Leila Walker
LightNews LightNews
lwalker.bsky.social
Leila Walker
@lwalker.bsky.social
820 followers 670 following 750 posts
Assistant Professor in an academic library. Publishes on British romantic literature, climate change, plant humanities, librarianship, social justice, and pedagogy. Not gay as in happy, queer as in free Palestine.
Posts Replies Media Videos
lwalker.bsky.social
The Dean stopped by my office again today with the results of the vote 🎉🙌🍾
Celebration time woot
November 20, 2025 at 10:58 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Greetings from the library!
2 empty chairs face each other, much in the manner of gestalt. A ceiling tile is propped against the wall next to them. Above, the gap in the ceiling where the tile used to be reveals clumps of wires bunched like intestines. A portrait of Lincoln hangs in the background. The library is empty.
November 6, 2025 at 2:46 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Seen on my first long (ish) run since completing PT. Today’s going to be a good one, I can feel it.
A clear blue sky over the Ridgewood Reservoir, as seen through green, yellow, and red fall foliage.
November 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
This is my favorite part of the Terms of Service we have to agree to in order to access the campus Wi-Fi.
The terms of service for the internet at my college require us to agree to “hold harmless the Hospital from any costs, expenses or liabilities” if we misuse the internet. Ok 🤷‍♀️
November 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Happy Marathon Day to all who celebrate.
A party outside a Brooklyn brownstone. A poster hanging from the second story reads “NY❤️YOU”
November 2, 2025 at 6:57 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
We celebrated Day of the Dead with Chester for the first time last night. He spent like 2 hours dangling over our laps. Then he went on a biting spree.
A black and white cat manages to dangle across two whole laps while his doting humans pet him.
November 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Chester is a whole mood for Halloween.
A black and white cat is draped in a semi sheer blanket, staring at a banana toy like it’s the dagger from Macbeth.
November 1, 2025 at 1:31 AM
lwalker.bsky.social
I was planning to wait until Tuesday to vote. Then I learned about the stickers. #GOTV
3 early voting stickers: a regular NYC early voting sticker, a Queens sticker, and a Halloween sticker, and also a temporary tattoo. I didn’t know there were tattoos!
October 31, 2025 at 2:09 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Close up of the Peace and Freedom section
October 29, 2025 at 10:29 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
I love how beautiful and different all these interpretations of the ofrenda are. Display in the QC library by Spanish students ❤️🇵🇸
October 29, 2025 at 10:28 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
I had one of those you-don’t-even-have-to-boil-water packets of what noodles from Trader Joe’s, and celery and cilantro from the CSA, so I made an elaborate Szechuan peppercorn noodle salad, because I’m Leila and I’ve been making simple things difficult since 1979.
September 12, 2025 at 4:33 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
This sweet angel baby has been waking us up at 4am for MONTHS to ask for dry food. Last night we left some out in the slow feeder. He woke me up at 4am, and trundled off to the kitchen, looking backward occasionally to make sure I was following, so I could WATCH HIM EAT from the slow feeder.
A giant panda cat loafs on the bed with all 5 limbs under his body. His mouth is open and he looks like he’s screaming at someone, probably about dry food.
September 12, 2025 at 4:03 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
NOODLES.
September 6, 2025 at 12:30 AM
lwalker.bsky.social
I love this book so much.
Automatic Noodl by Annalee Newitz.
September 5, 2025 at 11:04 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Contemplative dinosaur meme: "Knowledge is knowing that Frankenstein is not the monster. Wisdom is knowing that Frankenstein is the monster."
August 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Just tried to purchase a dehumidifier for my office, the same one we bought for home earlier in the summer, and it doesn't appear to deliver to the US anymore. Yay.
The product in your cart is not available for delivery to your location. Change delivery address or empty cart and return to store.
August 27, 2025 at 12:02 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
There's a section in "Snow Crash" (1992) that isn't particularly relevant to the plot: YT's mom works for what remains of the US government, and spends her day navigating the surveillance systems that monitor every keystroke. I've been thinking about that a lot lately.
"Not that it's any big secret, who comes in first. When you sign on to a workstation in the morning, it's not like the central computer doesn't notice that fact. The central computer notices just about everything. Keeps track of every key you hit on the keyboard, all day long, what time you hit it, down to the microsecond, whether it was the right key or the wrong key, how many" mistakes you make and when you make them. You're only required to be at your workstation from eight to five, with a half-hour lunch break and two ten-minute coffee breaks, but if you stuck to that schedule it would definitely be noticed, which is why Y.T.'s mom is sliding into the first unoccupied workstation and signing on to her machine at quarter to seven. Half a dozen other people are already here, signed on to workstations closer to the entrance, but this isn't bad. She can look forward to a reasonably stable career if she can keep up this sort of performance. The Feds still operate in Flatland. None of this threedimensional stuff, no goggles, no stereo sound. The computers are all basic flat-screen two-dimensional numbers. Windows appear on the desktop, with little text documents inside. All part of the austerity program. Soon to reap major benefits. She signs on and checks her mail. No personal mail, just a couple of massdistributed pronouncements from Marietta. Y.T.'s mom pulls up the new memo, checks the time, and starts reading it. The estimated reading time is 15.62 minutes. Later, when Marietta does her end-ofday statistical roundup, sitting in her private office at 9:00 P.M., she will see the name of each employee and next to it, the amount of time spent reading this memo, and her reaction, based on the time spent, will go something like this: Less than 10 min.: Time for an employee conference and possible attitude counseling. 10-14 min.: Keep an eye on this employee; may be developing slipshod attitude. 14-15.61 min.: Employee is an efficient worker, may sometimes miss important details. Exactly 15.62 min.: Smartass. Needs attitude counseling. 15.63-16 min.: Asswipe. Not to be trusted. 16-18 min.: Employee is a methodical worker, may sometimes get hung up on minor details. More than 18 min.: Check the security videotape, see just what this employee was up to (e.g., possible unauthorized restroom break). Y.T.'s mom decides to spend between fourteen and fifteen minutes reading the memo. It's better for younger workers to spend too long, to show that they're careful, not cocky. It's better for older workers to go a little fast, to show good management potential. She's pushing forty. She scans through the memo, hitting the Page Down button at reasonably regular intervals, occasionally paging back up to pretend to reread some earlier section. The computer is going to notice all this. It approves of rereading. It's a small thing, but over a decade or so this stuff really shows up on your work-habits summary.
August 26, 2025 at 2:34 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
CHESTER.
A white and black cat is making kitty love eyes while gently shoving his human aside. He is on his back and very relaxed.
August 23, 2025 at 9:05 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Bad ideas, Chester edition.
A giant baby cat sits on a table with one paw dangling into the hole in a cat tunnel where an unsuspecting cat gentleman waits demurely.
August 19, 2025 at 11:11 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
I did this to Vicky. It’s my fault. The cat community is right to punish me forever.
August 9, 2025 at 3:38 AM
lwalker.bsky.social
Venture far enough back in any bodega at 8:30am on a Saturday and you will inevitably find a group of men drinking Modelos. Maybe you're carrying a kitten that wandered out of the bodega. Maybe one of those men reaches his arms out with pure wonder on his face to take the kitten. I love NYC.
August 2, 2025 at 2:33 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Chester is learning how to cope.
July 28, 2025 at 2:22 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Good morning gorgeous.
A purple and white variegated morning glory in a sidewalk rain garden.
July 15, 2025 at 11:22 AM
lwalker.bsky.social
It’s Chester’s rug. We just walk on it.
A white and black cat sits alertly on a round rug with a pink flamingo print while a tuxedo cat looks on from the other room.
July 5, 2025 at 11:35 PM
lwalker.bsky.social
Cheers.
July 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM