Lisa Eckstein
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lisaeckstein.com
Lisa Eckstein
@lisaeckstein.com
190 followers 260 following 520 posts
Reader. Writer. Big fan of human rights for everyone.
Pronouns: she/her. Pronounce: EX-teen.
Physical location: Silicon Valley, CA. Digital location: lisaeckstein.com
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lisaeckstein.com
I bought some persimmons to eat myself, but I also gave the rest of the household persimmon permission.

(None of them want to eat persimmons. Or to hear me make this same little wordplay every fall.)
Three orangey-yellow persimmons arranged on a speckled countertop.
November 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
lisaeckstein.com
I have knitted half (ish*) of a cardigan! (*After knitting the matching other side, I'll extend at the bottom and the front, so I'm less than 50% done.)
Me modeling my cardigan-in-progress, close-up on my extended right arm and the side of my torso. The sweater is knitted from variegated yarns in several dominant colors: The cuff is green, the rest of the sleeve is purple, and the torso is orange. Me from the back with right arm extended, modeling my half-cardigan. The sweater is knitted from variegated yarns in several dominant colors: The middle of the back is green, the rest of the torso is orange, and the sleeve is purple with a green cuff.
November 10, 2025 at 9:03 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Good clouds this morning.
Clouds dabbed thinly across the sky in a pleasing arrangement of clumps. More cloud clumps, forming a pattern of alternating denser and sparser lines.
November 7, 2025 at 5:35 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Bright color day
Two tree branches in front of a bright blue sky. On the left, bright pink flowers. On the right, bright yellow leaves.
November 6, 2025 at 11:14 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Sky lines
Blue sky lined with airplane trails at several different angles and thicknesses. Along with these cloud lines are a couple of cloud patches, one puffy, the other a smear.
November 4, 2025 at 11:40 PM
lisaeckstein.com
I voted. (Over a week ago, by mail, an option I am so grateful that California provides to everyone!)
Photo of the I Voted sticker for the County of Santa Clara (California). "I Voted" appears in 9 languages, though English is by far the largest.
November 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
lisaeckstein.com
#FridayReads Just started The Unveiling by Quan Barry. So far we have an Antarctic cruise that's sure to go terribly wrong, and a narrator I am excited to experience the horrors with.
Cover of The Unveiling by Quan Barry. The illustration is an upside down iceberg, with the bulk of it pointing upward into a red background, and the smaller portion pointing down into a cloudy sky.
October 31, 2025 at 9:43 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Hm, immediately next in my feed. @thelincoln.bsky.social, are you a real estate novelist now?
Publishers Marketplace screenshot from Lincoln Michel: "Author of METALLIC REALMS and THE BODY SCOUT and the Substack Counter Craft Lincoln Michel's HAUNTED HILLS, following a young woman invited to sell real estate in a development full of haunted houses using her unique ability to commune with the dead..."
October 31, 2025 at 4:01 PM
lisaeckstein.com
I did not love seeing a security robot at my health care clinic, but I did love the ensuing conversation with my awesome peeps.
Screenshot of a text conversation. I shared a photo of a tall, narrow, not-at-all-humanoid robot labeled "Security", and said: "this SecUnit looks a lot less fun than Murderbot. not clear to me what it was doing - I guess nothing, seems to be docked at its base station" One person responded "it's probably watching sanctuary moon" Simultaneously, a second person responded "Watching sanctuary moon" Both responses received laughing-crying reactions.
October 28, 2025 at 12:41 AM
lisaeckstein.com
Adorned my latest batch of @votefwd.bsky.social letters with Life Magnified stamps and happy frog stickers. Still time to claim letters and write this weekend to get out the vote for Prop 50!
Stamped envelopes stacked on top of a sheet of Life Magnified postage stamps. Each stamp has a microscopic image magnified to show off shapes and colors, including blood cells, pollen, and human hair. The top envelope is backside-up with a frog sticker - the Keroppi character from Sanrio.
October 24, 2025 at 10:21 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Two great cloud looks, half an hour apart
Dabs of white clouds sponge-painted onto the dark blue sky Pink sunset clouds radiating out over the utility lines
October 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
lisaeckstein.com
Sent today's @votefwd.bsky.social letters on their way with National Marine Sanctuaries stamps and some Peanuts Halloween stickers that might have been in my random sticker collection for several decades.
A small stack of envelopes showing off their stamps, on top of a stamp sheet titled "National Marine Sanctuaries." The stamps feature fish, otters, seals, whales, seabirds, and ocean scenes. The top envelope is backside-up to show a sticker where the envelope closes. The sticker has Snoopy (the Peanuts character) thinking "He's coming! The Great Pumpkin is coming!" while leaning on some pumpkins with Woodstock.
October 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Writing @votefwd.bsky.social letters to get out the vote for the California special election. You can sign up to send letters to registered Democrats who are unlikely to vote at votefwd.org
A printed out letter template reads: "This year, CA voters will vote on whether to adopt new, temporary congressional maps. The power is in your hands. Dear [blank], Your vote on Prop 50 matters because..."
October 20, 2025 at 1:20 AM
lisaeckstein.com
Raindrops on roses after a big storm yesterday.
A dark pink rose with raindrops dotting the petals. A white rosebud, glistening with rainwater. A bright yellow rose with many close layers of petal holding raindrops. A pale pink rose with raindrops gathered on the lower petals.
October 14, 2025 at 7:27 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Cloud hole with dashes
A hole in the clouds where a patch of blue sky shows through. Inside this hole, small lines of clouds like dashes appear in a regular pattern.
October 13, 2025 at 7:25 PM
lisaeckstein.com
A few more of my many photos from The Last Bookstore in downtown Los Angeles.
A round column of books with black covers in front of shelves arranged by other colors. The entrance to the Danger Room, decorated with sculptures that look like sawblades. The room inside is graffitied, including with a message that says "Fuck ICE". The fancy door of a bank vault, open to show a room full of old books. Above the door is an arrangement of books with iconic covers, including The Color Purple, Maus, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A sign over the exit reading "Thank you for visiting The Last Bookstore. You are now re-entering the real world."
October 10, 2025 at 11:18 PM
lisaeckstein.com
I spent a few days in Los Angeles for a family event and a bit of tourism. Visited The Last Bookstore in downtown LA for some very fun browsing.
A wide shot inside The Last Bookstore, taken from the second floor balcony, looking down on an open space full of bookshelves. The room is also full of huge columns, and the ceiling is intricately decorated. The space used to be an old bank! A tunnel made out of books that form a curved arch. The walls and ceiling have fancy panels painted red, black, and gold. Inside the book tunnel, lit with string lights. Me smiling through a round hole made out of books inside one of the bookshelves.
October 10, 2025 at 11:18 PM
lisaeckstein.com
#FridayReads So happy to dive into @charliejane.bsky.social's newest, Lessons in Magic and Disaster, and be instantly invested in the characters, the emotions, and the 18th century literary mystery!
Hardcover of the novel Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders ("nationally bestselling author"). The cover consists of blocky yellow text over a purple background with a design that looks like cracks in stone or maybe bare tree branches overhead. Daisy flowers are scattered about. A tagline at the bottom reads: "Witchcraft is hard. Families are harder...."
October 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Another nice variety of cloud textures this morning.
Clouds in the bright blue sky above treetops. The lower clouds are iconically puffy. Higher up, they form a thin layer of clumps and streaks.
September 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Speaking from experience: They didn't cut it, and it grew.
New York Times headline: Why Do So Many Women Have Long Hair Now? Accompanying photo is of a white woman with long dark hair.
September 30, 2025 at 1:05 AM
lisaeckstein.com
Third #FridayReads, to relax from the heavy content of the first two, is Love and Lemongrass by Shannon Page. The second book in the Island of Second Chances series rejoins the lives of soup group friends as they figure out new (and renewed) relationships and small-town politics.
The cover of Love and Lemongrass by Shannon Page, book two, Island of Second Chances. The illustrated cover shows a woman in a red dress facing away toward a moon rising over a landscape.
September 27, 2025 at 12:36 AM
lisaeckstein.com
Second completely different #FridayReads is The Lions of Winter: Survival and Sacrifice on Mount Washington by Ty Gagne. This is the harrowing true story (from 1982) of climbers lost in the frigid mountains and a heroic search mission that led to the death of a rescuer.
Paperback book on a table is The Lions of Winter: Survival and Sacrifice on Mount Washington by Ty Gagne. The black-and-white cover shows the slopes of Mount Washington covered in snow.
September 27, 2025 at 12:36 AM
lisaeckstein.com
First #FridayReads is The Trees by Percival Everett, a slapstick sort of comedy about mysterious murders in 2018 in Money, Mississippi, where a strangely familiar dead body keeps turning up and disappearing again. (Look up the historical events of Money, MS if you don't recognize the name.)
Cover of The Trees by Percival Everett (by the author of Telephone and So Much Blue). The title is yellow letters against a dark background. A close look shows that the background holds long lists of names. Context from the book suggests these names are Black victims of lynching in the United States.
September 27, 2025 at 12:36 AM
lisaeckstein.com
Sitting outside in 80 degrees to read this harrowing story of lost climbers in danger of freezing to death and the valiant rescue mission.
Th book is The Lions of Winter: Survival and Sacrifice on Mount Washington by Ty Gagne. The cover is the slopes of Mount Washington covered in snow.
September 25, 2025 at 10:58 PM
lisaeckstein.com
Good variety of clouds this morning.
On the left side of the sky, the clouds are clumpy. On the right, smooth and wispy like cotton candy. Clouds stacked up in layers with different densities of clumps. A diagonal stretch of cloud clumps across the sky.
September 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM