by Peggy Robin
If you've been reading this column since that dark day in 2022 when Elon Musk took over Twitter, you know I've been fretting over the question of if and when I should extract myself from that increasingly toxic waste dump*.
Despite my desire to thumb my nose at the Musk-rat, I still haven't managed to tear myself away, mainly but (not entirely) due to my unbreakable addiction to New York Times word games.
I have to admit, the Site Formerly Known As Twitter (which I like to turn into the acronym SiFoKAT -- pronounced pretty much like "suffocate") is still the best place for fans of NYT games to gather to chat with one another, give hints, and argue (amicably) over what words should and should not have been included in the NYT Spelling Bee, and which groupings in today's Connections game were the most baffling, and whether the #2solve in Letterboxed was really two words or should more correctly have been counted as three.
It's also been the place where I still find useful news updates from DC agencies and local news outlets, up-to-the-minute weather info and marvelous local weather pix from Capital Weather Gang and contributors, and an almost unending supply of stunning wildlife photos. And then there are wonders I haven't reliably found anywhere else -- like the phenomenal aurora pictures from all over the world.
While many frequent posters have left SiFoKAT for other chat sites, they haven't all gone to the same one, so there really no critical mass of NYT fans on any of the alternatives, e.g., Threads, Facebook, Mastodon, and BlueSky.
Even though I have established accounts at all of them, I seldom bother to visit, continuing to post my daily NYT games hints on the Musk-rat's increasingly poisonous pit of a site.
However, every now and then I will wander over to those other sites just to see what's cooking. The day after the election, when Musk's site was particularly rank with nasty gloating memes, was one such day. Amid the gloom of the day, I took refuge in BlueSky, where I was uplifted and delighted to find photos posted by a local nature photographer I'd once followed on Twitter: It's this site . There you will find some incredible shots of birds and other wildlife taken by Cleveland Park resident Tom Hentoff, winner of the 2023 Cleveland Park Listy for Photo of the Year. (Find his winning photo here: #197671 )
I just spent a good ten or fifteen minutes going over his work on BlueSky, madly hitting the "like" button on each one of them, going back as far as 60+ days.
Now I'm his devoted follower on that site, and if you want a day-brightener, I recommend that you become one, too. I think I'll be hitting his BlueSky feed every day for at least the next four years.
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Still Life with Robin is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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* NOTE: Here are my previous musings on my reasons for sticking with Twitter, despite everything:
Why Stay on Twitter? For the Recycling Tips! https://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2023/05/still-life-with-robin.html
Did You See It? Aurora Photos on Twitter (From All Over) https://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2024/05/still-life-with-robin-did-you-see-it.html
Best Show in Town (Local Aurora Photos on Twitter) https://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2024/10/still-life-with-robin-best-show-in-town.html
Sunrise/Sunset Photos on Twitter: Still Life with Robin: Sunrise, Sunset
Squirrel Photos on Twitter https://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2024/02/still-life-with-robin-well-always-have.html
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