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not-soft.bsky.social
Dianna 〰️
@not-soft.bsky.social
1K followers 790 following 780 posts
Maker. Ex-expat. Cat lady w/ no cat. Avid reader, word-enjoyer, native plant gardener. 🩷 design, architecture. City girl. Dual-citizen. Progressive. ENG/ITA/some DE

📍 Tulsa, Oklahoma
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not-soft.bsky.social
But you seem to know what’s up.

FWIW, I haven’t been here long enough to know *any* ins & outs irt pretty much anything in OK, but it’s all clownery here from what I can gather. Decades of it? & Stitt is a Top Ten clown for sure. Also, COMBATING POLLUTION IS WOKE

I mean: nondoc.com/2024/12/03/k...
[screenshot from linked NonDoc article] "I'm disappointed that Ken McQueen would join AG Drummond, former AG Drew Edmondson and environmentalists in opposition to Oklahoma farmers and landowners by appearing at a court hearing today in his capacity as secretary," Stitt said on Twitter. "This nearly two-decade-old case is a radical left attempt at backdoor regulation through litigation. I've fired him from his position as secretary of energy and environment and director of the Department of Energy effective immediately."
December 13, 2024 at 3:11 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Caught with a manifesto in ALTOONA?! Tipped off by an elderly man at McDonald’s? Holding on to his same old fake IDs?

What a derp in the narrative people have been constructing around & for this guy. Mini-series just tanked
[screenshot of New York Times] UnitedHealthcare C.E.O. Shooting • Updates • What We Know Just Now Andy Newman The handwritten manifesto found on the person of the man detained in Altoona criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, according to a senior law enforcement official. 5 minutes ago Andy Newman The man detained in the McDonald's had written a "manifesto," according to two law enforcement officials.
December 9, 2024 at 5:54 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
If the curious history in the below post snags your interest, have I got a book rec for you. Folkloric, multi-cultured, arid, weaving, & well…ghostly. Quite a few specters in this one, actually

🐪🐪 "INLAND" by Téa Obreht

#booksky
[book cover] INLAND TÉA OBREHT Orange Prize-winning author of THE TIGER'S WIFE A bold & quite abstract digital painting of a desert landscape at sunset with a stunningly colorful sky in bright yellow, orange, lilac. Fuchsia, and pink. The bottom of the image is a rough, rocky, arid landscape in deep shadow. Top of the book cover has a brief blurb: ‘A natural born storyteller' DAILY TELEGRAPH 💙📚
December 8, 2024 at 8:45 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Here’s one. Well, sorta. It is prominently woven into the novel “INLAND” by Téa Obreht:
[book cover] INLAND TÉA OBREHT Orange Prize-winning author of THE TIGER'S WIFE A very abstract digital painting of a desert landscape at sunset with a stunningly colorful sky in bright yellow, orange, lilac. Fuchsia, and pink. The bottom of the image is a rough landscape in deep shadow. Top of the book cover has a blurb: 'A natural born storyteller' DAILY TELEGRAPH
December 8, 2024 at 8:22 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Fuck.

Also, reposting with ALT:
The change in ideology is clear from Trump's cabinet picks. While the total net worth of the officials in Biden's Cabinet was about $118 million, Laura Mannweiler of U.S. News and World Report noted, a week ago she estimated the worth of Trump's roster of appointees to be at least $344.4 billion, more than the gross domestic product of 169 countries. That number did not include his pick for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, whose net worth is hard to find.
December 6, 2024 at 3:46 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Fun historical/scientific/archeological tangent for anyone who read ‘Ministry of Time’

(with linked article in thread of a recent discovery)

#booksky
Book cover: “The Ministry of Time” a novel by Kaliane Bradley The typography of the book cover dominates the design, the letters are 3D and very colorful, catchy because they’re colors that almost jar…just a little bit odd, a little bit vintage (peach, bright yellow, olive green, white, pink, mustard, orange, mid blue); they seem to pop out from the deep black background dotted with tiny white stars. The cover bears two yellow seals: a bright yellow “New York Times Bestseller” & another paler yellow seal with a graphic for the GMA Book Club Blurbs in small type at the top of the cover: "Utterly winning." —THE WASHINGTON POST "Witty, sexy, escapist fiction that packs a substantial punch.” -LOS ANGELES TIMES
December 5, 2024 at 4:25 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Yes! Thank you. Anyone who was reading lifestyle/design blogs in the late 00s/early 10s was like “wait all these white women lifestyle bloggers are Mormon” & it was Weird. They were the OG pre-IG influencers & it does, interestingly, tie back to their religion/church/long-standing journaling habits:
[screenshot from linked 2011 Salon article] So why are Mormon women such prolific bloggers? "It probably has something to do with the fact that Mormons are the world's biggest journal-keepers," says my husband, offering a partial explanation. Church elders have long encouraged members to keep regular journals for the dual purposes of historical record-keeping and promoting spiritual insight, and as a result Mormons are champion journalers and scrapbookers. In the 2000s, church elders began officially promoting new media technologies like blogs as a way of spreading the gospel, and the Mormon blogging community soon became so large it earned itself a punny nickname: the Bloggernacle.
December 4, 2024 at 6:56 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Damn. Posting the ALT below in case that’s helpful, but do you have a link to that article?
A Wall Street Journal report in July 2024 concluded that UnitedHealth was the worst offender among private insurers who made dubious diagnoses in their clients in order to trigger large payments from the government's Medicare Advantage program. The patients often did not receive any treatment for those insurer-added diagnoses. The report, based on Medicare data obtained from the federal government under a research agreement, calculated that insurer-added diagnoses by UnitedHealth for diseases that no doctor treated, triggered $8.7 billion in 2021 payments to the company - over half of its net income of $17 billion for that year.
December 4, 2024 at 5:52 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Reposting w ALT because 👀

Tf
[screenshot from Twitter] Sarah Kogod @SarahKogod 👇👇 Once justified his refusal to wash his own dishes in the shared work kitchen by explaining that his salary vs. the office assistant's hourly pay meant that it was more economical for our company to have her to wash his dishes than for him to do it. So... x.com/mattyglesias/s... [This post is unavailable] ie. this is a quote tweet to a deleted Matt Yglesias tweet 12:18 PM • 1/6/21 203 comments 3K retweets 19K hearts 354 bookmarks
December 4, 2024 at 3:05 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
(butterfly tax)
Side view of a very large eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, gently perched on an upright purple hyssop flower in early bloom. The butterfly’s body is a muted, powdery buttery yellow with black details and perky antennas, the large yellow wings fill most of the frame and have a tiger-like black stripe pattern at the top. The bottom of the wings are black, blue, and gold. A few other hyssop flowers & an out of focus white water feature can be seen in the background. (If the photo is opened all the way, a small bee is caught at the bottom center of the frame! Lil cutie)
December 4, 2024 at 2:27 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Oh wow yes Córdoba as well 😍

& yes I get what you mean about that intersection…the entire Levant which I’ve not been able to visit but have long wanted to! Only saw Istanbul from the air, but was SO struck by the expansive scale & the form the city & exurbs & built environment take. Like, woah!👇🏼
November 29, 2024 at 11:46 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
“A Meme-able Feast”

And oh hey, shout-out Penn State (& Playboy). The blog post ends with this, which made me smile:
[Screenshot from linked article] How to cite this blog in MLA 8: Author's Last Name, Author's First Name. "Title of Post." THR Blog [in italics], The Hemingway Foundation and Society, Date blog was published, Link to blog entry (omit http:// or https://).
November 29, 2024 at 10:03 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
A brief illumination about a corner of Oklahoma I’m still unfamiliar with; a slice of history with a side of fried okra & onion rings; an emotional arrangement.

(To be frank I need all the help I can get understanding this place, especially as an outsider of the non-S.E. Hinton variety)
[Screenshot from linked Eater article] Oklahoma's deep conservatism has roots in its allegiance to that past. Not to history, with its dates and sobering facts, but to the past, which is more of an emotional arrangement. There's a sense things used to be better before modernity complicated everything and made men soft. At the same time, Oklahoma's rampant poverty and low quality of life are today's stand-ins for the ambient hardships of the frontier that once defined the cowboy, that chivalrous paragon of masculinity. There's pride and identity in hardship.
November 26, 2024 at 3:27 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Reposting w/ ALT

(& also reconsidering where to draw the line on prison abolition)
Leah Barnes, 28, a wedding planner and floral designer from York, Pa., said she identified as a "theater kid," having performed in school and college productions for 15 years. Though she has never seen the Broadway production of "Wicked," she has memorized the show's songs. Barnes said she cried the day she found out a "Wicked" movie was being released. Now, she's excited to sing her heart out alongside some "amazing theater kids" this Friday. "People who just are judgmental in that way - please wait to stream it," Barnes said. During the first two weeks of the release, she said, moviegoers should expect singing. "Don't go the first day and yell at people for singing, for sharing that kind of joy, when we've been waiting so long in anticipation for this movie." Barnes's favorite song on the cast recording is "For Good," about two people who change each other for the better, which she said she used to sing with her twin sister. "You can't stop someone who loves it so much," she said.
November 22, 2024 at 5:21 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Oh the SNARK of NonDoc using this guy’s own words against him to finish off their article about this bozo with a DUNK.

Journalism!!
Screenshot of article from NonDoc: "Somebody gets into that position, and they get a little drunk on power, prestige, whatever, and they don't know how to handle that," Lynn said. "That is one of the things that drives me insane in life, is people that have a position of power that have no idea how to handle it." [Article is linked in quote-skeet]
November 22, 2024 at 5:02 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Oh my gosh this makes me happy! TY! I promise it’s a boon for search & of course it’s inclusive of everyone, too ☺️

There’s a setting you can select under accessibility that will remind you to post ALT w/ your images, too:
Screenshot of Bluesky’s new Accessibility settings page on iPhone Accessibility Alt text options: • Require alt text before posting • Display larger alt text badges Haptics • Disable haptic feedback Find it: sidebar > settings > accessibility
November 21, 2024 at 12:56 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Lovely indeed. For all of us, & so:

Reposting w/ ALT
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. [photograph from a page in a book, slightly tilted, with the shadow of a hand and a phone]
November 20, 2024 at 5:09 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
JUST READ ——& #amreading

my first post to #booksky
Book cover: “ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST” by XOCHITL GONZALEZ New York Times BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF Olga Dies Dreaming Graphic illustration of a closely cropped hot pink closeup of a building, framed by darker pink foliage at the corners. The focal point of the image is a bold, arched window in orange, which periscopes into a darker fuchsia arch. Inside the vignette is a duo-tone pink illustration of the partial 3/4 profile of a woman who seems…confident, chin slightly raised as she looks out at us. The typography is in a deep yellow. A bright and impactful cover (yes I judge a book by its cover) Book cover: ELIZA CLARK, “PENANCE” A NOVEL Top half of the cover is in a deep peach with bold, modern, clean typography of the author’s name in black, and the title below it in white. The title rests on top edge of a photograph of 3 teen girls, seated at the sea side with their backs to us. The middle girl’s head has been scribbled out by an ink pen; the scribble over her head like a mad cloud. GRANTA Best of Young British Novelists 2023 (in smaller gold circle over right image like a seal)
November 19, 2024 at 3:05 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Tulsa! Mayor-elect Monroe Nichols will be speaking at the monthly Tulsa Co. Dem meeting next week.

TRULY the best result from the election ‘round these parts amiright? What a bright spot!

I could (maybe?) use more than 30 minutes of being social tho if anyone wants to go (lol)

[Reposting w/ ALT]
[TCDP] TULSA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY MONTHLY GATHERING Tuesday, November 26th 6:00PM SOCIAL 6:30 PM MEETING Join us to hear from Mayor-Elect Monroe Nichols! Rudisill Regional Library 1520 N Hartford Ave Tulsa, OK 74106 [White, blue, and yellow graphic with a smiling photo of Mayor-Elect Monroe Nichols wearing a suit]
November 18, 2024 at 12:46 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Thank you for saying so.

Oklahoma is also *49th* in education now, thankyouverymuch OOP

And that happened QUICKLY

Tweets from 2023 that sum it up perfectly:
Screenshot of tweet: Dennis L Baker @DennisLBaker In 2011, Oklahoma Democrat Gov Brad Henry handed Repub Gov Mary Fallin a state ranked 17 in Public Education. After 8 years of Fallin & 4 of Repub Gov Kevin Stitt we rank 48 in Public Education. 17 to 48 after 12 years of Republican under-funding, privatizing & culture wars. 9:07 AM • 1/8/23 • Twitter Web App [continuation of tweet] **Republicans had total control of State (Government, House, Senate, Gov) during the entire time period our State Edu system collapsed. Nobody to blame but Republicans 9:29 AM • 1/8/23 • Twitter for iPhone
November 17, 2024 at 1:41 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Reposting w/ ALT
[screenshots of emails] Dear Daniel Kibblesmith, We have been approached by HarperCollins regarding a deal they have made with an Al company. Details are in the note below and attached. They would like to include Santa's Husband in the program. Let me know what you think, positive or negative, and we can handle the rest of this for you. All best, You are receiving this memo because we have been informed by HarperCollins that they would like permission to include your book in an overall deal that they are making with a large tech company to use a broad swath of nonfiction books for the purpose of providing content for the training of an Al language learning model. You are likely aware, as we all are, that there are controversies surrounding the use of copyrighted material in the training of Al models. Much of the controversy comes from the fact that many companies seem to be doing so without acknowledging or compensating the original creators. And of course there is concern that these Al models may one day make us all obsolete. [screenshot of email memo continued] That said, the technology is here and is being used. We are somewhat heartened to see that a major publishing company and a major tech company have found a way to do this that compensates and protects authors to some degree. (HarperCollins has been required to keep this company's identify confidential, but we have good reason to believe it is a major and respected company.) Please read through the attached memo from HarperCollins, which explains how this will proceed and the compensation and protection that is part of the deal. But in a nutshell, it will be a payment of $2,500 per title, not applied against any advance, for a license period of three years, with certain protections concerning credit and limits of verbatim usage per Al response. We know that these terms have already been negotiated between HarperCollins and the tech company and has been agreed to by several hundred authors, so individual negotiation at this point isn't possible. It's a yes or no choice. We have done some negotiation to make the language of the contractual amendment more specific and limited. (black & white profile pic of OP, the same as his Bluesky pfp) me 11:34 AM to: [marked out with red line] I decline and do not consent to any of our material being used for Al training.
November 16, 2024 at 2:14 AM
not-soft.bsky.social
Oklahoma has surpassed the inflection point where vaccine exemptions mean higher risk for communities—ie. where outbreaks become more prevalent.

(CDC notes that 5% is that benchmark, OK is at 5.7% among kindergarteners)

Alarming.

2024 numbers via KOSU: www.kosu.org/health/2024-...
Screenshot from linked article: KOSU npr Oklahoma's vaccine exemption rates among kindergartners have risen from 4.7% in the 2022-2023 school year to 5.7% the following year. Nearly 3,000 Oklahoma kindergartners had one or more exemptions for childhood vaccines during the past school year, according to the CDC. Oklahoma's vaccine exemption rates among kindergartners have risen from 4.7% in the 2022-2023 school year to 5.7% the following year. Nationwide, coverage for state-required vaccinations for kindergartners declined to less than 93% for all vaccines. The CDC notes exemptions above 5% can increase the risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
November 15, 2024 at 4:12 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Already blocked by a couple of my mod list subs, I love this place
Screenshot of profile, because she’s been added to moderation lists that I subscribe to, the pfp & banner are blurred out. It says: Brianna Wu @brianna.bsky.social • Muted by "Blue Anon" • User Blocked by "Right wing propaganda and their followers"
November 15, 2024 at 3:25 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
Was wondering yesterday how to best find news/posts in other languages & I came across this trick in the Bluesky search functions. Tripped right into a starter pack of Italian journalists doing so :)

Bluesky search tips: bsky.social/about/blog/0...

Language codes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
[Screenshot from included link] Bluesky Find posts in a specific language Use the keyword “lang” to search for posts in a specific language. • Use the two-character ISO language code. Wikipedia has a handy chart— use the codes under the column "Set 1." (2 letter language codes) • For example, to see posts in English that have the keyword "science" use the search term lang: en "science" • To see posts in Japanese that have the keyword "science" use lang: ja "science"
November 14, 2024 at 3:51 PM
not-soft.bsky.social
So I guess the suggestion wld be to find the feeds/communities you’re into & see what parameters they’re using to network & chat & post w/ each other (keywords, emojis, some combo). You can search the custom feeds under the big ole # & then pin them to your TL as an additional feed or make your own
Screenshot of my custom made feeds; I am searching for one of my DIY feeds about Italian journalists under the heading: Discover New Feeds Custom feeds built by the community bring you new experiences and help you find the content you love. It also shows the feeds I already have pinned to my profile, ones I have made: Okies OK News Independent Journalism Giornalisti ITA And of course my battery is very low 😌
November 13, 2024 at 10:46 PM