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Sarah Starkweather

@sstarkweather.bsky.social
407 followers 405 following 1.2K posts

I grow things, make things, sing in choirs • bike-heavy / car-light • she/her • building joyful community in Oak Bay / Greater Victoria, BC

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Reposted by Sarah Starkweather
bettybarcode (she/her) @bettybarcode.com · 3h
Pleased to see that the New York Bicycling Coalition recommends using both arms to signal your turns. Less ambiguous than the bent up left arm, which many cyclists do so tentatively, arm held close to body and barely raised, that it looks like a Hello wave. From: nybc.net/images/pdfs/...
Always let others know when you are turning, changing lanes, or stopping. Illustrated with three figures of a cyclist seen from behind, extending left arm to signal a left turn, arm down palm out to signal stopping, extending right arm to signal a right turn.
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Jen Stewart @jstewgie.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
New indie bookshop in my tiny town!! #OakBay #YYJ
static.klipy.com
Jonah Hill: So Excited!
Alt: Jonah Hill: So Excited!
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Disqualifying?
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Sarah Starkweather for Oak Bay @starkweatherforob.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This fall #OakBayBC will be selecting one SD61 trustee to represent us. Plan to go to the candidate forum at 7pm on October 13th at the Dave Dunnet Theatre! And please submit a question for the forum! Just use this form:
docs.google.com
Ask the candidates: Submit questions for the SD61 Oak Bay Trustee Candidate Forum
On October 13th, the three candidates for the SD61 Oak Bay Trustee seat will attend a public candidate forum at Oak Bay High in the Dave Dunnet Theatre. Election Day is October 17th. The OBH, Montere...
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Ligus @greyauk.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
leaf cut art by an insect 🐛🐝
photo of a light green Lady's mantle leaf with a symmetrical cut out pattern caused by an insect
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 26/09/2026
great piece. man social media is a cancer themomoftheyear.substack.com/p/im-the-mom...
themomoftheyear.substack.com
I’m the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband.
You saw me carrying our baby and food. There was more happening in our family that night.
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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The social fabric
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This Fat Mom Bikes @vocame.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I feel like I’ve been trying to articulate this recently but couldn’t so THANK YOU! Reminds me a bit of “cult of convenience” I reshared a while back, but this lifestyle/environment impacts our lives in so many places! Julie is talking about reading and education, but it’s everywhere!
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Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
On this day in 1932, Glenn Gould was born in Toronto. One of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, he influenced generations of musicians. A National Historic Person, he has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and is in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. 📸 Harold Whyte
Glenn Gould in a wool coat and flat cap on a freight car step with arms crossed and boots dangling, staring at the camera.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The perfect break from campaigning this week: drop-in choir with All Together Now #yyj. Great as always.
soundcloud.com
ATN FIDDLER'S GREEN
From the June 15, 2026 session at The Coda! All Together Now is a drop-in choir led by Director of The Choirs YYJ, Marc Jenkins. It is an all-welcome monthly-ish event - no experience necessary. With
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Sarah Starkweather for Oak Bay @starkweatherforob.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I’m not going to complain about the provincial election happening at the same time as the municipal elections … but now that I’ve watched the full press conference I can’t say I’m impressed by how Eby dodged questions about the overlap not once, not twice, but three times. #bcpoli #yyjpoli
cpac.ca
David Eby Speaks with Reporters as B.C. Election Begins
David Eby, the premier of British Columbia and leader of the BC NDP, speaks with reporters in Victoria after meeting with Lieutenant Governor Wendy Cocchia to dissolve the provincial legislature and h...
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Bromptonymous 🇨🇦 @bromptonymous.ca · 22/09/2026
Comedy routine by the opposition. Fortunately in Victoria, we vote like we understand how cities work and won’t fall for this nonsense.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Outrageous.
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Sarah Starkweather for Oak Bay @starkweatherforob.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I’m closing in on 500 doors knocked in #OakBayBC. Look for me in your street! #yyjpoli
Smiling woman with brown hair and glasses holding up four fingers plus thumb.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Digging through my box of family photos and papers today and turned up this WWII scrip.
Small bank note that reads “De Japansche Regeerong Een Cent.”
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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 21/09/2026
I made some donations to local candidates running for election that I support. Mostly because I can’t really volunteer this election. If you dont want to see shitty people elected and have a few bucks to spare, get on it! (Or volunteer) #yyj
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Oak Bay for All @oakbayforall.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Our priorities survey ends Monday at 8pm! Get your answers in and share with neighbours! Can we get to 100 responses? actionnetwork.org/surveys/2026...
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Anthony “Mayor Tony” @frattaro.li · 11/09/2026
Impossible to dislike this
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 11/09/2026
everyone stop what they’re doing and watch the classic Log Driver’s Waltz animation right now
youtu.be
The Log Driver’s Waltz. A Canadian favourite from 1979.
YouTube video by Life in Canada
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It’s official: I’m running for Oak Bay Council because I think we need more forward-thinking leaders and couldn’t convince any of my friends to do it. I’m going to keep a separate campaign account over at @starkweatherforob.bsky.social so please follow me there for more info. #yyj
Photo of a white woman with straight brown hair and glasses holding up a sheaf of papers that says “candidate nomination package” and making a funny face.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It’s official: I’m running for Oak Bay Council because I think we need more forward-thinking leaders and couldn’t convince any of my friends to do it. I’m going to keep a separate campaign account over at @starkweatherforob.bsky.social so please follow me there for more info. #yyj
Photo of a white woman with straight brown hair and glasses holding up a sheaf of papers that says “candidate nomination package” and making a funny face.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Eight Hours: art by Ricardo Levins Morales. Every person deserves dignity, rest, and joy.
A black and white drawing with three panels.
1) a woman working at a loom; caption says “8 hours for work.”
2) a view of the end of a bed with feet sticking out; caption says “8 hours for rest.”
3) two people in a rowboat; caption says “8 hours for what we will.”
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JRho @jrho.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The most absolutely massive flex from the state fair exhibit. This quilt is made of 40 years of prize ribbons from various categories at the New Mexico State Fair won by Carol St. Clair Johnson. She also won a prize for this quilt.
Massive quilt made of prize ribbons in blue, red, yellow, and whiteCenter square of quilt made of yellow and red ribbons and yellow rosettesBlock of quilt made of blue, yellow, red, and white ribbons. Ribbons state the year. Some have the prize winning object written on in markerCarol St. Clair Johnson
born 1954; resides Albuquerque, NM

O Fair New Mexico-41 Fair Years
2023
satin ribbons

After unexpectedly winning her first blue ribbon for a sewn cape in 1981, Carol St. Clair Johnson developed an enduring love for the New Mexico State Fair. The quilt Fair New Mexico-41 Fair Years incorporates more than six hundred of the ribbons she won at the fair every subsequent year except 2020 (when the fair was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson earned ribbons for needlework, knitting, crochet, pies, cookies, cakes, canning, jewelry, flowers, vegetables, and potted plants. The title of the quilt is a reference to the state song, and the design places the state's Zia sun symbol at the center. The quilt earned Johnson yet another ribbon: Best in Category (miscellaneous quilt) at the 2023 New Mexico State Fair.

Courtesy of Carol St. Clair Johnson
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Our mainland roti canai / roti prata tour had one clear winner: Nyonya House in Steveston. Also pretty good: Banana Leaf in downtown Vancouver. Least favourite: John 3:16 and Prata Man in Richmond.
A smiling man sitting at a restaurant table in with a mostly-eaten plate of roti canai.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Just after midnight I woke up from a dream and scrabbled around for my phone so I could send myself this very important message. I remember that i worked very hard to ensure spellcheck didn’t mess up the word “decleverment.”
Screenshot of an item in my email inbox. From: me. Timestamp: 00:30. Subject: Dream. Message contents: “Decleverment scheme.”
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
More public art in Vancouver (this time non-commissioned): three towers + three towers.
Rocks in the water off the Vancouver  seawall. The largest rock has three stone stacks built on it, clearly intended to echo three towers of Sen̓áḵw in the distance.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Hear hear.
katyharmer.com
Choir is Anti-ai — Katy Harmer
Singing together is just about as anti-ai as it can get. We gather, and we sing. Isn't that wonderful? Genuinely. Isn't it? We use our inherent instrument, and what we make is gone immediately. No...
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A kid-led petition to have more focus on climate science in BC public school.
c.org
Sign the Petition
Petition by kids, asking for climate change to be a bigger part of the BC education
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A stupendous piece of public art near Canada Place in Vancouver.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
This looks like a really interesting event in Oak Bay. Register for free at the link below! #yyj
eventbrite.ca
Doing Democracy Differently in Our Communities
Join Richard Johnson, co-author of Democracy's Second Act, and award-winning journalist Jim Beatty in conversation about democracy's future.
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Glen Grambo 🇨🇦 @glengrambo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Gracklepalooza has been in full swing for a couple weeks now, and even though it has recently diminished a bit, the grackles are still here and looking fabulous! This male Grackle wanted to make sure we knew that he should NEVER have been called “Common” … and he’s quite mad about it! #Birds 🪶
A male Common Grackle in a green spruce tree. There are a few brown cones hanging from one of the branches. The grackle is incredibly colourful with his bright blue head, shimmering bronze body and vivid purple and violet wings! He is also looking quite mad, as usual!
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Horatio Pornviewer @stuntbirdarmy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The distracted driving discourse is already popping off but I’d just like to throw in: I’ve been an insurance adjuster for almost 13 years. When I started, we almost never saw high speed rear end impacts. Now they’re like the most common type of claim. It’s distractions, this is obvious.
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YIMBYs Against Ezra Klein @orko.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
the road. you are supposed to be looking at the road
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drewtoothpaste @drewtoothpaste.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
sorry!
internet in heaven: it's just the internet from 2007
internet in hell: you're on it
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Reposted by Sarah Starkweather
James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · 03/09/2026
I think a lot of people like ***the abstract idea*** of discovering new music. But when they actually have the choice to listen to the entire corpus of recorded music, they default back to the familiar shit. If you want new things, you have to be willing to try new things!
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Live Tapes @livetapes.heads.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026
Two "New" Kinks Songs from the 1960s! albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/…
albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com
Two "New" Kinks Songs from the 1960s!
I'm a massive Kinks fan. As I've said here before, they're my second favorite band, only behind the Beatles. And I think they were at their absolute best from about 1966 to 1970, when they were writing tons of songs, and when even their "bad" songs were pretty darn good. So I was delighted to discover two Kinks songs from 1969 have recently become publicly available: "Darling, I Respect You" and "Let's Take Off All Our Clothes." They haven't been officially released. Instead, a mysterious person or group called the "Johnny Kidd Fan Club" apparently gave them to Prof. Stoned, who runs a great music blog: http://profstoned.com/ He added them to an improved collection of Kinks BBC tracks which he released in mid-August 2026. I don't know who or what the Johnny Kidd Fan Club is, but they're doing some great work. In recent years, they've made public unreleased music from the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Cream, the Animals, and much more. May they keep up the good work! Here's the known history behind these two songs. Ray Davies, the main songwriter for the Kinks, was commissioned to write songs for a six-episode 1969 BBC series called "Where Was Spring?" Apparently, he did five, and his versions (backed by the Kinks) were broadcast on each show weeks with animations made to fit the lyrics. All of the episodes have been lost, apparently, although some stills from the animations survive. Two of the Kinks were later officially released: "Where Did the Spring Go?" and "When I Turn Off the Living Room Light." The other three were considered lost, mostly. A version of "Darling, I Respect You" did make some bootlegs, but the sound quality was truly terrible, to the point that I found it unlistenable. Now, somehow, 56 years later (!), we have very good sounding versions of "Darling, I Respect You" and "Let's Take Off All Our Clothes." Only "We Are Two of a Kind" still remains completely unknown and unbootlegged. There was a little bit of audience applause at the starts and ends of these songs, even though they're clearly studio versions. I surmise that's because each skit or scene in the BBC TV show ended with applause, and trailed into the next one. I used the MVSEP program to wipe out most of the clapping. Instead of posting links to just these two newly discovered songs, I've added them into a compilation of non-album tracks I made called "Where Was Spring" (named after the long-lost BBC TV show). You can find them here as tracks 3 and 11: https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-kinks-where-was-spring-1969.html You also can find them at Prof. Stoned blog, with lots of other top quality Kinks BBC material. Are these two songs long lost masterpieces? No. They're pretty slight and light. Each of them is only about two minutes long. But, as I said above, in the late 1960s, even "bad" Kinks songs were pretty good. So I'm very psyched to finally be able to enjoy these.
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Breeders performing Cannonball at Daisy Chain Fields. Just what I needed today.
youtu.be
The Breeders - Cannonball - DAISY CHAIN FIELDS 2026
YouTube video by HBwalter77
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Shecky @shecky.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I was sad and pissed about Outlier, but then I got this response to my "fuck off for using 'AI'" message, so now my entire attitude is "Good riddance, you pathetic, rationalizing sack of fermented hyena vomit." Bald-face-lying (not even going to COUNT the blatant lies), excuse-riding fucknugget.
In response to my message to Outlier saying that I was deleting my account because they openly admitted to using "AI" and then mealy-mouth rationalized it when called to account, I received this:

Greetings! I respect your point of view, and I'm publicly upfront about using AI. I'm not hiding anything. Almost all are not. It's your choice to decide which games you want to support and which you don't. All software today is using AI to code. Every business is forced to use it. Programmers are using AI to code, they don't hand code anymore. It would be impossible to compete, and the cost of programming by hand too high and too slow. I would not be feasible economically and no amount of support from players would cover that. This is a hobby of mine not a business, I do it for love of tha [sic] game and for bringing joy to people across the world. People still want to hate on it, and that's fine. If you boycott this game that's fine, but you are only kidding yourself - everything you use today is using AI whether anyone likes it or not. No hard feelings. Have a wonderful day!
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Corey Burger @burgundavia.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
He apparently does not believe or does not know that likely the majority people already get downtown via means other than car... (it was 52% driver/passenger vs 48 walk/bike/transit in 2022, it will be higher now)
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The use of “aspirational” as a critique is certainly striking here—and, I think, indicative of an inability to grasp both modern reality and basic math. Also … since the mode share of private autos has been steadily decreasing in our region I’d say the correct term is “effective”.
Screenshot of two paragraphs from the article, quoting Jeff Bray of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. 

“Bray also would like to see more discussion from candidates about realistic transportation solutions in the region, rather than aspirational projects that focus on cycling, walking and transit.

“We need to plan and build the city for how things are,” he said. “The majority of people still travel in and around by private vehicle. We must accommodate that.””
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This Fat Mom Bikes @vocame.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Fascinating and poetic. I love it.
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Stereogum @stereogum.com · 31/08/2026
nobody puts 🐢 in the corner [📹: Andrew Tomasi]
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Katherine Lam @ LBX 431 @katherinelam.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
itsbrianpark on instagram
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Sarah Starkweather @sstarkweather.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I think that putting Jiffy Pop in a s’more might be my best idea ever.
Fingers holding up a s’more made of hobnob cookies, gooey marshmallow, and six pieces of salty popcorn. In the background is a child and various campsite detritus.
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Davis Bickford @davis.social · 30/08/2026
Photo of a part of the sticker wall, near the gum wall in Seattle. A large glued poster of a cat holding a sign reads, “A.I. IS DẠTA
& CAN ONLY LOOK AT WHERE WE'VE BEEN.
CREATIVITY IS TRYING TO SEE WHERE WE CAN GO.”
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Oak Bay for All @oakbayforall.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
We’re looking forward to another picnic with our Oak Bay community this weekend. #yyj #OakBayBC
Poster with a green background. 
Text:
Oak Bay For All
Potluck Picnic
Sunday August 30th 4:30-6 pm
Quimper Park
Let’s enjoy the new playground together!
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Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 23/08/2026
peak "I've made it in Canada" just happened, just got a lovely email thanking me for an article I wrote about how the weird stuff is the best of Canadian culture from Kevin Gillis, the creator of The Racoons, an incredible show with the greatest end theme of all time youtu.be/AMUmbwxqmF8?...
youtu.be
The Racoons (Run With Us) Lisa Lougheed
YouTube video by BlurayCollector306
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Deejay_YYJ @deejayyyj.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
#buycanadian #yyj www.capitaldaily.ca/news/buy-isl...
capitaldaily.ca
Buy Island: How to shop hyperlocal amid US tariffs
Find out where you can get food and household products from Island brands in Greater Victoria.
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