Jesse Lansner
@jesse.lansner.com
I think first date was just dinner and a movie, but our first meeting included a conversation about historical fiction set during the 1863 NYC Draft Riots, and our second date was playing Scrabble.
This is an unapologetically sappy feel-good subject (at least, I guess, for people in a happy relationship”). So, to prepare for Valentine’s Day, what did you and your partner do for a first date?
My wife and I went to tea at Huntington Gardens and walked around.
My wife and I went to tea at Huntington Gardens and walked around.
On our first date, my spouse and I spent like an hour talking about footnotes.
February 13, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I think first date was just dinner and a movie, but our first meeting included a conversation about historical fiction set during the 1863 NYC Draft Riots, and our second date was playing Scrabble.
It seems a little crazy how quickly JewBelong went from those "kegel/kugel" ads to this, but looking back there's a clear through line of "the only reason younger people wouldn't agree with me on something is because they're stupid".
Saw this on an Instagram account and what the fuuuuuuuuuu
February 13, 2026 at 3:01 PM
It seems a little crazy how quickly JewBelong went from those "kegel/kugel" ads to this, but looking back there's a clear through line of "the only reason younger people wouldn't agree with me on something is because they're stupid".
Declare victory and go home.
February 12, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Declare victory and go home.
Cancel your subscriptions.
February 12, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Cancel your subscriptions.
My kids definitely prefer to buy and read paperbacks. I've also noticed that the Scholastic Book Fairs tend to have far more paperbacks than hardcovers.
I've said this before but I truly believe we could revitalize YA and kidlit overnight by switching to MMPB and paperback first. Kids want paperbacks! It is by far the biggest request I get from teen readers.
hello this is the official petition to bring back mass market paperbacks!! mmpbs are good actually and everyone should do them!! i think esp romantasy readers would really love that shit! and you can still spray those edges!!! bring back mass market paperbacks thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 11, 2026 at 4:53 PM
My kids definitely prefer to buy and read paperbacks. I've also noticed that the Scholastic Book Fairs tend to have far more paperbacks than hardcovers.
Google has spent billions of dollars to develop an AI that can make an email 10% shorter while also placing the only important bit of information further down in the summary than it is in the original.
February 11, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Google has spent billions of dollars to develop an AI that can make an email 10% shorter while also placing the only important bit of information further down in the summary than it is in the original.
Reform party, not Reform denomination. The strongest support for Reform (party) is from Orthodox Jews, while Green Party Jews are almost all Reform or unaffiliated. I can’t find data on how Conservative Jews (all 8 of them) feel about the Conservative Party.
February 11, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Reform party, not Reform denomination. The strongest support for Reform (party) is from Orthodox Jews, while Green Party Jews are almost all Reform or unaffiliated. I can’t find data on how Conservative Jews (all 8 of them) feel about the Conservative Party.
Attn: @neorsd.org
Milan Winter Olympics kicked off on a stage shaped like a giant centrifugal pump, the primary pump type used for pressurizing water systems today. The centrifugal pump was invented by Italian engineer Francesco di Giorgio Martini in 1475.
February 8, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Attn: @neorsd.org
Heartbreaking. The Two Worst People You Know Just Made a Great Point.
I'm grateful Alan Dershowitz has lived long enough to learn that Woody Allen and Jeffrey Epstein were ridiculing him behind his back.
![Allen to Epstein: "He's the biggest self-promoter I've ever met. It's quite laughable how desperate he is. Also the biggest name dropper. It's [sic] makes me shutter [sic] it [sic] so embarrassing. He has no shame."
Epstein to Allen: "Worse than you know."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kpzki7jkovhesbsh64aiumx2/bafkreicho7oedzci4um2md72fgphxxx4fm7snzmsfbz4ns24x4zfsxkblm@jpeg)
February 6, 2026 at 10:32 PM
Heartbreaking. The Two Worst People You Know Just Made a Great Point.
Any cryptic fans want to test solve a puzzle for me?
February 6, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Any cryptic fans want to test solve a puzzle for me?
“Close enough to the age of consent” is a very weird way of saying “below the age of consent”.
This level of apologia (from Megan McArdle in a podcast with Josh Barro and Ross Douthat) is fucking appalling. Idk what else there is to say.
February 6, 2026 at 12:52 AM
“Close enough to the age of consent” is a very weird way of saying “below the age of consent”.
Getting a late start to Leaves of Grass, but finally getting to use the copy we gave out as a party favor at our Coney Island wedding many years ago. (Bookplate design by me, copying a leaf pattern by Edward Gorey.)
🌿
🌿
February 3, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Getting a late start to Leaves of Grass, but finally getting to use the copy we gave out as a party favor at our Coney Island wedding many years ago. (Bookplate design by me, copying a leaf pattern by Edward Gorey.)
🌿
🌿
I can definitely see this as a Philip Marlowe novel, and I really wish Raymond Chandler was still around to write it.
🐋
🐋
🐋
Alt Moby Dick:
Ishmael is a hard-boiled detective, undercover on the Pequod, to get to the bottom of an insurance scam in which Peleg and Bildad give over the ship to an obvious lunatic so that he will sink her chasing a kaiju.
Alt Moby Dick:
Ishmael is a hard-boiled detective, undercover on the Pequod, to get to the bottom of an insurance scam in which Peleg and Bildad give over the ship to an obvious lunatic so that he will sink her chasing a kaiju.
January 29, 2026 at 1:35 AM
I can definitely see this as a Philip Marlowe novel, and I really wish Raymond Chandler was still around to write it.
🐋
🐋
James, what the fuck are you talking about?
🐋
🐋
January 28, 2026 at 3:40 PM
James, what the fuck are you talking about?
🐋
🐋
“Bookscrolling is much better than doomscrolling.” Amen.
📖 🐋
📖 🐋
This has been my default view of Bluesky this month, and it's making me rethink what social media is for. Bookscrolling is much better than doomscrolling.
Also, thanks @jacobharr.is for roping me into this.
Also, thanks @jacobharr.is for roping me into this.
January 27, 2026 at 5:34 PM
“Bookscrolling is much better than doomscrolling.” Amen.
📖 🐋
📖 🐋
“It is lonely, being self-righteous.”
— Sophie Elmhirst, “A Marriage at Sea”
— Sophie Elmhirst, “A Marriage at Sea”
January 23, 2026 at 6:42 AM
“It is lonely, being self-righteous.”
— Sophie Elmhirst, “A Marriage at Sea”
— Sophie Elmhirst, “A Marriage at Sea”
Me, after listening to Ishmael talk for three hours straight:
🐋
🐋
January 22, 2026 at 12:52 AM
Me, after listening to Ishmael talk for three hours straight:
🐋
🐋
Ishmael to Derick:
🐋
🐋
January 21, 2026 at 1:27 AM
Ishmael to Derick:
🐋
🐋
Godzilla vs. King Kong was a battle between two whales.
🐋
🐋
Ishmael: so, the monster Perseus killed was a whale
Me: okay
Ishmael: and also, the famous dragon that St. George vanquished? Also a whale!
Me: right… what?
Ishmael: also, St. George rode on a seahorse
Me: stop, please stop 🐋
Me: okay
Ishmael: and also, the famous dragon that St. George vanquished? Also a whale!
Me: right… what?
Ishmael: also, St. George rode on a seahorse
Me: stop, please stop 🐋
January 20, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Godzilla vs. King Kong was a battle between two whales.
🐋
🐋
I’m very behind on 🐋, thanks in part to a trip to NYC – where @laurabrarian.bsky.social @sarasneeze.bsky.social @richomalley.com and I won (non-whale-themed) trivia at Quick Eternity last night as “All’s well that ends whale”, beating, among others, “Herman Hellville” & “Call Me Bitchmael”.
Quick Eternity NYC
A modern re-imagining of a seaside whaling tavern described in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Quick Eternity is a new cocktail bar located in a landmarked building in the South Street Seaport with innov...
www.quicketernity.nyc
January 19, 2026 at 4:09 PM
I’m very behind on 🐋, thanks in part to a trip to NYC – where @laurabrarian.bsky.social @sarasneeze.bsky.social @richomalley.com and I won (non-whale-themed) trivia at Quick Eternity last night as “All’s well that ends whale”, beating, among others, “Herman Hellville” & “Call Me Bitchmael”.
Is this poem the first instance of a rabbi using the phrase "kaiju frog"????
Rashi was right:
it was one giant frog
a kaiju frog
like Godzilla
looming over the pyramids
Rashi was right:
it was one giant frog
a kaiju frog
like Godzilla
looming over the pyramids
New on Velveteen Rabbi: a #Torah #poem for Vaera. Plus a gorgeous piece by @museum.of.emilyk.art!
velveteenrabbi.com/2026/01/16/o...
velveteenrabbi.com/2026/01/16/o...
One frog
Aaron held out his arm over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs (lit. frog) came up and covered the land of Egypt. (Ex. 8:2)Rashi was right:it was one giant froga kaiju froglike Godzillalooming over…
velveteenrabbi.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Is this poem the first instance of a rabbi using the phrase "kaiju frog"????
Rashi was right:
it was one giant frog
a kaiju frog
like Godzilla
looming over the pyramids
Rashi was right:
it was one giant frog
a kaiju frog
like Godzilla
looming over the pyramids
There are plus sides to being too old to have a favorite bar anymore.
Everyone is a YIMBY until their favorite bar gets redeveloped
January 15, 2026 at 9:18 PM
There are plus sides to being too old to have a favorite bar anymore.
@jacobharr.is Just noticed this isn't in the feed, so I think Rusty needs to be added, whether he wants to or not.
January 15, 2026 at 5:47 PM
@jacobharr.is Just noticed this isn't in the feed, so I think Rusty needs to be added, whether he wants to or not.