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solusandra.bsky.social
Marīa
@solusandra.bsky.social
400 followers 600 following 2K posts
My name's spelled Maria, but pronounced like Mariah.

Freelance editor (graphic novels); day job in B2B cust srvc; poet & painter; multiple sclerosis.

Profile pic by the amazing @emilypearsonart.bsky.social. Header photo by me, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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solusandra.bsky.social
Deleted this post - the event tickets aren't available anymore, but the recommendation is still valid: if you need to get free tickets to attend any indoor event / rally, USE A BURNER EMAIL & do not use your government name.

You should never (have to) register for a protest outdoors.

Stay safe!
A screenshot of a post by me, @solusandra, saying, "If you're going to the Target Center today, use a burner email to get your ticket & use whatever fake name you want... it's no cost, they don't need to know who you are. They do need to make it a ticketed event because of Target Center capacity requirements. Be careful out there, Twin Cities!" The post was well-intentioned, but was no longer serving the intended purpose or audience, so I deleted it.
January 23, 2026 at 5:19 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
It's 21° in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, & 31° in Utqiaġvik (northernmost US city) and -20 in Minneapolis right now, in case you're wondering where the Arctic weather is right now.

The arctic weather is covering MN & other Canadian border states & so much of Canada.

Stay warm, folks!
A temperature gradient map of much of North America, with Alaska cut off on the left because it's too big and also warmer than the Great Lakes area in both the US and Canada at the moment. The area where MN is is a light purple showing its mostly -20ish here right now.
January 23, 2026 at 3:12 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
You know what? I love YOUR art! Guess what's in my upstairs hallway? The thumbnail only shows the very edge of it, but I think you'll know what it is...
A photo of 5 pieces of art in my hallway, from right to left: A bird (sparrow, finch?) by Grim Wilkins, an owl with a signature that's too small to read I received as a gift, an owl postcard from a friend in the UK, a silly cute owl drawn by Anita Coulter's sibling for me, and an owl print my brother gave me (artist signature not visible).
January 21, 2026 at 12:35 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
For everyone commuting, caring for neighbors, and just trying to survive in Minnesota right now: stay warm!

For those harming our residents & communities, lick a flagpole & keep wearing your ventilated sneakers.
A screenshot of a weather app showing a current temperature in Minneapolis of -8°F, with a "feels like -28°F" circled manually, and below that a box for Severe Weather Alerts stating there's a cold weather advisory until 12 noon today, and then an hourly forecast showing 8am to 1pm temperatures of -8, -7, -6, -4, -3, & -1, with 1% chance of precipitation.
January 19, 2026 at 2:19 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
No new pictures.
Where are you at mentally?
A panel of the comic book THE WICKED + THE DIVINE in which the character Laura says, "Maybe. I really dunno." The caption says, "We are deep in the land of 'I dunno'."
January 19, 2026 at 5:46 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Post your favorite Star Trek character.
Wrong answers only!
Lucy Lawless as Xena
January 14, 2026 at 3:36 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I'm knitting as long as my hands allow (carpal tunnel) -- during work meetings or while listening to mostly Seanan McGuire audiobooks. It helps me feel like I'm doing something since I'll gift the scarves when done.

I'm also doing puzzles, watching cozy murder mysteries, & making homemade soup.
A photo of two in-progress knitting projects: one teal scarf in cotton/bamboo chunky yarn, and one dark red scarf in alpaca wool. A screenshot of my checked out library audiobooks: Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire, which I just started, having finished book 2 in the series yesterday. Triple Sec by TJ Alexander, which I haven't started & checked out on a whim. Along the Saltwise Sea by A. Deborah Baker, a pseudonym for Seanan McGuire, which is the 2nd book in a series that ties into the other series I'm reading. It's a book series the characters in the Alchemical Journeys series know about... and this series is those books. Very meta & quite fun! A photo of a 500 piece Ravensburger puzzle featuring a floral & butterfly alphabet design. A photo of my vegetarian split pea soup... it's not necessarily pretty, but it's so tasty!
January 8, 2026 at 9:04 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I took this photo maybe a week ago... I also love the way the snow highlights the way tree branches are shaped. This is part of a massive silver maple, with the snow lit by my extra bright front porch light.
A photo of a silver maple tree with branches limned in snow, with another tree & the dark nighttime sky in the background.
December 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
@firepile.bsky.social
Seasons all blend together on my mantle.
Holidays are a mishmash: a wintery candle, a Newtonmas card, a birthday card, a Halloween card, a decorative squash, a Christmas card, and a decorative gourd, and yet adore birthday card... the edges of more cards are visible.
December 24, 2025 at 12:02 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
If you see this, we IMPLORE YOU to post a picture from whatever device you are using without explanation

(Click the image - the thumbnail is of the center of this gorgeous vertically oriented painting)
JW Waterhouse's painting "Circe Invidiosa"
December 15, 2025 at 2:11 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
@definitelyvita.bsky.social @valentinebarker.com @alterici.bsky.social I'm definitely following the right people 💜
My timeline is very queer and appreciative of warrior women!
December 13, 2025 at 7:29 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I saw a white squirrel this past Saturday. We called them Blanche. What a chonky winter squirrel!
This is Blanche, the white squirrel I saw on Saturday. The epic side-eye continued for quite a while.
December 10, 2025 at 1:44 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Also:
A snippet of The Song of Hiawatha, part 3, by Longfellow, which I memorized in 4th grade for a school performance.
www.hwlongfellow.org/poems_poem.p...
An excerpt from The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (from part III: "By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis. Dark behind it rose the forest, Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees, Rose the firs with cones upon them; Bright before it beat the water, Beat the clear and sunny water, Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water."
December 6, 2025 at 6:40 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I'm nearly hoarse after telling increasingly silly and complicated stories with prompts from my nibling, like:

It has to have the Beatles and horses and the Yellow Submarine and chocolate ice cream. But how about also Babs & a dragon.
This is Babs, a calico cat, sitting on top of a gray wingback chair, in front of a green wall.
December 4, 2025 at 4:31 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Past me was really smart & pre-ordered a special edition of my favorite novella:
The dust jacket of the new hardcover edition of THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, which has a pleasing design over a starfield, with the title & authors' names in an ivory colored oval, inside of which are two envelopes with the flaps open, one with red spot gloss envelope liner & the other upside down below the first with blue spot gloss. The front cover of the hardcover special edition of THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, with a red/ blue design in faux bois on the edges, red on the top half and blue on the bottom, with a cardinal embossed in the center of the red, and a bluebird embossed in the center of the blue. A photo of the edges of the book, which are intricately sprayed with red, black&white, and blue, all with an interlocking geometric pattern that's quite pleasing.
November 24, 2025 at 10:53 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Post something random or you'll have an awful November.
A photo of the crate of Wealthy apples at the Apple Store run by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which I took to, er, help me tell which apple was which in a mixed bag of apples that I bought. It almost worked.
October 31, 2025 at 1:28 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Where I skeet from
A photo I took of some popcorn- shaped clouds with a teensy tiny landscape 30,000 feet below, and some wispy cirrus clouds well above eye level, all on a background of a lovely blue sky edging to deeper blue the higher up it goes. (Somewhere between MSP & ORD, I think.)
October 18, 2025 at 4:40 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
Ok, let's gooooooo! #filmhottakes #myfavmovies
"Get to know my film taste. For every like, I will post one film I love."
October 12, 2025 at 2:06 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
I wish I had a real alternative in Ward 13!
A close-up photo of a Minneapolis City Council Member Ward 13 ballot selection, showing "Bob again Carney Jr, Climate Revolution Elephant" party & "Linea Palmisano, Democratic-Farmer-Labor" party mostly in name only, given her voting record.
October 7, 2025 at 8:49 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
I got thru a dentist appt without coughing, so I think I'm 95% of the way there. Now if I can just get thru the night without coughing a bunch! 🤞

I did discover the best cough drop though: Ricola caramel actually tastes like herbal caramel.
A photo of an opened bag of Ricola Throat Balm caramel flavor, which miraculously actually tastes like herbal caramel. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I like them.
October 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Nothing like a 30 degree temperature drop in one day yesterday to remind me that I'm in MN in October. And now, thankfully, it's hot cereal weather!
A macro photo of my breakfast today: steel cut oatmeal with flax seeds, chunks of Cortland apples, cinnamon, and maple sugar.
October 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
It's OCTOBER in Minneapolis. This weather is just *wrong*. It's still 78°F at 11:30pm!!! The low will only be 71°F. Tell me again that climate change isn't real, though. [Rhetorical, since I'm sure there's no climate change deniers following me.]
A screenshot of a weather app showing the weather in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA for Friday October 3rd at 11:29pm. The current temp is 78°F with clear skies. The hourly temps starting at midnight 10/04/25 are 77°, 76°, 75°, 73°, 73°, & 73° at 5am.
October 4, 2025 at 4:40 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
You see this, post a concert pic you took
Daveed Diggs of clipping. at the Fine Line in Minneapolis in August 2025. He's a Black man wearing a tank top style Minnesota Timberwolves jersey, standing in a stage, lit in pink & blue, with his left arm raised holding the microphone towards the audience.
September 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
solusandra.bsky.social
Post a random picture or everything else will go bad in September.
Clasen Bio Mangostreifen (mango strips), the best dried mango I've ever had. Potsdam, Germany, August 2025.
August 30, 2025 at 10:09 AM
solusandra.bsky.social
I had brief moments while traveling the past few weeks. It's easier to be optimistic while up a mountain in Salzburg! (I'd have reached out if we were gone make it to Wien, but we didn't.)

I went up the Untersbergbahn & spent a bunch of time just looking at the world.
View from Untersberg of the Chiemgauer Alpen, especially Zwiesel & Hochstaufen. View south from Untersberg, including a cloudy Hoher Göll & surrounding peaks. Alpine chough birds swarming in front of a gorgeous view of Berchtesgaden & further peaks, with a chunk of the Untersberg massif to the right. Alpine chough circling with some of Niederalm (south of Salzburg) in the valley below.
August 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM