Whirly
@girlwhowhirls.bsky.social
A fun thing about shingles is that even my mild case hurt like fucking hell, kept me from sleeping for weeks, and now increases my chances of getting Alzheimers. The vaccine is kind of a drag, but I don't understand why anyone would skip it.
December 8, 2025 at 10:47 PM
A fun thing about shingles is that even my mild case hurt like fucking hell, kept me from sleeping for weeks, and now increases my chances of getting Alzheimers. The vaccine is kind of a drag, but I don't understand why anyone would skip it.
They think they're protecting their kids and only hurting those other, lesser kids, but it may not work out that way for them.
December 7, 2025 at 1:39 AM
They think they're protecting their kids and only hurting those other, lesser kids, but it may not work out that way for them.
This is true, but to a large extent, their kids are being protected by herd immunity. We had a mumps outbreak at the university where I work, and almost every kid who got it was vaccinated. It turns out that the mumps vaccine stops the spread, but individuals may still be susceptible.
December 7, 2025 at 1:36 AM
This is true, but to a large extent, their kids are being protected by herd immunity. We had a mumps outbreak at the university where I work, and almost every kid who got it was vaccinated. It turns out that the mumps vaccine stops the spread, but individuals may still be susceptible.
I have an irrational hatred of Caitlin Flanagan, but she would be delighted to have a hate-series about her, plus she's kind of boring, so I wouldn't produce a 4-part documentary. Maybe Woodrow Wilson?
December 6, 2025 at 10:55 PM
I have an irrational hatred of Caitlin Flanagan, but she would be delighted to have a hate-series about her, plus she's kind of boring, so I wouldn't produce a 4-part documentary. Maybe Woodrow Wilson?
People in the romance community make this point. It's tempting to argue that romance shouldn't be censored because it's not porn, but that distinction will result in some romance (queer romance especially) being censored anyway. We need to fight censorship, not exempt ourselves from it.
December 5, 2025 at 1:47 PM
People in the romance community make this point. It's tempting to argue that romance shouldn't be censored because it's not porn, but that distinction will result in some romance (queer romance especially) being censored anyway. We need to fight censorship, not exempt ourselves from it.
I don't think people from DC know how to navigate in snow, either. (Source: grew up in and learned to drive in DC. Learned to drive in snow when I moved to the upper Midwest.)
December 5, 2025 at 1:40 PM
I don't think people from DC know how to navigate in snow, either. (Source: grew up in and learned to drive in DC. Learned to drive in snow when I moved to the upper Midwest.)
I get mine while taking a shower. When I have a big project, I end up taking way more showers than is good for my skin, not to mention my environmental footprint. Solitaire is way better!
December 5, 2025 at 3:59 AM
I get mine while taking a shower. When I have a big project, I end up taking way more showers than is good for my skin, not to mention my environmental footprint. Solitaire is way better!
I hate it for so many reasons, not least of which is that I have high-contrast coloring and I really need clothing brands to start making some clothes in deep, saturated colors again. Bring back the jewel tones, for fuck's sake. Some of us look dead in anything beige, white, cream, or pastel.
December 4, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I hate it for so many reasons, not least of which is that I have high-contrast coloring and I really need clothing brands to start making some clothes in deep, saturated colors again. Bring back the jewel tones, for fuck's sake. Some of us look dead in anything beige, white, cream, or pastel.
Our generation is objectively awful, so my reaction is to wonder who is trying to sell us something and why they‘re pandering so ineptly.
December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Our generation is objectively awful, so my reaction is to wonder who is trying to sell us something and why they‘re pandering so ineptly.
I can't tell you how many students I've talked to who have told me that they got accommodations in high school but weren't going to apply for them in college because they "don't want to use a crutch." There is so much internalized stigma. (And what's wrong with crutches anyway?)
December 2, 2025 at 11:18 PM
I can't tell you how many students I've talked to who have told me that they got accommodations in high school but weren't going to apply for them in college because they "don't want to use a crutch." There is so much internalized stigma. (And what's wrong with crutches anyway?)
I am fairly militantly avoiding the whole hockey romance genre, but I feel like I may end up caving and watching this thing. People really love the book.
December 1, 2025 at 1:17 AM
I am fairly militantly avoiding the whole hockey romance genre, but I feel like I may end up caving and watching this thing. People really love the book.
"Artisanal pretentiousness" pretty much sums up the New Yorker (which, to be clear, I subscribe to and think is usually good.)
November 29, 2025 at 7:52 PM
"Artisanal pretentiousness" pretty much sums up the New Yorker (which, to be clear, I subscribe to and think is usually good.)
Apparently they changed some ridiculous things earlier this year but decided to keep the stupid umlauts: www.newyorker.com/newsletter/t...
The New Yorker House Style Joins the Internet Age
From the daily newsletter: Andrew Boynton on updating our style guide. Plus: Greg Abbott’s border war; the two young pianists testing their limits; and can Ukraine fight without the U.S.?
www.newyorker.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Apparently they changed some ridiculous things earlier this year but decided to keep the stupid umlauts: www.newyorker.com/newsletter/t...
Nope, it's New Yorker house style. They started doing it a hundred years ago, and now they won't change it, because it's part of their quirky charm or something.
November 29, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Nope, it's New Yorker house style. They started doing it a hundred years ago, and now they won't change it, because it's part of their quirky charm or something.
I work with (US) students in a bunch of different majors, and I would say that students in creative subjects tend to be anti-AI or at least AI-critical. Students in science, tech, and business are somewhat less critical, especially if they don't consider themselves good writers.
November 29, 2025 at 5:15 PM
I work with (US) students in a bunch of different majors, and I would say that students in creative subjects tend to be anti-AI or at least AI-critical. Students in science, tech, and business are somewhat less critical, especially if they don't consider themselves good writers.
Worcestershire sauce is also a good addition.
November 28, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Worcestershire sauce is also a good addition.
I'm being dense here, but I think I get it. The LFL-stockers think that selling the books moves it into the realm of charity, and people are only entitled to the charity that the charity-bestowers choose to give them? Which doesn't follow, because free for the taking means free for the taking.
November 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I'm being dense here, but I think I get it. The LFL-stockers think that selling the books moves it into the realm of charity, and people are only entitled to the charity that the charity-bestowers choose to give them? Which doesn't follow, because free for the taking means free for the taking.
That's interesting, because I would actually say that the ones in my neighborhood are tied to ideas of neighborliness, not charity. There's an implied reciprocity: you take a book and, at least in theory, you'll leave books when you have books to leave. Exclusionary in a different way.
November 26, 2025 at 3:19 PM
That's interesting, because I would actually say that the ones in my neighborhood are tied to ideas of neighborliness, not charity. There's an implied reciprocity: you take a book and, at least in theory, you'll leave books when you have books to leave. Exclusionary in a different way.
The Cambus system has always been free (and hasn’t required a university ID for years.) This is the city bus system.
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The Cambus system has always been free (and hasn’t required a university ID for years.) This is the city bus system.
Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, too. I think you could argue that the debt-to-earnings ratio for both is a problem, but I'm not convinced that this is the solution. (And yes, they're both female-dominated professions.)
November 21, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, too. I think you could argue that the debt-to-earnings ratio for both is a problem, but I'm not convinced that this is the solution. (And yes, they're both female-dominated professions.)
I think there is a big divide among Jews (and among descendants of Holocaust survivors/victims, sometimes even within our own families) about whether the lessons of the Holocaust are about genocide without respect to ethnicity or whether they're about Jewish vulnerability.
November 19, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I think there is a big divide among Jews (and among descendants of Holocaust survivors/victims, sometimes even within our own families) about whether the lessons of the Holocaust are about genocide without respect to ethnicity or whether they're about Jewish vulnerability.
FWIW, there's a separate university bus system that has always been free, and students are much more likely to use that than the public buses. The public buses are mostly used by townies like me, rather than students. But I agree that free buses may work better in college towns than elsewhere.
November 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
FWIW, there's a separate university bus system that has always been free, and students are much more likely to use that than the public buses. The public buses are mostly used by townies like me, rather than students. But I agree that free buses may work better in college towns than elsewhere.
I feel like the real centers of conservatism in the US are suburbs, not rural areas. (Rural areas tend to be conservative, but there are a lot more suburban than rural people.) They may be suburbs where people think of themselves as rural, but they're still suburbs.
November 16, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I feel like the real centers of conservatism in the US are suburbs, not rural areas. (Rural areas tend to be conservative, but there are a lot more suburban than rural people.) They may be suburbs where people think of themselves as rural, but they're still suburbs.
My Hungarian roommate claimed that the best cure for homesickness was to go to IKEA, because they're all identical, and any IKEA will remind you of your hometown IKEA. (I currently live in a place with no IKEA, but I can see the logic.)
November 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
My Hungarian roommate claimed that the best cure for homesickness was to go to IKEA, because they're all identical, and any IKEA will remind you of your hometown IKEA. (I currently live in a place with no IKEA, but I can see the logic.)