Spooky Anarchic Squid
@leahanelson.bsky.social
1.1K followers 490 following 3.3K posts
Alabama, fines & fees, harm reduction, access to healthcare; kids, dogs, nature, culture. Jewish. Future founder, Center for the Study of Boring Minutiae. Actively fearful of the Mariana Trench.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
leahanelson.bsky.social
In a postage stamp of a town at the southernmost tip of Appalachia, a minister and self-described anarchosocialist operates Alabama's only Narcan vending machine. I wrote about his lifesaving work in this, my first piece for @oxfordamerican.bsky.social.
oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/the-o...
The Only Narcan Vending Machine In Alabama
oxfordamerican.org
leahanelson.bsky.social
Actually, Mama Cass singing Dream a Little Dream of Me, but since I thought that was the original for a long time I will say Yo La Tengo’s Friday I’m In Love

youtu.be/jJwTSTlpsak
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
leahanelson.bsky.social
I mean brains are for real good at learning; I know my aunt and uncle’s number in Westchester County NY even though it’s been disconnected for years
leahanelson.bsky.social
Brains! Are good at learning!
radosh.bsky.social
A lot of people answering yes we memorized like 10 numbers of family and close friends but what's being noted less is that we didn't *try* it just happened naturally because we dialed them so often and no longer needed to look in our lil books
bleary.off-the-records.com
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
bleary.off-the-records.com
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
sifill.bsky.social
I can’t help but think today about how many young people were savaged on social media, branded as anti-semites and abandoned by their schools for daring to call for a ceasefire. I remember saying that it was the first time I can remember that calling for ceasefire was regarded as a hostile demand.
leahanelson.bsky.social
J Alf in his totality was apathy + regret + lust + fruit cravings + fashion advice. Feels like a lot to cram into a thread abt post-10/7/23 American Jewish ennui. I do wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled though. And eat peaches (carefully bc you never know when those mf are gonna drip).
leahanelson.bsky.social
At the end you find out that Robert Caro wrote Hamilton
leahanelson.bsky.social
I was about to write a thread about how the Gaza war shredded part of my humanity and I was better off with that part of me intact. And that’s true; I am an entire J Alfred Prufrock of regret and apathy over here. But my God, people stolen from their lives are returned today. JD Vance is indecent.
leahanelson.bsky.social
It’s okay, comrades at @columbiajournalism.bsky.social. None of us read Caro’s The Power Broker to the end, because it was 33% too long.
rachelfeder.bsky.social
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
leahanelson.bsky.social
I was just mourning the death of the me who, regardless of my revulsion toward Israel, thought first of friends there on Oct 7, 2023. I can’t feel relief today, knowing what I know about the toll on Palestinians. But I’m human enough to be disgusted by this from the VP of the United States.
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
"After we win in November, we do not demobilize. The rich and corporate interests who tried to buy this election with the millions they stole from our pockets will want to see us fail.

We won’t let them." - Chi Ossé
leahanelson.bsky.social
My grandfather was Irish Catholic. I couldn’t bear the smell of lilies or the sight of carnations for years after his wake and funeral. But it was the celebration of his life that he would have wanted. 🌱
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
nytimes.com
Many Palestinians in Gaza felt there was little to celebrate on Monday. “It’s important that the bombing has stopped, but there’s nothing to be happy about,” said Saed Abu Aita, 44. “My two daughters were killed, my home was destroyed and my health has deteriorated.”
Gazans See Little to Celebrate Even Though the Bombs Have Stopped
The cease-fire in Gaza has taken hold. Hostages and prisoners have been exchanged. But amid the utter devastation of two years of war, a sense of gloom pervades.
nyti.ms
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
mordecaimartin.net
Posting this attempt at a translation of some lines from Yosel Cutler because I kinda liked it, even though it was nowhere close to literal, only conveyed a misunderstanding of the metaphor used:

“The sun, that fierce bath house attendant, smacked a fiery oak branch over the shoulders of New York”
leahanelson.bsky.social
Good enough for me! EVERYTHING IS WEASELS!!
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
nexusproject.bsky.social
The Trump administration is suggesting that Jewish groups critical of its foreign policy vis a vis Israel are engaging in terrorism.

This is appalling politicization of the term and gross executive overreach.
Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups
The threatened crackdown is a multi-agency effort with Stephen Miller playing a central role.
www.reuters.com
leahanelson.bsky.social
I need more detail so I can know where to fit this into the hierarchy of random facts I like to dwell on sometimes. Specifically: Is there are weasel version of carcinization?
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
snowden.st
One little pitch for adopting a more pluralistic attitude: it makes online a bit easier than trying to be militant, or shepherd folks to specific poles of opinion/belief. You can see a Dumb Opinion, and go “dang, the garden is popping today!” instead of see a threat appearing.
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
kairyssdal.bsky.social
Wut?
atrupar.com
Bessent: "No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government."
leahanelson.bsky.social
it is true that sometimes all of BlueSky melts down over a Thing but the heart of the matter is much more likely to be “everything is a crab/cabbage/mountain lions” than some type of woke
Reposted by Spooky Anarchic Squid
michaelehayden.bsky.social
“They are highly organized … [they] have purchased their own animal costumes”
Andy ngo mad about muppets again — this time in Chicago