Orion🌈&sm9eb
@sm9eb.bsky.social
Archaeologist specializing in Late Neolithic/Halaf Şanlıurfa, Turkey; D.C.-born; foodie; astronomy & gardening buff; former guardian of Urfalı cat Commander Orion 🌈🖤; current guardian of not-a-Guest-anymore Cat Italy!
There weren't a lot from that site in AK (it gets worse), but if it helps I discovered the other day that you can finally see the door of our old Urfa excavation house in GoogleMaps, so here's where Commander Orion, Kelebek & Firtina were born in Türkiye.
November 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
There weren't a lot from that site in AK (it gets worse), but if it helps I discovered the other day that you can finally see the door of our old Urfa excavation house in GoogleMaps, so here's where Commander Orion, Kelebek & Firtina were born in Türkiye.
Want to see the one I nabbed from my mom last year?
![This is a page from the Montgomery County [Maryland] Fair Cookbook from either 1980 or 81. It shows a picture of President Ronald Reagan and a recipe for Crabmeat Casserole by Nancy Reagan, because this was the closest local county fair to the White House at the time.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ajtpfqq7y5zhao4pezxtc2j/bafkreicjmck76xmj22h46alde3ulw6iycw6r7fhjzk2rw6pzw5osigpqti@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Want to see the one I nabbed from my mom last year?
Side note: if anyone knows of watercolor teaching resources, especially if it involves color theory, please let me know because I have no idea what I'm doing any more, especially with these granulating paints that dry lighter than I expect.
November 23, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Side note: if anyone knows of watercolor teaching resources, especially if it involves color theory, please let me know because I have no idea what I'm doing any more, especially with these granulating paints that dry lighter than I expect.
Italy is helping me paint a fresh bookmark.
November 23, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Italy is helping me paint a fresh bookmark.
Why does my kitty always look so sad.
November 23, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Why does my kitty always look so sad.
Drones over THE NETHERLANDS.
Americans need to wake up and realize this bozo we have in office is making our closest NATO allies less safe.
Americans need to wake up and realize this bozo we have in office is making our closest NATO allies less safe.
November 22, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Drones over THE NETHERLANDS.
Americans need to wake up and realize this bozo we have in office is making our closest NATO allies less safe.
Americans need to wake up and realize this bozo we have in office is making our closest NATO allies less safe.
Other vice presidents enjoying Dick Cheney's funeral is never going to get old.
November 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Other vice presidents enjoying Dick Cheney's funeral is never going to get old.
Uuuuuh Melania and her staff really missed the memo about what the color green stands for, huh.
It is utterly revolting that we hosted a state dinner *IN WASHINGTON* for a man who ordered that a *WASHINGTON POST REPORTER* be dismembered using a bone saw.
It is utterly revolting that we hosted a state dinner *IN WASHINGTON* for a man who ordered that a *WASHINGTON POST REPORTER* be dismembered using a bone saw.
November 19, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Uuuuuh Melania and her staff really missed the memo about what the color green stands for, huh.
It is utterly revolting that we hosted a state dinner *IN WASHINGTON* for a man who ordered that a *WASHINGTON POST REPORTER* be dismembered using a bone saw.
It is utterly revolting that we hosted a state dinner *IN WASHINGTON* for a man who ordered that a *WASHINGTON POST REPORTER* be dismembered using a bone saw.
Timeline cleanse.
Note Italy's casually draped paws.
Note Italy's casually draped paws.
November 19, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Timeline cleanse.
Note Italy's casually draped paws.
Note Italy's casually draped paws.
Spot the differences between the image of McCormic Observatory on the postcard (no date) and the pics I took over the weekend.
November 19, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Spot the differences between the image of McCormic Observatory on the postcard (no date) and the pics I took over the weekend.
Locals, missing kitty (esp @erinleeryan.bsky.social )!
November 17, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Locals, missing kitty (esp @erinleeryan.bsky.social )!
A new autumn cat plant has sprouted.
(My goodness, the sound of the increasing wind is something!)
(My goodness, the sound of the increasing wind is something!)
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
A new autumn cat plant has sprouted.
(My goodness, the sound of the increasing wind is something!)
(My goodness, the sound of the increasing wind is something!)
Important update in Italy's messaging this morning!
November 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Important update in Italy's messaging this morning!
Please pause to appreciate Italy's excellent turkey stance and his charming Tail Nubbin.
November 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Please pause to appreciate Italy's excellent turkey stance and his charming Tail Nubbin.
Italy has a message for you.
November 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Italy has a message for you.
One of my former students made this for a class demo out of obsidian. (It isn't modeled on a specific projectile point type; he was just making it up as he went, I think.) He used a method known as pressure flaking. Whether lunar regolith could be pressure flaked is a good question! 🥰
November 13, 2025 at 8:39 PM
One of my former students made this for a class demo out of obsidian. (It isn't modeled on a specific projectile point type; he was just making it up as he went, I think.) He used a method known as pressure flaking. Whether lunar regolith could be pressure flaked is a good question! 🥰
Oooh no!! The seagull is a bad guy!! They grab their prey and drown them?! (Side note: Commander Orion caught her first and only bird, a pigeon with a beaded bracelet and bell on its leg, when she was only 4 months old. She wasn't "outside"--our excavation house had an inner courtyard.)
November 12, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Oooh no!! The seagull is a bad guy!! They grab their prey and drown them?! (Side note: Commander Orion caught her first and only bird, a pigeon with a beaded bracelet and bell on its leg, when she was only 4 months old. She wasn't "outside"--our excavation house had an inner courtyard.)
PBS my goodness--! 😅
Pigeons mate for life! #NaturePBS
Pigeons mate for life! #NaturePBS
November 12, 2025 at 5:46 AM
PBS my goodness--! 😅
Pigeons mate for life! #NaturePBS
Pigeons mate for life! #NaturePBS
I have never loved pigeons more than this documentary. Urfa, where I did my diss fieldwork, is a very pigeon-loving place, but I didn't quite get it until now.
November 12, 2025 at 5:38 AM
I have never loved pigeons more than this documentary. Urfa, where I did my diss fieldwork, is a very pigeon-loving place, but I didn't quite get it until now.
This is Nelson the London pigeon. This doc has a bit of pigeon domestication info! Pigeons feed their chicks ON MILK & BOTH parents do it! "High on fat, protein, & antibodies both parents secrete the milk from a gland in their throat," they say. But is it technically milk? @mammalssuck.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM
This is Nelson the London pigeon. This doc has a bit of pigeon domestication info! Pigeons feed their chicks ON MILK & BOTH parents do it! "High on fat, protein, & antibodies both parents secrete the milk from a gland in their throat," they say. But is it technically milk? @mammalssuck.bsky.social
Anyone in @Charlottesville having luck with the Northern Lights? I tried 2 locations, including the one that gave me a good view during the big storm 2 years ago, and this is all I got. People in Richmond are seeing them, though.
November 12, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Anyone in @Charlottesville having luck with the Northern Lights? I tried 2 locations, including the one that gave me a good view during the big storm 2 years ago, and this is all I got. People in Richmond are seeing them, though.
Emergency Italy activated! He used to never play when I first met him.
November 11, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Emergency Italy activated! He used to never play when I first met him.