cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
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turtlesoup.bsky.social
cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
@turtlesoup.bsky.social
1K followers 180 following 1.1K posts
Cartoonist, illustrator, fanperson. Budding professional science writer & hobby naturalist/nature photographer. They/them. http://linktr.ee/alliekleber

Expect lots of bird photos (and sometimes plants, bugs, etc).

GenAI is not welcome here.
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turtlesoup.bsky.social
cranky ol’ Auncle Allie @turtlesoup.bsky.social · Feb 21
To my steady & confusing stream of new followers: welcome! I'm a sporadic poster who treats this as more of a personal account than anything publicity-oriented. I'm an enthusiastic amateur nature photographer, a somewhat lapsed cartoonist, and sometimes share political posts but try not to deluge.
Photo of a downy woodpecker perched on a stalk of dried-out phragmites reed bent horizontal. He's a small, fluffy woodpecker with black-and-white barred wings and tail, a white belly, a black-and-whtie striped head with a bright red patch at the back, a short pointed black bill and a cartoonishly oulined eye. He's looking off into the distance in profile, his beak a little parted and his little tongue sticking out. Computer-colored drawing of a pair of people in unusual/futuristic scuba gear swimming underwater holding hands; in the foreground, a tall, slender person of Filipino descent wearing a purple-blue suit and an odd organic bubble for a helmet, and further back, a Black woman with a scuba mask and simplified rebreather tank that fits around her neck, wearing a grey bodysuit. Behind them, a small black-and-white underwater drone shines beams of light forward; shelves of rock can be seen directly below the swimmers, and in the background, the silhouette of a submerged city. A nine-panel black-and-white comic strip titled "uncomfortably numb," credited to Allie Kleber in 2020. Panel 1: Depicts someone's pale-skinned hands and part of their lap; two fingers of their right hand are brushing against their bare left wrist. Caption: Something's missing. Panel 2: shows a white person with short hair and glasses facing away, standing at a kitchen counter and peeling a banana, with a steaming mug and bowl of something on the counter in front of them. Caption: I get up, make breakfast. Panel 3: The same person (wearing a different shirt) sits with their chin in their hand in front of a black laptop against a backdrop of book cases. They have a thought bubble with music notes and a Sarah Bareilles lyric" "... stirring in the cinnamon ..." Caption: Work's boring, but fine. Panel 4: A purring tabby cat sprawled on a blanket; feet are sticking out further back in the image. Caption: The cat's a bit clingy, but that's hardly unusual. Panel 5: Close-up on part of a phone being held in a pale hand, reading "1:52 Thurs, June 4" at the top and showing a social media feed and an email notification at the top. Caption: The world continues to be on fire, so I boost and listen. Sub-caption: (I know it's not enough.) Panel 6: Shows the person riding a bike up a hill while wearing a face mask and looking over at a car next to them; word balloons read "puff" "puff" Caption: Today I finally got off my ass and went for a ride. Panel 7: The person is lying on their back, head on a pillow and eyes closed, wearing Airpods from which a word bubble emerges: "... bringing the attention back to the breath." Caption: I've even been meditating. Panel 8: The person sitting sideways on a couch with a book, looking up and out a window where a bird is flying past. Caption: But I feel like I'm ... waiting. Panel 9: A white blank with just the caption in the middle. Caption: Though I know there is nothing to wait for. Photograph showing a Common Eastern Bumblebee in profile, clutching a cluster of goldenrod blossoms as though hugging them, its fuzzy legs and abdomen coated in yellow pollen.
turtlesoup.bsky.social
A little recent #birdart, as a treat?
A postcard-sized hand-drawn mixed-media (color pencil & art marker) drawing of a female belted kingfisher perched on a fallen/drooping old tree, her head turned to the side and a little crown floating above her head. A postcard-sized hand-drawn mixed-media (color pencil & art marker) drawing of a male ruddy duck in non-breeding plumage floating in blue water, facing the viewer with a word balloon containing a big red question mark.
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
altnps.bsky.social
Time to swear in Adelita Grijalva, let her cast the final vote to release the Epstein files!
November 10, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
davis.social
10/10 take. No notes.
divergentcoachkelly on Threads * 2h ADHD is knowing exactly what you need to do then watching yourself not do it like you're a scientist observing a very dumb experiment
November 7, 2025 at 5:49 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
LRS: I will admit, I got a state ID with an "X" on it, because I was so tired of feeling like I didn't exist. But I've come to believe that the thinking was flawed.

I still refuse to change it BACK to an F, because that feels painfully invalidating, but I want the whole field gone.
November 6, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
teaberryblue.net
This is why when folks were fighting to get an X gender marker on government ID, I went so hard on the idea that government ID ~shouldn’t have any gender on it at all~ It serves absolutely no purpose other than discrimination.
katelynburns.com Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 7d
"without subjecting anyone to differential treatment."

This is flatly false! Trans people with a passport that does not match with their plain appearance when presented to a border agent is subject to additional hassle compared to a cis person presenting a passport.
mjsdc.bsky.social Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 7d
NEW: On the shadow docket, the Supreme Court lets Trump resume misgendering trans Americans on their passports, claiming "the government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment." All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
November 6, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
kattenbarge.bsky.social
Zohran was polling at six percent in January. Nothing is impossible
November 5, 2025 at 2:34 AM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
I'm so happy for you, NYC friends. Thank you for showing all of us that no really, it IS possible to get it right.
November 5, 2025 at 3:55 AM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
It feels a little early to be calling Weird Duck Time just yet, but then again ... hooded mergansers are here now. And they're quite possibly my favorite weird/winter resident ducks of all, with their delightful hairdos and absurd courtship displays. 🪶
A male hooded merganser mid-courtship display, with his body canted backwards and up, his neck puffed up and crest raised, and his bill open. He's a small diving duck with a skinny black bill, black mohawk-like crested head with a huge white spot on each side, black-and-white striped wings, white breast, rufous sides, and bright yellow eyes. A female hooded merganser swimming in profile with a water drop hanging from the tip of her bill. She's a small copper-colored duck with a skinny yellow bill tipped in black, amber eyes, and a mohawk-like crest (currently lowered). A female hooded merganser swimming through wind-ruffled water in profile, crest raised. The water matches her coppery coloration. A pair of male hooded mergansers swimming in profile, parallel but a bit offset. The closer duck has his neck notably puffed up (part of the courtship display).
November 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Why does S.T. Gibson keep writing vampire books which imply that they are adaptations of classic works, but actually have absolutely nothing to do with those works except character names or a bit of set dressing? Leave Stoker and LeFanu ALONE and just let your books be YOUR BOOKS, please! /grump
November 3, 2025 at 7:59 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Perfect afternoon: an hour and a half walking around a sunny pond surrounded by fall foliage, with the first hooded mergansers of the season working hard at their courtship displays, followed by several hours cozy art/crafts time with good friends and company. Bike rides in between. I needed that.
November 2, 2025 at 10:52 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
(Age is not the enemy. No, really.)
rebeccasolnit.bsky.social Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 12d
Maybe it was way more than seven million? "8% of Americans say they participated in a No Kings protest on October 18."

p.s. Older people are really showing up.
https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53277-new-second-term-low-donald-trump-job-approval-government-spending
November 1, 2025 at 4:26 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Happy Halloween! 🫰🏻🫰🏻
A middle-aged pale-skinned person dressed up as Gomez Addams, giving the camera a rakish look. Their brown hair is slicked back, they have on a fake black mustache, and they're wearing a black pinstripe blazer over a dark pink shirt and black tie. There's a plastic Thing sitting on one shoulder.
October 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
regretteruane.bsky.social
Philip Larkin’s this be the verse mangled into Ozymandias, the text reads They Oz you up, your mandyias. They may not mean to, but they do. They give you vast and trunkless legs A sunken shattered visage too. But they were Ozzed up in their turn By Mandyias upon the sand Who half the time had wrinkled lips And half in sneering cold command. Oz hands on mandyias to man. Like mighty works atop a shelf Look on them early as you can Ye mighty and despair yourself
October 30, 2025 at 3:49 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Tough week. Here are a few shots from a restorative walk I took on Sunday, featuring a great blue heron (with lunch), maple foliage, an American red squirrel (I love them! it's not mutual), and a surprisingly late black-and-white warbler. I would like to be back there now. 🪶
Close-up shot of the head and neck of a great blue heron, in profile, with a small fish (a black crappie) hanging from its beak. It's a large bluish-grey heron with a stripe of white and darker-blue feathers down its throat, a long pointed bill, and round yellow eyes. A branch of brightly mottled yellow-and-scarlet maple leaves on a sunny day. An American red squirrel paused on all fours on a diagonal dead tree, looking towards the viewer. It's a small reddish-orange squirrel with a white underside, round ears, a white circle around its eye, and a white muzzle. This one has some VERY bright red in its moderately bushy tail. A male black-and-white warbler, a little puffed up with cold, crouching on a worn dead tree in profile and in bright sunlight against a backdrop of pinkish-red fallen leaves. It's a small warbler striped in black and white all over with a thin, slightly downcurved beak and a white circle around the eye.
October 30, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
noethematt.bsky.social
"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"
October 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
kenplume.bsky.social
It’s still remarkable that Disney produced - and released - this segment in 1940. A horror short that should rank with its Universal monster movie contemporaries… The animation is lush and experimental, and really shows off the Disney special animated effects team…
October 24, 2025 at 3:28 AM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Help Babs move and get some handy art reference! Plus, feel good about helping someone delightful!
newdmodel.bsky.social Babs (Indie Comics Most Famous Butt) @newdmodel.bsky.social · 22d
Hello! I'm moving! Like a very sudden, gotta move in like a month, move! I know I post a lot of free poses on here, but if you'd like to help me out by buying a Google drive folder of almost 300 poses for figure drawing, I'd really appreciate it!

ko-fi.com/s/fdb4f9c631

#figuredrawing #lifedrawing
Big Folder of Poses - Babs New's Ko-fi Shop
Link to a Google Drive folder of almost 300 (soon to be over 300) poses for figure drawing!
ko-fi.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:32 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Please help if you can. ❤️ RB is a delightful human as well as a talented wildlife photographer and she and her daughter are in a tight spot.
rhapsodysblues.bsky.social RB aka Ah Bee's Photography 📸 @rhapsodysblues.bsky.social · 24d
Sorry to ask for help again but my total amount of SNAP benefits which I'm totally dependent on for food is $250 per month. If you can donate, it would be greatly appreciated. Best way is with a Walmart gift card. Megan.e.rowell@gmail.com. Rhapsodyinblu2@gmail.com for PayPal. Thank you vry much. 🥹❤️🪶
Donate to Please Support Mom and Me Through a Crisis, organized by Megan Rowell
Through no fault of our own, Mom and I have lost a major portion of our income… Megan Rowell needs your support for Please Support Mom and Me Through a Crisis
gofund.me
October 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
cheriepriest.com
Subscribe to this list 👇 and preemptively block the GOP .gov accounts who have suddenly appeared over here en masse - before they can screenshot and hassle you here and/or elsewhere: bsky.app/profile/did:...
kingdomfantasy6.bsky.social Olivia Just Wants Tech To Be Fun Again @kingdomfantasy6.bsky.social · 27d
Remember folks. The original bluesky ethos by us bluesky elders (apparently I count?) is block and move on.

Don't quote dunk, don't pick fights.
Block, and move on.

This is what made this site unpalatable to the right early on, and we can continue to make it unpalatable to them.
October 18, 2025 at 12:32 AM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Time to step back from upsetting things for the rest of the night and do something fun and indulgent. Maybe do my Yuletide sign-up on the first day for possibly the first time ever.
October 15, 2025 at 12:43 AM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Incandescent rage.
erininthemorning.com Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · Oct 14
1. In a major capitulation to Trump, Fenway Health, a center ostensibly dedicated to LGBTQ+ healthcare, has ended its trans care program under 19.

It could have fought for its patients. It chose instead to roll over.

Community members are devastated.

Subscribe to support our journalism.
Fenway Health Restricts Treatment for Patients Under 19 In Capitulation To Trump
“This is a fundamental betrayal to the core mission of Fenway and the patients they serve.”
www.erininthemorning.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
thetransfemininereview.com
"You make the best of it all and hope you can help make it a little better for the gurl after you."

- Miss Major, 2023 💔
One of the things I hear with some younger trans people I know is they feel, "I'm gonna get this surgery, and I'm gonna learn that way of speaking, and I'm gonna be done." You're never done. If you're a straight, cisgender person, you're never done. Things are always happening that have the potential to change you. So all I am today is not who I'm gonna be tomorrow, because of the things that happened to me today and later tonight. People forget that. "Oh, after I transition, I'm gonna be through." Well, good luck with that. 'Cause if you're through, then it's time to leave, you know, and I don't wanna go anywhere yet. I'm in my seventies. Why didn't I stop? Number one is community. My gurls. I've had moments of thinking about stopping, but I didn't. I made sure I would step back, reju- venate myself, and then got back out there, and that's how you make a way. Our stories are not all the same, but the destination is: to get some place where we have some peace and harmony, and we can be at ease with ourselves and the people around us. You make the best of it all and hope you can help make it a little better for the gurl after you.
October 14, 2025 at 1:11 AM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
Doing some sketching at home today ... to color next time I'm at my studio (where my markers and color pencils live).
A simple outline pencil sketch of a female belted kingfisher perched on a broken-off branch with her head turned to the side. A simple outline pencil sketch of a ruddy duck floating on calm water and staring ahead, with a word balloon containing a single question mark. A simple outline pencil sketch of a chickadee clinging to a tiny twig almost upside-down, peering at its broken-off end with its beak a little open.
October 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
turtlesoup.bsky.social
The earliest vanguard of Weird Duck Time has arrived! Delightful diving ducks that we only see from October-March or April: ruddies and ring-necks. #birds 🪶
A male ruddy duck in non-breeding plumage, floating in a lake and facing directly towards the viewer. He's a small diving duck with a dark brown cap and back, lighter brown chest, white cheeks, and an enormous scoop of a dark brown bill. A male ring-necked duck in breeding plumage, floating in profile on still, pale (overcast) waters above a slightly foreshortened reflection of himself. He's a compact diving duck with a black head, breast, back and rump, white/grey sides and tail, a grey bill with a large white ring towards the tip and a white base, and bright yellow eyes. A pair of ring-necked ducks swimming away from the viewer at a three-quarter angle, several feet apart, in pale calm water. Small diving ducks, he's black-and-grey while she is brown all over, darker on the back and top of her head, with a pale stripe on her face at the base of her bill. A male ruddy duck in non-breeding plumage floating in blue water, in profile, and stretching horizontally, one wing partially unfolded.
October 12, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by cranky ol’ Auncle Allie
theferocity.bsky.social
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this TikTok since yesterday. Sherman was stressing those ladies out.
inchargeofthegirls.bsky.social AmeriKraut @inchargeofthegirls.bsky.social · Oct 10
sherman, for the love of god!
October 10, 2025 at 11:04 AM