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dizzly.bsky.social
Dizzly
@dizzly.bsky.social
1.6K followers 620 following 4.5K posts
Stats nerd. Bad graph and bad pun appreciator. Professor teaching healthcare students to love research. Ed/psyc/health/SoTL research, diversity, sci-fi/fantasy, gaming, cooking, and nature. Views published here do not represent the views of my employer.
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dizzly.bsky.social
Final day of Dandelion Chocolate Advent Calendar was yesterday, with a Luna pie!
Final moon was our own! DECEMBER 25 | LA LUNA (EARTH'S MOON) Our journey ends with our Moon, which tonight will be in waxing crescent phase. Unlike other planets' moons, Earth's Moon is simply called "the Moon, from the Old English mond, meaning "month" — a nod to its role in marking time. Many ancient the lunar cycle, linking the Moon to holiday traditions. The Moon is gradually drifting away from Earth at about 3.8 centimeters per year, slowly lengthening our days. It's responsible for Earth's tides, thanks to its gravitational pull. But what truly sets our Moon apart? It's the only world beyond Earth where humans have set foot, via the Apollo 11 spacecraft, in July of 1969. And though it's not the biggest moon in our solar system, it's the largest relative to its planet — a cosmic companion that has shaped Earth's tides, myths, and dreams for millennia. Viewed from the Moon's surface, Earth hangs like a jeweled ornament in a dark sky. We are reminded that among all the moons, this one is home. A NOTE FROM LINA Earth's Moon is the center of it all. This piece represents the Moon just after its full phase — the red line marks that it's not entirely full. A golden belt with red stripes wraps around it: a decorative element and an invitation for viewers to interpret it in their own way. While the Calendar's other moons are rendered with complex, organic forms, this one is clear and iconic — much like the golden Moon we see in classical representations. Positioned at the box's center, it stands apart for its simplicity, making it visually and symbolically distinct from the others. Final chocolate in the center big red bow with gold moon is a Luna Pie by Dandelion Chocolate
December 26, 2025 at 2:49 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Other fun family presents from yesterday, all courtesy of Awesome Auntie (my sister-in-law), who finds the best stocking stuffers.
A red and brown chest mimic for holding dice, in my son’s stocking. Holdfish, magnets shaped like goldfish crackers, for both me and my husband. Now we fight over if they stay at home or come in to my new office Chairs for our dice. One for natural 20s (throne with crown) and one for 1s (time out chair with dunce cap). Funny bookmarks. One has chickens saying “book book” and the other, with a UFO, reads “Take me to your reader”
December 26, 2025 at 2:44 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
My Christmas booksgiving (plus one book on advance order). Now the tricky part, figuring out which ones come on the cruise!
Six books, including: The Payback by Kashana Cauley, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping both by Sangu Mandanna, Indexing and Discount Armageddon both by Seanan McGuire, and Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
December 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
We tried Christmas crackers for the first time and really enjoyed them. Ours were “ticked-off cats in Christmas costumes” themed and contained musical whistles.
The end of a cracker, showing a dark and light grey striped cat wearing a Christmas tree hat. A broken red ornament is visible to its left
December 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Merry Christmutts from the Cocoa-dog!
A somewhat unhappy small brown dog in a Christmas dress
December 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Merry Christmas, y’all
A fireplace decorated for Christmas with a Christmas tree next to it and blooming amaryllis in front
December 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Last cooking prep for a while…We do Christmas morning breakfast, so I need to prep the sweet and spicy bacon and the breakfast casserole, which both sit in the fridge overnight. Here’s the bacon prep, which I’m trying with shoulder bacon this year.
Ingredients include thick-cut shoulder bacon, brown sugar, black pepper, and cayenne powder Mixed bacon in the bag
December 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Dizzly
sonjadrimmer.bsky.social
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
December 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Finally got to actually taste Christmas dinner and it came out well, even warmed up.
A plate of Christmas leftovers for lunch, including holiday salad, glazed carrots & parsnips, roasties, a Yorkie, and roast beef with horseradish whipped cream.
December 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Enjoying the new (to me) logic game. Thanks for the early Christmas present @samthielman.com!

Dec 24th 2025
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05:45
#cluesbysam cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
cluesbysam.com
December 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Dizzly
drhonor.bsky.social
If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 2d
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://cnn.it/4b6g3rd
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
cnn.it
December 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
It’s a little foggy out as we wait to volunteer at the LMC
A fenced schoolyard with fog
December 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Don’t forget to follow #duvetknowitschristmas today for its 15th year of providing hilarious pictures of awkward bedding arrangements and raising money for charity!
rhodri.biz Rhodri Marsden @rhodri.biz · 3d
Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?
December 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
A new fun website for those who like logic puzzles, with a new one every day, courtesy of @samthielman.com

Dec 23rd 2025
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Less than 9 minutes
#cluesbysam cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
cluesbysam.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:42 AM
dizzly.bsky.social
Additional sides included our standard holiday salad and horseradish whipped cream
A glass bowl with spring mix salad, pears, pecans, blue cheese crumbles, and homemade salad dressing A plastic bowl with whipped cream spiked with horseradish and seasoned salt
December 24, 2025 at 3:17 AM
dizzly.bsky.social
Salad prep is done (toasting pecans and slicing pears) and roasties are boiling.
Ingredients for roasties include Yukon gold potatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, parsley, baking soda, and bacon grease
December 23, 2025 at 10:47 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Yule log out of the fridge to warm up a bit before serving and final decor. For my first time making one, I think it came out looking good. I’ll report back later on taste.
A dark chocolate Yule log, with coffee buttercream and marzipan mushrooms.
December 23, 2025 at 10:44 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Carrots and parsnips in the crockpot
A black crock with baby carrots, parsnip coins, butter, and seasoning
December 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
A brief beg of your pardon for a pride post, but I need to show off my Christmas tablecloth. It’s big enough to use on our dining room table, fully-extended, but today will be used in the kitchen.
A very satiny red tablecloth’s with cutwork red and gold ribbon and red and green mistletoe edges all around.
December 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
I thought the marzipan mushrooms looked lonely for the Yule log, and am taking a lesson from @stellagarp.bsky.social’s cranberry recipe and sugaring some rosemary for additional decoration.
Rosemary sprigs from front garden, doused in simple syrup and drying Sugared rosemary sprigs with messy marzipan mushrooms in background
December 23, 2025 at 7:24 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Today is ALL the cooking! We’re doing Christmas dinner early and early is today! Like I said yesterday, if you’d rather not see food and food prep, mute me for today.
December 23, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Dizzly
juliusgoat.bsky.social
I don't think free speech on campus ought to mean that a young coddled bigot gets to use their ignorance to casually destroy the career of a knowledgeable trans person on a random Wednesday
parkermolloy.com Parker Molloy @parkermolloy.com · 3d
Worth noting that the student admits that she just threw the thing together in 30 minutes without reading the paper she was supposed to be responding to.
December 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Catching up on my Dandelion Chocolate Advent calendar, with yesterday’s and today’s moons and chocolates
December 22nd had Europa (Jupiter) DECEMBER 22 | EUROPA (JUPITER) Tonight, the Ursid meteor shower peaks, Meanwhile, progressing through space, we reach Europa, one of Jupiter's largest, most dynamic moons, named for a consort of Zeus (Roman myth's Jupiter). Europa's bright surface, made almost entirely of sunlight-reflective frozen water, is geologically young, likely reshaped by internal activity; old, dark material is often replaced by newer, brighter ice. This cracked shell hides a vast subsurface ocean, possibly containing twice as much water as all of Earth's oceans, making Europa one of our system's most promising places to search for microscopic life. Scientists believe this distant moon, with her rocky-floored subsurface ocean, may hold the essential chemical ingredients life needs to begin. On October 14, 2024, NASA launched the Europa Clipper spacecraft, to uncover whether Europa's ice-covered depths might harbor environments capable of supporting life. A NOTE FROM LINA Europa's surface is etched with long, intersecting lines, and at its center lies a small crater that radiates outward, creating a star-shaped pattern. I was drawn to this unique structure and used my "spaghetti" style to explore how it could be translated visually. I created many variations to find the one that worked best. As with my other ornaments, I used Posca markers to create gold and white lines. The "spaghett" technique again becomes a visual language, representing the astronomical features of each moon, blending structure and ornament into one. The Europa box is gold with a white design that looks like a flower to me. The chocolate is Raz Nog Pecan Bar from Dude, Sweet Chocolate Today’s moon is Io (Jupiter). DECEMBER 23|10 (JUPITER) lo was a priestess of Greek goddess Hera (wife of Zeus (Jupiter)). Jupiter fell in love with lo, and to hide their affair, transformed her into a cow. In that dramatic vein, if moons had tempers, lo would be the most explosive of them all. She's fiery and fierce, a sphere of volcanic fury. Slightly larger than our Moon, lo bursts with volcanic activity, her tortured, yellow-orange surface constantly reshaped by hundreds of volcanoes, some blasting plumes of gas and dust hundreds of kilometers into space. lo's eruptions are so powerful, they can be seen all the way from Earth with big telescopes. NASA's twin Voyager spacecrafts revealed lo's active eruptions for the first time in 1979: then the Galilco spacecraft from 1995 to 2003 studied the moon's surface and magnetic interactions. Observations continue with the Juno spacecraft, and space telescopes like Hubble and Webb. A NOTE FROM LINA lo is another goddess mythically transformed into an animal, this some a cow. Many Greek goddesses are depicted similarly: classical facial proportions, curly bair, and an idealized form. I was inspired by this visual tradition, but chose to focus on the transformation, using the cow as a subtle symbol. I played with partially biding the animal, integrating it into the ornament's flowing white background. In some variations, the design is split — half background, half creature — echoing the visual structure of a young or half full moon. This duality became both a formal and symbolic choice, tying together the myth, the moon, and the overall aesthetic of the series. Io’s box is also gold with a white lid with gold cow design. The chocolate is Strawberry & Balsamic by Bon Bon Bon
December 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Yesterday’s and today’s escape box rooms. Today’s is taken at an angle so as not to ruin any surprises if any followers decide to play along sometime.
A tunnel. Thiago e was extra tricky, and also a great example of why I love these advent calendars. Today’s clue takes us outside, with footprints
December 23, 2025 at 4:19 PM
dizzly.bsky.social
Ok, stuck in my home office for a little while, so it’s time to catch up on the escape room Advent calendar. Here are shots from rooms 18, 19, 20, and 21.
A greenhouse A stuffed animal factory Santa’s hologram room (for planning his route) Up on top of the factory
December 23, 2025 at 4:16 PM