Sheila Avelin
@phillysheila.bsky.social
Bookstore owner, plant grower, beginner woodworker, anarchic knitter. Also queer, neurodivergent, congenitally bad at collagen.
https://www.bigbluemarblebooks.com
https://www.bigbluemarblebooks.com
The problem with terrariums as a hobby is that they keep outgrowing their enclosures and I hate throwing out cuttings.
May 20, 2025 at 3:54 AM
The problem with terrariums as a hobby is that they keep outgrowing their enclosures and I hate throwing out cuttings.
This is the last Wawa on our route to Oberlin, the first one returning. It is spotless and magnificent and perched on a hill just west of the Susquehanna with a vast parking lot. They are architecturally putting Sheetz on notice.
May 19, 2025 at 3:53 AM
This is the last Wawa on our route to Oberlin, the first one returning. It is spotless and magnificent and perched on a hill just west of the Susquehanna with a vast parking lot. They are architecturally putting Sheetz on notice.
Unexpected challenge of packing up the kid's dorm: not the near-complete lack of packing headway before our arrival or the exam they're still writing, but the palpable waves of stress emanating from their roommate. I have to keep compassionately vacating the room.
May 17, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Unexpected challenge of packing up the kid's dorm: not the near-complete lack of packing headway before our arrival or the exam they're still writing, but the palpable waves of stress emanating from their roommate. I have to keep compassionately vacating the room.
There's an exit for Electric Avenue in the mountainous middle of Pennsylvania. As a result, we've learned a lot about the Brixton riots this trip. The things that went over my head when I was 12! m.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk...
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
YouTube video by Dave Brodsky
m.youtube.com
May 17, 2025 at 1:29 AM
There's an exit for Electric Avenue in the mountainous middle of Pennsylvania. As a result, we've learned a lot about the Brixton riots this trip. The things that went over my head when I was 12! m.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk...
Anyone else notice that the majority of household tasks they procrastinate are more fun than the internet-scrolling they procrastinate with? Like, even cleaning out the dishwasher filter is more mentally engaging and leaves me with a sense of accomplishment.
May 15, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Anyone else notice that the majority of household tasks they procrastinate are more fun than the internet-scrolling they procrastinate with? Like, even cleaning out the dishwasher filter is more mentally engaging and leaves me with a sense of accomplishment.
I grew up in DC, but my mom was from the Main Line. We were riveted to the television for days, watching this unfold. Since moving here in the 90s, it's been this trauma the whole city keeps returning to. I don't think Philadelphia will ever really get over it.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Timestamp on our minds’: Philadelphia marks 1985 Move bombing that killed 11
Police bombing targeting Black liberation group ignited fire that killed 11, including five children, and burned 61 houses
www.theguardian.com
May 14, 2025 at 1:51 AM
I grew up in DC, but my mom was from the Main Line. We were riveted to the television for days, watching this unfold. Since moving here in the 90s, it's been this trauma the whole city keeps returning to. I don't think Philadelphia will ever really get over it.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Watching The Sopranos for the first time -- I'm still on season 1, so no spoilers, please!
One thing I didn't expect was how uneven the cast is. Gandolfini and Falco are multiple levels above everyone else in the series. Scenes without out them are so much worse it's jarring.
One thing I didn't expect was how uneven the cast is. Gandolfini and Falco are multiple levels above everyone else in the series. Scenes without out them are so much worse it's jarring.
May 14, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Watching The Sopranos for the first time -- I'm still on season 1, so no spoilers, please!
One thing I didn't expect was how uneven the cast is. Gandolfini and Falco are multiple levels above everyone else in the series. Scenes without out them are so much worse it's jarring.
One thing I didn't expect was how uneven the cast is. Gandolfini and Falco are multiple levels above everyone else in the series. Scenes without out them are so much worse it's jarring.
Stayed up too late, even for me, woke up aberrantly and mysteriously early, decided not to have any caffeine.
I'm basically curled up in my own pocket dimension right now. If this doesn't move my bedtime earlier, nothing will.
I'm basically curled up in my own pocket dimension right now. If this doesn't move my bedtime earlier, nothing will.
May 12, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Stayed up too late, even for me, woke up aberrantly and mysteriously early, decided not to have any caffeine.
I'm basically curled up in my own pocket dimension right now. If this doesn't move my bedtime earlier, nothing will.
I'm basically curled up in my own pocket dimension right now. If this doesn't move my bedtime earlier, nothing will.
Brownies baked. Now to get them to the kid *before* we get there next weekend to take them home. Priority mail, hooray!
May 12, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Brownies baked. Now to get them to the kid *before* we get there next weekend to take them home. Priority mail, hooray!
Progress! I renewed my license without Real ID, then used the new license to order a replacement SS card. Going on a Saturday meant the license cost me almost three hours of waiting time, but I was able to ask for the new SS card online. Hoping that the wait time before it comes isn't too long.
May 10, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Progress! I renewed my license without Real ID, then used the new license to order a replacement SS card. Going on a Saturday meant the license cost me almost three hours of waiting time, but I was able to ask for the new SS card online. Hoping that the wait time before it comes isn't too long.
Planned to get my Real ID today, but can't find my SS card, my birth certificate has no seal, & my passport expired 12 years ago. I have my name change document, but I'm starting to doubt how much of me actually exists.
Going to renew my license instead. DC's public records office is in my future.
Going to renew my license instead. DC's public records office is in my future.
May 9, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Planned to get my Real ID today, but can't find my SS card, my birth certificate has no seal, & my passport expired 12 years ago. I have my name change document, but I'm starting to doubt how much of me actually exists.
Going to renew my license instead. DC's public records office is in my future.
Going to renew my license instead. DC's public records office is in my future.
ADD reality: every single time I open my laptop, I lose two hours. It isn't always this bad, but 2025 is basically quicksand made of dopamine.
May 8, 2025 at 6:06 PM
ADD reality: every single time I open my laptop, I lose two hours. It isn't always this bad, but 2025 is basically quicksand made of dopamine.
Starting a week late, but I'm going to make an effort to post once a day for the rest of May, just to see what happens.
May 7, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Starting a week late, but I'm going to make an effort to post once a day for the rest of May, just to see what happens.
Reposted by Sheila Avelin
As the Musk coup rampages through DC, most Americans don't understand there's a method to the madness that's even more terrifying
They want to replace "outdated" democracy with AI, in a power grab that empowers billionaires with a lie about efficiency
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
They want to replace "outdated" democracy with AI, in a power grab that empowers billionaires with a lie about efficiency
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
What Elon Musk wants is worse than you think | Will Bunch Newsletter
Plus, a new breed of journalists just might save America.
www.inquirer.com
February 11, 2025 at 5:33 PM
As the Musk coup rampages through DC, most Americans don't understand there's a method to the madness that's even more terrifying
They want to replace "outdated" democracy with AI, in a power grab that empowers billionaires with a lie about efficiency
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
They want to replace "outdated" democracy with AI, in a power grab that empowers billionaires with a lie about efficiency
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
All I really want to do this week is watch Ted Lasso on loop. Well, maybe not the third season.
February 9, 2025 at 11:59 PM
All I really want to do this week is watch Ted Lasso on loop. Well, maybe not the third season.
So many terrible things in MAGAland this week, but I am heartened by the sheer volume of calls being made to the Senate this week. I know we have so much work to do, but it feels like the good people of the country shaking off their torpor.
February 8, 2025 at 2:27 AM
So many terrible things in MAGAland this week, but I am heartened by the sheer volume of calls being made to the Senate this week. I know we have so much work to do, but it feels like the good people of the country shaking off their torpor.
One week of this cold and I'm finally feeling okay to shower. EDS makes my lungs fragile, so I don't get sick more often than anyone else, but I go down a lot harder. It's no wonder covid took me down for three months.
January 28, 2025 at 6:39 PM
One week of this cold and I'm finally feeling okay to shower. EDS makes my lungs fragile, so I don't get sick more often than anyone else, but I go down a lot harder. It's no wonder covid took me down for three months.
This morning, I messaged my Congressperson, Dwight Evans about Trump's illegal and unconstitutional freeze on spending. It took less than ten minutes and felt so much better than not acting.
January 28, 2025 at 1:28 PM
This morning, I messaged my Congressperson, Dwight Evans about Trump's illegal and unconstitutional freeze on spending. It took less than ten minutes and felt so much better than not acting.
Day three of a full-blown cold, though at this point "days" feels like a less meaningful measurement of time passing than the number of used tissues in my wastebasket.
January 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Day three of a full-blown cold, though at this point "days" feels like a less meaningful measurement of time passing than the number of used tissues in my wastebasket.
Contacted both my Senators about Hegseth this morning. I don't know that it will do anything (Fetterman already got with the program and McCormick isn't going to care, though he should), but it feels better than twiddling my thumbs.
January 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Contacted both my Senators about Hegseth this morning. I don't know that it will do anything (Fetterman already got with the program and McCormick isn't going to care, though he should), but it feels better than twiddling my thumbs.
My new favorite Christmas show is the first season of Black Doves.
January 16, 2025 at 3:42 AM
My new favorite Christmas show is the first season of Black Doves.
Team maitake! I'm taking that as a cue to finish reading The Mushroom at the End of the World.
Did you know we're all placed onto different Bluesky servers, and they're named after mushrooms??
You can find out what mushroom server you're on by looking yourself up on Clearsky clearsky.app
I'm team oyster mushroom. 🦪🍄
You can find out what mushroom server you're on by looking yourself up on Clearsky clearsky.app
I'm team oyster mushroom. 🦪🍄
January 15, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Team maitake! I'm taking that as a cue to finish reading The Mushroom at the End of the World.
I'm sure there are things that make me as delirious as my dog when her friend the UPS driver comes to the door and gives her a treat. But not very many.
January 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I'm sure there are things that make me as delirious as my dog when her friend the UPS driver comes to the door and gives her a treat. But not very many.
I'm think I'm becoming someone who likes January. New planners, longer days, the calm that descends after the retail season and inventory are done.
January 12, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I'm think I'm becoming someone who likes January. New planners, longer days, the calm that descends after the retail season and inventory are done.
I was never much of a Twitter person so I haven't really figured out how Bluesky fits into my social media routine. Thoughts?
January 9, 2025 at 2:36 AM
I was never much of a Twitter person so I haven't really figured out how Bluesky fits into my social media routine. Thoughts?