agoodwinsmith | Network

Posted by rob mclennan

http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2026/02/andrea-rexilius-seance-of-bees.html

I found a flight pattern, a ritual, a trace, a beehive, an infinite knot, a way to write and revise, and revise again. A way to resentence the sentence my sister and I had been handed. To change the story by telling our story. To enter a wound. To face it again and again until we are transformed by it. Until we see it clearly and move it through our body.

My sister and I are not related. Not by blood. But we are the same age, and we are both named Andrea. Her mother and my father married when we were 10. I always thought of her as part doppelganger, part mirror-image. I was jealous that her mother fled with her in the night, brought her to America. For me it was the opposite. My mother fled to California but left me behind in Chicago with my dad. My sister’s mother is dramatic, emotional, talkative, whereas my own mother is pragmatic, quiet, and emotionally reserved.

I began stitching lines instead of writing them.

A line is a descent, an exception into the underworld, into the root system of language. It marks an act of sensing, of perception translated by the realm of the mouth.

I titled the stitches, Séance of the Bees. (“As Long as the Stitch will Hold”)

The latest from Denver, Colorado poet and editor Andrea Rexilius is the poetry title Séance of the Bees (Troy NY: CLASH Books, 2026), a book that extends the title section of her prior collection, Sister Urn (Portland OR: Sidebrow Books, 2019) [see my review of such here], writing through and around the death of her sister, and an ongoing grief. “To engage with séance as a form of research. As a way of calling forth,” she writes, near the opening of the collection, “a way of uncovering the feminine. Not to speak as, but to speak alongside. Not to decode or decipher but to create a cacophony. A woven tongue of one. // The collaged poetess as source text. The she as sorceress.” Utilizing collaged text and image, I find it intriguing the way that Rexilius extends this conversation through her own response to grief, to her late sister; furthering what doesn’t or, really, shouldn’t easily or quickly leave, but, as ever, takes the time and the process that it requires, on its own terms. “My sister has to come up again.” she writes, to open “What Asks Us to Be Formed.” “It’s the way repetition works. Something dives down. Another thing comes up for air. To create a hem. Confine. Piece of cloth edging around you. A blank page folding in on the circumference of your body. The subject is one of enclosure and one of breath. To be drowned inside a particular story. The story that is your un-telling.” There is such a physicality, such a tangible quality to Rexilius’ lines, enough that they might hold one aloft, or pull you in. Such heft and heartbreak, one might get lost in.

I’ve been an admirer of Rexilius’ work for some time now, as she is also the author of To Be Human Is To Be a Conversation (Rescue Press, 2011), Half of What They Carried Flew Away (Letter Machine Editions, 2012) [see my review of such here] and New Organism: Essais (Letter Machine Editions, 2014) [see my review of such here]. There’s such a lyric through her prose, a prose held as poetry, and an interest in constructing collage into such a layered coherence; one that thinks through from a foundation of human empathy and interconnectedness to others; one that has always held an open heart across a fine intelligence and an ear for music. “She will be carried from the flowers of one language to another.” Rexilius writes. “She will be carried downstream to a cave at the edge of the river. Feel behind her stone pathway and mossy roof, inner cathedral singing with the voice of a witch.”

The Way the Language Was

The day the deer died,
I was alive in my house.
I was alive in a watery field
of glaciers. In the realm
of birchwood in my throat.
The day the robins wept, the day
foxes ran from the woods on fire.
I was alive in a decade. Sometimes
dreaming of another region
was my religion. It was
a place before trees, prior
to the flame. When the deer died,
I was in my house dreaming. Then
the drought came. Cessation
of sound. Flames as red as apples
lodged inside my throat hissing.

http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2026/02/andrea-rexilius-seance-of-bees.html

apt613_feed

Posted by Hannah Manning

https://apt613.ca/snowball-2026/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=snowball-2026

https://apt613.ca/?p=208117&preview=true&preview_id=208117

Get ready for some winter glam Ottawa, SnowBall, The Snowsuit Fund‘s signature fundraising gala, returns March 4!

The Snowsuit Fund distributes new snowsuits to keep kids warm and cozy through Ottawa’s coldest season. This winter, The Snowsuit Fund has already surpassed numbers and has distributed over 20,000 snowsuits to children aged 15 and under – the largest number in the organization’s 44-year history. Proceeds from SnowBall support the purchase, storage, and distribution of new snowsuits for children in need across Ottawa. Last year’s event raised $90,000, making an incredible difference in our community.

“We’re a city that embraces winter,” says Lauren Parkes, Board Member for The Snowsuit Fund and Co-Chair of SnowBall. “Providing a child with a new snowsuit means they can play outside, feel included, and experience winter like every other child.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Snowsuit Fund | Le Fonds Habineige (@the_snowsuit_fund)

SnowBall brings together some of Ottawa’s best chefs and bars for an evening of live music, performances, silent and live auctions, made possible by corporate and community supporters.

On the menu this year are bites from Beckta, Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine, Andaz ByWard Market, Heart & Crown, Essence Catering, Barrio, Tulips & Maple, Mādahòkì Farm, Social, E18hteen, and Pelican Seafood. Attendees will enjoy wine, beer, signature cocktails, and mocktails from Dunrobin Distilleries, 1818 Farm & Cidery, Case Dea Estates Winery, Bar Ocelli, Overflow Brewing Co., and Fin Soda non-alcoholic cocktails.

“SnowBall is a powerful example of how Ottawa’s business community can come together to make a real difference for local families,” says John Robinson, SnowBall 2026 Title Sponsor, The Snowsuit Fund Board Member, and CEO of Intega IT. “We’re proud to support The Snowsuit Fund and help ensure children across our city stay warm, confident, and included this winter.”

To get a sneak peek at this year’s event, we connected with Witek Wojaczek, the Managing Partner of Bar Ocelli, who will be participating for the first time at the event after opening their doors in the ByWard Market in April 2024.

Apt613: Can you tell us about Bar Ocelli?

Witek Wojaczek: Bar Ocelli is a 40-seat, London-style cocktail bar built around the idea of the market as a cultural crossroads. Much of my background comes from hotel bars in London, as well as travelling to study how different regions present cocktails and food. That exposure shaped the concept.

Historically, markets have influenced societies by increasing access to ingredients and creating cultural exchange. We translate that into a contemporary bar format. Our menu explores ingredients, techniques, and culinary references from around the world, transforming them into cocktails with a subtle “what if” approach — bringing regions together through thoughtful fusion rather than novelty for its own sake. Our menu is shaped into three sections that showcase this approach:

Ingredient – reflects different ingredients from around the world.

Recipe – reflects the cultural aspect, translating recipes from specific regions into cocktails.

Fusion – reflects the “what if” and marries ingredients from different parts of the world or imagines a recipe from one culture through a lens of another.

The small plates program mirrors that philosophy. Dishes are globally inspired, designed to be shared, and intentionally structured to pair with the cocktails. At its core, our bar is about curiosity, craftsmanship, and creating a compact but immersive experience where global flavours meet refined cocktail technique.

Bar Ocelli. Photo provided.

What does it mean to be participating in this year’s SnowBall fundraiser for the Snowsuit Fund of Ottawa?

Participating in this year’s SnowBall for the Snowsuit Fund of Ottawa feels both meaningful and very grounded in reality.

Ottawa winters are no joke. For most of us, a snowsuit or warm clothing is just something we pull out of the closet without thinking twice. For some families, though, it’s a real financial stretch. What I appreciate about this cause is how direct it is — the funds raised literally turn into warm snowsuits for kids who need them. It’s simple, practical, and incredibly impactful.

Being part of SnowBall is also a chance for our hospitality community to show up in a different way. We spend our days creating experiences for people; this is an opportunity to channel that energy into something that helps kids stay warm, play outside, and just be kids all winter long.

It’s thoughtful, it’s local, and it’s the kind of initiative that reminds you how strong a city can be when everyone chips in.

What inspired your cocktails and bites at the event?

At the core, everything we do goes back to our concept. So for this event, we approached the cocktails and bites the same way we always do: looking at flavours from different parts of the world and asking, “what if these met?”

The drinks bring together global ingredients with a refined, balanced approach, and the bites are built to pair naturally with them. It’s thoughtful, a little playful, and very much rooted in who we are.

Do you have a favourite local ingredient to incorporate into your menu at Bar Ocelli?

One ingredient I really enjoy working with is Siempre Tequila.

Technically, it’s produced in Mexico — as proper tequila should be — but its ownership is tied to Ottawa, which gives it a meaningful local connection for me. It feels like a bridge between where we are and where the spirit comes from.

We’re always exploring how ingredients travel, how cultures intersect, and how you can honour tradition while presenting it in a new context. Siempre stays true to its Mexican roots — and that authenticity matters, especially knowing Monica’s family backstory and heritage are part of the foundation.

So using it on our menu isn’t just about flavour — though it’s a beautifully structured tequila — it’s about telling a story of connection, respect for origin, and cultural exchange, which is exactly what we try to do in the bar every day.

What can attendees expect from the SnowBall this year? What are you most looking forward to?

Attendees can expect a fun, energetic night — great drinks, great bites, and a shared sense of purpose behind it all.

I’m especially excited to see what the other vendors are presenting. Events like this are always full of creative surprises, and it’s inspiring to see how everyone showcases their business in their own way.

I’m also really looking forward to a strong turnout. There’s something powerful about a packed room coming together for a good cause — it just makes the whole night feel even more meaningful.

Is there anything else Apt613 readers should know?

You can find Bar Ocelli on 17 William Street in ByWard Market. We are always working on something new and exciting, and would love to welcome you all and showcase what we are all about! In the meantime, we will see you during SnowBall!

SnowBall takes place on March 4, 2026 at 50 Sussex. Tickets are $250 or $900 for a 4-pack. To become a SnowBall sponsor or purchase tickets, visit snowsuitfund.com/snowball-2026. Learn more about The Snowsuit Fund online.

https://apt613.ca/snowball-2026/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=snowball-2026

https://apt613.ca/?p=208117&preview=true&preview_id=208117

cosmolinguist

Today is a good day because I came downstairs to find that the house was warm enough that the heating hadn't needed to kick in, which is so much more comfortable for me.

First thing I noticed when I went outside yesterday was that it smelled like a rainy spring day instead of a rainy winter day.

I am so ready for fresh air and open windows.

leecetheartist

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

turbobeholder posting in

girlgenius_lair

…but the historians will have the final say there, I suppose (after colored inks are invented).

Current Music: Sonic Mystery :: Hope Remains :06: Civilization

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: awake

calimac

It would have been four in four, except that a bad side-effects reaction to medication I'd been taking laid me out for a few days including Thursday's SF Symphony all-Beethoven concert. But I was feeling better by Friday.

Friday, Stanford Department of Music
All-Mendelssohn program by recent graduates. The Octet in full, the first two movements from the Op. 49 piano trio (in the opposite order. Why? Because they think it works better that way), and the first movement from the Op. 44/1 quartet. That last item was the best: dicey technically, but brought vivid soul to the music, especially the second theme.
Held not in the usual mini-auditorium but in the rehearsal hall, where there is little space. Already there was a small crowd there when I arrived half an hour early; by showtime the audience was bursting out of the room.

Saturday, Palo Alto Philharmonic
My niece's orchestra. Audible pizzicato thumps from the string basses, which she plays. Half Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Nuages, Fêtes. Surprisingly technically proficient, and fairly crisp in the execution, which does Debussy more credit than he deserves. Half Tchaikovsky: the Pathétique. Rougher, without much grace but gotten through effectively.

Sunday, Junction Trio
Noe Valley Ministry concert in the City. Worth it for an exquisite Schubert Op. 99, Conrad Tao's piano merging perfectly with the strings. A little less notable for Beethoven's "Ghost" Trio, not as charming and, alas, disfigured by having alien music inserted between the ghostly Largo and the finale: an equally spooky piece by contemporary composer John Zorn supposedly inspired by the Beethoven but sounding nothing like it, instead being an entry in the "bleeps and whispers" school of ultra-modernism. Plus some early fragments by John Cage in the ethereal wispy style he cultivated when still writing conventional scores.

poliphilo

I dreamed our garden was full of junk- and we were clearing it away and burning it so the children from the school next door could come in and work and play.

Now there's symbolism you don't have to work too hard to understand.

I gather the police are treating Prince Andrew's former home- Royal Lodge- as a crime scene, taking up floorboards and thrusting remote control cameras into areas that are hard of access.

And attention is shifting from Little St James to the Zorro ranch. There are reports of bodies being buried there.

Early trawls through the files concentrated on mentions of the current president. He had had his people redact and redact again but even so he was all over them- and the evidence was damning. Now attention is focused on other names and other oddities. What exactly is this obsession the Epstein class had with food- and cheap food at that? Do "pizza", "grape soda" and "jerky" mean what we are coming to think they mean?

How do you talk about any of this? Words like "horror" are shopworn. I find myself veering aside into euphemism and even humour. Perhaps the best mode is the straightforward reporting of fact.

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/02/23/new-cover-chasing-cars/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59567

Watch on YouTube

I promise you that I am doing other things with my time than just making cover songs, but I am making cover songs too. For this one I decided to actually play some of my stringed instruments, so whenever you hear guitar or bass on this track, that’s me fumbling about either on my Little Prince SG, or my Bass VI. I’m not ready to go on tour with either instrument, but it’s good enough (uh, with maybe a smidge of quantizing) for this song. Hope you like it.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/02/23/new-cover-chasing-cars/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59567

leecetheartist

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: full

low_delta

I was going to write about something this weekend but then I put it off until today so I could include the whole weekend, and now I don't know what it was.

I made pancakes for supper on Friday, and the house still smells like pancakes. I have no idea why.

I'm still sorting and shelving the LP's. I'd like to get the turntable working and listen to them all. I wonder how long that would take. I feel like we could average one a day, but I'm sure I'd get tired of it, so it would probably take twice that long. And I don't know how many are there. I think we're talking about years, and that's with skipping all the ones we have on CD and listen to all the time. This explains why we'd get tired of it - because we already have most of the good stuff on CD, so this would be a couple of years of mediocre 70's rock music.

D&D yesterday. One more session in April will close out the storyline. Not sure what will happen after that.

Today I went to Chicago to buy whisky. I had them all located at Binny's but stopped at Discount here in Milwaukee on the way (Binny's has their inventory online, and Discount doesn't), and found five of the six whiskies, and for less money. Still had to go to Chicago to pick up that last one.

While there I stopped at Delilah's for a whisky. Ended up talking with the owner for a while. He gave me his card and said to let him know the next time I was in town so he'd be in and we could chat.

petra

Pity and Terror (463 words) by RiaSaun
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Slings and Arrows, Medea - Fandom
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Geoffrey Tennant, Darren Nichols
Additional Tags: Humor, Drama
Summary:

Darren sells Geoffrey on a production. This is inspired by Petra's "Grace and a Cod-piece."

*

This was inspired by one of the first fanworks I ever put on the AO3, back in my Slings & Arrows heyday. It has an excellent use of Darren Nichols' off-kilter genius.

Current Mood: flattered
Current Music: That's really no excuse to be as glum as you've become

troisoiseaux

Read It's Not A Cult by Joey Batey, a debut folk horror novel about a band whose songs based on an invented mythology (the Solkats, small gods of wine stains and stubbed toes and untold jokes and bus stop fights and texts at three in the morning, etc.) inspire a literal cult following; I picked this up mostly because I know of the author for other work (he has a band, The Amazing Devil, and played Jaskier on The Witcher) and I'm not sure if it is, exactly, good— I suspect it might work better as an audiobook, because it has a rather distracting tendency towards draaaaawing out wooooords and phonetic spelling of accents ("updéeat")— but I did read the entire thing in one day. It's definitely a [Rod Sterling voice] wouldn't that be messed up? kind of horror novel— very ambiguous ending, and a lot of ambiguity throughout; ( not a spoiler, exactly. )

According to an interview I read when this came on my radar a few months ago, either the novel itself or at least the idea for it (unclear?) pre-dates Batey's career(s) as an actor and musician, but it's a bit of context that I found impossible to shake in light of, a., the themes of artistry (specifically, as a musician) and fandom, and b., the way the narrative is entirely framed by camera lenses: if an action takes place on the page, it's because there's a camera pointing at it, from the narrator's coping mechanism of viewing the world through a camcorder lens rather than looking at things straight on, to vloggers live-streaming their every thought, filmed police interviews, etc., including some rather improbably convoluted executions of the premise.

Current Music: Farewell Wanderlust - The Amazing Devil

cahn

Last week: Some really interesting discussions on (among other things) Caesar Augustus, the temple in Egypt, and the destruction of the temple (in Jerusalem) as divine punishment and also free will.

This week: More Herod! Definitely went quite a bit faster than last week! Featuring lots and lots of family drama... the kind that includes a ton of bloodshed. I'll talk more about it in comments.

Next week:

selenak can you give us a halfway point for Book 2? It looks a bit shorter but I'm also going to be crunched for time next week (and definitely won't be able to post until Sunday) so half a book is what it's going to have to be!

flemmings

Woke up at a reasonable hour, took meds, looked out the study window, saw snow, and decided to go bak to bed. Did, and dreamed of being back at Bedford with sibs and Aunt H trying to work out how we could live there and also sell to the Chuas. There was an official sort of man pressing the point, who was some sort of policeman, but who also at one point was dealing with a chubby baby. And Bedford was definitely Bedford except that parts of it were Bedford as renovated by the Chuas. It was the sort of dream that leaves an all-day hangover: not unpleasant, just mildly disconcerting because, well, we sold the place almost forty years ago and my aunt died in 2000, and there I was at Bedford talking to her this morning.

Eventually got up around noon and breakfasted and all. Then by a judicious but generally unadvised combination of muscle relaxants and vodka, shut my back up enough so I could scrape the snow off the steps and path. And feeling almost like old days, lifted the compacted layer of ice and snow from the pavement in front of my house and SND's, who must be away this weekend, and then a stretch of NND's frontage. We were just at freezing today but tomorrow will see a fast plunge and the slush will turn to ice.

There was a video about making lentil pancakes: boil up a carrot, potato, onion, and red lentils, blend in blender, form into patties, cook in oil. I did the veg first and separate, then added the lentils and cooked till soft. Except that red lentils immediately turn into mush so that, when blended, I wind up with lentil soup. Am clearly missing a step. Maybe I should add the breadcrumbs I do not have, or cook some green lentils to add instead. Or just resign myself to lentil soup.

mecurtin posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, February 22, to midnight on Monday, February 23 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #34278 Daily check-in poll

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 24

How are you doing?

I am OK
16 (69.6%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
7 (30.4%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
7 (29.2%)

One other person
12 (50.0%)

More than one other person
5 (20.8%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

leecetheartist

It's prep time. T minus 3 days.

Meal 1. Gluten free rice bubbles and vanilla yoghurt and 2 mugs of white coffee.

On the upside, yesterday was the Perth monthly fountain pen enthusiast meeting, so we sat around and talked, drew, wrote and looked at each others' pretty pens and ink and drank coffee or whatever everyone else was drinking.

Finished reading Network Effect to Rob and Mum last night, and we all started a rewatch of the serial. We'd eaten a delicious Indian takeaway, as a farewell to interesting food for me for 3 days. Mmm Vindaloo.

Current Mood: thoughtful

kaberett

Reading. Finished The Rose Field (Pullman)!!! I am Making Arrangements for it to Leave My House. ( Read more... )

ANYWAY. I finished it. It Is Done.

Then read the first few pages of Dead Hand Rule (Gladstone; latest in the Craft Wars) before deciding that actually I need to reread at least the end of Wicked Problems in order to remember what's going on...

Writing. Progress continues both glacial and extant.

Listening. My relisten-while-actually-awake of the first chunk of The Hidden Almanac continues, slowly.

Playing. We have finished an Exploders run on Hard in Inkulinati. I am contemplating, given how smoothly that went, whether I want to have a try at Very Hard...

Cooking. It's not quite "this week's breakfast dal, and a loaf of bread", but it does sort of feel like it was. Partly because for reasons we did not get our usual box of veg on Monday last week, which meant that we were scrabbling around using up Shelf Things and the occasional Supermarket Discount Item...

NO WAIT, I also DID make buckwheat pancakes, and inspired by lnr combined Tinned Pear and Stem Ginger with Vanilla Essence and also Ground Cardamom to go in same. V good. Will repeat.

Eating. My mother acquired for us, as A Special Treat, a variety of Baked Goods from The Fancy Bakery In Eddington: my favourite is still the fig-and-?ricotta, but the blueberry-and-?ricotta is also very good, as is the fougasse. A was extremely pleased with the pain aux raisins. AND my mother made some excellent baba ganoush, eaten with said fougasse.

This week also feat. rainbow bagels (which we got to watch some of the manufacturing process for!) as well as misc other foodstuffs from Shalom Hot Beigels.

A has some coffee and butterscotch cake (leftovers from a test bake!) from Flour Arrangements; alas by the time I got my act together to actually collect Excess Test Cake the apple pie and lemon had both all gone...

Exploring. I got to spend a little time in the City of London Cemetery, which is currently ablaze with (among other things) purple crocuses; we also (on our second attempt) managed to go on A Snowdrop Walk Around Anglesey (with thanks to aldabra for reminding me that it is That Time Of Year still!). Snowdrops excellent. May or may not get around to sharing some photos. (Our first attempt at A Snowdrop Walk Around Anglesey Abbey wound up mutating into a poke around the back of Churchill and Astronomy to peer at bulbs and other plants misc, which was also very enjoyable even if I did once again fail to take A to see the Barbara Hepworth.)

Growing. ... I bought a bag of snowdrops In The Green at Anglesey, to go into the ground around the cherry tree at the allotment? The lemongrass seedlings haven't all died?

phys_social_feed

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-algorithmic-shifting-political-views-conservatism.html

Turning on the "For You" algorithm on X (formerly Twitter) may shift users' political opinions toward more conservative views, suggests research involving nearly 5,000 X users. These effects are shown to persist even after users return to a chronological feed, according to a new paper published in Nature.

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-algorithmic-shifting-political-views-conservatism.html

languagehat_feed

Posted by languagehat

https://languagehat.com/who-hit-john-on-the-picketwire/

https://languagehat.com/?p=19301

I just rewatched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance after decades, and it was just as good (and cynical) as I remembered — I especially enjoyed Edmond O’Brien as Dutton Peabody, editor of the Shinbone Star who orates about the power of the press as he swigs from a jug of booze. But what drove me to post was the name someone uses for that booze: who-hit-John, which Wiktionary defines as “Hard liquor; whiskey.” Nobody seems to know the origin; it’s not in the OED, and Green’s has only one cite for it, from the ridiculously late date of 1980 (“But without a hangover and a headful of Who-hit-John, it is a different light”), but I like it and will try to remember to use it when the occasion arises.

Also, the river which plays such a role in the movie (gun-slinging cattlemen to the north, law-abiding farmers to the south) is called the Picketwire, which is the wonderfully anglicized name of the Purgatoire River in southeastern Colorado (though the territory-turned-state in the movie is never named):

The Purgatoire River, also known as Rio de las Ánimas, has had multiple names. It was named by New Mexican Governor Antonio Valverde y Cosío in 1719 during his exploration of the region. Valverde named it “Rio de las Ánimas,” meaning “River of the Spirits,” as a warning to subsequent explorers of the dangers of crossing the nearby Ratón Pass. Surviving the crossing, they found water and firewood at the river. Over time, the true meaning of the river’s name became lost, and various interpretations emerged. By the end of the 18th-century Spanish traders believed it to be “Rio de las Ánimas en Purgatorio,” or “River of the Souls in Purgatory,” after a supposed massacre that occurred on its banks. This led to the birth of a legend of the same name that explained its history. French trappers learned the name and later translated it as “Rivière des âmes au Purgatoire.” They related their translation to members of the Stephen H. Long expedition in 1820 who renamed it “Purgatory Creek” by removing all references to souls. Mexican traders on the old Santa Fe Trail expanded on the legend and named the river “Rio de las Ánimas Perdidas en Purgatorio,” or “River of the Souls Lost in Purgatory,” believing the souls to have become lost. Mountain Men had difficulty pronouncing the French translation and called it “Picatoire,” while Anglophone settlers during the Colorado Gold Rush anglicized it to “Picketwire,” despite the river having no relation to any fence.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the surname Valance, it’s a variant of Vallance: “English and Scottish: of Norman origin a habitational name from Valence in Drôme France named with Latin valentia ‘strength capacity’.”

https://languagehat.com/who-hit-john-on-the-picketwire/

https://languagehat.com/?p=19301

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agoodwinsmith

February 2026

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Page Summary

rob_mclennan_feed - Andrea Rexilius, Séance of the Bees
apt613_feed - Bar Ocelli joins SnowBall for an evening of cocktails and community connection — March 4 at 50 Suss
cosmolinguist - Springing
leecetheartist - Routine Colonoscopy Countdown part 3.
turbobeholder in girlgenius_lair - Monday’s comic: I never did get a straight answer out of them
princessofgeeks - 2 things make a post
calimac - three concerts in three days
poliphilo - The Horror
scalziwhatever_feed - New Cover: “Chasing Cars”
leecetheartist - Routine Colonoscopy Countdown part 2.
low_delta - boring weekend stuff
petra - Recommendation: Pity and Terror - Slings & Arrows, Geoffrey/Darren and a production of Medea
troisoiseaux - It's Not A Cult - Joey Batey
cahn - The Jewish War: Second half of Book 1
flemmings - (no subject)
mecurtin in fandom_checkin - Daily Check-In
leecetheartist - Routine Colonoscopy Countdown.
kaberett - vital functions
phys_social_feed - The algorithmic feed on X could be shifting political views toward conservatism
languagehat_feed - Who Hit John on the Picketwire.

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Page generated Feb. 23rd, 2026 02:13 pm

Drat this working for a living all to heck.

Network

Andrea Rexilius, Séance of the Bees

Bar Ocelli joins SnowBall for an evening of cocktails and community connection — March 4 at 50 Suss

Apt613: Can you tell us about Bar Ocelli?

What does it mean to be participating in this year’s SnowBall fundraiser for the Snowsuit Fund of Ottawa?

What inspired your cocktails and bites at the event?

Do you have a favourite local ingredient to incorporate into your menu at Bar Ocelli?

What can attendees expect from the SnowBall this year? What are you most looking forward to?

Is there anything else Apt613 readers should know?

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