@kaia it was in 2021, but this is still priceless.

I keep hearing about the formational influences of terrible fathers and grandfathers on their terrible progeny (Trump, Musk, Mel Gibson, et al.). Okay. Fine. It's not nothing. It explains a little of why they are the way they are. But, this feels too much like an excuse for bad behavior. I see this rationale applied almost exclusively to powerful, wealthy, privileged white men.

Both sets of my grandparents were full-on racist, judgemental, physically and emotionally abusive, unusually cruel people. My grandfather used to brag about how he killed a man and got away with it.

However, both my mother and I fought against those patterns, and had to establish for ourselves how we saw the world, our compassion and empathy for others, and what constitutes a healthy relationship (because the opposite was modeled for us). It was exceedingly difficult for my mom, but she made it easier for me by deciding to be the exact opposite of her parents. I was able to see the contrast quite vividly.

So, I never want to hear "Well, it's just his generation."

Even my dad was able to crawl out of that toxicity, though much later in life My mom was way ahead of her time, actively rejecting racism and sexism, and even defending trans kids in the 60s. I never saw anyone else that brave back then.

*steps off soapbox*

@TheJen @TheEddieShow @QueenOfTheCroneAge @wendinoakland I like to put both yams and purple sweet potatoes in soup.

@wendinoakland to make it easier, I will use pre-made graham cracker crusts. Highly recommend. I like it just as well as pumpkin pie on pastry crusts.

@wendinoakland ha. Thanks! I will probably do weird stuff like pumpkin pie.

Is anyone creating a menu for watching the returns on Tuesday?

Char Don't Boo, Vote cuterie board
Vote Blue No Matter Who Berry pie
Stay Woke Coffee
Colin Allred-HOT wings
Sherrod Brownies
Bob Case o' Beer
Tammy Baldwin(ner) Winner Chicken Dinner
Gallego R(e)uben sandwiches
Jon Tester of each batch of cookies
Dan I's born for this Nebraska Run(za)
Kamala olives
Tim Walz White Guy tacos

@RickiTarr @skinnylatte I have only used bone broth to make soup. I sometimes make my own, but still, as the base for other ingredients to be added.

@octothorpe maybe they sense exploitation, the rush of developers, that kind of thing?

'bout time to make Puerto Rico a state.

Pssst . . . Wanna read a bonkers article? IDK if Elon actually thinks he can build a Dyson Sphere, but this definitely sounds like a supervillain origin story.

Elon Musk issues a serious warning to all mankind: His idea is to "squeeze" the Sun.

https://www.eldiario24.com/en/elon-musk-photovoltaics-dyson-sphere/2568/

@RickiTarr it totally works! The highly progressive church I used to go to had a very practical approach to everything, especially helping the unhoused. We fixed up two private apartments in the church building, provided each living space with basic needs, and helped them gain employment and manage a budget. Each apartment housed a single mother and usually one child. The residents paid monthly rent.

Having an address and a safe place to stay are crucial components to success. The program for each resident lasted 13 months. At the end of the year, we helped them find housing of their own, and returned to them every dollar of the rent they paid. The success of the program was extraordinary.

@Rycaut @bookstodon for me, what I am willing to pay for used books depends a lot on how hard they are to find, and what kind of shape they are in. I am perfectly fine with library bindings, though I know that would not be acceptable to others. The hardest ones for me to find have been Theo Ellsworth's old stuff, and some of Stephen Graham Jones' earliest work.

I find https://www.bookfinder.com to be helpful at times, but Abe Books is just as handy. I hope you are able to unload your books into the hands of those who will truly appreciate and enjoy them.

@clew @paulasimoes @ronsboy67 @EllenInEdmonton @bookstodon I learned this when I tried to get Goodreads to recognize my (very few) collectible editions.

Related: how does one know how much their book collection is worth? I guess the worth is based on condition, edition, binding, and what others would be willing to pay for them. I don't think I have anything that's particularly rare.

Reading an article on various home library cataloging apps, and the article's author repeatedly describes batch scanning lots of books at one time into these apps, without once explaining what "batch scanning" is, or how one goes about doing it. I tried to look up this process and got nowhere. Is this a physical barcode scanning tool, is the scanning itself some kind of an app, does this mean a list uploaded, copied and pasted from a document, or something else? (I have a lot of books from the pre-barcode era.)

Just about ready to do this by hand, if I have to. I don't want pie charts of nuanced narrative elements which are time-consuming and unhelpful to me, or the ability to give weirdly precise 3.72 star ratings. I just want a cataloging app that doesn't crash every five seconds when you try to add books to a virtual shelf or a tagged list.

@bookstodon