Aunt Ruth

@auntruth.bsky.social

611 Followers 2734 Following

I've spent my life in the southern USA, but my people aren't from around here. Older than the Pope. And, yes, I can drive a stick.

Collage of 3 color photos of a dagger buried with Princess Ita Sameh Abdel c.1900 B.C.E., "rediscovered" in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2020. Top image: Full view of the dagger. The blade is mottled brown that looks like it may be bone or ivory. The hilt and guard are worked in gold and lapis lazuli. Detail photos show the semiprecious inlay work on the hilt and guard, and the goldwork that attaches the top of the blade.
Cartoon image (the Simpsons) of a bus driver saying "DON'T MAKE ME TAP THE SIGN." Text on the sign: "The South is full of good people who are on your side that are held back by gerrymandreing, disenfranchisement, and regressive policies."
Image of a book cover: William E. Phipps, "The Sexuality of Jesus" (Brown cover, orange text, abstract typographical swirls are the only decoration.)
1905 watercolor illustration imagines a scene in Boston when it was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It depicts Mary Dyer, a middle-aged woman wearing an ankle-length brown dress with white collar, cuffs, and cap. She is walking on a cobblestone street from her jail cell to the gallows. Mary Dyer is surrounded by a crowd of Puritan men, with drummers in the lead, followed by uniformed men with muskets. Her eyes are uplifted to the sky and she stands straight and tall. (One woman is seen at the edge of the image, head bent and looking away.) Dyer was one of many Quakers executed by the Colony's theocratic government.
Screenshot of post by HollywoodJunkyard. Text: "These are gloves. GLOVES. The most extravagant gloves I have ever seen. [Schiaparelli, of course, 1950's] IMAGE: Color photo of a headless body form wearing a dark green silk velvet garment. At first glance it is an open, waist-length cocoon jacket of voluminously draped velvet, with slightly puffed shoulders and no separation of the sleeves from the draping. A narrow strip of the front of the body is exposed, from neckline down to the waist. The cocoon shape smoothly hugs each wrist, and self-fabric gloves are smoothly attached.
Two color news photos of Black men being arrested by white police or troopers during voting-rights protests. Top: Martin Luther King jr taken into custody, 1964. Bottom: Tennessee legislators taken into custody, 2026. Juxtaposition of the graphics via ‪@sassycc.bsky.socia
Famous black and white photo by Lucien Freud, 1995. Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (aka "Debo" stands serenely in front of her house wearing a ball gown and grand taffeta wrap. She holds a bucket of feed in her left hand, and with a large silver serving spoon in her right hand she grandly scatters feed for a flock of assorted chickens who surround her.
Color photo of a metal sculpture of a falcon, standing, showing the whole figure from the front, with one leg raised as the claws grip a rock. The bird's head, wings, body, legs are encrusted with faceted red garnets of several sizes. Its beak is gold. A mirror behind the sculpture shows a partial view of the back of its wings. The rocks below the bird are paved with small oval stones in pale blue. This is known as the Kniphausen Hawk, made in 1697, now in the Chatsworth House collection.
Color photo of a metal sculpture of a falcon, standing. The bird's wings, breast, neck, and head are encrusted with faceted red garnets of several sizes. Its beak is gold. This is known as the Kniphausen Hawk, made in 1697, now in the Chatsworth House collection.
A black and white engraving of a skeleton with bright colors added. Against a clear blue sky, the skeleton is picking red roses, holding a wreath of red roses, with another wreath of red roses crowning their head. OLD PEOPLE will recognize this as a Grateful Dead image from their American Beauty era.
Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yogi Bear, looking straight at the viewer with a surprised and befuddled expression.
Still from animated "ARCHER" series: Malory Archer, a commanding silver-haired white woman in a business suit with expensive pearl jewelry and a bobbed haircut, holding a drink. TEXT: "Well, if I did want a grandchild, I would just scrape all your previous mishaps into a big pile and knit a onesie for it."
From the animated series "Archer," a head-and-shoulders still of Archer's mother, Malory Archer. She wears a business suit with two strands of pearls and large pearl earrings. Her silver hair is cut in an expensive chin-length bob, and she has sunglasses propped on her head whose frames match her suit. A text box has a quote: "Well, people in hell want ice water." - Malory Archer
Color still from a video clip, showing RFK, jr and Kid Rock, naked above the waist, in a hot-tub with strongly blue lighting, toasting each other with glasses of milk. Superimposed is a title in a rounded, "dripping" font of white capital letters: WHOLE MILK. (NOTE: RFK jr's "nutritional guidelines" urge large quantities of whole-fat milk, and he has also promoted "raw' (unpasturized) milk.)
Black and white photo of Sister Rosetta Tharpe performing in the early 1960s, holding her Gibson Les Paul SG Custom white guitar. Screenshot of a post from equipboard.com. Text reads: Sister Rosetta's most recognizable guitar is easily her iconic Gibson Les Paul (SG) in white with 3 low-output PAF style humbuckers and old-style Maestro vibrato. In 1961, Gibson rebranded a rejected Les Paul model as the now famous "SG (Solid Guitar) Custom Model". It quickly gained popularity and -- as a result of further rebranding and improvements -- underwent numerous changes in the early 1960's. These gradual changes allow us to confirm the exact year and model: a 1962 Gibson Les Paul SG. The Maestro vibrato was replaced by the vibrola in 1963 and the "Les Paul Custom" logo was moved from the head to the pickguard (just above the neck pickup) in 1962. A vintage Les Paul 5G Custom (very similar to Sister Rosetta's) was put on exhibit by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the following technical description:
Color photo of BRITTANY HOWARD, at the 2026 Oscars performance of "I Lied to You" from SINNERS. She is wearing a caftan with a swirling psychedelic print, a mohawk afro, vintage dark glasses with small oval lenses. She is playing a white Gibson Les Paul electric guitar with great gravitas, in obvious tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Screenshot of an X.com tweet from @FT, the Financial times "Moscow has so far earned an estimated $1.3bn- $1.9bn windfall from taxes on oil exports, making it the biggest winner from the conflict in the Middle East."
3/4 face black and white headshot of Vladimir Putin, to match the headshot of Benjamin Netanyahu in the post.
"An injury to the brain caused her to change..." Screenshot from Wikipedia entry about Mary Sweeny, and the image of a yellowed 19th century news clipping about her. Text reads: Mary Sweeny, also known by the first names Maria, Marie, Marion, Mollie, Margaret, Harriet, Anna, Annie or Kit, and by the last names Sweeney, Ricks, Rix, Kelley, Beece, O'Brien, Haley and Anderson, was an American woman known as "the Window Smasher" because of her mania for breaking glass windows across Wisconsin and neighbouring states during the 1890s. Clipping begins: MARY THE WINDOW SMASHER. Likely To Be Placed in One of the State Asylums. Marinette, Wis - March 23 1897. Mary Sweeny, the window smasher, arrived in Marinette Monday night and was given shelter at the county jail. She was sent from West Bend, Wis., to Menominee, Mich., and from there was sent here. She was recently released from the Minnesota state asylum and then turned upon Wisconsin. Officials here are at a loss to know what to do with her. Governor Scofield was here and his attention was called to the woman. He said she ought to be provided with a permanent home and said he would call the attention of Chairman Heg of the state board of control to her and see if she could not... (Many towns and counties responded to her glass-breaking by paying for her transport to another place.)
Screenshot of an image advertising an episode of "60 Minutes," displayed on the screen of the Windows Snipping Tool. Annotations point to the sequence of capturing text out of an image using the build-in OCR tool. At right of the image the sequence of commands is listed: 1. Snip the image. 2. Click the TEXT ACTIONS icon above the image. When the image scan pops up another menu, 3. Click COPY ALL TEXT. At lower right, an image of the pasted text shows the successful capture of all text that was in the image, including white font on photo background and some fine print.
Screenshot of an image advertising an episode of "60 Minutes," displayed on the screen of the Windows Snipping Tool. Annotations point to the sequence of capturing text out of an image using the build-in OCR tool. At right of the image the sequence of commands is listed: 1. Snip the image. 2. Click the TEXT ACTIONS icon above the image. When the image scan pops up another menu, 3. Click COPY ALL TEXT. At lower right, an image of the pasted text shows the successful capture of all text that was in the image, including white font on photo background and some fine print.
Photo of the upper part of a walking stick. Wooden shaft, brass ferrule, topped by a faux-ivory carved figure of an owl, with wings folded tight and an expression that is skeptical and world-weary. Sometimes referred to as a "ClueStick"
Color photo of mid-century cast-metal bottle opener, intended to be screwed to a wall or post through holes at top and bottom. This one is silver-colored and is an advertising piece for Burgermeister Beer.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/the-atlantics-elizabeth-bruenig-on-her-hypothetical-heavily-reported-mScreenshot of a title page. Text: "THIS IS HOW A CHILD DIES OF MEASLES: When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak By Elizabeth Bruenig. Has a shadowy image of a baby's hand touching a mother's hand, and another of a toddler's face with spots around his mouth
Photo of a silver-colored metal hand tool, with a pointed can-opener punch at one end and a rounded bottle-lid opener at the other. A classic 20th-century USA kitchen tool, the EKCO brand is visible. Jokingly called a "church key" in regions where church disapproval of drinking was strong.
Color photo of a vertical art quilt. It's paper-pieced from many small fabric pieces in bright colors. The background is predominantly reds and oranges and other warm colors. White, sans-serif capital letters read: WE KNOW WHAT WE SAW. At the center of the text is a compelling, realistic open human eye, with its iris in rainbow colors.
Screencap of a headline from Variety, over a photo of disgraced sexpest Matt Lauer. Item dated Jan 28, 2026 TEXT of the headline reads: "Matt Lauer Accuser Details Alleged 2014 Rape and Why She Didn't Call the Police: 'I Was in Freaking Russia. Who Would I Call? Putin? The KGB? There Was Only NBC'
Screenshot of a Facebook post by Holly Cooper on February 8, 2026. Text reads: "What Bad Bunny means to me as a lawyer who defends children detained by immigration. Children detained by ICE/ORR cannot have cell phones so often I ask them during meetings if they have any music requests. Music is a portal to escape, to dream. The number one request for the last decade has always been Bad Bunny. The children would sing and laugh as his music filled the room. Some even danced in jail cells. Many of the children were trafficked. Rapes, being forced to witness murder, all the horrors we associate with trafficking. Almost all were separated from their families at the border. Some were suicidal from the trauma. Some were hospitalized from things too violent to repeat here. Bad Bunny gave them a moment to escape their dehumanization and trauma. He allowed them to have agency in how to process their trauma. For me, it also allowed them a moment of dignity and cultural pride. So during the halftime, imagine a child in a jail cell, who walked hundreds of miles to the USA, dancing and laughing to the music."
Screenshot of "JMail" which is the email collection from the Epstein Files, formatted as a view of his gmail account. This shows the results of a Search for "Botstein." There are many hits, and the first 8 are shown in this vignette.
An undated color still from The Epstein Files. Jeffrey Epstein sits at left, in a polo shirt and jeans, with a young blond woman leaning against his shoulder. Film director Brett Rattner leans in from the right, with his arms around another young blond woman who is also leaning on Epstein's shoulder. The faces of both women are redacted with black boxes. Both men are staring into the camera lens. It's undlear whether the group is on a sofa, a bed, or elsewhere, but while Epstein sits upright the other 3 figures are semi-reclining.
A watercolor illustration with text, by British calligrapher and painter Marie Angel. A grey tabby shorthair cat sleeps contentedly on a cushion patterned with red flowers. Text is a quote from DH Lawrence: "ALL THAT MATTERS is to be at one with the living God. To be a creature in the house of the God of Life. Like a cat asleep in a chair, at peace, in peace, and at one with the master of the house, with the mistress, AT HOME..."
An undated color still from The Epstein Files. Jeffrey Epstein sits at left, in a polo shirt and jeans, with a young blond woman leaning against his shoulder. Film director Brett Rattner leans in from the right, with his arms around another young blond woman who is also leaning on Epstein's shoulder. The faces of both women are redacted with black boxes. Both men are staring into the camera lens. It's undlear whether the group is on a sofa, a bed, or elsewhere, but while Epstein sits upright the other 3 figures are semi-reclining.
Two color stills from a cartoon. Top: The bus driver from The Simpsons says, "Don't make me tap the sign." Bottom: His finger points to a sign that reads: "The South is full of good people that are on your side, that are held back by gerrymandering, disenfranchisement, and regressive policies."
"HOW TO BUILD COMMUNITY" poster from Syracuse Cultural Workers. Colored thumbnail of the top portion of a tall poster or bookmark with lots of text. It's decorated with a watercolor frame of scenes of a sunny, green neighborhood with many people. Text: Turn off your TV * Leave your house * Put down your phone * Know your neighbors * Look up when you are walking * Greet people * Sit on your stoop * Plant Flowers * Use your library * Play together * Buy from local merchants * Share what you have * Help a lost dog * Take children to the park * Garden Together * Support Neighborhood Schools * Fix it even if you didn't break it * Have Pot Lucks * Honor Elders * Pick Up Litter * Read Stories Aloud * Dance in the Street * Talk to the Mail Carrier * Listen to the Birds * Put up a Swing * Help Carry Something Heavy * Barter For Your Goods * Start A Tradition * Ask A Question * Hire Young People for Odd Jobs * Organize a Block Party * Bake Extra and Share * Ask For Help When You Need It * Open Your Shades * Sing Together * Share Your Skills * Take Back the Night * Turn Up The Music * Turn Down The Music * Listen Before You React To Anger * Mediate A Conflict * Seek To Understand * Learn From New And Uncomfortable Angles * Know That No One is Silent Though Many Are Not Heard * Work To Change This
Photo of an American Girl Doll dressed in olive drab, with blond hair flying loose, holding a semi-automatic rifle. Superimposed over the doll is an all-caps headline: F*CK ICE.
Photo of the American Girl Doll from 1774, Felicity Merriman. The doll stands in front of a painted background depicting Patriots firing on a formation of British Redcoats. A post from @claudiakoerner.bsky.social is superimposed over Felicity. Text reads: "Can't believe it's 2025 and i'm stressed about tariffs and measles, like am i a character in an american girl book?"
A Staedtler Triplus Micro mechanical pencil. It is colored matte-metallic silvery grey, with fine white rings running up the full length of it. The barrel is shaped in a soft triangle (rather than a cylinder). The effect is tall, sleek, and modern, yet substantial because of the metal.
Color photo of a merchandise aisle that's standard for a PopShelf store, showing two long four-tier racks of premium-brand pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters, and metallic and glitter pens.
Color photo: Head and shoulders of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, wearing a draped stole in deep orange over her gown. She is wearing large diamond drop earrings, and a tiara that is a single row of large old-cut white diamonds. The unique diadem features 27 large round diamonds in a single band. It was created from a Diamond Rivière gifted to Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont when she married King William III of the Netherlands in 1879."
Black & white photo from the 1930s of a 3-year-old girl named Chrissie Cheyne, sitting in a child-sized chair outside the door of her home on the UK island of Shetland. A large piece of knitting fills her lap as she works in the sunlight. She's pausing in her knitting to pet a black and white cat.
Screenshot of cover page of the archived article in "Bright Wall/ Dark Room." "A Grand Yuletide Theory: The Muppet Christmas Carol is the Best Adaptation of A Christmas Carol."
Photo of product box and product itself - "PIE ARMOR." This is a round pie weight, used to hold down a piecrust when it is being baked without a filling. The weight is made of stainless steel wire - hundreds of small, circles of wire, densely interlocked to look like chain mail.
Photo of the gravestones of "constant companions," Dr. Ada Jane Harvey and Constance Mitchell, at Oak Grove Cemetery, Conway, Arkansas.
Photo of the back (shoulders, upper sleeve, and v-necked bodice) of the "Tarkham Dress." this is finely-woven linen, now brown with age and tattered. Narrow horizontal pleats form the bodice, with vertical pleats across the sleeve caps and upper sleeves.
Gold and enamel-work Art Nouveau bracelet in the form of a serpent, with tail at the left, several coils around the arm, and a head paved with opals and flanked by two curcular dragon-wings. Fine gold chains decorate the serpent's snout. Two of the chains connect to a matching ring, with the head of a second smaller serpent paved with opals. Designed by Mucha, crafted by Fouquet, worn by Sarah Bernhardt in costume as Medea. Made in 1899, now in the Sakai Alphonse Mucha Museum, Sakai City, Japan.
Oslo, 25 Nov 2025 - Nighttime photo of a roundabout in Oslo, where 4 big red articulated buses have gridlocked an entire traffic circle.
Photo of three clear glass footed goblets of vases - each in a different perssed-glass pattern. These are "Celery Vases" and are shown here with stalks of celery upright with the leaves protrucing from the top of the stalks. These were popular as part of dinner table settings in the UK and USA in the later half of the 19th century.
Screenshot of an article linked via archive.ph - Rolling Stone logo above a headline: "WHY IS CHILD MARRIAGE LEGAL IN SO MANY STATES? Despite a widespread consensus that marriage should be banned for minors, a majority of US states still allow the practice." By NIKKI MCCANN RAMIREZ, October 23, 2025. Abstract illustration shows a partial view of a pubescent girl wearing a backpack, being grabbed by an adult hand.
Screenshot of a Windows SNIPPING TOOL pop-up, illustrating the steps described in the skeet to COPY ALL TEXT from inside an image.
screenshot of catalog listing for Costco's Kirkland brand "Aller-Flo" generic for Fluticasone corticosteroid nasal spray. 5 bottles for $23.99
Photo of a realistic full-size model of a vintage 2-seat roadster automobile, in shiny silver that looks like chain mail - because it was built by a grassroots artist out of hundreds of thousands of pull-tabs from aluminum cans. Now at the Grassroots Arts Center in Lucas, Kansas.
Photos of six different pirate-style skull logos that each have knitting needles and/or crochet hooks instead of crossbones. Some are labeled "YARRRN" and one is labeled "The Deadly Knitters' Association." These are not determinative of Nazi affiliation!
Moira Rose wearing a large headpiece of crow feathers. Still photo from Schitt's Creek, "Maid of Honour," Season 6, Episode 4).
Photo of a round memorial plaque in Canterbury Cathedral. It has elegant italic lettering carved in the stone: "Remember the FIRE WATCHERS who saved this building and others in the City from destruction during the War 1939-1945"