Posts from 2020

2020-11-10: 💻 Hello World!: Greetings! My name’s Jessica, and I’m a twenty-something leftie from Melbourne. A couple of days ago, I …
2020-11-10: 🐱 Photo post: Staring down her enemy cat in the driveway…
2020-11-12: 💻 Site update: My big job today has been (and is) laboriously converting an old blog to static pages, so I can keep the content up …
2020-11-12: 💻 Site update: Honestly, much as it pains me that I’ve wasted my whole morning working on this, I think I’m going to give …
2020-11-12: 📚 Book review: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (★★★★★)
2020-11-13: 🇦🇺 Micro post: Last night I watched an item on this Sri Lankan family in Kempsey who are facing deportation because their father …
2020-11-13: 🐱 Photo post: Gidget likes to spend a lot of time hiding behind our neighbours’ aircon exhaust fan. When she hears her humans …
2020-11-13: 🍱 Photo post: The misir wot I ate for dinner tonight! 😋 I basically follow this Spice Cravings recipe (external link), but I …
2020-11-14: 🦠 Micro post: Today Victoria marked 15 straight days of no new Covid-19 cases (external link). It’s taken a long, hard …
2020-11-15: 🐶 Photo post: This sweet boy is one of the dogs of my brother-in-law and his wife… and also the father of my parents’ dog! …
2020-11-16: 🚊 Micro post: The Victorian govt’s announced funding for prelim work on Melbourne’s long-overdue loop line, along with the …
2020-11-16: 🐶 Photo post: Gizmo on my parents’ armchair, caught between his need to rest and his need to guard his pig’s ear! 🤣
2020-11-17: 📚 Native Australian Crops: Earlier this year I read Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu (external link), which is a pretty interesting primer on …
2020-11-17: 🍱 Photo post: Tonight I cooked this Thai-style lemongrass and coconut soup. The link to the original recipe is long lost to me, but I …
2020-11-18: 🐱 Photo post: Always flattering when Gidget chooses to spend some time with me in the mornings, in between her patrols and snack …
2020-11-18: 🖥 Micro post: Upgraded my MacBook Air to Big Sur this afternoon! (I like to wait a few days for any glaring problems to be reported on …
2020-11-19: 🐝 Micro post: Just had the fright of my life hanging out laundry, when I realised A FREAKING WASP was walking all over me without a …
2020-11-19: 🖥 Micro post: Over the last couple of days I’ve read numerous discussions of the new M1 Macs, including this John Gruber …
2020-11-19: 📚 Book review: Armistice by Lara Elena Donnelly (★★★½)
2020-11-20: 🍱 Photo post: Took advantage of the cooler weather today to whip up a batch of chicken stew in my pressure cooker. Packed full of …
2020-11-21: 📺 Killing Eve, S3: Last night Viv and I finally finished all the episodes out so far of Killing Eve (yes, we were sleeping on it for a …
2020-11-21: 🚊 Micro post: The Victorian government has decided on a route for the Melbourne Airport rail link (external link). It’s …
2020-11-21: 🐶 Photo post: Today we caught up with my partner’s niece and immediate family to celebrate her recent birthday! A certain dog …
2020-11-22: 🎮 Micro post: We played the family edition of Cards Against Humanity yesterday, and tbh I like it better than the …
2020-11-22: 📚 Book review: Más allá del invierno by Isabel Allende (★★)
2020-11-22: 🐶 Photo post: Gizmo, looking up attentively at one guest pre-thunderstorm and seeking shelter on the lap of his second guest …
2020-11-23: 👩🏻 Photo post: Twenty-four days now since Victoria’s last new Covid-19 case, and as of today we’re finally allowed outside …
2020-11-24: 🌏 Micro post: After a bewildering iCloud calendar reminder, today I learned that Norfolk Island, a remote Australian territory, …
2020-11-25: 🐱 Photo post: Love to have a lazy morning with my baby girl. Of course this was not that… she woke me up at 5:15, again at 6:55, and …
2020-11-25: 🖥 Two Weeks on Micro.blog, and Some Discussion of “Likes”: As of yesterday, I’ve now had this site on Micro.blog for two weeks. So far, I’ve really been enjoying the …
2020-11-27: 🦠 Interring My Grandma's Ashes: Yesterday, my family gathered at Box Hill Cemetery to inter my grandma’s ashes. The funeral itself was held back …
2020-11-28: 🌯 Photo post: Made these enchiladas for dinner last night 😋 Vivian keeps raving about them, and threatening to gobble up all the …
2020-11-28: 🖥 Micro post: After two and a half weeks running my own blog at this subdomain, I feel energised to start making a static site to go …
2020-11-29: 💻 Site update: Having worked hard over the past 24 hours, I can now link you to my static personal website! ☺️ As of right now the site …
2020-11-30: 🐱 Photo post: Gidget loves to soak up the sun’s warmth on our concrete porch.
2020-11-30: 📅 Micro post: Here’s an interesting map of what’s considered the first day of the week in different …
2020-11-30: 🥐 Micro post: Five years ago I decided to stop eating mammal meat, and while this has mostly been no hardship, one thing I have missed …
2020-12-01: 🍳 Cast-iron pans: my thoughts, five weeks on: I grew up in a household that used cheap, non-stick pans and replaced them when they stopped being non-stick enough to …
2020-12-01: 🍺 Micro post: Ever read Harry Potter and found yourself longing for the delicious-sounding beverage Butterbeer? Well have I got good …
2020-12-02: 🖥 Micro post: Yooooo, I just found out what Micro.blog’s “New Test Blog” function under “Edit Custom …
2020-12-02: 🐱 Photo post: Someone is very pleased with herself for stealing my spot on the couch while I was cooking dinner 😂
2020-12-02: 💻 Site update: My custom layout is live! Click through to my blog’s front page if you’d like to see. Converting the theme …
2020-12-03: 🖥 Micro post: I came across this interesting article today: How the Blog Broke the Web (external link). That’s not to say …
2020-12-04: 🐱 Photo post: Gidget likes to pretend she’s a wildcat in the savannah, hiding amidst the tall grass in pursuit of prey… (even …
2020-12-04: 🖥 Micro post: Today I started teaching myself how to use Hugo! The Quick Start guide on the official site is indeed a good quick …
2020-12-05: 📚 Micro post: I’ve started reading La pasión según Carmela by Marcos Aguinis! As far as I know, it’s a doomed love story …
2020-12-05: 🏝 Photo post: Today was a humid, overcast day, but the wind was fairly still and we enjoyed a scenic walk at the local dog beach!
2020-12-06: 🇪🇸 Micro post: Interesting article on Catalan nationalists joining the Esperanto movement (external link) early last century. …
2020-12-07: 💬 On Australia's Devaluing of Foreign Language Learning: Suffering from the pandemic and decades of government policy, many Australian universities are axing programs in …
2020-12-07: 🍱 Photo post: Tonight I cooked Colombian chicken and rice, using this recipe from Skinnytaste (external link). It says you can …
2020-12-07: 📚 Book review: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab (★★★★)
2020-12-08: 🐶 Photo post: My paparazzi stunts woke Sleeping Beauty from his slumber 😉 Taken the other night, when I was visiting my folks.
2020-12-08: 🐱 Micro post: When I’m feeling unwell (like today), my cat likes to curl up on my lap and administer the “cuddle …
2020-12-09: 🖥 Algorithmic Discrimination: I came across an excellent (if disturbing) article today on the hidden algorithms that trap people in …
2020-12-10: 🖥 Moving My Journal from Notion to Standard Notes: Everyone likes the idea that when you put your data into an app, you’ll be able to get it out again easily. …
2020-12-11: 🐱 Photo post: Gidget spent a little time on the couch on me before resuming her adventures for the day. (She refuses to confirm or …
2020-12-11: 🖥 Truncating Only Posts With Titles on Micro.blog: When I first got started on Micro.blog, one thing I wasn’t satisfied with was that my long posts appeared in full …
2020-12-12: 🖥 Micro post: Today I’ve been metaphorically running around, changing the listed email address on my online accounts to one of …
2020-12-13: 🚊 Photo post: Waiting for a train.
2020-12-14: 🐱 Photo post: TENNIS BALL MUST DIE!!
2020-12-15: 🗒 Perfection Isn't Necessary, Just Try Your Best: Several years ago I had a friend who identified as a vegetarian, but every once in a while – when she’d had a bit …
2020-12-15: 💬 Micro post: I feel like this is an underappreciated fact: the American South is not the only place where people say y’all. My …
2020-12-16: 💬 Double Object Pronouns in English: When I was studying linguistics at uni, one constant refrain was that native speakers (not grammarians) are the arbiters …
2020-12-16: 🌏 Micro post: An eight-year-old blog post (external link) on many points of internationalisation developers screw up, including …
2020-12-17: 🐱 Photo post: Enjoying some morning sunbeams!
2020-12-17: 🖥 Micro post: For the next week, I’ll be giving the free trial of Inkl (external link) a go. It’s a news …
2020-12-18: 📚 Micro post: An interesting article here on the history of utopian science fiction: How Sci-Fi Shaped Socialism (external …
2020-12-18: 📚 Book review: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (★★★★)
2020-12-19: 🗒 Micro post: Every year I find Christmas shopping so stressful, but now that I’ve actually bought some nice things for the …
2020-12-20: 🐱 Photo post: She saw one of the cats from unit 2 walk up to the cat flap of unit 3. Straight away her body language was all …
2020-12-22: 📚 Book review: How to Adult by Anna Blackie (★★★½)
2020-12-23: 🗒 Micro post: Apparently there’s a water outage in my local area and it’s doing my head in. Gotta ration toilet trips. …
2020-12-23: 🐱 Photo post: Oh, that look of instant terror when a delivery man comes to the front porch… 🙀
2020-12-24: 📱 Upgrading My iPhone: After using my trusty old iPhone SE for 3½ years, yesterday I took the plunge and switched over to an iPhone 12 mini. …
2020-12-24: 🤖 Micro post: Great article on the cyberpunk genre, which emerged as a critique of technological development under neoliberal …
2020-12-25: 🎄 Photo post: Even though the weather was cold by Melbourne summer standards, Viv and I went on a walk last night to admire all the …
2020-12-26: 🎄 Photo post: Christmas was a busy day this year! We had lunch with (predominantly) my mum’s side of the family, and dinner with …
2020-12-28: 🐱 Photo post: Poor Gidget got quite distressed when we were out of the house nearly all day on Christmas and Boxing Day. Now …
2020-12-29: 🚺 Thoughts on Gender and (My) Pronouns: Recently I’ve been spending a little more time browsing Mastodon, and one of the things that’s caused me to …
2020-12-29: 💬 Three Quick Links: I found these through Mastodon and Twitter, and while each could have sustained a linkpost on its own, the fact that I …
2020-12-30: 🏝 Photo post: Haven’t had the chance to walk down to the nearby beach lately, but I might have to plan on changing that soon, …
2020-12-31: 🦠 Micro post: Yesterday Melbourne reported its first locally-acquired Covid-19 cases in two months. Today we found out the common …
2020-12-31: 🦠 Reflecting on 2020: It’s the last hour of 2020 now as I’m writing this, and it’d be far from an original comment to say …

Jessica Smith is a socialist and a feminist who loves animals, books, gaming, and cooking; she’s also interested in linguistics, history, technology and society.