Atlee Breland
@atleebreland.bsky.social
I yell about reproductive justice, software engineering leadership, knitting, figure skating and costuming, trans rights, mandolins, Atlanta and Mississippi things, harps, and my kids and dog.
The Georgia Harp Society is having a 50-Harp Ensemble concert in September. Fun! I committed to play! My harp group also volunteered to play! Yay, so many harps!
Now I have 10 pieces of harp music to learn, 4 more new mandolin pieces for the mandolin orchestra, and 0 people to blame except myself.
Now I have 10 pieces of harp music to learn, 4 more new mandolin pieces for the mandolin orchestra, and 0 people to blame except myself.
a cartoon character sits on a bus with an emergency exit sign behind him
ALT: a cartoon character sits on a bus with an emergency exit sign behind him
media.tenor.com
June 14, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The Georgia Harp Society is having a 50-Harp Ensemble concert in September. Fun! I committed to play! My harp group also volunteered to play! Yay, so many harps!
Now I have 10 pieces of harp music to learn, 4 more new mandolin pieces for the mandolin orchestra, and 0 people to blame except myself.
Now I have 10 pieces of harp music to learn, 4 more new mandolin pieces for the mandolin orchestra, and 0 people to blame except myself.
Every tech person you know is having a Real Bad Day all of a sudden.
June 12, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Every tech person you know is having a Real Bad Day all of a sudden.
I work for a reasonably sized company, 15K+ employees. So much of what DOGE is discovering is just the basic laws of scalability. Governments are very large! Large orgs work differently and move slower, just like cruise ships are slower than speedboats!
New, from me:
The DOGE project was sold as tech disruptors who would revolutionize government. To try to understand why DOGE has failed, I point to lessons that other technologists who worked in government learned, but DOGE ignored. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-doge-...
The DOGE project was sold as tech disruptors who would revolutionize government. To try to understand why DOGE has failed, I point to lessons that other technologists who worked in government learned, but DOGE ignored. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-doge-...
What DOGE gets wrong about tech and government
Lessons learned by civic tech, forgotten by DOGE
donmoynihan.substack.com
May 17, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I work for a reasonably sized company, 15K+ employees. So much of what DOGE is discovering is just the basic laws of scalability. Governments are very large! Large orgs work differently and move slower, just like cruise ships are slower than speedboats!
Maybe I’ll wait to book my planned June trip to India…
Breaking news: Pakistan armed forces said they are targeting military sites in India after India fired missiles at three air bases in Pakistan’s Punjab province early Saturday, bringing the nuclear-armed rivals closer to war.
Pakistan says it has targeted military sites in India, bringing nuclear-armed rivals nearer to war
Pakistan said early Saturday it had hit multiple military targets, days after India launched its largest strikes inside Pakistan in decades.
wapo.st
May 10, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Maybe I’ll wait to book my planned June trip to India…
Who recorded my conversation with my therapist I’m going to file a HIPAA complaint
Lady being interviewed on the podcast I'm listening to just said "It sounds like I'm doing a lot, but I feel like I'm not doing enough."
Interviewer: "Compared to who?"
Interviewee: "Compared to the person I feel like I'm supposed to be"
...I feel this in my damn bones
Interviewer: "Compared to who?"
Interviewee: "Compared to the person I feel like I'm supposed to be"
...I feel this in my damn bones
April 22, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Who recorded my conversation with my therapist I’m going to file a HIPAA complaint
Sheep in the morning, prom in the afternoon. Get you some teenagers who can do both.
(Professional photos coming next week, these are just a couple casual snaps)
(Professional photos coming next week, these are just a couple casual snaps)
April 19, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Sheep in the morning, prom in the afternoon. Get you some teenagers who can do both.
(Professional photos coming next week, these are just a couple casual snaps)
(Professional photos coming next week, these are just a couple casual snaps)
We spent a beautiful April morning in the mountains of North Georgia at a friend’s mom’s alpaca and sheep farm.
If you need to see a blue-haired teenager chase and catch a lamb, well, I’m your huckleberry.
If you need to see a blue-haired teenager chase and catch a lamb, well, I’m your huckleberry.
April 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
We spent a beautiful April morning in the mountains of North Georgia at a friend’s mom’s alpaca and sheep farm.
If you need to see a blue-haired teenager chase and catch a lamb, well, I’m your huckleberry.
If you need to see a blue-haired teenager chase and catch a lamb, well, I’m your huckleberry.
What’s interesting to me is that we’re having this whole discussion about autism at the same time as we’re also talking about email jobs vs “real” jobs.
I have spent my whole career in software engineering and management. Like 75% of us are some variety of neuroatypical, though some mask better.
I have spent my whole career in software engineering and management. Like 75% of us are some variety of neuroatypical, though some mask better.
I won’t share RFK Jr.’s lies about autism.
It’s disgusting and dangerous.
If he had a shred of decency, he would apologize and resign.
Autistic people contribute every day to our nation’s greatness.
To every kid with autism, I’m in this fight all the way for you.
It’s disgusting and dangerous.
If he had a shred of decency, he would apologize and resign.
Autistic people contribute every day to our nation’s greatness.
To every kid with autism, I’m in this fight all the way for you.
April 17, 2025 at 5:25 PM
What’s interesting to me is that we’re having this whole discussion about autism at the same time as we’re also talking about email jobs vs “real” jobs.
I have spent my whole career in software engineering and management. Like 75% of us are some variety of neuroatypical, though some mask better.
I have spent my whole career in software engineering and management. Like 75% of us are some variety of neuroatypical, though some mask better.
Signs you might be a figure skating mom: you worry that your daughter’s prom dress is inadequately sparkly and might need some additional rhinestoning to really make it pop.
Nothing crazy, just a thousand stones or so.
Nothing crazy, just a thousand stones or so.
April 10, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Signs you might be a figure skating mom: you worry that your daughter’s prom dress is inadequately sparkly and might need some additional rhinestoning to really make it pop.
Nothing crazy, just a thousand stones or so.
Nothing crazy, just a thousand stones or so.
People also don’t realize that sewing with stretch fabrics is a different, and harder, skill. It also requires specialized machines. People who sew will have a sewing machine which can do straight and zig-zag stitches. Most don’t have a serger and almost none have a coverstitch machine.
I don't think people really grasp that sewing is a skill and that textiles are a legitimate subject of study. The whole point of Elle Woods studying fashion merchandising is that it was supposed to be frivolous but it's actually hard and those skills were transferable to Harvard Law.
April 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
People also don’t realize that sewing with stretch fabrics is a different, and harder, skill. It also requires specialized machines. People who sew will have a sewing machine which can do straight and zig-zag stitches. Most don’t have a serger and almost none have a coverstitch machine.
GRWM: Tariffs Edition
I start with Prequel moisturizer 🇺🇸, Cerave (🇺🇸 w/ imported ingredients), and Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 🇫🇷
Take my meds: 4 of 6 from 🇮🇳, others 🇺🇸
Brush teeth with Crest 🇺🇸/🇲🇽 and Phillips Sonicare toothbrush 🇨🇳.
Aussie hair gel is 🇺🇸/imported, Babyliss hair dryer 🇨🇳, Dove deodorant 🇲🇽
I start with Prequel moisturizer 🇺🇸, Cerave (🇺🇸 w/ imported ingredients), and Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 🇫🇷
Take my meds: 4 of 6 from 🇮🇳, others 🇺🇸
Brush teeth with Crest 🇺🇸/🇲🇽 and Phillips Sonicare toothbrush 🇨🇳.
Aussie hair gel is 🇺🇸/imported, Babyliss hair dryer 🇨🇳, Dove deodorant 🇲🇽
April 5, 2025 at 1:58 PM
GRWM: Tariffs Edition
I start with Prequel moisturizer 🇺🇸, Cerave (🇺🇸 w/ imported ingredients), and Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 🇫🇷
Take my meds: 4 of 6 from 🇮🇳, others 🇺🇸
Brush teeth with Crest 🇺🇸/🇲🇽 and Phillips Sonicare toothbrush 🇨🇳.
Aussie hair gel is 🇺🇸/imported, Babyliss hair dryer 🇨🇳, Dove deodorant 🇲🇽
I start with Prequel moisturizer 🇺🇸, Cerave (🇺🇸 w/ imported ingredients), and Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 🇫🇷
Take my meds: 4 of 6 from 🇮🇳, others 🇺🇸
Brush teeth with Crest 🇺🇸/🇲🇽 and Phillips Sonicare toothbrush 🇨🇳.
Aussie hair gel is 🇺🇸/imported, Babyliss hair dryer 🇨🇳, Dove deodorant 🇲🇽
I sew and knit for fun. Pretty good at both, and I have operated an industrial machine.
I don’t think I have ever used a single zipper that was made in America. The good zippers are YKK zippers, made in Japan. Home sewists tend to use Dritz, made in China. I’ve seen Vietnamese ones too.
I don’t think I have ever used a single zipper that was made in America. The good zippers are YKK zippers, made in Japan. Home sewists tend to use Dritz, made in China. I’ve seen Vietnamese ones too.
And as advanced industrial re-shoring goes, textile set up is CHEAP. A few industrial machines, a couple weeks of training the sewists, a month intensive training the cutters, a week for packers, a light industrial space, some air filtration.
It’s nothing compared to a wafer fab or a plastics shop.
It’s nothing compared to a wafer fab or a plastics shop.
I say this as a pretty rare American who can sew: we don't have the skillset and among those who do the labor costs are beyond what countries like China and Vietnam can charge.
April 5, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I sew and knit for fun. Pretty good at both, and I have operated an industrial machine.
I don’t think I have ever used a single zipper that was made in America. The good zippers are YKK zippers, made in Japan. Home sewists tend to use Dritz, made in China. I’ve seen Vietnamese ones too.
I don’t think I have ever used a single zipper that was made in America. The good zippers are YKK zippers, made in Japan. Home sewists tend to use Dritz, made in China. I’ve seen Vietnamese ones too.
Interesting happenings on the Alpharetta subreddit: apparently Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ex-husband harassed a bunch of Muslim teenage girls for praying in the parking garage of my local mall. Complete with gross “go back where you came from” racism.
April 1, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Interesting happenings on the Alpharetta subreddit: apparently Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ex-husband harassed a bunch of Muslim teenage girls for praying in the parking garage of my local mall. Complete with gross “go back where you came from” racism.
My daughter got into UGA! College quest is now over and we know where both twins will go: B to Kennesaw with a plan to transfer to GA Tech, and K to UGA.
Such a relief for us all!
Such a relief for us all!
March 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
My daughter got into UGA! College quest is now over and we know where both twins will go: B to Kennesaw with a plan to transfer to GA Tech, and K to UGA.
Such a relief for us all!
Such a relief for us all!
Any ordinary girl can be a broke-ass bitch with a fractured tailbone. Apparently I am a special broke-ass bitch, because I have a fractured sacrum.
Just what you want the day before a long haul flight to India!
Just what you want the day before a long haul flight to India!
March 13, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Any ordinary girl can be a broke-ass bitch with a fractured tailbone. Apparently I am a special broke-ass bitch, because I have a fractured sacrum.
Just what you want the day before a long haul flight to India!
Just what you want the day before a long haul flight to India!
When you realize that the approximately 10,000 rhinestones you ordered aren’t going to be nearly enough to execute the vision (“sparkly aquatic geodes”, per B)
Neither is the number of available hours in which to glue them all on between now and B’s competition on Saturday.
Neither is the number of available hours in which to glue them all on between now and B’s competition on Saturday.
March 3, 2025 at 3:31 AM
When you realize that the approximately 10,000 rhinestones you ordered aren’t going to be nearly enough to execute the vision (“sparkly aquatic geodes”, per B)
Neither is the number of available hours in which to glue them all on between now and B’s competition on Saturday.
Neither is the number of available hours in which to glue them all on between now and B’s competition on Saturday.
Work trips to South Florida come with certain perks
February 27, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Work trips to South Florida come with certain perks
Dear Manager, this week I accomplished:
1. Never being a cornflake girl
2. Thinking this was a good solution
3. Hanging with the raisin girls and going to the other side
4. Giving the yo heave ho because things are getting kind of gross
5. Going sleepy time because this is not really happening
1. Never being a cornflake girl
2. Thinking this was a good solution
3. Hanging with the raisin girls and going to the other side
4. Giving the yo heave ho because things are getting kind of gross
5. Going sleepy time because this is not really happening
Dear Manager, here are roles I’ve taken this week, with all the duties outlined in their respective contracts:
1. Bitch
2. Lover
3. Child
4. Mother
5. Sinner
Twice this week I had to fill the job of Saint as we had a flu outbreak.
Best,
Stacey
1. Bitch
2. Lover
3. Child
4. Mother
5. Sinner
Twice this week I had to fill the job of Saint as we had a flu outbreak.
Best,
Stacey
Dear Manager, here's what I've done this week:
1. Found myself living in a shotgun shack
2. Found myself in another part of the world
3. Found myself behind the wheel of a large automobile
4. Found myself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife
5. Asked myself, “Well, how did I get here?”
1. Found myself living in a shotgun shack
2. Found myself in another part of the world
3. Found myself behind the wheel of a large automobile
4. Found myself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife
5. Asked myself, “Well, how did I get here?”
February 24, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Dear Manager, this week I accomplished:
1. Never being a cornflake girl
2. Thinking this was a good solution
3. Hanging with the raisin girls and going to the other side
4. Giving the yo heave ho because things are getting kind of gross
5. Going sleepy time because this is not really happening
1. Never being a cornflake girl
2. Thinking this was a good solution
3. Hanging with the raisin girls and going to the other side
4. Giving the yo heave ho because things are getting kind of gross
5. Going sleepy time because this is not really happening
Long weekend with no unexpected executive fire drills = mandolin spa day.
(We avoid taking off all strings at once because the wooden bridge is movable and repositioning it is annoying)
(We avoid taking off all strings at once because the wooden bridge is movable and repositioning it is annoying)
February 17, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Long weekend with no unexpected executive fire drills = mandolin spa day.
(We avoid taking off all strings at once because the wooden bridge is movable and repositioning it is annoying)
(We avoid taking off all strings at once because the wooden bridge is movable and repositioning it is annoying)
Ever thought your outfit was reasonably cute when you got dressed in the morning, then realized that you hear Meryl Streep’s voice telling you that it was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff?
February 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Ever thought your outfit was reasonably cute when you got dressed in the morning, then realized that you hear Meryl Streep’s voice telling you that it was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff?
Why is the number of E strings one breaks always one more than the number of E strings one possesses?
February 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Why is the number of E strings one breaks always one more than the number of E strings one possesses?
My child is in high school. Not elementary school. Someone please explain why he still has to bring homemade food from his ethnic background for class.
It’s not like he’s the one who’s going to be making the Pavlova or the Yorkshire puddings or the boxty.
It’s not like he’s the one who’s going to be making the Pavlova or the Yorkshire puddings or the boxty.
February 2, 2025 at 11:46 PM
My child is in high school. Not elementary school. Someone please explain why he still has to bring homemade food from his ethnic background for class.
It’s not like he’s the one who’s going to be making the Pavlova or the Yorkshire puddings or the boxty.
It’s not like he’s the one who’s going to be making the Pavlova or the Yorkshire puddings or the boxty.
Apparently the plane which crashed last night was full of teenage figure skaters and coaches coming back from Wichita after National Development Camp and US Nationals. This will be a terrible loss for the skating community, especially the Washington club.
January 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Apparently the plane which crashed last night was full of teenage figure skaters and coaches coming back from Wichita after National Development Camp and US Nationals. This will be a terrible loss for the skating community, especially the Washington club.
An 18-year-old can legally decide to have a breast reduction. As far as I am aware, the government isn’t authorized to decide what cup size the person must have at the end of it.
These people are literally trying to appoint themselves the Itty Bitty Committee.
These people are literally trying to appoint themselves the Itty Bitty Committee.
Trump issues a sweeping executive order purporting to (a) defund medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to patients under 19 and (b) revoke coverage for such care under federal insurance plans. This is illegal and will be challenged. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
January 28, 2025 at 11:26 PM
An 18-year-old can legally decide to have a breast reduction. As far as I am aware, the government isn’t authorized to decide what cup size the person must have at the end of it.
These people are literally trying to appoint themselves the Itty Bitty Committee.
These people are literally trying to appoint themselves the Itty Bitty Committee.
Reposted by Atlee Breland
Monday Motivation:
January 20, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Monday Motivation: