Janet
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relfal.bsky.social
Janet
@relfal.bsky.social
370 followers 400 following 2.5K posts
Dilettante. Word-watcher. Empty-nester. Worrywart. In the unlikely event that you refer to me in the third person, she/her. Discussion, not debate.
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relfal.bsky.social
Still from Fruitvale Station. Four young Black men are sitting on the floor of a BART station platform, leaning against the concrete wall. Two cops stand over them.
November 23, 2025 at 6:54 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Now with alt.text.
JM: What was your first encounter with the music of Wagner? BJ: The first thing I can think of is Bugs Bunny and “kill da wabbit” [in the cartoon What's Opera Doc?]. I'm from Montana. We didn't grow up with opera in my household or anything like that. So, my idea of opera was a lady with horns and a spear, singing. I didn't know anything about Wagner or those characters. The first opportunity was in 2012 when I did Siegmund with San Francisco Opera.
October 25, 2025 at 11:30 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Speaking of which, here is a bit from an interview with tenor Brandon Jovanovich. Just wanted to post while I rememebr. Alt.text when I get a chance during the next intermission.
TBD
October 25, 2025 at 10:15 PM
relfal.bsky.social
We don't have one of these, but we've discussed it.
Photo of four siphon coffee makers. Each consists of two glass bulbs, one atop the other, with a glass tube in the lower chamber to allow boiling water to be sucked through the coffee filter into the upper chamber. They have a chemistry lab aesthetic.
October 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
relfal.bsky.social
I am glad I'm not the only person up on hobbit family trees.
Hobbit family tree, showing that Pippin's father and Merry's mother are siblings.
October 19, 2025 at 12:22 AM
relfal.bsky.social
Beautiful marbling on this buckeye (aka horse chestnut).
Reddish brown buckeye.
October 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Screen cap from article linked in previous post. Text reads "Pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. have been climbing steadily, to their highest level in more than 40 years. The number of pedestrian deaths is growing faster than traffic fatalities overall, jumping more than 80% since 2009. "The new research adds to growing evidence that bigger vehicles are an important factor in pedestrian fatalities — though transportation safety experts say there are multiple reasons for the increase, including road design and cars moving at faster speeds."
September 25, 2025 at 5:52 PM
relfal.bsky.social
I don't think that's a portal to Narnia, but this is.
A pathway flanked by green slopes leads through an arched doorway in a stone wall. The path ends shortly after going through the doorway and beyond it is only green.
September 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Glad I'm not the only person who feels the need to document the first light drizzle in months. Ours was about a week ago.
Photo of a wet patio.
September 18, 2025 at 7:57 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Age verification?
Sign on the back of an antique chair,. It reads "I am over 300 years old and rather fragile. Thank you for not leaning on me."
September 13, 2025 at 4:39 PM
relfal.bsky.social
On the other hand, I know I did these deliberately.
Three books on a shelf, in order: 1491: New revelations of the Americas before Columbus (Mann) 1492: Discovery, Invasion, Encounter (Lunenfeld) 1493: Uncovering the new world Columbus created (Mann) Two books on a shelf: Never Done (Strasser) Never Satisfied (Schwartz) The first is a history of American housework, the second a history of dieting and attitudes about fatness.
September 8, 2025 at 6:13 PM
relfal.bsky.social
We're doing a book cull, so I'm going over the shelves one by one and found this sequence. I wonder whether I deliberately put the books in this order, or it just happened this way.
#booksky
Five books on a shelf. According to the spines, they are: The Death of Nature After the Death of Nature Nature's Body The Body Silent Silent Spring
September 8, 2025 at 5:47 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Sea lion mosh pit, Newport, Oregon.
September 3, 2025 at 4:31 AM
relfal.bsky.social
🪶
These gulls want breakfast.
Photo credit: Matt Austern.
An adult Western Gull and a juvenile almost the same size are standing on the wooden railing of a balcony with the beach and ocean in the background. The adult has its mouth open to complain that breakfast is late this morning. The juvenile has its head down and is looking sidelong at its parent.
September 1, 2025 at 9:26 PM
relfal.bsky.social
More oblate than spherical, tbh, but surely a borb.
Closeup of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee at a feeder. Its tummy is very round and it's facing forward.
August 30, 2025 at 8:10 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Photograph of a jar of "Radithor," an actual drink sold in the 1920s. Label reads RADITHOR reg. u.s. pat. off. CERTIFIED Radioactive Water Contains Radium and Mesothorium in Triple Distilled Water
August 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Ashland residents.
A mule deer doe and fawn standing in a garden, with house in the background.
August 25, 2025 at 5:10 AM
relfal.bsky.social
ADHD question.

I think ADHD meds should be packaged with the daily dose already laid out, as with oral contraceptives (see examples). For those of us who take daily medication there's always an issue of keeping track, and forming the habits that help with this is often hard for people with ADHD.
Pack of 28 pills laid out in four rows of seven.
August 9, 2025 at 1:05 AM
relfal.bsky.social
I call this "Park Street Bridge Symphony."
August 4, 2025 at 8:44 PM
relfal.bsky.social
An online bookseller wants to sell me this.
"Cover" of an ebook purporting to be Emma, by Jane Austen. Illustration is a glamour photo of Jean Simmons, probably taken in the 1950s. She is wearing a sparkly necklace and earrings and a black dress with a very strange neckline. The title and author are in a font I can only describe as "classic horror movie only without the dripping blood."
July 31, 2025 at 11:18 PM
relfal.bsky.social
I love crane flies but the only pic I have is this not very good one.
A crane fly is hanging out on a white wall displaying its lovely long legs.
July 26, 2025 at 1:06 AM
relfal.bsky.social
I don't think I've seen him in anything for 20 years, so this is still my image of him.
Still of Henry Cavill in I Capture the Castle. He is 20 and ridiculously beautiful.
July 19, 2025 at 11:58 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Yup, Merriam Webster even includes it in the definition (see below)! Glad to know that you weren't intentionally being sexist.
Screen cap of the definition of "scold" used as a noun. Definition reads "a: one who scolds habitually or persistently; b (dated, sometimes offensive) a woman who disturbs the public peace by noisy and quarrelsome or abusive behavior."
June 27, 2025 at 12:48 AM
relfal.bsky.social
Well, someone's very pleased with herself. #Cats #CatsOfBluesky
A fluffy gray and tan cat is sitting on someone's lap. She is sitting up tall on her long front legs. Her chest ruff poufs out impressively as she proudly lifts her chin.
June 25, 2025 at 2:41 PM
relfal.bsky.social
Thanks for the article! I was struck by this (below). Why does anybody believe a single thing Musk says any more?
Screen cap from the article linked by the OP. Text reads: In 2015, Musk told shareholders Tesla cars would achieve “full autonomy” within three years. In 2016, he said a Tesla EV would be able to make a cross-country drive without needing any human intervention before the end of 2017. And in 2019, on a call with institutional investors that helped him raise more than $2 billion, Musk said Tesla would have 1 million robotaxi-ready vehicles on the road in 2020, able to complete 100 hours of driving work per week each, making money for their owners. None of that has happened. Meanwhile, Alphabet -owned Waymo says it surpassed 10 million paid trips last month. Competitors in China, including Baidu’s Apollo Go, WeRide and Pony.ai, are also operating commercial robotaxi fleets.
June 24, 2025 at 3:00 PM