Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 3hFirst day almost cold enough for fall. Cappuccino at Monomyth, Lubbock. 010 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasAdam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Former “free speech” crusaders have ushered in an unprecedented campaign of censorship in Texas universities, resulting in pulitzer winning books being banned, medical and scientific facts being suppressed, and entire fields of study deemed “woke” being eliminated www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1... 361806606 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasAdam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 11/10/2026After years of championing "free speech," Texas lawmakers have enabled a dramatic rise of censorship in Texas universities, banning concepts, canceling courses and closing departments seen as "woke," and even using AI bots as censors. All in the name of freedom. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1... 7233731169 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasAdam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 11/10/2026The campaign of educational censorship sweeping Texas and other GOP-governed states in the name of “free speech” and “diversity of viewpoint” in many ways exceeds the worst of the McCarthy Era (gift link obvs) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1... 141217402 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026My daughter went to U of St Thomas in MN. They provided very good scholarships. A well-endowed private can be much cheaper than public (Texas Tech, where I teach, would have been 4x as much as UST even with in-state and small faculty discount). 000 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026When my nephew was a baby, I tried to get him some baby clothes with cats on them, because his family had cats. In pet-themed baby wear, boy baby clothes have dogs only, girl baby clothes have cats only. Of course, nothing is as gender-norming as baby clothes. 040 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Ironically, as soon as she was big enough to make her own choices, this cat utterly rejected me and attached herself to my daughter, then six. So at least I was rewarded for my efforts. She doesn’t prefer my daughter; she loves her and hates me. 030 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 30/08/2026I used to carry her in my clothes to keep her warm. First time she peed on her own was during Sunday school, and every kid remembers that lesson best. They didn’t know she was there until I exclaimed, “This cat is peeing on me!” I am a successful teacher of religious dogma. 130 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 30/08/2026In fact, she’s not bitey at all, despite my teeth not being sharp enough to bite her. 250 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026He continued, “Because your teeth aren’t sharp enough.” 1112 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026One of my cats was an orphan I raised from 1 week old. Vet warned me that orphans are often biters, because normally, they bite mom and mom teaches them not to by biting back. “But you can’t bite back,” he said. I thought, yeah, because that would be morally wrong. 1/2 192 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026We have soooo many failed searches and faculty vacancies at TTU this year. Ah, well. So it goes. 000 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Here’s a NYT article portraying TTU professors like me who think subject-matter experts, not ideologues, should write the syllabi for our classes as whiny babies. Way to go, NYT! When we’re gone, AI will teach our students. 000 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026It was so fun, and so hard to let kittens and mama go to other homes. But I had four cats of my own then, and one was very elderly and suffering from kidney failure, so I was rational for a change. 110 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026@getmeowbox.bsky.social I suppose I should have tagged you. Jake loved his Meowboxes. 110 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026For International Cat Day, my beloved Jake, who was handsome and debonair and who I miss daily. 030 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Here is a mom I fostered, along with her three kittens. The person who adopted her must be very happy — she was the sweetest cat. 1353 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Well, they probably came with William the Conqueror and got their fortune started that way. (D’Arcy). But yes, as Edward Said pointed out, empire and slavery are always connected 080 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Yes, so pregnant women would be able to go about their lives for a longer time. And the corset issue was undoubtedly better for the baby! 010 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026My costume history professor many years ago introduced Regency as universally the most flattering silhouette for women. But I think the main thing is that those dresses don’t require reshaping the body through tight corseting and thus allow women’s bodies to function as intended 140 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026There are class issues she’s picking up on that are maybe too subtle for contemporary audiences. Bingley is rich, from “the north,” doesn’t own an estate = new money from manufacturing. He needs a gentleman’s daughter as wife to complete his family’s class transformation. 1220 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Yes, that’s right. When you think about it just from women’s fashion standpoint, Regency dresses were designed for an active life — walking in Derbyshire and your own neighborhood. The corsets of Elizabeth Bennet’s time provided back support but didn’t constrain the figure like earlier/later ones 160 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026I think that’s correct. Austen dies ~20 years before Victorian era. Austen’s time allowed more physical (see loose-fitting, soft corseted Regency dress) and expressive freedom for women. 1160 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Speculation from the Lucases, based on nothing at all, but useful in getting Lady Catherine involved in other people's business. 030 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 16/07/2026How can I use it as a primer for Ulysses if Nausicaa is cut? Next you'll tell me it doesn't have the Wandering Rocks. 000 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Right now, when my university (Texas Tech) is censoring class texts and discussion topics, the university is hiring a new surveillance chief and looking into software that will enable easier keyword searches for university and public, ie these malevolent interest groups. 000 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 09/07/2026We’ve had law-mandated public release of course syllabi in Texas for years. The danger is not from your students, who know and like you. It’s from organizations with certain agendas who troll through syllabi looking for things to use in their campaigns. 221 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasTexas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 08/07/2026⭐️⭐️ PRESS RELEASE: Today, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) + its Texas affiliate, Texas AAUP-AFT, sued Texas Tech University System Chancellor Brandon Creighton and members of the Board of Regents over two system memoranda issued in the past eight months. 1/2aaup-texas.orgAAUP, Texas AAUP-AFT file lawsuit against Texas Tech SystemSocial: Bluesky @texasaaup.bsky.social 14932 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026My sister is a member, and when she was applying, I asked her why she wanted to join that racist-ass organization. She tried to explain that things have moved on since Marian Anderson, but I didn't know the DAR was this kind of group. Congratulations to all of you. 0150 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasPorter Square Books in Cambridge & Boston @portersqbooks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Happy #Bloomsday to all who celebrate! Buy some smut for someone you love, take a bath, be kind to a young person who has lost their way, & read a book that helps you say "yes" to life! 13210 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 02/06/2026I go to a mainline Presbyterian church in the reddest part of Texas. We are trans- and gay-friendly. Talarico preached at our church and many people who did not know there are progressive Christians here found us. We are growing, which was already happening before he visited 040 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 01/06/2026I don’t think some of them understand that little aspect of Christianity. 0140 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 31/05/2026He spoke at my church and his views are very mainstream Presbyterian, which is to say that he has enough theological background to see God as something more than a very big white man. Maybe at a minimum he can get some Christians to enlarge their understandings of God. 2813 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasChaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Roses are redde Noble are the manatees For a bettir future Teach artes and humanityes 024964 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasTexas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 30/05/2026🚨🚨”Texas Tech University faculty say restrictions on instruction about race, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation prompted changes or requests for changes in 277 courses.” Faculty teaching conditions are student learning conditions! www.texastribune.org/2026/05/29/t...texastribune.orgTexas Tech’s restrictions on race, gender lessons prompt changesA faculty senate survey found professors altered or were asked to change material in 277 courses after Texas Tech’s restrictions on race, sexuality and gender. 16635 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasDan "Mr. Bones and Me" Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 30/05/2026You can either join your union, go to the meeting, and get in the fight, or you can watch them kill higher education in the US. This will not pass. There will not be a natural reset. You fight or die. 2513153 0
Reposted by Jen in West TexasTerri Langford @tlangford.bsky.social · 30/05/2026Teaching restrictions prompted half of surveyed Texas Tech faculty to alter courses, results show www.texastribune.org/2026/05/29/t...texastribune.orgTexas Tech’s restrictions on race, gender lessons prompt changesA faculty senate survey found professors altered or were asked to change material in 277 courses after Texas Tech’s restrictions on race, sexuality and gender. 022 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 28/05/2026We ate so much walleye when I was in St Paul last week 010 0
Jen in West Texas @friendlyjen.bsky.social · 18/05/2026One is a baby. The other is a grumpy old lady who would kill if she knew the kitten was that close to her… 020 0
