Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Eerie clouds this morning

Rain clouds at 6:45 facing South from my house in Montreal.

November 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Morning commute

November 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Bundled up for a chilly movie night on the deck. Dog Soldiers for a scary theme 🐺

November 2, 2025 at 12:45 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

So cool!!

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · Sep 5

It's Friday, which is a great excuse to remind you that I've got subway-style maps for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Narnia for sale on my Etsy store.

You can get them as prints or as digital versions, and the Hobbit map looks great on a coffee mug!

www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...

Subway-style map of the itinerary in The Hobbit. The main journey is show in three different lines: red (Hobbiton to Goblin Town); green (Goblin Town to the Elvenking's Halls); and blue (Elvenking's Halls to Erebor). There are multiple stops on these lines. There is a yellow line going back from Erebor to Hobbiton, making stops at Beorn's Hall, Rivendell, and the Troll's Lair. There is an orange line directly from the Iron Hills on the map's right side to Erebor, and a purple line from Gundabad directly to Erebor.

The map's title reads: "Hobbit Transit Map" and there are directions for both There and Back Again listing the lines and transfer points. Between them, in the middle of the page, is a dragon drawn to resemble the dragon on Thror's Map from The Hobbit.

A key shows the names of each colored line:
Red: Western Lands Line
Green: Mountains and Forests Line
Blue: Barrel Line
Yellow: Gandalf Express
Orange: Iron Hills Business Line
Purple: Orc and Goblin Reserve Line

Text at the bottom right reads Surprised Eel Maps, 2025

Subway style map to go with The Lord of the Rings, showing the different pathways of various parties throughout the book. The title reads: "Lord of the Rings Transit Map: One Does Not Simply Walk Ino Mordor When One Can Ride." The map takes up the middle part of the page, and there are two keys. The one on the left is titles "Standard Service Lines, and has color keys matched to the subway lines on the map. Lines are named:
"Shire-Bree Commuter Line
Old Forrest Crescent
Wildland Scenic Line
Fellowship Line
Gollum / Sméagol Line
Uruk Hai Express
Three Hunters Line
Fangorn Slow Service
Rohan to Gondor Business Line
Black Ships Ferry Service
Oliphant Direct Line
Army of the West Line
Gandalf Express

A smaller key on the right side of the map is labeled: "Limited Service Lines" and has color keys matched to the following names lines:
"Eagle Express
Paths of the Dead Line
Nazgûl Search & Resuce
Valinor Ltd."

A note at the bottom reads:
"* Mount Doom station only accepts Rings of Power in payment. Plan accordingly."

A subway style map on a parchment background. The map's title reads: "Narnia Transit Map: Talking Beasts Ride Free." The map has seven keys, one for each of the seven books in C.S. Lewis's Narinia series. The main movements of characters and action in each book are traced by colored lines, like a subway map. Locations in each book are marked out as stops in the lines. There is a drawing of a lion above the title of the map, and in the lower right corner there is a compass rose.

September 5, 2025 at 9:23 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Could not love this more!

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · Aug 29

I've been working on a fun map this week: a floor plan for a magical bookstore! The sort of place where you always find the book you need, and a comfortable chair to read it in. Plus, there's pets wandering around.

There's more to the map than this, but here's the floor plan with the animals.

Greyscale drawing of a floor plan of what looks like the first floor of a house, with ten rooms and a flight of stairs. There are two exterior doors: a front door and a back door. The floor plan is on a tattered piece of paper that looks as if it is being unrolled from the top, so there is a curl of paper, or a scroll, at the bottom. Around the floor plan are four animals. A cat, labeled Angel, is resting on top of floor plan, dangling a paw down. To her left is a huntsman spider named Drusilla. At the bottom of the page on the left is a golden retriever named Willow, sitting behind the scroll like a good boy. On the right side is a cat named Spike, who is sitting on top of the scroll and crushing it like an jerk. Typical dog and cat stuff.

August 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/track/4Rp4q5...

VII

open.spotify.com

August 27, 2025 at 9:55 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

August 4, 2025 at 12:24 AM

Reposted by ShaunaO

Uncle Duke

@uncleduke1969.bsky.social

It was an unpleasant business, but every four years, Grimace required a blood sacrifice, and well, nobody really much liked Brandon anyway.

In a park setting, someone in a Grimace costume lifts a small child. The child’s head is in Grimace’s mouth.

July 31, 2025 at 12:39 PM

Reposted by ShaunaO

Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD

@ryankatzrosene.bsky.social

I would deeply enjoy supervising a PhD thesis about this advertisement… please get in touch 😅

(Yes, it’s a real advertisement!)

July 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM

Reposted by ShaunaO

Emma Bolden

@emmabolden.bsky.social

just feels like five or six dragons could really turn some shit around these days

July 26, 2025 at 3:52 AM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Yesss

Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · Jul 22

Aha, found it

Twitter screenshot of @SNeurotypicals:

Neurodivergent screening tests will be like "do you struggle with wearing socks" and ND people will be like "nope does not describe me, for you see I have a System" and folks that is what the question is getting at

July 23, 2025 at 2:11 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

hahahahahaha

Berry @berryh.bsky.social · Jul 3

It's the fourth anniversary of that time I tweeted the wrong Sisters Of Mercy

July 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Quite

Karrie @karriehiggins.bsky.social · Jun 30

A classic Penguin Book entitled Please Don't Touch My Arm with Your Arm - How I Died on a Public Bus complete unabridged

July 3, 2025 at 7:21 PM

Reposted by ShaunaO

NITZER EBB

@nitzerebb.bsky.social

It is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform that Douglas McCarthy passed away this morning of June 11th, 2025. We ask everyone to please be respectful of Douglas, his wife, and family in this difficult time. We appreciate your understanding and will share more information soon.

June 11, 2025 at 10:28 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

For LA open.spotify.com/track/75XbSF...

Pro-test

Skinny Puppy · The Greater Wrong of the Right (Remastered) · Song · 2004

open.spotify.com

June 9, 2025 at 11:24 AM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

A little blepp from my old guy

June 5, 2025 at 6:09 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Back deck summer oasis shaping up!

June 4, 2025 at 10:23 PM

ShaunaO

@nox76.bsky.social

Good lord (of the flies)

Isabel @isabelott.bsky.social · Jun 3

The situation is worse than I realized, wow. Screwworm was eradicated in the US via sterile insect technique (mass release sterile males) & a “barrier zone” against the endemic zone in South Am was maintained in Panama via active SIT - now, it’s rapidly spread in Mexico & approaching the border fast

Entomological Society of America @entsocamerica.bsky.social · Jun 3

This threat illustrates the vital role of entomologists in protecting our food supply, ecosystems, and public health, as scientists continue to conduct innovative research to stop the advance of this devastating parasite. www.yahoo.com/news/man-eat... (2/2)

June 4, 2025 at 2:59 PM