Yvonne Lam
@yvonnezlam.bsky.social
I play with books, cats, food, yarn, and dirt, not all at the same time. Software engineer. Society of People Interested in Boring Things. She/her, cis.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
The new issue of McSweeney's comes in the form of a Trapper Keeper 🥰
December 1, 2025 at 4:22 AM
The new issue of McSweeney's comes in the form of a Trapper Keeper 🥰
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
We're hosting an info session about our spring session of the Cross-Reference Coalition — which is open to all information workers and students @ METRO member institutions + self-identified NYC / Westchester artists + designers — next Monday, Dec 8, at noon ET! More info in the call below!
Apps are open for our spring session of the Cross-Reference Coalition! We're exploring Search & Discovery! "Our journey will encompass the history of exploration + cartography, legacies of inquiry, tools of discovery, theories of curiosity, and counter-algorithmic means of 'finding things out.'"
December 1, 2025 at 4:25 AM
We're hosting an info session about our spring session of the Cross-Reference Coalition — which is open to all information workers and students @ METRO member institutions + self-identified NYC / Westchester artists + designers — next Monday, Dec 8, at noon ET! More info in the call below!
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
#NYRBWomen25 Because of my travels earlier in the month, we are a book behind, but tomorrow, we start THE SUN KING by Nancy Mitford.
“a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV & Versailles”
Tomorrow’s pages: Intro & chapter 1. Page guide coming.
“a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV & Versailles”
Tomorrow’s pages: Intro & chapter 1. Page guide coming.
December 1, 2025 at 2:56 AM
#NYRBWomen25 Because of my travels earlier in the month, we are a book behind, but tomorrow, we start THE SUN KING by Nancy Mitford.
“a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV & Versailles”
Tomorrow’s pages: Intro & chapter 1. Page guide coming.
“a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV & Versailles”
Tomorrow’s pages: Intro & chapter 1. Page guide coming.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
my hot take based on nothing is: GOOP is part of why we landed here.
One of the things about trust is that it is efficient. It saves you having to invest a lot of time and effort in verification, and if placed in the right places, saves you a lot of pain.
"The diseases will do the education" is what we get when we don't trust.
"The diseases will do the education" is what we get when we don't trust.
presented without comment
December 1, 2025 at 3:00 AM
my hot take based on nothing is: GOOP is part of why we landed here.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
this just flooded my brain with so much dopamine
This They Might Be Giants TONIGHT SHOW performance of "Birdhouse In Your Soul" from 1990 remains firmly lodged in my noggin thanks to the Tonight Show Band's full commitment and Doc Severinsen's incredible trumpeting... It took an already great song and made it transcendent.
December 1, 2025 at 3:44 AM
this just flooded my brain with so much dopamine
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
I named my fists Rodgers and Hart because they'll take Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island too
i named my fists Rodgers and Hammerstein cuz theyre always in my own little corner
I named my fists Gilbert and Sullivan because they are slaves to duty
December 1, 2025 at 3:58 AM
I named my fists Rodgers and Hart because they'll take Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island too
Putting on Mount To Be Read
I’ve been reading Huizinga’s Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture and it should be required reading for anyone working or interested in disinformation, conspiracism, extremism, fascism, tech harms, or so many things that, well…. I guess this is why I see a through-line between them.
December 1, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Putting on Mount To Be Read
No wonder so many neurodivergent people I know are feeling...stressed. It's the fascism.
We’re used to violent enforcement of conformity. We’ve been primed for it.
December 1, 2025 at 3:30 AM
No wonder so many neurodivergent people I know are feeling...stressed. It's the fascism.
Excellent questions that come up when we think of data as a relation.
Who owns the data that represents a relationship between two people? Who gets a say in changing the nature of that relationship when only one of them “owns” the data?
December 1, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Excellent questions that come up when we think of data as a relation.
Today's tiny gesture against perfectionism was doubling the amount of recommended rest between erg intervals.
December 1, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Today's tiny gesture against perfectionism was doubling the amount of recommended rest between erg intervals.
PSA: when your partner has taken on a thankless task that you have been procrastinating on for 2+ years, it is not the time to suggest ways they could do it better. Especially when they don't want to do it in the first place.
November 30, 2025 at 8:44 PM
PSA: when your partner has taken on a thankless task that you have been procrastinating on for 2+ years, it is not the time to suggest ways they could do it better. Especially when they don't want to do it in the first place.
The neighbors across the street have placed their Xmas wreaths asymmetrically (and not in a good way) on their house. I will be averting my eyes from their house for the next month.
November 30, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The neighbors across the street have placed their Xmas wreaths asymmetrically (and not in a good way) on their house. I will be averting my eyes from their house for the next month.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
you should both plan to see the Black arts and photography exhibit before it closes in January and save lots of time for it because it’s HUGE
feels like a good day for the national gallery of art tbh
November 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
you should both plan to see the Black arts and photography exhibit before it closes in January and save lots of time for it because it’s HUGE
@isabeltranslates.bsky.social a chain of mistranslations...
I was trying to track down the source of Gramsci's "time of monsters" quote and found that it's a "mistranslation" (ie he just made it up) by Slavoj Zizek. Gramsci's line clearly translates as "morbid symptoms" instead. Mad that you can just rewrite a famous quote and get it widely accepted.
November 30, 2025 at 6:58 PM
@isabeltranslates.bsky.social a chain of mistranslations...
Ties up with Adam Phillips on the dangers of omniscience.
I’ve seen a worrying number of readers angry when a book is not exactly what they expected, which is a way to trap yourself permanently.
November 30, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Ties up with Adam Phillips on the dangers of omniscience.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
Literally impossible. If there’s no ceiling, they will eventually scavenge the floor to keep building. This has happened repeatedly throughout the history of the country, including as we speak.
No value, no villain, no vision. Sounds like the tagline for the earnings call of a collapsing appliance retailer
November 30, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Literally impossible. If there’s no ceiling, they will eventually scavenge the floor to keep building. This has happened repeatedly throughout the history of the country, including as we speak.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
We're done here. Calligraphy or bust.
November 30, 2025 at 6:40 PM
We're done here. Calligraphy or bust.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
Oh, does a *venture capitalist* have a good slogan? Surely they have the best interests of ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!
November 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Oh, does a *venture capitalist* have a good slogan? Surely they have the best interests of ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
Much of my life and certainly Hookland has been based on the David Bowie lyric: ‘Turn and face the strange’. I am a Fully-grown Changeling. There is no other way.
November 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Much of my life and certainly Hookland has been based on the David Bowie lyric: ‘Turn and face the strange’. I am a Fully-grown Changeling. There is no other way.
Having an extended conversation about the labelmaker software.
Me: "it sounds finicky and requiring of experimentation, and the last thing I want to spend time on is experimenting on something I don't actually care about."
Partner (yanking my chain): "Maybe an LLM could help with that."
Me: "it sounds finicky and requiring of experimentation, and the last thing I want to spend time on is experimenting on something I don't actually care about."
Partner (yanking my chain): "Maybe an LLM could help with that."
November 30, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Having an extended conversation about the labelmaker software.
Me: "it sounds finicky and requiring of experimentation, and the last thing I want to spend time on is experimenting on something I don't actually care about."
Partner (yanking my chain): "Maybe an LLM could help with that."
Me: "it sounds finicky and requiring of experimentation, and the last thing I want to spend time on is experimenting on something I don't actually care about."
Partner (yanking my chain): "Maybe an LLM could help with that."
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
One of my favorite chapters in Pamuk's My Name Is Red has been from the viewpoint of a forged coin. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever say such a thing (and this is why we read).
November 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM
One of my favorite chapters in Pamuk's My Name Is Red has been from the viewpoint of a forged coin. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever say such a thing (and this is why we read).
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
“No ceiling” is how it feels when you look at skyrocketing prices for basic necessities.
November 30, 2025 at 5:22 PM
“No ceiling” is how it feels when you look at skyrocketing prices for basic necessities.
Reposted by Yvonne Lam
I suggest that we start using the phrase "Mr. Beast and the CEO of Salesforce will be there too." as shorthand to explain how little we want to be at any given terrible event.
November 29, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I suggest that we start using the phrase "Mr. Beast and the CEO of Salesforce will be there too." as shorthand to explain how little we want to be at any given terrible event.
Saving to read later
How hag knowledge gets turned into science, a case study from the Latin Middle Ages, with an appearance from orcas and the “grandmother hypothesis.”
link.springer.com/epdf/10.1057...
link.springer.com/epdf/10.1057...
How to turn experience into science: The case of the old woman
link.springer.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Saving to read later