@mem_somerville@mastodon.social
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mem_somerville

@mem_somerville@mastodon.social

Scientist. Lacemaker. Special fan of Ipswich Lace.

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ai6yr, to H5N1

LA Times: Despite H5N1 bird flu outbreaks in dairy cattle, raw milk enthusiasts are uncowed https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-05-12/raw-milk-enthusiasts-uncowed-by-bird-flu-risk-in-dairy

mem_somerville,
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@ai6yr I have lobbied for a while to get a "class action" Darwin Award category, but so far without success.

Alas.

mem_somerville, to boston
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I'll admit: I had no idea there was a .

Craigp, (edited ) to random
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I love when people create astounding works of art but they're in such hilariously tiny niches that nobody will ever know.

I consider speedruns like this, but also things like people spending weeks remixing a let's player.

Of course it happens all over. I'm sure if I was into knitting, I'd see knitting masterpieces.

I just love knowing that people will spend thousands of hours on what they love, even though it will never leave the tiny group of people it was intended for.

mem_somerville,
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@Craigp In an antique shop just today, I was looking at this linen handkerchief--appeared to never have been used--with amazing tiny tatting in 3 rows around the outside.

It was perfect. I am probably the only one that ever noticed it tucked off to the side.

I mentally saluted its creator, whoever she was.

mem_somerville, to random
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Hey folk: my friend Val reminded me today that June 1 is free admission day to many houses in the Historic New England collection.

Plan those trips now!

https://www.historicnewengland.org/youre-invited-to-our-region-wide-open-house-2/

mem_somerville, to Lace
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Antique store cat wonders if you really need more doilies....

To be fair, she's right (her name is Beatrice, at Howard's Flying Dragon Antiques). But you can't get linen like the fineness of these squares now, perfectly hemmed. Seriously great stuff.

And that goose. I mean, of course I needed the goose doily.

A round linen doily about 7 inches in diameter. It has a triangular trim with a little flower motif in it, made of filet lace. The center of the doily also has about a 2 inch square motif of a goose with a long bent neck in that angry goose pose. The circle of linen in the main area also has drawn thread work removed so that it looks like a tic-tac-toe grid (with the goose in the center). The initials ADH are embroidered in the top center square too.
A pile of fabulously soft and fine linen rectangles, with drawn threads to make one inch squares around the edge. It also has a perfectly sewn folded over hem all the way around. It has a safety pin holding the batch, and it says $10 set of 8. I can make a lace trim around the edges of these that will look divine. And that means I don't have to sew the center part, which is just not my favorite part of the whole thing.

alexwild, to random
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Biology faculty at UT are meeting today to talk about a hiring plan. I really don't envy their job of trying to make a department located in Texas attractive.

We're in the middle of an ongoing purge of black staff, the adminstration just called in the state police to beat and jail students, and no one in their right mind would want to risk pregnancy to have a family here. It's bleak.

mem_somerville,
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@alexwild I don't promote job ads or postdoc ads at places like that anymore either.

I can't endorse a young woman going to a state where she would be at this kind of risk.

ai6yr, to random

Eyeballed the cursed billionaire's social media service just to benchmark where things are, and the folks left posting 😬

Unsurprising, but significant hostility to education and college (in general) and folks I used to know, and lots of suggestions/hope for police violence against kids. It's cursed over there, even among folks I used to consider fairly normal/reasonable.

mem_somerville,
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@ai6yr I think it's disproportionate now---the nice ones left, and the ones in your feed who remain are now a much larger proportion.

As well as being cursed.

mem_somerville, to random
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This giant insect sculpture both compels me and haunts me, every time I visit the Museum.

mem_somerville, to history
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ICYMI: if you are a textile artist, you might appreciate this piece by Elena Kanagy-Loux.

"My Grandma’s Doilies Are Not a Joke

When will art institutions finally pay respect to our foremothers’ artistry?"

https://hyperallergic.com/906788/my-grandmas-doilies-are-not-a-joke/

mem_somerville,
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@melindrea Right. I very much appreciate Elena taking a blow-torch to this idea.

And she also gave me more fuel to add these details to Wikipedia....

mem_somerville, to Lace
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I 💚 Elena. She is such a great ambassador of lace.

@bobbinlace

https://hyperallergic.com/906788/my-grandmas-doilies-are-not-a-joke/

mem_somerville, to Copenhagen
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Ok, I didn't expect to see this. They have a squad for this??

"People rushed into the building to help save the building’s extensive collection of historic artwork. The National Museum also sent 25 employees to the scene to help evacuate the art, it tweeted."

That's dedication to art.

Very sad to see history in flames like that though.

https://wapo.st/3TXQ3nW

mem_somerville, to random
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Hey, some guy named Paul Revere came by today with a message for .

In the parking lot in front of Foss Park in Somerville, Paul Revere rides in on Brown Beauty with a message about some troop movements out of Boston. He si accompanied by the modern-day clad Lancer's rider from the state, in a shockingly red coat which is sort of a mixed message here. He is in colonial costume, and rides up to a greeting throng of Somerville residents, some also in costume. A fife and drum play a colonial tune in the background.

swachter, to random
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I have to say, having an unknown piece of electronics begin smoking aggressively is a damn effective way to end an otherwise lovely chat between Randall Munroe and @pluralistic. Gotta remember that one for the next time I want to get out of a meeting.

mem_somerville,
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@knizer @pluralistic @Zittrain

I found the idea of the "bezzle" a helpful (if frightening) concept.

And I loved Randall's answer about how he frames taking a small window of someone's time with the distilled idea he's trying to convey.

mem_somerville, to Lace
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My this week is tracking down this historic lace pricking [the paper or parchment with the pin holes for our pattern].

Found in Gertrude Whiting's "Tools and toys of stitchery" from 1928.

I found the ship--it is an Edward Savage rare print from 1799. I couldn't believe it. Anyone with insights--please share.

mem_somerville,
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BTW: another project has to be putting Gertrude Whiting into @wikipedia . She's not there, despite being hugely influential and notable.

So notable she even made the NYT in 1939 when she was hit by a car.

Look at the she made which is now in The Met.

https://www.metmuseum.org/articles/gertrude-whiting-bobbin-lace-sampler

mem_somerville,
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Discussion of this triggered the memory of my of my lace group friends, who knew of this "lace or needlework" pattern from ~1720. Dated because it's on the back of a deed in .

Gosh, I love a rabbit hole through archives.

[and I love that the MFA offers Mastodon link shares]

http://collections.mfa.org/objects/115106/embroidery-design

mem_somerville, to solar
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My housemate and I were joking about our production during the .

They ran the numbers in this piece.

https://commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/magical-eclipse-created-temporary-solar-power-void/

mem_somerville, to random
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Wha?

Bird flu detected in milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas

https://wapo.st/3xbn6wU

mem_somerville,
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@hannu_ikonen I'm not particularly worried about the milk, but the spread to mammals on farms....

mem_somerville, to random
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WaPo says will have a 93% with a peak at 3:29pm.

This is mostly a note to me, because I keep forgetting to put it on my calendar.

You can enter a city for an estimate.

https://wapo.st/3TKcFZY

mem_somerville, to FiberArts
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Oh, the joy of having the exact right color thread already in your stash...

Recutting a goofy collar of this $8 jacket from eBay.

mem_somerville, to climate
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Well well well. What could this be about?

"Earliest ever ‘ice out’ called at Lake Winnipesaukee"

And at the other end of the state the beach is washing out. What a coincidence.

https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2024-03-18/earliest-ever-ice-out-called-at-lake-winnipesaukee

mem_somerville, to random
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Cleaning out an old desk. I found my airplane ticket for Sept 10 2001, out of Boston to California.

The day before everything changed and planes from Boston flew into buildings... I was supposed to fly on the 11th, but we changed it a few days before.

mem_somerville, to Lace
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My supervisor inspects the newest hobby....! She has figured out how to sit directly on the pattern so work cannot proceed.

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