Ariella Axelbank
@alleiraknablexa.bsky.social
A jack of many-but-not-quite-all trades. Diversiform nerd and punmaster extraordinaire. Very occasional writer of http://AriellaExplainsThings.com. She/her.
Reposted by Ariella Axelbank
Can we at least give Canada a break on the tariffs now?
November 2, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Can we at least give Canada a break on the tariffs now?
My cat is confused as to why you’d root for a blue jay rather than eat it, but she’s here for it.
This is a helluva game.
This is a helluva game.
November 2, 2025 at 3:33 AM
My cat is confused as to why you’d root for a blue jay rather than eat it, but she’s here for it.
This is a helluva game.
This is a helluva game.
I gotta say, nothing beats the feeling of getting to vote for a candidate you really believe in, rather than just voting against the other guys.
![A selfie of a white woman with glasses, burgundy hair and a leather jacket, standing in front of a brick wall. Next to her is a sign with an arrow pointing to the right and text that says “VOTE HERE / VOTE AQUÍ / [vote here in Chinese (simplified)]”. She is holding two stickers still on their paper backings - one red with text that says “BROOKLYN VOTES EARLY” and another red, white, and blue that says “I VOTED EARLY!”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5ygxsicltjmq3lravy4sj4s6/bafkreifes4psvr4ikrnmtf42rbfvbtwcrmqakrc5hi6vacsfriyrlzze7a@jpeg)
November 1, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I gotta say, nothing beats the feeling of getting to vote for a candidate you really believe in, rather than just voting against the other guys.
Happy Halloween from Varo, who decided to dress up this year as a cast iron pan.
Thank you, as ever to @catsofyore.bsky.social for the amazing stealth costume idea!
Thank you, as ever to @catsofyore.bsky.social for the amazing stealth costume idea!
October 31, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Happy Halloween from Varo, who decided to dress up this year as a cast iron pan.
Thank you, as ever to @catsofyore.bsky.social for the amazing stealth costume idea!
Thank you, as ever to @catsofyore.bsky.social for the amazing stealth costume idea!
It’s always a joy to receive an update on the status of Schadenfreude Tower www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/n...
A Tower on Billionaires’ Row Is Full of Cracks. Who’s to Blame?
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:10 PM
It’s always a joy to receive an update on the status of Schadenfreude Tower www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/n...
This morning I woke up, and randomly decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment bike adventure to Governors Island. It’s gotten much more built up in the last several years, but it remains one of my absolute favorite places in the entire city.
September 27, 2025 at 10:43 PM
This morning I woke up, and randomly decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment bike adventure to Governors Island. It’s gotten much more built up in the last several years, but it remains one of my absolute favorite places in the entire city.
It’s officially autumn!
September 8, 2025 at 1:18 AM
It’s officially autumn!
Not gonna lie, I still think maglev is one of the coolest technologies out there. It’s flying! With magnets!
I enjoyed this. And what an infectious laugh. ❤️
"Reporter left speechless after witnessing Japan's new $70 million Maglev train in action at 310 mph"
"Reporter left speechless after witnessing Japan's new $70 million Maglev train in action at 310 mph"
September 3, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Not gonna lie, I still think maglev is one of the coolest technologies out there. It’s flying! With magnets!
My My cat’s
interests interests
🤝
The flock of monk parakeets from Green-Wood Cemetery when they land on the tree right outside my bedroom window
interests interests
🤝
The flock of monk parakeets from Green-Wood Cemetery when they land on the tree right outside my bedroom window
September 1, 2025 at 9:02 PM
My My cat’s
interests interests
🤝
The flock of monk parakeets from Green-Wood Cemetery when they land on the tree right outside my bedroom window
interests interests
🤝
The flock of monk parakeets from Green-Wood Cemetery when they land on the tree right outside my bedroom window
Is that sound I hear from the other room while getting ready in the morning:
(A) construction noises through the open window;
(B) my cat horking; or
(C) all of the above?
(A) construction noises through the open window;
(B) my cat horking; or
(C) all of the above?
August 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Is that sound I hear from the other room while getting ready in the morning:
(A) construction noises through the open window;
(B) my cat horking; or
(C) all of the above?
(A) construction noises through the open window;
(B) my cat horking; or
(C) all of the above?
Reposted by Ariella Axelbank
some of you need to make like travis kelce and engage with a tailor swiftly
August 27, 2025 at 1:00 AM
some of you need to make like travis kelce and engage with a tailor swiftly
I’m sitting in a highway rest stop eating my rest stop McDonald’s and dreaming of the FRESH SQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE MACHINE we found an Irish highway rest stop. 🍊
August 8, 2025 at 12:07 AM
I’m sitting in a highway rest stop eating my rest stop McDonald’s and dreaming of the FRESH SQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE MACHINE we found an Irish highway rest stop. 🍊
The only thing better than a pannier full of cat food? A pannier full of cat food AND a rotisserie chicken!
August 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The only thing better than a pannier full of cat food? A pannier full of cat food AND a rotisserie chicken!
This thread makes me very happy.
Okay I just CANNOT think or focus this morning and I have an ANXIETY STOMACHACHE
One like, one piece of writing advice from Fiasco the cat
One like, one piece of writing advice from Fiasco the cat
July 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This thread makes me very happy.
Something giving me life today - the old women in the YMCA locker room discussing the new Superman movie:
“I loved the Lois Lane dynamic.”
“We went to see it at the IMAX theater!”
“The dog was so cute. I mean, it was all AI, but it was so cute.”
“Oh, was it AI? That’s so disappointing.”
“I loved the Lois Lane dynamic.”
“We went to see it at the IMAX theater!”
“The dog was so cute. I mean, it was all AI, but it was so cute.”
“Oh, was it AI? That’s so disappointing.”
July 28, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Something giving me life today - the old women in the YMCA locker room discussing the new Superman movie:
“I loved the Lois Lane dynamic.”
“We went to see it at the IMAX theater!”
“The dog was so cute. I mean, it was all AI, but it was so cute.”
“Oh, was it AI? That’s so disappointing.”
“I loved the Lois Lane dynamic.”
“We went to see it at the IMAX theater!”
“The dog was so cute. I mean, it was all AI, but it was so cute.”
“Oh, was it AI? That’s so disappointing.”
This thread is so cool.
Fiiiine, apparently half my readers enjoy an info dump, so here we go!
Grasslands Sequester Carbon Too or “Why trees are not the be-all and end-all.”
Ahem. *takes a sip of water*
Grasslands Sequester Carbon Too or “Why trees are not the be-all and end-all.”
Ahem. *takes a sip of water*
I THINK they’re mad because of the hardscaping? Not entirely sure.
(One guy tried to claim it didn’t store CO2. Do you want a lecture on prairie carbon sequestration? Because this is how you get a lecture on prairie carbon sequestration.)
(One guy tried to claim it didn’t store CO2. Do you want a lecture on prairie carbon sequestration? Because this is how you get a lecture on prairie carbon sequestration.)
July 26, 2025 at 2:42 AM
This thread is so cool.
It’s so refreshing to hear these sentiments expressed by a Jewish politician (or honestly ANY politician, at this point).
Lander’s framing - that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza are diametrically opposed to Jewish values - is spot on. It just seems so obvious.
Lander’s framing - that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza are diametrically opposed to Jewish values - is spot on. It just seems so obvious.
The mass starvation & killing of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli gov’t is a chillul hashem, a desecration of God.
Jewish leaders who criticized Zohran Mamdani for three words he doesn’t use should raise their voices loudly here as well.
forward.com/opinion/7575...
Jewish leaders who criticized Zohran Mamdani for three words he doesn’t use should raise their voices loudly here as well.
forward.com/opinion/7575...
Gaza is starving. Where are the American Jewish leaders?
A fear of being labelled antisemitic still deters American Jews and Jewish institutions from taking a position that is morally correct.
forward.com
July 24, 2025 at 10:26 PM
It’s so refreshing to hear these sentiments expressed by a Jewish politician (or honestly ANY politician, at this point).
Lander’s framing - that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza are diametrically opposed to Jewish values - is spot on. It just seems so obvious.
Lander’s framing - that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza are diametrically opposed to Jewish values - is spot on. It just seems so obvious.
As a woman who has been known to gaze on occasion (not going to refer to myself as “a female” even though that would make the phrasing better because 🤮) and who also likes to interrogate why that gaze falls where it does, this is one of those instances where you absolutely SHOULD read the comments.
This isn’t the female gaze. This is the male gaze. It’s men who are obsessed with the physicality of other men. Women, in the main, would much rather see a man who looks like he’d make himself a stack of buttered toast and let you steal a slice
![Screenshot:
No room for wokeness!
@Wokenessisevil
Notice how no one, not a single soul, has ever complained about the female gaze in entertainment.
[photos show Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Alan Ritchson (Reacher) with ripped muscles]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:icsm7hd2dok5lxddyrig4gbt/bafkreieqpfyocgnmbjxooiqmg34hpxbxzfjhywfjaej45xdlkmo2j4k3pu@jpeg)
July 20, 2025 at 3:43 AM
As a woman who has been known to gaze on occasion (not going to refer to myself as “a female” even though that would make the phrasing better because 🤮) and who also likes to interrogate why that gaze falls where it does, this is one of those instances where you absolutely SHOULD read the comments.
Reposted by Ariella Axelbank
Shabbat Shalom to everyone who recognizes that the safety, freedom & thriving of Jews and Muslims are bound up together — in Israel & Palestine, across the five boroughs, and in many other beloved places.
Lander: "It's just gross, racist bigotry. Meanwhile he's running an optimistic, upbeat campaign for a NY where everybody belongs, and I feel proud as the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in NYC to be supporting somebody who would be the first Muslim mayor—what could be more NYC than that?"
June 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Shabbat Shalom to everyone who recognizes that the safety, freedom & thriving of Jews and Muslims are bound up together — in Israel & Palestine, across the five boroughs, and in many other beloved places.
Reposted by Ariella Axelbank
it should be easy to be the better senator in the state where the other senator is chuck schumer but it should also be easy to be the better senator in the state where the other senator is kirsten gillibrand so what we have ourselves is a good old fashioned suckoff
June 27, 2025 at 9:35 PM
it should be easy to be the better senator in the state where the other senator is chuck schumer but it should also be easy to be the better senator in the state where the other senator is kirsten gillibrand so what we have ourselves is a good old fashioned suckoff
As a Jewish New Yorker, co-signed, 100%.
Plus, that thing where the media assumes Jews cannot possibly support Mamdani because of his views on Israel/Palestine? It’s antisemitic as hell. Plays right into the trope of “dual loyalty,” which, honestly, is way more antisemitic than anything he’s said.
Plus, that thing where the media assumes Jews cannot possibly support Mamdani because of his views on Israel/Palestine? It’s antisemitic as hell. Plays right into the trope of “dual loyalty,” which, honestly, is way more antisemitic than anything he’s said.
fwiw and I know it’s not much I am a Jew who lives in New York City and while I am neither afraid of Zohran Mamdani nor his views on Israel and Palestine, I’m actually scared as hell about the horrific wave of racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia that has been unleashed since his primary win
June 26, 2025 at 11:06 PM
As a Jewish New Yorker, co-signed, 100%.
Plus, that thing where the media assumes Jews cannot possibly support Mamdani because of his views on Israel/Palestine? It’s antisemitic as hell. Plays right into the trope of “dual loyalty,” which, honestly, is way more antisemitic than anything he’s said.
Plus, that thing where the media assumes Jews cannot possibly support Mamdani because of his views on Israel/Palestine? It’s antisemitic as hell. Plays right into the trope of “dual loyalty,” which, honestly, is way more antisemitic than anything he’s said.
I’ve had some pretty absurd health insurance interactions in my life, but this story blows all of them right out of the water.
Read and repeat after me:
🎶 Health insurance is a FUCKING SCAM 🎶
Read and repeat after me:
🎶 Health insurance is a FUCKING SCAM 🎶
Okay people, buckle your seatbelts 🧵
I cannot take the amount of time away from work that is required to tell this story right now, but oh I will tell it tonight
June 26, 2025 at 1:39 AM
I’ve had some pretty absurd health insurance interactions in my life, but this story blows all of them right out of the water.
Read and repeat after me:
🎶 Health insurance is a FUCKING SCAM 🎶
Read and repeat after me:
🎶 Health insurance is a FUCKING SCAM 🎶
Reposted by Ariella Axelbank
it’s even more demoralizing when the history you’re repeating is history you were around for the first time
June 22, 2025 at 1:44 AM
it’s even more demoralizing when the history you’re repeating is history you were around for the first time
I did the thing! NYC, today, tomorrow, and Tuesday are your last chance to make sure a serial liar and harasser* does not become mayor!
* AKA Andrew Cuomo. He’s bad for the city. Please please please do not rank him.
* AKA Andrew Cuomo. He’s bad for the city. Please please please do not rank him.
June 21, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I did the thing! NYC, today, tomorrow, and Tuesday are your last chance to make sure a serial liar and harasser* does not become mayor!
* AKA Andrew Cuomo. He’s bad for the city. Please please please do not rank him.
* AKA Andrew Cuomo. He’s bad for the city. Please please please do not rank him.
You mean there’s been a USEFUL metric for just how gross an NYC summer day will be and I’m only just learning how to read it now?
Every time it feels gross out, I have to consult this article.
Can I Point You To The Dew Point? | Defector
So you, too, may learn the ways of dew, I've put together this Handy Dew Point Guide.
defector.com
June 19, 2025 at 2:21 AM
You mean there’s been a USEFUL metric for just how gross an NYC summer day will be and I’m only just learning how to read it now?