iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

For 3.5 years, this is what our block of Broadway looks like as the MTA builds an elevator and replaces a stairwell at our subway station. The businesses all along the block are suffering and many have closed permanently. What used to be a big open plaza next […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

A corridor of green plastic-covered fences with a massive construction site near the skeleton of an elevated subway staircase and an elevator shaft wrapped in plastic

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

Just saving this tasty little morsel for no reason. (I don't waste any energy disliking the Yankees, but their fans in the stadium suck. I think after last night, most of them would agree with me.)

A news photo of fans reaching over the wall to catch a Yankee home run by Volpe that would have tied their playoff game against the Rays, but, as the story explains, due to fan interference, they lost and are out of the playoffs.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

Today in #VanCortlandtPark a very chill little chipmunk was peeping at us from his little tree stump hole.

A tree root among bright green leaves in a forest dappled with sunlight reveals a tiny chipmunk face timidly peeping from a recess in the wood

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

As someone who teaches men, I am of course interested in and concerned about male loneliness. But having been at many points of my life a lonely woman, I am always shocked by sentences like this from Jeremy Gordon's review of Jon Ronson's The Castle. So men […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

Women, too, suffer from deaths of despair--but it's the men, Ronson indicates, who have been raised to envision themselves as heroes, a self-image that can drive them to dark places.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

@drsyntax.bsky.social Interestingly, I got Connecticut specifically, though I have never lived there and grew up in Kansas! The cold over Oklahoma and the Gulf would upset my parents, from Skiatook and Mobile!

A dialect heap map showing bright red New England, cold Texas/Louisiana, medium shades elsewhere.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

Professor of the Year, reporting for duty! First day of the fall term, first day back on tenure track, first day in these new trousers. Let's go!

A middle-aged white woman with short bleached hair and a goofy open-mouthed smile sitting in an office. Behind her there are two photographs of a cedar waxwing by Loren and a poster of four Enlightenment philosophers in British 1960s-style caricatures by John Holbo

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026

Dolores is being as cute as possible to stop my partner from leaving for an overnight trip. #Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

A middle-aged brown tabby cat with a white chin is posed on the edge of a cat bed with her paws dangling off the edge. She is looking up at the camera with a smug smile on her face. In front of her on the floor there is a surprisingly lifelike fish toy and a catnip toy shaped like a strawberry.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026

[Cake] It has been a while since I made a rhubarb ribbon cake. This one is quite excellent. Rub square pan w butter and shake sugar around in it. Shave two rhubarb stalks into ribbons, put the best ones in the pan. Chop the rest and sauté in a T sugar, set […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

A shiny glazed golden brown cake with stripes of caramelized rhubarb running down it, on a blue plastic plate.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

Camilla won't put her tongue away. She is trying to tell us something. #CatsOfMastodon

A silky black cat on a gray couch has her pink tongue sticking out at least half an inch, looking at the camera

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

What did I do in my whole life to deserve this perfect child? #CatsOfMastodon

A beautiful silky long-haired black cat with pretty yellow-ringed eyes sitting on a coffee table

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

The performance category was broken down into various demographics, but eventually pitted members of the same house against one another. The grand prize was won in the final battle by the man in pink, whose house is Juicy Couture. The crowd got rowdier and […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

Femme battle between a blond and a dark-haired woman. The blonde is extremely tall and taunting the other woman, seated on the ground in white boots

The blonde woman is now battling a gender nonconforming performer in the legendary finals

Now the blonde woman is battling a man in a green lycra sequined cheerleader sleeve-shrug and skirt while she stands looking offended. She made a stinky face about him (pee yew) before he won

The grand final was two of the men who entered in the twister category. The green cheerleader outfit is in front, half off, seated in front of a man in a pink leather suit with a black skirt, whose top is open.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

Male face, best commentator, and best dressed. Best commentator came down to Karma and Precious, and they were both miles out of everyone else's league, but Precious is oh-my-god out of this world. She emceed last year and I spent weeks watching every video I could find of her.

Two beautiful men kneeling for the judges, one dressed as an angel with feather wings, and the other in green neon

Karma is a tall man in casual dress, standing next to Precious, a large woman in a blue dress. They both have mics and are clearly admiring each other.

In best dressed, a man in a black alien cowboy sparkle suit walks next to a man in a blue sparkly suit with a cape and sunglasses

The antenna cowboy now walks against a red sparkly alien

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

Qween Jean with the night's emcees, a few of the face walks

Qween Jean stands on the catwalk with two male rappers in denim on platforms on either side

Two face walkers, one grinning in shimmering white and gold and the other standing like a statue in skin-tight black and white

Two more face walkers, one hidden by another looking like a green Jessica Rabbit

Face finalists, the black-and-white woman and another in a long gauzy purple, both gorgeous beyond belief

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

Anthony Cole singing, I am infinite, so I do what I want

A Black trans woman on the cat walk in a white corset and gauze with white goth-girl boots on the microphone

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

Wow, can't believe how lucky we are to have crazy good seats for Qween Jean's Summer Legacy Ball on Little Island, which was one of the most incredible things that happened to us last year. Hopefully I will get more photos; it is difficult to communicate in photos.

Looking at the catwalk head-on toward the Hudson River. The DJ booth at the end of the catwalk says BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER. There is a sailboat behind the stage in the river and the sunset is beginning, bathing the clouds in gold

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

Dolores takes after me. When I was 11, I also frequently passed out asleep on the living room floor with my arms up. It is a little alarming if you haven't seen it before! #CatsOfMastodon

A big old fluffy tabby cat has fallen asleep flat on her back on a gray living room rug with her head turned to the side and legs splayed out. She is only a few inches from a cushioned cozy cat bed.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 20/07/2026

Who is that on the side of the road in Beacon, NY? It is our friend Bunny!

From afar, between a gravel path and a hedge of tall weeds, two pink ears stand up from a little brown wild rabbit

closer up, the rabbit crouches to nibble

Rabbit seems aware of me in this photo. I am trying to respect any wishes it has for me to stay far away.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 11/07/2026

A Midsummer Night's Dream in the St John's Church garden

A handheld fan with the playbill for A Midsummer Night's Dream presented by Resident Dilettante. Behind the fan, there is a slightly blurry brick and garden courtyard in dappled shade

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 04/07/2026

Before the Bronx tries to blow itself up tonight, let's all remember what a relaxed happy fluffy old cat looks like right after supper.

A green-eyed fluffy mackerel tabby cat with a white chin and pencil-eraser-pink nose is lying in a sunbeam on the wooden floor, looking up in solemn adoration at her mom who just fed her (behind the camera)

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 25/06/2026

Whitman in Love is a beautiful presentation of 12 poems in Leaves of Grass, originally published among other poems, that Whitman wrote and identified as a statement on same-sex love. John Kevin Jones reads the poems interspersed with letters to, from, and […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

A paper fan with the playbill of Whitman in Love, showing the poet as he appeared in the frontispiece of Leaves of Grass in his 40s.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 14/06/2026

Our first play of Falling was a little difficult due to uncommon scoring mechanisms, but we had a lot of fun! #boardgames

The box art of Falling shows a woman in a tactical suit, a half-naked cyclops, a monkey-dog, and a penguin in front of an upside-down conical tower in manga-style art

My personal board showing mining equipment in green with costs and bonuses

The complete endgame with green and pink meeples on levels of the tower

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2026

Under a tornado watch, but having a lovely night at Pride Night at Kauffman Stadium tonight.

The front of the stadium art featuring Lucas Erceg, Bobby Witt, Seth Lugo, Maikel Garcia, and Carter Jensen

The view of the Royals-Texas game from the 1st base line in a beautiful evening

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

Today I harvested the second flush of my little blue oyster mushroom kit, which I did nothing to achieve other than leaving it alone since the first flush. Fellow mushroom perverts might enjoy peeping these beauties, which I cooked into a bechamel with onions […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

7 or 8 big beautiful blue oyster mushrooms that fill up a glass mixing bowl, seen from above.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 18/05/2026

Journal spam, you really know how to flatter me.

(from an email)
We had the pleasure to read your recent work, "Article” and continue to believe your contributions would align well with the scope of our journal.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 16/05/2026

This was the crowd for Robert Bernasconi's stunning keynote on 18th-century "moral philosophy" curricula in US colleges, where young elite men were taught capstone courses encouraging the spread of slavery and tolerating racial segregation.

A beautiful well-lit room full of philosophers sitting around several round tables, listening to a man in a suit standing at a lectern.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026

This week, Aminah Hasan-Birdwell and I will be co-hosting our conference on Slavery and Abolition in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy at Emory University's Center for Ethics. You are welcome to join us remotely for any part of the conference by registering for […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

(On a pale background of two enslaved Africans in service)
For Information Contact Organizers: Aminah Hasan-Birdwell (Emory University) ahasanb@emory.edu - Carrie Shanafelt (Yeshiva University) carrie.shanafelt@yu.edu
Slavery and Abolition in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy
May 13-15, 2026
The Emory University Center for Ethics
(1531 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322)

Keynote Address:
Robert Bernasconi (Penn State University)
"Teaching about the Morality of Slavery in a Slavocracy: Columbia,
Dickinson, and Princeton"

Plenary Speakers:
Huaping Lu-Adler (Georgetown University)
Tacuma Peters (Hunter College)

Sponsored by the Leroy Loemker Lectureship Fund and The Emory University Center for Ethics, Co-Sponsored by the American Philosophical Association (APA), the Hightower Fund, Department of African American Studies, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of History, and Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 11/05/2026

Having cats is such a trip. I just looked up and saw this. These are two real pictures of my actual cat, Camilla. #CatsOfMastodon

From below a high gray cat tree, a black fluffy cat shape looms. One dilated golden eye is visible, and a pink down-caret shaped tongue.

Same fluffy black cat above, from a different angle. Now two golden eyes, the tip of a wet black nose, and a bright pink tongue are visible.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 10/05/2026

You have your brunch; I will be at Film Forum.

Two empty rows of movie theater seats and an ad for Philip Hartman's No Picnic, Held Over, New 4k Restoration

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 01/05/2026

I was asked to do a 10-minute presentation on engaging students in the classroom, so I thought I'd share my slides here in case you could use them. I chose to focus on "meditations"--things I don't know if are *true* exactly, but ideas that help me design good […] [Original post on c18.masto.host]

(6 Powerpoint slides including this: white text on a darkened background of surreal colored pencil art showing various organic forms in strange combinations and forms)
MEDITATIONS ON
ENGAGING TEACHING
Dr. Carrie Shanafelt
carrie.shanafelt@yu.edu
English Department, Yeshiva College
1 May 2026
Images by Luigi Serafini, Codex Seraphinianus, 1981

GOOD TEACHING IS EASIER
THAN BAD TEACHING
* Knowing students early on prevents problems later
* Contingency plans need to be in place at the start
* Everyone gets a grade, so no one gets to hide

EVERYONE WANTS SOMEONE
TO BE HAPPY TO SEE THEM
* A grumpy or bored student is rarely disappointed
with you (really)
* Doomerism, whining, and poor self image are best
defeated by doing challenging work together
* You don’t have to play the role they cast you in

THERE ALWAYS HAS TO BE
A PATH FORWARD
* Ask students to identify their own goals for
learning
» Sacrifice five minutes a week for checking in with
progress toward long-term goals
* Find out what they need to improve their work
and confidence

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 09/04/2026

Every afternoon, our 11-year-old cat Dolores finds the brief hot sunbeam in the bedroom and instantly becomes a little kitten again. #CatsOfMastodon

In a bright sunbeam, a fluffy brown tabby cat with green eyes looks to her side toward the camera. Shee looks very young and sweet, even though she is an older cat.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 05/04/2026

I haven't seen a post of this here with alt text, and I promise that those using a screen reader also need to experience this thing of great beauty. (working on alt on edit)

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 27/03/2026

There are at least 40 girls on the Columbia University subway stop wearing identical booty shorts and knee boots and I wish I had taken a panoramic view of the platform because what is going on here.

There are some random guys on the Columbia University subway platform but also seven young women in identical booty shorts or miniskirts with knee-length leather boots. This is a tiny piece of a long platform fully populated with identical women's clothes.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026

Second game is Tenby, a really satisfying puzzle of setting up a seaside town in Wales to optimize the street and pier life. The organizational aspect is similar to the other game, but the stakes and potential for combos is much higher. I loved this one!

The box for Tenby shows an abstract cartoon of a 2-dimensional seaside village with smiley clouds and sun

My two completed streets, made of terrace and pier cards, did not win, but I had fun making it!

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 14/03/2026

Cute cozy game of A Place for All My Books, in which you congratulate yourself periodically for making piles of books all over your apartment, and listen, this is a bit triggering actually... #boardgames #boardgaming

A Place for All My Books box art, showing a cozy brown-haired white girl in hoodie and socks with a tuxedo cat behind her on a pile of books

A completed game of A Place for All My Books showing my player character, green, represented by a brown-haired black woman in a dark green sweater with headphones. There is a 4x4 grid of multicolored books stacked up and various player actions. There is also a social battery, which gets drained from doing anything outside of the house and is the only currency.

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Carrie Shanafelt @carrideen.c18.masto.host.ap.brid.gy · 17/02/2026

Someone was really good at the doctor's office this morning and is just sure that means early supper tonight. #CatsOfMastodon

A fluffy black cat with yellow eyes looking up pleadingly from a kitchen table, with her empty food dish visible on the floor

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