Brenda
@mytruantpen.com
I just talk about my life, and offer respite from well deserved anger.
I have this fountain pen ink, where i love the color and shift, but it's really too pale to use for writing. I've started realizing that I can absolutely paint with inks, just like watercolors. I've done a bunch of variations on this theme, and it's fun how the ink plays. #watercolor #ink #dualtone
January 14, 2026 at 10:06 PM
I have this fountain pen ink, where i love the color and shift, but it's really too pale to use for writing. I've started realizing that I can absolutely paint with inks, just like watercolors. I've done a bunch of variations on this theme, and it's fun how the ink plays. #watercolor #ink #dualtone
Reposted by Brenda
Reminder during this Verizon outage that they fired 13,000 employees across the organization in November and significantly reduced and outsourced and other outside labor expenses. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/20/v...
Verizon cutting more than 13,000 jobs as it restructures
Wireless carrier Verizon said Thursday it will cut more than 13,000 jobs in its largest single layoff as it works to shrink costs and restructure operations.
www.cnbc.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Reminder during this Verizon outage that they fired 13,000 employees across the organization in November and significantly reduced and outsourced and other outside labor expenses. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/20/v...
I have a friend in Iran who hasn't had any word from her family in over a week. Are they alive or dead? Healthy and well? Struggling? She doesn't know.
Meanwhile, in Iran.
One of the biggest reasons for the uprising in Iran right now, as far as I can tell: water.
Only ~8% of the nation's water goes to people for drinking, bathing, etc. And even that's getting cut off.
One of the biggest reasons for the uprising in Iran right now, as far as I can tell: water.
Only ~8% of the nation's water goes to people for drinking, bathing, etc. And even that's getting cut off.
Vetted figures from reliable sources have it as 2,000, and I suspect it's probably twice that. I can't imagine that it is anywhere near 20K. Whatever it is, though, the regime has pressed the accelerator where the only off ramp is "winning" or its own total destruction. apnews.com/live/iran-pr...
January 14, 2026 at 4:53 PM
I have a friend in Iran who hasn't had any word from her family in over a week. Are they alive or dead? Healthy and well? Struggling? She doesn't know.
Reposted by Brenda
true - confirmed with a postal worker friend outside of Minneapolis. (Similar to ones they got during Covid) please demand your senators and reps refuse to fund dhs and ice unless controls are put in place and followed and they end their unwanted invasions of states. Stay safe out there
my friend is a postal worker in minneapolis and they all got letters at work today to show to police to prove they are essential workers authorized to be out. i guess we're to the "papers please" era now officially.
January 14, 2026 at 4:44 PM
true - confirmed with a postal worker friend outside of Minneapolis. (Similar to ones they got during Covid) please demand your senators and reps refuse to fund dhs and ice unless controls are put in place and followed and they end their unwanted invasions of states. Stay safe out there
Reposted by Brenda
The letter from Bill and Hillary Clinton to James Comer explaining their refusal to testify in his Epstein investigation is really remarkable, not like any letter of this genre I've seen. It's signed by them, not a lawyer, and the arguments are not legal ones. Reprinted from their X account:
January 13, 2026 at 6:20 PM
The letter from Bill and Hillary Clinton to James Comer explaining their refusal to testify in his Epstein investigation is really remarkable, not like any letter of this genre I've seen. It's signed by them, not a lawyer, and the arguments are not legal ones. Reprinted from their X account:
So I learned in reading Enshittification that union organizers are carefully setting up all the contracts to expire in 2028 so that we can see a true general strike. We've got two years to get ready, get organized and channel our anger.
January 13, 2026 at 5:27 PM
So I learned in reading Enshittification that union organizers are carefully setting up all the contracts to expire in 2028 so that we can see a true general strike. We've got two years to get ready, get organized and channel our anger.
Reposted by Brenda
The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness has released a statement on the death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Presbyterian woman whose fatal shooting by a U.S. ICE officer last week in Minneapolis has sparked protests around the country. Read the full statement here:
pcusa.org/news-storyte...
pcusa.org/news-storyte...
January 12, 2026 at 9:07 PM
The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness has released a statement on the death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Presbyterian woman whose fatal shooting by a U.S. ICE officer last week in Minneapolis has sparked protests around the country. Read the full statement here:
pcusa.org/news-storyte...
pcusa.org/news-storyte...
Reposted by Brenda
The boots a community built.
Red Wing boots from here in Minnesota
re-waxed by someone who loves me
YakTrax from a faraway friend
I’m going to put them on and go stand on a corner, for my neighbors.
Red Wing boots from here in Minnesota
re-waxed by someone who loves me
YakTrax from a faraway friend
I’m going to put them on and go stand on a corner, for my neighbors.
January 11, 2026 at 7:59 PM
The boots a community built.
Red Wing boots from here in Minnesota
re-waxed by someone who loves me
YakTrax from a faraway friend
I’m going to put them on and go stand on a corner, for my neighbors.
Red Wing boots from here in Minnesota
re-waxed by someone who loves me
YakTrax from a faraway friend
I’m going to put them on and go stand on a corner, for my neighbors.
Reposted by Brenda
Turn signals are for lesser beings.
January 11, 2026 at 2:44 AM
Turn signals are for lesser beings.
Reposted by Brenda
And the little one said "Me too!"
January 9, 2026 at 10:30 PM
And the little one said "Me too!"
During the holidays I put together a playlist of "Folkish" music - which I describe as music that tells a story and that an amateur could sing along to. You might find some new ones here. What song would you add to my collection? music.youtube.com/playlist?lis... #folk #filk #folkish
Folkish
Songs you can sing along to, that tell a story
music.youtube.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:24 PM
During the holidays I put together a playlist of "Folkish" music - which I describe as music that tells a story and that an amateur could sing along to. You might find some new ones here. What song would you add to my collection? music.youtube.com/playlist?lis... #folk #filk #folkish
Reposted by Brenda
So I hate to use Trump's illegal invasion of Venezuela as an opportunity to ask for money, but I'm trying to flip a U.S. Congressional red district blue. What Trump has done is an impeachable offense and I'm ready to hold him accountable. Please help me raise hell!
Claire Reynolds for Congress
Claire Reynolds is a progressive Democrat running for Congress in Texas District 11.
www.clairereynoldsforcongress.org
January 4, 2026 at 8:40 PM
So I hate to use Trump's illegal invasion of Venezuela as an opportunity to ask for money, but I'm trying to flip a U.S. Congressional red district blue. What Trump has done is an impeachable offense and I'm ready to hold him accountable. Please help me raise hell!
I got a bunch of blank watercolor postcards for Christmas, perfect for #postcrossing . I love the genre because it's hard to overthink a postcard. These include color shifting, holographic and glow in the dark paints. #watercolor
January 4, 2026 at 1:23 AM
I got a bunch of blank watercolor postcards for Christmas, perfect for #postcrossing . I love the genre because it's hard to overthink a postcard. These include color shifting, holographic and glow in the dark paints. #watercolor
If I spent half as much time painting as I do goofing around with paints I'd be a much better painter. #watercolors #palette
January 3, 2026 at 8:58 PM
If I spent half as much time painting as I do goofing around with paints I'd be a much better painter. #watercolors #palette
#bookaweek when I started this last year, I didn't quite understand Bluesky. This year, I'll track my goal of averaging at least a book a week in a thread! I recorded 64 books last year but somehow 79 on Storygraph which I started the same time. Join me! app.thestorygraph.com/profile/fair...
January 3, 2026 at 3:32 AM
#bookaweek when I started this last year, I didn't quite understand Bluesky. This year, I'll track my goal of averaging at least a book a week in a thread! I recorded 64 books last year but somehow 79 on Storygraph which I started the same time. Join me! app.thestorygraph.com/profile/fair...
Reposted by Brenda
This man's media team is a bunch of goddamned geniuses, someone scouted for locations and figured out they could set up this very shot. Look at it, it's incredible. Look up pics of Adams being sworn in at the ball drop, which look chaotic, cheap, and undignified in comparison.
January 1, 2026 at 4:17 PM
This man's media team is a bunch of goddamned geniuses, someone scouted for locations and figured out they could set up this very shot. Look at it, it's incredible. Look up pics of Adams being sworn in at the ball drop, which look chaotic, cheap, and undignified in comparison.
Waiting for the paint to dry. #watercolor #palette
December 31, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Waiting for the paint to dry. #watercolor #palette
Reposted by Brenda
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
I have reached the "I should really come up with one contact list that has all my Christmas cards + all the people I invite to parties in one place" part of the vacation. SEND HELP.
December 29, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I have reached the "I should really come up with one contact list that has all my Christmas cards + all the people I invite to parties in one place" part of the vacation. SEND HELP.
Reposted by Brenda
Puffins are social, so to attract them to Maine's rocky islands, National Audubon's Seabird Restoration Program put out decoys to attract real birds.
This puffin is trying to fit in with his new friend by standing on one leg.
Seabird peer-pressure can be intense.
(📷: Robert F. Bukaty)
This puffin is trying to fit in with his new friend by standing on one leg.
Seabird peer-pressure can be intense.
(📷: Robert F. Bukaty)
May 30, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Puffins are social, so to attract them to Maine's rocky islands, National Audubon's Seabird Restoration Program put out decoys to attract real birds.
This puffin is trying to fit in with his new friend by standing on one leg.
Seabird peer-pressure can be intense.
(📷: Robert F. Bukaty)
This puffin is trying to fit in with his new friend by standing on one leg.
Seabird peer-pressure can be intense.
(📷: Robert F. Bukaty)
Here's a kitten for you
December 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Here's a kitten for you