Jennifer Garlen

Had a lovely day out with an old friend. Gotta make the most of the small joys in dark times.

The King is mad

They have billions for forever wars and funding secret police to disappear citizens and gaudy ballrooms and tax cuts for the rich but never a dime for healthcare or to feed the poor.

One of the unacknowledged advantages of this awful era is that it's revealing for all to see the putrid connections between great wealth and great power.

The intentions of the oligarchs are fully exposed and more blatant than ever.

But remember: We outnumber the oligarchs.

Trying to explain to "normal" people why AI is bad and no I'm not okay with being associated with it. I'm so tired of this timeline...

The hardest part of working with lifetime learners and the retirement community is that I lose my students and friends on a regular basis. Found out yesterday that one of my favorites had passed away, just a week shy of her 90th birthday. I dreamed about her last night.

“Hey Boo.” #RIP #RobertDuvall (1931 - 2026) here as ‘Boo Radley’ in #ToKillaMockingbird
#TheGodfather #TheGreatSantini #ApocalypseNow

Because I live in Alabama, I hear this one almost daily, and it always makes me want to start screaming. I'll take "I appreciate you" over that one every time.

A digital painting of Miss Piggy in her dress from the 2026 Muppet Show special featuring Sabrina Carpenter. She's sitting demurely in the clouds, looking at the viewer with a soft expression.

💞 my lawyers will be in touch 💞
#muppets #misspiggy

There is literally no better example of textbook fascistic thinking than "Who cares about human rights when the rich are doing so very well"

It’s odd that the religious right is so upset about a halftime show that celebrated marriage, love, community, small business, hard work, and family. 🤔

I loathe football and did not watch the Super Bowl, but we DID get online and watch the entire halftime show, which was fantastic. The stunts! The wedding! The camera work! WOW.

Although I don't get PAID to do it, the line is definitely:

"PLEASE silence your cell phones before the movie begins, especially if you keep your phone at the bottom of a purse or bag."

Sparky watched it through a friend's streaming access, but I don't currently have Disney+, so I haven't gotten to see it yet. Sparky gave it a good report, though, and has watched it twice already! (I believe some Miss Piggy fan art is incoming soon, yes, @sparkytopia.com ?)

a black and white photo of a woman 's face with a hat on ALT: a black and white photo of a woman 's face with a hat on

Showed the lifetime learners CASABLANCA (1942) today. It was the first film in our Close Encounters with the Third Reich series.

Every time you hear that such and such major is being eliminated because it isn't popular or it doesn't make money or it doesn't serve the streamlined mission of the institution, you should think about the WaPo cuts.

What is a paper without books and sports? A college without history and languages.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

Amazon just announced another round of 16,000 layoffs, months after it laid off 14,000 workers.

Reminder that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy raked in over $40M in 2024.

And Amazon is spending at least $75 million producing and promoting the Melania documentary.

The system is rigged.

No because vampires are cool and actually retain some traces of their humanity.

“Please get the truth out about our son.”

Read and share the statement from the parents of Alex Pretti, the VA ICU nurse who was shot and killed by border patrol.

We really do live in the stupidest timeline. "Our fragile ego matters more than warning people about a life-threatening storm." JFC.

I believe that's the Night Terrier, who shows up in your dreams and causes you to wake up screaming.

You don't need me to tell you about the dumpster fire (you already know), but I will say that BOOKISH is on PBS Passport and a lot of fun if you still have access to PBS in your state (AL is about to kill ours so we're enjoying it while we can).

Snow is definitely better than ice. We're on the very edge of the ice, and they're starting to shut down and cancel everything now. We'll probably get just enough black ice to make Sunday and Monday a mess.

One year of Trump in a nutshell. Still waiting for those "day one" lower prices.

a bit of a comics page with superhero symbols on it - superman, batman, captain America, and Captain Marvel's lightning bolt. Text reads: WE'LL ASK, WHY DO SUPERHEROES ENDURE, WHY DO THEY MATTER? WHY DO THEY STILL INSPIRE? AS SYMBOLS OF HOPE, JUSTICE, IDEALS TO ASPIRE TO. AT THEIR ESSENCE, SUPERHEROES ARE, AS BEN SAUNDERS WROTE, "THE WISH THAT THINGS WERE OTHERWISE" WE EMBRACE THEIR OATHS: "WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY."

another tease for my semi-mini-comic as syllabus for my Superheroes class. A statement about the heart of the course, and I really love this passage from Saunders "The wish that things were otherwise." Onward!

We're anxiously watching the forecasts here. My kid and their partner were supposed to road trip to TN for a concert this weekend, and I'm supposed to be at a big LEGO club show, but I fear none of these things will actually be possible.

A noir-style illustrated poster titled “The Case of the Disappearing Copyright.” The Lockette—a cartoon character whose body is an open yellow padlock—cautiously steps out of an open vault marked with a copyright symbol. A strong beam of light shines from outside the frame, casting a large copyright symbol onto the floor. Floating eyes and a magnifying glass with a question mark evoke a detective mystery. Red footprints lead toward the open vault door. Text reads: “Public Domain Day 2026” and “Jan 21st @10am PT: Virtual.” Illustrated by Freya Morgan.

🎉 The public domain just got bigger! Join us January 21 for a virtual celebration of the films, music, art, & books newly free for everyone to use, remix, & share.

🎟️ Save your spot ➡️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1977502652...

#PublicDomainDay #CopyrightFree #CreativeCommons

Excellent, thanks! We try to do new things and see new places on each London trip.