Jake Wildstrom
LightNews LightNews
dwildstr.bsky.social
Jake Wildstrom
@dwildstr.bsky.social
60 followers 51 following 340 posts
Mathematician, tinkerer, crocheter, freelance geek.
Posts Replies Media Videos
dwildstr.bsky.social
Our memorial candle for Alex was still burning this morning, despite snow and wind.

There are always lights in the darkness, and eventually dawn.
A view from the porch of a house towards a snowy street in early dawn. The snow is undisturbed and there is a car parked on the far side of the street. In the foreground, at the middle edge of the top step to the porch, a candle is burning inside an octagonal glass enclosure.
January 25, 2026 at 12:37 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
Kokopelli (orange), Wisakedjak (black) and Baba Yaga (torbie) are old friends and cuddly. Hecate (tabby) is a newcomer and not yet integrated into the cuddle pile but she keeps them company.
Four cats viewed from above, over the edge of a stairway. All four are slightly curled up and apparently sleeping. The three leftmost of the cats are facing to the left and snuggled close together; from left to right they are a very large orange cat, a moderately large black cat, and a small tortoiseshell tabby. The rightmost cat is slightly separated from the other three, facing rightwards, and is a small tabby.
January 14, 2026 at 3:27 AM
dwildstr.bsky.social
Jaye Tyler from _Wonderfalls_ (played by Caroline Dhavernas), dressed in her work jacket and scowling in extreme close-up.
September 18, 2025 at 1:10 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
Don't just survive: thrive!
A shallow off-white set of stair steps made of speckled conglomerate in front of a red brick wall. A sprawling petunia plant with several dark pink flowers is growing out of the crack between the steps and the wall.
July 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
Had a wonderful time at Bridges #MathArt! It's great every year, but it was especially exciting to be exhibiting.
My art project "pug862", a cross-stitch design worked on a Möbius band, here seen among other pieces at the Bridges 2025 art show. Me on the runway at the Bridges 2025 Fashion Show, wearing my pentomino cape.
July 17, 2025 at 10:03 AM
dwildstr.bsky.social
Riding with ICE today. No, the good kind of ICE.
Display on a monitor mounted to the ceiling of an Intercity Express train. The monitor reports the train number (ICE 942), the carriage number (23) and the current time (10:00) across the top. The rest of the display shows the train's position on a map, with a route from Berlin to Düsseldorf.
July 11, 2025 at 11:24 AM
dwildstr.bsky.social
I saw this a few days ago near my workplace and it lifted my heart.

To those who are hurting: stay resilient, and stay beautiful.
A shallow off-white set of stair steps made of speckled conglomerate in front of a red brick wall. A single dark pink petunia is growing out of the crack between the steps and the wall.
June 21, 2025 at 6:51 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
I am both happy to see Ollie North reduced to shilling windows and siding, and dismayed that windows-and-siding installers see an endorsement by Ollie North to have any value whatsoever.
An advertisement for Window World, featuring a photograph of unconvicted felon Oliver North and the quote "Window World supports our great American veterans, and especially so during their Veteran's event!" -Lt. Col. Oliver North.
June 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
The cat in question! Hecate loves her bowl! She also loves lying on the glassware cabinet. As you can see, she is not 100% integrated into the other cats' snuggle-time but she is getting along with them pretty well.
A beautiful small grey tabby cat, sitting in a bowl and staring intently at the camera. Four cats all curled up on pillows on top of a glassware cabinet. On the left three-quarters of the cabinet, all curled up facing to the left and nestled with each other, a large orange cat, a medium-large black cat, and a small torbie. On the right, somewhat apart and curled up facing right, a tiny grey tabby.
April 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
I disagreed with @rhodithas.bsky.social about ESC25 rankings, so I'm putting up my own. More detailed comments are at bishopsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/e... .
My Eurovision rankings: Malta, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Latvia, Czechia, Ireland, Norway, Albania, Estonia, Croatia, Germany, Armenia, Spain, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, San Marino, Iceland, UK, Cyprus, Ukraine, Italy, Montenegro, Georgia, Switzerland, Lithuania, Slovenia, Australia, Denmark, Greece, Israel, France, Serbia, Portugal, Poland.
April 16, 2025 at 2:39 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
"When the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is for the people and for each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties."
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1793)
A photograph of a monument in Reykjavik, Iceland, consisting of a large gray boulder with a vertical crack through it. A small black cone is wedged into the fissure at the top. A metal plaque on the right side of the boulder has the following text: SVARTA KEILAN, MINNISVARÐI UM BORGARALEGA ÓHLYÐNI "Þegar rikisstjórn brýtur á retti þegnanna, þá er uppreisn helgasti réttur og ófrávíkjanlegasta skylda þegnanna sem og hvers hluta þjoðarinnar." Yfirlýsing um réttindi manna og borgara (1793) THE BLACK CONE, MONUMENT TO CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE "When the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is for the people and for each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties." Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1793)
March 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
dwildstr.bsky.social
I was nattering earlier about how the Eurasian regions using different fundamental etymologies for describing the reddish-yellow sweet citrus fruit are nearly contiguous, and here's the map for that. Armenia is a real outlier, using a "naranj" variant near the "Chinese-apple"/"Portugal" border.
A map of Eurasia and Northern Africa, using four colors to depict zones in which the word for orange is akin to "naranj" (most of Western and Southern Europe), "Chinese apple" (Scandinavia and northern Slavic nations), "Portugal" (southeastern Europe and northern Africa), or something else entirely (southeeastern Asia, including China).
March 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM