Marīa
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solusandra.bsky.social
Marīa
@solusandra.bsky.social
370 followers 600 following 1.9K posts
My name's spelled Maria, but pronounced like Mariah.

Freelance editor (graphic novels); day job in B2B cust srvc; poet & painter; multiple sclerosis.

Profile pic by the amazing @emilypearsonart.bsky.social. Header photo by me, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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solusandra.bsky.social
Past me was really smart & pre-ordered a special edition of my favorite novella:
The dust jacket of the new hardcover edition of THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, which has a pleasing design over a starfield, with the title & authors' names in an ivory colored oval, inside of which are two envelopes with the flaps open, one with red spot gloss envelope liner & the other upside down below the first with blue spot gloss. The front cover of the hardcover special edition of THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, with a red/ blue design in faux bois on the edges, red on the top half and blue on the bottom, with a cardinal embossed in the center of the red, and a bluebird embossed in the center of the blue. A photo of the edges of the book, which are intricately sprayed with red, black&white, and blue, all with an interlocking geometric pattern that's quite pleasing.
November 24, 2025 at 10:53 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
How is that guy 37... I'm 49 and look much younger than him!
A selfie of me, a white woman in her late 49's, wearing a burgundy turtleneck sweater, with purple bobbed hair, transparent framed glasses & mostly unwrinkled skin, with very minimal makeup on.
November 14, 2025 at 1:16 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Nice! I'm back to purple! And I re-used my Wicked + Divine Ananke mask to be just a person in a mask with a swishy velvet dress on.
A selfie of me (a middle aged white woman with purple hair cut in a bob) in my Halloween costume: a black velvet dress, dagger necklace, snake earrings, and an elaborate metal mask.
November 1, 2025 at 5:34 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Post something random or you'll have an awful November.
A photo of the crate of Wealthy apples at the Apple Store run by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which I took to, er, help me tell which apple was which in a mixed bag of apples that I bought. It almost worked.
October 31, 2025 at 1:28 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Where I skeet from
A photo I took of some popcorn- shaped clouds with a teensy tiny landscape 30,000 feet below, and some wispy cirrus clouds well above eye level, all on a background of a lovely blue sky edging to deeper blue the higher up it goes. (Somewhere between MSP & ORD, I think.)
October 18, 2025 at 4:40 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Ok, let's gooooooo! #filmhottakes #myfavmovies
"Get to know my film taste. For every like, I will post one film I love."
October 12, 2025 at 2:06 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
I wish I had a real alternative in Ward 13!
A close-up photo of a Minneapolis City Council Member Ward 13 ballot selection, showing "Bob again Carney Jr, Climate Revolution Elephant" party & "Linea Palmisano, Democratic-Farmer-Labor" party mostly in name only, given her voting record.
October 7, 2025 at 8:49 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I got thru a dentist appt without coughing, so I think I'm 95% of the way there. Now if I can just get thru the night without coughing a bunch! 🤞

I did discover the best cough drop though: Ricola caramel actually tastes like herbal caramel.
A photo of an opened bag of Ricola Throat Balm caramel flavor, which miraculously actually tastes like herbal caramel. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I like them.
October 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Nothing like a 30 degree temperature drop in one day yesterday to remind me that I'm in MN in October. And now, thankfully, it's hot cereal weather!
A macro photo of my breakfast today: steel cut oatmeal with flax seeds, chunks of Cortland apples, cinnamon, and maple sugar.
October 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
It's OCTOBER in Minneapolis. This weather is just *wrong*. It's still 78°F at 11:30pm!!! The low will only be 71°F. Tell me again that climate change isn't real, though. [Rhetorical, since I'm sure there's no climate change deniers following me.]
A screenshot of a weather app showing the weather in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA for Friday October 3rd at 11:29pm. The current temp is 78°F with clear skies. The hourly temps starting at midnight 10/04/25 are 77°, 76°, 75°, 73°, 73°, & 73° at 5am.
October 4, 2025 at 4:40 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
You see this, post a concert pic you took
Daveed Diggs of clipping. at the Fine Line in Minneapolis in August 2025. He's a Black man wearing a tank top style Minnesota Timberwolves jersey, standing in a stage, lit in pink & blue, with his left arm raised holding the microphone towards the audience.
September 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Post a random picture or everything else will go bad in September.
Clasen Bio Mangostreifen (mango strips), the best dried mango I've ever had. Potsdam, Germany, August 2025.
August 30, 2025 at 10:09 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
I had brief moments while traveling the past few weeks. It's easier to be optimistic while up a mountain in Salzburg! (I'd have reached out if we were gone make it to Wien, but we didn't.)

I went up the Untersbergbahn & spent a bunch of time just looking at the world.
View from Untersberg of the Chiemgauer Alpen, especially Zwiesel & Hochstaufen. View south from Untersberg, including a cloudy Hoher Göll & surrounding peaks. Alpine chough birds swarming in front of a gorgeous view of Berchtesgaden & further peaks, with a chunk of the Untersberg massif to the right. Alpine chough circling with some of Niederalm (south of Salzburg) in the valley below.
August 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Yesterday, 8/17/25, in the Tiergarten in Berlin.

Apologies in advance that I don't know what all of these are - European flower / shrub names aren't all in my lexicon.

If anyone knows, please tell me what they are!
A sign in the Tiergarten park in Berlin that says, "Steppengarten", which describes the history of this wild part of the park. I can't add the full text, unfortunately, because it's too small to read while adding alt text. Yellow-orange flowers amongst some white flowers and at least two different kinds of shrubs, in the Tiergarten in Berlin on 17th August, 2025. A lovely tiny purple flower, maybe an aster of some kind, in the Tiergarten in Berlin on 17th August, 2025. A tiny white flower that's actually a collection of multiple teensy flowers all bunched together, in the Tiergarten in Berlin on 17th August, 2025.
August 18, 2025 at 7:54 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
@ashcanpress.com I'm in Berlin & saw these at Modern Comics! So cool to see your stuff in translation!
A photo of the comic book WHAT'S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE in trade paperback & hardcover versions at Modern Graphics on Kastanienallee in Berlin, Gemacht
August 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Sind Sie in Berlin? Lesen Sie Prosaliteratur auf Englisch?

Gehen Sie ins 'Ocelot, not just another bookstore' (Brunnenstr 181) und kaufen Sie bitte, The River Has Roots, by @amalelmohtar.com .

One of the best books I've read in years, from one of the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War.
A photo of a section of books labeled "literally, in English", in which I've faced out the book The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar. A close up of the gorgeous cover of The River Has Roots.
August 15, 2025 at 7:28 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
No cheating. Your last saved celebrity photo is your therapist. Who is it?

Turns out it's even topical lol though not what my therapist would say.
A meme of Ryan Gosling, saying, "Hey, girl, you will be strong and get through this."
August 3, 2025 at 5:28 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Saaaame!

Also I'm so excited, because I *have* mirrorshades I already wear a lot & I will wear them indoors at the club for the one song lol
A photo of me, a white woman with blue-lavender ombre hair, on a carousel in St Paul, MN, wearing mirrored sunglasses & a kn95 mask.
July 21, 2025 at 10:18 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
A COAT?! I'm jealous!

In Minneapolis, it's doing this today:
A screenshot of a weather app showing temperatures in Minneapolis, MN, USA ranging from 28°C to 32°C - aka 90°F, with storms coming. Blessedly the forecast for tomorrow is much much cooler: 21°C, which is closer to me getting to wear a light hoodie or raincoat without dying of heatstroke (metaphorically, one hopes). Thank goodness for air conditioning!
July 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
My first Superman comic was definitely an appearance in Wonder Woman, from the $0.10 bins of the early to mid '80s, of '70s issues. I'm sure I had this issue at some point.
Wonder Woman 212 from July 1974, featuring Superman saying, "Please, Wonder Woman! You must come back! The Justice League needs you! Batman, the Flash, & Green Lantern are in the background. In the foreground, Wonder Woman dramatically says, "No, Superman! I CAN'T!"
July 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I wouldn't tell anyone if I won the lottery, but there would be signs
A photo of a document saying, "Congratulations! Your Student Loans are Paid in Full" which is most definitely not mine.
July 11, 2025 at 4:52 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I made pasta salad earlier this week that's got beets in it, so it turned pink & I've been singing "Pink Pasta Club" to the tune of "Pink Pony Club" for a few days.
Pasta Salad with beets, celery, artichoke hearts, corn, green beans, great northern beans, & cavatappi, with balsamic vinaigrette, with a distinct pink color to the pasta from the beets. The same pasta salad on a bed of fresh spinach (Pink Pasta Salad with beets, celery, artichoke hearts, corn, green beans, great northern beans, & cavatappi, with balsamic vinaigrette, with a distinct pink color to the pasta from the beets).
July 4, 2025 at 12:49 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
It really was. Is it any wonder I had goth tendencies in the 90's?
The cover of Action Comics #660 (December 1990), really titled "Superman in Action Comics: The Death of Luthor!" This cover features a grim reaper with the Superman logo on his chest & a hooded cloak & scythe, with his skull face visible in the hood. He stands menacingly over Lex Luthor & oneskeleton hand points at Lex, who's on the ground looking like he's terrified and trying to crawl away, but still in a snazzy 3-piece suit with matching tie & pocket square.
June 20, 2025 at 8:46 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
We do need one. This terrible air quality is unhealthy for everyone, and we not only need to shelter our unhoused neighbors, but shelter them in a place with high quality air purifiers that can handle PM2.5 particulate.
An AirNow screenshot from about 7am on 6/03/25 showing purple "hazardous" air quality sitting over most of the Train Cities metro area, while the rest of Central MN is purple/ red, which is still unsafe for folks for longer outdoor exposure & really unsafe for older folks & those with asthma & other lung issues.
June 3, 2025 at 1:23 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I hope tf not - that's contrary to everything we know, but given this, I wouldn't be surprised (from 2021 re Covid vaccines) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
From https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8349440/ "The inclusion of a placebo group in testing novel COVID-19 vaccines is not ethically acceptable, since many participants will receive an inferior intervention to the available standard. This is also applicable to drug placebo-controlled RCTs: once one has proven to be effective in a given patient population, placebos are not ethically acceptable any longer, unless they are used when assessing add-on therapy. Thus, for example, as early as September 2020 data showed that systemic corticosteroids probably reduce 28-day mortality in severe and critical hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and thus they became the standard of treatment in these patients [13]. As a result, assessment of a new medication in these patient populations should require the conduct of RCTs of the experimental drug versus placebo (or usual care) in patients receiving corticosteroids."
May 15, 2025 at 12:09 PM