Ian Janssen
@ianfjanssen.bsky.social
- Delaware, but Iowa born
- Dad to the best son
- Archivist
- Fishing/art/literature/poetry/music/hiking
- Aspirational motorcyclist
- Incompetent agnostic/socialist/sober
- Has a cat named Toolbox
"God has no other hands than ours."
- Dorothee Soelle
- Dad to the best son
- Archivist
- Fishing/art/literature/poetry/music/hiking
- Aspirational motorcyclist
- Incompetent agnostic/socialist/sober
- Has a cat named Toolbox
"God has no other hands than ours."
- Dorothee Soelle
All these constant video replays and erudite autopsies of the 1/6 assault are making this place too much today, knowing where we are now.
It’s all so damned awful.
It’s all so damned awful.
January 6, 2026 at 8:28 PM
All these constant video replays and erudite autopsies of the 1/6 assault are making this place too much today, knowing where we are now.
It’s all so damned awful.
It’s all so damned awful.
They say that taking precautions of some sort is for what you can’t think of, not what you can think of.
Folks’ bingo cards should start to reflect that mentality. It’s not likely to get better, and many of us can imagine (or may have experienced) far worse.
This is just realistic, not doomerism.
Folks’ bingo cards should start to reflect that mentality. It’s not likely to get better, and many of us can imagine (or may have experienced) far worse.
This is just realistic, not doomerism.
What IS on people’s bingo cards?
January 6, 2026 at 3:53 AM
They say that taking precautions of some sort is for what you can’t think of, not what you can think of.
Folks’ bingo cards should start to reflect that mentality. It’s not likely to get better, and many of us can imagine (or may have experienced) far worse.
This is just realistic, not doomerism.
Folks’ bingo cards should start to reflect that mentality. It’s not likely to get better, and many of us can imagine (or may have experienced) far worse.
This is just realistic, not doomerism.
Reposted by Ian Janssen
Ban stock trading by lawmakers in Congress. Full stop.
January 5, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Ban stock trading by lawmakers in Congress. Full stop.
Really not liking what my tax dollars are spent on these days, among other things ...
January 5, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Really not liking what my tax dollars are spent on these days, among other things ...
Disconcerting to see ads for the Border Patrol on the BBC News website.
January 5, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Disconcerting to see ads for the Border Patrol on the BBC News website.
Poor Grimace was flayed for a seating arrangement.
Pool modular seating landscape by Luigi Colani for Rosenthal, 1970/71 #purple
January 5, 2026 at 12:29 AM
Poor Grimace was flayed for a seating arrangement.
You know what’s (not) great?
Starting the new year with norovirus.
Starting the new year with norovirus.
January 4, 2026 at 6:24 PM
You know what’s (not) great?
Starting the new year with norovirus.
Starting the new year with norovirus.
Reposted by Ian Janssen
Countries don't go to war over solar or wind energy
January 4, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Countries don't go to war over solar or wind energy
Reposted by Ian Janssen
The US unilaterally and illegally using state violence in South America to achieve the goals of capital is a long-standing tradition
January 3, 2026 at 12:21 PM
The US unilaterally and illegally using state violence in South America to achieve the goals of capital is a long-standing tradition
Solidarity with the people of Venezuela.
January 3, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Solidarity with the people of Venezuela.
I think we need to say the thing …
January 3, 2026 at 11:40 AM
I think we need to say the thing …
I’m sober, but I get this.
For sure, when the little fires coalesce into the big apocalyptic fires, I’m sure I’ll be seen with a bottle in one hand, a rifle in the other, doing my best John Brown impersonation atop a barricade right prior to my demise.
For sure, when the little fires coalesce into the big apocalyptic fires, I’m sure I’ll be seen with a bottle in one hand, a rifle in the other, doing my best John Brown impersonation atop a barricade right prior to my demise.
I love the idea of Dry January, but I am French, and the best way I know to honor my father and respect the world ending array of fires (little and other sizes) everywhere is to say non and have a beer.
January 2, 2026 at 11:42 PM
I’m sober, but I get this.
For sure, when the little fires coalesce into the big apocalyptic fires, I’m sure I’ll be seen with a bottle in one hand, a rifle in the other, doing my best John Brown impersonation atop a barricade right prior to my demise.
For sure, when the little fires coalesce into the big apocalyptic fires, I’m sure I’ll be seen with a bottle in one hand, a rifle in the other, doing my best John Brown impersonation atop a barricade right prior to my demise.
The cat snoring behind me is not very motivational for the first working day of 2026.
January 2, 2026 at 3:56 PM
The cat snoring behind me is not very motivational for the first working day of 2026.
OK that's funny (and a Trumpist's nightmare).
January 2, 2026 at 12:02 PM
OK that's funny (and a Trumpist's nightmare).
However reluctantly, I guess I understand folks not liking classical music. I understand not liking certain composers - I don't care for Chopin or Tchaikovsky as a rule.
What I can't comprehend is not appreciating Gustav Mahler's oeuvre. Your bone fides are null and void if so, null and void I say!
What I can't comprehend is not appreciating Gustav Mahler's oeuvre. Your bone fides are null and void if so, null and void I say!
December 31, 2025 at 3:27 AM
However reluctantly, I guess I understand folks not liking classical music. I understand not liking certain composers - I don't care for Chopin or Tchaikovsky as a rule.
What I can't comprehend is not appreciating Gustav Mahler's oeuvre. Your bone fides are null and void if so, null and void I say!
What I can't comprehend is not appreciating Gustav Mahler's oeuvre. Your bone fides are null and void if so, null and void I say!
- Completed the world's longest divorce.
- Provided a stable and caring environment for my son.
- Met an amazing woman on this site and found new love.
- Started backpacking again (on a small scale).
- Completed an entirely new comprehensive records retention schedule for my employer.
- Provided a stable and caring environment for my son.
- Met an amazing woman on this site and found new love.
- Started backpacking again (on a small scale).
- Completed an entirely new comprehensive records retention schedule for my employer.
Every year around this time I do the same thread and it has been a lot of fun.
Tell me something you did in 2025 that you're proud of that you want everyone to know about. Did you write a book? Did you get a promotion? Did you survive the year?
I want to spend the end of the year celebrating you.
Tell me something you did in 2025 that you're proud of that you want everyone to know about. Did you write a book? Did you get a promotion? Did you survive the year?
I want to spend the end of the year celebrating you.
December 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
- Completed the world's longest divorce.
- Provided a stable and caring environment for my son.
- Met an amazing woman on this site and found new love.
- Started backpacking again (on a small scale).
- Completed an entirely new comprehensive records retention schedule for my employer.
- Provided a stable and caring environment for my son.
- Met an amazing woman on this site and found new love.
- Started backpacking again (on a small scale).
- Completed an entirely new comprehensive records retention schedule for my employer.
Sometimes simple dinner is best dinner, especially after the holidays.
Contents in the alt.
Contents in the alt.
December 29, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Sometimes simple dinner is best dinner, especially after the holidays.
Contents in the alt.
Contents in the alt.
For a very special New Year's, the Roman god Janus breaks the fourth wall, looks outward, and tells us that he's tired of our shit incessantly dragging us backwards and forwards for the last few millennia or so since his inception.
Don't disappoint him, humans. He and his crew will break you.
Don't disappoint him, humans. He and his crew will break you.
December 29, 2025 at 10:53 AM
For a very special New Year's, the Roman god Janus breaks the fourth wall, looks outward, and tells us that he's tired of our shit incessantly dragging us backwards and forwards for the last few millennia or so since his inception.
Don't disappoint him, humans. He and his crew will break you.
Don't disappoint him, humans. He and his crew will break you.
Current listening, a Christmas present from the best son.
December 28, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Current listening, a Christmas present from the best son.
How many of you * actually * use a manual typewriter for more than sporadic writing?
I have a 1920s Remington Portable that works but needs cleaning, I don't use it because ribbons are a thing of the past.
I had an electric typewriter in grad school that I liked using for notes, long ago sold.
I have a 1920s Remington Portable that works but needs cleaning, I don't use it because ribbons are a thing of the past.
I had an electric typewriter in grad school that I liked using for notes, long ago sold.
December 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
How many of you * actually * use a manual typewriter for more than sporadic writing?
I have a 1920s Remington Portable that works but needs cleaning, I don't use it because ribbons are a thing of the past.
I had an electric typewriter in grad school that I liked using for notes, long ago sold.
I have a 1920s Remington Portable that works but needs cleaning, I don't use it because ribbons are a thing of the past.
I had an electric typewriter in grad school that I liked using for notes, long ago sold.
I saw that Mulatu Astatke gave his final live performance this week. Shame to see talented folks fade, as all must do, but at 82 with 60+ years of music certainly counts for something.
BBC article is paywalled, so here's the Guardian's overview from 2014:
www.theguardian.com/music/2014/s...
BBC article is paywalled, so here's the Guardian's overview from 2014:
www.theguardian.com/music/2014/s...
Mulatu Astatke: the man who created 'Ethio jazz'
Ethiopian tuning, Latin rhythms, the wah-wah pedal – ahead of a festival of African culture, Richard Williams hails a composer who likes to mix it up
www.theguardian.com
December 28, 2025 at 3:24 AM
I saw that Mulatu Astatke gave his final live performance this week. Shame to see talented folks fade, as all must do, but at 82 with 60+ years of music certainly counts for something.
BBC article is paywalled, so here's the Guardian's overview from 2014:
www.theguardian.com/music/2014/s...
BBC article is paywalled, so here's the Guardian's overview from 2014:
www.theguardian.com/music/2014/s...
Tea time for a very calm post Christmas afternoon. Nowhere I must go and nothing I must do (today, at least). Caffeinated self care.
December 27, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Tea time for a very calm post Christmas afternoon. Nowhere I must go and nothing I must do (today, at least). Caffeinated self care.