c t

@whatulysses

grad student, bike goblin. prev: talky science words. current: thinky science words, log measuring, fire starting. Twin Cities general mutual aid resources: Rent relief funds:

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Bluesky

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

c t@whatulysses· 12d

screenshot of a rumpled, unshaven Ben Wyatt from the Parks & Rec "do you think a depressed person could do this?" meme. the text reads, "I mean, look at what I've accomplished," and the image superimposed over his original clay figure is a stock image of a dehydrator, brimming with various produce.

c t@whatulysses· 18d

going in to this movie like

image of an ancient greek pot/urn with red-on-black coloration, depicting a man (odysseus) tied to the mast of his ship while bird-winged woman-headed sirens or maybe harpies swoop around and say alluring siren shit, and his men row unaffected with their ears plugged with wax.

c t@whatulysses· 24d

It actually makes a lot of sense that parents who don't want to actually parent are making their money boosting technology whose idealized use is removing all the "tedious" "doing" experiences that actually are the POINT of being alive/connected to other people.

"Every hour I'm not bogged down with the doing is an hour I get to show up fully present with my kids," said Landis, 44, a former CEO of a fintech company and the founder of Peacock Parent, a company that uses AI to help families manage their homes.

c t@whatulysses· 26d

me, an asthmatic who knows literally everyone is or at any time could become "sensitive groups": we did it, everyone.

screenshot of the Airnow.gov dashboard for the twin cities. the readout is orange, lists the current air quality as 124, and says "unhealthy for sensitive groups."

c t@whatulysses· 27d

meanwhile, on the federal site, is it good that the arrow is as far over as it can possibly go?

c t@whatulysses· 27d

I know this is just how the atmosphere works under weather conditions like what we've got right now, but it's still wild to me that NYC has worse air quality than Minneapolis from...Minnesota and north-of-Minnesota fires.

screenshot of air quality in the northeastern quadrant of the United States. A line of purples, reds and oranges indicating poor/hazardous air quality extends from northern Minnesota to New York City, while much of Minnesota remains a much more moderate bright yellow.

c t@whatulysses· Jun 18

can't argue with this.

screenshot from a pop-up window received after downloading Microsoft Office. It features a yellow triangle with an exclamation point and the text, "'Microsoft Teams' is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash."

c t@whatulysses· May 26

the whole MN flag separatism thing got stuck in my head today. anyway.

two screenshots from that one scene in Civil War where the journalists with no guns tell Jesse Plemons with a machine gun that they are Americans, and then Plemons asks the journalists what kind of americans they are. the text on the first reads, "There's been a misunderstanding. We're Minnesotans." and the man has the new Minnesota State Flag (two shades of blue with a white star on the left) covering most of his body. The second panel reads, "What kind of Minnesotans are you?" and Jesse Plemons is covered with the old Minnesota flag, which is an atrocity of colonialism and also just excessively complicated and ugly, you can't really make it out but if you live in Minnesota, you know.

c t@whatulysses· May 23

measuring tree rings all summer and there's no way I'm beating the allegations (she spends hours tracing wood grain patterns in the floor to self-soothe like that character in Orson Scott Card's "Xenocide")

photograph of a row of tree core samples in rectangular holders stacked parallel to each other. they look like slender rectangles punctuated by irregular patterns of light tan and dark reddish-brown bands - the different parts of a tree ring. no single one is the same. the wood glows under whatever light source is present. it is beautiful and mesmerizing.

c t@whatulysses· May 8

i disabled this shit why i am seeing this shit!

screenshot of a Google doc window with a completely unnecessary AI menu floating in the middle of the screen with options such as "match doc format" and "email draft" and a chatbot prompt interface labeled "write with Gemini". there is no way to close or remove this bullshit despite my options clearly disabling this bullshit.

c t@whatulysses· May 3

Love me some poorly executed scare quotes from a major publisher of words.

c t@whatulysses· Apr 30

being a menace

screenshot of a presentation slide with a dark red background. in white-highlighted black text are the words "Questions? Feedback? Literature suggestions?" A giant gif of Elmo with his arms raised in the air, surrounded by flames, is frozen in time below the text.

c t@whatulysses· Apr 20

I am just saying, Wikipedia remains a net good.

Screenshot from a block of text from a Wikipedia article containing partial sentences that start with "Critics argue..." and "Similarly, others argue...". It doesn't matter what comes next - what's important is that each time, Wikipedia editors have added a citation-needed annotation that just says, [who?], contrary to many poorly-written acts of journalism that refuse to attribute arguments to anyone specific.

c t@whatulysses· Mar 12

I love science workplaces.

Printed sign taped to a refrigerator reads: "Food ONLY Fridge/Freezer. Food ONLY. NO Research samples; this includes, but is not limited to: chemicals, insects and/or insect parts, plants and/or plant parts, soil. Any research samples found in this fridge/freezer will be relocated to a research fridge/freezer without notification."

c t@whatulysses· Mar 6

Love my union, which not only IMMEDIATELY decried the abrupt closure of the student-serving dental clinic (we don't have dental insurance, just sparkling medical ins for THAT clinic) but called out the pouring of resources into AI at the same time. Full statement: drive.google.com/file/d/1EMPy...

Black text on white background. "The timing of this announcement is also not lost on us. This closure comes just days after a new Vice Provost position was created at the university to further AI initiatives at UMN, laying bare the fact that the university will continue to prioritize expanding the ranks of its administration over maintaining baseline care for students and workers."

c t@whatulysses· Mar 3

mmmm

screenshot of black text on a white background, as if from an email: "Many universities are investing in AI. What distinguishes our approach is its intentionality."

c t@whatulysses· Feb 27

live footage of me on my way to produce value for the institution this morning.

a clumsy line drawing of a figure on a bicycle wearing a winter hat. directional lines suggest they are riding their bike up a pretty steep hill, to a place with a water tower with the letter "M" on it. another pathway leads down the hill, suggesting the endless repetition of routines built over weeks and months of low-income intellectual labor for a wealthy land grant university enriched by historic dispossession of the Dakota from their land in Mni Sóta Makoce.

c t@whatulysses· Feb 20

been re/reading pretty much the entirety of Garth Nix's Abhorsen series as an insomnia crutch in the last couple months and I just gotta say.

a meme with two panels. on the left, a photo of a blond white woman yelling and pointing while another woman holds her back. this is labelled "Abhorsens." on the right panel, a white cat sitting at a table in front of a plate of salad. this is labelled "Mogget."

c t@whatulysses· Feb 19

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

a finished handknit sweater in a bathtub soaking, obviously part of the blocking process. it's arms are arranged in a shrugging motion.

c t@whatulysses· Feb 17

something something while you were learning R, I was also learning R, but I was also studying the blade. pattern is a somewhat adjusted Lucky Horseshoe by @leafhopper.bsky.social, I will now probably avoid blocking/wearing it for like 6 months because I am v anxious that I made it fit bad.

photo of a sweater draped across a laptop keyboard. the main body is gray, while colorwork in bright teal makes a horseshoe crab pattern across the chest/shoulders. a band of teal also lines the bottom.

c t@whatulysses· Feb 15

Receipts attached (anyone mad about the Valentine candy, 🤷): about $30 more went into transportation, since my friend with a car remembered belatedly that we shouldn't use patrol vehicles for mutual aid, & since there's still excess I'll be donating that to the rent fund for this same family.

c t@whatulysses· Feb 11

how could u not

a simplistic line rendering of tree core samples featuring rectangular strips facing from left to right, each divided by dozens vertical lines at various distances apart to simulate tree rings in a cross section.

c t@whatulysses· Jan 25

Been thinking a lot about Molly Brodak's poem, "Molly Brodak"

Image of the text of a poem.
In bold at the top, the poem's title: "Molly Brodak."
Below, in regular text:
"I am a good man.
The amount of fear
I am ok with
is insane.
I love many people
who don't love me.
I don't actually know
if that is true.
This is love
It is a mass of ice
melting, I can't hold
it and I have nowhere
to put it down."

c t@whatulysses· Jan 23

I also really like Ominous Loon.

c t@whatulysses· Dec 29

new healthcare system, new opportunities to...be encouraged to verbally opt out of AI recording at every single appointment, rather than click a button in the EMR once. I worked for an EMR company years ago: this would be a very easy flag to add to a record!

screenshot from the EMR in question. "And if you notice a medical error in the note let your care team know right away so we can fix it."

c t@whatulysses· Dec 22

the rzn for the szn.

photograph of a Tv in a room with colorful Christmas lights on the ceiling. the TV screen shows a still of two men in a room with padded gray walls. one is dressed as Santa and holds a bottle of some liquid. the second man wears a gray suit and his face looks battered. the subtitles on the screen read, "Oh please help me."

c t@whatulysses· Dec 16

Apparently I have to find and destroy the #1 fan now.

Screencap from a year-end music summary featuring a photo of a dark-bearded man in a button-up shirt holding a saxophone. The text reads, "You are Colin Stetson's 2nd biggest fan."

c t@whatulysses· Dec 16

Ma'am, this is an insomniac grad student with a loud upstairs neighbor.

Screencap of a year-end music listening summary from the streaming service Tidal (which is a more ethical use of your money than Spotify by the way). The text reads, "Your 2025 was a deep dive into vast, experimental soundscapes, where the ambient hush of rain met the breathtaking intensity of avant-garde saxophone. You mastered the art of finding both solace and sonic adventure in every listen."

c t@whatulysses· Dec 15

your annual reminder that Brazil is a Christmas movie.

wide-angle photo of a grim-looking living room in shades of gray. a christmas tree is half cropped out of the frame on the left, next to a middle-aged woman with two children around her. on the right is a man sitting at a table, doing some kind of task with his hands. a giant series of pipes snakes across the ceiling. the whole scene is rendered mostly in dim grays and browns.

c t@whatulysses· Nov 26

sibling with lifelong reputation for ranting about things perfectly playing my role again