Good Things in 2020: A list
[Credit to @AndreaKerr_ and @SpinachDipper for the idea]
Stevie Nix twirling a baton in the 1979 Fleetwood Mac video for “Tusk"
From Wednesday: I'm "course evaluation famous"! Delighted to learn my turn as a guest lecturer in @dan_guad's class earned a mention in his (excellent) evals. Knowing some students listen to me will buoy me through the teen parenting years...
Recovered from last weekend’s ‘kitchen yips’ with @ruthreichl’s excellent Spicy Chinese Noodles and @lucywaverman ‘s Orecchiette with Caramelized Onions and Smoked Cheese.
It's a 'free fair trade toaster strudels at work" kind of day. Chocolate, since you asked. Congrats on becoming the first Silver designated fair trade campus in Canada, @UTMHospitality !🥇🌱🍫 #fairtradeutm
This is my favourite kind of story. @GeoffVendeville uncovers a beautiful secret in the books @UofT's Thomas Fisher library > https://www.utoronto.ca/news/handful-magical-books-u-t-s-collection-harbour-intricate-eye-catching-secret
KidB made dinner
Cry-laughed listening to ELEVEN nearly identical phone messages left by KidB in 15 mins. "Hi, this is KidB. Please get a book about our neighbourhood from the library for my social studies project. <pause> KidB."
KidB (again) is sharing Google Slides with me as a diary/ digital scrapbook/email alternative. Last week: Kids' TV she used to watch (50 slides); family name meanings (15 slides); and today, a single slide about her favourite bird.
Fox News: I saw the tiny paw prints of our neighbourhood fox in the snow on Sunday. ( @Fromthebird reports it was on the peak of a garage roof over the weekend.) Finally spotted the fox IRL puttering around across the street last night.
I don't know much about the rest of his work, but I often write to Kishi Bashi's "Manchester" on a loop and it's very nice.
I’m at a @girlguidesofcan Thinking Day event, listening to 200 girls sing “Land of the Silver Birch” and remembering when 3yo KidA insisted the lyrics were “CHOME of the beaver” and would not be dissuaded FOR YEARS.
Anyway, that memory is keeping me from tearing up over “Barges.” #girlguides
This @abcconvos interview with Aussie camel veterinarian Margie Bale averages one astonishing hold-the-phone fact per minute. Now obsessed with camel...Botox? > https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/margie-bale/11960056
Murmurations: I was reminded of this film today. It’s one of the loveliest murmuration vids I’ve seen: https://vimeo.com/241007433?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR3A26y9DUYt4myQgarf-k7d-wJyuF4ODEKV6PLSxC0XluDIYS492C8i-lQ
Very proud of all the teachers I know (including this guy) who took to the streets to support public education today. Made possible by @Fromthebird who fed and entertained my kids all day (and maybe doesn’t plan to give them back?).
Author @AnneLouiseAvery posts the most beautiful micro fairy tales. Her child is currently very ill and, to bolster her, fans are sending their own gem-like stories. She is reetweeting and it makes for lovely reading.
I had one left and it was perfect.
KidB continues to let me know about the very important things on her mind via shared Google Slides.
It’s been a strange and worrisome and unproductive week, but spring is coming.
First evening of corona break: KidA and a pal made macrons without any help from me. First try—tasty and a little lumpy. Going to need yoga pants to get through the next three weeks...
I walked 11km today in glorious sunshine. Chatted with neighbours from an appropriate distance. Finally bumped into a neighbour IRL after following her here for years.
If you need some distraction and like seeing things put to rights, you should watch the restful, informative and beautiful work by Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration >
Gosh, this made me laugh.
https://twitter.com/pete_schultz/status/1240472553136754688?s=21 https://twitter.com/pete_schultz/status/1240472553136754688
This list is surely turning into an ‘all-animals all the time’ account. #sorry notsorry
https://twitter.com/frickindelanie/status/1240649669711220736?s=21 https://twitter.com/FrickinDelanie/status/1240649669711220736
Yesterday I managed to get in a full day of almost-normal work for the first time in two weeks. Managed two remote researcher interviews and knocked out a story from my office bed. COVID-19 focussed, but it felt good. #bertatwork #bertatworkfromhome
The kid with dysgraphia is handwriting letters and the tween blitz cleaned the main floor and lectured us about putting things away, in case you’re wondering how end times is going.
This entire thread. 🤣🙂😆

https://twitter.com/stillnotsam/status/1243182522927742976?s=21 https://twitter.com/StillNotSam/status/1243182522927742976
Beautiful and heartening.
https://twitter.com/fergalkeane47/status/1244566628718821377?s=21 https://twitter.com/fergalkeane47/status/1244566628718821377
Ada Limón’s “Instructions on Not Giving Up” #NationalPoetryMonth
There is beauty in the world (but I won’t tell you where).
It’s here. These are the earliest blooms in my garden. I especially love the tiny daffs with blown back petals—they always look like they’re in a hurry.
https://twitter.com/christibelcourt/status/1251030743612080129
This thread is certainly something https://twitter.com/YorkshireMuseum/status/1251074717408264192
Only five weeks ago. Did I dream this?
Air en plein air? Bach on a forest staircase.
I’ve really been enjoying Jacques Pépin’s daily Facebook cooking lesson. Short (2 mins!), simple, delicious and very relaxing. He's so kindly and homey. https://www.facebook.com/watch/ChefJacquesPepin
Wheeze laughing at this. HT @blm849
https://twitter.com/mariadecotis/status/1256263535686045697?s=21 https://twitter.com/MariaDeCotis/status/1256263535686045697
This thread is just lovely. My favourite is the train anecdote. #cameraobscura
https://twitter.com/curatorconnelly/status/1257916974631395328?s=21 https://twitter.com/curatorconnelly/status/1257916974631395328
I’ve watched this a dozen times. https://twitter.com/tweet_dec/status/1262858423466590212?s=21 https://twitter.com/Tweet_Dec/status/1262858423466590212
This is certainly something. Sound on. https://twitter.com/RafaanDaliri/status/1265199564274888706
How beautiful is this nearly intact Roman floor just lying there under the ground for hundreds of years? https://twitter.com/DapperHistorian/status/1265352701929545728
Oh oh oh! LOOK at this tiny perfect thing. https://twitter.com/ameliasoth/status/1265660624002068480?s=21 https://twitter.com/AmeliaSoth/status/1265660624002068480
Listen, I know Jacques Pépin is already on this list, but fromage forte is simple, economical and delicious. This makes makes me realize how tragically far food TV has gotten from basic home cooking. No flashy equipment, just good sense. https://www.facebook.com/ChefJacquesPepin/videos/2726790864215841/
Excellent showmanship. https://twitter.com/harrietglynn/status/1272640767928856577?s=21 https://twitter.com/harrietglynn/status/1272640767928856577
🐿🐿🐿🐿 This whole thread on Swedish baby squirrels > https://twitter.com/daniconnorwild/status/1275349417508384768?s=21 https://twitter.com/DaniConnorWild/status/1275349417508384768
Linden season is the best season. Unexpected bonus of lockdown work life is the scent of this tree wafting into my home office all day.
Omg omg omg - I finally saw a Sphinx moth!
Description: Video of a large black and yellow striped moth flitting between bright pink flowers.
What has been eating the milkweed? Mystery solved...
Furl
What a dream to find lost treasure in the mud. I am obsessed with @LondonMudlark ‘s Thames River finds.
https://twitter.com/londonmudlark/status/1279842492742066176?s=21 https://twitter.com/LondonMudlark/status/1279842492742066176
Further to the last post, @LondonMudlark ‘s book is wonderful—everything about “Mudlark” appeals to my magpie mind. I recommend it to everyone, including you. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/605608/mudlark-by-lara-maiklem/9781631494963
I’m not a gamer, but these look so lovely... https://twitter.com/hyperallergic/status/1283117931673657346?s=21 https://twitter.com/hyperallergic/status/1283117931673657346
Oof. This thread of advice for a new dad is full of sweetness and so much kindness.
https://twitter.com/wizdomisms/status/1283185429836111875?s=21 https://twitter.com/Wizdomisms/status/1283185429836111875
Gosh, this made me laugh. Birds with arms. (HT @Nquisitiv ) https://twitter.com/Curlykidlife/status/1283825426251603976
Carole Pope’s still got it. BNL’s #selfiecamjam is a terrific series.
That vid via @Fromthebird ☝️🤘
Michael Chabon reading one of my favourite kids’ books, A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me, illustrated by Wallace Tripp.
Three days at Awenda: spectacular thunderstorm, scads of chipmunks, wild waves, the clearest water, Perseids forever and this gorgeous no-filter sunset. Tx @kdurettedowney for making it happen.
ALSO: I found our second set of car keys that we thought we accidentally threw away at the McDonald’s in Barrie in the way to Awenda. (They had slipped under the front seat.) I hope the people in the car next to us enjoyed the drama. 😂
Thank you to @Fromthebird — deliverer of quiche and stealer of children — for a glorious Saturday afternoon to myself.
My outrageously expensive new garbage can arrived in two giant cardboard boxes. Worth the $$ in play value for these two distanced playmates.
This is a lovely thread about a tiny old church in the middle of nowhere.
https://twitter.com/jayhulmepoet/status/1296447904920600577?s=21 https://twitter.com/JayHulmePoet/status/1296447904920600577
I really enjoyed this rolling list of little things people did growing up. I do the oven door thing, and when we pull into the driveway, someone always says “jiggity-jig” (shortened from “home again, home again, jiggity-jig.”) https://twitter.com/torrensjonathan/status/1296623308268605447?s=21 https://twitter.com/TorrensJonathan/status/1296623308268605447
Good morning from Miller Lake. Just me and the loons, herons, ducks, hummingbirds and a bossy red squirrel.
And good morning to this carb-loading red squirrel.
The newest member of our household has fantastic eyebrows. Meet Jasper!
To clarify, it’s this guy. I mean, just LOOK at him.
A front lawn 70th birthday fête, talked to a neighbour born and bred in Scotchtown, Cape Breton. Worked Pit 18 before joining the army and leaving for good in 1953. By his accent, it could have been yesterday. His heart may be there still.
Subjecting the kids to the Beastie Boys. Nobody made better ridiculous music videos.
This is lovely. Via @JodiesJumpsuit https://twitter.com/MrTimDunn/status/1301490066917908480
One week in (and he can’t get up here by himself yet) and Jasper is officially a couch potato. 🥔
In August, we visited a moving memorial to the Black pioneers of the Bruce peninsula. Ten mins from Flesherton, the Old Durham Road Cemetery was once the burial grounds for the Black community before it was ploughed under and nearly lost to history. Beautiful, simple, poignant.
The house, oriented towards the North Star, shelters the four surviving headstones, along with names of Black families who live in the area now. Tiny microfilament lights set into the concrete walls depict symbols of everyday pioneer life, like banjos and quilt squares.
My usually-bearded husband surprise-revealed his new back-to-school lewk today and I full-on laughed until I cried. Can you tell he’s the son of a fireman?
I mean, he looks fine, but it caught me totally off-guard. Too bad his students won’t see it—would love to know their thoughts. 😄👨🏻‍🚒
Good things multiply. RBG’s legacy is exponential.
This was the hardest week since lockdown: a quarantined kid, another with no teacher, stressed husband + a sick dog and so many missed work deadlines. I cried every day. BUT we survived and made it to the weekend...
Thanks to @Fromthebird and @HeatherLochner1 for sympathy, flowers and magazines.
I had great support and understanding from my colleagues @UTM, including @NicolleWahl and @lessuhchuck...
My in-laws dropped off lunch for the girls, the vet figured things out and the pup has rebounded; the quarantined kid made her radio reporting debut, and I got out of the house to ride bikes with this guy.
And KidB, who was SO ready to start virtual school that she packed a backpack for the dining room (“because I won’t have a locker this year, Mom), got to have a distanced meeting with her new @girlguidesofcan Pathfinder group and had the best time.
Forgive the repost. We were so proud of this kid for giving a great interview (and accurately reporting my stress level). https://twitter.com/CBCHereandNow/status/1309259646838935553
I know this is going around, but I have watch it a dozen times and it is still great. https://twitter.com/doggface208/status/1310295094545641472
KidB is FINALLY having her first day of Grade 7 and that *definitely* calls for cake for breakfast. I bungled the flip on this Martha Stewart plum cake, but it is still delicious.
1970s lunch nostalgia. These were the best treats to find in my Bionic Woman lunch box. https://twitter.com/ThisCrazyTrain/status/1312061782261985283
“Your people are out there, even in the dark.”
A lovely short thread on camaraderie between strangers. https://twitter.com/annasproul/status/1313992583136325632
💀There’s something for everyone in this short thread: digital afterlives, academic bunfights, circus history trivia and more. The UPC grocery anecdote is gold. https://twitter.com/jjoque/status/1314954067077144577
There is beauty in the world, and tiny worlds on the top of a fence post. https://twitter.com/CP_IsleofHarris/status/1315341210001829894
Oh, this is beautiful. Colour, light and mystery of found objects. https://twitter.com/LondonMudlark/status/1319205629010104321
You can follow @blakeeligh.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: