Daphna Oren
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daphnao.bsky.social
Daphna Oren
@daphnao.bsky.social
Historian of women and the family in early modern Britian. Alt-ac. Mom. Geek. Dnd player. Crafter (knitting, quilting, cross-stitch). Posts are my own opinions. She/her.
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I did the roast thing, and honestly this is probably the most complimentary thing that's ever been said about me.
Man on the bus in front of me, watching a movie with no earphones. I'm listening to an audiobook with noise-cancelling earbuds on and I can still hear his movie.

I may have given a passive agressive "tsk", which made him turn around to look at me, but not stop.
Elderly lady on the train full on listening to an audiobook on loud speaker.

The death of polite society.
November 25, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Do I have to only eliminate one? Get rid of everything except the mashed potatoes, the rolls and the mac and cheese. And maybe the pie, but only pecan. Definitely not pumpkin.
with charity and goodwill, i must here part ways with rolls.
November 24, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Daphna Oren
Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays:

Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.

If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.

Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Charming article. I did just notice that my grandfather's old portable typewriter is in our storage room, and was wondering if it's worth pulling it out to see if it still works, just for fun. Maybe I will.
November 23, 2025 at 8:17 AM
נניח שמורה של הילד שלכם שלחה להם מצגת ללמוד למבחן, ונניח שהמצגת מכילה מידע שהוא לא סתם שגוי אלא כל כך שגוי שהדרך היחידה שהיא לא עלתה על זה היא או שהיא נתנה לצ'ט לכתוב לה את המצגת ולא קראה אותה, או שהיא ממש ממש בורה במקצוע שאותו היא מלמדת - הייתם עושים עם זה משהו? מדברים איתה? עם המחנכת? עם בי"ס?
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
למה לבשתי חולצה ארוכה דקה?
חם לי... 🥵
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 AM
היתה הופעה שכונתית של המקהלה שאני חברה בה, וכשיצאנו היה פתאום מבול ונרטבנו עד לשד עצמותינו ועכשיו כולנו מקולחים ומכורבלים ומתכננים על עוגיות וסרט ואני לגמרי מאושרת מזה.
November 13, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Me: do you have exams next week while I'm away?

Kid: I have a physics exam about Newton's first law of motion. But dad is probably anyway better equipped to help me study for that.

Me: because he's a body at rest that seeks to stay at rest?

[I'll see myself out now]
November 13, 2025 at 7:38 AM
There are a lot of things baffling about this, but I'm stuck at "Pre-K report card".
I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here
November 12, 2025 at 5:50 AM
I got this book tonight, and I'm already four chapters in.

Its fascinating, funny, and weirdly profound - especially if you're the kind of person who at once believes in a rational, scientific world, and yet find yourself replacing your D20 mid-battle because it was being mean to you.
If you are thinking of gifts for Xmas this year, my book about tabletop games, The Game Changers (UK, other territories) / Across the Board (US, Canada), is out in paperback, audiobook & ebook. I think it is good for anyone who loves boardgames old or new, or who likes stuff on culture & history.
November 10, 2025 at 8:10 PM
My kid is an after school enrichment program called "Human Rights". Which is cool, except that on occasion when the teacher doesn't show up, I get a text message saying "Human rights is cancelled!"
November 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
My FB memories today reminded me that 15 years ago I got a fortune cookie that said "your future profit lies in the past", which - given that I'm a historian - felt particularly appropriate.
November 10, 2025 at 7:35 AM
כולנו סגורים על זה שכשבמתכון אומרים לשים מייפל, הכוונה לסירופ מייפל אמיתי טהור, ולא לסירופ בטעם מייפל, כן?

(זהו סאבפוסט, או איך שלא קוראים לזה כאן, ל"בואו לאכול איתי")
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Reposted by Daphna Oren
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
My kid just had an exam in school that involved being assigned some chapters, summarizing them, then having an open-book test on the details. The teacher encouraged them to use AI to prepare. This paragraph does a great job explaining why I found it so disturbing.
www.ru.nl/en/research/...
November 9, 2025 at 10:25 AM
One point, because I would never play loud music in public.

Other than that, I'm old enough to have regulalry done all of these things growing up.
(i got a zero lolz)

THE FABULOUS WEIRD CHECKLIST
Give yourself I point for each thing you've NEVER done.
November 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM
My Roman history professor used to say that if we see the same law being passed over and over again through the years, it means that it wasn't obeyed.

Possibly my Roman history professor underestimated the depths of human ignorance.
Civics education is vital.
November 6, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Explain a film plot badly:
A grandfather reads a book to his sick grandson.
Explain a film plot badly:

a group of space truckers debate their union contract and sick leave.
indecision kills; one trucker and her cat abandon the rig.
a woman is constantly undermined by her coworkers.
after the roughest day ever, she and her cat go home.
November 6, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Daphna Oren
In Icelandic we have 'Ókind' for monster. But the translation is un-sheep. So everything not a sheep is dangerous.
November 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
To be clear, I think it's fine to take hobbies seriously and I'm not dismissing anyone's concerns.

But also, I am genuinely deeply jealous of anyone whose reasons for being shocked and saddened in life have to do with representations of knitting.
The new British competitive knitting show hosted by Olympic diver Tom Daley has been denounced by the knitting community of the Shetland islands for its imprecise portrayal of fair isle knitting and negative attitude toward a technique known as steeking
Shetland knitting group ‘shocked and saddened’ by representation in Channel 4 show
A GROUP protecting Shetland’s knitting heritage has criticised a new Channel 4 show for spreading “negative misconceptions about Fair Isle knitting...
www.shetnews.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Daphna Oren
The convergence of competitive diving with competitive knitting was bound to come with risks.
The new British competitive knitting show hosted by Olympic diver Tom Daley has been denounced by the knitting community of the Shetland islands for its imprecise portrayal of fair isle knitting and negative attitude toward a technique known as steeking
Shetland knitting group ‘shocked and saddened’ by representation in Channel 4 show
A GROUP protecting Shetland’s knitting heritage has criticised a new Channel 4 show for spreading “negative misconceptions about Fair Isle knitting...
www.shetnews.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Sometimes when I wake up way too early and can't fall back asleep, I become the kind of mom who bakes fresh scones breakfast.
November 6, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Do yourself a favor. Read this thread.
Big day at U.S. District Court in D.C. where Sean Dunn, the D.C. Sandwich Guy, is on trial for misdemeanor assault of a federal officer.

Border Patrol agent Gregory Lairmore is on the stand narrating surveillance video of the sammie toss.

'Now he’s struck me with the sandwich,' Lairmore says.
November 4, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Daphna Oren
You laugh, but this is how the exododus went extinct
November 3, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Daphna Oren
Sunday = fun day~ wild bears playing at a public playground, captured by someone just passing by~🐻
November 2, 2025 at 3:46 PM