matthewjdowd.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

"Shifting brilliancies. Then winter light In a doorway, and on the stone doorstep A beggar shivering in silhouette. So the particular judgement might be set: Bare wallstead and a cold hearth rained into-- Bright puddle where the soul-free cloud-life roams. ..." - Seamus Heaney #poetry

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submitted 17 hours ago • 1 comment

Happy Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week for those of us who are christian. Let us all stay humble when we are celebrated, let us all gather with others in communion as we share meals, let us all know darkness comes to each of our lives, and let us all rise up to begin anew.

submitted 16 hours ago • 12 comments

RIP Scottisha-born artist William Keith, died this day 1911, in Berkeley, CA.

submitted 16 hours ago • 3 comments

happy bday Irish poet Seamus Heaney, b.1939. "History says, don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme."

submitted 16 hours ago • 13 comments

happy bday writer Gary Soto, b1952, Fresno, CA “It appears these days I don't have much of a life because my nose is often stuck in a book. But I discovered that reading builds a life inside the mind.” “Because nothing should be wasted In a world where sparrows work hard To prove there is enough.”

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happy bday computer pioneer designer Evelyn Berezin, b.1925, she "was responsible for the creation of the first airline reservation systems in addition to the original word processor."

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happy bday English writer Edward de Vere, b.1550. “The labouring man that tills the fertile soil, And reaps the harvest fruit, hath not indeed The gain, but pain; and if for all his toil He gets the straw, the lord will have the seed.”

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Gretchen Whitmer is the Jean Van de Velde of politics. Van de Velde was leading the 1999 Open Championship by 3 strokes going into the last hole. He blew up, making critical errors, and ended up losing in a playoff. This is what Whitmer did this week after all good will she had built up.

submitted 2 days ago • 162 comments

RIP poet Eve Merriam, died this day 1992. "It's just an old alley cat that has followed us all the way home. It hasn't a star on its forehead, or a silky satiny coat. No proud tiger stripes, no dainty tread, no elegant velvet throat...

submitted 2 days ago • 6 comments

happy bday Irish artist Paul Henry, b.1876. Let us all find moments of beauty to remind us that light and love are more powerful than darkness and hate.

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happy bday German writer/feminist Johanna Elberskirchen, b.1864, activist for "rights of women, gays and lesbians as well as blue-collar workers."

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happy bday Hungarian poet Attila József, b.1905. "In my eyes grief dissolves; I ran like a deer; Tree-gnawing wolves In my heart followed near. I left my antlers A long time ago; Broken from my temples, They swing on a bough."

submitted 2 days ago • 5 comments

It is National Siblings Day today. Much love to my 10 siblings, Six brothers, and 4 sisters. And thinking of my younger sister Kelly who passed away far too young more than ten years ago. Love to you all.

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submitted 4 days ago • 34 comments

Since i was very young I have loved watching the Masters, such an amazing four days. However, we must also remember the awful history of Augusta National. For years had horrible long history of racism, sexism, and prejudice. Todays tv golf analysts will not mention it, but we must not forget.

submitted 3 days ago • 23 comments

RIP civil rights leader/writer Howard Thurman, died this day 1981. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” "A dream is the bearer of a new possibility, the enlarged horizon, the great hope."

submitted 3 days ago • 3 comments

RIP French Jesuit scientist/paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, died this day 1955. “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

submitted 3 days ago • 7 comments

RIP Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran, died this day 1931. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters...

submitted 3 days ago • 4 comments

happy bday labor leader Dolores Huerta, b.1930, Dawson, NM. "If people don't vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it's not going to change anything if you don't vote." "I think organized labor is a necessary part of democracy...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Felon Trump came into a small shop, smashed all the items, flooded the floors, broke the windows, wrecked the shelves, and gets caught red-handed, and now wants to get credit for not completely blowing it up. Lordy Moses.

submitted 4 days ago • 9 comments

Felon Trump is drunk unqualified bus driver who recklessly drives down the highway causing a massive pileup and an untold amount of damage, and on the side of the road are GOP politicians cheering the bus driver on or willfully looking away and not doing anything to save people.

submitted 4 days ago • 21 comments

on this day in 1947 the Journey of Reconciliation, called "First Freedom Ride", first day of this effort, a "form of nonviolent direct action to challenge state segregation laws on interstate buses in the Southern United States."

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Thank you @matthewjdowd.bsky.social for sharing this today. Just when I get down, I read something like this and get back in the game.

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happy bday artist Charles Burchfield, b.1893, Ashtabula, OH. "It seems at times I should be a composer of sounds, not only of rhythms and colors. Walking under the trees, I felt as if the color made sound."

submitted 4 days ago • 4 comments