Just a Pretty House with Garden in Oxford, story at Spillwords.com Spillwords.com presents: Just a Pretty House with Garden in Oxford, a short story by Karen Southall Watts, who is teaching, writing, and ...

How about a little escape from the news? spillwords.com/just-a-prett...

Image is the opening screen of the conference for Beauty Biz with an image of the guest speaker

Yesterday I was at the Beauty Biz Summit. Entrepreneurs, start planning now for the Women & Minority Small Business Summit (everyone welcome) on June 19th through the SBC of Alamance Community College

A Sunday thought Friends,

These are terrible times — the worst I’ve lived through, and I’ve lived through some bad ones. But in hundreds of thousands of ways, you are beacon lights. You are the beginnings of positive change. robertreich.substack.com/p/a-sunday-t...

Pardon My Broken Heart, by Karen Southall Watts Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features. To be human is to have your heart broken. Sometimes repeatedly. Pardon My Broken Heart looks at what it means to have a broken heart and keep going...

Click the drop down arrow for the digital version bottlecap.press/collections/...

Great advice from @msdonna.bsky.social Make a decision www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGb6...

Thank you for giving this story a home @freeflashfiction.bsky.social

As a writer, this is the type of talk that at one time editors would declare to be unbelievable and cartoon villainish if included in a story. It's terrifying.

You are right. There's much more digestible science, history, etc. information readily available now than ever before. Science communicator is a job. And yet, anti-intellectualism is growing. Perhaps it's not because people don't understand, but they don't like what they find out?

New this week. For the first time in my life, and I'm no spring chicken, I was in a room where someone aggressively shushed all political discussion out of fear. 😱

Giving access to SSNs, other data on government employees to non-employees like Musk is a violation of 5 USC 552a, and carries with it a penalty of $1000 per person whose data was accessed. We are building a case. Govt employees who want to participate should contact me directly

Fighting Back Against Trump II | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich YouTube video by Robert Reich

Replacing civil servants with loyalists.

Upending the lives of millions who rely on federal programs.

Grotesquely blaming "DEI" for disaster.

Trump wants to consolidate power through divide-and-conquer tactics. We must stand together and fight back. youtu.be/wSYbNcjGjhA?...

Wanted:

A few days ago I saw stats about “for every dollar spent on an NSF grant, there’s ____ economic impact on communities” or something

I need that stat for an open letter for scientists and now can’t find it.

Also similar stats for EPA, NOAA, NIH grants etc would be useful here. 🧪

It's a test right? Just as I finish gearing myself up to be kind no matter what today...some stranger calls my number, tells me they are returning MY call, and when I try to politely get off the phone, they begin yelling "Shut up." 😒

Thank you. I've been on here a while but still having trouble finding people I want to follow.

Okay, I was wrong. The "capability" is turned off, but the damn annoying little prompt still pops up. UGH

Good writing morning--cool, rainy, and quiet. Better after I figured out how to turn off Copilot in MSWord.

Loved this. Great list of ideas. One of the ways to cultivate empathy and reach out to younger people is to read fiction and encourage the children/teens in your life to do so as well. Reading stories builds our empathy muscles.

I suspect that were he not wealthy he'd be getting some type of family/mental health intervention.

Art piece of a digital drawing of a leopard moth, a mostly white insect with black spots on its wings and highlights of orange and turquoise on its body.

A new drawing for the last day of #InverteFest! May this leopard moth bring you good fortune in the new year!

#art #HappyNewYear

One short story submitted this morning, and a hard copy printed of a first draft for a longer project. Yay! ☺️

Scientists at the University of Miami are carrying out a research study on how scientists use online platforms like Twitter/X and Bluesky. If you are 18 years of age or older and are a scientist who uses these platforms for professional purposes, please click the link below to complete a short survey. If you are interested in learning more about this research study, please e-mail us at Julia.wester @ miami.edu. In the body of your email please provide your full name, and if you would prefer to be contacted by phone, your phone number and the best time to reach you. Contacting us for more information does not commit you to participating, and should you decide to participate you may terminate your participation at any time.

If you are a scientist (including graduate students) or professional science communicator who is at least 18 years old and are using Bluesky for any kind of professional purposes, please consider taking our survey.

Link:

umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Please help share. 🧪🌎 #SciComm

Why do we need AI generated users? Isn't screen based socialization weird enough already?

Holiday Reflections by Karen Southall Watts at Spillwords.com Spillwords.com presents: Christmas at Spillwords - Holiday Reflections, short story by Karen Southall Watts, who is teaching, writing ...

A student in a flash fiction workshop asked me, "Does someone die at the end of all your stories?" (Note to mix up my samples next time) Here's my sugary sweet seasonal answer spillwords.com/holiday-refl...

Well-functioning ecosystems and biodiversity can have a huge impact on human well-being. 🌐🧪🌍

The Red Tent – Free Flash Fiction The cup warms her hands, whilst cappuccino chocolate melts on her tongue. She sees a red tent opposite the book shop. It is out of place amongst the shoppers, pubs and festive wreaths.   A young man i...

The Red Tent
by
Melissa Dennison
@meldenn73.bsky.social

#flashfiction
#WritingCommunity

freeflashfiction.com/fiction/the-...

Dangerous, stupid, and with a heart full of vengeance. I expect much of the world to trauma bond over the next few months.

Cartoon drawing of a researcher sat in a chair working on a laptop

**𝗪𝗘'𝗥𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚**

JXB is looking for an assistant editor to join our friendly team based in Lancaster, UK.

Come and work for a society-owned journal and support the #plantscience community. 🧪

More info: bit.ly/JXBAE24

@sebiology.bsky.social @cristobaluauy.bsky.social @giffordlab.bsky.social

Thank you to all new followers!! Not hanging about here much, as I'm deep in the 2025 planning. I did just find out about a poem being accepted on a new platform and sign some 2025 contracts for coaching/speaking...so yay.

I am helping prepare some classes for #jobseekers over 50 in the Burlington, NC area. I'm actively seeking feedback on days/times and other logistics you think we should keep in mind. Please comment or message me. Thanks.

I meant to share this, but a head cold has messed up my sense of time this week, so here's the permalink paragraphplanet.com/nov2324.gif for "Burned toast."