@brittyknows

Recovering bookseller, skeptical lawyer, diarist manqué. Clinically exasperated. Mom always said, "you learn something new every day if you're not careful."

 Urbs in Horto
Joined October 2012
  • Tweets82.2K
  • Following1.8K
  • Followers776
3.5KMedia
"I have seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that dogs think humans are nuts." ~ John Steinbeck
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I didn’t know that Scabby had an identical twin…
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There’s nothing like autumn’s goldening of the locusts… a sunny morning would set them glowing!
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Unexpected — day lilies in bloom in October! (N LaSalle median, Brassy End of the Gold Coast)
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My late colleague and brilliant co U.S. Science Envoy with me in the Obama Admin the @Caltech Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Ahmed Zewail would disagree. God rest his soul he didn’t have to endure this, and of course RFK Jr forgets that it was the Arab scientists of the Middle Ages who kept Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen alive to hand it down in the Renaissance. My favorite books on this topic attached
Bulwark Clips
@BulwarkClips21h
RFK: "There's five hundred million Arabs in the world. And yet they don't produce science. They don't win the Novel Prize. They don't win the Fields Prize. They don't win the Wolf Prize. They don't produce literature."
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👍 to the Ballot Tracking feature for Vote By Mail (I used the secure drop at my early voting 🗳️ site):
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MC Pastoret retweeted
WTTW - Chicago PBS@wttwOct 25
When they first arrived, Irish immigrants in Chicago did the jobs no one else wanted – including digging the 96-mile Illinois and Michigan Canal. #ChicagoStoriesWTTW wttw.com/chicagostories
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Undisclosed location, new glass.
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Oh, this… just this!
Joseph S. Pete@nwi_jspOct 25
A Great Blue Heron scans for fish to spear at Lincoln Park
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MC Pastoret retweeted
WTTW - Chicago PBS@wttwOct 24
The story of the Irish in Chicago is one of political and economic ascent. It is also a complicated one, marked by the same exclusion they once endured. The Irish may have come with nothing, but they changed everything. to.wttw.com/4zN9nHs #ChicagoStoriesWTTW

From ‘Need Not Apply’ to Commanding the Political Machine: The Political Rise of Chicago’s Irish

In the face of starvation, they fled their homeland and came to Chicago – a city whose ruling class did not want them. A century later, Irish Catholics had command of one of the most powerful...

wttw.com
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MC Pastoret retweeted
derek guy
@dieworkwearOct 24
I looked them up and they appear to be at the Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) in Tucson, Arizona. If you adopt both of these dogs together — or any animal from this center — I will pay for a month's worth of pet food and help you find a good pair of pants. 24petconnect.com/PimaAdoptab…
Nic@desilvanicOct 24
Saw something very cute at the shelter today
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Nose 👃🏻 news 🗞️ for your Friday:
Encyclopaedia Britannica@BritannicaOct 23
Our noses have two nostrils because they each perform a different function. The nose serves two purposes: - Helps us breathe - Detects scents Our nostrils perform both roles, but typically one handles breathing, and the other picks up scents. 🧵⬇️
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Goddamn leaf blowers once again shredding the peace of a beautiful October morning.
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And of course each passenger who boards and cannot pay because the terminal is out of order is greeted with the announcement: “fare payment is required.” Anyone working on this, @cta? Anyone at all?
MC Pastoret@brittyknowsOct 22
There’s an audible ping as the driver marks each boarding passenger who does not pay (because the terminal is out of order), & each time I hear that, I think “another $2.25 down the drain, @cta…”
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There’s an audible ping as the driver marks each boarding passenger who does not pay (because the terminal is out of order), & each time I hear that, I think “another $2.25 down the drain, @cta…”
MC Pastoret@brittyknowsOct 21
Always pains me to see this @cta —especially on a high ridership route like the #22
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Always pains me to see this @cta —especially on a high ridership route like the #22
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WE'RE HIRING 📣 📣 📣 We’re looking for a full-time reporter to cover Jefferson Park, Portage Park, Norwood Park and other Far Northwest Side neighborhoods. You’ll cover everything from local school council meetings and community policing efforts to restaurant openings and real estate developments. Apply by 11/15: buff.ly/UAZkvII
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MC Pastoret retweeted
ANNE LAMOTT
@ANNELAMOTTOct 20
Betsy, @Delavegalaw, I don’t mean to one-up you, but just now, I correctly identified 3 creatures on my couch—a husband, a dog, and a cat, the latter of which was hard because she is sleeping and closely resembles a meatloaf. 100%.
Elizabeth de la Vega 🇺🇸🦅@DelavegalawOct 20
I don't want to brag, but this morning I walked outside and saw a squirrel, a cat and a bird. I was able to identify them all. 100% correct. I'll tell you about it again tomorrow.
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Joe Brainard
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MC Pastoret retweeted
NWS Chicago
@NWSChicagoOct 19
The ongoing stretch of gorgeous mid-October weather will continue through at least the end of the week. #ILwx #INwx
This is a multiday forecast graphic for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. Headline: Gorgeous Mid-October Stretch Continues! Sub Headline: Warm, dry, and sunny pattern will continue through the remainder of the week. Visit weather.gov/Chicago for more forecast details for your location. Graphic Created: Monday, October 19, 2026 1:33 PM CDT

ALT This is a multiday forecast graphic for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. Headline: Gorgeous Mid-October Stretch Continues! Sub Headline: Warm, dry, and sunny pattern will continue through the remainder of the week. Visit weather.gov/Chicago for more forecast details for your location. Graphic Created: Monday, October 19, 2026 1:33 PM CDT

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Chicago people — go outside right now and look to the south and our moon in that glorious clear sky!
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