Aaron
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aarond42.bsky.social
Aaron
@aarond42.bsky.social
270 followers 700 following 210 posts
Programmer / writer / magician in NY
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aarond42.bsky.social
Pan's in the corner now, looking how I feel.
Pantalaimon, a three-in-December goldendoodle, lying in the corner looking like the world weighs heavy on him
October 25, 2025 at 1:22 AM
aarond42.bsky.social
Honestly, Pantalaimon, I get it.
September 19, 2025 at 5:39 AM
aarond42.bsky.social
Pan has decided that silicone mats are for dogs and not dog bowls, and thus he's evicted both of his bowls from the mat and is nursing them like beers while he lies on it.
Pantalaimon, my two-and-a-half-year-old goldendoodle, lying on a chewed up silicone bowl mat, next to the two bowls that used to live on it. Pan is mostly obscured by a door frame. Pantalaimon smiling up at me from the mat, nursing an empty dinner bowl. Another angle on Pantalaimon nursing his bowl from the mat, this one including my right foot for scale.
August 26, 2025 at 2:31 AM
aarond42.bsky.social
Pantalaimon in his backpack, waiting for the bus
July 4, 2025 at 3:05 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
Its talons remind me of the Rockodile I printed back in 2019.
The Rockodile on the bed of my printer Overhead view of the Rockodile on the bed of my printer. 3/4 profile of the Rockodile on the bed of my printer.
May 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
Happy Towel Day from Pantalaimon!
Pan requesting a belly rub on a Don't Panic towel Pan still requesting that belly rub. Pan just happy to be a frood. Do you sass that hoopy, Pantalaimon? He's a frood who always knows where his towel is.
May 25, 2025 at 4:26 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
Relevant poem: "Deafness, An Insurgency, Begins" by Ilya Kaminsky. I first read it a few days ago and can't get it out of my head.

www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poe...
April 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
What I don't see here from @kirstengillibrand.bsky.social: A commitment to vote "no" on the SAVE Act
A reply from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, reading: Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act and American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act. The freedom to vote is fundamental to the strength of our democracy and I am committed to ensuring that every eligible American has equal access to the ballot. Since arriving in Congress, one of my biggest priorities has been preserving and advancing democracy. I proudly support the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), which will both work to improve access to the ballot for all citizens, advance campaign finance reform, and preserve our democracy. I am honored that the VRAA includes provisions of my Voter Empowerment Act, which seeks to expand voter registration and voting access by requiring states to make voter registration available online, establish automatic voter registration systems, and encourage people under 18 years of age to pre-register to vote. I am also proud to support other bills that will ensure every individual has equal access to the polls, including the Youth Voting Rights Act, Register to Vote Act, Same Day Registration Act, and the Stop Automatically Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States (SAVE VOTERS) Act. The right to vote is inherent to our country’s founding and I remain committed to combating any attempts to undermine our democracy. Please rest assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as Congress considers the SAVE Act and ACE Act. Again, thank you for contacting me. If there’s another issue that’s important to you or a question you’d like to ask, I invite you to send me a message through my website and follow my work in the Senate on Facebook and Twitter. I look forward to keeping in touch throughout my time in the Senate. Sincerely, Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator
April 15, 2025 at 2:11 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
If the government won't fund the American Women's History museum, I'm more than happy to chip in.
News headline reading: "'Improper Ideology'—Trump Demands Women's History Museum Remove Trans People Or Lose Funding The American Women's History Museum must remove trans people from its exhibits and programming, or lose its federal funding, Trump says." A web page thanking me for my donation to the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum
April 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
This Cory Booker speech has been riveting to watch, and it's up to 54K people watching it on YouTube. Here's the Langston Hughes poem he just passionately excerpted.
Dream of Freedom There’s a dream in the land With its back against the wall. By muddled names and strange Sometimes the dream is called. There are those who claim This dream for theirs alone— A sin for which, we know They must atone. Unless shared in common Like sunlight and like air, The dream will die for lack Of substance anywhere. The dream knows no frontier or tongue, The dream no class or race. The dream cannot be kept secure In any one locked place. This dream today embattled, With its back against the wall— To save the dream for one, It must be saved for ALL.
April 1, 2025 at 6:31 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
I'm rereading "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde, and this stanza hits hard:
We were as men who through a fen Of filthy darkness grope: We did not dare to breathe a prayer, Or to give our anguish scope: Something was dead in each of us, And what was dead was Hope.
March 30, 2025 at 2:04 AM
aarond42.bsky.social
I've called every Schumer and Gillibrand office most weekdays for weeks now to leave comments, since they're my senators. Never once gotten anyone on the line—only ever voicemail. I hope someone listens to the voicemails.
March 12, 2025 at 8:10 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
@kenwhite.bsky.social is "Please pause these proceedings until DOGE finishes burning the federal government to ashes and sufficient predictability returns" a common argument in filings against the government?

static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics...
static01.nyt.com
March 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
Pantalaimon agreed, reluctantly, to sit and wait for me to throw it instead of grabbing it from my hand.
Pan's big fluffy muppet mouth, out of focus, with no apparent teeth (though, I assure you, he has pearly white teeth) about to close around a chewed-up yellow ball I'm holding. Pan sitting, tongue out, fur shaggy, waiting for me to throw the damn ball already. Same as the last photo, but a smile has crept into his eyes, and the ball is mostly out of frame.
March 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Aaron
evilwhippet.bsky.social
Go to United24, you can donate direct to the Ukrainian govt.

u24.gov.ua
UNITED24 - The initiative of the President of Ukraine
UNITED24 was launched by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. Funds will be transferred to the official accounts of...
u24.gov.ua
February 28, 2025 at 9:16 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
Governor Hochul's office's answering machine:

"Due to unusually heavy call volume, we are experiencing delays up to 90 minutes. Please call back at a later time to speak with a representative. Thank you for your patience. *Click*."

Keep it up, everyone!
February 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
nasawatch.com/personnel-ne...

I see this administration is tackling all the important issues, like *checks notes* lgbt+ rocket scientists feeling welcome in their workplace.
You Must Hide Your Pride At NASA
Sources at NASA Headquarters report that pride symbols are no longer allowed
nasawatch.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:23 AM
aarond42.bsky.social
@jelenawoehr.bsky.social once again helping me understand the current moment, giving me hope without losing perspective of how hard this will be, listing actions I can take, and generally helping keep me sane.

Genuinely, thank you.
jelenawoehr.bsky.social Yell In a War @jelenawoehr.bsky.social · Feb 6
All right babes I have 20 minutes so let's do some "I help you read the research on how to keep a democracy."

First of all: let's talk about factors positively and negatively associated with democratic resilience.

we're pulling from this free full-text paper: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
How democracies prevail: democratic resilience as a two-stage process
This article introduces a novel conceptualization of democratic resilience - a two-stage process where democracies avoid democratic declines altogether or avert democratic breakdown given that such au...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
February 7, 2025 at 1:42 AM
aarond42.bsky.social
In all this doom, a little joy: I'm proud of my dog, who's at a sitter's while I vacation and apparently being a very good boy.
Dogsitter shares a picture of Pan. Dogsitter's partner shares another. I say, "What a pretty dog. How is he behaving himself?" Dogsitter's partner says, "He is behaving well! He responds to commands quickly compared to other dogs (very well trained)" / "Best behave doodle so far haha"
February 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
@bcdreyer.social I frequently see people use "titular" to mean "from the title," as in "titular character." This feels very wrong to me: why not just say "title character" or "eponymous character"? Plus they're not a character in title only. Is my pet peeve justified?
February 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
aarond42.bsky.social
@frankturner.bsky.social's 1933 is an excellent song, from his excellent album Be More Kind.

No reason.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWmn...
Frank Turner - 1933 (Visualiser)
YouTube video by FrankTurnerVEVO
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2025 at 6:35 AM