Jennifer Parker
@jlp2008.bsky.social
Freelance scientific editor with a PhD in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology and a legal background. I like cats, nature, cooking, baking, and reading, especially science and US history & law. Proud Californian.
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Jennifer Parker
@jlp2008.bsky.social
· Nov 14
By the People
Home
Crowdsourcing project By the People invites
anyone to become a Library of Congress virtual volunteer. Explore, transcribe, review,
...
crowd.loc.gov
Putting in a plug for my favorite volunteer project, the Library of Congress's "By the People." You get access to lots of primary sources, learn a lot, and help the world's largest library make its holdings more accessible. Check it out!
crowd.loc.gov
crowd.loc.gov
Before I watched the Great British Baking Show's Back to School episode, I had no idea about British flapjacks. In American English, a "flapjack" is another word for "pancake," not "granola bar." The US and UK, separated by a common language yet again.
December 6, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Before I watched the Great British Baking Show's Back to School episode, I had no idea about British flapjacks. In American English, a "flapjack" is another word for "pancake," not "granola bar." The US and UK, separated by a common language yet again.
Judge Learned Hand (1872-1961) has been described as "the greatest justice never to sit on the Supreme Court," partly because of his disinterest in the politicking required to get there. His take on liberty and the Constitution seems as relevant now as it was in 1944, when he gave this speech.
December 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Judge Learned Hand (1872-1961) has been described as "the greatest justice never to sit on the Supreme Court," partly because of his disinterest in the politicking required to get there. His take on liberty and the Constitution seems as relevant now as it was in 1944, when he gave this speech.
Somehow Duo didn't get this quite right. I'm now at Level 34 in Spanish, Level 16 in Italian, and Level 10 in Ukrainian (my pronunciation is atrocious but I am trying).
December 3, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Somehow Duo didn't get this quite right. I'm now at Level 34 in Spanish, Level 16 in Italian, and Level 10 in Ukrainian (my pronunciation is atrocious but I am trying).
Meet Marmalade Moosey Noel Parker, a new friend who came home from the shelter last week. He is approximately three years old and has a wonderful disposition.
November 30, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Meet Marmalade Moosey Noel Parker, a new friend who came home from the shelter last week. He is approximately three years old and has a wonderful disposition.
History repeats itself because no one listens the first time; this is from the late 1930s but seems like it could be a lot more recent.
November 30, 2025 at 3:31 AM
History repeats itself because no one listens the first time; this is from the late 1930s but seems like it could be a lot more recent.
I like "Happy VC Day" even though I know it's nowhere near the actual date of Appomattox. But the "signal victories" mentioned in the 1863 proclamation included Vicksburg and Gettysburg, which turned the tide of the war, and helped make Appomattox possible.
The first federal "End of November" holiday was from a proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, celebrating Union successes in the Civil War. That was the context for President Grant making it a recurring national holiday in 1870. So I always say "Happy Down with the Confederacy Day."
November 29, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I like "Happy VC Day" even though I know it's nowhere near the actual date of Appomattox. But the "signal victories" mentioned in the 1863 proclamation included Vicksburg and Gettysburg, which turned the tide of the war, and helped make Appomattox possible.
I had a great Thanksgiving! Every year, I am in charge of the appetizers, and usually make sour cream & onion dip, a special cheeseball decorated to look like a turkey, and cheddar-jalapeño bread. We made short work of the sour cream dip, and then my brother took over carving the turkey.
November 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I had a great Thanksgiving! Every year, I am in charge of the appetizers, and usually make sour cream & onion dip, a special cheeseball decorated to look like a turkey, and cheddar-jalapeño bread. We made short work of the sour cream dip, and then my brother took over carving the turkey.
More Thanksgiving preparations! These are pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 AM
More Thanksgiving preparations! These are pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
A rant (and 🧵): Americans simply need to stop arguing that Ukraine should give up any of its territory for peace. Why? Because, quite simply put, an attack on US soil is the ultimate berserk button for our country.
November 24, 2025 at 6:41 AM
A rant (and 🧵): Americans simply need to stop arguing that Ukraine should give up any of its territory for peace. Why? Because, quite simply put, an attack on US soil is the ultimate berserk button for our country.
More Thanksgiving preparations! This is a homemade pecan pie made using the gluten-free pie crust dough I made yesterday.
November 24, 2025 at 1:53 AM
More Thanksgiving preparations! This is a homemade pecan pie made using the gluten-free pie crust dough I made yesterday.
Thanksgiving preparations continue! I have made gluten-free creamed spinach using sweet rice flour as a thickened and am chilling a gluten-free pie crust made from a teff flour mix for pecan pie, a project that will be completed tomorrow. Both dishes will be frozen until closer to day of.
November 23, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Thanksgiving preparations continue! I have made gluten-free creamed spinach using sweet rice flour as a thickened and am chilling a gluten-free pie crust made from a teff flour mix for pecan pie, a project that will be completed tomorrow. Both dishes will be frozen until closer to day of.
Today Panther crossed the Rainbow Bridge, having passed from complications of hyperthyroidism. She was here for 14 years, giving the best of luck and love.
My last picture of her, taken last night, shows her sitting in my lap. The other picture is one of her in her prime.
My last picture of her, taken last night, shows her sitting in my lap. The other picture is one of her in her prime.
November 22, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Today Panther crossed the Rainbow Bridge, having passed from complications of hyperthyroidism. She was here for 14 years, giving the best of luck and love.
My last picture of her, taken last night, shows her sitting in my lap. The other picture is one of her in her prime.
My last picture of her, taken last night, shows her sitting in my lap. The other picture is one of her in her prime.
More Thanksgiving preparations! This is cheddar-jalapeño bread that just came out of the oven.
November 21, 2025 at 6:59 AM
More Thanksgiving preparations! This is cheddar-jalapeño bread that just came out of the oven.
Reminds me of Fort Blunder, accidentally built in Canada by the US in 1816 due to a surveying error. Which, okay, it was 1816, and the story of the US-Canadian boundary determination is pretty crazy. But over 200 years later, there's really no excuse for stuff like this.
What the hell: The US accidentally invaded Mexico on Monday, storming a beach and planting DoD “restricted area” signs claiming the land for “the commander,” and triggered a standoff with armed Mexican security forces, all because Trump’s government can’t even identify a border on a map. 🧵 1/
November 21, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Reminds me of Fort Blunder, accidentally built in Canada by the US in 1816 due to a surveying error. Which, okay, it was 1816, and the story of the US-Canadian boundary determination is pretty crazy. But over 200 years later, there's really no excuse for stuff like this.
I have started my Thanksgiving preparations by making pumpkin soup using a "Tasting History" recipe from 1651 France. I plan on freezing it until later, then thawing it and serving it in a hollowed-out pumpkin as a "show-stopper" at Thanksgiving dinner.
November 20, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I have started my Thanksgiving preparations by making pumpkin soup using a "Tasting History" recipe from 1651 France. I plan on freezing it until later, then thawing it and serving it in a hollowed-out pumpkin as a "show-stopper" at Thanksgiving dinner.
"Private equity money [cares] for no one and operates on its own, for its own sake. [It's] not money that one spends on groceries or Disneyland but Satanic money that is never spent and just collects and collects like...poison." - Jacob Tomsky.
Sounds fairly accurate.
Sounds fairly accurate.
I warned that private equity taking over Walgreens would be bad for workers.
This is the private equity playbook: they hollow out businesses, cheat their workers, and drive them into the ground.
Red Lobster, Toys "R" Us, and Joann Fabrics. Who’s next?
This is the private equity playbook: they hollow out businesses, cheat their workers, and drive them into the ground.
Red Lobster, Toys "R" Us, and Joann Fabrics. Who’s next?
Report: Walgreens cuts hourly workers’ pay for 6 major holidays
The hourly employees will only be paid if they work on those holidays.
www.whio.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:02 AM
"Private equity money [cares] for no one and operates on its own, for its own sake. [It's] not money that one spends on groceries or Disneyland but Satanic money that is never spent and just collects and collects like...poison." - Jacob Tomsky.
Sounds fairly accurate.
Sounds fairly accurate.
I had heard of the first two before, but not the others. Now I feel like I need to work "propreantepenultimate" into a conversation.
ultimate = last in a series
penultimate = second-to-last in a series
antepenultimate = third-to-last in a series
preantepenultimate = fourth-to-last in a series
propreantepenultimate = fifth-to-last in a series
penultimate = second-to-last in a series
antepenultimate = third-to-last in a series
preantepenultimate = fourth-to-last in a series
propreantepenultimate = fifth-to-last in a series
November 14, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I had heard of the first two before, but not the others. Now I feel like I need to work "propreantepenultimate" into a conversation.
Somehow managed to misread "minors" as "minions" and started wondering exactly who the office was serving when it said it was unable to supervise them.
November 13, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Somehow managed to misread "minors" as "minions" and started wondering exactly who the office was serving when it said it was unable to supervise them.
The world's oldest recognizable museum was created in 530 BC in the city of Ur and contained items representing over a millennium of earlier Mesopotamian culture. The label, inscribed on a clay cylinder, was written in four different languages. historyfacts.com/arts-culture...
What Was the First Museum?
The roots of museums reach back thousands of years. From Mesopotamian princesses to Renaissance aristocrats, humans have long been drawn to collect, preserve, and display the material traces of their ...
historyfacts.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:44 PM
The world's oldest recognizable museum was created in 530 BC in the city of Ur and contained items representing over a millennium of earlier Mesopotamian culture. The label, inscribed on a clay cylinder, was written in four different languages. historyfacts.com/arts-culture...
Dante wrote his enemies into hell. I wonder what literary fate awaits Elon Musk.
November 11, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Dante wrote his enemies into hell. I wonder what literary fate awaits Elon Musk.
More holiday baking! This is cranberry-orange bread with an orange glaze. All the orange juice required for the recipe came from my parents' trees.
November 10, 2025 at 3:55 AM
More holiday baking! This is cranberry-orange bread with an orange glaze. All the orange juice required for the recipe came from my parents' trees.
I greatly respect any student of English who persists after learning that the phrase "I think not; he ought to buy a yacht" rhymes.
November 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I greatly respect any student of English who persists after learning that the phrase "I think not; he ought to buy a yacht" rhymes.
In honor of National Black Cat Day.
October 27, 2025 at 7:02 PM
In honor of National Black Cat Day.
I have resumed my holiday baking! This is piña colada bread (including the rum!), topped with pineapple-rum glaze and toasted coconut. This is a known crowd-pleaser, and baking it always gives me a sense of accomplishment.
October 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I have resumed my holiday baking! This is piña colada bread (including the rum!), topped with pineapple-rum glaze and toasted coconut. This is a known crowd-pleaser, and baking it always gives me a sense of accomplishment.