Leslie What

@lesliewhat

Writer, Nebula Award-Winner, Oregon Book Award Finalist, Caretaker, former Hospice volunteer, Chevra Kadisha Volunteer, Maskmaker, Charge Nurse, Tap-Dancing Gorilla for hire. www.lesliewhat.com

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Leslie What@lesliewhat· 1d

Had a day off yesterday. Wrote a few lines of fiction, gardened, cleaned, practiced French. I can't grok how acing these sorts of questions will help me communicate on my next visit, when I'm mostly trying to clarify how big a slice of cheese to cut (I've had great success w/just finger signs).

A Duolingo translation question: "Il nous en raconte tout le temps."
My correct answer: "He tells us some all the time."
Duolingo says my answer is "Amazing!"

Leslie What@lesliewhat· 1d

Couldn't identify all the crosswalks& wasn't allowed to sign-in. Had to let the AI train me after realizing it was reading the wide column of thick white lines near the accessible spaces as crosswalks. I verified that square and finally passed its test.

Are you a Robot? quiz page asking me to verify crosswalks in the nine squares of crowded freeway, empty freeway w/bridge, few cars on freeway w/bridge, divided road w/bus, freeway w/car, freeway w/cars and trucks, car on side of 2 handicapped spaces in parking lot (each space has a column of thick white lines painted to one side, 4-lane UK road, bike path w/rider

Leslie What@lesliewhat· 23d

Just learned that the spider preventing me from opening my garbage can is called a Writing Spider (AKA Zigzag or Orb Spider and I'm trying to find inspiration in how she can write without caring what she is saying so long as she catches food. askentomologists.com/2020/09/08/z... am not #writing

Gnarly 1-inch black and white spider white scary stomach plate and white spikes on her abdomen waiting, waiting, waiting on her web. There is a small strand of silk spun in a zigzag pattern.

Another view of the spider, who now looks a little yellow, white, and black in the sun.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jul 13

flags at half-mast to honor Lindsay Graham.

Flags at half-mast in honor of Lindsay Graham: US Stars and Stripes flag, California Bear State flag, LGBTQ rainbow Pride flags.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jul 4

Happy fourth, friends. Stay safe and sane.

Woman in sunglasses wearing an aqua Statue of Liberty costume and holding a Presidential Toilet Brush Torch and wearing an "I didn't vote for Him" button.

Fire Marshall seal approving fireworks that says Safe and Sane. Registered Fireworks. State of California. State Fire Marshall.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jun 23

Berlin! There's a trouser press in my hotel room. Help me, Vivianne! m.youtube.com/watch?v=xoWs... More @ Bonzo Dog for you younguns (warning: the Bonzo Dog Band was pre -trigger warnings and their goal was to satirize, confuse, and offend almost everyone : ozthoughtsblog.com/2016/05/10/b...

A wood valet stand that opens so you can squeeze your pants between a heated element and a wooden plank.

https://ironinglab.com/how-to-use-a-trouser-press/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dp-OCDfcZGs

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jun 23

Leaving Paris for the Berlin meetings with Bundestag officials and and m to 8.00pm the main event in the Bundestag and an event hosted by Alliance 90/The Greens en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allianc..., and politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia as part of www.article116reconciliationproject.org

Crossing the over the Seine on the Pont Alexander III in Paris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Alexandre_III.

Photo is looking through the front window of a taxi at wall of cars. In the rear view mirror the driver can be seen with his hand on his forehead that suggests annoyance.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jun 20

One can't help but think that if there need be billionaires, at the very least, they can share priceless collections of art with the masses who are starving for real and important experiences. www.designboom.com/art/living-f...

Museum visitors interact with fog and disappear and reappear.
Please forgive me for not saying more. It was in the high 90s and I am old and have a lot of ailments and the 5 miles walks take everything from me.

The description of the installation is here: https://www.paris.fr/evenements/fujiko-nakaya-a-la-bourse-de-commerce-pinault-collection-112979

Photo taken through the immersive fog experience. https://www.paris.fr/evenements/fujiko-nakaya-a-la-bourse-de-commerce-pinault-collection-112979

The obscured rotunda, seen through fog. https://www.paris.fr/evenements/fujiko-nakaya-a-la-bourse-de-commerce-pinault-collection-112979

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jun 16

Visiting JR's cave with my sister is one of my most important and meaningful personal interactions with ART, up there with seeing Picasso's Guernica in Madrid, Plensa's. Le Nomade in Antibes, Momo Taro by Noguchi at Storm King, and the Rothko retrospective in PDX. I

The 17th Century New Bridge in Paris is a temporary art installation that is an homage to Christo and an immersive and interactive experience. This phot shows the Ike de Citeside of the bridge. More info here: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260616-pont-neuf-cavern-installation-over-the-seine-finally-opens-after-damage
And here:
https://www.designboom.com/

My sister and I hobbled
around (to be honest, I'm the hobbled) about nine miles today on our walk to and fro The Cave, JR's installation.

I'm smiling for the camera but the only part of my body that isn't screaming in pain is my new knee.
More info on the exhibit: https://www.designboom.com/

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260616-pont-neuf-cavern-installation-over-the-seine-finally-opens-after-damage

Leslie What@lesliewhat· May 9

Mother's Day in Mexico is May 10th but we celebrate on the closest Saturday so that my counterpart's spouse and son (both work on Sunday) can join the party. My granddaughter is proud of the confetti cake she made for her mom&grandmoms. I'm lucky to share this celebration. Happy MoDay, muthas!

A chocolate frosted cake with imperfectly oil piped rosettes
and many confetti sprinkles on a festive black Bopla serving platter decorated with orange and yellow and green and blue design of bunnies and squirrels and birds.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Apr 14

Yom Hashoah 2026 Letters written by my aunt and uncle, murdered with their mother & elderly aunts in December 1942. My mother hid the letters &I did not discover them until her death. Please block me if you cannot grant me the humanity to grieve and seek solace in remembering my family.

My mother was the only one from her large family to survive. She returned to her family home in Western Germany after her liberation and learned her neighbors had emptied their household belongings in what she termed a fire sale.
She had accompanied her father before their deportation to various neighbor's homes to pay them to care for family heirlooms and valuables and so she went directly to those houses to retrieve her belongings, but the neighbors were not happy to see her still alive. Very little came back, mostly things that would not have been returned had eBay been invented and the neighbors been able to squeeze more money from the murders of their town's Jewish people.
Still, she was grateful to have any physical remembrances. I will share letters written by my mother's little brother and sister. They were murdered in December 1942. I do not know when these letters were written. They were hidden away and I did not see them until my mother's death.
Please block me if you cannot grant me the humanity to seek solace in remembering as I grieve for the family who were tortured and murdered because they were Jewish and alive.

A faded penciled letter on lined paper written in graphite, red, yellow, and blue colored pencil. The lettering is German and I believe it is a message of love and best wishes for the New Year (Rosh Hashana). It is signed by my uncle and there is a colorful Star of David illustration centered at the bottom. My uncle was murdered just before his sixth birthday.

A drawing written by my aunt in colored pencil on faded lined paper. The top line is shaded in red and the sides are framed in blue. Beneath the red line is a row of stemmed flowers in various colors. On the next line is a multi-colored German word "LiEBES" (Dear) and at the bottom of the page are a row of red and blue hearts. My aunt was 7 when she was murdered.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Mar 31

I knew without knowing that these bell-shaped red clay plant cozies are used to force rhubarb and now I want to live somewhere where I can grow rhubarb and force it to obey my will. www.obga.ox.ac.uk/visit-garden en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb...

Poisonous green-leaf rhubarb tops with thin red edible stocks planted in dirt patch in the photo foreground.

In the background are tall red-clay bell-shaped jars covering other rhubarb plants.

There's a metaphor here about nature as an enemy and how we must be smart and try to understand it before it kills us.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Mar 20

Something about this inscription makes me want it on my headstone.

Worn headstone reads:

William Waller PSO
died August 24 1863 aged 67

and below that says:

Letitia - wife of the above
Died December 18, 1883 aged 89

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Mar 1

I'm watching childerns whilst their parents holoday in Mexico City.Their other grandparents drove up from Tijuana today to give us time off & bring us some favorite treats. I ate half a bag of candy made from goat milk, then spent time with Youtube how-to-make vids. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOBN...

An open bag with Glorias de Linares beside a half eaten caramelized cajeta and walnut candy resting on a red cellophane wrapper. You can find translations of the instructions. An audio translation in English is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJSym2mLMc4 or if you are trying not to fixate on war and worry about 30k people slaughtered by their own government https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/27/iran-protests-death-toll-disappeared-bodies-mass-burials-30000-dead or those who will die still, you can binge-watch them all https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Glorias+de+Linares+ We could make goat milk candy and not war if only the violent assholes who want to rule everything were not in charge. Fuck it. I'm opening the bag of obleas https://www.mymexicancandy.com/wafers-obleas/

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Feb 25

Let the drinking game begin! Pour a tall glass. Drink each time he says something that makes you want to boo.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Feb 21

Every girl watching wants to be Alysa Liu and skate to the Olympic Gold Medal. I once shared that dream. My hero was Peggy Fleming, who skated once for our yearly rink show (before winning her Olympic Gold medal) to help raise money for figure skating programs.

Brunette girl in pigtails wearing chartreuse skating dress with flowing, short spruce color skirt. She is standing on ice and holding a small gold trophy with a wooden base. I'm sure she looks happy, but behind that look of joy is the fear that the life she knows will all soon come crashing down and everything that has become familiar to her will be taken away and she will never again see the only friends she's known since she began skating.

Young Peggy Fleming in an elegant white lace skating costume poses with gracefully posed outstretched arms, white skates, her jumping leg pointing forward and straight, her landing leg crossed to the back so her toe pick balances on the ice, with her lifted heal at a balletic pose. Caption reads: Peggy Fleming 1964 United States Ladies Champion Member of 1964 United States Olympic and World Team.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Sep 15

May I respectfully ask Why Not?

NYT Spelling Bee puzzle with letters WADCTEH (W is yellow center letter that must be used on all guesses) in honeycomb pattern of the puzzle. My entered guess is "TWAT." Error message printed in black box says, "Not in world list. "

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Jun 27

Well, we have beans! www.ranchogordo.com/collections/...

A packet of Rancho Gordo Midnight Black Beans resting in an anatomical torso on a Pendleton blanket.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· May 18

Did Nietzsche really say this though?

Back page of pillow card says, "Aim for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars." Friedrich Nietzsche

Leslie What@lesliewhat· May 18

Have always heard Berlin was a great city but for a variety of reasons I've resisted visiting. But if the rest of Berlin is as fabulous as the pillow mints I'm all in and really excited to be here.

Haribo gummy bear package with small card printed with hotel name and welcome message and Nitzsche quote in German and in English says , Aim towards the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars. I don't actually think Nietzsche said this but what do I know?

Leslie What@lesliewhat· May 12

Everyone was in tears. He is the only person living who knew my mom's family. He internalized why he wasn't allowed to play with his friends and then he watched as they were taken away. Sigh. Such an emotional day. Our friend took us to a goat farm after to calm down.

The big GOAT has a punk white mohawk and black fur and his horns are cut and his antics were a perfect antidote to sorrow

Leslie What@lesliewhat· May 3

Yes. Sigh. A woman stepped on and crushed some succulents on her way to tug st a strange, fuzzy hanging plant about 4 feet from the path. Signs everywhere about staying off the path. 326 acres, most of it meant for interactive viewing. We just don't deserve this world.

A rocky bed with small succulent plants that have been crushed and broken.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Mar 24

A couple of Varasely woven tapestries seen from front and closeup side. The tapestries are massive www.instagram.com/modernmaster.... The illusions are dizzying.

Op Art tapestry front view. A sphere appears to rise from a flat background. The illusion is achieved through variations in color and ahap of circles outlined in contrasting color.

https://www.grapheine.com/en/history-of-graphic-design/vasarely-and-advertising/amp

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Mar 23

A tiny beetle in front of Fondation Varsarely, an Op Art piece, the building exterior, the evacuation plan for the interior. The scale of his work does not show in my photos. Many tapestries and paintings are massive. in Aix-en-Provence. www.fondationvasarely.org/en/architect...

Bright orange beetle with brown markings walking on the sidewalk. It was windy and he kept being overturned and then righting himself.

Striking black and white exterior of Fondation Varsarely taken on a cloudy day that would soon become a tempête. The building shape is a honeycomb of rooms.

https://www.fondationvasarely.org/en/architectonic-center/victor-vasarely/

The evacuation plan shows the diagram of the honeycomb building shape with interior octagonal cells and passageways between cells.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Mar 18

Looking out the window on the TGV, somewhere past Toulon, France. (Sorry for explaining the joke but in French the "H" is silent).

A light yellow/ivory building with a rooftop sign that says "O T E L".

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Feb 19

The FBN scale measures how it takes on social media for a post to go Full-Blown Nazi. On NextDoor it takes 1-2 days. Facebook is about 4 hours. Bluesky has slowed down to 1 hour. Instagram is 10 minutes. To measure Twitter requires an Omega Quantum Timer like the one used for Olympic track races.

ALT TEXT FBN NextDoor Neighborhood App post: "William there was no 6 million from the holocaust that died there was only 150 to maybe 160 that really died from the holocaust and none of them died from the gas chamber they all died from hygiene and from them being already sick nobody said what the Jews did to the Germans they gave the Germans 1 million in cattle for peace treaty and took those back took all of their stocks but all their land kicked other people out had over 150 babies die died when they were burning books on TV. Those were all transgender books and homosexual books that the Jews were trying to impose on that country."

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Dec 16

six bags from Rancho Gordo heirloom beans (and stuff): small white Caballero beans, small brown-black Moro beans, prepared hominy white corn posole, large Royal Corona bean, small Midnight Black bean, beige and brown spotted Pinto beans. Cooking instructions are on the back.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Nov 23

Beans. It's what's for dinner.

Rice with Rancho Gordo Moro beans, slicked maple chicken sausage, bouillon, sun dried tomatoes,olive oil, sautéed onion and garlic, a little powdered thyme, bay leaf, and oregano and stone ground mustard and a wee bit of lime juice added at the end. Topped with sliced radishes, tomatoes, and avocado

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Nov 19

My spouse has captured me in the moments I arise from the dead.

Scary photo of a woman with wild, tangled tree root morning hair and creepy shadows from unseen iPhone. The shadows cast severe eyebrows à la Matt Gaetz She wears big black glasses that reflect the phone light. She wears a white robe over black shirt.

Leslie What@lesliewhat· Nov 16

A bird just flew into an airport window and all of us trapped inside security said, Oh No, and looked to one another with the sad understanding that none of us could help and the bird was doomed. The metaphors don't stop.