A.J. O'Connell
@ajoconnell.bsky.social
Writer, journalist, author: A PERFECT FACEBOOK LIFE. Some people call me AJ. Some people call me Ann. She/her
I never really thought of this as a milestone, but we are watching a show as a family, and yesterday my kid experienced his first major plot twist. Watching him process it and love it? One of my favorite parenting moments to date.
October 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I never really thought of this as a milestone, but we are watching a show as a family, and yesterday my kid experienced his first major plot twist. Watching him process it and love it? One of my favorite parenting moments to date.
Ad: "Do you want to look snatched all the time?"
No. No I do not.
I did my time. I paid the pretty tax.
I'm ready to embrace being pale, puffy, and alarmingly shiny.
No. No I do not.
I did my time. I paid the pretty tax.
I'm ready to embrace being pale, puffy, and alarmingly shiny.
July 31, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Ad: "Do you want to look snatched all the time?"
No. No I do not.
I did my time. I paid the pretty tax.
I'm ready to embrace being pale, puffy, and alarmingly shiny.
No. No I do not.
I did my time. I paid the pretty tax.
I'm ready to embrace being pale, puffy, and alarmingly shiny.
Reposted by A.J. O'Connell
Going to #ConnectiCon?@allegrosolutionsllc.com and @pixiedane.bsky.social and I are doing a panel about using fandom in activism. Did you know that fandom influenced social activism back in Dickens' day? What happens when a creator is at odds with the social causes of their fans? Come talk to us!
If you're in the Hartford area this weekend and going to Connecticon, @ajoconnell.bsky.social and @pixiedane.bsky.social and I are hosting a panel about how geeks can use their built-in fandom communities as one of the tools for activism.
We're also giving out sweet, sweet badge ribbons.
We're also giving out sweet, sweet badge ribbons.
July 18, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Going to #ConnectiCon?@allegrosolutionsllc.com and @pixiedane.bsky.social and I are doing a panel about using fandom in activism. Did you know that fandom influenced social activism back in Dickens' day? What happens when a creator is at odds with the social causes of their fans? Come talk to us!
I love reading through the names of adoptable pets at shelters. It's always a list of normal pet names but with one or two insane ones, like:
"Beans, Dexter, Sugar, Bella, Screaming Cheezit, Bailey, Fenway, Janet from Accounting"
"Beans, Dexter, Sugar, Bella, Screaming Cheezit, Bailey, Fenway, Janet from Accounting"
July 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I love reading through the names of adoptable pets at shelters. It's always a list of normal pet names but with one or two insane ones, like:
"Beans, Dexter, Sugar, Bella, Screaming Cheezit, Bailey, Fenway, Janet from Accounting"
"Beans, Dexter, Sugar, Bella, Screaming Cheezit, Bailey, Fenway, Janet from Accounting"
An #infosec blog post quoting William Gibson.
a woman is sitting in front of a wall of pictures and says groundbreaking .
ALT: a woman is sitting in front of a wall of pictures and says groundbreaking .
media.tenor.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:34 PM
An #infosec blog post quoting William Gibson.
A toaster is a Heat and Yeet
June 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
A toaster is a Heat and Yeet
"Coastal grandma" is just Anthropologie with sleeves.
May 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM
"Coastal grandma" is just Anthropologie with sleeves.
My brother and I speak in quotes from two films: The Golden Child and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Both are good, but I'd argue that Golden Child is the better film.
Both are good, but I'd argue that Golden Child is the better film.
April 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
My brother and I speak in quotes from two films: The Golden Child and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Both are good, but I'd argue that Golden Child is the better film.
Both are good, but I'd argue that Golden Child is the better film.
Introduced my kid to my very favorite #EddieMurphy movie ever this weekend: The Golden Child.
A true forgotten masterpiece.
A true forgotten masterpiece.
April 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Introduced my kid to my very favorite #EddieMurphy movie ever this weekend: The Golden Child.
A true forgotten masterpiece.
A true forgotten masterpiece.
Not me, in a paper gown, going full journalism professor at my annual exam.
April 7, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Not me, in a paper gown, going full journalism professor at my annual exam.
Hosting a playdate for 3 10 year-old boys while working from home is uncannily like a newsroom. People are loud, there are two competing blaring electronics, and males are causing problems for me and for each other.
Maybe that's why I am uncharacteristically productive today.
Maybe that's why I am uncharacteristically productive today.
March 7, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Hosting a playdate for 3 10 year-old boys while working from home is uncannily like a newsroom. People are loud, there are two competing blaring electronics, and males are causing problems for me and for each other.
Maybe that's why I am uncharacteristically productive today.
Maybe that's why I am uncharacteristically productive today.
WHO DARES DISTURB ME, MORTALS is a fun thing to say when kids ask you for something during a playdate.
March 7, 2025 at 6:47 PM
WHO DARES DISTURB ME, MORTALS is a fun thing to say when kids ask you for something during a playdate.
I mean. Wow.
If ever the universe was going to send you a sign that fascists are bad news, ruining everyone’s weekend in Paris with the last lot still causing havoc 80 years on would do it.
@malcolmnance.bsky.social @muellershewrote.bsky.social @georgetakei.bsky.social @markhamillofficial.bsky.social
@malcolmnance.bsky.social @muellershewrote.bsky.social @georgetakei.bsky.social @markhamillofficial.bsky.social
March 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I mean. Wow.
"In the 21st century, we will work from home, have video phones, and our kids will play with robots!"
In the 21st century, I will sit down to work to find my keyboard unplugged because my kid wanted to use that port to recharge his robot.
In the 21st century, I will sit down to work to find my keyboard unplugged because my kid wanted to use that port to recharge his robot.
March 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
"In the 21st century, we will work from home, have video phones, and our kids will play with robots!"
In the 21st century, I will sit down to work to find my keyboard unplugged because my kid wanted to use that port to recharge his robot.
In the 21st century, I will sit down to work to find my keyboard unplugged because my kid wanted to use that port to recharge his robot.
*wind blows, power goes out, everything goes black*
Me: "Hey, buddy?"
10 y-o: "I DIDN'T DO IT"
Me: "Hey, buddy?"
10 y-o: "I DIDN'T DO IT"
March 7, 2025 at 2:27 AM
*wind blows, power goes out, everything goes black*
Me: "Hey, buddy?"
10 y-o: "I DIDN'T DO IT"
Me: "Hey, buddy?"
10 y-o: "I DIDN'T DO IT"
Every time I hear teachers refer to kids as "friends," there's this split second when I think they're just being refreshingly honest about their actual grown-up friends.
March 6, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Every time I hear teachers refer to kids as "friends," there's this split second when I think they're just being refreshingly honest about their actual grown-up friends.
I like making bone broth because at the end when the bones have gotten all soft and crumbly, I can yell "I CRUSH YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS WEAK MORTAL."
February 28, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I like making bone broth because at the end when the bones have gotten all soft and crumbly, I can yell "I CRUSH YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS WEAK MORTAL."
I like making bone broth because I like pretending that the bones are the bones of my enemies.
February 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I like making bone broth because I like pretending that the bones are the bones of my enemies.
I like making bone broth because there's just something about a big pot full of bones simmering on the stove for DAYS.
February 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I like making bone broth because there's just something about a big pot full of bones simmering on the stove for DAYS.
Going out to sand the driveway with ash AGAIN. In the wind.
a man in a medina sod jacket stands on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean
ALT: a man in a medina sod jacket stands on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean
media.tenor.com
February 18, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Going out to sand the driveway with ash AGAIN. In the wind.
Me: Now. What do I say before every playdate?
10 y-o: "Don't embarrass me in front of the good parents."
10 y-o: "Don't embarrass me in front of the good parents."
February 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Me: Now. What do I say before every playdate?
10 y-o: "Don't embarrass me in front of the good parents."
10 y-o: "Don't embarrass me in front of the good parents."
In my quest to get my 10 y-o on the bus, I've just decided to do Captain Janeway's voice and call him Ensign Davis.
It's working surprisingly well AND I get to enjoy my coffee. #startrek #voyager #parenting
It's working surprisingly well AND I get to enjoy my coffee. #startrek #voyager #parenting
February 13, 2025 at 2:18 PM
In my quest to get my 10 y-o on the bus, I've just decided to do Captain Janeway's voice and call him Ensign Davis.
It's working surprisingly well AND I get to enjoy my coffee. #startrek #voyager #parenting
It's working surprisingly well AND I get to enjoy my coffee. #startrek #voyager #parenting
Thanks to the Muppets Take Manhattan, I - a grown woman who works in marketing - still believe in my soul that all sales problems can be solved by a whisper campaign. #genx
February 11, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Thanks to the Muppets Take Manhattan, I - a grown woman who works in marketing - still believe in my soul that all sales problems can be solved by a whisper campaign. #genx
I should truly let my kid have a feral snow day as I used to, but the elder Gen Xers have shamed me into being an attentive mom, and his version of feral is "unlimited screen time."
February 6, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I should truly let my kid have a feral snow day as I used to, but the elder Gen Xers have shamed me into being an attentive mom, and his version of feral is "unlimited screen time."