cat-Hair Hats for Cats (Craft Fetching Headwear for Your Feline Friends)' by Rojiman & Umatan. The image is an aloof-looking white cat wearing a Wagnerian horned helmet & braids.
January 15, 2025 at 11:32 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
you may now admire my new Lord Timothy Dexter sweatshirt.
my headless torso wearing a black sweatshirt decorated with part of the addendum to Lord Timothy Dexter's early-19th century A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, which, because the public complained that it was insufficiently punctuated, he instructed readers to 'peper and solt it as they plese', along with several lines of different types of punctuation.
January 15, 2025 at 3:14 AM
shortoctave.bsky.social
Who is your celebrity "Birthday Twin" (born on the same day as you)? Answer with pic or gif only.

I could not pick only one. Missing: Lodovico Giustini — I don't know if there are any extant portraits.
a collage of photographs: Connie Francis, Ed Koch, Helen Frankenthaler, Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Philip Ledger, & lurking in the corner like a creeper, Gustave Flaubert.
January 13, 2025 at 8:59 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
Recently hung in the Warhol Museum, a collage from Andy's commercial phase in the early '60s. I love the scratchy line he used in this era, a complicated result obtained by blotting the ink from another surface.
a framed collage on white paper of faux snakeskin samples worked into an ink drawing of segmented snake toy slithering through some grass. Below, more material samples have been worked into the blades of grass, above, a sun with an anthropomorphic face smirks, & a beringed hand holds a stick to which the snake is attached by a string. There are two butterflies marked with loopy handwriting & above all, the title Snake in the Grass.
January 12, 2025 at 11:28 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
display at the library with placard: "Books that match the 2025 Color of the Year, Pantone 17-1230 TCX 'Mocha Mousse'," which is a reddish light brown.
January 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
oh, good.
in shortoctave's hand, a copy of the pamphlet A Complete Checklist & Map of Brick & Mortar Typography & Graphic Design Bookshops in & Around Boston • Revised & Updated for 2025
January 11, 2025 at 9:03 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
this year's xmas sweets: homemade mince pies (topped with little stars) & Pfeffernüße, storebought panforte.
December 29, 2024 at 2:24 PM
shortoctave.bsky.social
"hey baby wanna go home with me & make out under the Gollum portrait?"
this was the only meter-tall portrait of Gollum printed on canvas that they had at the Ollie's discount store.
November 18, 2024 at 1:58 AM
shortoctave.bsky.social
November 16, 2024 at 2:18 AM
shortoctave.bsky.social
walk into the room purcell first.
February 6, 2024 at 8:47 PM