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Colleen Barry

@copycurmudgeon.bsky.social

15K followers 270 following 1.5K posts

Copy editor (ProPublica, FiveThirtyEight, ESPN), baker, cross stitcher, cat furniture. she/her

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · Aug 4

Getting kicked out of my family vacation for bellowing, “Do not cite the deep lore to me, witch,” when my 5-year-old niece told me I had to watch the Mario movie to know about the characters, like how Peach comes from the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser wants to marry her.

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Reposted by Colleen Barry

Melanie @grammar-girl.bsky.social · 8h

It's Bailey!

Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 8h

Behold the majestic fluffpotato

A large and very fluffy cat sitting on a table. He has a dark brown face and lower legs, with a tan back and white chest and belly. He’s like a bowling ball you want to hug.

The same cat now on the floor and jumping into a chair. His back feet are on the ground and in focus and everything else is a blur as he jumps.

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 8h

Behold the majestic fluffpotato

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 16h

Turning my niece into a reader by hook or by crook.

Text conversation:
My mom: “You did a good job. Maeve got off the bus reading one of the books you gave her. Well, she was reading it as she crossed the street so maybe not such a good job.”
Me: “Hahahaha. Which one?”
Mom: “Not sure, but you told her it was one of your favorite series.”
Me: “Sideways stories from wayside school!”
Mom: “Yes!”

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 2d

The cats have been saving it for you.

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 3d

I know it, but I have consumed more than an average American’s share of British media, so I may not be a good measuring stick. I have no recollection of where I first encountered it, unfortunately.

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 3d

I so appreciate simple games because if it takes more than 15 minutes to set something up and explain the basics, my brain powers down. It’s Homer thinking about the cymbal monkey in there.

Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 6d

Agreed, I wuv it, with an Earth W.

Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 7d

Nice of them to drop “The Lowdown” and “Slow Horses” on the same day so you can have yourself a weekly Dirtbag Double Feature.

Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 9d

Can confirm this is a good time and a great birthday present!

Porter Square Books in Cambridge & Boston @portersqbooks.bsky.social · 9d

Our next available Your Own Private Bookstore is Friday October 24! Have a kickass bookstore to yourself for an hour. Bring some friends. Lots of people give it as birthday gifts for big readers! Book it here: portersquarebooks.com/event/2025-1...

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Reposted by Colleen Barry

Lou Inglese @chaos440.bsky.social · 11d

Got my performance review.

Old floppy drive with printed label 'Works, but makes Sad Noises'

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Julie Kliegman @juliekliegman.com · 15d

Another one!

The -30- Newsletter @30newsletter.bsky.social · 15d

The Seattle Times is taking applications for its 2026 summer internships for a business reporter, copy editor, features, graphics, metro, news, and photojournalism. seattletimes.applytojob.com

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Reposted by Colleen Barry

Julie Kliegman @juliekliegman.com · 15d

Hark! A copy editing internship!

The -30- Newsletter @30newsletter.bsky.social · 15d

The Boston Globe is taking applications for its 2026 summer internship program www.bostonglobemedia.com/student-oppo...

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 18d

Anyway this was Dottie. She was definitely a girl, she was not a chimera and she was not a doofus. She was the softest cat in the world and I miss her very much.

Head and shoulders of an orange-and-white cat with deep golden eyes.

An orange-and-white cat sits on a low shelf of a bookcase. Her face is mostly a muted orange with a white patch covering her mouth, climbing her left cheek and stopping under her eye. She has a white dot in the middle of her forehead. Her sides and stomach are mostly white, with big muted-orange patches down her back. Her haunches and tail are totally orange with faint evidence of stripes at the tip of her tail.

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 18d

I don’t really have a point here. I know people are just trying to connect with each other and it probably doesn’t matter if they’ve latched onto some cat stereotypes as facts. But, you know, maybe try not to assume you know everything there is to know from a photo.

Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 18d

People would bring these things up to me while she was dying, so I’d have virtual strangers acting like I must not know basic things about my cat even while I was managing her extremely complex medical care. It’s not their fault, they didn’t know she was sick, but it really sucked.

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 18d

Folks were just trying to have a little fun, but it made for very odd social interactions where people would tell me, for example, that my cat must be a chimera because orange is a rare coat color for female cats. (Roughly 1 in 5 orange cats are female.)

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 18d

It does feel like in the last few years people learned a little bit about cat coat genetics and then ran a loooooooong way with that information. People started asking me if I was sure my orange-and-white cat was a girl and asserting (not asking!) that she must be a dim bulb.

Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 18d

Out of curiosity I did a google trends search for "are orange cats dumb". As you can see, there was nothing for 17 years and then a distinct change in late 2021 which is when @jortsthecat.bsky.social hit the internet. 😆

Line graph showing the number of times google search users looked for the phrase "are orange cats dumb". The line is flat from 2004 to 2021 when searches suddenly spike up and stay up to the present.

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 18d

No. They know each other and maybe they went through something together but they’re not together in that way. Like maybe in-laws after the relative who connected them died?

Reposted by Colleen Barry

Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 19d

Don't apologise for your dog showing up during the Zoom, apologise for hiding him all this time

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 19d

Livin’ large!

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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 20d

The paper: the genetic program that enables digit formation in limbs is derived from the system that drives cformation of the cloaca.

Me, the headline writer:

A headline reading: "You can hold on to your butts thanks to DNA that evolved in fish"

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Reposted by Colleen Barry

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 22d

Can confirm, we are dorks

Bobby Silverman @robertsilverman.bsky.social · 22d

journalism was never cool. *Robert Redford and Hoffman* were cool b/c the only way to make a Watergate movie was to have it star these two extremely cool/sexy people!

Reporters and good reporting are vital to a functioning democracy but it's a job for fucking dorks! It's a dorky profession! JFC!

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 22d

When journalism was cool. And risked everything to challenge power.

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Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 22d

I just want to encourage you again to *yell at the rich-ass owner* of your favorite team if they will not spend money. Because it really helps to have this attitude if you want a team to be fun to root for.

The Phillies traded two top prospects for Duran. They traded a couple lesser prospects for Bader. They signed Robertson as a free agent, which pushed them further past the luxury tax, which means more tax penalties.
So what?
"Money's easy," Phillies managing partner
John Middleton said. "That's the easy part."

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Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 26d

Also it is amazing how even a little bit of bike infrastructure can get someone like me, who rode 0 miles a year in 2020, not only using a bike but choosing it over a car trip whenever possible.

Colleen Barry @copycurmudgeon.bsky.social · 26d

Today I rocked up to destinations in Union Square and Downtown Crossing and easily locked my bike up right nearby, and I cruised along the Esplanade enjoying the view and sailing by stopped traffic on Storrow Drive. Just cannot recommend biking strongly enough as a way to get around cities.

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