Elizabeth Neal

I’m exuberantly raising my arms in the air, palms forward, smiling in a meadow with purple flowers peaking out of the fog. A breeze blows the grass and my long dark hair to the left. My navy blue shirt features a turquoise outline of an inverted triangle framing a stylized sun, and large, white letters over the shirt say, “digital equality is my jam.”

Join us at Axe-Con, a free, global, and virtual conference on all things digital accessibility. Learn about making your social media, websites, and all digital spaces more accessible on Feb 24 and 25. Captioning and ASL will be provided.

Register: www.deque.com/axe-con/regi...

#AxeCon

Faring well? Not on his watch!

Haha amazing

‘Bad Guys Are Taking Mommies and Daddies’: ICE Upends Minneapolis Kids' Lives In Minneapolis, parents must figure that out, while teachers face half-empty classrooms as students stay home for fear of abduction.

I talked with parents, teachers and kids about ICE's ongoing operation and how it has upended their day-to-day lives. One of the harder stories I've reported. For @rewirenewsgroup.com
rewirenewsgroup.com/2026/02/03/i...

Three burrowing owls peeking out from underground.

Good morning! 🪶

🔊 Listen Now: He sold me fresh fruit for years. I was there when immigration agents took him All Things Considered on NPR One | 4:16

I very much appreciate my colleague Adrian Florido bearing witness to a terrible loss from his neighborhood. I did not want to listen to this, because I knew it would be heartbreaking, but I’m glad I did.

Avoid emoji icons in alt text. Emoji icons are a visual element, so it's counterintuitive to add them to non-visual content. You'll likely confuse people with messages that don't make sense. In alt text, use plain text, free of symbols, icons, or any weird special characters.

Closeup of a black and white pittbull-boxer mutt, snuggled against a gray blanket-covered lap.

Wishing you all a lightly snoring dog on your lap.

A Tragic Homecoming After nearly two decades in Chicago, Silverio Villegas González returned to Michoacán in a coffin. His death at the hands of federal agents left two families divided by borders, shattered with grief, ...

The national response to Minneapolis has me revisiting the killing of Silverio González Villegas by ICE in Franklin Park, IL. I reported on it last fall. Worth remembering.

southsideweekly.com/a-tragic-hom...

This approach, of course, is quite familiar to communities that have been dealing with police abuses for as long as there have been professional police forces. In 2000, then–New York City Mayor and future Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani justified the killing of the Haitian American Patrick Dorismond by police by quipping that he was “no altar boy.” Embarrassingly for Giuliani, whose capacity for shame was overestimated even then, it turned out that Dorismond had literally been an altar boy. Dorismond’s mother responded to the campaign to justify her son’s killing with an observation that continues to haunt me decades later. “They kill,” Dorismond said, “and after that, they kill him the other way—with the mouth.” Taking Good’s life wasn’t enough. The moment she died, it became imperative for the administration to also destroy her memory.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Before ICE Shooting, Immigration Agents Repeatedly Used Deadly Force The killing of a Minneapolis woman is latest by ICE and Border Patrol officers in recent months. Others have been wounded or threatened with guns.

For the last few months, I kept a document where every time I saw reports of fed immigration agents shooting or pointing their gun at someone, I made a note. The list grew and grew. It now includes 4 deaths. Here is what I noticed keeping that list.

www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/07/i...

Happy "Circle Back Monday" to all who celebrate. 🫠 You can do this.

What a lovely spot for a walk and think.

He has concerns.

Stunning.

Give him everything.

Books under a Christmas tree: Call Me Iggy, Monster Locker, Giants Beware, Dragons Beware, Monsters Beware

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS GIFTS...
- For Older Teens: CALL ME IGGY, a kid’s dead grandfather comes back to life to give terrible love advice...
@01firstsecond.bsky.social

Two burrowing owlets in their burrow. One is standing normally, the other has his head back and tilted to the side.

Good morning! 🪶

Noooo.

"Love set you going like a fat gold watch."

www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49008/...

A large black and white pitbull-boxer-miscellaneous mix, looking elegant. An as-yet-undecorated Christmas tree is faintly visible behind him.

I'm sorry for your car woes, but am shamelessly benefiting from the consolatory animal pics. Here's one more.

Don't forget transcripts for video and audio. Transcripts help many, including blind users and low-vision users, deaf and hard-of-hearing users, people with ADHD, and people with audio-processing disorders. Transcripts also benefit search engines, people in quiet spaces, and people in a hurry.

Call for Submissions! Wild Ramp is putting together a one-off (for now) lit zine in 2026: Wild Ramp Review of Books. Midwest-made book nerdery for the people! We’re looking for: • Critical essays on fiction/non-fiction • Cultural writing • Midwest culture takes • Kid reviewers + kid book reviews • Comics + zine reviews • Thoughtful writing (no academic voice needed) Not looking for: hot takes, AI slop, takedowns, or stuff already covered well everywhere (sorry romance/BookTok ). Deadline: Rolling until March 31, 2026 Length: 800–2,000 words, include name and short bio Submit to: wildramppublishing@gmail.com, Subject: Wild Ramp Review of Books Include: Name, bio, book(s) you’re writing about Payment: 2 contributor copies Rights: You keep all rights!

"Is Criticism Really A Creative Art? Why Should It Not Be?" - Oscar Wilde

Call for Submissions!

We're putting together a one-off (for now) lit zine in 2026: Wild Ramp Review of Books.

Midwest-made book nerdery for the people!

Deadline: Rolling until March 31, 2026

Writers of all ages welcome.

#CallForSubmissions #BookReviewZine #ZineCommunity

Wake Up Dead Man was so good I'm not even mad about the missing comma.

I am filled with the spirit of forgiveness!

Happy Pie for Breakfast Day to all who celebrate.

Ooh, I have not. Thank you!

Yum.

Black Friday reminder: You can support independent bookstores and get great deals without lining the pockets of billionaires 😌

I'll bite! (And can happily make that promise.) Two of my favorites recently were The Fox Wife, by Yangsze Choo, and Hard by a Great Forest, by Leo Vardiashvili. So apparently I like historical folk noir?

A pumpkin pie cooling on the stovetop. There are a couple cracks but it's fairly respectable.

Second pie was a little more successful.