Heather Shipman
@heathershipman.bsky.social
Former library e-resources specialist, on extreme hiatus for ME/CFS/fibro. Still alive, though!
TBR
Could be very exciting to actually be able to definitively identify which flavor(s) of chronic fatigue/pain/illness I am living in!
Could be very exciting to actually be able to definitively identify which flavor(s) of chronic fatigue/pain/illness I am living in!
Medical Republic: 'Fibromyalgia finally gets a genetic fingerprint'
'Additionally, certain risk loci overlapped with long covid (BPTF) and ME/CFS (OLFM4, RABGAP1L/GPR52), two poorly characterised disorders, albeit with different lead variants.'
www.medicalrepublic.com.au/fibromyalgia...
'Additionally, certain risk loci overlapped with long covid (BPTF) and ME/CFS (OLFM4, RABGAP1L/GPR52), two poorly characterised disorders, albeit with different lead variants.'
www.medicalrepublic.com.au/fibromyalgia...
Fibromyalgia finally gets a genetic fingerprint - Medical Republic
A massive global study links the chronic pain condition to 26 genes associated with brain signalling, marking a turning point in understanding its biological roots.
www.medicalrepublic.com.au
November 15, 2025 at 1:51 PM
TBR
Could be very exciting to actually be able to definitively identify which flavor(s) of chronic fatigue/pain/illness I am living in!
Could be very exciting to actually be able to definitively identify which flavor(s) of chronic fatigue/pain/illness I am living in!
Not mutually exclusive:
October 16, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Not mutually exclusive:
Reposted by Heather Shipman
Even in your darkest moments, I see your light, your worth. A true warrior does not give up, least of all on themselves.
October 15, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Even in your darkest moments, I see your light, your worth. A true warrior does not give up, least of all on themselves.
Many public libraries have ebooks/audiobooks these days, which you can browse and check out at midnight in your pajamas.
Many state-level libraries (think NYPL) issue library cards online, so rural patrons don't have to travel to their cities to get them.
Many state-level libraries (think NYPL) issue library cards online, so rural patrons don't have to travel to their cities to get them.
Please give me an unironic list of things that have gotten better over the last ten years because I’m spiraling.
I’ll start: you can buy an enormous TV from Costco for like $100 bucks now.
I’ll start: you can buy an enormous TV from Costco for like $100 bucks now.
September 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Many public libraries have ebooks/audiobooks these days, which you can browse and check out at midnight in your pajamas.
Many state-level libraries (think NYPL) issue library cards online, so rural patrons don't have to travel to their cities to get them.
Many state-level libraries (think NYPL) issue library cards online, so rural patrons don't have to travel to their cities to get them.
Reposted by Heather Shipman
We have existing narrative for big hero with the gun.
We do not have very well engrained narrative in US for "Quiet community work making incremental changes and passing baton to next person to keep going after you die."
We've made the first one sound glamorous. The second one sounds like WORK 😆
We do not have very well engrained narrative in US for "Quiet community work making incremental changes and passing baton to next person to keep going after you die."
We've made the first one sound glamorous. The second one sounds like WORK 😆
Everyone wants to be the hero with the crossbow and fallout shelter, no one wants to be one of many uncredited community members doing the inconvenient work of daily civic engagement 🫠
September 8, 2025 at 11:35 AM
We have existing narrative for big hero with the gun.
We do not have very well engrained narrative in US for "Quiet community work making incremental changes and passing baton to next person to keep going after you die."
We've made the first one sound glamorous. The second one sounds like WORK 😆
We do not have very well engrained narrative in US for "Quiet community work making incremental changes and passing baton to next person to keep going after you die."
We've made the first one sound glamorous. The second one sounds like WORK 😆
Reposted by Heather Shipman
I'm scared I will draw the Wrath of the Fanboys, but... this week on my newsletter I wrote about why I think the "Golden Age of Science Fiction" writers have so little appeal to a huge swathe of today's SF/F writers & readers.
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io/this-is-why-...
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io/this-is-why-...
this is why we don't read the Golden Age anymore.
There are so many histories of the future.
Spinning through timespace, studying this apocalypse, a key part of my undercover mission is studying stories about the future. When and where and how were ...
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io
September 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I'm scared I will draw the Wrath of the Fanboys, but... this week on my newsletter I wrote about why I think the "Golden Age of Science Fiction" writers have so little appeal to a huge swathe of today's SF/F writers & readers.
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io/this-is-why-...
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io/this-is-why-...
Reposted by Heather Shipman
My father worked in a tire factory in Appalachia. Friends and family in the military. Used to vote Republican. Got into college on a diversity program for the underprivileged. Ended up a Harvard professor. And now my funding is terminated because we're trying to stick it to the elites.
May 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
My father worked in a tire factory in Appalachia. Friends and family in the military. Used to vote Republican. Got into college on a diversity program for the underprivileged. Ended up a Harvard professor. And now my funding is terminated because we're trying to stick it to the elites.
Reposted by Heather Shipman
Good morning. Take a breath. We have a long way to go.
April 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Good morning. Take a breath. We have a long way to go.
Resting murder face:
April 6, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Resting murder face:
I'm learning to darn(?) and the cats are extremely excited about it. They're even willing to tolerate each other's presence on the chair with me so they can both hunt the yarn!
This is not convenient for my work, but entertaining nonetheless.
This is not convenient for my work, but entertaining nonetheless.
February 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I'm learning to darn(?) and the cats are extremely excited about it. They're even willing to tolerate each other's presence on the chair with me so they can both hunt the yarn!
This is not convenient for my work, but entertaining nonetheless.
This is not convenient for my work, but entertaining nonetheless.
Mouse 3 might be pregnant and it is HIGH DRAMA, these characters are so excited, I love it!
I'm really enjoying When the Stars Gossip!
It's space romance, on a now-ish space station, and so far each time I've doubted the plausibility of one of its silly elements and looked it up, the thing was REAL. (SuitSat, for example.)
It's space romance, on a now-ish space station, and so far each time I've doubted the plausibility of one of its silly elements and looked it up, the thing was REAL. (SuitSat, for example.)
February 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Mouse 3 might be pregnant and it is HIGH DRAMA, these characters are so excited, I love it!
Good news: we got our tax return! There is at least one person in the federal government still allowed to cut checks!
February 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Good news: we got our tax return! There is at least one person in the federal government still allowed to cut checks!
I'm watching The Menu, and getting a very "eat the rich" vibe, which I am here for.
I've been watching a lot of chef competitions lately, and I think I finally understand those super-expensive tiny-dish restaurants: "fine dining" is art for people who've never been hungry.
I've been watching a lot of chef competitions lately, and I think I finally understand those super-expensive tiny-dish restaurants: "fine dining" is art for people who've never been hungry.
February 2, 2025 at 1:11 AM
I'm watching The Menu, and getting a very "eat the rich" vibe, which I am here for.
I've been watching a lot of chef competitions lately, and I think I finally understand those super-expensive tiny-dish restaurants: "fine dining" is art for people who've never been hungry.
I've been watching a lot of chef competitions lately, and I think I finally understand those super-expensive tiny-dish restaurants: "fine dining" is art for people who've never been hungry.
I'm really enjoying When the Stars Gossip!
It's space romance, on a now-ish space station, and so far each time I've doubted the plausibility of one of its silly elements and looked it up, the thing was REAL. (SuitSat, for example.)
It's space romance, on a now-ish space station, and so far each time I've doubted the plausibility of one of its silly elements and looked it up, the thing was REAL. (SuitSat, for example.)
February 1, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I'm really enjoying When the Stars Gossip!
It's space romance, on a now-ish space station, and so far each time I've doubted the plausibility of one of its silly elements and looked it up, the thing was REAL. (SuitSat, for example.)
It's space romance, on a now-ish space station, and so far each time I've doubted the plausibility of one of its silly elements and looked it up, the thing was REAL. (SuitSat, for example.)
I'm crocheting a circular blanket, and Juniper's favorite thing is to sit on whatever I'm working on.
We have not yet perfected the cat taco, but we remain optimistic.
We have not yet perfected the cat taco, but we remain optimistic.
January 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I'm crocheting a circular blanket, and Juniper's favorite thing is to sit on whatever I'm working on.
We have not yet perfected the cat taco, but we remain optimistic.
We have not yet perfected the cat taco, but we remain optimistic.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you remove your spacesuit's helmet while investigating a haunted moon base that has already killed its entire population in some mysterious manner.
Dead looters on the doorstep are also a red flag. Keep your helmet ON.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you remove your spacesuit's helmet while investigating a haunted moon base that has already killed its entire population in some mysterious manner.
Dead looters on the doorstep are also a red flag. Keep your helmet ON.
January 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I don't know who needs to hear this, but:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you remove your spacesuit's helmet while investigating a haunted moon base that has already killed its entire population in some mysterious manner.
Dead looters on the doorstep are also a red flag. Keep your helmet ON.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you remove your spacesuit's helmet while investigating a haunted moon base that has already killed its entire population in some mysterious manner.
Dead looters on the doorstep are also a red flag. Keep your helmet ON.
Alas, poor Yorick! 😭
January 21, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Alas, poor Yorick! 😭
Seems like a good day to ponder upon pink elephants.
A day may come when I understand colors and shadows and blending, but it is not this day. Maybe tomorrow.
A day may come when I understand colors and shadows and blending, but it is not this day. Maybe tomorrow.
January 21, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Seems like a good day to ponder upon pink elephants.
A day may come when I understand colors and shadows and blending, but it is not this day. Maybe tomorrow.
A day may come when I understand colors and shadows and blending, but it is not this day. Maybe tomorrow.
I started playing Venba, and am having the disorienting combination of an enthusiastic "that recipe looks fun, I want to try it!" immediately followed by the paralyzing horror of "my child, too, will soon grow up and leave me behind".
January 13, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I started playing Venba, and am having the disorienting combination of an enthusiastic "that recipe looks fun, I want to try it!" immediately followed by the paralyzing horror of "my child, too, will soon grow up and leave me behind".
Reposted by Heather Shipman
Here’s a fun (short) paper by a NASA scientist explaining why we should go build cloud cities on Venus because “At cloud-top level, Venus is the paradise planet” ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citation...
ntrs.nasa.gov
January 12, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Here’s a fun (short) paper by a NASA scientist explaining why we should go build cloud cities on Venus because “At cloud-top level, Venus is the paradise planet” ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citation...
Reposted by Heather Shipman
This is such a powerful observation about why ableism is so inherent in U.S. society. From A Disability History of the United States by Kim Nielsen.
January 3, 2025 at 2:11 AM
This is such a powerful observation about why ableism is so inherent in U.S. society. From A Disability History of the United States by Kim Nielsen.
Absolutely gonna use this when I someday crawl up out of my pandemicmenopausechronicfatiguepain abyss.
Ynterviewere: Kan you explayne this gap in your resume?
Gandalf: Then Darknesse took me, and I strayede out of thoughte and tyme, and I wanderid far on roades that I will not telle.
Gandalf: Then Darknesse took me, and I strayede out of thoughte and tyme, and I wanderid far on roades that I will not telle.
December 22, 2024 at 5:15 PM
Absolutely gonna use this when I someday crawl up out of my pandemicmenopausechronicfatiguepain abyss.
I thought Duo was my FRIEND, all supportive and stuff, but last week that owl warned me I was only safe from him "for now", and today he threatened me with Squid Game if I don't do my Korean lesson.
I feel that Duo's newfound... authoritarianism?... has escalated really fast, and I do not like it.
I feel that Duo's newfound... authoritarianism?... has escalated really fast, and I do not like it.
December 12, 2024 at 2:43 PM
I thought Duo was my FRIEND, all supportive and stuff, but last week that owl warned me I was only safe from him "for now", and today he threatened me with Squid Game if I don't do my Korean lesson.
I feel that Duo's newfound... authoritarianism?... has escalated really fast, and I do not like it.
I feel that Duo's newfound... authoritarianism?... has escalated really fast, and I do not like it.
Story of my life, friend birdo.
December 12, 2024 at 1:49 AM
Story of my life, friend birdo.