🕸️Meg Conley

@pocketobservatory.org

3450 Followers 974 Following

✍️I write Pocket Observatory, an attention reclamation project. 🗞️My work also appears in places like Harper’s Bazaar, The Guardian, Slate, BBC and NPR. https://linktr.ee/megconley

Home page for my site, Pocket Observatory. Features a photo of me, a bald woman.
han-so-low commented, “Food is political? How the fuck do you draw that conclusion? Food is cultural. Food is a way for people to connect despite differences. Food is nourishing. Everything doesn't have to be political. MegConley replied, “ Whatever one thinks of IG stalking restaurant owners...l gott say...food is absolutely political. In a nation-state, culture cannot be separated from politics. Connecting with people over food despite acknowledged differences is a political act. Who gets nourished, and who does ~not, are pretty much the questions at the center of Politics.”
Detail of the Trump as Jesus AI image. The detail appears to show soldier angels in a ring of light and clouds surrounding a cyborg type creature with three horns
My eight year old daughter stands in front of me, smiling into a dressing room mirror. I am behind her, taking the photo.
And so even as I explain the broken world to them, I try to help us remember what Mariame Kaba taught me - that “hope is a discipline.” Hope is a work performed in community. I try to help them see the people doing that work. I try to help us understand how we can join in on it too. When we practice hope, we expand the potentialities of our collective present and future. Children have a better understanding of this than most adults. My 8 year old was demonstrating her understanding when she made anti-ICE flyers while sitting next to her sick, sleeping mama. We’ll post the evidence of her hope around the neighborhood as soon as I feel well enough for a little walk.
nodded in agreement. Of course, she is very little too. And the achingest part of myself wails that 8 is not old enough to know that ICE kidnaps people and kills witnesses. But some of those kidnapped people are children younger than my daughter. Those witnesses were doing some of the same work her own mother does. ICE is in our city. The people who should protect us from living in a country plagued by secret police- our representatives and senators - have allowed Trump’s regime to inflict ICE on our communities. They’ve decided my daughter is not too young to be exposed to ICE. And so when she asked what happened to Renee Good, I told her. And when she wanted to know why a little boy in a blue hat was all over the news, I told her that too. We’ve had a lot of difficult conversations since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I try to frame the conversations with her age in mind. But there’s really nothing age appropriate about being a child who is afraid her mother will die and her neighbors will be kidnapped. She is simply too little. All of my daughters feel too little. The achingest part of myself wails that I am too little too. But here we are.
few of the anti-ICE signs my eight year old made while I took a chemo fatigue nap next to her on the couch. When I woke up, she presented them to me very seriously. She wants to hang them around the neighborhood. The signs say “Stop ICE,” “Stop Trump!” and “Why are we paying ICE to be f____ing idiots?! They are killing lives!” That last one with the “f___ing” made me laugh a little. We don’t really believe in “bad words” in this house, but we have helped our kids avoid routine cursing as a nod to societal norms. A few months ago, my eight year old was having big angry feelings that just needed big angry words. We told her she can curse about two things that give her the biggest feelings without ever getting in trouble - my fucking cancer and fucking Donald Trump’s regime. She usually makes great use of this dispensation. So I was surprised she censored “fucking” in her sign. She told me she bleeped it because “little kids go on walks in this neighborhood and they might not be old enough to know bad words.”
A picture of me sitting in a chair, bald from chemo, wearing pajamas. My sheepadoodle sitting on my lap. A very disgusted look on my face.
On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 10:41 AM J <jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote: As the stories get wilder and the writers make the girls younger. prostitution is a tabloid s dream , . I wondered if having something out in the cyber world that let some people point to rational arguments might allow some to defend themselves from their wives . " how could you " etc. I have been exploring the AI world with the cutting edge people. I remind them of your comments re machines thinking :)/ I thought that culture was the conciousness of a society. tribes were like self. . media approx transmitters. . It provided constraints and rules for some underlying interactions. It doesnt exist in a physical sense but either does conciousness. which it appears to me as an evolutionary advantage and provides the brain with rules memories. ( culture again ) . and constraints. . tribes when attacked , act like a self . . compete like selves. etc. The world we call physical . follows rules that we have created, most unknowingly. I assume language acts like an effective transmittier. . some language like adrenaline. some like dopamine. . do some extent the hormones of the culture. ?
Screenshot of my newsletter site, which is linked!
So Come On, I Can Take it, Give Me Everything You've Got This morning, I go in for a bilateral mastectomy. A doctor will remove all my breast tissue. She will cut away both my nipples and lymph nodes connected to my left breast. Another doctor will line my breast skin with a matrix woven of cadaver skin, she will sew in tissue expanders. I think of them working over me, cutting and stitching, and I thank god for women’s work. Six weeks later, I’ll start an AC-T chemotherapy regimen, a dose of chemotherapy every two weeks for twenty weeks.
Pepe the frog, depressed, in adidas suit. A far-right meme
President Donald Trump on Monday downplayed the severity of domestic violence crimes, saying that were it not for “things that take place in the home they call crime,” the administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., would have resulted in a bigger statistical reduction in crime. “They said, ‘Crime’s down 87 percent.’ I said, no, no, no — it’s more than 87 percent, virtually nothing. And much lesser things, things that take place in the home they call crime. You know, they’ll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime. See? So now I can’t claim 100 percent but we are. We are a safe city,” Trump said.
patriarchy(n.) 1560s, "ecclesiastical province under a patriarch; church government by patriarchs," from Latinized form of Greek patriarkhia, from patriarkhēs "male chief or head of a family" (see patriarch). Meaning "system of society or government by fathers or elder males of the community" is recorded from 1630s.
Marilyn Monroe performing “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” She’s wearing a luscious magenta dress and lots of diamonds. She’s surrounded by leering men on a red stage.
A scene from the movie Independence Day. The US nuked the invading aliens, declared the bombing a success, then realized it hadn’t touched the spaceship.
1.5 chivichangas from SonoraTown on a green plate with sliced radishes and a grilled green onion
18 month old baby in a hospital gown plays with toys in a doctor’s office
A painting of a butter stick showing measure labels.
digital ephemera was created with a trade card from the “Birds of America” series (N4), issued in 1888, a quote from a 16th century emblem, "In simulchram Spei" (The picture of hope), and a hand drawn font from Beth Mathews. It features a card with a picture of a crow on a tree. And a vintage label that says, "A Crow, The faithful prophet. When it cannot say, 'all's well,' It says, 'All shall be well."
A screenshot of the thread linked in this post
An image of the demi Lovato "Get a job" "Stay away from her" meme. here is an explanation of the meme courtesy of Know Your Meme, "On or around April 8th, 2016, Demi Lovato posted and deleted a series of comments on one of Instagram user StalkerSarah's posts. StalkerSarah is known for posting photos with celebrities and has posted photos with Lovato several times. It is unclear which post Lovato commented on, although it may have been a photo of StalkerSarah with Lovato's sister, Madison de La Garza, who Sarah was reportedly seen with around the time. The most notable comments left on the post read, "GET A JOB" and "STAY AWAY FROM HER"
Image of three toggle headings. One reads "I HATE YOU VEBLEN." Another reads, "EAT GLASS VEBLEN. Much of the "waste" you decry also gives us TIME. TIME TO BE WITH THOSE WE LOVE. TIME TO CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER." And the third reads, "VEBLEN YOU FASCIST. This is how the wealthy STILL judge consumer choices made by people with lower-incomes. My god."
A screenshot of Seth Partnow’s Bluesky account reposting the essay this post is quoting (phew!)
An image of the Denver Art Museum thumbnail for the History is Painted by the Victors exhibit.
I know that sounds scary. But your kid will be all right. The thing is, many children do not go to an art exhibit to learn about family separation and other kinds of state violence. They learn about state violence through their own life experiences. Asking your child to look at a few paintings is not asking too much of them or yourself. Anyway, I am not here to tell you what to do one way or another. But I think you should go in. So I guess I am here to tell you what to do. The woman who took our tickets was more succinct. After her pause she just said, “...not everyone notices the sign.”
Can I ask you to consider that there are other possible realities? And that art can help us consider them? And once we consider them we can construct them? Here is just one example: Kent Monkman paints historical interventions like The Deluge, a piece where children who were once swept away by church and state atrocities are now rescued. When you sit in front of The Deluge, you’re witnessing a reality framed by the protection of Indigenous children. How can your child help construct that reality if they've never considered it? How can they consider it without art like this? Of course, this is very difficult to convey to a child. I know that. A child looking at a painting like The Deluge will want to know if the children were really rescued. And you’ll have to tell them that some were rescued, but many weren’t. You’ll have to explain that people died trying to rescue the children. You’ll have to tell your child about state violence. You’ll have to tell them that state violence is still used against Indigenous people, including children. You will have to help them see things as they are now.
A woman standing at the door took our tickets. She looked down at my seven-year-old daughter. And then gestured to the words written across the glass doors to the exhibit, This exhibition contains depictions of violence and nudity. Parents and guardians may want to preview. "I just wanted you to be aware there are depictions of violence and nudity. I am not at all telling you not to take her in there. I just needed to make sure you knew because …” She paused. And here I knew I could never do her job. Because every time a family with a seven-year-old came into the line, instead of pausing I’d start talking a little too quickly, ...because I don’t know what your child can handle. But also no one asked Indigenous children if they could handle being abducted from their families. And whether your child sees this artwork or not, they are living in a reality framed by the attempted genocide of Indigenous Peoples of North America. You want to keep your child from seeing representations of the violence that built their world. Why? Is the answer worthy of you, of your child?
A Bluesky post shared by @paleofuture.bsky.social. It's a photo of Trump baring his teeth while holding a card. He's surrounded by children. The caption description reads, "U.S. President Donald Trump holds a collectors card depicting the assassination attempt during the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 21, 2025 in Washington, DC."
A regency (ish) era illustration of a woman looking over her shoulder. With the words, “Have you never known the relief and joy of being wrong? I pity you.” written above her head. The words are a play on a quote from Emma, “Have you never known the pleasure and triumph of a lucky guess? I pity you.”
A still from the Night Market episode, with Nadja shrugging her shoulders in the night market.
A engraving inspired tattoo of a bean plant on a woman's inner arm
Amanita muscaria mushroom, red cap with white spots, growing on forest floor in front of a log.
The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) followed you back
High school senior yearbook photo of Meg Conley. Her hair is somehow both frizzy and crunchy. She is wearing a rented red grad gown. “I’m your Huckleberry” is written below her name.
Meg Conley in a green sweater sitting on a rock overlooking a blue river.
The cover page of the Pocket Observation curriculum. It reads Pocket Observation: An Attention Reclamation project
‘No Face’ from Spirited Away in his largest most gluttonous form
The Twelve Pins, Connemara A painting of the mountain range by Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878–1964)
A photo of my arm extended, holding out Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. Laundry dots the background.
Black and white poster that says Buy a Tesla, Fund a Nazi with a photo of Musk giving the Nazi salute in the right hand corner.
An image of the ancient booer from Princess Bride
1939 WPA poster of a fruit stand reworked for today’s Poster in Chief. “Save America! Protect our food supply. Elon Musk and Donald Trump don’t care if you can afford fruit. Call your representatives and tell them to save America from Trump’s Trade War.”
A still from the movie Newsies. It’s an image of Bill Pullman looking very *1992 interprets turn of the century journalist.* Floppy hair, bow tie. He’s portraying Brian Denton, a writer who covered the 1899 newsboy strikes. He’s referred to as the “King of New York” in the movie and also in my heart.
Image of a voicemail transcription: “Hi this is congresswoman Diana to get I'm calling to invite you to a live telephone Townhall meeting you should expect a call to this number tomorrow from six to 6:15 PM the purpose of the call is to listen to my constituents and discuss what I'm doing to come back to administration's recent extreme actions when you receive my call tomorrow simply stay on the line if you want to participate and you'll be connected to the meeting if you would prefer to participate from a different phone you can do so tomorrow night at 6:05 PM by calling…”
Always Sunny in Philadelphia clip featuring Danny Devito in a plane saying, "I inverted the plane and landed her safely in an open field."
The Place of Tides by James Rebanks
The children of mothers who survived and mothers who died will have fewer rights than we did as children. In Ancient Rome, babies were often “exposed” on local rubbish heaps. They were left to die because they were unwanted, or their mother died in childbirth, or their mother could not feed them because she could not feed herself and her other children. The elites liked to claim that the system of slavery saved some of these children. Sometimes an infant was plucked out of the heap to fill in the ranks of the enslaved. But mostly, the babies died. They had no right to life in Rome, they had no portion of liberty.
In this video, I talk about I am a post-Mormon and how watching Severance gave me a panic attack because of the parallels
Meme from New Girl. Schmidt taking to Cece, saying “He’s the dumbest boy in school.”
Part of a tweet from Vivek Ramaswamy: The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH: Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers. A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers.
Also. and I swear I'll be done after this but ummm...Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in the 1890s. The women he wrote - Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra - have more agency than any woman in any 20th or 21st century adaptation of Dracula. Like. Over and over again, men write adaptations of Dracula featuring men that are more competent and women that are more repressed, hysterical and/or fated than the characters in the source material. Just something worth noting!
Screenshot of a Free Press article titled, “Jesse Singal: Bluesky has a death threat problem.” By Jesse Singal Published 12.17.24 Excerpt: it was supposed to be a gentler, left-wing alternative to X. My experience proves that just isn’t the case.