Naomi J. Williams
banner
naomijwilliams.bsky.social
Naomi J. Williams
@naomijwilliams.bsky.social
Writer, teacher, editor, thrift-store shopper, train enthusiast, Sacramento Kings fan. Biracial Japanese-American. She/her

Banner image: stone bridge at Kōsanji Temple, Japan
What a thrilling win over Nuggets tonight. And lol @deucemason.bsky.social just now: “Does the beam still work?” #SacKings
November 23, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Today’s silly pangram: UNWONTONING (alt. UNWONTONNING). Obscure, gerund form of UNWONTON, meaning to remove wontons from or fail to put wontons in soup, often confused with UNWANTON. #FakePangrams #NYTSpellingBee
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 PM
My gray hair & pink/gray coat have brief cameo at 1:48 in this video. That was such a fun house party. So delighted to support this hardworking progressive to represent us in Congress!
This is what it looks like to love, serve, and run for Congress…long days, full hearts, and a community worth fighting for.

Support our people powered campaign. Donate at maiforus.com/donate

#MaiForUs #MaiVang #MaiForCongress #Sacramento #ElkGrove #ElDorado #MaiTimeOurTime
November 22, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Went to see “Rental Family” tonight. Brendan Fraser was wonderful as American actor living in Tokyo. Shannon Gorman, the young bilingual actress who plays his “daughter” in the film, was amazing. Feel-good without being treacly.
November 22, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Walked to local post office on Alhambra for stamps. Love their friendly staff. Bummed to learn they were all sold out on the Good Night Moon stamps, but got Hank Aaron & Baby Wild Animals instead. (No thanks to Sponge Bob & Wm F Buckley!) #USPS 1/2
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I gently (so gently!) tap-tapped on back of parked car blocking a crosswalk just now, & driver, who had plenty of room to move forward out of crosswalk, flung open her door, yelled obscenities at me, & flipped me the bird. Stay classy, Sacramento. #PedestrianLife #MidtownSacramento #CarFreeLife
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Lots of fun choices this morning, but I’m going with PODGROAN, which is when a group of whales makes a sound in unison but can also mean any sort of collective sigh, especially in exasperation, as in “His dad jokes were always met with a podgroan.” #FakePangrams #SillyPangrams #NYTSpellingBee
November 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
When Patriarchy meets Dogma, this is what can happen. I grew up in a not-dissimilar church that silenced women & girls & any sort of dissent
2/ Clint Massie’s behavior was an open secret in the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community of Duluth, Minnesota. Church leaders even sent him to a sex offender specialist.

But none of the preachers reported him to the police.
Young Girls Were Sexually Abused by a Church Member. They Were Told to Forgive and Forget.
In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were “washed away in the blood of reconciliation,” they could never...
www.propublica.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Today’s silly pangram: GUYTIEING.

*Obviously* this refers to the act of tying a guyline, not whatever your dirty mind has imagined. #NYTSpellingBee #FakePangrams #SillyPangrams
November 20, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Congratulations, dear @rabihalameddine.bsky.social!
We are thrilled that @rabihalameddine.bsky.social's THE TRUE TRUE STORY OF RAJA THE GULLIBLE (AND HIS MOTHER) has been selected as the winner of the 2025 @nationalbook.bsky.social Award for Fiction! Congrats, Rabih 🥳
November 20, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Not sure what this means but I can think of some people it might apply to. #NYTSpellingBee #FakePangrams #SillyPangrams
November 19, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Proud of my guy @dmf13.bsky.social for his activism with @fossilfreeca.org & urging @calpers.bsky.social to divest from fossil fuels. Bad for the planet, bad for the economy
CalPERS isn’t divesting from fossil fuels, but climate activists keep pushing
CalPERS maintains that divestment increases investment risk, and has instead pledged $100 billion in sustainable investments.
www.sacbee.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:13 PM
This is simultaneously so good & so entertaining
It would be weird to play soccer using the tennis rules. So why are we writing fiction with the unnecessary limitations of film? I have some theories. And I wrote about 12 things film teaches us wrong (and 4 it teaches us right) about writing prose. Please join me!
open.substack.com/pub/rebeccam...
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Naomi J. Williams
ICYMI and want to read about Something Else for a minute: I wrote about the history and evolution of deaf representation for @pbs.org American Masters. You can stream their documentary "Not Alone Anymore" on Marlee Matlin for free on the site, including an ASL version 🤩. www.pbs.org/wnet/america...
How the portrayal of Deaf people in film has evolved over time | American Masters | PBS
March 30th, 1987—21-year-old Marlee Matlin, bespectacled and in a puff-sleeved purple gown, cautiously took the stage and changed the course of film
www.pbs.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Every day I play @nytimes.com Spelling Bee & entertain myself with fun pangrams that aren’t actual words #SpellingBee #Pangram #FakePangrams
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Naomi J. Williams
The world is a better place with Electric Lit in it—let’s fight to keep it that way! Donate today at the link!
Keep People Reading in 2026 - Electric Literature
Help EL remain a home for human stories in a country increasingly inhospitable to art
buff.ly
November 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Back in the 90s, I worked at the national headquarters of the Sierra Club, when it was located on Polk Street in SF's Tenderloin. My co-workers from the Outings Dept & I liked to get beer & eats at the bar of the Phoenix Hotel. I think I literally had no idea it was such a legendary place.
San Francisco hotel, once a celebrity hot spot, prepares to close
The exhaustive guest list includes names such as Kurt Cobain and Faye Dunaway.
www.sfgate.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Gah, just hate watching Fox & HB doing their thing — against the Kings. Loved both those players when they were with Sac. #KingsvSpurs
November 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Worth reading every line of this heartbreaking, enraging piece that tells the story of just one of the 4000 people killed by cars every year in CA & the effect of his death on his family. The driver, who ran a red light, got off with a little probation & got to keep her license. Shameful
She says her brother was murdered. In California, the crash was an ‘accident’
4,000 Californians die in car crashes each year, usually in preventable collisions. Why?
www.sacbee.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Just used a new steamer on a bunch of winter clothes coming out of storage and, uh, was surprised to discover that steaming, well, dampens fabric 🤦🏻‍♀️
November 14, 2025 at 1:45 AM
I’m a UC Davis alum & just signed the UC Unbowed petition to tell UC Regents (who meet on Nov 18) to protect UC's independence.
University of California: Reject the federal government's political control
The federal government is trying to place the University of California under political control. Sign the UC Unbowed petition before the UC Regents meet on Nov 18 and tell them to protect UC's independ...
alumni.standforcampusfreedom.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Amused/dismayed by how much I relate to this at this morning’s Commuter piece @electricliterature.com by @rlmaizes.bsky.social (and yes, I had to “Click to enlarge” in order to read it 😂) electricliterature.com?p=301992
November 12, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Brazen in-broad-daylight copycat art theft now hitting Bay Area? www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Photos show stolen Bay Area statue being carted away in broad daylight
San Jose police are asking the public for help finding the statue.
www.sfgate.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:51 PM