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Cassie Soma Studio

@risquevintner.bsky.social

1.9K followers 2.3K following 396 posts

Notes from the grooming table and the spaces in between. Writing and embodied art. A quieter way of being. Substack → substack.com/@cassiesomastudio

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“I love the poorly educated.” “I’m a very stable genius.” “Smart people don’t like me, you know?” “We will drill, baby, drill.” DOGE dividend: never came. $2K tariff dividend: never came. $5K midterm dividend: I’m not holding my breath. Meanwhile, look at that gas sign. Photo taken in California.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Humans built a museum for things that never happened, argue about how to remember things that did, and Arizona… well, Arizona did its part. 😂 The aliens have questions. 👽📋 Fiction Sunday: Day 431 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you’re new to Tula Street, start with Chapter One. It’s one continuous story, and Chapters 1 - 5 are available to read now. Paid subscribers: that clue I gave you recently? You might want to look at it again. Chapter Five is live now. Welcome back to Tula Street. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Tula Street - Chapter Five

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Four familiar dogs, cooler weather, and a little girl who looked too cute not to photograph. Then her mom ducked me! Today’s Notes from the Grooming Table has the photos, including Blossom’s new duck. 🐥 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

A Yellow Bow and a Duck for Blossom

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Today’s Notes from the Grooming Table started with five appointments becoming two. I wrote about what that means for a one-person business and about the sweet dogs I did get to see. Later, I heard heartbreaking news about a dog I’ve cared for for years. 🐾 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

A Short Day That Wasn’t Planned

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I pulled into a driveway to groom two sweet poodles who always get the same haircut: everything off. A conversation with their family got me thinking about miracle products, how we decide what actually works, and a show I wish existed. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

Two Poodles and a Question

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A familiar glass reappears. The first Tula Street clue is live. You can read the preview for free; the photograph is for paid members. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Tula Street: The First Clue

A familiar glass. A new question at the bottom.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Some of the most important grooming skills cannot be taught in school. Today’s Notes from the Grooming Table is about knowing when enough is enough, one little terrier’s war with the hose, and an old business card that reminded me how much I’ve changed. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

More Than a Proper Groom

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

When I’m chillaxin during happy hour and the trolls strike… Sorry, boys. You wandered onto the wrong woman’s page. I’ve got a cocktail, free time, and absolutely no obligation to be nice to you. 🍸😂

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Legs and feet for attention, since apparently the writing isn’t enough. I find it fascinating that most of my work is ignored, but I post “Fuck Trump” and it takes off. Seriously, people. I write Fiction Sundays about politics, local news, and human absurdity. It’s made for Bluesky.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Arizona had another week. 🌵 $5,000 promises, motorcycle laws, Grand Canyon flooding, and a truck in a swimming pool. Naturally, the aliens have questions. 👽 Fiction Sunday: Day 424 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Fiction Sunday: Day 424

By Day 424, the aliens had accumulated enough field notes about humans that certain patterns were beginning to emerge.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Rory is finally home, my coffee is no longer safe, and everything feels right again. Today’s Notes from the Grooming Table is about the surprising way one little dog can quiet an anxious mind simply by being where she belongs. ❤️🐾 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

Rory’s Back, a.k.a. My Coffee Thief

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

My Buc-Off stickers arrived! 😂 Buc-ee’s has a history of suing small businesses over vaguely similar animal logos, so John Oliver created this parody and dared them to come after someone who could fight back. Even better, the proceeds benefit Hunger Free America. 🐿️❤️

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Some days behind the grooming table are about much more than grooming. Today brought wonderful dogs, remarkably generous clients, a Phoenix rain storm, three damp little Pugs, and a quiet reminder of how much the people and animals we love help hold our lives together. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The Ones Who Show Up

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Chapter Four of Tula Street is up. The questions are getting harder, and the answers less reliable. Cassie is beginning to wonder if ending up on Tula Street was ever entirely her decision. New reader? Start with Chapter One. It’s one continuous story. One Year Away substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Chapter Four: One Year Away

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Sometimes, even when you know exactly who you are, the noise of the world can wear you down. I wrote this because I needed to be reminded that being transgender is simply a normal variation of humanity. Maybe someone else needs that reminder too. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

You Are a Normal Variation of Humanity

What I needed to hear about being transgender, in case you need to hear it too

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I’ve opened the door a little wider at Cassie Soma Studio. Paid subscriptions offer extra photographs, behind-the-scenes insights, and opportunities to help shape future work. Free subscriptions remain, too. Come step further inside the studio. ❤️ substack.com/@cassiesomas...

An Invitation Into the Studio

Cassie Soma Studio has gradually become a home for many different parts of my creative life: personal essays, fiction, photography, stories from the grooming table, and work that does not always fit n...

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

September 11, 2001 was the day the world changed forever. Today, I remember the lives lost, the families who carried that loss forward, the first responders who ran toward unimaginable danger, & everyone whose life was forever altered. 25 years later, we still remember. We will never forget. 🇺🇸

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Anxiety, familiar faces, four freshly groomed dogs, and one absolutely perfect duck! substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

A Tuesday That Felt Like Monday

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Chapter Three of Tula Street is up. If you’re new to the book, start with Chapter One and read Chapter Two first. It’s one continuous story, and each chapter builds on the last. Chapter Three gets stranger in a quieter way. Everyone else seems to know what’s going on. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Chapter Three: The Wrong Question

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

We say “no worries” so easily, often while quietly carrying plenty of our own. Today’s Notes from the Grooming Table is about kindness, professionalism, and the struggles we don’t always see. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

What We Carry Quietly

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My first nude self-portrait taken with my Fuji. Officially graduating from phone selfies to a real camera. The phone is still there, but now it’s only the remote. No set. Just an unmade bed, unimpressed dogs, and me learning what I can create. Not bad for a first try.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This week’s Fiction Sunday is a tribute. ❤️ Dolly Parton. Tim Curry. Peter Cullen. Three people most of us never knew, yet somehow they became part of our lives. Even the aliens are starting to understand why that matters. 👽 Fiction Sunday: Day 403 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Fiction Sunday: Day 403

One last laugh before Monday.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Costco really said, “Here, have a little Bordeaux adventure for $30.” 🍷😂 Four bottles, 90–91 point ratings, and a wooden wine crate for basically $7.50 a bottle. Did I need it? Absolutely not. Did it come home with me? Obviously.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

112 degrees 🥵a broken A/C, a dying phone, a useless lunch-break password reset… and still, somehow, there were good conversations, small kindnesses, and one surprisingly decent hamburger.🍔 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The Days That Ask Too Much

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Some grooming days are memorable because they’re emotional. Some are memorable because a teenage boy looks you completely seriously in the eye and asks you to give his dog a mullet. 😂 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

Ants in His Pants and a Mullet

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Chapter 2 of Tula Street is up. New here? Start with Chapter One. You’ll want to meet Morgan from the beginning. Curiosity gets the better of me. I decide to find out just how far Tula Street goes. Turns out, farther than I thought. Beyond the Pavement substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Chapter Two: Beyond the Pavement

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

111° in Arizona, a long grooming day, and somehow still a whole lot of love bugs. ❤️🐾 Notes from the Grooming Table: Love Bugs substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Happy Sunday. 💕 A little pink, a little ridiculous, a little naked, and a lot happy. Maybe we don’t have to wait until we’re some finished version of ourselves to enjoy being here. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I wrote this a while ago about something I’ve spent most of my life trying to understand: what it actually means to belong somewhere. cassiesomastudio.substack.com/p/i-think-im...

cassiesomastudio.substack.com

I Think I’m a Jaded, Hopeless Romantic

As long as I can remember, I’ve always thought, maybe this is it… maybe these are my people.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Some grooming days remind me that this work has never been only about the dogs. It’s also about the people, the relationships, and the little kindnesses that show up when you need them. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The things we carry, and the kindness that finds us.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Sometimes reality hands a fiction writer material so good it feels like cheating. 😂👽 This morning, it happened before I even finished my first cup of coffee. Well, This Is Awkward for My Aliens. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Well, This Is Awkward for My Aliens

My personal Substack

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Some dogs are A+ students. Some dogs only become A+ students because of the dog you groomed right before them. 😂 Yesterday was one of those days. Notes from the Grooming Table: Grading on a Curve substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

Grading on a Curve

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Before the clothes, before the workday, before becoming whatever the world needs from us, there is this quieter version of ourselves. I photographed mine. Before the First Appointment — First Layer substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Arizona had a week. 🌵😂 Dust storms, disappearing salads, questionable clothing choices, and apparently even kilometers made the field notes. The aliens have questions. Again. 👽📋 Fiction Sunday: Day 382 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Fiction Sunday: Day 382 — Arizona

One last laugh before Monday.

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Some days at the grooming table remind me just how much can change when you give trust enough time to grow. Today was one of those days. A new Notes from the Grooming Table 🐾 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

When Trust Becomes Routine

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Some thoughts from the grooming table about authenticity, invisible struggles and the grace of remembering that we rarely know the whole story. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The Things We Cannot See

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I never expected today’s biggest challenge to be a fountain… inside my grooming van. The story is below. 🛁🐾 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The Fountain in the Grooming Van

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

A love letter to myself about identity, belonging, and the quiet longing to be loved without conditions. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

A Love Letter to Myself

For a long time, I thought I was searching for answers about gender.

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

These stories aren’t about having all the answers. They’re about paying attention before we write the ending. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

Grace in the Ordinary

Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Some appointments leave me with more than a clean dog. 🐶🇺🇸 substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The Stories We Carry Home

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I thought today was going to be about staying ahead of schedule. It turned out to be about something entirely different. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

The Quiet Things Nobody Sees

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Cassie Soma Studio @risquevintner.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The longer you stay in one profession, the more seasons you get to witness. substack.com/@cassiesomas...

Notes from the Grooming Table

Growing Old Together ❤️

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