Jola (Close Reading)
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closereadingie.bsky.social
Jola (Close Reading)
@closereadingie.bsky.social
2.9K followers 7.2K following 860 posts
Indexer. Copyeditor. Proofreader. Medieval historian. Jeanne de Divion was framed. TTRPG enthusiast. Indexes things from Aristotle to the X-Men. Past president Indexing Society of Canada. Co-chair KWG Twig, Editors Canada. closereadingie.com. She/They.
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closereadingie.bsky.social
My kid found the Black Death comics I’d made for my students. Had completely forgotten about them. Now we’re having fun reading them together while I explain the plague.

#medievalsky
Three-ring binder with home printed black and white comic cover. Simple stick figure-style drawings. Split image of a town on fire with a person saying “Burn it all! And bring wine.” Second image a close-up on the person holding a glass of wine, saying, “1346 was the last good year.”
November 18, 2025 at 1:54 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
It’s caturday so here’s my typing buddy. He really wants to help me work.
Mackerel tabby kitten sitting on a lap with his little brown paws on the wrist rest of a black keyboard that has green backlighting. Kitten is looking up at the camera.
October 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
My supervisor is asleep on the job. To be fair, he had a big day today: vet visit for vaccines and a blood draw.

#edibuddies #cats
Mackerel tabby kitten asleep on top of a board game box, tucked behind an open laptop. His head is pillowed on his foreleg.
October 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
My supervisor is keeping an eye on me.

#IndexSky #cats
Makerel tabby kitten looking at the camera, head peeking out from behind a laptop screen with Index-Manager open. Window behind kitten.
September 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Indexes for non-indexers! Aimed at proofreaders, but anyone who looks at indexes and has reason to edit them (say, reviewing an index you hired out for) can get a lot out of this. I cover the best ways to edit an index.

community.the-efa.org/events/Event...

#edibuddies #IndexSky #academicsky #EFA
Promo image. Indexes explained for non-indexers. Proofreading gets faster and easier once you understand how indexes really work. Jolanta Komornicka. Instructor.
August 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
My favourite doctor and companion.
Geordi and Data from TNG as Holmes and Watson.
August 11, 2025 at 1:11 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Proofreading an index and not quite sure what’s going on? Why are things are out of alphabetical order? What’s the best way to cut for length?

Come to my EFA webinar to learn what non-indexers should know about indexes! Aug. 14.

#edibuddies #AmEditing

community.the-efa.org/events/Event...
Promo photo from EFA. Headshot of person with dark brown hair and red glasses, smiling. Text reads: “Indexes explained for non-indexers. Proofreading gets faster and easier once you understand how indexes really work. Jolanta Komornicka. Instructor.”
August 6, 2025 at 1:55 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
I love quilting with cats! I know the quilt (or in this case, rug) must be comfy when Wanda settles in.
Black cat settling down on an orange jelly roll rug that’s in the process if being quilted together on a sewing machine.
August 4, 2025 at 1:39 AM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Feeling really down today. I need to put down one of my cats and it’s just… He’s such a good boy, and only 7.

Here he is. Absolute king of biscuits and cuddles and a bit of a music snob.
Grey and white cat sitting on a table with his head between the earcuffs of overear headphones.
June 17, 2025 at 1:21 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Lovely book review just came out for a book I worked on, and it mentions the helpful index. :-)

People should read the book. It’s fascinating! (A “marvellous book,” per the reviewer)

#IndexSky #academicsky #medievalsky
Cover image for a book. The Unruly Tongue: Speech and Violence in Medieval Italy. By Melissa Vise. Image has a gaggle of late medieval Italians all lined up and chatting with each other.
June 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Feeling extra prickly today whenever an author writes ”North America” but what they actually mean is “United States.”

Scholars, do better.

#AmEditing #edibuddies
On a frozen Ontario lake, a Canada goose hisses mightily at a bald eagle, which looks just a bit shocked that the goose is fighting back. Don’t mess with the cobra chicken!
March 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
I have one hour to finish up editing this chapter so I can fully devote my attention to this #ACESChat. Looking forward to it.

Oh, and I dressed for the occasion:
Person with dark hair and glasses wearing a black cardigan and a grey Dungeons and Dragons tshirt. Yellow lettering. Showing the classic cover from the Advanced Players Handbook.
March 5, 2025 at 8:07 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Here’s mine.
Keyboard with teal backlighting
February 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
The freelance editor is never alone. Behold! The guiding paw provides furry oversight.

#AmEditing. #edibuddies
Grey and white cat lying on a hand perched over a laptop keyboard
February 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Indexing a book on Julian Mayfield and the call to action of his words is really hitting home right now:

#AmIndexing
The only way to make progress in a situation of oppression is to rock the boat, and to rock it with such violence that either it sinks or it becomes a decent place in which to live. —Julian Mayfield
January 30, 2025 at 2:59 AM
closereadingie.bsky.social
First January strip done!

Border: copyediting project
Teapot and Cup: medieval studies
Steaming Mugs: religious studies
Acorn and Leaves: art history
Mushrooms: early modern studies

Yes, this is all for a single book.

#knitting #edibuddies #AmEditing
Knit strip for scarf in white and green. Teapot, teacup, and mugs surrounded by a geometric border. Knit strip for scarf in white and green. Acorn, leaves, and mushrooms (with pink caps) surrounded by a geometric border.
January 13, 2025 at 10:23 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
I’ve decided to knit a temperature-blanket-inspired scarf, except rather than temperature each month will record the kind of work project (indexing, editing, etc.) and the genre/s of the book in colourwork doodles.

So far, I have knit the bottom band.

#knitting #AmEditing #IndexSky #edibuddies
Knitted scarf, very partial (about 3.5 in long), stockinette. Colour work of deep blue with a biscuit contrast spelling out 2025. Flower doodles adorn the year on either side. (reverse, not pictured, looks the same.)
January 9, 2025 at 2:51 AM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Block party!

Top one is an old sweater my aunt knit that I’m reblocking. Bottom one is a birthday gift I knit for my daughter.

#knitting
Two sweaters pinned on a red matt, for blocking. Top sweater is an off-white cardigan with colourwork on the yoke and hem in navies and greys. Bottom sweater is a dark blue hip-length pullover with cabling on the yoke.
December 13, 2024 at 4:27 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Just rediscovered the soundtrack to Martin Guerre. I’d forgotten about it for years. The production I saw over 20 years ago still remains one of the best staged musicals I’ve ever seen.

Makes me want to reread NZD’s book.
Cover art for 1999 cast recording of Martin Guerre soundtrack. Fire theme on black. Cover to Natalie Zemon Davis’s book The Return of Martin Guerre. Central image is of peasant laborers from a book of hours (I think): two people threshing wheat, another sifting grain, another planting, and a fifth hauling a bag of grain up the ladder of a mill.
December 11, 2024 at 3:50 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Why I love winter: The cats become that much cuddlier with the cold weather.
Two cats on a red blanket on a person’s lap, a hand with knitting in forwground. Black cat looking chill. Grey-and-white cat caught mid-yawn.
December 8, 2024 at 1:53 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
In my indexing mugs, of course!
Two mugs. White one showing logo for Indexing Society of Canada. Dark blue tumbler from ASI’s 2024 conference. Back of the Indexing Society of Canada’s mug. ISC/SCI. Indexers.ca.
November 21, 2024 at 8:48 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
How I’ve celebrated National Indexing Day:

Indexed a book about books (how cool is that?)

Worked on a presentation about indexes, one full of recommendations for building better ebook indexes.

Graded student indexers’ final index assignments.

Looked up information in an index.

#indexingday
Logo for National Indexing Day from ASI. Logo is an owl made ip of a book is body and eyes as glasses. Anatomy of an indexer: detail oriented vision, analytical mind, hunger for knowledge, love of books, inquisitive spirit, enduring drive.
November 18, 2024 at 10:28 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Hello, new followers! I’m an indexer and editor, ttrpg gamer, knitter, stabbing-fabric-with-needles-er, and hiker. I used to be a professor of medieval history, and a good by-name will always turn my head. So far, the current leader is my guy William Lost-His-Pants. I post about all this. And cats.
Black cat on a bookshelf between reference books.
November 10, 2024 at 2:48 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Just a reminder: No Man Is Above The Law. Vote Blue!

Love this shirt from the League of Women Voters, designed by the ever awesome @messygoat.bsky.social
White tshirt with the rebus phrase No Man The Law; there is a divider between the first two and second two words such that no man is literally printed above the law. Vote blue is written at the bottom right.
November 5, 2024 at 12:58 PM
closereadingie.bsky.social
Kid can’t have chocolate, so we came up with a candy exchange rate to keep Halloween and trick-or-treating special.
Halloween Candy Trade-In 1 Chapter book = 10 pieces of candy 1 Graphic novel = 15 pieces of candy 1 Board game = 30 pieces of candy 1 Squishmallow = 40 pieces of candy NB: 1 full-size candy bar = 4 fun size
November 1, 2024 at 1:22 AM