E.J. Pryor
@ejpryor.bsky.social
Librarian at Portland Jewish Library. Translator of literature for adults and children from Russian and Yiddish. Dilatory writer and dilettante baker. Portland. יונה
Pinned
“Wanting to learn Akkadian is a perfectly normal phase that everyone goes through,” I reassure myself as I start browsing for books on cuneiform.
The clerk at Trader Joe’s, in response to being asked how his day was going said, “well, it’s Friday so at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel” and I spent at least an hour being fully like, oh, yeah, it’s Friday, better get ready for Shabbat. So that’s how my week is going
November 24, 2025 at 10:58 PM
The clerk at Trader Joe’s, in response to being asked how his day was going said, “well, it’s Friday so at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel” and I spent at least an hour being fully like, oh, yeah, it’s Friday, better get ready for Shabbat. So that’s how my week is going
Also, my husband took me for a foggy walk in the woods this morning, which apparently I needed
November 24, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Also, my husband took me for a foggy walk in the woods this morning, which apparently I needed
It’s been a rough couple weeks but I got my @museum.of.emilyk.art frog framed and hung, so that’s making me happy today.
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
It’s been a rough couple weeks but I got my @museum.of.emilyk.art frog framed and hung, so that’s making me happy today.
Please, I just want a Forward button in the Sefaria app to take me back to where I was before I accidentally hit the Back button when I was just trying to close the Resource panel and end up having to scroll through a giant list of sources to get back to where I was
November 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Please, I just want a Forward button in the Sefaria app to take me back to where I was before I accidentally hit the Back button when I was just trying to close the Resource panel and end up having to scroll through a giant list of sources to get back to where I was
“…sometime in the 13th, late 14th or early 15th centuries”
First, Rabbanit Miriam seems like a remarkable person, and second, doesn’t this range of years for her birth seem remarkably vague? And why the jump from 13th to late 14th? Talk about a problematic age gap.
First, Rabbanit Miriam seems like a remarkable person, and second, doesn’t this range of years for her birth seem remarkably vague? And why the jump from 13th to late 14th? Talk about a problematic age gap.
November 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
“…sometime in the 13th, late 14th or early 15th centuries”
First, Rabbanit Miriam seems like a remarkable person, and second, doesn’t this range of years for her birth seem remarkably vague? And why the jump from 13th to late 14th? Talk about a problematic age gap.
First, Rabbanit Miriam seems like a remarkable person, and second, doesn’t this range of years for her birth seem remarkably vague? And why the jump from 13th to late 14th? Talk about a problematic age gap.
As someone whose academic background is linguistics, it’s always a little strange to see people arrive at hating Chomsky by routes that are totally different from the way I got here. But welcome!
November 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
As someone whose academic background is linguistics, it’s always a little strange to see people arrive at hating Chomsky by routes that are totally different from the way I got here. But welcome!
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
Interesthing edithorial choices were made
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Interesthing edithorial choices were made
Interesthing edithorial choices were made
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Interesthing edithorial choices were made
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
Hmm, that’s an interesting suggestion google translate but I’m pretty sure that’s not actually what I meant
November 14, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Hmm, that’s an interesting suggestion google translate but I’m pretty sure that’s not actually what I meant
Hmm, that’s an interesting suggestion google translate but I’m pretty sure that’s not actually what I meant
November 14, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Hmm, that’s an interesting suggestion google translate but I’m pretty sure that’s not actually what I meant
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
Is this a mitzvah d’oraisa or d’rabbanan?
November 13, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Is this a mitzvah d’oraisa or d’rabbanan?
Is this a mitzvah d’oraisa or d’rabbanan?
November 13, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Is this a mitzvah d’oraisa or d’rabbanan?
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.
November 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.
Helping a library patron work on a dvar, I had a google search lead me to a page with the title “How to share the Good News of Jesus with your Jewish friends” and a) I have a hard time believing that anyone who wants to know how to do this has any Jewish friends and b) please don’t
November 11, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Helping a library patron work on a dvar, I had a google search lead me to a page with the title “How to share the Good News of Jesus with your Jewish friends” and a) I have a hard time believing that anyone who wants to know how to do this has any Jewish friends and b) please don’t
Describe your cat’s personality with one photo
November 9, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Describe your cat’s personality with one photo
Me: “I should get this mezuzah checked”
My brain: “Hold on…”
Me, three hours of research later, explaining to my spouse: “…and that’s why it makes perfect sense for me to become a sofer.”
My brain: “Hold on…”
Me, three hours of research later, explaining to my spouse: “…and that’s why it makes perfect sense for me to become a sofer.”
November 7, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Me: “I should get this mezuzah checked”
My brain: “Hold on…”
Me, three hours of research later, explaining to my spouse: “…and that’s why it makes perfect sense for me to become a sofer.”
My brain: “Hold on…”
Me, three hours of research later, explaining to my spouse: “…and that’s why it makes perfect sense for me to become a sofer.”
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
How autumn makes me feel
November 7, 2025 at 8:09 PM
How autumn makes me feel
The fancy market across the street from work stopped selling the fancy French cheeto-equivalent that I loved. Is this the worst thing that’s ever* happened**? Possibly, who can say
*this morning
**to me
*this morning
**to me
November 7, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The fancy market across the street from work stopped selling the fancy French cheeto-equivalent that I loved. Is this the worst thing that’s ever* happened**? Possibly, who can say
*this morning
**to me
*this morning
**to me
How autumn makes me feel
November 7, 2025 at 8:09 PM
How autumn makes me feel
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
It’s Halloween, so here’s a photo of the only time I ever tried to put a costume on Dima. The photo is blurry because he was not exactly a model of equanimity about the whole situation.
October 31, 2025 at 4:06 PM
It’s Halloween, so here’s a photo of the only time I ever tried to put a costume on Dima. The photo is blurry because he was not exactly a model of equanimity about the whole situation.
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
Just because I will buy and eat candy corn every year doesn’t mean I like candy corn. People are complicated.
October 21, 2023 at 12:02 AM
Just because I will buy and eat candy corn every year doesn’t mean I like candy corn. People are complicated.
It’s Halloween, so here’s a photo of the only time I ever tried to put a costume on Dima. The photo is blurry because he was not exactly a model of equanimity about the whole situation.
October 31, 2025 at 4:06 PM
It’s Halloween, so here’s a photo of the only time I ever tried to put a costume on Dima. The photo is blurry because he was not exactly a model of equanimity about the whole situation.
Reposted by E.J. Pryor
“Wanting to learn Akkadian is a perfectly normal phase that everyone goes through,” I reassure myself as I start browsing for books on cuneiform.
October 30, 2025 at 2:50 PM
“Wanting to learn Akkadian is a perfectly normal phase that everyone goes through,” I reassure myself as I start browsing for books on cuneiform.
“Wanting to learn Akkadian is a perfectly normal phase that everyone goes through,” I reassure myself as I start browsing for books on cuneiform.
October 30, 2025 at 2:50 PM
“Wanting to learn Akkadian is a perfectly normal phase that everyone goes through,” I reassure myself as I start browsing for books on cuneiform.
I discovered a new (to me) type of guy in facebook comments today aggressively “correcting” people who use Mt. as an abbreviation of Mount in the names of mountains. Is this an actual thing anybody other than this person cares about?
October 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I discovered a new (to me) type of guy in facebook comments today aggressively “correcting” people who use Mt. as an abbreviation of Mount in the names of mountains. Is this an actual thing anybody other than this person cares about?