Marika
@marikapea.bsky.social
Book nerd, library yeller, kitchen witch, puzzle dork, embroidery novice, prairie settler, leftie queer, lapsed poet, kinda Blind
Pinned
Marika
@marikapea.bsky.social
· Mar 21
Is there any more perfect food than a little wedge of potato, browned and salted outside, tender and creamy inside?
Reposted by Marika
wrote a little newsletter about slipping, being annoyed at Canadians, Springsteen, Joyce Manor, and Al Green www.anxietyshark.ca/down-bad/
Down bad
An act of clearing by just putting all the extra snow in scores of uneven piles that are half on the sidewalk and half on the street, ensuring that at least this way no one will ever run the risk of b...
www.anxietyshark.ca
January 31, 2026 at 3:37 PM
wrote a little newsletter about slipping, being annoyed at Canadians, Springsteen, Joyce Manor, and Al Green www.anxietyshark.ca/down-bad/
Reposted by Marika
This is good mental hygiene for me (against helplessness) & also has a chance, however small, of connecting someone w/an action that is possible for them today
January 30, 2026 at 2:37 PM
This is good mental hygiene for me (against helplessness) & also has a chance, however small, of connecting someone w/an action that is possible for them today
Reposted by Marika
Trying to remember to share a path to action against the shitty thing/in support of an alternative good thing when I share news of the shitty thing
January 30, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Trying to remember to share a path to action against the shitty thing/in support of an alternative good thing when I share news of the shitty thing
I don't doubt that the cognitive offloading to genAI diminishes learning and capacity, but the way that usually thoughtful lefty people have glommed onto research that uses fucking IQ studies instead of thinking about context and material conditions of ability and ed is gross and unproductive
This issue has become more, not less, central to me. We now see many hundreds of studies about AI that pit "doing a task" against "not doing a task," measure the fact that skill isn't grown as much in the second condition, and extrapolate from that to dire cognitive decline narratives. I disagree.
Learning and task solving strategies aren't the same as immutable abilities; the conflation of the two bothers me a lot because it creates a worldview in which any learning loss is irredeemable and people who face adversity are punished for inevitably suffering its effects.
January 30, 2026 at 8:15 PM
I don't doubt that the cognitive offloading to genAI diminishes learning and capacity, but the way that usually thoughtful lefty people have glommed onto research that uses fucking IQ studies instead of thinking about context and material conditions of ability and ed is gross and unproductive
Reposted by Marika
as a library worker, it's exciting to me that one of my books is available in libraries. also want to encourage readers to suggest indie titles to your libraries! suggest with abandon! we love buying from patron requests! your library may even have "suggest a title" activated for OverDrive/Libby!
#Booksky Did you know that you can get our great queer books at your local library? In print, ebook and audiobook (selected titles)! we are out on the Libby app under both ‘qospress’ and ‘Queen of Swords Press’ due to merger wackiness at one of our distributors.
www.overdrive.com/publishers/q...
www.overdrive.com/publishers/q...
January 30, 2026 at 1:53 PM
as a library worker, it's exciting to me that one of my books is available in libraries. also want to encourage readers to suggest indie titles to your libraries! suggest with abandon! we love buying from patron requests! your library may even have "suggest a title" activated for OverDrive/Libby!
Reposted by Marika
If you're Canadian and shaking your head about the US gov arresting journalists for the crime of doing journalism, well, that happens here too.
And instead of just being furious about it, you can donate money to The Narwhal, who are actually trying to stop it from happening here.
And instead of just being furious about it, you can donate money to The Narwhal, who are actually trying to stop it from happening here.
The second week of The Narwhal and Amber Bracken’s trial against the RCMP is nearing its end — with three more weeks to go. thenarwhal.ca/press-freedom/
The Narwhal’s press freedom case against the RCMP, explained
Stay informed about The Narwhal and Amber Bracken’s lawsuit against the RCMP as we fight for press freedom in B.C. Supreme Court
thenarwhal.ca
January 30, 2026 at 3:26 PM
If you're Canadian and shaking your head about the US gov arresting journalists for the crime of doing journalism, well, that happens here too.
And instead of just being furious about it, you can donate money to The Narwhal, who are actually trying to stop it from happening here.
And instead of just being furious about it, you can donate money to The Narwhal, who are actually trying to stop it from happening here.
Reposted by Marika
I don't know why they need to make short AI films about the American Revolution when the perfect one was created 18 years ago www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRo...
George Washington
YouTube video by unvmebad86
www.youtube.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:47 PM
I don't know why they need to make short AI films about the American Revolution when the perfect one was created 18 years ago www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRo...
My indie dyed embroidery thread subscription recently did a colour they called Sea Holly and wow, I don't know exactly what I expected actual sea holly to be, but it was not as cool as this
January 30, 2026 at 4:35 AM
My indie dyed embroidery thread subscription recently did a colour they called Sea Holly and wow, I don't know exactly what I expected actual sea holly to be, but it was not as cool as this
Reposted by Marika
i cannot tell you how depressing this is. it might be the worst part of LLM uptake in academia for adjuncts. they just don’t care about our time.
it is a social problem because my EMPLOYER DOES NOT CARE if i waste my limited, underpaid time evaluating work students didn't write themselves!
January 29, 2026 at 4:31 PM
i cannot tell you how depressing this is. it might be the worst part of LLM uptake in academia for adjuncts. they just don’t care about our time.
My favourite people of today are the young Australians circumventing the social media ban by getting on Ravelry mentioned by this CBC segment.
January 29, 2026 at 2:46 PM
My favourite people of today are the young Australians circumventing the social media ban by getting on Ravelry mentioned by this CBC segment.
Reposted by Marika
Here’s a Canadian story that is an example of cutting off your nose to spite your face:
The Conservatives decided to blame immigrants for the housing crisis. The news media parroted it without any inspection whatsoever and so ppl believed it. Demand and supply right?
WRONG.
The Conservatives decided to blame immigrants for the housing crisis. The news media parroted it without any inspection whatsoever and so ppl believed it. Demand and supply right?
WRONG.
January 29, 2026 at 3:28 AM
Here’s a Canadian story that is an example of cutting off your nose to spite your face:
The Conservatives decided to blame immigrants for the housing crisis. The news media parroted it without any inspection whatsoever and so ppl believed it. Demand and supply right?
WRONG.
The Conservatives decided to blame immigrants for the housing crisis. The news media parroted it without any inspection whatsoever and so ppl believed it. Demand and supply right?
WRONG.
Reposted by Marika
Nobody in graduate school warned you that “the long 19th century” just meant we’d still be doing race science and miasma theory well into the 21st century.
July 5, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Nobody in graduate school warned you that “the long 19th century” just meant we’d still be doing race science and miasma theory well into the 21st century.
Reposted by Marika
I’ll be giving this online talk at SFU next week 👇
Truth Before Reconciliation: How to Identify and Confront Residential School Denialism. An online presentation by @seancarleton.bsky.social , Thurs, Jan 29 11:30 am PST. To register: sfu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Sponsored by the SFU Depts of Archaeology, English, History, and Indigenous Studies
Sponsored by the SFU Depts of Archaeology, English, History, and Indigenous Studies
January 23, 2026 at 6:07 PM
I’ll be giving this online talk at SFU next week 👇
Reposted by Marika
Eavesdropping on a lady in the pub who grew up in Ireland telling her friends that North American pops are fucked up because purple flavour should be blackberry and red should be raspberry, and you know what, she's right. Put the Irish lady in charge of the pop flavours
January 27, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Eavesdropping on a lady in the pub who grew up in Ireland telling her friends that North American pops are fucked up because purple flavour should be blackberry and red should be raspberry, and you know what, she's right. Put the Irish lady in charge of the pop flavours
I don't really understand the criticism that anti-AI stances are refusing to engage with reality as it is. We are currently seeing political reality being remade on a massive scale. Reality is mutable and popular perception can change!
January 27, 2026 at 6:25 PM
I don't really understand the criticism that anti-AI stances are refusing to engage with reality as it is. We are currently seeing political reality being remade on a massive scale. Reality is mutable and popular perception can change!
Reposted by Marika
Daddy Killingham makes a waffling comment that this should enhance our trust: “the vast, vast majority, almost all of our police officers, I believe, are good men and women”
Pursaga ends with this: “Bostock was on the force for more than 20 years before he was charged and eventually fired.”
Pursaga ends with this: “Bostock was on the force for more than 20 years before he was charged and eventually fired.”
January 26, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Daddy Killingham makes a waffling comment that this should enhance our trust: “the vast, vast majority, almost all of our police officers, I believe, are good men and women”
Pursaga ends with this: “Bostock was on the force for more than 20 years before he was charged and eventually fired.”
Pursaga ends with this: “Bostock was on the force for more than 20 years before he was charged and eventually fired.”
Reposted by Marika
This hit so fucking hard today.
January 26, 2026 at 8:52 PM
This hit so fucking hard today.
I made this Irene Kuo stir-fried celery with pork for dinner tonight and it's SO good and comforting. I put it over rice and then it's a full meal and it's good as leftovers too
thewednesdaychef.com/2007/11/27/i...
thewednesdaychef.com/2007/11/27/i...
Irene Kuo’s Stir-Fried Celery in Meat Sauce
I never met a vegetable I didn't like. Zucchini, with its sweet, creamy flesh; swiss chard, thick and papery to start, then soulfully silky to finish; kohlrabi, with its refreshing, vegetal sn…
thewednesdaychef.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:19 AM
I made this Irene Kuo stir-fried celery with pork for dinner tonight and it's SO good and comforting. I put it over rice and then it's a full meal and it's good as leftovers too
thewednesdaychef.com/2007/11/27/i...
thewednesdaychef.com/2007/11/27/i...
Finished a work task I have been procrastinating for ages, hooray.
January 26, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Finished a work task I have been procrastinating for ages, hooray.
Reposted by Marika
just disgusting.
if giving a shit about your neighbour and trying to help them up when they’ve been shoved down and pepper sprayed — for no reason — is “foolish,” then glory to the fools, all day and every day.
if giving a shit about your neighbour and trying to help them up when they’ve been shoved down and pepper sprayed — for no reason — is “foolish,” then glory to the fools, all day and every day.
Meanwhile the WSJ editorial page says that Pretti — a nurse — “foolishly” tried to assist a woman who was being gassed, and that his actions “warranted arrest”
www.wsj.com/opinion/time...
www.wsj.com/opinion/time...
January 26, 2026 at 2:02 AM
just disgusting.
if giving a shit about your neighbour and trying to help them up when they’ve been shoved down and pepper sprayed — for no reason — is “foolish,” then glory to the fools, all day and every day.
if giving a shit about your neighbour and trying to help them up when they’ve been shoved down and pepper sprayed — for no reason — is “foolish,” then glory to the fools, all day and every day.
Reposted by Marika
Libraries are so much more than books!!!
Got some pottery tools 3D printed at Millennium Library. Ready for pickup within a few days and cost a whopping $4 for the three tools! Found the files for free on Printables and Thingiverse. Library staff did the rest!
wpl.winnipeg.ca/library/idea...
wpl.winnipeg.ca/library/idea...
3D Printing - ideaMILL - Winnipeg Public Library
Information about the equipment and software for use at the ideaMILL at the Winnipeg Public Library
wpl.winnipeg.ca
January 25, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Libraries are so much more than books!!!
Reposted by Marika
Following up on my previous post about Winnipeg Transit, some thoughts on how we need to change our attitude & recognize public transit as the essential service it is. #winnipeg #wpgpoli #transit (thanks @brenttoderian.bsky.social for the succinct quote & image).
open.substack.com/pub/brianpin...
open.substack.com/pub/brianpin...
Transit: What Does it Mean to be an Essential Service
Aspiring for better.
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Following up on my previous post about Winnipeg Transit, some thoughts on how we need to change our attitude & recognize public transit as the essential service it is. #winnipeg #wpgpoli #transit (thanks @brenttoderian.bsky.social for the succinct quote & image).
open.substack.com/pub/brianpin...
open.substack.com/pub/brianpin...
Reposted by Marika
Imagine looking at all this and thinking it’s the immigrants who are dangerous.
January 24, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Imagine looking at all this and thinking it’s the immigrants who are dangerous.
Reposted by Marika
Friday’s Ice Art and Poetry: Our collaboration today is about drawing. There's no better instructor than life. In Mark's medium of ice, the subtle shades and life-lines tangle—it could be a scribble and some daubing, but the more you look the more you see. The poem asks us to find art in ugliness.
January 23, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Friday’s Ice Art and Poetry: Our collaboration today is about drawing. There's no better instructor than life. In Mark's medium of ice, the subtle shades and life-lines tangle—it could be a scribble and some daubing, but the more you look the more you see. The poem asks us to find art in ugliness.