nanette

@nanette

a middle-aged librarian living on the flatlands of central Illinois magnificent weirdo, guardian of the corn trophy, teller of stories “songs person” at thebestthing.blog not a professional account by any means, it gets weird in here

552 Siguiendo1259 Seguidores8210 Publicaciones

YouTube YouTube Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y nanette.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

nanette@nanette· Jul 10

also today is @putnam39.bsky.social’s birthday and I want everyone to know that I will be arriving by hifferback

An illustration of the elaborate Birthday Pal-alace from Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss. Many guests are arriving via exotic animal

Now, by Horseback and Bird-back and Hiffer-back, too,
Come your friends! All your friends! From all over Katroo!
And the Birthday Pal-alace heats up with hot friends
And your party goes on!
On and on
Till it ends.

nanette@nanette· Jul 9

something I do every year on my birthday is choose a book I really want to read and start reading it. I spend a lot of time reading book award jury titles and while I love 95% of it, I rarely pick up a book just for me! this year I picked two books:

Country People by Daniel Mason. The cover is a painting of two dogs.

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw. The cover is a young Black woman in a green power suit, sitting on a throne-like chair with her legs held insouciantly wide open—think power pose. She has a knowing smirk on her face.

nanette@nanette· Jul 9

the cake! had a buttercream mishap the first time around (the eggs started to cook) so had to make a second batch. the 11 year old did most of the decorating this year

A view of the top and side of a birthday cake. It is covered in peanut butter buttercream starbursts

A view of the top of a birthday cake. It is covered in peanut butter buttercream starbursts

nanette@nanette· Jul 8

A tray that reads “Dick will fish with his big rod.”

A record album by the Normal Community High School Experimental Ensemble. This will be a contender for best album 2026

A picture of a meat pie with the text “this beef patty holds many secrets”

nanette@nanette· Jul 8

this is both a threat and a promise

Screenshot of a conversation:
N: I'm gonna get to the bottom of this Samantha Brown business in round 3

N: I'm going to put my library degree to good use here

J: Might have to get into the microfiche

N: I'm old enough that I have used microfiche and microfilm for research

nanette@nanette· Jul 7

A picture of a slightly creepy Victorian baby in a round gilded frame

nanette@nanette· Jul 7

should I get this art as a birthday gift to myself?

The words “there’s only this” on a yellow and orange floral background

nanette@nanette· Jul 4

A photo of Stephen Miller next to a photo of a rectal polyp. The resemblance is uncanny.

nanette@nanette· Jul 4

I tend to scoff at “librarians are superheroes”/“librarians will save us all” but as a collections manager in a public library this made me feel really great about the work I do for my community

However imperfect, wherever a public library exists, it is one of the few places where Americans can experience the public life that neoliberalism has defunded and partisanship has demonized.
When you walk into one, you know that there are somethings too precious to be trusted to corporations or consumer preferences or political influence. A library card is liberal democracy made manifest.
There is a reason that culture warriors hate the library. It is the same reason that Americans should defend it with our lives. No political spin doctor can sell us what is freely given at one: the right to think for ourselves.
Tressie McMillan Cottom
It's America's Birthday. What Are We Celebrating?

nanette@nanette· Jul 4

always love when the local weather zooms in to show which towns are included in a warning because I get to learn about places I have never heard of, like Hurlbut

The local weather’s severe thunderstorm warning graphic from the night of July 3, 2026. This warning covers several towns including Broadwell, Lincoln, and Hurlbut.

nanette@nanette· Jul 3

you liked it better this time because you listened to it right after ELBOW

Friends are listening to:
Built to Spill
Elbow
The Microphones

nanette@nanette· Jul 1

an emu escaped from a farm half an hour east of us and we have been laughing at this exchange since last night

None of this is cute the fact they don't have a good way to catch a bird that escaped is extremely concerning

they have to be in a partially enclosed area where can be corralled. Runs too fast and dangerous to get close, within kicking distance. When out in open like this it's impossible to catch and pointless to try. Very specialized skills and circumstances required.

it's very apparent that you know not a thing about an emu. They are not easy to catch at all.

nanette@nanette· Jul 1

Jacob Dickey posted about mailbox lasagna today and the comments on Facebook are truly something

Facebook screenshot

As someone who teaches food safety l would never do this.

I think it is a joke! I hope nobody would do eat it but do it for humor

take a joke Deanna!

Ok I wondered but felt the need to comment. Thanks for clarifying.

nanette@nanette· Jun 27

I bid on this awesome library poster from 1989! If I win I’ll get it framed and hang it in my office

Three very late 80s looking sets of legs presented from the fall down. We’re talking tight rolled pants, leggings, slouchy socks. The text reads “be cool on the inside too. Dress your mind as well as you dress your body and no one will have anything on you.”

nanette@nanette· Jun 27

An anime girl with the text “Dayton mentioned.” She is wearing a Dayton Flyers hat and t-shirt and holding a bottle of Warped Wing Brewing beer.

nanette@nanette· Jun 25

Parker may be entitled to financial compensation

A poster featuring famous pop culture manic pixie dream girls with the following text:

Have you
(or someone you know)
been
MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRLED?
• have a unique hairstyle or glasses?
• have niche and/or potentially nerdy hobbies?
• placed on a pedestal by a mediocre man?
• expected to fix his life with your "quirkiness"?
• is your quirkiness actually a touch of the 'tism?
You may be entitled to financial compensation!

nanette@nanette· Jun 24

it’s gonna look excellent when it’s done, no thanks to WHITESNAKE

The 30th anniversary if you’re feeling sinister poster, signed by the band! Black frame, gray mat.

nanette@nanette· Jun 24

my favorite part of the piece is this. sorry, serious bluesky music criticism people, I wouldn’t have taken him to task for mentioning autofellatio in an interview either. I might have suggested a paid tier so he could share this unique talent with the world. could be a real money maker

When I interviewed Anthony, he said something in the moment I thought was funny, both in form and in content: "I mean, not to suck my own dick, but I revolutionized the music review." After it was published, a
couple of self-serious music-criticism defenders with grimly unsmiling avatars
— the very lifeblood of that thriving internet community known as Bluesky — took me to task for not immediately pouncing on
Fantano and taking him to task for what he said.

nanette@nanette· Jun 22

happy Father’s Day! Here is a picture of my dad with the giant preparation h box that the local pharmacy had on display. I asked for it and they gave it to me and I wrapped it as a birthday gift

A dad in plaid flannel pajamas gazing at a large preparation h box

nanette@nanette· Jun 21

the trouser press record guide is unimpressed with Slint

SLINT
Tweez (Jennifer Hartman) 1989
Spiderland (Touch and Go) 1991 •
Despite a great name, the indie-scene cred of being a Squirrel Bait offshoot and the sonic potential of Steve Albini as their producer, this Louisville, Kentucky noise-guitar quartet hasn't got much to say for itself on its first record. Employing a nifty variety of great guitar tones (from bandsaw to breezy) and songs cutely named for the members' parents and dog, the brief and roomy Tweez consists of simple, repetitive riffs over which more guitar, ambient sounds and a few spoken or shouted words occasionally intrude. Essentially a warmup that never gets around to anything (let's be fair:
"Pat" is almost a song), it's hard to imagine why these unformed scraps (recorded in 87) were released, or precisely what merit Slint imagines they have.
See also Breeders, Squirrel Bait.

nanette@nanette· Jun 20

hey @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social friends, give me a page number and I’ll give you a 1988 album from my trouser press record guide!, which was once owned by a guy who referred to himself as a “critic at large”

The fourth edition of the trouser press record guide. It is a sky blue book with black and pink records on the cover. Very early 90s.

A handwritten note in a book reading “Michael Kuecker, critic at large”

nanette@nanette· Jun 17

Boody exists outside of time, apparently

A photo of the radar over central Illinois with a key saying when the storm might arrive. Most cities are in the 5:00 hour (e.g., 5:09 PM Osbernville) but right after that it says 4:16 PM Boody

nanette@nanette· Jun 17

any time we see Chicken Bristle on the screen we get excited

A radar image of a thunderstorm over central Illinois, near Champaign. The tiny town of chicken bristle is on the screen.

nanette@nanette· Jun 17

I have discovered that a good way to keep my kids from getting anxious during severe weather is to load up the local tv station’s live feed and read the comments out loud

A radar image of central Illinois along with some particularly inane comments such as “it’s latching, hold on” and “why Clinton purple?”

nanette@nanette· Jun 17

AI slop is really something (I don’t buy any audiobooks narrated by a digital voice, ever)

A screenshot of an audiobook called “public speaking confidence: a clear introduction to speaking clearly, calmly, and with confidence” that is narrated by a digital voice and features an AI slop cover

nanette@nanette· Jun 17

Gracie was so photogenic! I miss this doofus cat every day

A tortie cat lying on her side. Her paws are on a stack of cards as if she’s playing a card game.

nanette@nanette· Jun 16

happy mailbox lasagna day to all who celebrate

A recipe for “mailbox lasagna”:

Assemble lasagna in small 5 x 9 pan, use only fully cooked meat
Place lasagna in mailbox by 10 am, leave 4-8 hours to cook
Return home, grab mail, grab dinner, enjoy your mailbox lasagna

nanette@nanette· Jun 13

candles for men, or “man-dals,” if you will

Two varieties of Manly Indulgence candles. One is called five o’clock shadow and the other is called bachelor pad.

nanette@nanette· Jun 12

watching the local news coverage of the storms that are coming through and the meteorologist said “send us your pictures!” and I’m tempted to send him a picture of my cat because he didn’t specify pictures of storm damage

Flora has destroyed the lightweight water station for the last time. She’s a white cat with a tabby half mask, very petite. She looks like she knows what she did.

nanette@nanette· Jun 7

oh HELL yeah