V Gotaskie
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vgotaskie.bsky.social
V Gotaskie
@vgotaskie.bsky.social
240 followers 220 following 200 posts
I did not survive cancer to have to put up with this nonsense. Not a baseball fan, but my favorite movie is Field of Dreams. I cook because someone has to. I bake to show my love. Be curious, not judgmental. Hoya Saxa.
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vgotaskie.bsky.social
What I wouldn’t give for truthful headlines like this from legacy media about substantive issues . . .
Headline of article re: Pittsburgh Penguins. “Penguins terrible, Silovs awful in crushing loss” By Dan Kingerski, PGHHockeyNOW.com November 29, 2025 at 10:27 pm EST
November 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Cover of children’s novel, Bunnicula. White rabbit with fangs and black markings that resemble a widow’s peak on its head and a cape on its back. Full title: Bunnicula A Rabbit-tale of Mystery. Tag line: Today vegetables . . . tomorrow the world. Authors: Deborah and James Howe
October 29, 2025 at 12:38 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
I feel like this is an appropriate point to revisit these pearls of wisdom:
Twitter (maybe) post from Nina Turner @ninaturner from 2023: "I don't do politics" Well baby, politics is going to do you, regardless. Followed by a post from misteranthrope: Voting 101: Nine people on a bus. Three vote to drive over a cliff. Two vote to go get ice cream. Four don't bother to vote. Everyone dies. Like it or not, you're on the bus with everyone else. Make your voice heard. Followed by a post by flipocrite: The Harm-Reduction approach means: • It's not always about the ice cream • The people abstaining for moral purity reasons ("I'd only vote for a VEGAN ice cream parlor!") are functionally equivalent to those abstaining because they are okay with either option • The ice cream not being very good does NOT mean driving off the cliff is somehow better
October 13, 2025 at 12:06 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Bringing back this oldie but goodie . . .
Text of post from lloydrang: I'm GenX. We grew up in an all-print world. We read really fast. So, my Millennial and GenZ peeps, I beg you for the love of Bananarama, please just send me the article and not the TikTok of the dude talking about the article. In Prince's funky name, amen.
September 30, 2025 at 1:33 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Dude. Twenty years ago.
Image of a page ripped from a dictionary defining “truthfulness” with a black and white illustration of Stephen Colbert. tru-thi-ness \'trü-the-nos\ n 1 : truth that comes from the gut, not books (Stephen Colbert. Comedy Central "The Colbert Report, October 2005) 2: the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true (American Dialect Society, January 2006)
May 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Is it the best book I have ever read? It is not. Is it my favorite book? No again. Is it the first slightly naughty book with “mature” themes I ever read (and re-read umpteen times)? Yes. Yes, it is.
Book cover: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. Family in foreground wearing 1920s garb. Mother, father, and four sons with a daughter standing slightly apart. The cover is violently orange, and the family appears to be observing a raging brush fire behind a manor house.
April 29, 2025 at 1:19 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Only a sliver of a fraction of the natural beauty our world holds . . . but these are a few of the wonders I have been privileged to see. I hope many more generations will be able to enjoy them as well. #earthday
Cliffs of Kilkee, west coast of Ireland. Gray cliffs rise dramatically from a blue ocean against a blue sky with a few purple clouds with a weathered sea stack just offshore. Natural bridge in Curaçao. Waves crash against a rocky, craggy outcrop that has been hollowed out by erosion to form a natural bridge. Sunset behind Mt. Moran and other mountains in the Grand Tetons with Jackson Lake the mid ground and some sage and other scrubby plants in the foreground. Mt. Moran is identifiable by its distinctive “skillet” glacier. The sky is purple, yellow, and orange and hazy from forest fires. Rough water and shallow falls along the Eagle River near Avon, CO. The banks of the river are rocky and the photo looks upstream past the falls with green trees on either side.
April 22, 2025 at 3:16 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
The University of Limerick has a cool automated storage and retrieval system holding up to 500k books, and you can watch it through a window in the library, if that kind of thing gets your heart racing. Also, the Cliffs of Kilkee are free and less crowded than the Cliffs of Moher.
Cliffs of Kilkee in western Ireland in a sunny day with waves crashing to shore.
April 1, 2025 at 7:35 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Had to try #baking the copycat Levain lemon cookies everyone is talking about. Think I’ll add more zest next time, but otherwise 👍

#cookieparty
Silver-rimmed plate of Levain bakery knockoff lemon cookies on a white placemat.
March 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Only six?
March 9, 2025 at 7:13 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
This is the kind of synergy my timeline used to throw me in the bad place. Good to see Bluesky has finally gotten there. Congrats to my husband’s #Eagles
Screenshot of my Bluesky timeline. Highlighted are two posts: 1) @chriscjackson: Serena Williams was in the field longer today than Harrison Butker. 2) @frogandtoadbot: “Good,” said Toad.
February 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
If you see this, post a fictional artist/band that you would love to see live.
The cast (and musicians) of the fictional band, “Lady Parts,” from the show We are Lady Parts. (An all Muslim, female punk band in London.
January 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
If you see this post, quote with a bridge from your gallery.

(Didn’t say it couldn’t also have a duck.)
“Aztec Gold” Fort Duquesne Bridge over the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh against a blue sky with several fluffy, white clouds with bonus giant yellow rubber ducky front and center in the foreground. The very north end of the Roberto Clemente bridge is just visible in the lower right corner. Aztec Gold is the official name of the paint color on numerous Pittsburgh bridges, and has been for years.
January 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Ketanji Brown Jackson at the inauguration wearing a collar of cowrie shells and matching earrings. From the ABA Journal https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/justice-jackson-wore-cowrie-shell-collar-to-inauguration-was-it-a-sartorial-expression-of-her-dissent “The shells once served as currency in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands, and they convey prosperity, Christie said. They are sometimes thought to have protective properties, including protection from enslavement, and to be conduits of ancestral wisdom. They are also associated with womanhood and fertility. Those multiple meanings led Vogue to see the collar as possibly “a sartorial expression of her dissent,” with a nod to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The late justice was known for her dissent collars, worn when she dissented and when she arrived at the court the day after Trump’s first election in 2016.”
January 23, 2025 at 3:16 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
OMG. I just learned about this yesterday.
Screen shot of Wikipedia page on Miles City, MT. Highlighted portion: 1944 ice jam In March 1944, an ice jam on the Yellowstone River caused flooding which reached into Miles City. After unsuccessful attempts to clear the jam using local resources, help was requested from the Army Air Corps by the Montana governor. A B-17 bomber was dispatched from nearby Rapid City, South Dakota and cleared the ice jam using 250-pound bombs.
January 12, 2025 at 3:56 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Okay, maybe this isn’t so bad . . .
Gray box with white text: The movie that was number one at the box office on your tenth birthday is how 2025 will turn out for you. I mean, maybe. Movie poster of Raiders of the Lost Ark with Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the center in his trademark hat and brandishing a whip. Various villains from the film surround the central image.
January 6, 2025 at 1:37 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Rialto Street in Pittsburgh would like a word. SF and Pittsburgh have to be the best cardio workouts in the country.
Snow and ice covered Rialto Street in Pittsburgh, PA. Taken from the 31st Street Bridge with blue lampposts and signs for PA 28 North and South in the foreground. (Not my photo.)
January 3, 2025 at 7:05 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
I guess this is going to have to suffice as a White Christmas this year. (Yes, that is bamboo, and yes, this is Pittsburgh. Don’t question it.)
#Christmas
Sad patch of remaining snow behind a concrete driveway and in front of several bamboo plants.
December 25, 2024 at 2:15 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Yule Log 2024. Chocolate sponge with orange buttercream and dark chocolate ganache.
#baking
#christmasbaking
Homemade Yule log on a decorative board on a Christmas tablecloth. Yule log is iced with dark chocolate ganache ridged to look like bark. A “branch” is visible filled with a whitish buttercream in a swirl. Closer view of a dark chocolate-iced Yule log filled with a whitish buttercream swirl and decorated with holly leaves and berries.
December 25, 2024 at 2:19 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Recipe for anyone who wants to give it a try. I use at least double the 1/3 c. of raspberry jam, btw.
Chocolate Raspberry Crumb Bars Ingredients 1 c. butter, softened 2 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 2 c. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided 1 1/4 c. (14 oz. can) sweetened condensed milk) 1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional) 1/3 c. (or more) seedless raspberry jam Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Beat butter in large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar, and salt until well mixed. Press 1 3/4 c. crumb mixture into bottom of greased 9x13” baking pan. Reserve remaining mixture. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. 3. Combine 1 c. chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in small saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Spread over hot crust. 4. Stir nuts, if desired into reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle over chocolate filling. Drop teaspoonfuls of raspberry jam over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until center is set.
December 16, 2024 at 1:27 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Felt like baking, but didn’t feel like making individual cookies, so . . . Raspberry Chocolate Crumble Bars.
#CookieParty
#baking
Plate on poinsettia placemat with a chocolate raspberry crumb bar on it. Bar has a layer of shortbread crust, layer of chocolate filling, and a crumb topping with raspberry jam and chocolate chips.
December 15, 2024 at 10:50 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
Not a great photo, but we have a barred owl we have dubbed “Norman” in the backyard. Norman is fond of demonstrating his distinctive hoot—Who Cooks for You?—at 4:30 am. Each instance makes me less and less likely to ever cook for Norman.
#owl
Photo of a brown and white barred owl on the branch of a large pine tree surrounded by bamboo. We call him Norman.
December 10, 2024 at 9:58 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
#BookSky 💙📚
#bookchallenge
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 21/20

I forgot I had to include this one:
Book cover: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan. Cover has black and white photo of a family with 10 children aged baby to teens and their father and mother from the late 50s or early 60s. The photo is superimposed over what looks like notebook paper, and there is a small pair of black scissors that looks to mark the return coupon with the author’s name on a red background.
December 3, 2024 at 12:12 PM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
#BookSky 💙📚
#bookchallenge
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 20
/20
Book cover: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Large title in black font with author’s name in slightly smaller red font on a white background with a small red spatter of blood in the upper right corner.
December 2, 2024 at 11:07 AM
vgotaskie.bsky.social
I like gingerbread people cutters because they become reindeer when turned upside down.
#baking
#NationalCookieCutterDay
Photo of reindeer cookies made by icing upside down gingerbread person cookies. (Legs become antlers. Arms are ears. Head has reindeer eyes, nose, mouth.)
December 1, 2024 at 9:14 PM