Cole Merkel
@colemerkel.bsky.social
Housing Justice advocate turned bureaucrat; Small town Midwesterner turned Oregon suburbanite; Gay married cat dad
Opinions are entirely mine.
🌈🦄🏳️🌈; 📍Cascadia
Opinions are entirely mine.
🌈🦄🏳️🌈; 📍Cascadia
Y'all @nathanbreiten.bsky.social and I are rewatching #HeatedRivalry (three days after we finished it) and... is this what representation feels like?
I've obviously never been and never will be a professional hockey player, but I--like every other gay man--know the trauma of hiding in the closet. 🧵
I've obviously never been and never will be a professional hockey player, but I--like every other gay man--know the trauma of hiding in the closet. 🧵
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Y'all @nathanbreiten.bsky.social and I are rewatching #HeatedRivalry (three days after we finished it) and... is this what representation feels like?
I've obviously never been and never will be a professional hockey player, but I--like every other gay man--know the trauma of hiding in the closet. 🧵
I've obviously never been and never will be a professional hockey player, but I--like every other gay man--know the trauma of hiding in the closet. 🧵
The number 5 most checked out audiobook/ebook from Multnomah County Library this year tells me Portland is going through some shit.
December 24, 2025 at 5:23 AM
The number 5 most checked out audiobook/ebook from Multnomah County Library this year tells me Portland is going through some shit.
*Slams laptop shut until 2026*
a man with a mustache is typing on a computer keyboard
Alt: Ron Swanson from Parks & Rec throws his computer in a dumpster
media.tenor.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:14 AM
*Slams laptop shut until 2026*
Hey @oregonian.com, I'm signed into my account in your app. Why can't I read more than the lead of half the articles?
The journalism is good but per usual with your app, this is ridiculous.
The journalism is good but per usual with your app, this is ridiculous.
December 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Hey @oregonian.com, I'm signed into my account in your app. Why can't I read more than the lead of half the articles?
The journalism is good but per usual with your app, this is ridiculous.
The journalism is good but per usual with your app, this is ridiculous.
The last 10 minutes of Heated Rivalry Season 5 were absolutely perfect.
I read the novel during a really tough time this summer and it was balm. Now the show has lived rent free in my head for a month.
I read the novel during a really tough time this summer and it was balm. Now the show has lived rent free in my head for a month.
December 20, 2025 at 6:19 AM
The last 10 minutes of Heated Rivalry Season 5 were absolutely perfect.
I read the novel during a really tough time this summer and it was balm. Now the show has lived rent free in my head for a month.
I read the novel during a really tough time this summer and it was balm. Now the show has lived rent free in my head for a month.
Ok so Moby Dick also knows it's Heated Rivalry day.
I squeezed that sperm till a strange sort of insanity came over me
December 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Ok so Moby Dick also knows it's Heated Rivalry day.
Started rewatching Mad Men last night and, from the jump, I'm blown away by how deeply the characters had been developed and how meticulously the era had been recreated.
Truly one of the best TV series of all time.
Truly one of the best TV series of all time.
December 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Started rewatching Mad Men last night and, from the jump, I'm blown away by how deeply the characters had been developed and how meticulously the era had been recreated.
Truly one of the best TV series of all time.
Truly one of the best TV series of all time.
Of Monsters & Men @ Crystal Ballroom
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
November 29, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Of Monsters & Men @ Crystal Ballroom
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
If this ain't a metaphor, I don't know what is.
October 21, 2025 at 4:06 AM
If this ain't a metaphor, I don't know what is.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
No Kings protests - Time Square
October 18, 2025 at 7:22 PM
No Kings protests - Time Square
Two spouses, two messages, two sides of the same sign. @nathanbreiten.bsky.social
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
October 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Two spouses, two messages, two sides of the same sign. @nathanbreiten.bsky.social
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
The No Kings Portland march has closed the Hawthorne Bridge. #NoKings #NoKingsPDX
October 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The No Kings Portland march has closed the Hawthorne Bridge. #NoKings #NoKingsPDX
Reposted by Cole Merkel
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson calls Sunday's naked bike ride in protest of the Portland ICE facility and and Trump troop deployment "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet"
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
October 14, 2025 at 11:41 PM
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson calls Sunday's naked bike ride in protest of the Portland ICE facility and and Trump troop deployment "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet"
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
Reposted by Cole Merkel
Member of the Chicago press gets arrested by
masked ICE GOONS
masked ICE GOONS
October 11, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Member of the Chicago press gets arrested by
masked ICE GOONS
masked ICE GOONS
This lede sentence by @agpnw.bsky.social perfectly sums up the moment in Portland.
October 11, 2025 at 12:12 AM
This lede sentence by @agpnw.bsky.social perfectly sums up the moment in Portland.
The war rations from the burned down storefronts.
October 11, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The war rations from the burned down storefronts.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
October 9, 2025 at 8:23 PM
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
The overreach of the Jim Crow regime in response to peaceful lawful protest brought it down
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
October 8, 2025 at 1:15 AM
The overreach of the Jim Crow regime in response to peaceful lawful protest brought it down
Reposted by Cole Merkel
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Was just thinking this as I heard the third helicopter fly over our house in the burbs, miles south of the ICE office.
Also how expensive is helicopter fuel and how many taxpayer dollars have they burned
October 4, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Was just thinking this as I heard the third helicopter fly over our house in the burbs, miles south of the ICE office.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
NEW—US Department of Education sent out standard Out of Office language to employees on Wednesday in light of shutdown. Later yesterday, workers tell me they found someone had updated their auto-responses without consent to a new one blaming Democrats.
Version of original on left, updated on right:
Version of original on left, updated on right:
October 2, 2025 at 1:46 PM
NEW—US Department of Education sent out standard Out of Office language to employees on Wednesday in light of shutdown. Later yesterday, workers tell me they found someone had updated their auto-responses without consent to a new one blaming Democrats.
Version of original on left, updated on right:
Version of original on left, updated on right:
Reposted by Cole Merkel
Live from "war ravaged" Portland
September 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Live from "war ravaged" Portland
I guess I missed the war. Did it happen before or after brunch?
Trump says he’s authorized Hegseth to use “Full Force” against Antifa in “War ravaged” Portland
September 27, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I guess I missed the war. Did it happen before or after brunch?
Spot on analysis. May it be true.
WATCH: “They are simply going too fast. I really think the speed at which they are trying to rip apart a free and open society is a huge tactical mistake on their part,” says @chrislhayes.bsky.social.
September 27, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Spot on analysis. May it be true.