Alester G 🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 🏳️‍⚧️

I roasted one of my gorgeous butternut squashes and made Thai butternut coconut curry soup. I added some marinated and fried tofu for protein. So good! Happy World Vegan Day! #worldveganday #vegan #soupweather

I had my 3-month cancer scan today. All clear! 🙌🏻 Now I wait for my ctDNA test results. If that’s also clear I can go back to 6-month scans. #fuckcancer #breastcancer #malebreastcancer

I rarely agreed with @adamkinzinger.substack.com when he was my Congressman, and I even protested him once. 🤷🏼‍♂️ But he’s a brave man, and I was proud of him when he stood up for our democracy. MAGA almost made me forget that we can disagree without hating each other.

I’ve learned to appreciate the way my strange brain works. My neurodivergence led me to study Communication. It made me more sensitive to animals, which I’ve always connected with better than other humans. And who doesn’t love when I info-dump about plants, birds, art, and brutalist architecture?

This is disgusting! It’s nearly impossible to prove the “cause” of breast cancer, and any delay in care can result in metastasis, and at that point there’s no cure. The “biological truth” is that our breast tissue is the same and there’s no protection afforded to women by denying men’s care.

Hello, friends! 🥰

A few weeks ago they were mad because people were accurately quoting Charlie Kirk. Now they’re mad because Canadians are accurately quoting Reagan. What’s next? They’re going to be made because people are accurately quoting Jesus? Wait, they already did that, labeling Christ’s words as “woke.”

Fresh peppers from my garden and hummus is a great lunch/snack.

So, he thinks he’s Dave Matthews, now? IYKYK

I’m proud that to be this kind of professor.

My sweet potatoes were an experiment that paid off. I planted six of them under my peppers and they gave me 20 pounds of beautiful taters! I cannot wait to eat them up! Set up the old dark room as a curing room and after that it’ll work well for storage. Dog that groovy vintage linoleum!

Will ChatGPT provide the CORRECT information? Will ChatGPT provide interaction, assessment, and feedback so the student learns and retains the information. Will the student learn how to do the analyses needed to perform their future job? I don’t just dump info into heads like they’re empty buckets.

“scientific inquiry begins with curiosity and observation: qualities that are not exclusive to professional scientists, but accessible to anyone with an interest in understanding the natural world."

It’s for sure a Monday.

Sorry, but the Nobel Peace Prize Committee does not award participation trophies.

My mom? That’s rich. I was a child of the 1970s/80s, so I made it my gd self!

Can a city sue for defamation? Asking for an old friend…

If you stay petty, you ain’t gotta get petty. I ♥️ Chicago

I’m just saying, if my students REALLY loved me they’d bring me better coffee. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤣 Truthfully, though, I live for these thoughtful little moments!

After over a decade away I have been tasked with restarting JJC’s speech team. As much work as it is (and it is!), I am enjoying getting to claim work hours for some of the time I spend reading… I found this gem of a poem today for a program on racial inequality… damn!

It was a return of the concertwhores as Christine and I caught up with The Cribs last night at The Vic. Since we’re now old whores we skipped the headliner (The Rapture) and left right after their opening set and were home by 10pm.

Same.

The most surprising thing I’ve learned with this Jimmy Kimmel controversy is that there are people who still watch broadcast television. Like they watch ABC on ABC. They still plan their night around a television schedule like people did in the 1900s… it’s hard for me to wrap my head around.

I need a sad little routine ‘cause I could use some cheering up today.

Totally forgot… last weekend we popped up to the north side to look at treasures at Broadway Antique Market and then dinner at Alice & Friends. I need to eat more of those crispy fried enoki mushrooms! Fuckin poodles, man…

Being the middle class white woman I am I must consume pumpkin spice or I will perish.

Word. Newsom’s press office’s social media posts are created by gen z girls with more personality in their finger tips than he has in his whole body. I’m enjoying it, but I haven’t forgotten how disappointing he’s been.

My current fridge, oven, and cooktop are pink and they’ve outlived 13 presidents.

What? Doesn’t everyone have a vintage fridge just for the produce they harvest from their garden? 🤣 I dried two sheet pans of cherry tomatoes today, and ratatouille, baba ganoush, roasted veg, and fridge pickles and relish are on the agenda for this weekend. Gotta use it all! I 💖 my garden. 🍉

That’s my governor. My gut tells me he’s preparing to run for President in ‘28 and I’m here for it. My only objection would be that he’s a good governor and they’re hard to come by… But I’d welcome a return to reason in the White House.

I grew watermelon in my garden this summer and finally got to harvest one last week just in time for Labor Day. We cut it open to celebrate today hoping it would be delicious. It exceeded expectations! I have a few more growing.

Another great harvest! I need to do something with all this before it goes bad! I see baba ganoush, a tray bake, some dehydrating, and maybe some vacu-seal in my future… I’ll report back later on my first ever watermelon! I’ve been very patient waiting for it to ripen and I think it’s time!

I want to live in this video.

Hello, rabbit hole to my dreams…

The fact that authoritarians oppose art tells you everything you need to know about how important art is

Just a few days ago I was lamenting that I had so few ripe tomatoes. I guess I’ve got some food prep to do!

She visits me every day for a little snack to fill her belly and to fill my heart with joy. 🥰

I return to work a week from tomorrow. I’ve really enjoyed this time away and I wish I had more. Tonight I used my “new” (used) grill for the first time to cook a tofu scramble with fresh veg from my garden and used it to make delicious tacos. (I did use the actual grill for the tortillas.)

Bone spurs.

True to their reputation for being “friendly,” this red admiral butterfly flew right up and landed while I was deadheading this bush. I hung out with it for about five minutes before I left it to eat in peace. What a treat! 🥰

Nope

Burst of Joy hybrid tea rose #bloomscrolling #rose

Chicago Peace hybrid tea rose #bloomscrolling

I spent Friday at U Chicago medical having my 3-month CT and Bone Scans completed. I just got the second set of results and… At three years I am still cancer-free. Three years is the average lifespan of someone diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. 🙌🏻 It’s unbelievable, and I’m so thankful!

When I left for college my parents gave me a car that had once belonged to my grandparents. In the back window was a sign that said Jesus is Lord. To have the car I had to keep the decal. But, after a couple winters scraping ice off the windows it said Lesus is Lora and that really spoke to me.