The proper use of 6 7 for an old is to use it as an excuse to follow with a loud singing of "five three oh ni-i-ine" and to the confused kid say "what? I thought you just forgot the initial 8".

Fortunately, most masks still show quite a bit of the underlying facial movement, so if I look directly at the mask and focus on the movement that still helps.

I do worry a bit that an intense stare at the mask of a woman shorter than me can send the wrong impression about where I'm looking.

I've found that my ears are now doing something my father complained of as he got older. In a crowded sound environment I often need to see lips to understand people, though by a "detect a faint sound in silence" measure my hearing is just fine.

So enunciating helps, but volume less so.

In that vein, I kind of want to read a comic about senescent superheroes. The Flash with palsy, unable to move his brain as far as his body can still go. Treating Superman's cancer with kryptonite chemo, just killing him more slowly. Shadowcat with dementia, impossible to keep from wandering off.

Yeah, news media really sold the idea that these were distressed loners losing it and shooting the popular kids.

In fact, the two shooters were broadly part of the in crowd from well-off families, and prior to the shooting generally more popular than most of their victims.

So something like "now before we tell you what Mr. X said, we want to lay out the facts: studies have repeatedly shown .... However, these facts are contrary to the position Mr. X has staked out, so he chose to feed us this lie instead:" (Roll Mr. X clip)

?

The thing about Thundarr is I always thought that Princess Ariel and Ookla could do so much better than him, and didn't really need him.

A bird with a dark grey and brown body (with thin strips of white between the grey and brown) walks on yellow legs in among grass with red clover not yet ready to open seeded through it. The bird's beak is red with a yellow tip. The bird is a Eurasian Moorhen, which the "All About Birds" sure describes as a "distinctive dark waterbird that resembles a cross between a duck and a chicken", and honestly.... Yeah. I can't think of a better way to describe it. Reading Green Park Business Park, Reading, UK ƒ/6.3; 1/640 s; 400 mm; ISO 2500

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme from @alan678.bsky.social is #Petals&Perches: any bird with flowers in capture.

They aren't open yet, but clover is still a flower.

Captured last week when I was in the UK.

#birds #photography #ukbirding

This is a dance off. If you see this, repost with a dance or get eliminated

... Is as you wrote part of a panic over women having real options outside of marriage and motherhood.

(Hence my use of "they" initially)

Compressing things to 300 characters may have clouded my meaning.

I read your article, I always do.

Yes, you and I agree it's not a problem, but some conservatives seem really worried here, and if they were sincere in their concern I'd expect them to embrace policies like I said.

As they don't, I suspect their true concern is not as stated, but ...

It seems clear to me then that the way to fix this problem—if they really wanted to—is a Scandanavian-style robust lifelong social support system so that establishing one's career prior to having kids was not as much of a necessity.

Don't whine about people responding to the incentives they have.

I think that they'd also be happy with a certain percentage of 'abandoned' teen mothers forced by social stigma to give their children up for adoption.

A close-up, low-angle shot of an American Robin perched on a mossy tree branch. The bird is facing forward with its head tilted slightly upward, showing its vibrant orange breast, dark gray head, and yellow beak. The angle makes the bird's body look rectangular and mimics the stance of a human bodyguard looking tough. The background is a soft, out-of-focus mix of wintery branches and white sky. Burlington County, NJ, USA ƒ/7.1; 1/320 s; 269 mm; ISO 500

I don't have many pictures of birds with food in their beaks for today's main #BirdOfTheDay theme, so I'm going with the alt theme that @robcrank68.bsky.social set of #Turdidae.

Here's an NJ American Robin doing his best mobbed-up tough guy impression.

#birds #photography #birdphotography

To be fair, I'm reasonably certain you'd get a similar lack of response if you asked Trump to name his favorite passage in "The Art of the Deal", to name another book he likely hasn't read.

Uh... Or you have to read the last three points where he starts using the phrase "some cultures" and be vaguely aware that racists will frequently use "culture" when they mean race.

Yeah, but then I've got to get off my couch to change to another movie.

Also, I discovered after living and driving in NJ for a many years that I'd gotten really spoiled by the signage here.

It's always very clear what you have to do: you have to look for the signs, and then do what they say. The signs will assume you don't know what to do. Trust the signs.

American Robin perched on grave marker. The head of a second American Robin is visible slightly out-of-focus in the background. The bird is looking generally in the direction of the camera, but not quite directly at it. St. Mary's churchyard, Burlington, NJ, USA ƒ/6.3; 400 mm; 1/640 s; ISO 1250

A Blue Jay standing on a tree root on the ground. The bird is facing away from the camera, wings folded, showing off the bright blue and white areas on its lower back. The background is out-of-focus grass and dirt. Riverfornt Promenade, Burlington, NJ, USA

A plump male Northern Cardinal perches on a tree branch. The bird is facing away from camera, but with the head turned to the right so that the head is in profile view. The background is out-of-focus brown and white. Burlington County, NJ, USA ƒ/6.3; 400 mm; 1/250 s; ISO 3200

A female Wild Duck (also know as a Mallard) at the edge of a forest stream. The ground is brown, covered with dead pine needles and other forest leavings. There is a young duckling in the background, behind the adult female. Black Run Preserve, Evesham, NJ, USA ƒ/4; 100 mm; 1/1000 s; ISO 1000

As set by @alan678.bsky.social, today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #ABCD: "any bird beginning any part of their name with these letters. Extra points for a set using all. 🤓"

Okay, I think I got this.

#birds #photography

A duck with black feathers and red eye mask standing on a portion of a tree trunk that's growing more sideways than up. Behind the duck is an out-of-focus woodland scene. Bubali Bird Sanctuary, Noord, Aruba ƒ/7.1; 1/640 s; 300 mm; ISO 1600

According to @robcrank68.bsky.social, today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #DucksOutOfWater, any Duck that is out of the water but NOT FLYING.

So here's a Muscovy Duck in a tree. (From Aruba)

#birds #photography #naturephotography #DuckLife

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Letter to the Birminghamians, 4:3

A photograph of the top of a bus stop sign. The sign reads: St Mary's Butts (CT) Bus Stop (The stop is named after the street it's on, which is in fact "St Mary's Butts", a real street in central Reading)

Are the people doing UK street names okay?

A Carolina Chickadee (a small, fluffy bird with a black cap and white cheeks) is perched on the tip of a thin, vertical dried stalk. The bird is captured in profile, leaning its head down to inspect the top of the branch. It has soft grey wings and a pale underbelly. The background is a warm, soft-focus blur of brown and green vegetation. Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area, Moorestown, NJ, USA ƒ/6.3; 1/1000 s; 400 mm; ISO 1250

Per @alan678.bsky.social: "The #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #FeederFriends birds you might see at your feeder. They do not have to be on a feeder."

This Carolina Chickadee is not at a feeder here, but certainly could be at one locally.

#birds #photography

Speaking as someone just in the UK for a week, it is really confusing that RailAir is neither a train line nor an airline but instead a private bus company.

They named it after modes of transportation that it isn't.

The head and most of the neck of a Gray Heron among reeds. Green Park, Reading, England, UK

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme set by @robcrank68.bsky.social is #HeadShots: "any head shot will do"

I'm at one of my employer's UK offices this week, so here's a shot I took today over lunch of the local Gray Heron.

#birds #ukbirding

One of the big issues with solar panels on building roofs (especially older buildings) is that if the installer isn't careful you end up with persistent, hard-to-find leaks and water damage.

This approach completely eliminates that problem. No one cares if there's a water leak onto the parking.

Honestly most of the time if I'm describing to someone who doesn't know birdcalls how to recognize a Cardinal I'll say "That call you heard: could you imagine it as the sound made by some cheap toy plastic ray gun? If so, it's a cardinal".

Yeah, the jays are assholes "to other birds*, but only in full daylight and they'll let you as a human sleep in when you can.

Cardinals are nice in the daylight and fun to photograph, but at 5am I just wish they'd at least wait until sunrise.

That's what happens if you're lucky.

Another possible outcome: no effect until so late that you call the on-call doctor who tells you an over-the-counter thing to add, which eventually around midnight takes effect at which point the stuff you should have been doing all day happens all at once.

(American) Robins do have quite the loud, piercing call at times, but it still sounds like it might be music or an improvised song and doesn't say "alarm sound; full emergency adrenaline NOW" to my sleepy brain the way the repeated "whoop-whoop-whoop" or "pew-pew-pew" of Cardinals does.