Justin Starr

Decades ago, when I first started learning guitar, I picked up a really weird habit of using an alternative open G. When @urbanastronyc.bsky.social pointed it out, I was scratching my head on where I got this.

Finally found the answer:

Jimmy Page

In Tangerine, one of the 1st songs I learned. 🎸

Love that!

Thank you 😊

Thanks, Mo!

Aww I love that ❤️‍🩹

A picture of the corner of my fireplace mantle. A red pillow with the name Oscar stitched on it, two clay discs, a wooden box with a nameplate that says Oscar, a collar sitting on the box, a tennis ball between the box and wall, and a velvet bag behind the box can be seen.

A closeup of Oscar’s box of ashes, his collar on which you can see a nameplate with his name, the tennis ball, a velvet bag, and the clay discs can be seen. Now you can discern that there are imprints of his paw prints on the discs.

A picture of the two clay discs with Oscar’s front paw prints on them. Behind them is an ink print of his front right paw print.

Our shrine to Oscar is almost done. My parents got him that pillow many years ago. The wooden box houses his ashes. We just need one more thing… either a shadow box or a particular type of picture frame that holds a collar (leaning forwards shadow box - I’ve seen lovely pet memorials on Etsy)

A puppy sitting on a big stone in my parents backyard during golden hour. Grass and a shed can be seen in the background.

A puppy stands at the steps to the deck. His bottom half can’t be seen, but you can infer he is standing in grass and his front paws are in the first step as he stands. The immediate foreground has the deck, the background shows grass of the backyard

A selfie of me lying down with the puppy laying on my chest and arm. His head is tilted upward laying against mine. His eyes are closed and he appears to be smiling.

A selfie, although my face isn’t seen. I am laying on the couch. The puppy is laying in my lap, belly-side up. His front legs are down by his side and his bottom legs are stretched downward.

Hey yall. We started to foster this lil guy a week ago and have moved to adopt. We’ve almost pinned down a name. We think he’s a lab/pit mix, and possibly others.

He is the sweetest bundle of love… when he’s not in a puppy zoomie state being a razor-wire-mouthed Baby Shark 😂🦈

Oscar lying with Ellie the Elephant tucked under his right arm. He is lying on a blanket the hospital sent him home in, on top of a dog bed that was typically in our bedroom, but we brought down to the living room for the farewell.

A selfie with the boy. I am lying on the floor, my head on a pillow, right next to his bed. I spent a lot of time laying there with him, letting him, letting him now how much I loved him.

Oscar is looking a little more relaxed. At this point he already has the sedative shot so he was more at peace than earlier.

My wife kissing Oscar’s head as she is cradling him in her arms and lap. One of his paws is over her hand and Ellie’s head is poking out of the blanket too.

My wife cradled him in her arms through the whole procedure. He will be cremated with his favorite stuffed animal Ellie the Elephant. He took her everywhere and now he’ll be with her forever.

Rest easy, my baby boy. My Best Friend. My Bud-Bud. The Best Boy. My Oscar.
🌈🐕💔

We used Lap of Love to help end his pain and send him off. The doctor was so wonderful: caring, compassionate, communicating every step of the way. She made clay imprints of his front paws and took locks of hair from his velvety ears and his hind-quarters where he loved to be scratched.

Thankfully we were able to bring him from the hospital on Tuesday. Though he could not walk nor stand, and his face was twitching and his breathing erratic, he became noticeably calmer when we got home.

My parents were able to come to say their tear-strewn goodbyes with pets and rubs and scratches.

On Sunday he seemed a perfectly healthy and normal dog until the later afternoon when he had a massive seizure. Over the next two days he deteriorated rapidly, with behavioral and neurological signs indicative of a likely brain tumor/mass.

One of my favorite pics I’ve ever taken of my boy. It is afternoon at Cold Spring Harbor and the sun is reflecting off the blue water. In the distant background is tree-covered land on the other side of the harbor. In the near background are boats and a floating dock. Near center frame is a tennis ball floating in the water, right beside the reflected sun, as small circle ripples emanate around it. Oscar is the foreground, lower in the frame, swimming away from our view towards the tennis ball, leaving ripples and waves in his wake.

We are taking his late afternoon walk. In the distant background center, the sun is low giving everything a golden hue. Oscar is walking in the center of the tree-lined neighborhood street. His outline is glowing golden as the setting sunlight passes through his fur. A green leash is attached to his harness and extends towards the camera and out of frame. The picture is from my perspective, and he is walking in front of me, leading me. His back is to us but he is looking slightly to the right

Just a picture of the pavement during an afternoon walk. The sun is behind us causing us to create long shadows on the road. Oscar’s shadow is looking up at my shadow, his mouth open like a smile.

Thank you all for your kind words about the passing of my dear Oscar. It was nice to see so many familiar faces from the Twitter days who used to see pics of him regularly.

I miss him terribly. The Best Boy.
🌈🐕💔

not sure if this is in the current bluesky consciousness, but the Nuclear Block is what makes this place great. a block ends everything between you and the blocked person. it robs them if all engagement. it’s very much why the troll problem here is much more limited than the everything app.

I’m rarely on here and I don’t know who of my old Twitter friends are still here, but at the risk of screaming into the void:

We will be saying farewell to my boy Oscar today. He just turned 14 last Wednesday. It’s all very sudden. I’m absolutely devastated. He is the best boy.

Happy New Year from New York. May your year be filled with love, joy, and good health. We face some big challenges ahead but remember to take care of yourself too: You can’t pour from an empty cup. Love to all.

Okay, here's part of my painting process for The Horsehead Nebula on an angled cup!

*Jäger can also mean Hunters or Light Infantry. And of course, it’s also Eren’s last name. “Scouts” may is likely the best translation as that’s the unit they will all belong to.
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I’ve decided to rewatch Attack on Titan. Just got to the opening title and sequence and I never noticed it starts with singing in German!

„Sind sie das Essen? Nein, wir sind die Jäger!“

Are you (the) food? No, we are the Scouts*!
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I can’t imagine anything about it is nice. Some animals don’t survive it. You have grown too big for your exoskeleton so even leading up to it might feel like crap? And then after ripping yourself out you’re extremely vulnerable until you harden, like “Ohhhh shit shit shit shit shit shit”

You are currently in line for Box. There is one Cat ahead of you. Thank you for waiting.

an elderly man is sitting in a chair and talking to someone . Alt: An animated image of Werner Herzog saying "I would like to see the baby"

Herzog shows up with his Frankincense;

*Werner Herzog voice*

now, the Jingle Hop has begun

a man in a suit and tie is holding a piece of paper Alt: Former Jeopardy host Alex Trebek sorta cringing and then pointing at someone

What is The Thing you love MOST in a Christmas movie?

a man with a beard is holding a flashlight in his hand . Alt: Kurt Russel as MacReady in The Thing, half frozen and about to dynamite the facility. This is a Christmas movie

What does the perfect Christmas movie have?

Snow
Sitting 'round a lovely fire
Hanging out on a couch with friends and getting to know them better
Feeling change deep in your heart

Color photo of a two story house at night. The occupants have set up what looks like a single giant tree — really three individual parts — that begins in the first floor living room and extends through the roof.

This gag never gets old for me.

The orc from Return of the King saying “The age of men is over. Now the Jingle Hop has begun.” He is wearing a Santa hat

A 6-panel comic. In panel 1, two people talk against a snowy backdrop. In panel 1, the first person says "Did you know that if you rearrange the letters in SANTA, you get something sinister?" and the other says, "Yes: A ANTS." In panel 2, the first person says "Wait, no, that's-" The second says, "How do you think Santa finds his way to all those homes at night? Pheromone trails!" In panel 3, we're down in an ant nest. "Once the night is over, Santa returns to the North Pole, mates with the Queen Claus, and dies." There's a festive ant nest with an ant-bodied Mr and Ms Claus looking at each other lovingly. Panel 4, "The Queen begins laying eggs that will hatch into next year’s workers." The Queen lays eggs, and the workers are ant larvae with elf heads. Panel 5, "Next December, she will produce fertile Queens and Santas and the cycle will begin anew." The Queen lays eggs with both Santa and Ms Claus heads. In panel 6, we return to the two people talking, and the second person says "Of course, one queen must best the rest in combat, and the workers can't interfe-" "Stop." "But I haven't told you about the Santa-mimic spiders!"

Happy Christmas Eve. Every year I inflict this upon you, one of my least popular comics ever. Enjoy!

It was a very interesting movie, right? It was not what I expected going in. It was way more of a dialogue-based (or monologuing, often) than I would have expected. But I really enjoyed it.

Part of fighting back is being both intentional, accurate, and forceful with our language.

So anti-woke, anti-DEI efforts and activists? Especially when those efforts result in demonstrably lower numbers of qualified Black people the ranks?

Start calling these folks pro-segregation.

A beaver chewing through a fallen tree. A pile of wood chips is seen beneath the spot he is chewing on.

Day 22 of #ArtAdventCalendar: Choosing and felling the perfect tree is a Canadian tradition! #wildlife

Also, so far character actions are much more motivated by more than just “bc the story needs this to happen,” and the one the one character choice in ep 1 that annoyed me they actually called the character out for it ep 2 so… that’s good! Hopefully season 3 continues strongly!
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