Sparrow / Liz
@untonuggan.myatproto.social
angry mast cells (HaT and #MCAS) + #POTS + neurodivergent. ♿ queer. white. emperor of typos. brain fog zone ⚠️. they/them
🎶 iii'm still masking 🎶
working on porting more of my body science infodumps and such to:
liminalnest.wordpress.com
#NEISvoid
🎶 iii'm still masking 🎶
working on porting more of my body science infodumps and such to:
liminalnest.wordpress.com
#NEISvoid
Pinned
I've got a lot of new followers, so fair warning I yell A Lot about my mast cells + mast cell disorders #MCAS
This may seem niche
But COVID infection can trigger mast cell dysfunction
So it is becoming more common, and there are not enough doctors who know how to recognize and manage it
This may seem niche
But COVID infection can trigger mast cell dysfunction
So it is becoming more common, and there are not enough doctors who know how to recognize and manage it
I guess I'm starting a thread of pinned posts now?
Here's a little bit about my immune disorder, MCAS, and why I yell about it so much
Here's a little bit about my immune disorder, MCAS, and why I yell about it so much
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
I know this is satire but honestly, yes.
![[woman crying] Report: Most Chronically Ill Patients Now Start Crying 3 Days Before Appointment To Get It Over With - mybodyistryingtokillme.com](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dbzmdmsaz6lkhb4tv3culzme/bafkreigo2wre7juoyxc6mlo7j4rsen555yj2afhhexe6c4b7qfqk6m6v2q@jpeg)
December 21, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I know this is satire but honestly, yes.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
I vote we stop discussing LLMs on here, block the boosters on sight, and post our Christmas bakes instead.
December 21, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I vote we stop discussing LLMs on here, block the boosters on sight, and post our Christmas bakes instead.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
Speaking as someone who stopped breathing last night because the power went out, we are NOT equipped for the disablity impacts of our failing power infrastructure. Great read from @juliametraux.bsky.social
What a crumbling power grid means for disabled Americans
Angela Frederick’s new book calls to put disability at the center of disaster planning.
grist.org
December 21, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Speaking as someone who stopped breathing last night because the power went out, we are NOT equipped for the disablity impacts of our failing power infrastructure. Great read from @juliametraux.bsky.social
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
A central motif throughout the drug panics has been the specter of predatory drug dealers forcing innocent young white girls into sexual slavery. Swap out “scary young Black guy” with “old rich white man” and suddenly there’s no urgency.
December 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
A central motif throughout the drug panics has been the specter of predatory drug dealers forcing innocent young white girls into sexual slavery. Swap out “scary young Black guy” with “old rich white man” and suddenly there’s no urgency.
just had my first infection since we got my MCAS back under control
(nothing contagious, it was a gallbladder infection due to all the gallstones and such)
and my "elevated" white blood cell (WBC) count during an infection?
is below what my "normal" WBC was pre-MCAS treatment
#NEISvoid
(nothing contagious, it was a gallbladder infection due to all the gallstones and such)
and my "elevated" white blood cell (WBC) count during an infection?
is below what my "normal" WBC was pre-MCAS treatment
#NEISvoid
December 21, 2025 at 2:57 PM
just had my first infection since we got my MCAS back under control
(nothing contagious, it was a gallbladder infection due to all the gallstones and such)
and my "elevated" white blood cell (WBC) count during an infection?
is below what my "normal" WBC was pre-MCAS treatment
#NEISvoid
(nothing contagious, it was a gallbladder infection due to all the gallstones and such)
and my "elevated" white blood cell (WBC) count during an infection?
is below what my "normal" WBC was pre-MCAS treatment
#NEISvoid
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
This is what I don’t understand: How could extensive attention to clean indoor air make anything *worse*? Particulates and pollen and so on cause issues for people with allergies and asthma even before we think about anything else. It’s cheap and easy and we should just be doing it everywhere!
Study in Helsinki indicating benefits of portable air cleaners on lowering infection risk in daycare centers, less absences & parent absences from work in intervention vs. reference (no air cleaner) groups. Cleaning indoor air is not difficult and it works.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The effect of room air cleaners on infection control in day care centres
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of air cleaning in reducing the risk of respiratory infection in two day care centres using a si…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM
This is what I don’t understand: How could extensive attention to clean indoor air make anything *worse*? Particulates and pollen and so on cause issues for people with allergies and asthma even before we think about anything else. It’s cheap and easy and we should just be doing it everywhere!
I wanted to share a real world example of precisely why these kind of fake citations are harmful
The short overview is: real citations let you fact check things people said
You can also decide if their source is reliable, or full of shit
The short overview is: real citations let you fact check things people said
You can also decide if their source is reliable, or full of shit
Finally, if you can get through the paywall this piece from earlier in the week illuminates how the experience above is just a tiny part of an industrial-scale, global, and sector-wide catastrophe of AI and citations to nonexistent papers in academic publishing bsky.app/profile/mile...
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.
December 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I wanted to share a real world example of precisely why these kind of fake citations are harmful
The short overview is: real citations let you fact check things people said
You can also decide if their source is reliable, or full of shit
The short overview is: real citations let you fact check things people said
You can also decide if their source is reliable, or full of shit
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
Correcting typos in captions and subtitles counts as “engagement” and drives the algorithm. Often its done deliberately. Like I just did there.
That alone should be depressing enough a fact to encourage you to be more like Bob.
You know it make’s sense.
That alone should be depressing enough a fact to encourage you to be more like Bob.
You know it make’s sense.
December 21, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Correcting typos in captions and subtitles counts as “engagement” and drives the algorithm. Often its done deliberately. Like I just did there.
That alone should be depressing enough a fact to encourage you to be more like Bob.
You know it make’s sense.
That alone should be depressing enough a fact to encourage you to be more like Bob.
You know it make’s sense.
*deep sigh* well I guess I'm glad I decided getting a tattoo with my immune disorder was ~probably~ not worth the risk for me personally
but it would have been nice if this new mouse study on tattoos did not confirm my suspicion that tattoos appear to = more inflammation
#NEISvoid
but it would have been nice if this new mouse study on tattoos did not confirm my suspicion that tattoos appear to = more inflammation
#NEISvoid
Tattoo ink induces inflammation in the draining lymph node and alters the immune response to vaccination | PNAS
Despite safety concerns regarding the toxicity of tattoo ink, no studies have reported
the consequences of tattooing on the immune response. In thi...
www.pnas.org
December 20, 2025 at 11:31 PM
*deep sigh* well I guess I'm glad I decided getting a tattoo with my immune disorder was ~probably~ not worth the risk for me personally
but it would have been nice if this new mouse study on tattoos did not confirm my suspicion that tattoos appear to = more inflammation
#NEISvoid
but it would have been nice if this new mouse study on tattoos did not confirm my suspicion that tattoos appear to = more inflammation
#NEISvoid
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
If anyone has family members who do needle crafts involving a hoop or frame (like embroidery or cross stitch), I highly recommend this Etsy shop. She makes grime guards, which keep your hand oils off your project.
Plus, they're super cute.
Plus, they're super cute.
www.etsy.com
December 20, 2025 at 11:02 PM
If anyone has family members who do needle crafts involving a hoop or frame (like embroidery or cross stitch), I highly recommend this Etsy shop. She makes grime guards, which keep your hand oils off your project.
Plus, they're super cute.
Plus, they're super cute.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
it is good that Mitt "47% of the US are Takers" Romney wants to tax the rich. But Mitt Romney did not just develop deep generosity of spirit which makes him believe in a robust social safety net.
Mitt Romney is smart enough that he's having guillotine nightmares.
Good. Yes. More.
Mitt Romney is smart enough that he's having guillotine nightmares.
Good. Yes. More.
December 20, 2025 at 6:25 PM
it is good that Mitt "47% of the US are Takers" Romney wants to tax the rich. But Mitt Romney did not just develop deep generosity of spirit which makes him believe in a robust social safety net.
Mitt Romney is smart enough that he's having guillotine nightmares.
Good. Yes. More.
Mitt Romney is smart enough that he's having guillotine nightmares.
Good. Yes. More.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
0/300 to feed family with dietary restrictions, whilst mom Courtney is hospital inpatient next wk, & thru recovery the wk after.
paypal.me/stillcreece85
+ Share if you can't spare
+ Reply & repost to uplift
💕💸Send what you can to #KeepFolksAlive
#MutualAid #MABoost #FundSky #Helpsky #BIPOCMA
paypal.me/stillcreece85
+ Share if you can't spare
+ Reply & repost to uplift
💕💸Send what you can to #KeepFolksAlive
#MutualAid #MABoost #FundSky #Helpsky #BIPOCMA
December 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
0/300 to feed family with dietary restrictions, whilst mom Courtney is hospital inpatient next wk, & thru recovery the wk after.
paypal.me/stillcreece85
+ Share if you can't spare
+ Reply & repost to uplift
💕💸Send what you can to #KeepFolksAlive
#MutualAid #MABoost #FundSky #Helpsky #BIPOCMA
paypal.me/stillcreece85
+ Share if you can't spare
+ Reply & repost to uplift
💕💸Send what you can to #KeepFolksAlive
#MutualAid #MABoost #FundSky #Helpsky #BIPOCMA
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
Outstanding news!
www.fastcompany.com/91461983/ind...
www.fastcompany.com/91461983/ind...
Indie bookstores are making a shocking, triumphant comeback
Since 2020, the number of independent bookstores in the U.S. grew by 70%.
www.fastcompany.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Outstanding news!
www.fastcompany.com/91461983/ind...
www.fastcompany.com/91461983/ind...
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
Writers, please don’t use genAI to create illustrations either. Support human artists.
If you like visual prompts, collecting oracle and tarot decks is a fantastic way to combine this support for art into your writing practice.
If you like visual prompts, collecting oracle and tarot decks is a fantastic way to combine this support for art into your writing practice.
December 20, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Writers, please don’t use genAI to create illustrations either. Support human artists.
If you like visual prompts, collecting oracle and tarot decks is a fantastic way to combine this support for art into your writing practice.
If you like visual prompts, collecting oracle and tarot decks is a fantastic way to combine this support for art into your writing practice.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
20th century ads and propaganda are the only exposure most Americans have to what living standards were like in the past, no? If they’re not reading Michael Harrington’s The Other America in an American Studies class, how else would they learn about deep poverty and how pervasive it was?
It’s fascinating.
The notion that your economic challenges are real, and should be addressed, but are not greater than economic challenges of various times in the past really bothers some people.
This has to be the worst economy ever. As if 20th century ads and sitcoms were the common experience.
The notion that your economic challenges are real, and should be addressed, but are not greater than economic challenges of various times in the past really bothers some people.
This has to be the worst economy ever. As if 20th century ads and sitcoms were the common experience.
December 20, 2025 at 2:10 PM
20th century ads and propaganda are the only exposure most Americans have to what living standards were like in the past, no? If they’re not reading Michael Harrington’s The Other America in an American Studies class, how else would they learn about deep poverty and how pervasive it was?
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
2 of my grandparents were dust bowl babies in the depression and another was Black in Jim Crow Alabama, so I grew up with tons of stories about how abject life was for them before the war! I think most people aren’t getting that perspective from firsthand sources now
December 20, 2025 at 2:11 PM
2 of my grandparents were dust bowl babies in the depression and another was Black in Jim Crow Alabama, so I grew up with tons of stories about how abject life was for them before the war! I think most people aren’t getting that perspective from firsthand sources now
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
If people used alt-text, my Mute List would work properly.
December 20, 2025 at 12:36 PM
If people used alt-text, my Mute List would work properly.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
I’m a lot of things to a lot of people. But one of the most important things I am? Is pillow.
December 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I’m a lot of things to a lot of people. But one of the most important things I am? Is pillow.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
$1000 goal for Dec. (higher if no SNAP payout)
We're a family of 5: 2 adults, 3 kids, w/2 cats in need of financial assistance.
My husband got laid off in June & unemployment benefits ran out. No luck finding a new job.
I am disabled & can't work.
$/Venmo: $SickBayCaitlin
PayPal thru Ko-fi link:
We're a family of 5: 2 adults, 3 kids, w/2 cats in need of financial assistance.
My husband got laid off in June & unemployment benefits ran out. No luck finding a new job.
I am disabled & can't work.
$/Venmo: $SickBayCaitlin
PayPal thru Ko-fi link:
Support SickBayCheese
Support SickBayCheese
ko-fi.com
December 20, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
When I'm feeling particularly hopeless about the future of professoring as a profession, I try to remind myself: That's what they want. They want us to not want to be professors anymore.
December 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
When I'm feeling particularly hopeless about the future of professoring as a profession, I try to remind myself: That's what they want. They want us to not want to be professors anymore.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
Can we at least all agree on one thing? Everything that's been made of Epstein & people he's associated with has been about everything but justice & healing for the survivors.
December 19, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Can we at least all agree on one thing? Everything that's been made of Epstein & people he's associated with has been about everything but justice & healing for the survivors.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
It's sad that this even needs to be said.
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:41 PM
It's sad that this even needs to be said.
Reposted by Sparrow / Liz
"You're exaggerating about how bad the economy is for regular people" is "Nobody wants to work anymore" ragebait and you cannot convince me otherwise.
December 20, 2025 at 12:16 AM
"You're exaggerating about how bad the economy is for regular people" is "Nobody wants to work anymore" ragebait and you cannot convince me otherwise.