Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 13hI’m #blessed to have a few healthy options in my building 010
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 14hLeft my lunch in the car at the train station. Guess I’ll just STARVE 150
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Should you root for the brewers or the dodgers? I don’t know, the team that makes the world’s most beloved beverage, or the one that identifies itself with avoidance? 150
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 12/10/2026What if this scripture didn’t mean what it obviously means and instead meant something convenient for me 000
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Is it good that a single man can swing elections with couch-cushion money? Who can say 010
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 12/10/2026I always like to do this calculation because it always surprises me. It’s hard to think of that much money as pocket change, but to him it’s nothing. 000
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Musk spent $276 million on political donations this cycle. Based on the ratio of his net worth to the US family median net worth, this is about $57.64 to him www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/u...nytimes.comInside Elon Musk’s $276 Million Midterm Rescue Mission for RepublicansThe world’s richest person has quietly become by far the biggest known midterm donor, trying to save Republicans’ Senate majority with some of the largest donations in American political history. 120
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 12/10/2026More basically: you’re looking for a person, not an object. You’re going to encounter an actual human person with lots of messy differences from your overwrought ideals. A lot of folks seem to miss that! 031
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Young people don’t appreciate the satisfaction of having finished a jar of pickles and knowing you have a new grease jar available 030
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Hm not as distinctive as the famous pizza hub silhouette 010
Reposted by Mark AshtonUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops @usccbofficial.bsky.social · 09/10/2026USCCB President Condemns Plans for Livestream of Fort Hood Shooter's Execution as ‘a Barbaric Promotion of a Culture of Death’ Read the full release at: ow.ly/8pBo50ZWhiV 1622197
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I don’t know why I keep doing this but it’s funny to me 100
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Omg someone pointed out I got it wrong again! Obviously I meant airplanes are the safest form of flying 100
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026I continue to believe that overall the Hobbit is his best work 000
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Anyway, the Thrilling Adventure parts are generally an easier read than the Miserable Travails parts 030
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026I’m almost to the Frodo/sam part of two towers. I always find it a little bit of a slog. Book III interleaves Merry and Pippin chapters with three hunters chapters. It probably would have been too much to also interleave Frodo and Sam. 210
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Just noticed I broke threading numbering by forking this thread. Take that, software 100
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Apparently I set this up correctly when I linked my account one million years ago 130
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Heh, got this wrong. I mean flying is the safest means of air travel 130
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Yelling stop at history seems like a pretty dumb thing to do, doesn’t it? 020
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Everyone knows air travel is the safest means of flying 140
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Is first-rate salt pork good? Maybe after you’ve run an ultramarathon and fought a battle anything is 110
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026I stand athwart seasonal merchandise yelling Stop! 010
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Please @ me next time you find a show like detectorists! 110
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Oh and folklore, John Henry, the devil and Daniel Webster, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, etc 020
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Treebeard’s grave courtesy and subtle humor, Merry and Pippin’s child-like trust. Kindred spirits across a wide divide. There’s so much to love in this chapter. 110
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The Treebeard chapter is so delightful. More than anything on this read-through it’s reminded me of the feeling of reading this book as a kid. Finding a friend in a dark place (Tom Bombadil, Treebeard, Faramir) is a recurring theme in Tolkien but this is my favorite instance of it. 110
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Embarrassing. I am informed that a violator is someone who plays viola. It’s pronounced similarly to realtor 030
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Lots of pan-handling street musicians play viol, hence the common “violators will be prosecuted” signs 110
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026A violator is a person who plays the viol en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violen.wikipedia.orgViol - Wikipedia 370
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Announcement: it is another absolutely gorgeous early fall day in the Great Lakes region of the American Midwest. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 150
Mark Ashton @arkmashton.bsky.social · 03/10/2026They always say you should bet on yourself, but Pete Rose does it and he's banned from the hall of fame? Make it make sense 020