Alison
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alibess.bsky.social
Alison
@alibess.bsky.social
Widow, art history geek, fan of the band Japan/Mick Karn, dog servant, freelance writer/editor, voracious reader, bundle of anxiety, Democrat, Antifa, BLM, LGBTQ+ ally, immigrant 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇮🇹
Someone is comfy and snoring #dogs
March 25, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Making herself comfy #dogs
March 13, 2025 at 9:34 PM
You cannot fuck with Foggy (possibly) dying and THEN play Nick Cave’s Into My Arms. That’s too much in too short a period!! #Daredevil 💔💔💔
March 6, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Bastard people! Disney doesn’t give us Daredevil until the 5th in Italy (and outside US, I assume). *swears in multiple languages* I can’t even make the most of my anxiety and insomnia! 🤬🤬🤬
March 3, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Alison
Starting a re-read of "Brunelleschi's Dome." I first read this nearly 20 years ago, so it'll be fun to revisit.

I just (re-)learned that medieval architects would build scale models of their cathedrals. So what? Well sometimes (as at Bologna) those scale models could be 60 feet long!!
March 1, 2025 at 2:41 AM
The other day while out walking one of the dogs, despite being deeply depressed, I heard What Is Love BLARING from a car somewhere nearby. Damned if I did start bopping my head like the #SNL sketch and ultimately laughing. A brief but welcome respite from darker time. 😄
February 28, 2025 at 1:44 AM
My pittie knows his commands in Dutch & seemingly in Italian too, despite me rarely using Italian commands with him. I was trying to get my Italian dog, who is oblivious in all languages, to come to me, trying Italian when Dutch didn’t work. She ignored me, he didn’t. Pic is pretty representative.🤦🏼‍♀️
February 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM
I managed to clean something I’ve been putting off for way too long, because many household chores set off my anxiety. I’m free from work this week & am trying to psych myself up to do a lot of things I’ve been putting off. It’s a day-by-day thing though. Still I’ll take this as a win. #mentalhealth
February 24, 2025 at 4:49 PM
😢
NEW YORK (AP) — Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer known for 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' and other intimate hits, dies at 88.
February 24, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Alison
THIS IS HUGE! Researchers have developed a nasal COVID-19 vaccine that BLOCKS transmission of the virus. This suggests vaccines delivered directly to the nose or mouth could play a CRITICAL role in containing the spread of respiratory infections. Phase I clinical trials HAVE BEEN APPROVED! 🧪🧵⬇️
February 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
JFC. I’ve had issues with the AP the last year, but am generally ok with them. I’m glad they’re standing up to him, but the way the administration is ignoring the First Amendment is terrifying.
NEW: @apnews.com has now been barred from an event in the Oval Office because it "did not align its editorial standards with Trump's EO renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America."

In other words, b/c @apnews.com ACCURATELY calls it the "Gulf of Mexico," it is now being punished by Trump.
February 11, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Not gonna lie, the nightly sound of the glass being dumped in the recycling bin by the restaurant down the street creates bittersweet memories of the wine bar/enoteca my husband and I had in Utrecht. That end of the night sound.
February 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I have spent too much of this week trying to remember the Dutch word for breakfast while out walking the dogs in the morning. I knew the word; I just couldn’t remember it and kept forgetting to look it up until now, because sure. Ontbijt!! How could I forget that with my love of ontbijtkoek?! 🤦🏼‍♀️
February 8, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Life with Lila
#dogs
February 6, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Dutch dog Charlie was sniffing my sweater that had some knoflooksaus (garlic sauce) spilled at dinner. I was saying, “yes, knoflooksaus via zucchini,” and then had to explain the sauce was on the zucchini, not a reference to the nearby street Via Zucchini here in Bologna. Lost in translation. 🤪
February 2, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Alison
We are at the stage of oligarchy in this country where we’ve been bought by private equity and they’re currently transferring all the assets to their own pockets and leaving us with the debts.
February 1, 2025 at 12:17 AM
I’ve had the urge to watch UK Being Human recently, particularly season 4 when Hal (Damien Moloney) joins in and I just got to the moment where he’s talking with Annie and say, “Are you somehow drunk?!”, which I’d forgotten about until I heard it and then remembered how much I enjoyed it! 😆 #context
January 31, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Just getting emotional over the engagement of one of our first and best customers at the wine bar my husband started in Utrecht. A lovely, brilliant, talented, and kind Turkish woman living the international life. I know Giovanni would be happy for her. ❤️🥲
January 31, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Forget Eames chairs. My chair porn is anything by Rietveld (and I do long for a Barcelona chair and footstool). A previous season of FBI tv series had a pair of Rietveld’s Zigzag chairs. I’m currently watching the movie Promising Young Woman on Netflix and Oh-ed! when I saw a set of red/blue chairs
January 31, 2025 at 7:46 PM
FBI:Most Wanted is my least favorite of the three because of Dylan McDermott’s overacting. I like him sometimes, but not in this series.
January 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Alison
Do you have #LongCovid? Have you gone to therapy since developing Long Covid?

We're working with a freelance writer on an article about therapy and people living with Long Covid. We'd love your input. bit.ly/4hdOWuI
People living with Long Covid: Experiences With Therapy
Do you have Long Covid? Have you gone to therapy since developing Long Covid? I'm working on an article for The Sick Times on (mental health) therapy and people living with Long Covid, and I'm looki...
bit.ly
January 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Watching this week’s return of FBI tv series. Awkward timing involving planes. 😬 Interestingly the actress playing Bolivian plays Persian on season 2 of The Night Agent.
January 30, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Alison
Former Secretary of Transportation--who was not on The Real World or Road Rules--weighs in on the President's efforts to blame the fatal air traffic accident on DEI.
January 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM
JFC. The people nominated—and so far getting through — are horrifying! Each one makes me literally recoil in disgust and disbelief.
Addressing criticism of her 2017 trip to Syria to meet then-President Bashar al-Assad, director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard said in opening remarks: “I have no love for Assad or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaeda.”

Follow updates here:
Live updates: Tulsi Gabbard faces Senate confirmation hearing for intelligence chief
Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, is expected to face contentious questions in her Senate confirmation hearing.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 30, 2025 at 4:48 PM
If the right is going to go on about diversity hires 🙄😡 can I at least mention that some of the notable events so far — helicopter/plane, New Orleans, cybertruck explosion — all involved military directly or indirectly? Maybe more help for military/vets? I’m not talking conspiracy theory, promise.
January 30, 2025 at 4:46 PM