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We are at Bearskin!

Moon over Bearskin
The moon (and traces of Northern Lights) over Bearskin (from Cabin 1)

Yesterday, as usual, we stopped at several sites along Highway 61. We had a late lunch at the “world famous” Betty’s Pie. I do not know if this pie is truly well-known throughout the world, but it was, as they say, damned good pie.

The Three of  us at Betty's
The three of us at Betty's Pies.

As has become typical of us, we stopped to do some agate hunting about a mile north of Two Harbors at Flood Bay. We had to backtrack from Betty’s, but we didn’t care. My family simply cannot be hurried once we’re in vacation mode. Once we’ve made it to Duluth (to-du-loot!) vacation mode has fully activated. “Oh? The thing we wanted to see was back there? Sure, let’s turn around!”


Mason and me agate hunting at Flood Bay
Me and Mason agate hunting at Floor Bay.

I’m not ever sure what an agate looks like when it’s not polished. Not that it matters to any of us. Shawn hands out plastic baggies and we find a nice spot and start hunting. On this trip, it was extra windy. It was already decently cold, maybe mid-50s F/ 10 C. We joked that the windchill made it below freezing! Shawn had to hike back to the car for extra layers.

But, we had a great time just relaxing and sifting through the rocks on the shores of the world’s largest freshwater lake. (And, as Mason loves to point out, a lake so cold that if you’re shipwrecked in it, you don’t rot!)


Beach combing
Mason beach combing

Next was a pitstop at Gooseberry Falls. Sometimes, like a lot of travelers this time of year, we only stop long enough to do our business and then push on. This time, however, Mason and I decided to make the short trek up to see both the high falls and the low falls. Shawn, meanwhile, saved her knee (which is mostly doing well, but technically still in recovery,) for the next beach and hung out in the gift shop looking for, among other things, sweatpants for Mason who—for reasons all his own—decided not to pack any pants for the trip. Only shorts!

Gooseberry Falls, in my opinion, is almost always worth the detour.


Goosberry Falls 2025
Image: Gooseberry Falls

I only remembered after we’d left that I forgot to get my State Park passport stamped! We decided, however, that we would stop in as many State Parks as we could on our route back. Mason and I are also planning a day trip out to Devil’s Kettle, so I have be sure to remember to bring it with me to that hike!

I had advocated for a stop at Iona’s Beach this year but changed my mind after experiencing the wind at Flood Bay. Maybe the weather will be more cooperative on the drive home. Instead, we decided to pull in at Silver Bay to get a gander at "Rocky Taconite."

Rocky Taconite at Silver Bay
Image: Rocky Taconite at Silver Bay.

Our last beach of the trip up to the cabin was Cutface Creek Pullout (14 miles north of Lutsen, mile marker 104.) This beach is famous for its thomsonite. Again, I have no idea what thomsonite looks like in the wild (although this might be the year I may have found a piece. I’m going to try polishing it up when we get back home), but this beach generally has cool rocks because it has a ton of mini geodes.
Again, we dawdled. I have no idea how long we spent combing the beaches and listening to the waves. This beach was less windy; it was much more of a natural windbreak/cove.

We managed to miss official check-in at Bearskin (6 pm), which we often do (even leaving the Twin Cities at 9 am), and so followed the instructions to get the cabin key for check-in the next morning. It was still light enough out that Mason and I made the walk up to the Lodge to pick up the aluminum canoe that they on the beach for us out for us. We paddled it to our dock, bungied it up to our private dock for the night, and then settled in for a dinner of brats on the grill.

I fully failed to make a decent fire our first night, but luckily both Shawn and Mason are better skilled at this than I am.

This morning (Sunday) we woke up to rain.

Shawn and I walked down to the Lodge to check in. Because of all of the forest fires that are active in Minnesota right now, the Forest Service has been doing a lot of clearing of what they call “ladder trees,” but also underbrush. The place looks… a little devestated. At least in comparison to what we’re used to. I have been excited to resume my hiking of the ski trails this year and so I wanted to be sure to ask the staff about good trails for less… husbandry, we’ll say. They nicely pointed out where on the map they thought the Forestry Service hadn’t gotten to yet. So, after a quick jog back to Cabin 1 to make sure I had my inhaler, I headed off. I’d intended to slowly get my “sea legs” back, but I missed a turn off and hiked all the way to Rudy Lake. 

Rudy Lake 2025
Image: a pristine lake (Rudy Lake) in the middle of nowhere.

Oops.

It is cool, however. Like, this is a lake you simply can not get to without walking to it. There are no roads to get you here. 

However, I am a little sore and may have overdone it already on day one. Hopefully, with a bit of rest and Aleve, I’ll be back at it in no time.


Trout Lily
Image: trout lily


2025.06.09

Jun. 9th, 2025 06:11 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
Lojo Russo Pop-Up Concert
The Warehouse at Wonderwoman
3715 Minnehaha Ave
Monday, June 9 between 7p and 9p.
Hope you can make!
https://facebook.com/events/s/pop-up-lojo/715128571213095/

Trump news at a glance: California’s Newsom compares Trump to a ‘dictator’ over national guard deployment
The governor is in a showdown with the president over the policing of protests in LA and Paramount – key US politics stories from Sunday 8 June at a glance
Guardian staff
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/trump-administration-news-updates-today

A free flat for a fortnight: the German city offering perks to fight depopulation
Eisenhüttenstadt, once a socialist vision but now at risk of becoming a ghost town, seeks to ditch its far-right image
Deborah Cole in Eisenhüttenstadt
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/a-free-flat-for-a-fortnight-the-german-city-offering-perks-to-fight-depopulation

Toxic truth? The cookware craze redefining ‘ceramic’ and ‘nontoxic’
Designer brands such as Always Pan and Caraway are booming – but safety experts are raising questions
Tom Perkins
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/09/ceramic-nontoxic-cookware

Inside one of the world's most advanced supercomputers
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0lgb2xd/inside-one-of-the-world-s-most-advanced-supercomputers

Will the Trump-Musk rift really change anything?
Jan-Werner Müller
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/09/musk-trump-rift-change

The Guardian view on coming-out tales: from A Boy’s Own Story to What It Feels Like for a Girl
Editorial
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/08/the-guardian-view-on-coming-out-tales-from-a-boys-own-story-to-what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl

Who drank all the matcha? How tourism drained a Japanese town
Marina Wang
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250606-matcha-how-tourism-drained-a-japanese-town

From Tabasco sauce to Taiwanese Tex-Mex: Felicity Cloake's American odyssey
Laura Hall
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250606-felicity-cloakes-american-food-odyssey

2025.06.08

Jun. 8th, 2025 07:24 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
Kristi Noem: the made-for-TV official executing Trump’s mass deportations
Noem has played a starring role in the second Trump administration with her goal to ‘Make America Safe Again’ – derided by critics as ‘cosplay’ with cruel consequences
Lauren Gambino
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/07/kristi-noem-trump-secretary-homeland-security

Stop bending the knee to Trump: it’s time for anticipatory noncompliance
David Kirp
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/08/trump-anticipatory-noncompliance

52 tiny annoying problems, solved! (Because when you can’t control the big stuff, start small)
Experts, Guardian readers and writers share ingenious solutions to life’s everyday irritations, from wobbly tables to persistent hiccups
Compiled by Sarah Phillips
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/08/tiny-annoying-problems-solved

Doctors trialling 'poo pills' to flush out dangerous superbugs
James Gallagher
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyge290l4xo

An ancient writing system confounding myths about Africa
Penny Dale
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ye50xgw8vo

Local officials defend role following chaotic federal sting in Minneapolis
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said the enforcement action was one of eight search warrants carried out against a “transnational criminal organization.”
by Alfonzo Galvan, Katelyn Vue and Andrew Hazzard
https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minneapolis-lake-street-federal-sting-protest-response/

Dragonfly review – haunting, genre-defying drama of lonely city living
Tribeca film festival, New York
Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough, along with a very alarming dog, are superb as two neighbours thrown together by their neglected circumstances
Peter Bradshaw
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/07/dragonfly-review-andrea-riseborough-brenda-blethyn-tribeca-festival

Fancy some iconic celeriac? New Nordic cuisine, now a blockbuster exhibition
Twenty years ago, a group of Scandinavian chefs announced a culinary revolution. But as Norway’s National museum celebrates the New Nordic manifesto’s impact on dining and the arts, has the movement betrayed its own ambitious ideals?
Dan Hancox
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jun/08/fancy-some-iconic-celeriac-new-nordic-cuisine-now-a-blockbuster-exhibition

The week around the world in 20 pictures
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, wildfires in Canada, the first day of Eid al-Adha, and the Champions League final in Munich: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
Jim Powell
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/jun/06/the-week-around-the-world-in-20-pictures

2025.06.07

Jun. 7th, 2025 07:59 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
Outrage after Republican representative disparages Sikh prayer in the US House
Mary Miller had first mistaken Giani Singh for a Muslim and said it was ‘deeply troubling’ he was allowed to lead prayer
Maya Yang
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/us-house-prayer-republican-mary-miller

Money can’t buy him love: Republicans give Elon Musk the cold shoulder
Robert Tait in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/trump-elon-musk-reaction

Trump bill set to add trillions to US debt pile – can America stop it climbing?
Economists are concerned, politicians are angry – but the national debt keeps growing, no matter who’s in charge
Callum Jones in New York
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/07/trump-bill-us-national-debt

The Trump-Musk feud shows danger of handing the keys of power to one person
Nick Robins-Early
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/07/trump-musk-feud-power

Musk and Trump are enemies made for each other – united in their ability to trash their own brands
Jonathan Freedland
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/06/donald-trump-elon-musk-enemies-trash-twitter-tesla

Neo-Nazi group ‘actively seeking to grow in US’ with planned paramilitary training event
The Base is emerging from shadows and ramping up its ranks as White House turns blind eye to the far right
Ben Makuch
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/07/the-base-neo-nazi-group-paramilitary-training

RFK Jr’s report calls farmers ‘backbone’ of US – but cuts leave workers lacking support
Small farmers face ‘two personalities’ as Trump team slashes $1bn in resources despite Kennedy’s vow to protect them
Jessica Glenza
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/07/farmers-trump-cuts-rfk-jr

Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says
Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilient
Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/06/russia-is-at-war-with-uk-and-us-no-longer-reliable-ally

International Pride Orchestra plays outside DC in rebuff to Trump snub at Kennedy Center
LGBTQ+ ensemble was to appear at performing arts center but moved to Maryland after president reorganized venue
Guardian staff and agency
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/international-pride-orchestra-kennedy-center

Key takeaways from world’s largest cancer conference in Chicago
Experts announce findings on immunotherapy, a breast cancer breakthrough and the value of exercise
Andrew Gregory in Chicago
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/06/key-takeaways-from-worlds-largest-cancer-conference-in-chicago

Alzheimer’s blood test can spot people with early symptoms, study suggests
New test accurately picks up on memory problems by examining two proteins in blood plasma, US researchers find
PA Media
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/07/alzheimers-blood-test-can-spot-people-with-early-symptoms-study-suggests

It’s my goal to live to 100 – and it’s not just diet and exercise that will help me achieve it
Devi Sridhar
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/07/live-to-100-diet-exercise-long-life

Jantelagen: Why Swedes won't talk about wealth
A high income is a badge of success in many countries, but in Sweden a deep-rooted cultural code called Jantelagen stops many from talking about it.
Video by Maddy Savage and Benoît Derrier
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07qgx5d/jantelagen-why-swedes-won-t-talk-about-wealth

If books could kill: The poison legacy lurking in libraries
Pauline McLean
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g2y9xq58no

Lost Turner oil painting found after 150 years
Leigh Boobyer
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyzp4r70m8o
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[personal profile] pegkerr
My cousin Jill's Year of Adventure suggestion for me was to take a couple of hours volunteering together to plant some trees with Great River Greening. So, we signed up for a shift, and last Saturday on a beautiful sunny day, the two of us, along with her partner Jack, met in a park in Brooklyn Center.

The volunteer coordinators had the process down to a well-rehearsed presentation, and we three ended up planting three trees in all in the two-hour time slot. The first two were straightforward enough, and third, a Catalpa, had evidently been in the pot too long. The tap root had pushed through the hole in the bottom and grown large enough to embed itself into the plastic. It took a twenty minutes struggle to get it out of the pot.

It was hot by the time we finished up, and I'd exerted myself enough during the struggle with the stubborn tree to be glad to drink down the water I'd brought and sit in the shade a bit. But we enjoyed ourselves, and there are now three new trees in a park in Brooklyn Center, thanks to our efforts. Afterward, we drove to Jack and Jill's house for lunch, where I admired their extensive gardens and patio under the beautiful spreading oak tree.

A day well spent in the outdoors.

Image description: Lower center: head and shoulders of two women and a man, wearing hats, smiling at the camera. Center: The same three people are planting a tree. Overlaid over the tree are the words "Great River Greening."

Tree Planting

22 Tree Planting

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

Packing AGAIN

Jun. 6th, 2025 11:51 am
lydamorehouse: (??!!)
[personal profile] lydamorehouse
 Somehow our house looks more chaotic and full of half-filled bags and boxes as we prepare for a week long vacation to the northwoods. ONE WEEK! You'd think we were packing to move out!

The thing about the place we're headed is that the closest town with a grocery store is twenty minutes down the Gunflint Trail. I mean, I will drive twenty minutes to a store around here. Maybe because we're surrounded by TREES, twenty minutes away feels so much further when we're up north. Half of what we're bringing is food. Almost none of which will be returning with us. 

Despite all this, I'm really looking forwrard to the vacation. There is limited wireless, but I usually get up early and make the hike to the Lodge with my computer and spend an hour or so making sure I'm not missing out on any earth-shattering news. So, I'm still reachable, just... only once a day. I'm going to try to post pictures and such--you know, actually keep up with this blog for once!  

2025.06.06

Jun. 6th, 2025 08:43 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
Food additive titanium dioxide likely has more toxic effects than thought, study finds
Controversial additive may be in as many as 11,000 US products and could lead to diabetes and obesity
Tom Perkins
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/titanium-dioxide-food-additive-toxic

Don’t rinse raw chicken: nine food safety tips from microbiologists
We all have questionable kitchen habits – experts break down how to avoid spreading pathogens at home
Adrienne Matei
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/jun/05/how-to-avoid-food-poisoning-microbiologists-tips

Minnesota’s boundary waters are pristine. Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ could pollute them forever
A little-known provision would open thousands of nearby acres to a foreign mining company, risking acid drainage
Jimmy Tobias for Public Domain
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/minnesota-boundary-waters-pollution

A massive outbreak has made Ontario the measles epicentre of the western hemisphere
Three-quarters of cases are in unvaccinated children, and this week saw the first fatality: a premature baby
Olivia Bowden in St Thomas
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/06/measles-outbreak-ontario-canada

Diner dates and bathhouse chili: the colorful, defiant history of America’s gay restaurants
In his new book, Erik Piepenburg dishes on the US eateries that have served as LGBTQ+ havens and are still thriving
Tim Teeman
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/06/american-gay-restaurant-history

Police now say they are investigating shooting of actor Jonathan Joss as possible hate crime
King of the Hill actor’s husband claimed killing was due to his sexual orientation, which police initially dismissed
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jun/06/jonathan-joss-killing-investigation-hate-crime

The inevitable Trump-Musk feud is finally here – and it’s pathetic
Moira Donegan
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/06/trump-musk-feud-pathetic

Trump’s tariffs have become his Vietnam – and the right is breaking ranks
Sidney Blumenthal
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/05/trump-tariffs-republicans

Impeachment, Epstein and bitter acrimony: Trump and Musk joust in astonishing social media duel
Tensions over the Republican spending bill burst into public view as the president’s relationship with his former adviser deteriorated
Hugo Lowell and Andrew Roth in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/05/trump-elon-musk-fallout

Trump says Musk has ‘lost his mind’ and dismisses peace offering
Trump says he’s ‘not particularly’ interested in reconciling with Elon Musk, who reportedly wanted to speak to president
Dan Milmo Global technology editor
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/06/elon-musk-signals-he-may-back-down-in-public-row-with-donald-trump

Wake Up and Smell the Corruption
How far we've fallen, how fast
Paul Krugman
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/wake-up-and-smell-the-corruption?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=apztr&triedRedirect=true

'We have a geriatric problem' - Democrats wrestle with age-old issue
Anthony Zurcher
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpw7p2pjn11o

US supreme court sides with heterosexual woman in ‘reverse discrimination’ case
Judges rule 9-0 in case where Marlean Ames argued she was denied a promotion because she is heterosexual
Lauren Aratani and agencies
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/05/supreme-court-reverse-discrimination-case

Australian navy ship accidentally blocks internet and radio across parts of New Zealand
Incident happened as one of the Royal Australian Navy’s largest ships was on its way to Wellington this week
Elias Visontay
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/06/australian-navy-ship-accidentally-blocks-wifi-across-parts-of-new-zealand

Dr Martens profits slump by more than 90%
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2kpwnr4rjo

2025.06.05

Jun. 5th, 2025 09:14 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon we're talking real money!
Trump’s tax bill would add $2.4tn to US debt, says non-partisan analysis
The Congressional Budget Office warns Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ will leave 10.9 million uninsured by 2034
Joseph Gedeon in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/trump-tax-bill-debt

‘These guys are idiots’: Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black call out government’s Harvey Milk erasure
Team behind Oscar-winning biopic of the groundbreaking gay politician hits back at decision to remove his name
Adrian Horton
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/sean-penn-harvey-milk

Hundreds arrested across 28 states in effort to curb organized retail theft
Illinois taskforce brought together more than 100 law enforcement agencies and over 30 retailers for crackdown
Marina Dunbar
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/organized-retail-theft-arrests

Many of Dead Sea scrolls may be older than thought, experts say
Researchers enlisted help of AI along with radiocarbon dating to produce new insights into ancient texts
Nicola Davis Science Correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jun/04/many-of-dead-sea-scrolls-may-be-older-that-thought-experts-say

MyPillow’s Mike Lindell faces trial and plans to testify about 2020 election lies
The case, brought by former Dominion employee Eric Coomer, could deepen Lindell’s legal and financial troubles
Rachel Leingang
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/mike-lindell-testify-2020-election-trial

FDA issues highest alert for tomato recall due to salmonella risk
Williams Farms Repack tomatoes recalled in Georgia and Carolinas, although no cases of illness have been reported
Maya Yang
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/tomato-recall-salmonella

Contraception warning over weight-loss drugs after dozens of pregnancies
UK watchdog has had 40 reports relating to pregnancies in people using drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro
Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/05/contraception-warning-over-weight-loss-drugs-after-dozens-of-pregnancies

Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’
Exclusive: Melbourne team demonstrates way to make the virus visible within white blood cells, paving the way to fully clear it from the body
Kat Lay Global health correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/05/breakthrough-in-search-for-hiv-cure-leaves-researchers-overwhelmed

I thought it was being gay that made my life so difficult. Then, at 50, I got an eye-opening diagnosis …
I spent far too many years lonely and angry, thanks to schoolmates who called me ‘weird’ and bosses who dismissed me as ‘hysterical’. But was it my sexuality that put their backs up – or the autism I am still coming to terms with?
Matt Cain
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/05/i-thought-it-was-being-gay-that-made-my-life-so-difficult-then-at-50-i-got-an-eye-opening-diagnosis

Millions in west do not know they have aggressive fatty liver disease, study says
Research finds more than 15m in US, UK, Germany and France with MASH have not been diagnosed
Anna Bawden Health and social affairs correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/05/millions-in-west-do-not-know-they-have-aggressive-fatty-liver-disease-study-says

First bacteria we ever meet can keep us out of hospital
James Gallagher
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr5lej9l8lo

What to do if your email account is stolen – and how to stop it happening again
A hacked or compromised account can be a nightmare. But with these tips, it need not be the end of the world
Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jun/04/what-to-do-if-your-email-account-is-stolen-and-how-to-stop-it-happening-again

From MPR News: “The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said people are receiving scam text messages that threaten penalties if they do not pay up. Department officials are asking people to delete and disregard the messages.” Via MinnPost
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/04/minnesota-officials-warn-of-scam-dmv-texts

From Bring Me The News: “Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a statement in response to the law enforcement operation at two Twin Cities restaurants on Tuesday, one of which drew a large crowd of protesters. … MPD’s policy said that it will not interfere with ICE investigations, but will not be involved in the enforcement of federal immigration law.” In this case, “MPD said it ‘responded to a request to assist with crowd control and to help ensure public safety,’ adding: ‘Officers supported federal law enforcement in safely departing the area.’” Via MinnPost
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/ice-issues-statement-in-response-to-raids-at-2-twin-cities-restaurants

From KARE 11: “Skies are clearing over much of the state after days of being surrounded by a smoky haze, air so unhealthy it triggered the highest level Air Quality Index (AQI) warning for residents in northwest Minnesota. Things have improved so much that an Air Quality Alert issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) expired at 9 a.m. Wednesday for residents of the Twin Cities metro. Via MinnPost
https://www.kare11.com/article/weather/air-quality-alert-ends-for-twin-cities-wildfire-smoke-exiting-minnesota/89-a85d429f-5def-4025-92a7-ad26bb38790f

Contorted bodies and bare bottoms: Ralph Gibson’s all-seeing eye – in pictures
The photographer has spent six decades photographing Hollywood, New York … and lots of women. He talks us through his favourite images
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/jun/05/contorted-bodies-and-bare-bottoms-ralph-gibsons-all-seeing-eye-in-pictures

Where to start with: Edmund White
After the news of White’s death, here is a guide to a foundational writer of gay lives and elder statesman of American queer literary fiction
Neil Bartlett
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/04/where-to-start-with-edmund-white

Why Minneapolis is one of the world's happiest places
Lindsey Galloway
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250530-why-minneapolis-is-one-of-the-worlds-happiest-places

Pride StoryBundle!

Jun. 5th, 2025 08:16 am
lydamorehouse: (Default)
[personal profile] lydamorehouse
story bundle covers
Image: Some cool a$$ books! (including mine)

From my editors...

THE 2025 PRIDE BUNDLE

The 2025 Pride Bundle  - Curated by Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott

It's Pride again, and time for another queer-themed bundle! At a time when the community is once again under threat, we felt it was more important than ever to showcase the work and the writers that celebrate us. We looked for books that show queerness in all its complexity, with stories that range from pure adventure to profoundly serious, and from across the range of identities that make up our whole. We looked for stories that showcased the many and complex forms that queerness takes — the many ways that we have chosen to be. We looked for stories that engage with threats to the queer world, and for stories that imagine what we might be without threats, for stories that celebrate our joy and our resilience.

And we're pleased to say that we have found those stories, and more. If anything, the hardest part of curating this bundle was narrowing down the field: there are so many writers out there creating intelligent, nuanced, queer science fiction and fantasy that it's incredibly hard to choose among them. This is not to claim that this is a definitive LGBTQIA+ collection —given the ever-growing amount of stellar queer writing being published, we're not sure that's even possible. Instead, we thought of the bundle as a sampler, or perhaps a tasting menu. It includes novels, novellas, single author collections, and anthologies; the genres range from fantasy mysteries to cyberpunk to far future to post apocalyptic fantasy. There are newer works and writers, and some older work you may have missed when they first appeared. It's your chance to read work by some of the best writers working today.

StoryBundle has always allowed its patrons to donate part of their payment to a related charity, and this year we're once again supporting Rainbow Railroad, a NGO that helps LGBTQ+ people escape state-sponsored persecution and violence worldwide. Their work is needed now more than ever, and if you choose, you can pass on part of the bundle's price to them— a gift that can save a life. 
– Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott

* * *

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in .epub format—WORLDWIDE.
  • The Map and the Territory by A.M. Tuomala
  • We're Here - The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2023 edited by Darcie Little Badger and series editor Charles Payseur
  • Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett
  • These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
If you pay at least the bonus price of just $25, you get all four of the regular books, plus TEN more books, for a total of 14!
  • Be the Sea by Clara Ward
  • Fallen by Melissa Scott
  • A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert
  • Luminescent Machinations by Rhiannan Rasmussen and dave ring
  • Fairs' Point by Melissa Scott
  • So You Want to be A Robot by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
  • Price of a Thousand Blessings by Ginn Hale
  • Reforged by Seth Haddon
  • Welcome to Boy.Net by Lyda Morehouse
  • Power to Yield by Bogi Takács
This bundle is available only for a limited time via  http://www.storybundle.com . It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get a DRM-free .epub for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can
redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of
StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.
  • Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
  • Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.
  • Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.
  • Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to Rainbow Railroad!
  • Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus books!
StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers.
StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle,

Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at  @storybundle  and like us on  Facebook 

==========
I would love for this to be a huge success for all our authors (and for Rainbow Railroad) so even if it's not for you, please consider passing this information/link (https://storybundle.com/pride) on to someone who you think might enjoy it!  

Wednesday Again?

Jun. 4th, 2025 07:33 pm
lydamorehouse: (Default)
[personal profile] lydamorehouse
 Mason in the stacks
Recent college graduate Mason, peering through the Gov Docs stacks at Wesleyan University

We have actually been home for a while, but, for some reason, this time I feel like I've been struggling to catch up with everything. Our house is currently a warren of boxes--all of them somehow containing everything Mason had brought with him, bought, or otherwise accumulated, over the past four years as a student. As I noted while we were still on the road, we shipped most of his stuff back via the United States Postal Service. A fine service, I might add. Still, by far, the cheapest and most efficient way to send things. I hate seeing it in crisis. (And it clearly is. I spend a lot of time at post offices and all of them are chronically understaffed right now--from Middletown, CT to Minnesota.)

On the road, however, I managed to listen to a lot of audio books. I finished up the last of the Singing Hills Cycle novellas. Then, because I had to wait to get to the hotel to download the book I actually wanted next, I ended listening to David Levine's Arabella of Mars, which I wanted to be more queer than it was, but oh well. The book I'd wanted was Martha Well's Exit Strategy, which I had apparently forgotten to read when I was reading through the Murderbot Dairies some time ago (or maybe it wasn't out yet, but somehow I missed it.) Then, to fill in a short gap I listened to  another novella: A Strange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer. Apparently I needed to have read the Borne Series, which I had not. I mean, I would say that it stood on its own, honestly? Though I could tell in the second half that there was a bigger story in the City that I didn't fully grasp.  It was weird in the way of Vandermeer's stories, though. A bit depressing, too. I have since started, but have been slow to get into. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs. But, as you will see below. I've been a bit scattered and distracted.




Mason and Jas on the railing
Mason (right) and his partner Jas (left) in their robes on the steps of the Chapel at Wesleyan

I am probably feeling so very rushed an unsettled for a number of reasons. Firstly, we are actually headed off to Bearskin Lodge on the Gunflint Trail (for my non-Minnesotan friends: Think Cabin in the Woods. Only with 99.9% fewer demonic sacrifices.) We'll be up there for a week--from Saturday to Saturday--and it is, in essence, Mason's graduation gift to him from us, but it does mean another day on the road!  I was just talking to Shawn and it's kind of amazing that (if we drove with no stops) it will take us about as long to get to the Lodge as it did to drive from Youngstown, OH to Valparaiso, IN. Minnesota is a BIG state. Saint Paul is kind of in the middle of the state, and it will take us that long to drive the same distance we drove through all of Ohio and most of Indiana. INSANE. I mean, when you look on a map all of Minnesota is North and South Dakota length and then some.

Anyway, I don't mind the driving. Our family usually finds fun places to stop and hunt for agates or just take in the view of Lake Superior. This time, however, we may be going past some active fires, which I can't say I'm excited to see. 

The air quality has been bad here, y'all.

But, I'm stressing out because the idea of packing my clothes again just seems like a LOT. 

The other thing that has me generally unsettled is that we just found out that Shawn's brother Keven has a lump on his kidney. The doctors are fairly certain it's cancer and they're already talking about chemo and all the works. Keven didn't used to be my favorite brother (Shawn has two), but in the past several years Keven has gotten some diagonises and meds and therapy. He's not anything like a changed man, but now he's tolerable and curmudgeonly in a more charming and amusing way.

And, now, it seems, the gods have kicked him in the teeth.

Keven only just got his first tests, so it's not necessarily any kind of immediate death sentence. But, fuck. You know?

2025.06.04

Jun. 4th, 2025 07:21 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
From MPR News: “Tuesday’s smoke front produced the highest air quality index reading for wildfire smoke on record in the state of Minnesota.” Air quality is expected to improve markedly Wednesday and Thursday. Via MinnPost
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/03/smoke-storm-highest-smoke-level-ever-recorded-for-minnesota

From the Minnesota Star Tribune: “The hydroponic grower of year-round tomatoes in the northern clime of Owatonna, Minn., Bushel Boy Farms, has sold its assets and greenhouse to a new owner and operator. … Bushel Boy began as a greenhouse-grown tomato company in 1990 and had expanded in recent years to other fruits and vegetables, including strawberries and cucumbers.” Via MinnPost

US immigration officials push for increased detentions, including ‘collateral’ arrests
Exclusive: Ice officers encouraged to ‘push the envelope’ with arrests, including of undocumented people encountered by chance
José Olivares in New York
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/immigration-officials-increased-detentions-collateral-arrests

Proposed Republican cuts could undo opioid epidemic progress in Appalachia
Few other places in the US will see the effects of funding cuts felt more than in Appalachian communities
Stephen Starr in Huntington, West Virginia
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/opioids-appalachia-white-house-republicans

Trump keeps being overruled by judges. And his temper tantrums won’t stop that
Steven Greenhouse
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/04/trump-judges-law

Hegseth orders US navy to strip Harvey Milk name from ship amid Pride month
Timing of announcement on ship named after prominent gay rights activist and veteran is intentional, reports say
Maya Yang
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/03/harvey-milk-ship-name-hegseth

Are we heading for a recession? Show me your nails
Arwa Mahdawi
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/04/are-we-heading-for-a-recession-show-me-your-nails

How the use of a word in the Guardian has gotten some readers upset
Elisabeth Ribbans
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/04/use-word-gotten-some-readers-upset

Edmund White, novelist and great chronicler of gay life, dies aged 85
The American essayist, playwright and author of books including A Boy’s Own Story and The Married Man has died
Sian Cain
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/04/edmund-white-novelist-dies

2025.06.03

Jun. 3rd, 2025 03:44 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Philadelphia paper warns Fetterman to take Senate job seriously – ‘or step away’
Democratic senator hits back at ‘smear’ after being accused of missing votes and skipping committee hearings
Anna Betts
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/02/john-fetterman-senate-philadelphia-inquirer

US firms say Trump trade war is hitting production as dollar nears three-year low
Manufacturing survey signals third monthly decline in output in a row amid uncertainty over tariffs
Heather Stewart Economics editor
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/02/us-firms-say-trump-trade-war-is-hitting-production-as-dollar-nears-three-year-low

Outrage over Peru’s decision to nearly halve protected area near Nazca Lines
Shock decision has raised fears ancient site with almost 2,000-year-old geoglyphs will be exploited by illegal miners
Dan Collyns in Lima
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/02/peru-nazca-lines-protection-illegal-mining

Theater Mu’s new artistic director sees role as a call to arms in uncertain times
Writer and director Fran de Leon aims to elevate the theater’s profile and reach, while continuing to bring overlooked Asian-American histories to light.
by Macy-Châu Diễm Trần
https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/theater-mu-new-artistic-director-fran-de-leon/

How Bangkok's Coolest Neighborhood is Taking On Gentrification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NHfQ7ox_is

Well, this is mortifying

Jun. 2nd, 2025 10:21 am
pegkerr: (Default)
[personal profile] pegkerr
As I posted last Saturday, I have been working to assemble an anthology to submit to a contest with the Minnesota Authors Project (among others). I hadn't assembled as many authors as I had hoped, but we put together a nice little ebook, and I was proud of it and excited to enter the contest. We finished pulling it all together by 6 pm the day before the final deadline, and I went to the contest portal to submit it.

And at the last minute, after I had spent a good 40 minutes working my way through the portal and was just about to push the 'Submit' button, a Terms and Agreement page popped up that turned all my hopes to ashes.

The book had to be already published.

Now, I had inquired about that. The person I'd gotten the flyer from wasn't sure, and the website didn't mention anything about that requirement.

I had arranged with a letter of agreement with my authors specifically stating my understanding that this WASN'T a promise of publication, but that if we won the contest, we could make decisions about publishing at that time.

So, extremely mortified, I had to go back to the authors and explain. I'd done my due diligence, I had wondered about that very question, checked the website and the flyer, and I'd still gotten it wrong.

Some of the contributors wondered whether we could quickly self-publish, throwing it up on Amazon, of course the very reasonable expectation requested was that I would then promote and distribute it. I had very little time to make the decision, and I never heard back from one of my contributors, and I was badly rattled by making such a mistake. Maybe it was a lack of courage, but I just couldn't make the promise. I don't have my own website or any kind of mailing list. I didn't think I could (after letting my contributors down so badly) volunteer to do something that would let them down even further.

So we missed the contest deadline.

I am going to try to find more contributors and figure out a way to publish it. And hope that we can enter it in the contest next year.

I feel so very mortified and foolish. At least two of the contributors wrote new material for this project, and I feel keenly that I let them down. Professional embarrassment is the WORST.

But! This is the year of adventure, and that means trying new things. And sometimes, when you try new things, you fail. And that (I am telling myself firmly) is okay.

Here is the beautiful cover that Bruce Bethke designed for the book we had planned, and I hope eventually it will come to fruition.

Shelves of Wonder cover

2025.06.02

Jun. 2nd, 2025 07:37 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Much of Minnesota will be under an air quality alert, MPR News reports. The alert is expected to last until at least 6 p.m. Monday. “According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, fine particle levels caused by large wildfires from Manitoba and Saskatchewan will push the air quality index to the red category, a level considered unhealthy for everyone, across the northern half of Minnesota. … For most of the southern and central part of Minnesota, the air quality index is expected to reach the orange category, which is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Via MinnPost
https://www.minnpost.com/glean/2025/06/smoggy-times-canadian-wildfires-contribute-to-minnesota-haze/

Key US weather monitoring offices understaffed as hurricane season starts
National Weather Service offices are reeling from job cuts and a hiring freeze imposed by Trump
Oliver Milman
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/02/trump-national-weather-service-hurricanes

Half of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders faced hate in 2024, study finds
Exclusive: rampant anti-Asian hate in 2024 reflected divisive election season, survey finds
Minnah Arshad
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/02/aapi-hate-study

A ‘war on children’: as US changes Covid vaccine rules, parents of trial volunteers push back
Frustration and anger mount as Trump administration contemplates new trials and restrictions for Covid vaccines
Melody Schreiber
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/02/vaccine-rule-change-child-trial-volunteers

Loan plan in Republican bill could worsen doctor shortage, experts warn
Proposal to limit student loans for ‘professional programs’ risks driving people away from medicine, critics say
Jessica Glenza
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/01/republican-trump-bill-doctor-shortage

Is it true that … taking collagen supplements slows signs of ageing?
Many people take collagen powders and pills in the hope of looking younger for longer, but there are better ways to improve your chances
Kate Lloyd
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/02/is-it-true-that-taking-collagen-supplements-slows-signs-of-ageing

The deadlift difference: is this the exercise you need for an active and pain-free future?
Life is easier with a strong, flexible body – and this weightlifting move will help with everything from rearranging the furniture to picking up your groceries. You might even learn to love the barbell
Phil Daoust
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/01/the-deadlift-difference-is-this-the-exercise-you-need-for-an-active-and-pain-free-future

How electric scooters are driving China's salt battery push
Xiaoying You
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250530-how-electric-scooters-are-driving-chinas-salt-battery-push

Stakes are high for US democracy as conservative supreme court hears raft of cases
Former critics now hope the justices have enough fealty to the US constitution to mitigate Trump’s assault on rights
Robert Tait in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/01/us-supreme-court-democracy

Parks, libraries, museums: here’s why Trump is attacking America’s best-loved institutions
Margaret Sullivan
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/02/national-parks-libraries-museums-trump

Trump’s tax bill helps the rich, hurts the poor and adds trillions to the deficit
Katrina vanden Heuvel
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/02/big-beautiful-tax-bill-deficit-trump

The women saving Japan's vanishing cuisine
Michelle Gross
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250530-the-women-saving-japans-vanishing-cuisine

Butt-naked Milton and a spot of fellatio: why William Blake became a queer icon
How did an ancient poet and painter who died in obscurity come to obsess everyone from Oscar Wilde to David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Derek Jarman and David Bowie? The writer of a new book explains his glorious allure
Philip Hoare
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/02/william-blake-queer-icon-bowie-wilde-mapplethorpe-jarman

2025.06.01

Jun. 1st, 2025 06:07 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Bee-ware: truck carrying 250m honeybees overturns by US-Canada border
Washington state officials swarmed to scene to find 70,000lbs of hives and bees abuzz in a sticky situation
José Olivares
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/31/truck-bees-hives-overturns-washington

Why Trump is really going after Harvard
David Smith
in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/01/trump-harvard-authoritarianism-democracy

‘Empathy is a kind of strength’: Jacinda Ardern on kind leadership, public rage and life in Trump’s America
Young, progressive and relatable, the former prime minister of New Zealand tried to do politics differently. But six years into power, she dramatically resigned. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, she explains why
Katharine Viner
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/may/31/jacinda-ardern-kind-leadership-public-rage-life-trump-america

‘It’s thrilling’: almost three centuries of the Belfast News Letter go online
The surviving editions of the world’s oldest, continuously published English-language daily can now be accessed free
Michael Savage Media editor
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jun/01/worlds-oldest-daily-belfast-news-letter-go-digital

We decided to become a shoes-off house. It was more complicated than I thought
We are still in the beginning of our new shoeless lives, but already there is no turning back
Caroline Baum
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/01/shoes-off-or-on-we-decided-to-become-a-shoeless-house

Recent Canadian wildfires are record-breaking – and will threaten US air quality for days
Eric Holthaus
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/canada-wildfires-air-quality

‘Try to stay on your feet’: Cheese-rolling champion reveals secrets to his success
Chris Anderson, who has won Gloucestershire event 23 times, says newcomers need to be brave and devise a plan
Steven Morris
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/01/try-to-stay-on-your-feet-cheese-rolling-champion-reveals-secrets-to-his-success

This Mississippi town without a cinema inspired a hit - now it gets to see the film
Ana Faguy
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8nj2dm7keo

2025.05.31

May. 31st, 2025 07:56 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
‘Breakthrough’ breast cancer therapy can slow advance of disease and prolong survival
Study shows combination treatment for aggressive breast cancer delays advance by average 17 months and chemotherapy by two years
Andrew Gregory Health editor, in Chicago
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/31/breakthrough-breast-cancer-therapy-can-slow-advance-of-disease-and-prolong-survival

Trump says he fired National Portrait Gallery chief in latest conflict with arts
President says director Kim Sajet has been fired but experts suggest president does not have legal grounds to do so
Robert Mackey
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/trump-fires-kim-sajet-national-portrait-gallery-director

Want to see where Trump’s tariffs are leading US business? Look at Georgia
The political swing state has a $900bn economy, with hospitality, industrial manufacturing – and movies
George Chidi in Atlanta
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/31/georgia-business-trump-tariffs

Four queer business owners on Pride under Trump: ‘Our joy is resistance’
As the first Pride month under Donald Trump’s second presidency approaches, LGBTQ+ businesses are stepping up
Jenna Zaza
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/31/pride-queer-business-owners

Tourist damages two of China’s terracotta warriors after jumping fence
The man ‘pushed and pulled’ the ancient clay warriors and damaged them to varying degrees, said authorities
Agence France-Presse
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/31/tourist-jumps-into-chinas-terracotta-army-damaging-ancient-warriors

Four tips for home care, from vacuuming your mattress to … cleaning your dishwasher?
I tried some of the advice from Kyshawn Lane of the wildly popular Instagram account Weekly Home Check
Buy an exclusive print from our Well Actually series
Madeleine Aggeler
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/may/30/four-tips-for-home-care

Are seed oils really bad for you?
Jessica Bradley
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250530-are-seed-oils-really-bad-for-you

Never before seen images of our Universe
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0lf3qdj/never-before-seen-images-of-our-universe

Loretta Swit, who played ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on MAS*H, dies aged 87
The actor, who won two Emmy awards, was best known for being one of longest-serving cast members on the hit series
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/30/loretta-swit-actor-dead
pegkerr: (The worthies of Bree will be discussing)
[personal profile] pegkerr
This is sort of a last-week-and-this-week collage.

I recently had a new coworker start at my workplace who came from a job in a library system. She happened to mention in passing at a staff meeting that she was involved in organizing a writing contest for both individual and group projects. Intrigued, I sounded her out and asked her to tell me more.

She showed me the flyer, and one sentence stuck out for me:
In addition to being evaluated on quality, judges will also consider the role libraries have
played in supporting the organization or the creation of the work being submitted.
Now, I just happened to have a story hanging around in my computer that I had submitted to an anthology years ago, but it was rejected on the basis that it wasn't so much a story about bookstores (the anthology's theme) as about libraries. I'd tried various markets but had never sold it, but I still liked the story and had always thought it deserved an audience.

What's more, I knew that two of my friends had written stories about libraries, too: ([personal profile] naomikritzer and [personal profile] lydamorehouse). Could I get a few more, and we could submit it as a group project?

So, as part of my Year of Adventure, I have been doing something this past week that I've never tried before: I have been assembling an anthology. I was also able to solicit a story from Marissa Lingen and a poem from [personal profile] elisem. Another friend, Bruce Bethke, graciously agreed to put together the anthology's layout. (Bruce has had some experience with online publishing with his online anthology series Stupifying Stories.)

I will be submitting the contest entry later today.

(This is not the anthology's cover, but an image created in the spirit of the whole thing). The collection will be titled: Shelves of Wonder: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Libraries.

Wish us luck!

Description: Partial view of two arches. Behind the one on the right side is a portion of a tall bookshelf loaded with books. Behind the other arch to the left is a portion of a shining full moon, overwritten with the words "Shelves of Wonder."

Anthology

21 Anthology

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

2025.05.30

May. 30th, 2025 06:46 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
Local News
These Minnesota cities were named among the top 250 "Best Places to Live" in the country
By Aki Nace
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-cities-best-places-to-live-2025/

Pfas detected in US beers in new study, raising safety concerns
Researchers point to contaminated water after ‘forever chemicals’ found in all but one of 23 sampled beers
Tom Perkins
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/beer-pfas-forever-chemicals

Over a barrel: lack of sugar throws Cuba’s rum industry into crisis
This year’s tiny harvest casts doubt on the spirit’s recent resurgence, once a bright spot in the island’s economy
Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/30/over-a-barrel-lack-sugar-cuba-rum-industry-crisis-harvest

Is every memecoin just a scam? Experts on whether Andrew Tate and Trump are fleecing their followers
After I was turned into a memecoin, I looked into the hype behind the crypto that only a tiny percentage of people profit from
Matt Shea
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/30/is-memecoin-scam-crypto-trump

We’re minimizing the horror of Trump’s military birthday parade
Judith Levine
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/30/trump-military-parade-fascism

So long, Elon: the cuts didn’t go to plan, but you completely shredded your reputation
Marina Hyde
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/30/elon-musk-tesla-investors-doge

‘Death is not a mystery’: what happens to your body when you’re dying?
Experts say knowing more about death – or ‘death literacy’ – can actually help quell fears of dying
Katie Camero
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/may/29/what-happens-when-you-die

Remains of Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old unearthed in Guatemala
Pyramids and monuments suggest Los Abuelos was a significant ceremonial site, archaeologists say
Agence France-Press in Guatemala City u
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/mayan-city-remains-guatemala-los-abuelos-unearthed

2025.05.29

May. 29th, 2025 07:06 am
lsanderson: (Default)
[personal profile] lsanderson
US federal court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs
Ruling from court of international trade in New York comes after slew of lawsuits arguing president exceeded authority
Kalyeena Makortoff and agencies
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/us-court-blocks-trump-tariffs

Donald Trump commutes sentence of former Chicago gang leader
Larry Hoover, 74, ex-chief of Gangster Disciples in Chicago, had been serving multiple life sentences for over 50 years
Léonie Chao-Fong
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/donald-trump-commutes-chicago-gang-leader-sentence

‘Flooding could end southern Appalachia’: the scientists on an urgent mission to save lives
Geologists race to collect perishable data as Kentucky residents ‘scared to death’ over floods amid Trump cuts
Nina Lakhani in eastern Kentucky with photographs by Jon Cherry
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/29/appalachia-kentucky-floods-research-trump-cuts

Scared advertisers, flag bans and Trump: the US is in for a troubled Pride 2025
Event organizers in red and blue states have seen an exodus of sponsors amid an anti-LGBTQ+ political climate. They insist the show will go on
Tim Teeman
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/29/pride-month-trump

Chinese paraglider survives accidental 8,000-metre-high flight above the clouds
A strong updraft propelled Peng Yujiang thousands of metres high, in line with flight paths and nearly as high as Mount Everest
Helen Davidson in Taipei
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/chinese-paraglider-peng-yujiang-survives-8000-metre-high-flight

Why does Switzerland have more nuclear bunkers than any other country?
Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But if the worst should happen, would they actually work?
By Jessi Jezewska Stevens
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/may/29/why-does-switzerland-have-more-nuclear-bunkers-than-any-other-country

Swiss village almost entirely destroyed after collapse of glacier buries it in mud
One person missing and Blatten devastated after huge cloud of ice and rubble inundates evacuated town
Guardian staff and agencies in Geneva
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/28/swiss-glacier-collapse-village-switzerland-blatten

Thousands in Canada’s Manitoba ordered to evacuate in wildfire emergency
There are more than 130 active wildfires across the country, half of which are considered out of control
Agence France-Presse
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/canada-wildfires-manitoba-province-fire-evacuation

‘Space travel is queer’: the unstoppable film-maker skewering Bezos and Musk’s macho fantasies
Cath Clarke
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/29/space-travel-bezos-musk-macho-fantasies-nelly-ben-hayoun-stepanian

Materialists to 28 Years Later: 10 of the best films to watch this June
Nicholas Barber
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250528-10-of-the-best-films-to-watch-this-june

2025.05.28

May. 28th, 2025 07:18 am
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[personal profile] lsanderson
Feds arrest newest Feeding Our Future defendant at Twin Cities airport
Matt Sepid
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/05/27/feds-arrest-newest-feeding-our-future-defendant-at-twin-cities-airport

Trump cuts to NIH causing life-or-death delays in care: ‘Cancer shouldn’t be political’
Natalie Phelps, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, has raised the alarm over how patients in the agency’s clinical trials are facing setbacks in treatment
Rachel Leingang
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/trump-cuts-nih-cancer-care

RFK Jr drops Covid-19 boosters for kids and pregnant women from CDC list
The move ends the CDC’s booster recommendation for healthy children and pregnant women, bypassing norms
Jessica Glenza
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/27/rfk-jr-covid-vaccine-kids-pregnant-women

Trump has no plan for who will grow US food: ‘There is just flat out nobody to work’
Farms rely on seasonal workers and undocumented immigrants, but the Republican’s plans to fill the gap would ‘legalize oppression’, advocates say
Tareq Saghie
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/farmworkers-h-2a-trump-agriculture

The Salt Path review – Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs hike from ruin to renewal
Marianne Elliott directs this affecting drama, based on Raynor Winn’s memoir, which builds steadily as the couple journey towards redemption
Cath Clarke
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/28/the-salt-path-review-gillian-anderson-and-jason-isaacs-hike-from-ruin-to-renewal

Spent by Alison Bechdel review – the graphic novelist faces up to midlife
In this playfully fictionalised memoir, Alison runs a pygmy goat sanctuary while making a name for herself on stage and screen
James Smart
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/may/28/spent-by-alison-bechdel-review-the-graphic-novelist-faces-up-to-midlife

Bovril: A meaty staple's strange link to cult science fiction
Veronique Greenwood
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250527-bovril-a-meaty-staples-strange-link-to-cult-science-fiction

What to do if your laptop is lost or stolen – tips for when the worst happens
From remotely locking it using a locator, to backing up a replacement, steps to help you secure your data
Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/28/what-to-do-if-your-laptop-is-lost-or-stolen

The return of Mexico's famous Tequila Express train
Jamie Fullerton
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250523-the-return-of-mexicos-famous-tequila-express-train

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