L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The Locke discussion foretold it. Thank you for rising to the challenge of leading the discussion of these two novels, and all the supplementary links you provided to broaden understanding. 021
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I love your statement about maybe it means too much time spent reading canonical white men. I made a conscious decision not to do this at 21 when I saw the MA in English reading list and switched to comparative literature where there was more leeway. Also love your 🟢 dots! 030
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I was the only one who could code, so it was all river for me. I wish I remember how we did towns. I often wonder how educational games and simulations would have progressed if not killed so young. (4/4) 030
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The hazards were just sandbars and snags and such. The pilot had to measure water depth, look for ripples, watch for landmarks, work with information passed on by pilots in towns. (3/4) 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I pitched a riverboat theme to my group of 3. It was half simulation of guiding the steamboat down the river safely using really cool methods used back then and half stopping to explore towns. (2/4) 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Physically, no. But I can describe. Late 90s, my graduate class was asked to develop an educational game on the Mississippi River by our public television station. My main interest then was simulations. So… (1/4) 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Let’s add Finest Worksong by REM. “The time to rise has been engaged.” Here it comes, in a way Brock couldn’t imagine. @hleisthen.bsky.socialyoutu.beFinest WorksongYouTube video by R.E.M. - Topic 230
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I read Twain’s Life on the Mississippi as a source for a simulation I designed of steamboat travel on the river. He describes the dangers so I was prepared, but it actually made it worse because of anticipation. What an impossible choice for Jim. He’s just one man with so many to save. In general. 130
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I understand why a book club would want to keep it friendly. But I worry that people have forgotten how to express different views in the same spaces in these times. And even more, I worry that people have lost their ability to hold an uncomfortable thought. Thanks for putting our feet to the flame. 140
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026It’s set up right now for anonymous votes, one per device, and I’m pretty sure I set it up to display results after one day is up, to everyone. A bit bleary from vaccines today. I can share the code to see results as they come in with admins. @rnrhamster.bsky.social are you still up for this? 200
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I recall talking about ranked voting last time. I may or may not have managed to find something that works. If we are still interested in this and you want to test it, click here to vote in a poll (not book related).rankedchoices.comRanked Choice Free Voting AppFree RCV Calculator App 210
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026I try to imagine how James would feel performing this dehumanizing thing for the entertainment of white people. omg. Everett is not a subtle writer in this novel. He’s preaching loud and making points with a sledgehammer. And that’s fine. (2/2) 030
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Years ago I helped a doctoral student with her electronic dissertation on blackface and caricature of Blacks in Victorian advertising by scanning the actual “cards” and it was shocking to see and handle them. I still haven’t shaken it off so…(1/2) 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 16/09/2026lol yes, but truth is, the article from the Kentucky Historical Society doesn’t read a whole lot less subjectively. Weirdly, when I read this, my mind kept drifting to the HBO series Carnivale. Misery. Need to believe. 020
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026So much context. Both why the revivals started, and how they transformed religion in the US, esp. the Bible Belt. 130
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Oberlin is enormously liberal and fantastically weird and I can’t wrap my head around this connection. 020
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Anyway. Kentucky here. Revivals? This was the mother of them all.revival-library.orgCane Ridge Revival: The Astounding Legacy of 1801The 1801 Cane Ridge Revival: A landmark event in American religious history! Discover the story of this massive gathering, its impact on the Second Great Awakening, and its lasting legacy. 230
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Antebellum justifications abounded and all seem rooted in defining Blacks as subhuman, which was convenient, because there was profit to be had. The Enlightenment was not equal opportunity. He makes these philosophers squirm. 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026But what I saw underneath it all - I don’t think Locke would have these notions if the slave was a white man. Western philosophy and constitutions were meant for white male property owners, and definitely not for Black slaves. Life, liberty and the pursuit of POSSESSIONS slew me. 110
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Pulled underwater, trying to survive. “If I am in a war, then I have the right to fight back. That follows, doesn’t it? I have a right, perhaps a duty, to kill my enemy... My enemy is those who would kill me. Am I correct, John?” Locke has no comeback. Permission granted. By any means necessary. 061
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Pogues song, you say? The amount of whiskey in this novel could float the raft.youtu.beThe Pogues - Whiskey you're the DevilYouTube video by SwindonByf 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026He really slams down cultural and literary references at a pace. And I don’t know if he was going for Capote or the movie but you can’t tell me he didn’t smile at Moon River connection. 050
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026@hatfullofsky.bsky.social explains all this much better. I read Candide in French, for a lit class, with a woeful vocabulary. But I remember enough to really see how it resonates in James. He can’t, like Candide, renounce the philosophy after the cascading horrors and cultivate his own garden. 050
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026One example of “living in the best of possible worlds” in Candide was Pangloss saying the spread of syphilis from the New World was ok because now we have chocolate. It was all part of a greater plan. And it’s exactly this thinking that justifies all manner of evil. Including slavery. 🛶 180
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Holly Golightly ran away from her husband, who she married at 14, to find freedom in New York City. Not her real name, and it screams I am free from that situation I was in… 150
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026I love to think about James reading Candide. His impressions. If it seems over the top for him, or just life. His takes on the dozens of philosophies. His interpretation of the often debated “il faut cultiver notre jardin.” 130
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026At first I wondered why not at least attempt true vernacular. There are studies, even recordings… But that would have diluted the smack at the minstrel show exaggeration of Black speech & it was necessary to smack that hard. 160
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Whatever linguistic decision PE made for James would have to become the narrative voice. He probably chose standard English rather than attempt vernacular for various reasons. Ease of reading for modern audience, the authority it lends, or even the discomfort it would give white readers. 🛶 280
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Oh I’m so sorry. That’s rare. It’s usually the alloy in less than 18-24 carat gold. And that’s usually nickel. Thing is, high carat gold is difficult to work with because it’s so soft, plus it scratches easily. According to my brother, the goldsmith. 010
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Also if you could add me at this late date? That’d be great, because I’m obviously not going to shut up. I’d thought I’d just quietly lurk, but you are such an excellent host. 120
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026It radically challenges social norms of those times. Savage satire. I’ve always wondered if readers would have reacted to the novel differently depending on their beliefs or their own social conditioning. Seen the humor in parts but not the satire. Or been amused at genuinely painful parts. 🛶 130
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Ah, the ending. Huck Finn is supposed to make people really uncomfortable. That’s the recipe for cognitive dissonance. I’ve always admired how skilled Twain was at being over the top in his social satire and still riveting. If his ending were tidier it would have allowed readers unearned relief. 020
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 21/08/2026To me, the feud shows the soft underbelly of the Southern culture of honor. I think Twain chooses it to make Huck further question the societal/moral codes he learned as a child. The culture of honor is more complex than this, but Huck seeing actual deaths, feeling responsible, a needed gut punch. 070
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 21/08/2026The Hatfield-McCoy feud started long before this novel and lasted long after. I’ve heard the Civil War blamed for it, but imo as a Kentuckian, a lot of us are just ornery and cussed. Inevitable and delightful this fictionalized version was included. 161
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026And this is a radical notion for much of Twain’s white audience. The first person narrative allows us to see Huck’s shifting perspective and makes room for these moments. It’s at the cost of Jim’s own thoughts and experiences. Before reading James, it’s interesting to guess what those are… 150
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Well, call me Ishmael. This is an indie company and the people are just lovely. 🐳📖kickstarter.comOut Of Print - A bookish modular solo game by Button ShyLock the pages in place to escape classic books before it's too late. Starts at $10. (Ships to the US only. PNPs available worldwide.) 181
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Right? Banned in library in Twain’s lifetime. Not written as a children’s book, it was heavily abridged and placed into school curriculum early last century. And banned again. I first read it in a university class called “The Pursuit of Happiness.” Now that was a great setting for it. 🛶 040
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Excellent framing. First person POV limits the story to Huck’s understanding of his world. It works well, from my dim memory, because he does start to question his beliefs as the journey unfolds. Twain is excellent at social satire, but goes further to expose truths and horrors through Huck’s eyes. 030
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026There’s a real need for safe, affordable transportation for those who can’t drive safely. But the AAA Foundation of Safety’s numbers do seem to indicate that most seniors know when to stop driving. I hope this marketing is unsuccessful. I can’t imagine many over 70 could afford it anyway. 000
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Willing recruit here. Although I set my non fiction down a lot too. 010
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 19/07/2026@jedibyknight.com, if you’d like to make a schedule for an alternative group for Murder on the Orient Express in August, I will help with reminders, etc., even pop the popcorn for a watch party. The movie is on Hoopla. Let’s hear it for reading a second woman this year 😂. No pressure tho. 110
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 19/07/2026I had the same thought about ranked choice voting! And spooky season is a vibe. 110
L Biery @bujoldy.bsky.social · 19/07/2026The large number voting for James/Huck Finn is indicative of a lot of well deserved support. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many state they’d opt out specifically because it was recently read, rather than personal preference. Not surprising for a two year old bestseller. 000
