The Charmed Life of Miri Castor

Introverted blerd from Brooklyn, NYC. She/her. PhD, Biochemistry. Author of the Opal Charm books, a science-fiction fantasy series featuring a black female protagonist. Book 0: The Path to Dusk Book 1: The Path to Dawn Book 2: Hope in Nautical Dusk Book 3: Melody of Astronomical Dusk Book 4: Light of Civil Dawn

[urgetocreate]

Andrew Gifford, Hawthorn Blossom in Late Sunlight, 2021, Oil on canvas, 2021

[neptunecity]

𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒂 ⋆₊˚ | also posted on Instagram & Twitter

[trichechidae]

Janelle Monae visits Sesame Street. Photos credit to Billboard.

[gradientlair]

So this is way too adorable. ❤

[klapollo]

if youre in the US (especially the northeast + michigan) i would avoid bagged salads/greens and generally wash your produce very thoroughly unless you want the diarrhea parasite

[klapollo]

Outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite grows to more than 1,000 cases

Michigan is experiencing its largest outbreak of a parasitic infection that causes severe diarrhea. Nearly 1,000 people have been diagnosed

this is not life-threatening, but also who wants weeks of diarrhea and a fucking parasite in them lol. if you suspect you've already had this and it's passed, i would see a doctor. you might need an antiparasitic anyway. if you're actively sick, see a doctor and they might be able to prescribe medication to help you get over it faster.

try to avoid eating raw vegetables, scrub fruit with a produce brush and rinse thoroughly with water. again, don't bother with premade greens or bagged salads. if you buy lettuce, remove the outer 2-3 layers of leaves.

there are UNVERIFIED rumors that the greens have been linked to a company that sources to taco bell. some locations have been actively pulling fresh ingredients like lettuce, avocado, and pico de gallo to mitigate the threat, so i would avoid any products from them just in case. considering how vast supply chains are, i'd be wary of any fast food greens in general for now.

[3liza]

the outbreak is in 31 states as of yesterday, its everywhere. source is still unidentified but is likely in either fresh uncooked produce or in food that was processed at a large plant with contaminated water. cooking food at home thoroughly is advised. removing the outer leaves of lettuce wont prevent infection, the cyclospora is drawn into the veins of the lettuce along with water from the ground.

stick to food you are cooking to a safe temperature yourself at home if possible.

[gwydionmisha]

Kids online safety package clears House, drawing warnings from digital rights and tech groups

The KIDS Act received broad bipartisan support. But the legislation is expected to face challenges in the Senate.

This is a worse version of KOSA.

The KIDS Act, which contains provisions previously found in the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), could silence online speech and jeopardize us

DO NOT TRUST DEMOCRATS ON THIS ONE!!!

If you can’t safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Senators:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

“Congress. gov:” https://www.congress.gov/

[gwydionmisha]

Online Age Verification Law Could Kill Whistleblowing

The KIDS Act, ostensibly aimed at protecting children, will raise the risk for journalists, dissidents, and whistleblowers.

[miricastor]

Hello, I hope you are well.

My name is Samar, a mother of two young children living in a tent in Gaza. Every day is a new challenge just to survive, and I need your help now more than ever. After losing our home and becoming the sole provider for my family, I am fighting to ensure my children have a chance at a decent life.

I am not asking for much, just enough to buy basic necessities like bread, vegetables, milk, and essential skin medication for my children.

Please consider donating or sharing my campaign: @qamar2026

🙏🏾

[cerleansky]

The legacies people leave behind in you.

My handwriting is the same style as the teacher’s who I had when I was nine. I’m now twenty one and he’s been dead eight years but my i’s still curve the same way as his.

I watched the last season of a TV show recently but I started it with my friend in high school. We haven’t spoken in four years.

I make lentil soup through the recipe my gran gave me.

I curl my hair the way my best friend showed me.

I learned to love books because my father loved them first.

How terrifying, how excruciatingly painful to acknowledge this. That I am a jigsaw puzzle of everyone I have briefly known and loved. I carry them on with me even if I don’t know it. How beautiful.

[speaklavenderthoughts-deactivat]

absolutely obsessed with these tags

[unalivejournal]

Ok. What you're gonna want to do is chop up a cucumber and put it in a bowl. Then you're gonna sprinkle a generous portion of salt on top. Then you're gonna drizzle them with a balsamic vinaigrette and gently shake to combine, leaving you with a cool and refreshing summer snack. In 15 seconds dangerous and burly men are going to drag me away to an unknown second location. Remember everything I've taught you. I love you

[gunsandfireandshit]

[bace-jeleren]

[robotlyra]

The reason why McConnell is currently ambiguously dead is because KY law was recently amended to state that a vacant senate seat must be filled by a special election, but previously, the duty to fill a vacant senate seat was by appointment of the current governor. The present KY gov is a Democrat, and has the means to challenge the special elections rule in the state supreme court, under the argument that it is unconstitutional to governor's power as outlined in the KY state constitution. So given the risk of a Dem appointee who would become an incumbent to challenge, or a special election race in the middle of the Mamdani Endorsement DemSoc run on congressional seats, McConnell will remain in quantum superposition between life and death until there is no longer a risk of his republican power being challenged.

Which... you know, really is life in the American Fascist Era in a nutshell: a questionably dead or dying racist lich refusing to reliquinsh the ability to make all our lives miserable

[noah-wyles]

she's the best of us

[ralfmaximus]

Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs

New games released after January 2028 will be digital-only.

Sony has announced that from January 2028 it will entirely stop the production of physical discs for new PlayStation games. From that point onwards, new releases will only be available in digital versions from the PlayStation Store and other retailers. Games released before January 2028 will still be available on disc.

They cite "consumer preference" as the reason, but we all know what's going on. If there's no physical media, you don't really own your game. You're only renting it.

From the way this is worded I think future Playstation consoles will continue to have optical drives, at least as an option.

[sinni-ok-sessi]

I do think the ability to emoji-react is a net win for human communication. not only does it give you an outlet for 'I see and acknowledge this but don't have a verbal response' but it also adds a pleasing alethiometer element to things

my coworker announces that he's off to the dentist. someone reacts with a tooth emoji. is this a statement of dentist solidarity? a wish for my coworker to return with more (or fewer?) teeth than he set out with? simple word association? who can say

[writeswrongs]

We are about to lose so many health aide workers, sooooo many Haitians are in home health and just lost their TPS, along with Syrians who also make up a huge percentage of the care work in our country - this is devastating for their lives and families and also for so many elderly and disabled people who already have been cut short of recent aid cuts and places to go, who are bonded with care workers - this is the biggest de legalization effort in us history - and the number of families left behind and economic collapse in its wake is unfathomable, everything from food chain collapse and health care shortage is very likely. There are roughly 1.3 million immigrants who could lose their Temporary Protected Status by this ruling.

Supreme court conservatives accused of advancing ‘white-supremacist agenda’

Lawmakers and advocates condemn ‘disastrous’ rulings that allow Trump officials to strip away migrant protections

[xshinina]

Pst, I see dead people

[urgetocreate]

Sergiu Ciochina (Moldovan/French b.2001) Nights in Amsterdam#2, 2025, Oil on panel

[pitviperofdoom]

I try not to fall into the "I never liked their work anyway" ditch when an artist/creator reveals themself to be a terrible person

BUT

a feeling I do have and will stand by is "While I enjoyed their work overall I did have some gripes that I overlooked out of affection and whimsy, but now that my loyalty is gone and my affection tainted there is nothing holding me back from enumerating my many grievances, to which the revelations of the creator's shittiness may or may not provide a new and infuriating context."

[beatrice-otter]

#such a good summation of this actually#because yeah there’s usually things that were always present#but which were easy to overlook or give the benefit of the doubt#that suddenly become relevant after a revelation about the creator#and it’s really not the same thing as the self-defensive “’I never liked it anyway’

tags via chimaerakitten

[oldnewyorklandia]

James E. HInton.  Two Women Sitting on a New York City Subway, 1966.