With Donald Trump's re-election, millions of federal student loan borrowers are left to wonder if this is the end of the road for President Biden's promises of loan relief.

An NPR listener is graduating soon with her MBA. She wants to know if it's OK celebrate her achievement by asking loved ones to buy her gifts from a registry, similar to what people do for weddings.

At an Arizona tribal school, it's a fierce campaign to pick the top school lunch, as students learn about making their voice count

In Louisiana, more than 100,000 students are using an AI tutor that is helping to raise reading scores.

Kids at a tribal school in Arizona are preparing for their own election to determine their favorite school lunch: pizza or chicken nuggets? And they're learning about democracy along the way.

The number of Black men enrolled at Historically Black Colleges and Universities is the lowest it’s been since 1976.

The absolute number of Black men enrolled at Historically Black Colleges and Universities is the lowest it's been since 1976.

After-school activities will still be suspended Monday and Tuesday.

College students often use posters to help spruce up their dorm. At the University of Chicago, they get a chance to borrow works by prominent artists for a year.

Here are the honorable mentions from the 2024 Student Podcast Challenge. Congratulations!

Essayist Phil Klay says Trump tried to use the military to push his partisan agenda before, and may further erode norms around the military as he looks for those willing to "go with his whims."

The comic can pick up on the "micro bad mood" of whoever she's talking to. She writes about pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood in a new book of essays, Lifeform. Originally broadcast March 12, 2024.

In Savings and Trust, historian Justene Hill Edwards tells the story of the Freedman's Bank. Created for formerly enslaved people following the Civil War, its collapse cost depositors millions.

With 23 short essays on creatures ranging from the wombat to the spider, Katherine Rundell's new book is essential reading for anyone whose wonder could use a jumpstart.

Netflix's film is based on a 1955 novel about a man who goes in search of the father he’d never met — only to discover that his father is dead, and the village he inhabited is haunted by ghosts.

Ronan credits her parents and the filmmakers she worked with as a child for keeping acting fun. She stars as a woman struggling with addiction in The Outrun and as a World War II mother in Blitz.

The renowned arranger, composer and producer worked with countless artists, including Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson. Jones died Nov. 3. Originally broadcast in 2001.

Doomscrolling and feeling powerless? Here’s something tangible we can do: Normalize wearing masks. Let’s protect our health and decrease the spread of airborne diseases. Out of masks and don’t know where to start? r/Masks4All Wiki is a great resource.

Currently reading: Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman ???? I’m enjoying the second section of this book, which is all about taking action. “Imperfectionism” is really resonating with me right now.

Idea: Create an “introverts' corner” at all future gatherings. Provide an out-of-the-way space with puzzles and craft supplies. As an introvert, I don’t always want to be alone; I want to share energy and joy, and I want to share community, just not in extroverted ways.

The reminder for the next Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup has been emailed! ????️????????️ If you’re not on this list and would like to join us, let @jessekelber or me know.

Yesterday I was struggling to care about cooking for the two of us. It happens more often than I’d like to admit. Luckily, past-me had saved recipes that I tagged “easy”, like this mushroom and potato paprikash in the Instant Pot. ???? It was quite tasty and made enough leftovers to freeze.

I’ve seen several people discussing the switch to a low/slow media diet. Use your local library to try before you buy. Many public libraries offer free access to newspapers and other periodicals through PressReader.

Currently reading: We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption by Kaira Jewel Lingo ???? Trying to move through it today, and this book is helping.

Today I was grateful for texting with loved ones, commiserating with FunkyPlaid, and filling my journal with everything I cannot say out loud. I’ll be ready to get back to work soon. Until then, here’s Crivens.

I have such thoughtful coworkers. What’s in your election anxiety support kit?

Not a bad time to start reading this. ????

I love voting by mail. ????️???? This isn’t a cute sticker, but it will have to do. Now it’s time to librarian: Here’s a resource on fighting election disinformation on Bluesky and the Fediverse.

I’m feeling shy and anxious today, so here’s an analog interlude. ????️ Our houseguests brought us fountain pen ink, among other thoughtful gifts. Here are swatches of Octopus Fluids' Medusa, a vivid violet with green sheen, and Goblin, a medium green with violet sheen.

I was overwhelmed by the response to my last post, and so grateful for the reminder that there is still connection to be found online, I just need to push through my own self-consciousness to find it. And I have many good models for this behavior, people who are quick with a kind and supportive word, people who do not shy away from nuance.

Today I spent the day offline in the company of people like this, a small group of friends that gathers once a month to share our love of stationery: pens, ink, paper, notebooks, planners, postal mail, and the like. We sit around a big table and journal together while chatting, snacking, and drinking lattes carefully crafted by FunkyPlaid. The middle of the table soon fills with stickers, stamps, inks, and washi tapes that we’ve brought to share with each other.

As I look around the table at these treasured people, I think about how much work goes into building community. Healthy communities take intention, upkeep, energy, and shared values. This gathering happens every month because we invest all of this into making it happen. As hosts, FunkyPlaid and I make sure people feel cared for with food and drink in a clean and welcoming space. As guests, everyone brings what they want to share, and expresses interest in what they are interested in (and refrains from expressing disdain for what they aren’t).

It’s a lot of work, joyful work. And this work results in a day each month to anticipate, and memories to hold close the rest of the month. I hope never to take this community for granted.

For the first day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), I want to start with something difficult, and the reason why I’m participating in this monthly challenge.

I’ve lost all affection for my writing voice, and I don’t entirely know why.

These days, it’s challenging for me to get excited about writing anything personal. Everything I post, aside from ink swatches, makes me cringe, even simple replies to others' posts. When I started writing online, it was so easy to share any little moss-bulb of detail, despite lacking confidence in my voice or purpose. It was enough to noodle in public; I had a stage (my website) and tap-tap-tapping its microphone didn’t make me feel immediately self-conscious.

A few years ago, I pushed — harder than I’ve pushed for many things in my life — for the “community” aspect of Micro.blog to be more than a shared timeline. I wanted it to be something I could lean back softly into, both an audience and support group, comprised of people who shared the same penchant for collecting and amplifying small treasures of moments.

The people exist (and they are wonderful, I read what they share with delight) but the community? I know now that what I was asking for doesn’t exist online in the same way it did, but I didn’t know that yet. I kept pushing and pushing, until one day I just … stopped. Everything I said seemed to repulse people instead of drawing them closer. It was easier to find what I needed and wanted in the friendships I was slowly and intentionally building offline than it was for me to do that online. And that was a first for me. Much of my life, up to that point, had been spent focusing on connecting online.

Because much of my life, up to that point, had been lived online.

I don’t really want to go back to living so much online. But sometimes I’m nostalgic for the feeling of being understood through my writing, shades of myself that I don’t know how to represent except through words.

It’s supremely cringey even to post this, but I’m going to push through in the hopes there’s some self-acceptance on the other side of it. I’m not ready to stop writing altogether. In some ways, I feel like I’ve barely begun.

If you’re looking for a NaNoWriMo alternative this year, I recommend TrackBear. No data harvesting, tracking, or AI. I imported my old projects from NaNoWriMo into TrackBear so I haven’t lost any statistics. And if competition’s your thing, you can create leaderboards.

At today’s Micro.blog Analog Tools meetup we discussed some of the reasons why we choose digital over analog, and vice versa. ????️????????️ We’ll meet again in November. Let @jessekelber and me know if you’d like to join us!

The reminder for the next Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup has been emailed! ????️????????️ If you’re not on this list and would like to join us, let @jessekelber or me know.

Today is the first day I’ve felt better in over a week. I still can’t taste or smell much, but now have a general sense of “banana” or “tea” while consuming those things. I’m resting whenever possible, and I’m so grateful for a supportive partner and workplace.

Despite wearing my Flo Mask Pro in airports and on planes, and a KN95 in other public spaces, I now have Covid. Recently boosted, so it’s not as bad as it could be, but I’m still so sick. Starting Paxlovid tonight. Be careful out there.

433 miles on the road today. ???? Grateful for the ability to travel to be with family; yearning for a high-speed rail system.

All charms, no luck. Spotted in the local supermarket. (Did not purchase. Was tempted.)

The reminder for the next Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup has been emailed! ????️????????️ If you’re not on this list and would like to join us, let @jessekelber or me know.

Look at this absolutely good girl: my canine sister, Willa.

Concentrating on

Rest, relaxation, and quality time with loved ones! We’re visiting family in Pennsylvania this week and attending a wedding in Kentucky on Friday.

When packing, I restricted myself to three notebooks and three pens because I tend to overpack and then immediately regret as I am schlepping around a stationery store in my backpack.

Cultivating

✍???? Drafting two (very different) stories. I’m looking forward to time off work to let my creative writing brain percolate.

???? Food I made that was yummy:

• Pork chops in garlic mushroom sauce, with mashed potatoes and salad on the side. I am not a huge fan of pork chops, but I got them in our CSA box, so I looked for a recipe that incorporated other things I am a huge fan of, like garlic and mushrooms.

???????? When my brain is full of Italian, I switch over to music lessons in Duolingo. It’s fun!

???? No.

Consuming

????️ Only three pens means only three inks: De Atramentis Charles Dickens, Sailor Manyo Hinoki, and Robert Oster Sydney Lavender.

???? I heard “White Gloves” by Khruangbin for the first time in a while and forgot how much I enjoy their music.

???? Recently FunkyPlaid and I tried to watch the show “Kaos” and lasted about ten minutes. I had listened to the Pop Culture Happy Hour episode on the show and thought I might enjoy it.

???? No time for games this week. I’m looking forward to some Puzzmo!

???? We started watching “My Brilliant Friend”, the adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet, which I read last year and loved.

???? What I’m reading and quoting:

• “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler: “How we see the world matters — but knowing how the world sees us also matters.”

Some links

• I love Tracy Durnell’s latest weeknotes post. I’m not even mad at how it makes me feel like I’ve done absolutely nothing in comparison. ????
• Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars (Albert Burneko)
• Firefly Atlas: I’m eager to see fireflies while I’m here, so I’m doing some research.

One more thing

I was a bit anxious to travel during a COVID surge, so in addition to getting the new vaccine as soon as I could, I invested in a Flo Mask Pro to wear in airports, planes, and any other crowded spaces. I’m so glad I did; it was very comfortable to wear all day, once I got used to how it felt. My glasses didn’t fog up at all, which is a minor miracle. I did get some looks (you know the kind) but that was a small price to pay for a greater chance of avoiding Covid and/or Long Covid. I only saw a handful of other people masked.

The new 2024-25 COVID vaccines are available, so FunkyPlaid and I got ours on Friday. Because we went to a pharmacy, my health insurance didn’t cover them, so I had to use funds from my HRA. (We could have waited until our medical provider had appointments, but that would have been late September or early October — and with travel coming up soon, I was unwilling to wait.)

It is bizarre and enraging to see how agencies supposedly dedicated to public health are flailing in this moment. I’m extremely fortunate to have a job that provides health insurance, an HRA, and sick leave, and I can afford KN95 masks and rapid antigen tests. What about people who are uninsured or underinsured?

I know it’s a bummer to read this, but it’s a bigger bummer to try to survive during yet another COVID surge. Let’s take care of our health, for ourselves and for our communities.

Concentrating on

This time of year is Planner Season, when the 2025 planners are released and people like me (and maybe you too) gobble them up and then spend the rest of this year hoping that next year we have lives exciting enough to plan.

Ever the optimist, my planner line-up for 2025 is:

• For my personal planner, daily log, habit tracker, reading journal, and commonplace book, I’ll be trying the Sterling Ink Common Planner in their new N1 size, which fits inside a Traveler’s Notebook. I’m currently using a Hobonichi Weeks, which is 95mm x 186mm; the N1 size is 110mm x 210mm.
• For my work planner, the Wonderland 222 A5 Weekly Planner has been working well for me this year, so I’ll try it again in 2025.

Cultivating

✍???? Drafting two stories, one for performance (I hope ????????) and one for a collection.

???? Still knitting that gift for someone.

???? Food I made that was yummy:

• Peperonata with peppers from a coworker’s CSA box, plus peppers from our own CSA box. CSA boxes are great!
• Gluten-free vegan apple crisp. I am not a huge fan of apples in their primary form; I prefer them as a cinnamon delivery device. So this recipe from Minimalist Baker, apples chopped up and baked with oats and sugar? That works.
• Sliced heirloom tomatoes on toast spread thinly with mayonnaise. Truffle salt if you’re feeling fancy. (I was.)

???????? Learning Italian with Duolingo.

???? The workweek was short because of the holiday on Monday, but also long because of everything. I’m still trying to create better boundaries around that.

Consuming

????️ One of my planner pals shared a sample of Bungukan Kobayashi’s Yagentoshiro Reflex Violet, a dusky blue with iridescent purple shimmer.

???? “girlfriend” by Hemlocke Springs is on repeat on my brain radio.

???? You don’t need to be a Rolling Stones fan to enjoy the “I Can’t Get No Legal Action” episode of the Judge John Hodgman podcast.

???? Still working my way through the crossword puzzle books I’ve hoarded and enjoying the daily Cross|word on Puzzmo. Also, Minute Cryptic is quite humbling.

???? One last episode of “Fargo” to go, then we’ll start the latest season of “Slow Horses”.

???? What I’m reading and quoting:

• “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler: “The great and terrible thing about humankind is simply this: we will always do what we are capable of.”

Some links

From “What would an adequate COVID response look like?” by Julia Doubleday:

Right now, state representatives are deliberately avoiding mention of COVID, while propagandizing the safety of infection and/or the end of the pandemic by refusing to mask. It is hard to imagine how successful a pandemic response might be if public officials were actually trying to end the pandemic. We quite literally have public health and political and media figures working to hide three pieces of critical information: public knowledge of the virus, public knowledge of mitigation measures that would reduce viral spread, and public knowledge of the severity of the virus (which would motivate desire to reduce viral spread).

Other links:

• NaNoWriMo Shits The Bed On Artificial Intelligence (Chuck Wendig)
• Why Goblin Mode Is the New Self-Care Routine (Cleveland Clinic)
• 2024 Winners of the 17th Annual iPhone Photography Awards

One more thing

Today I’m journaling about this quote from Seneca: “Life, if well lived, is long enough.”

One day I will see this mop bucket and not immediately start singing Ready for the World’s 1985 synth-funk hit. Today is not that day.

The Iranian threat actor known as TA455 has been observed taking a leaf out of a North Korean hacking group's playbook to orchestrate its own version of the Dream Job campaign targeting the aerospace industry by offering fake jobs since at least September 2023. "The campaign distributed the SnailResin malware, which activates the SlugResin backdoor," Israeli cybersecurity company ClearSky said

Microsoft on Tuesday revealed that two security flaws impacting Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) and Task Scheduler have come under active exploitation in the wild. The security vulnerabilities are among the 90 security bugs the tech giant addressed as part of its Patch Tuesday update for November 2024. Of the 90 flaws, four are rated Critical, 85 are rated Important, and one is rated Moderate in

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed new security flaws impacting Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop that could be exploited to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) The issue, per findings from watchTowr, is rooted in the Session Recording component that allows system administrators to capture user activity, and record keyboard and mouse input, along with a video stream of the

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to a new sophisticated tool called GoIssue that can be used to send phishing messages at scale targeting GitHub users. The program, first marketed by a threat actor named cyberdluffy (aka Cyber D' Luffy) on the Runion forum earlier this August, is advertised as a tool that allows criminal actors to extract email addresses from public GitHub

Threat actors with ties to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK aka North Korea) have been found embedding malware within Flutter applications, marking the first time this tactic has been adopted by the adversary to infect Apple macOS devices. Jamf Threat Labs, which made the discovery based on artifacts uploaded to the VirusTotal platform earlier this month, said the Flutter-built

Behavioral analytics, long associated with threat detection (i.e. UEBA or UBA), is experiencing a renaissance. Once primarily used to identify suspicious activity, it’s now being reimagined as a powerful post-detection technology that enhances incident response processes. By leveraging behavioral insights during alert triage and investigation, SOCs can transform their workflows to become more

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a new ransomware family called Ymir that was deployed in an attack two days after systems were compromised by a stealer malware called RustyStealer. "Ymir ransomware introduces a unique combination of technical features and tactics that enhance its effectiveness," Russian cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky said. "Threat actors leveraged an unconventional blend

⚠️ Imagine this: the very tools you trust to protect you online—your two-factor authentication, your car’s tech system, even your security software—turned into silent allies for hackers. Sounds like a scene from a thriller, right? Yet, in 2024, this isn’t fiction; it’s the new cyber reality. Today’s attackers have become so sophisticated that they’re using our trusted tools as secret pathways,